Prime Selection

by Monette Michaels

Nadia barely managed to beat down the need to try again. She dragged her mind back to the situation at hand. “I agree. They could already be on their way here. We missed two checkins so far. Mel is probably having conniptions by now.”

  She walked to the doorway, paused, and looked back. Joen nuzzled Lia’s nape. Lia reached back with one arm to pull his head closer. A pang of envy hit her hard. Damn Huw’s stubborn Prime hide. They could have what Lia and Joen had found—she knew it deep in her soul.

  Nadia cleared her throat, but Joen didn’t let go of Lia. His blazing golden eyes dared her to call him out on the intimacy. She wasn’t that petty. If shit happened, this might be the last time the two would ever spend together. “If Wulf and Mel are on their way, I don’t want them rushing in unprepared for the extent of the perfidy. Those guards I mentioned at the Prime military compound?”

  “Yes?” Joen’s arms went around Lia as he sheltered her against him as if to protect her from an attack.

  “They were manning the super-laser artillery.”

  Joen swore. Lia gasped and clutched at his arm. Every soldier who flew the galaxy had seen what super-lasers, part of most planets’ defense systems, could do to space vehicles. No soldier ever wanted to be on a ship struck by the giant weapons.

  “I don’t want our people running into ship killers. Our people don’t know the military facility has been compromised. They’d be sitting ducks. If I need backup, I’ll communicate my needs to Aeron.”

  So many things could go wrong, but she had to do this because those were her peers and soldiers on the Galanti and the other Gold ships that would come to their aid. They could be killed. She’d do anything to keep them alive—even if it meant going on a suicide mission into the depths of enemy-held territory, even if it meant contacting the man who denied the bond between them, the bond which was her only means of warning them about the danger.

  Deliberately, she reached for the psychic connection with Huw. He was closer—the Galanti was on its way to Tarn.

  This time she blasted her message with everything in her and hoped he’d be receptive for once.

  Careful, it’s a trap!

  On the Galanti, four standard hours away from Tarn Huw stiffened at his post on the Command Deck. “Mel?”

  His sister-kin turned. “Yes, Huw?”

  “Did you just send me a mental message?”

  “No.” Mel frowned and looked at Wulf. “Wulf?”

  Wulf shrugged and turned toward his brother. “You know such a communication is impossible, Huw. Melina can sense your moods, your emotions, but she can only speak telepathically with me. Why do you ask?”

  Huw wished he’d kept his mouth shut. Everyone on the Command Deck stared at him. As much as he wanted to deny he’d heard a female voice he’d hoped was Mel’s and not Nadia’s, the warning could be important. “I received a warning. Tarn is a trap. To be careful.”

  Wulf approached Huw and leaned over to whisper next to his ear. “Was the warning from Nadia?”

  Huw nodded, and his brother’s expression turned pensive.

  The One knew Huw hadn’t asked for this preternatural connection with Nadia. He was far too attracted to her the way it was; there were times when he’d dream of her and expect her to be in his bed when he awoke.

  Beyond the lust for her beautiful body, he liked and admired her. She was a strong, intelligent woman. But if he succumbed to this intense attraction and courted her … what would happen later if he found his true gemate on their mission to seek the Lost Ones? If he found and marked his gemate, then he would hurt not only Nadia but also the gemate.

  He would dishonor the Prime woman who was destined to be his mate and the Terran woman he’d prematurely wooed.

  Honor and fair play demanded he wait until after the search for the Lost Ones before he made any overt attempt to court Nadia. He’d made a decision after the rescue of Nadia and Mel two weeks ago to keep Nadia at arm’s length until the mission was complete.

  But it grew harder and harder to maintain such a distance. The mental link between them, whatever it was, grew stronger each time he was near her. He’d begun avoiding her—and it had still grown stronger.

  Maybe Nadia was a Terran witch or a psychic? He’d read about such anomalies when studying the cultures with which the Prime would come into contact once they’d joined the Galactic Alliance. This link between them could not be a sign of a Prime mating—Nadia was Terran, not Prime.

  Mercenaries. Super-lasers. Danger. Mercenaries. Super-lasers. Danger.

  Mercenaries. Super-lasers. Danger.

  Huw gasped and shot out of his chair.

  “What is it, brother?” Wulf placed a hand on his shoulder, steadying him when he would have fallen.

  “Nothing … no, not nothing.” He couldn’t deny the voice. The message was crucial to their safety. Nadia—and he had no doubt now it was her voice and mental touch—was trying to warn them. There was more than just a communication issue on Tarn. “I, um, keep hearing the same words over and over.”

  He lied. There was more than just the words, but he couldn’t admit to his brother Nadia had drawn on him somehow for strength and energy. She was injured, exhausted, and in pain—and how in Balcon’s depths had he sensed those things? And he definitely couldn’t explain how he knew Nadia was leading herself and two others into what could be a suicide mission.

  Fear struck him in the chest and he gasped for breath. He was too far away to help— to stop Nadia from walking into danger.

  “Diew! We need to hurry.” Huw looked at his brothers, Iolyn having come to stand by Wulf. Both of them sheltered him from the gazes of the command deck crew. “And we need to be careful. The training facility is in the hands of mercenaries—and they have activated the super-lasers.”

  Wulf grunted. “I believe your source.” He mumbled so only his brothers could hear.

  “The telepathy must be of the same kind that occurs between me and Melina.”

  Huw shook his head. “No! This is different.” It had to be. Nadia wasn’t his gemate and that meant she couldn’t be a battle-mate either. Nadia had to be a strong telepath.

  Huw thumped the area over his heart with his fisted hand. “I have no marking. This isn’t what you and Mel have.”

  Mel had come to join them. She covered Huw’s fist with her hand and squeezed gently. “Whatever this is, Huw, we’ll trust it. The situation on the planet was suspect to begin with…” she stroked a comforting hand down his arm, “…we’ll deal with whatever is happening between you and Nadia … later. Once we have her and our fellow soldiers back.”

  “There is nothing to deal with. She isn’t Prime.” Huw turned back to his station.

  “She’s not my gemate. ”

  “Stubborn ass,” Iolyn muttered as he passed by.

  “Shut up, bak.” Huw snarled the epithet for a motherless son of a fucked bovine.

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “Ansu bhau!” Wulf said. “We will discuss this later as a family and not on the Command Deck as we head into danger.” Wulf stared at him until he had to look away from the anger and dominance in his older brother’s eyes. “You and Nadia will have medical tests done. We’ll send them to the Alliance Astrobiology lab on Tau Ceti for evaluation.”

  When Huw opened his mouth to protest, Wulf cut him off. “That is an order from your commanding officer. Right now,” Wulf turned to glare at the fascinated command deck crew, “we are going to Red Alert. Maximum speed, Mr. J’ar.”

  “Aye, sir.” J’ar programmed the helm and the resulting surge from accelerating from cruising speed to maximum vibrated the deck.

  The alert was sounded. The Command Deck became a beehive of activity as systems were monitored and decks reported in. The Galanti and its crew were preparing for battle.

  Wulf turned away from Huw and toward Mel. “Contact Nowicki on the Leonidas and bring him up to speed, tell him we’ll have an intership com-conference with all section officers in five standard mi
nutes. We have less than four standard hours to come up with a plan to land on the planet without being seen or shot out of the skies, locate and rescue our people, and take back control of Tarn’s military facility.”

  Mel nodded and hurried to her command chair to begin relaying the orders.

  “Iolyn,” Wulf said, “notify Prime Command, Father, and Alliance Military Command of the situation as we know it.” Iolyn shifted to the communication console.

  Wulf took Huw by the upper arms and shook him. “Tell me the instant the message from Nadia changes. She’s trying to warn us and using the only way she can. Do not be a stubborn ass! Open yourself up. Tell her we’re coming. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir!” Huw closed his eyes and concentrated on the fragile thread in his mind and found it not as fragile as it had been a mere week ago.

  Diew, when had it strengthened? He’d avoided Nadia, blocked her attempts to communicate with him in this way, in the hopes distance and denial would make whatever this was go away. Obviously, he’d been unsuccessful.

  “Hang on, Nadia. We received your warning. We’re coming.”

  What he could only describe as relief came back at him. She’d received his message.

  His brothers and Mel might think this was evidence of a mating of some sort, but he remained unconvinced. The connection could have no basis in biology. The medical tests would prove his case.

  Still, even though Nadia couldn’t be his mate, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her and would do all he could to avoid her injury or death.

  “Don’t die, Nadia. Stay alive.”

  “Hurry, Huw!” The feminine mind touch raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

  She was afraid for not just herself, but for the ships coming to her team’s rescue.

  “Wulf!” His brother paused at the open door to the Captain’s Board Room. “We need to hurry.”

  Wulf, grim-faced, nodded, and gave the order to the helmsman. “Red-line it, Mr.

  J’ar.”

  “Aye, Captain.” The Volusian programmed the helm to circumvent all engine safety measures to get the most speed from the ship. The Galanti surged forward even faster until the stars passed the bridge window like so many silver streaks. “Our ETA is now two point five standard hours.”

  “We’re coming, Nadia.”

  Huw left the Command Deck at a run and headed for Engineering where he would keep the Galanti running at red-line and beyond until they reached Tarn. He’d get everything out of his engines and his engineering techs or die trying.

  Chapter 4

  Night, Cejuru Tarn

  With no moon, the only light illuminating the flat, arid landscape upon which the military compound sat were the stars and the perimeter security lights on the compound walls. Shadows upon shadows covered the scene below her team’s vantage point. They’d taken a position near the back of the facility about one hundred meters away, hidden in the rocks that had tumbled from the foothills during one of the infrequent periods of tectonic behavior of the planetoid.

  Nadia used the magnification in her night-vision goggles to zero in on the door that led to the subterranean communications room and from it to the weaponry control room.

  The target building was near the back of the military compound. Between them and the entrance was open space; they’d be seen by the mercenary guards before they’d made it five meters from their hiding place.

  “Bram?” She turned to look at Crewman Bram Tilga, who like most Prime was huge, well muscled, and extraordinarily handsome despite his somber demeanor. “Where are these maintenance tunnels you were telling me about?”

  Bram pointed to a small, gray stone building that abutted the woods not too far from where they were hidden. “We can access one of the utility maintenance tunnels from that equipment shed. This tunnel will allow us to cross the open space without being seen.

  There is an exit onto the surface closest to the door we need.” Bram’s golden gaze was calm, and his voice even and emotionless.

  But underneath his purposely blank exterior, she sensed he constantly evaluated her, testing her for weakness. Well, she hadn’t expected complete trust from her new Prime crew members. They didn’t know her yet.

  “How close?” she asked as she turned back to the building and looked through her goggles to see if she could spot a trap door on the hard surface.

  “Less than five meters from the back of our target. You cannot see it from here, Commander.” Bram’s voice held gentle amusement. “But the door is behind the stack of palettes near the building entrance.”

  Nadia slid down the rock upon which she’d perched to reconnoiter the situation and turned to face her team. “We’ll make our way to the storage shed using the cover of the trees and rocks, take out any guards stationed there, and then enter and use the tunnel.

  Will you know which exit from the tunnel we’ll need, Bram?”

  Bram nodded. “They are marked.”

  “Excellent. Once we get to the appropriate exit, I’ll go first and distract the guards.

  You two will take them out. Since A’tem and I have determined the guards change every hour on the hour,” she checked her chronometer, “we have less than a standard hour window from now to get into that building.”

  “Not an issue, Commander.” Bram’s lips quirked into what might have been a smile.

  “I have the backdoor codes Commander Dakkin and I created when we trained here. I can have us inside in less than a standard minute.”

  Nadia grinned at the Prime. “Very good. Once we’re inside, Bram since you know the facility and the tunnel systems connecting the buildings, you will be on point. I want us in and out with communications and weapons under our control and not theirs as quickly as possible. If we manage not to alert the enemy upon accomplishment of those goals, then and only then we will scout to see if we can free the Prime prisoners.” If they couldn’t, the prisoners would be freed quickly enough once the rest of Gold arrived.

  “Agreed?”

  “Yes, Commander,” A’tem said. “What is the contingency plan in case we are discovered while trapped underground?”

  Nadia hadn’t created one. Her main goal had always been to get off-planet communications up and running so Joen and Aeron could contact Wulf and Mel and then fix it so no one could use the laser weaponry against the rescue ships. Without a lot of luck on their side, which she’d never counted on, she’d fully expected this to be a suicide mission. Both Aeron and Joen had understood that and that was why they had wanted to come in her stead.

  Before Nadia could come up with an explanation as to her initial reasoning, Bram spoke up, “We will not be trapped, Commander A’tem. There are other ways out of the subterranean complex known only by certain Elite-trained soldiers with specific security clearances.”

  Bram looked from A’tem to her and back as if deciding whether they were worthy of what had to be Prime military secrets. He smiled. “I am one of those soldiers.”

  “And what are these other ways out?” Nadia asked.

  “Once we are in the subterranean complex, I will point out a door closest to the communications secure room, leading to an escape tunnel into the mountains and the cave systems.”

  Bram’s revelations sent a chill down her spine. “The enemy can get into the mountain caves from these escape tunnels?”

  “Not the specific caves where our people are located, but into other similar cave systems,” Bram said. “Commander Ard suggested the cave system we occupy for its defensive capabilities and for the fact that not many know of the system outside of the certain Elite team members. Commander Ard told me to reveal facility security measures to you as needed. I have.”

  “Thank you, Bram. A’tem and I won’t share the location of the escape tunnels with anyone else in Gold.”

  “Commander,” Bram said almost gently, “I am sure Captain Wulf will reveal such secrets to his senior crew when he has the time. But you need to know all of your Prime crew membe
rs know of these tunnels and others like them in similar Prime military fortifications all across this part of the galaxy.”

  And from Bram’s last statement, Nadia deduced every single Prime crew member in Gold was Elite-trained with the highest security clearance and the best the Prime had to offer. Wulf must’ve taken that into consideration when he and Mel vetted the Prime soldiers to be merged into Gold. She’d remember to thank him for that foresight later.

  Her confidence level on surviving their particular mission had now gone from under five percent up to fifty. The fact A’tem had served in the Volusian military’s elite squads before joining the Alliance military bumped the fifty percent chances of mission success and survival up to maybe sixty-five.

  Another thought struck her. “Then why aren’t we using these secret tunnels in the mountains to get into the compound?” Nadia scowled at Bram.

  “Because the escape tunnels are meant to be exit only. They are booby-trapped against entry into the compound, but not against exit from it.” Bram’s tone was very dry and along the lines of “did you think Prime were stupid?”

  Ignoring his sarcastic tone, Nadia let out a breath. “Bram, once we accomplish our primary missions, you remain on point to lead us out of the compound.”

  “Gladly, Commander.” Bram inclined his head.

  Of course, completion of their goals still wouldn’t be that easy, which was why she’d only bumped up the chances of success to sixty-five percent. Once they were in the military compound’s underground rooms and tunnels, they’d be like rats in a maze. And rather than trying to find their way to a piece of cheese, they’d be avoiding the entrenched enemy.

  Plans in place, the trip to the storage shed and into the maintenance tunnel was accomplished easily and without trouble in under ten standard minutes.

  She shoved open the lid of the tunnel, climbed out onto the dirt-packed surface, and then ran to the cover of the large pallets of boxes. A’tem and Bram, after replacing the lid over the tunnel opening, followed her quickly and quietly. She peered around the edge of their hiding place and spied the two large humanoid males who’d come on duty approximately fifteen standard minutes ago. They were alert and heavily armed with knives, laser pistols, and automatic laser rifles. They stood guard, one on either side of the only entrance to the building under which the communications room was located.