Tymber Dalton - Spider Bight

Rawin’s fist shot out, grazing Emi’s chin as she ducked away from the punch. But then the Moran kicked and caught Emi mid-turn in the left kidney. Emi dropped to the ground and rolled away, forcing herself back to her feet as the Moran closed in again to attack.

Calling upon her self-defense training, Emi feinted a punch, then kicked and caught the other woman in the right knee.

Rawin hissed in pain. “Lucky shot.”

“There is no such thing as luck, you said.”

“I lied.” She charged Emi, grappling with her and driving her a few steps closer to the edge of the ring. Emi managed to land a few punches under the woman’s arms, in her sensitive tympanic region, forcing the Moran to drop her arms and back off.

“I forgot to mention I play dirty to keep my husbands,” Emi growled.

No one could hear them over the roar of the spectators, some cheering Emi on, she realized.

She didn’t have time to think about that as Rawin charged again. They exchanged punches, Emi fighting off a wave of dizzying pain as one landed on her right ear. Emi managed another kick, this time to Rawin’s left tympanic region, again driving the Moran back.

Emi straightened and spit blood from where she’d bit her tongue. Portraying a confidence she didn’t feel, she stepped toward the center of the arena. Rawin circled her, apparently less sure of herself now that Emi hadn’t gone down immediately as she’d first anticipated.

After fifteen minutes, Emi knew she sported a black eye, a split lip, and probably a cracked rib or three. She was, however, still standing and fighting, throwing punches and kicks and holding her own. Rawin didn’t look much better, her complexion now slightly green, most likely in pain from Emi landing several more brutal kicks to her tympanic regions on both sides. Moran women didn’t hit each other in that region as a matter of courtesy, much as human men didn’t usually aim for the balls.

Emi also felt Rawin’s uncertainty. She’d been counting on a quick and easy win. Emi’s skill and tenacity and different style of fighting, along with her refusal to stay down and lose, proved troublesome to Rawin’s training and her ego. The fact that Emi was, by Moran standards, playing dirty also threw her.

Emi wasn’t feeling very courteous. And Emi knew her ribs could take a hell of a lot harder kick than the Moran’s tympanic region.

Unfortunately, she knew she couldn’t continue on like this much longer before the larger Moran simply wore her out and managed to get in a lucky shot to finish the fight.

Then Emi tripped backward while trying to duck Rawin’s next charge. The Moran hooked her legs through Emi’s and rolled both of their bodies through the sand, making Emi scream in pain as it felt like her right hip was nearly dislocated. Worse, she realized what the other woman was up to, trying to get them close to the outer edge of the circle.

Somewhere through her pain, a strange woman’s voice yelled in her brain. “Use Bucky!”

Emi didn’t have time to contemplate that as she clawed at Rawin’s legs, not gaining any purchase. Then Emi felt something rubbing inside her pants pocket, against her thigh.

Desperate, she threw a handful of sand at Rawin’s face, making the other woman choke. That distracted her enough Emi could squirm loose, but the Moran was on her again in a flash from behind, one arm hooked around Emi’s neck.

“I’ll choke you,” she growled in Emi’s ear. “Break your neck. Then you’ll die and I’ll still have your men.”

They were just feet from the ring’s edge. A desperate idea formed in her mind. She forced herself up to her knees, Rawin still choking her.

Struggling to hold on to consciousness, Emi jammed her hand into her pocket and found Bucky. Grabbing the rubber spider, she thrust her hand backward over her shoulder into Rawin’s face.

Rawin immediately freed Emi and let out a bloodcurdling scream as she desperately scrabbled backward out of the ring.

The horn sounded as more cheers than jeers erupted from the audience.

Emi shakily climbed to her feet, the rubber spider tightly clutched in her fist. No way in hell would she ever let loose of that lucky charm. Bucky would be her new best friend with a place of honor on her desk.

Swaying, she turned to Mauri, who raised her arms and wore a beaming smile. “Dr. Hypatia wins. Her men go free with her. All charges are hereby dropped and this case is considered permanently settled.”

Rawin screamed from behind Emi. “No! She cheated! She threw something at me. This is not how it was supposed to end! Those are my men! I want them!”

Emi turned. “ You cheated,” she yelled. “You set this whole thing up with your friends over there.” Emi pointed at the two women in the stands, who now wore horrified expressions.

Rawin stepped toward her, her fists clenched. “You should have shared them like I asked. Respected our customs. Then I never would have had to resort to…” Rawin went silent as she realized too late what she’d said.

Mauri’s face darkened. “What is the meaning of this, daughter? What have you done?”

Desperation replaced rage on Rawin’s face. “Mother, she would not share! I only wanted to play with the dark-haired pilot, just to see what a human male was like, and she refused to—”

Boos and hisses from the audience drowned Rawin out.

“You lied to me, then, when asking me to invite them down?”

“Yes, but, Mother—”

More boos and hisses.

Mauri looked horrified. She motioned to her guards to take Rawin. “Dr. Hypatia, my most sincere apologies. You and your men have been horribly dishonored, and I am most ashamed of my daughter’s actions. I will talk with you momentarily.”

Rawin looked at Emi, rage painting her face. “I will kill you!” She charged Emi before the guards could reach her and landed a few more punches Emi didn’t have time to defend herself against. As the guards dragged Rawin off her and across the arena, another guard helped Emi to her feet again.

“Are you all right, Captain Doctor Hypatia?” the guard asked.

No, she wasn’t. She suspected she had a concussion now, in addition to all her other injuries. And as she felt the world go out of focus, she realized Aaron and the twins had been freed and were racing to her side to catch her as she started to fall…

“Babe, please open your eyes.” Ford’s soft voice cut through Emi’s pain. She struggled to do it. One eye didn’t want to obey, and she thought she should know why, but the reason escaped her momentarily. The other cracked open a little, allowing her to squint up at Ford, Aaron, and Caph, all bent over her.

“Is she all right?” That was Mauri’s concerned voice coming from somewhere close.

Emi forced her head to move a fraction, enough she could see the Moran leader also standing over her.

“I think she’s got a concussion,” Ford said. “I’ll need to get her back to our ship immediately for treatment.”

“Of course,” Mauri said. “I will assign a cadre of guards to escort you to the shuttle and back to your ship. But first, we must finish this.”

“Finish what?” Aaron demanded. “She won. You said so.”

He sounds really pissed off. Her mind struggled to figure out why. Then she gave up thinking as more pain in her ribs broke through her consciousness.

“Yes, but she has the right to witness sentencing. It is our law. It will only take a moment.”

Emi groaned as Aaron and Caph helped her sit up. She tasted blood in her mouth and spat in the dirt as she ran her tongue over her teeth. At least she still had all of them.

Mauri addressed the crowd, who went silent. Through her one squinty eye, Emi saw that Rawin and her two friends were now all restrained by guards. “Injuries of body, reputation, and honor have been perpetrated upon Captain Doctor Hypatia and her males. Therefore, as Imperial Ruler, I hereby decree the following—for acting dishonorably and selfishly and lying about innocents, for failing to respect other cultures, and for bringing disgrace to the ruling family as well as to our entire culture, I hereby sentence Mlaui Mil’rawin to five years of forced service to the feral maintenance division, including public and training use as necessary, and permanent revocation of all her rights of honor and ruling family.”