“Cas Jod.”
Huw snarled low in his throat and his eyes narrowed until Nadia only saw fiery gold slits. She winced and stepped away from his anger.
“Stop it,” Nadia hissed. “Don’t you growl at me. You have no right. Cas is a good engineer and has mining experience. He’ll do fine. You’re the head of engineering and don’t need to be on an away team for what’s merely a scientific assessment and a retrieval of bodies.”
“She’s correct, brother.” Wulf had come up behind Huw and placed a restraining hand on his brother’s shoulder. “She also has the authority to choose her away teams— and I’m not vetoing her choices—nor will Melina.”
“But Wulf…” Huw turned to his brother and then shut up. Wulf’s face was stern and had a do-not-mess-with-me look. “Fine. Just fine.” Huw entered the now-open lift and closed the doors.
“I apologize for Huw, Nadia.” Wulf touched her clothed arm lightly.
She pulled away, hoping he wouldn’t take offense. He mouthed, “Sorry.”
“Huw’s attitude isn’t your fault, Wulf.” Nadia attempted to smile. “Thanks for backing me up.”
“My brother is a fool.” Wulf sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “But when you told us all were dead, his grief struck me hard. He…”
“I felt it too, Wulf. He’s in denial still.” Nadia shrugged. But … maybe he’ll recognize I’m his mate and have been since we met.
“Nadia…” Wulf’s voice lowered. “Melina thinks you’re mating with my brother.”
“She and Lia have discussed that with me.” Nadia still wondered what Mel and the two doctors weren’t telling her.
Wulf continued, hesitancy and quite a bit of discomfort in his manner. “My brother is highly attracted to you—possessive and protective. He is hurting and confused. His world view has been turned upside down. Please be patient with him. He is, after all, just a stubborn Prime male.”
“Yeah, I get that. But constant rejection hurts.” Nadia shook her head, willing the tears gathering in her eyes not to fall. Huw was making her a wuss.
Wulf touched a curl lying over her ear. “I understand. But can you live forever as you feel now? Lia and Joen have told me the pain they felt when they were apart in the early days of their courtship was unbearable. Melina and I could be apart, but it was a living death. To this day, we need to touch each other’s mind for reassurance. The bond is like being one entity.”
“I don’t want to be apart from Huw.” Nadia blinked back tears seeping from the corners of her eyes. “And I know I’ll have to get over the hurt he’s caused me, find a way to trust him not to hurt me in the future. I need him. I’m not stupid. I know what you and Mel went through … go through even now.”
She took a deep breath past the lump in her throat. “But Huw has to make the first move.” A few tears won and streaked down her cheeks. Through damp lashes, she looked Wulf in the eye. “He has to be a man and apologize. He has to tell me he accepts me, accepts this bond. I want the words, Wulf.”
“He’ll give you them, Nadia. Just give him time.” Wulf swept the wetness off her face with a light, gentle touch. The lift opened behind her. “Go. You have teams waiting on you.”
“Aye-aye, sir!” Nadia snapped a salute and entered the lift.
The door closed on a view of Wulf walking to Mel, pulling her into his arms, and kissing the top of Mel’s head as she cried into her mate’s chest.
Her friend wept for Nadia’s pain.
Too bad Nadia didn’t have time to join her. She sniffed back the tears that still dared to leak from her eyes. A good bury-her-head-in-her-pillow and a pint-of-double-fudge-ice-cream cry would feel swell just about now, but she had business to do. Thank God for work.
Chapter 15
Outside of Prime fortification on Ursa 345
Nadia stood alongside of Aeron as her team and his loaded bodies into the surface vehicles that would carry them back to the shuttles. Because the terrain near the entrance of the underground Prime complex was uneven and rocky, the shuttles sat on an ancient lake bed close to the two downed Prime star cruisers. Part of Aeron’s team combed the Prime ships for any data that survived the crashes.
Aeron’s grief was etched on his face and swamped his aura. Even with her empathic shields up, his pain pummeled her psi senses. Nadia touched his arm lightly, giving what little comfort she could. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you for caring.” Aeron picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. Nadia did all she could not to wince at the sweet gesture as a burning sensation arose where his lips had touched. “Security is now clearing the rest of the underground facility, looking for evidence of the beasts that killed the crash survivors.”
The away teams hadn’t had to go far into the underground complex to find the bodies; they were piled in a central room. Certain areas of the victims’ body parts had been eaten, mostly the soft internal organs. What was left were bones covered in desiccated skin, much like mummies found on Earth.
While the scene was now bloodless because microbes in the soil coupled with the extreme aridity of the atmosphere had eradicated the gore, the initial impact had been horrific. The survivors had had no chance against whatever the predators had been. None.
Upon seeing the remnants of the carnage, Nadia had called the ship for more security teams so her people removing the bodies would have protection. She didn’t want to chance whatever had eaten the Lost Ones taking her crew by surprise.
“With any luck, the creatures…” Nadia gulped and hoped the bile she’d successfully kept down would continue to obey her will, “…that killed the survivors are also dead.”
“The data logs kept by the survivors might have clues as to what happened.” Aeron turned toward the entrance of the fortification. “Here comes Cas.”
Nadia turned. Cas had volunteered to check out the engineering and technological systems, guarded only by one security officer. The teams would be able to work more freely within the subterranean complex without the cumbersome life support suits. “What did you find, Cas?”
“The systems are operable, Commander Nadia. I have them up and running. The power supply was fully charged even after all these years.” A frown creased his forehead.
“It seems the survivors had shut down environmental.”
“Maybe to kill the beast eating them?” Aeron suggested. “But the act would also kill them. They wouldn’t have had enough life support suits…” His words trailed off.
“God, they killed themselves rather than…” Nadia looked at what was left of a young girl as Kerr dictated a preliminary examination while scanning her lower right hip.
The girl had a gemate marking; the mummification had preserved the mark perfectly.
Nadia moaned silently. She couldn’t imagine the horror the survivors must have felt, waiting to die from lack of oxygen. But anything was better than being torn at and eaten.
A grim look on his face, Cas nodded, acknowledging Nadia’s conclusion. “The security officer and I checked a room near engineering that had been closed off. There were ten bodies, all intact. They must have been the last of the survivors. There was a data journal.” Her technician pulled a microdisk from his waist pouch and handed it over.
She took the disk and slipped it into her waist pouch. “I’ll see that Wulf gets this. He and Mel are reviewing the data Commander Ard’s team has already sent to the Galanti.
We should be able to get a fairly accurate picture of what happened after they crashed.
Not that it will help the poor souls any, but it might bring closure to their relatives back on the home planet.” She didn’t want to think of the men who’d grieve anew when told of what had happened to their mates on this godforsaken rock.
“Commander Nadia. Commander Ard.” The Galanti’s head security officer, a Volusian by the name of Z’es, stood at attention.
“What have you found, Z’es?” Nadia itched to get inside the complex to continue piecing together th
e survivors’ last days on Ursa 345 and to figure out how the caves had been formed and when.
The Prime records on this outpost were minimal; what were in existence were vague.
The records found on other similar outposts including the ones in Siberia on Earth had been voluminous and detailed in the extreme. What was different about Ursa 345? And why had the captains of the two ships come here rather than one of the better-documented facilities?
“Commander…” something in Z’es’s voice sent a tingle of dread through her body, “…we found desiccated remnants of two large creatures which seem to be a cross between a reptile and an annelid.” Z’es like most Volusians normally didn’t show a lot of emotion, especially not on duty, but a look of disgust and, yes, fear swept across his pale blue face. “They have large jaws that appear to unhinge in a similar manner to a snake’s jaws—and very big teeth.”
The Volusian swallowed audibly. He, like the others hearing his report, most likely recalled the missing soft organs of the dead. “Their bodies are segmented with no skeletal structures much like worms. Only the framework of their jaws eliminates them from that species. They’re also not a carbon life-form, but are composed of silicates. My team is bringing out one of them for transport and study. To which ship do you wish me to send the creature’s body?”
“The Leonidas.” Aeron spoke before Nadia could find her voice. She had an aversion to giant worms and didn’t look forward to examining even a dead one. Aeron must’ve sensed her emotions to jump in so quickly. “The Galanti has the remains of the survivors and more than enough to do. Is that all right with you, Nadia?”
“Yes, that’s fine.” Nadia could barely get the words out past the constriction in her throat.
“Nadia! You’re afraid. What is it?”
Damn! She must’ve been putting off fear vibes like crazy if Huw could read her from the ship. “I’m fine.” She bolstered her shields and took several deep breaths, willing her heart to stop pounding. What a liar … she was anything but fine and the next words out of her mouth proved it.
“Are you sure they’re dead, Z’es?” Her voice blessedly didn’t crack though her limbic system had her ready to flee or fight. What a stupid question, Nadia! Grow some balls.
The security officer’s eyes darkened to navy with sympathy. Z’es obviously recalled the last time they’d confronted a giant wormlike creature on a mission in the Prater system, long before the Prime merger into Gold Squadron. She’d hated her fear then and she hated it now. But, damn, giant hominid-eating worms were her worst nightmare.
She’d rather fight an Erian hand-to-hand, naked, than face a giant worm.
“Yes, Commander.” Z’es bowed his head. “We made very sure. No more surprises.”
She assumed he deliberately left off the words “not like the last time.”
“Nadia?” Aeron took her arm and turned her toward him. “Is there something I should know?”
Nadia let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Z’es and I had a run in with a worm creature which had been in a hibernation stage. It sort of took us unawares.” And nearly ate us.
She shuddered. She could still smell and feel the acidic slime eating at her clothing. Z’es had taken its head off with some difficulty since she’d been in the worm’s body at the time. She’d avoided too-tight spaces ever since. “Needless to say, we’re very careful with unknown species now.”
She and Aeron turned as a gasp went up from the scientific teams waiting for security to give the all clear to enter the caves.
Ten members of the security team carried, no more like dragged, the body of a worm creature into the open. Its skin was light brown, but would’ve been darker with its natural secretions when alive. Its head had no eyes, but had prominent scenting slits above its mouth. Sometime after death, the mouth had fallen open, possibly due to deterioration of its supportive tissues; the teeth were in double rows, long and sharp-looking.
“God, it’s huge!” Nadia’s jaw dropped and her adrenaline ramped up another notch.
Her hand hovered over her laser pistol. “This one’s bigger than the one we dealt with in the Prater system. How big is it, Z’es?”
“We estimated between ten and fifteen meters when alive. In death, the creature has shrunk and curled in on itself, so it is hard to measure it accurately.” Z’es shuffled his feet, an unusual sign of nervousness from the stoic Volusian. “I, um, took the liberty of locating the brains and placing a killing shot through both of the creatures we found, just in case. I didn’t want to have a recurrence of the past. I’m sorry if that messes up the scientific aspects of studying the creature, but…”
“The safety of the ship and its crew is paramount,” Nadia finished. “Considering our past experience, I would’ve done the same—and will if I see another one lying around.”
She wouldn’t have stopped with the brain—she would’ve vaporized the damn thing.
The trio approached the creature, which the security team had stretched out to its full length. Two of her team took measurements and scanned the creature, dictating their findings rapidly into their recorders.
Bre Jod was one of the science techs. From his position by the creature’s head, he glared at Z’es. “Did you have to destroy his brain stem?”
Nadia and Z’es said “yes” at the same time. Everyone, even Bre, laughed.
“I am sorry, Lt. Commander Z’es. I didn’t mean to…” Bre stopped and looked at Nadia. “I have seen creatures like this before when I apprenticed as a geological engineer in the Umbraxi system. But they weren’t as large.”
“Is this particular specimen more annelid or reptile?” Nadia stooped next to Bre. She noted the dried out skin had no evidence of ever having scales.
“Annelid since the creatures have no exo-or endoskeletons. See? They are segmented.” Bre poked at the creases which delineated the worm’s segments and which were now cracked. Alive the creature would’ve been moist and supple. “You could cut them in half and they would still live and regenerate the lost body mass. Of course, they aren’t exactly the same as the ones in the Umbraxi system since the Umbraxi giant worms are carbon life-forms. This creature is made up of silicates. I surmise it might live on the minerals in the soil of this planet.”
Bre’s forehead creased in thought. “I have heard of such creatures living in the Andromeda galaxy. This life-form could have been brought here by an asteroid from that galaxy and found a perfect environment to thrive.”
“Interesting theory, Bre. One which I’ll ask you to explore once you’ve finalized the examination.” The science tech nodded and went back to work taking preliminary readings.
Nadia swept a glance over the teams standing around the dead creatures. “People, if you see one of these creatures alive—do not approach. Call security. If attacked, you can only kill them by a direct laser shot to the brain or by cutting their brain stem and cauterizing it so it won’t reattach. Do you understand?” Or at least she hoped those methods would work; they had on the Prater giant worm creatures.
A chorus of “yesses” and “aye-ayes” swept through the crowd. And she had to smile when she heard a couple of “eeuws.” She was so there with that sentiment.
She waited for the teams to go silent and then continued with her instructions. “Cas Jod has the complex’s artificial environment up and running. The air and temperature should be suitable for working without environmental suits. No one is to work alone; work in pairs at a minimum. You all saw the condition of the bodies we removed. You’ve seen the remains of one of the creatures that killed them. Do not assume because the two giant worms we found are dead there aren’t others. We have no idea of how these creatures live or hunt. I don’t want to lose anyone because we weren’t cautious.
Understood?”
Again assent rippled through the teams.
“Aeron, will your teams handle documenting the facility, mapping it, and checking out the systems now that Cas has them running?”
�
��Gladly, Nadia. But what will you be doing?” Aeron replied, tension in every line of his body.
“Testing the geological soundness of the mountain over the facility and the strata under it.” Nadia’s narrowed gaze swept the rock-strewn area leading to the entrance. “I don’t like the signs of rock fall I see. My readings from the ship indicated no seismic activity. There’s no molten core. This planet unlike Earth or Cejuru Prime is a hunk of dead rock. And the substrata read as solid. I need to figure out how the caves were formed—we know your forebears adapted what they’d found here. So, what natural forces—or who—made the underground complex?”
Aeron inhaled sharply. “You don’t think the…” he eyed the creature, “…the worms created the cave and passages, do you?”
“It’s a working hypothesis and needs to be ruled in or out.” Nadia walked to her team, which included the Jod brothers and four security people. “And I hope I’m wrong,”
she muttered. She had a bad case of déjà vu—because her encounter with the giant wormlike creature in the Prater system had happened in what had turned out to be the creature’s underground home and not a cave formed by water or tectonic activity.
Damn, she hated giant worms!
Galanti Command Deck
Huw sat in the chair next to Wulf. Both men were transfixed by the sights and sounds coming from the surface.
“It is a pseudo-worm, then?” Huw turned to Wulf. “If it has a brainstem and teeth, it isn’t a true worm, but without a skeleton it isn’t a reptile either.”
“We’ve seen such before, brother.” Wulf’s gaze never wavered from the screen. “I sense your tension. What’s the problem? Are you worried about Nadia being underground and coming up against a living pseudo-worm?”
“Yes. Ansu bhau! She’s scared out of her mind, and I’m not there to help her. She shut me out.” He rubbed a hand over his aching forehead.
Prime Selection Page 19
