by Amy Sumida
“In a way, you saved my life.” Kyrian gave my hand a pat before he removed it from his knee and placed it back on my own lap. “There's nothing for you to be sorry about.”
“She's saying that she's sorry for your loss,” Washburn said with a reprimanding look Kyrian's way. “She's being kind.”
“Oh.” Kyrian blinked. “Thank you. They are all a great loss to the Host. But Arc Zane is a competent leader; he'll be taking control until a new prince is sent.”
“Okay, Spock,” I huffed. “I'm glad you're being so reasonable about this.”
“Who's Spock?” Kyrian asked.
“Someone you'd probably admire,” Washburn stepped in to assist me again.
“Oh, thank you,” Kyrian said.
I looked away so I didn't laugh at his serious face. But the situation was serious, and I wasn't amused for long. It had to have been the Bleiten, and the Bleiten would only attack the Triari for one of two reasons; to start another war, or to capture me. The Bleiten knew that I'd survive the bioweapon, despite my Triari blood. It would have been so easy for them to kill all of the Triari and then stroll in and snatch me up. That made more sense to me than the Bleiten killing a bunch of Triari simply to start a war. But if that were the case, they'd have to have known that I was there, to begin with. Someone must have told them.
I glanced at Kyrian and found him staring at me intensely. I had a feeling that he had come to the same conclusion that I had; we had been betrayed.
Chapter Sixteen
“Arc Kyrian, you've secured Amara Madison, I see.” A man stood as we walked into the meeting room; he was the blond arc who Prince Atren had sent to work with DHS. “Good work; at least you two are alive.”
“Thank you, but I wasn't the one to secure her,” Kyrian admitted. “She was under the care of the American Secret Service.”
“Amara, are you all right?” President Colton came over and took my hand; easing me away from the Triari.
“I'm fine; thank you, Mr. President,” I said. “I'm a little shaken, though. I heard that there was an attack using a bioweapon and that all the Triari who were in the hotel are dead. Is that true?”
“Yes,” Colton said grimly. “But before we get into this, I should introduce you to Arc Zane. He'll be taking over for Prince Atren until his replacement arrives.”
“Arc Zane,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”
“And you, Ms. Madison,” Zane said. “I'm relieved that you weren't taken by Bleiten.”
“The only reason I'm safe is that I refused to let your prince detain me,” I said.
“Yes; that seems to have been a fortuitous rebellion,” he noted. “And President Colton has informed me that as a half-human who was born on Earth, you have the right to choose your allegiance, and you have chosen America.”
“That's correct,” I confirmed.
“Well, the Triari function a little differently than humans,” Arc Zane said. “You can't choose to be or not be Triari; you simply are or aren't. And not only are you Triari, but you also have Triari property within your blood.”
“Excuse me?” Colton placed himself bravely in front of me. “You need to explain that.”
“I haven't been given the approval to do so, President Colton,” Zane began. “I'm sorry—”
“My father was a Triari scientist. When I was little, I got sick,” I started to explain it to Colton.
“Ms. Madison, do not say any more,” Zane ordered me.
So, of course, I went on.
“He healed me with an elixir he invented,” I said to Colton. “They think I have remnants of this elixir in my blood, and they want it—despite all protests to the contrary.”
“What?” Colton looked from me to Zane. “That's why Prince Atren tried to keep her in his custody? Not because he wanted to protect her but because of this elixir?”
“That is not the entire truth,” Zane said to me chidingly.
“It's the simplified version,” I countered. “Would you like me to tell him the complete one?”
Zane grimaced at me.
“I would like to hear the complete version,” Colton said with a prompting look my way.
“Amara, please don't do this,” Kyrian said. “It will complicate matters.”
I didn't want Colton to know the whole truth about the elixir, but at this point, I'd have to tell him something or he'd never stop badgering me. And frankly, if he was going to defend me, he deserved to hear it.
“The Bleiten want me for the same reason,” I said to Colton. “They know about the elixir.”
Zane growled out a Triari curse, and Kyrian grimaced, but I also saw a flash of relief in Kyrian's aura. I had given Colton exactly what he needed to know and nothing more.
“The Bleiten want to take this healing concoction out of your blood?” Colton asked me.
“Mr. President, this is bigger than the blood of one woman,” a man seated at the conference table said. He was Latino; wearing an expensive suit and closely-cropped hair. Several important looking people sat around him. “There has been a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. We have to strike back immediately.”
“Secretary Garcia, I think we all need to take a breath before we take drastic measures,” Colton said. “We wouldn't know where to strike, even if I approved it.”
“Hand Amara over to us, and you'll have one less thing to worry about,” Zane said. “Do not, and you will cause great tension between our people.”
“I won't be bullied, Arc Zane,” Colton growled. “We may not seem as strong as the Triari, but we humans have a few aces up our sleeves. We can give as good as we get. So, if your people want to make an intergalactic incident over a woman who is an American citizen by birth, you go right ahead. But Amara will be here with us when the shooting starts.”
“And I'll be holding my own gun,” I said; internally adding that the gun would be a Bleiten Blaster.
Zane's jaw clenched and a flare of red-hot fury scorched his aura briefly. He compressed it into white after a few deep breaths and then narrowed his eyes at me.
“This is not what your father would have wanted, Amaranthine,” Zane said. “That elixir is our property; he created it for his people.”
“And then he destroyed it and was sent into hiding here,” I went on. “He recreated it on Earth; a new version specifically for me. Therefore, neither it nor I am your property.”
“We'll see what Prince Traegur has to say when he arrives,” Zane said cryptically. “For now, I will concede your point to keep the peace.”
“Wonderful,” Secretary Garcia said sarcastically. “Now, can we talk about finding these Bleiten?”
“I thought you weren't certain that this was a Bleiten attack?” I asked. “Couldn't it be this group of robbers again?”
“Not likely,” Garcia huffed. “A ragtag bunch of supe bank robbers won't have the means to create a bioweapon, even with the notes of a scientist.”
“Who is this man?” I whispered to the President.
“The Secretary of Defense,” Colton whispered back.
I grimaced. If the Department of Defense was taking an interest, war was a distinct possibility.
“A Bleiten was caught on camera as he was leaving the hotel,” Colton said in a louder voice to me. “I think that's enough evidence for us to safely assume they were involved.”
I glanced at Kyrian and then brought up what was really worrying me. “Have you determined why?”
“Why?” The Secretary of Defense asked. “Because they hate the Triari.”
“But killing a prince?” I asked skeptically. “This will start another war. And if you want to start a war, wouldn't you wait for a bigger target? There are Triari ships right above us, wouldn't it be wiser to wait until more of those soldiers came to Earth before deploying a secret bioweapon for the first time? They had an element of surprise on their side that they'll never get back.”
“Perhaps they killed the Prince so that those soldiers would come on down,” Se
cretary Garcia said; giving me a more considering look. “Or are you trying to insinuate that this attack was about you, Ms. Madison? That they killed all those Triari just to get at you?”
“They are after her,” Colton said pensively. “And all they want is her blood. They could take that easily from her corpse.”
I exchanged a weighted glance with Kyrian. No; I wasn't going to tell the President that I'd survive any kind of attack. The last thing I needed was for the humans to turn on me and try to take my blood too. Immortality was even more alluring when you had a shorter lifespan.
“Mr. President, the point I was trying to make was that if this is about me, even partially, then the Bleiten would have to have been informed that I was going to be at The Willard with the Triari Prince. I didn't even know that was going to happen until it did so how could anyone else have planned for it in advance?”
The room went quiet.
“We may need to do some digging in our garden, Mr. President,” Secretary Garcia said. “If Ms. Madison is correct, we have a mole.”
Chapter Seventeen
I didn't think there was anything more for me to do, as far as helping the investigation went, but I was wrong. An antique cabinet took up most of the far wall and its doors were open to showcase a large television. Maybe it was just a monitor, but I liked the idea that the President used it to relax and watch a football game every now and then. Anyway, my attention was directed to it, and the hotel security footage was brought up on the screen.
“We were able to isolate the Bleiten,” SA Longchamp said. “He seemed to be speaking to himself, but upon closer inspection, we noted the tiny comm device attached to his collar. We believe he was reporting to his superiors. Could you interpret the conversation for us, Ms. Madison?”
Longchamp pointed to the frozen image of a Bleiten on the screen. In particular; to a dot on his pale green collar. As with the human races of Earth, most alien races had distinguishable features that could be used to identify them. But you had to keep in mind that these races inhabited planets of their own, and they had sub-races with their individual traits. So, unless you were trained to recognize the distinctive features common to the collective race of a particular planet, you wouldn't be able to tell a Bleiten from a Brazilian. This one actually did look a little Brazilian; with dark hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin. He was thickly muscled and tall, but not beyond the bounds of humanity. What gave him away were the sharp ridges of his brow bones. Again, they weren't inhuman looking, but when combined with the other traits of bulk and predatory demeanor, they were a confirmation.
I nodded. “Go ahead.”
Longchamp hit Play on her little remote, and the video clip ran; with all the sound muted except for the Bleiten's voice. My jaw clenched as I listened, but I controlled my expression. What I'd failed to remember was that the Triari knew Bleiten too. It was simply prudent to know the language of your enemy. So, as I listened—my gut clenching with anxiety—Kyrian leaned toward the screen and narrowed his eyes. Then he transferred that hard stare to me.
“Not good,” I said to him.
“No,” he agreed and then transferred his concerned look to Zane.
“Did you tell anyone else that you were headed to the hotel, Ms. Madison?” Zane asked me.
“No,” I said softly.
“It appears that we have several translators in this room,” President Colton noted.
“They're our enemies,” Zane explained. “Every Triari soldier understands Bleiten.”
“Fine,” Colton said gruffly. “But I'll ask Amara to interpret since it's her job.”
“It appears likely that you have a traitor, Mr. President,” I announced soberly. “The Bleiten was indeed giving a report; he said that there were Triari in the hotel but that the woman—I'm assuming he meant me—wasn't there. Then it sounded as if he were responding to a command to return to his unit.”
“So, they knew Prince Atren and you would be there,” Colton mused.
“Actually, he didn't say anything about the Prince,” I corrected. “But that could have been assumed when he mentioned the Triari.”
“Regardless, they knew that all of you would be there,” Garcia said. “And the only people who should have known that are the people who saw you walk out with Prince Atren and the secret service agents who drove you to the hotel.”
“Were there any communications made during the drive?” Kyrian asked.
Secretary Garcia looked at SA Longchamp, and she started shuffling through a file of papers.
“The only communications were made by secret service agents,” she said. “They used our standard name-replacement techniques for referring to any person of importance.”
“But aliases wouldn't be hard to figure out,” Kyrian said. “Especially if the listener knew who was likely to be discussed.”
“You're saying that someone could have been listening in on the agents' communications and figured out that we were transporting the Triari and Ms. Madison to The Willard?” Secretary Garcia asked.
Kyrian nodded.
“There's also the hotel staff,” SA Longchamp pointed out. “We had to reserve the Jefferson suite on short notice, and that is not a normal occurrence. One of the staff members could have been bribed into revealing that important guests of President Colton's were staying at the hotel.”
“But how would they know about Amara?” Kyrian asked.
“Interview the hotel staff who were on duty during the Triari stay,” Secretary Garcia said to his aide. “And I want to know the whereabouts of everyone on the White House staff who would have known about The Willard. Analyze every piece of footage concerning all of those people for anything suspicious.”
“Yes, Sir!” The Secretary's aide stood and hurried from the room.
“That's all well and good,” a man said as he stepped into the room with yet another group of Triari. “But the best way to stop a Bleiten threat is to kill the Bleiten.”
“Mr. President,” a White House staffer stammered as she came in behind the man, “this is Prince Traegur and his escort; they have just transported in.”
“It's an honor to meet you, Prince Traegur,” President Colton said as he stood to greet the Prince. “Thank you, Ellie.”
The girl hurried out as the newest Triari jackass strode in. The room was getting crowded, and it was a big room.
“The honor is mine, President Colton,” Prince Traegur said tonelessly. “Now, the Bleiten. What's being done to find them and avenge the death of my fellow Triari?”
Traegur was another blond, sweet-faced Triari; your typical angel with radiant skin that any actress would kill for. But there was the glint of steel in his blue eyes, and his hands looked as if they'd held a sword recently. He strode toward the end-seat that Zane was in, and Zane smoothly got to his feet and shifted down one. The Prince settled, glanced around the table—briefly glaring at me—and then focused back on Colton. I frowned at that; he had obviously recognized me, but how?
“Mr. Secretary, can you brief the Prince?” President Colton formally asked Garcia.
As the Secretary of Defense went over the strategies being employed by several task forces that had been created with the sole purpose of finding the Bleiten, I began to grow more and more uncomfortable. The Triari presence was multiplying, and I wasn't sure if the President was going to be able to withstand the pressure to relinquish me into their custody. I didn't want him put in a position to start a war over me either. So, I quietly slid out of my chair and moved toward a door on the opposite side of the room from the Triari. Everyone was too focused on the Prince to notice me leaving.
Everyone but Kyrian.
As I slipped out the door, Kyrian grabbed my arm.
“Where are you going?” He whispered.
“To the restroom,” I said irritably. “Is that okay with you?”
“No; it's not,” he said sternly. “I'm not letting you out of my sight, Amara.”
“You are not coming into
the ladies' bathroom with me, Kyrian,” I said. “That's highly inappropriate and just plain disturbing.”
“Ma'am, are you all right?” Agent Washburn and his team had been waiting outside of the meeting room for me.
“Do you mind escorting me to the facilities, Agent Washburn?” I asked sweetly.
“Of course.” Washburn nodded. “We can look after her, Arc Kyrian. Please return to the meeting.”
“I'm supposed to be looking after her,” Kyrian said firmly.
“I think President Colton made it clear that you will not be allowed to do so,” Washburn said without emotion. “I assure you that we are more than capable of protecting Ms. Madison. Now, please return to the meeting, Sir.”
The other three agents stepped up behind Washburn and took their typical stances; hands clasped loosely before them. As relaxed as their poses were, they still clearly expressed their preparedness for any type of altercation at a moment's notice.
“Five minutes,” Kyrian said sternly to me. “Any longer, and I come looking for you.”
“Ladies need longer than gentlemen,” Washburn said smoothly. “You'd best give her ten minutes before you start an incident in the White House over a bathroom break, Arc Kyrian.”
Kyrian grimaced and strode back into the meeting room. I smirked at the large slash of angry red running through his aura. At the rate we were going, I'd have his halo crushed in a week. My smile disappeared as soon as Kyrian was gone, though, and I turned urgently to the agents.
“You need to get me out of here,” I whispered. “The Triari are waiting for the perfect moment to pressure the President into giving me up. That Prince isn't going to take no for an answer. Which means that President Colton will either give in—”
“President Colton won't give you up after vowing to protect you, Ma'am,” Washburn interrupted me. “He's a man of his word.”
“Or,” I continued with a chiding look at Washburn, “he'll start a war over me. I have no intentions of being the next Helen of Troy, Agent Washburn. Frankly, I've always thought she was a bit of a moron, and Paris was a pansy.”
