“It’s a long story. I’ll explain everything when we get you back to the Buri village.”
“Is that safe? Quilla will know right where to find me.”
“Yeah, she’ll know, but she won’t be able to do anything about it. The hardest part will be getting you there. She has people out looking, so you’ll have to be quiet. And leave your comm unit here. They’re trying to pick up its signal and use it to locate you, but the cave walls are blocking it.”
While Thor and Ghost put out the fire, she unfastened the comm unit and threw it deep into one of the passages. Too bad I didn’t have time to hook it to one of the herdbeasts that roamed the plains. That would sure keep Dorn and company busy for the night. As pleasant as that thought was, it would take too long to run one down.
I moved to the cave opening, where Crigo waited and mentally checked the area. The Buri I’d located earlier was moving back toward the Dynatec camp, so we should have a clear path.
When the others joined me, we set out single file with Crigo in the front. We were almost back at the village when he flattened his ears and came to an abrupt halt. A wave of animosity rolled off him as he stared intently into the jungle.
Someone is out there, I told Thor. Keep Ghost and Claudia back. Freeing my blaster, I moved up to stand beside Crigo and aimed it at the area he was watching.
“Show yourself, Dorn, or I’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”
“How did you know it was me?” She stepped out of the darkness into a patch of moonlight.
“Logic. If it had been Frisk, Crigo wouldn’t be standing here looking at you, he’d be eating you alive. And if had been one of your crew, a Buri would have been near. I’ve noticed that you seem to be good at evading the guards.” I held the blaster loosely, but was prepared to act in a split second if necessary. “Now, what are you doing here?”
“Waiting.” She shrugged. “I knew that sooner or later you’d fetch Claudia, so it made more sense than beating the brush. And you can put the blaster away. I’m not going to attack you.”
“Let’s just make sure of that, shall we? Max, record,” I told the ship as I returned my blaster to its holster.
“Recording.”
I crossed my arms and stared at her. “What do you want with Claudia?”
“She’s a member of my crew. I’d like to have her back.”
Before I could respond, Claudia dodged around Thor and rushed to stand next to me. “Consider this my resignation, Quilla. I don’t work for people who plan on killing me.”
Dorn’s lips curved in a calm smile. “Don’t be so dramatic, Claudia. You’re a valuable asset to my company. Why would I want to kill you?”
Claudia’s chin went up. “Because I know what kind of files you have on your computer.”
“Oh?” My interest went several notches. “What files does she have?”
Dorn’s smile vanished. “That’s proprietary information. I could have her arrested for corporate espionage.”
“You could, yes.” My own smile turned feral. “But then you’d have to open your files to the courts, wouldn’t you? I’m sure they’d love to see them.”
A bolt of pure frustration shot from her before she got it under control. “It might be worth it.”
“Really? Claudia, what are the files?”
“She has one on the Bureau of Alien Affairs, one on you, one on the Buri, another on the crystals of Orpheus Two, and a really big one on someone named Gertz.”
A chill ran through me. How in the thirteen hells had she found out about Dr. Gertz? If the file was as big as Claudia thought, I could no longer assume my secrets were safe. I couldn’t even confront her about it, because there was a slim chance she didn’t know what she had, and I wasn’t about to point her in the right direction. This information had to get to the boss right away.
“Max,” I subvocalized, “feed this straight to Dr. Daniels, and put a red alert on it so he sees it immediately.”
I had to divert Dorn away from that Gertz file, make her think I wasn’t interested in it, so I grasped the first topic that came to mind. “There’s no need to hide the crystals, Dorn. I know exactly what they are and what they’re capable of doing. The information is already permanently entered into Max’s archives. Even as we speak, scientists from all over the universe are studying the information.”
“You’d have to be stupid not to know.” Her smile was back, smug and condescending. “If there’s one thing I know about you, Agent Smith, it’s that you aren’t stupid. A bit naive, perhaps, but not stupid.” She gave another of those negligent little shrugs. “It doesn’t matter. When our Chapter Twenty is approved, the planet will legally belong to Dynatec, along with all the crystals. We’ll be able to ask any price we want for them. Do you know how much people will pay for a crystal that enhances psi ability? The sky is the limit.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I gestured toward Thor and Ghost, who had moved up to flank Claudia and me. “Orpheus Two belongs to the Buri.”
“For now. But we both know they aren’t capable of reproducing in significant numbers. And even you can’t change that. Not in the time you have left. What is it, three more weeks? You’d need a miracle.”
She didn’t know about the Limantti. Relief surged through me, and I grinned. “I wouldn’t be too sure of myself if I were you, Dorn. Miracles happen all the time. As a matter of fact, I’m getting closer to saving them every day. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if every female Buri on the planet weren’t expecting a little bundle of joy soon. Well, except Auntie Em. I suspect she’d be a tiny bit peeved if she ended up pregnant at her age.”
A chuckle erupted from Thor at the image he’d picked up from me. Ghost asked him what was so funny, and when Thor told him, both Buri laughed.
Dorn’s expression suddenly turned frantic as her gaze cut from me to the two males and back. “You’re lying!” Her voice came out shrill and furious.
“Am I? Well, stick around a few more weeks and then you’ll know for sure.”
Her lips thinned for a minute, then she spun on her heels and stalked away without another word.
“Wow,” Claudia breathed. “I’ve never seen anything ruffle Quilla’s feathers before. Not sure I want to be in the area if it happens again, either.” She glanced at me. “She’s really going to be gunning for you now, Kiera.”
“Do I look scared?”
She took a longer look at me and then smiled. “No, you look like you’re hoping she gives you an excuse to beat the crap out of her.”
“Bingo.” I responded to her smile with a broad grin.
“Now, let’s get you to the village and settled in.”
When we started off again, Crigo split away from us to follow Dorn. He didn’t trust her any more than I did. I took the opportunity to converse silently with Max.
“Did the boss see the part about the file Dorn has on Gertz?”
“Yes, and he’s infuriated,” the ship replied. “He says he wants that file and he wants it yesterday.”
“Uh-huh. And did he mention exactly how I was supposed to get it? I kind of doubt Dorn will stand by and let me stroll in to make copies. Not unless we want to recreate the shoot-out at the OK Corral first.”
“I did bring that point up. He’s working on it. Alien Affairs has an entire department of computer experts on staff. Since Dynatec’s ship is so old, he’s hoping their computer is outdated also. With the proper assistance, I should be able to hack into their system.”
My jaw nearly hit the ground. “The boss? The boss wants you to hack into someone else’s computer? We are talking about Dr. Daniels, right?”
“I told you, he is upset.”
“Yeah, but…” I trailed off and shook my head. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. If I live to be eight hundred I’ll never understand Naturals. Just when you think you’ve got one of them pegged, they do something totally out of character.
On the other hand, if the boss wanted to b
reak the law, who was I to stand in his way?
“Be sure to tell him Dorn has an alert of some kind set up. It’s the only way she could have known Claudia was rifling through her files.”
“He knows.”
Of course he did. In my estimation, only the Goddess rivaled the boss in intelligence and the ability to ferret out information. And most of the time, she wasn’t paying attention. The boss always was.
My thoughts were interrupted by a horrible cacophony intermingled with laughter as we stepped out of the jungle into the village. It was so bad I was tempted to clap my hands over my ears to protect my hearing.
It didn’t take me long to locate the source of the noise.
Redfield was singing. And to make matters worse, Brownie was trying to help him.
Sheesh. We’d only been gone an hour. How drunk could they get in that amount of time?
I eyed the empty jugs littering the area and sighed. Apparently they could get pretty soused in an hour. “Max, how much Panga ale do we have on board?”
“Seventy-five gallons.”
“Seventy-five gallons?” I repeated in sheer disbelief.
“It was on sale.”
There was a distinct sniff in his tone, and I rolled my eyes. “Well, at least we can replace the wine Redfield and Brownie have consumed. And have enough ale left over to serve all the Galactic Federation troops stationed on Centauri.”
“What’s going on?” Claudia asked, wincing as Redfield raised the volume. Behind us, Thor and Ghost were chuckling in amusement.
“Brownie has a grudge against Redfield. They’re settling it by trying to drink each other under the table.”
“Sweet Goddess.” She rubbed her forehead. “What is he singing? And I use the term singing loosely.”
I tilted my head and listened closer. “The tune sounds kind of like ‘What Do you Do with a Drunken Sailor’, but I don’t recognize the words.”
“If he doesn’t pass out soon, I may help him along. My ears can’t take much more of this.”
The words were no sooner out of her mouth than Redfield cut off mid-word and slumped sideways, a beatific smile on his face. Brownie continued for another stanza and then stopped to eye his fallen foe. With a grunt of triumph, he slid down until his chin rested on the table. Before he’d taken two breaths, snores were emanating from his throat.
“Brownie wins,” I declared.
All the Buri cheered while Auntie Em rounded up some of the males to carry the combatants off to bed.
“This way,” I told Claudia, gesturing toward the stone building. “You can stay with Thor and me for now. We have plenty of room.”
“That’s your home?” Her eyes were big as saucers. “You are so lucky.”
“Uh, yep. That’s where I live, all right.” And why did it make me so uncomfortable to refer to the building as home? I truly did love it. If I’d designed a home for myself, it would have looked just like this one.
But deep down I knew why. I was scared silly that I’d get attached to the place and then have to leave it. That would hurt almost more than I could stand. So for now, it would remain merely the stone building to me.
Ghost and Thor followed us inside, then went into the small sitting room while I showed Claudia to the first bedroom on the left. It wasn’t as big as the master suite, but it had its own bathing pool.
“You should be comfortable enough here,” I told her. “If you want privacy, just shut the curtain over the doorway. Are you hungry?”
“No, thanks. Your cat kept us in meat, and Ghost went out at night and picked some berries.” She peered around the room in awe. “This beats my quarters at camp all to hell. That pool looks fantastic. I’d kill for a bath right now.”
“No need to get violent. It’s all yours.” I hesitated. “How do you feel about wearing Buri clothing? I’d offer you my jumpsuits, but they’d swallow you whole.”
“You mean those loincloth things?” She looked doubtful for a second. “Do you think they could rig me something for up here?” Her hands bounced in front of her breasts. “I just can’t get used to the idea of going half naked in public.”
“I’m sure we can figure something out. Might even start a fad.” I moved farther into the room and sat down on the sleeping platform. “There’s something we need to talk about.”
“Oh?” She strolled over and sat down beside me. “What’s that?”
“Ghost, and why you can’t sleep with him.”
A rosy tint climbed into her café au lait cheeks. “I was wondering about that.”
I turned toward her a bit more. “See, here’s the thing. If you have sex with him, it’ll kill you.”
Her mouth gaped open. “He’s that good?”
An involuntary snort of laughter escaped my lips. “I have no idea. In this case, it’s not his technique and experience that causes the problem. Have you noticed the earrings he wears?”
“Sure. Two black stones in the same ear.”
“They’re called Rellanti, and when Ghost is intimate with a female capable of forming a mind bond with him, the Rellanti try to complete the bond. If the female isn’t properly prepared, it will kill her. Once she is, and the marriage ceremony takes place, they’ll be mated for life.”
She stared at me. “You mean he…I…we…married?”
The last word came out a shriek and I grinned. “Exactly.”
Thor sent me a questioning thought from down the hall. The Claudia is in pain?
No, she’s in shock. I just explained to her about the mind bond.
Good. Ghost wishes the ceremony to take place in the next sevenday.
Unaware of our conversation, Claudia continued. “But what if he doesn’t want to marry me?”
“Take my word for it. He wants to marry you. The mind bond has become very rare for them. When they find someone capable of sharing it, they hang on with both hands. Ghost is making plans for the ceremony with Thor right this minute. All you have to do is agree.”
“Yes. I mean, I agree. When?”
“Sometime in the next week.” Joy flowed from her in such intense waves that it was making me a little giddy.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” She clapped both hands to her cheeks. “I can’t believe this is happening to me. Not only do I get to stay on this beautiful world, I get to marry that gorgeous hunk. I feel like I’ve won some grand, universal lottery that I didn’t even know I’d entered.”
“Maybe you have.” And I couldn’t help being a little envious. It must be nice to be so certain of your future. At the moment, mine was on pretty shaky ground.
With a small sigh I stood and walked to the door. “Why don’t you go ahead and slip into the bathing pool while I find you something to wear.”
“Okay. And Kiera…” Her expression sobered. “Thank you for protecting me from Dorn. Thank you for everything. I won’t forget it.”
Emotion choked me until I couldn’t speak. Hers, mine, it didn’t matter which. With a nod of acknowledgment, I pulled the curtain down over the doorway and headed to the front of the building.
Thor stepped out of the sitting room to meet me, a worried look in his eyes. “You are upset.”
“No.” I smiled at him. “Not upset, just a combination of happy/sad. It’s a girl thing. Hormones running wild and all that good stuff.” I peered around him into the empty room.
“Where’s Ghost?”
“He has gone to set the preparations for the mating ceremony in motion.”
“Okay. Who’s in charge of providing everyday clothes?”
“Lurran.”
I took his hand. “In that case, I need you to come with me so you can translate. Claudia needs something to wear, and she’s too modest for a regular kechic.”
We were almost out the door when Max stopped me.
“Kiera?”
“Yes, Max?”
“I’ve finished the DNA analysis on the Buri plants.”
“And?”
“Of the twenty-five varieties you brought me, nine match the DNA of the Ashwani plants exactly.”
I’ll admit, it took me a second. Head tilted, I thought over his results. “How many Ashwani plants do you have DNA for?”
“Nine.”
Abruptly my spine stiffened and I spun to stare at Thor. A resigned look flickered through his ebony eyes as I dropped his hand and confronted him. “Your people are not indigenous to this planet, are they? You’re colonists from Ashwan.”
CHAPTER 19
“Were you ever going to tell me, or where you just going to let me go on thinking this was your planet of origin?” I couldn’t stop the glare I shot him. Damn it, it hurt knowing he didn’t trust me.
He lifted a hand to touch me, but I dodged. With a sigh, he lowered it again. “It is not you we don’t trust, but the others of your kind. And yes, I would have shared this knowledge with you when it was safe to do so.”
“The Ashwani tapestry. You recognized it, didn’t you? That’s why you reacted the way you did.”
“Yes. It belonged to my sire. It depicts my grandsire and his sire on Feastday. The last time I saw it, it hung in my sire’s great hall. If possible, I would wish to have it returned.”
“Take it up with the Galactic Federation’s Alien Artifact Museum.” I squeezed my eyes closed briefly in disgust. “I suspected you were descendants of the Ashwani, but it never occurred to me you were physically from their planet. All the clues were there, I just didn’t put them together. Ashwan has a heavier gravity. That’s why you’re so big, why your bones are denser.”
“Yes.”
“Wait.” Suddenly my mind was racing in fifteen different directions. “How long have you been on Orpheus Two? For that matter, how did you get here? Max found no trace of a spaceship.”
“Come.” He turned and stepped through the door.
I grabbed his arm to stop him. “Come where?”
“With me. It will be easier to show you while I explain.” He kept walking, forcing me to either let go or get dragged. I hesitated a second and then raced to catch up.
By now, it didn’t even surprise me when he headed toward the mountainous area the Buri had previously banned me from entering. Even in the dark his steps were sure and confident, as though he’d trod this path so many times he knew every leaf and stone by heart. And he probably had.
Close Encounters Page 29
