Fusion (Crimson Romance)

by Candace Sams

  “Was there any communication from Aigean?” she quickly asked.

  He shook off the pleasurable sight of her round, cream-colored breasts, stood, and turned away. “No, and that worries me. She should have left some kind of message.”

  “Let’s not borrow trouble,” Lyra reasoned as she scooted off the bed and stood. “I was hoping someone might show up with clothes. If we put on the same things we arrived in, we’ll look even worse than when we just came in off the badlands. I’m sure everyone except the Condorians must be dressed impeccably.”

  Soldar was about to concur with that point when the buzzer to their quarters sounded loud and long. He held up his hand, motioning for her to stay put, and went to the hatch that served as their door. The security monitor allowed him to see Aigean and half a dozen of her crewmembers standing in the passageway, all bearing crates, cases, and bundles of goods. “It’s all right,” he confirmed and saw Lyra let out a sigh in relief.

  They stood in the middle of the room after he let in their hostess and her minions. It was a shock to see Aigean breeze into their quarters smiling, as if the universe had no problems too big to handle.

  Crewmembers with her were wearing dark blue robes. Their hoods were pulled up to designate them as servants, not sex givers. These silent vassals flooded in behind the blue-green Elderian and began to unpack sundries.

  Soldar glanced at Lyra and shared a confused shrug with her while the people worked. He noted that some of them were Elderian like Aigean. Others were from various worlds where every skin hue was represented, along with a spare arm or two.

  “What’s all this stuff?” Lyra asked, gesturing toward the boxes, crates, and parcels.

  Aigean gazed around her before explaining. “We told the Condorian guards that these were the crates of goods and other paraphernalia necessary for your act.” She moved closer. “You still intend to pass yourselves off as a traveling sex duo, do you not?”

  Soldar and Lyra simultaneously nodded.

  “You may speak in front of any of my employees on this vessel,” she assured them. “I know this is difficult to understand, given what you two have probably experienced, but you can trust them with your lives.”

  When Soldar glanced at the faces of the crew, they concurrently nodded. This we can be trusted signal was appreciated but he was still of the opinion that confidence needed to be earned. Apparently Lyra thought the same thing.

  He held up his hand and gestured toward the sleeping area he’d used the night before, silently asking both Lyra and Aigean to follow.

  When they were in his bed area, Soldar spoke softly. “Aigean … I appreciate the danger you’re in, but we have no plans at all. I came here depending on you to have the details worked out as to my movements. If one of your crew is ever accosted or threatened by a Condorian, they could easily sell us out.”

  “They wouldn’t,” Aigean argued. “Not in this life or the next.”

  “Others we thought were allies have,” he insisted. “We need to know what’s going on and right now. Why didn’t you contact us or leave a message? Why were we allowed to sleep so long?”

  Aigean raised one brow. “First, as I’ve already told you, every one of my people has lost family to the Condorians. They’d as soon die rather than cater to them, but do so on this ship to glean vital information. They find it repugnant to even have them near. I’ll warrant my employees’ experiences are as horrific as anything you may have seen while fighting,” she vehemently insisted. “It was information my people gleaned that kept me from contacting you these last hours. But we’ll get to that in a moment.” She arranged her long, tunic-style gown around her figure before continuing. “Second, I don’t know if either of you were aware of how desperately exhausted you looked. I could see it in your eyes, and knew you’d never make it through events I’ve contrived if you didn’t get some much needed rest. My information has the same importance attached now as when I received it. It will be the same tonight, so that’s when you’ll get it to Allied HQ.”

  “Explain,” Lyra responded.

  “The midnight shift period will be the best time approach the bridge, and use your authentication codes to send a message. But only Lyra will be able to actually gain access to that area.”

  Lyra held up her hands in confusion. “Okay, back up. Could you explain everything you just said? We’re moving pretty fast here. Why tonight?”

  Aigean took a deep breath before continuing. “Some of my sex servants were attending the Condorians at a private party in Admiral Kardis D’uhr’s quarters. The Condorian contingent was quite drunk and full of Ambrosiaq … a terrible substance I would never allow on board if I had a choice. Infuriatingly, the bastards insisted on bringing that foul, hallucinogenic sexual stimulant on my ship.” She pursed her lips in apparent contempt. “At any rate, the Condorians’ tongues were sufficiently loosened that the servants heard a plan concerning the mining colony of Taurean Seti-Seven. The Condorians intend to loot it for Lorbidrium. I’m sure you know they use it to fuel their ships.”

  “My God! Now I remember where I heard that name. Admiral Kardis D’uhr is the new leader of all the Condorian attack forces in this entire sector,” Lyra blurted. “Information has it that he took over suddenly. Nobody seems to know why.”

  “He took over when the old admiral mysteriously died in his sleep. Or so our captors say,” Aigean confirmed. “But D’uhr is nothing if not tenacious. He’s attacking hard and early in his new position. He means to wash this entire sector in the blood of every last ally. So if you can get a message to Allied Command that the Lorbidrium on that world is about to be looted, and that the miners and their families will be attacked, our side may have time to evacuate or at least hide the citizens. Certainly, the Allies will be able to destroy the fuel depots. That, of course, will leave some of the older allied vessels without a fuel source, but I understand that the Condorians are hard pressed to provide energy for their thousands of ships. I believe they can ill afford to run low, whereas the allies are having a difficult time finding enough troopers to even staff their vessels. Never mind fuel them.”

  “Fuel is one of the reasons Condorians declared war,” Soldar mused. “Their race claims they haven’t enough of it, or enough provisions to provide for all their people. So instead of making diplomatic offers, the vermin attacked and took what they wanted. Losing part of their population hardly bothers them when there are so many. They have many more colonies around their home world than all the allies combined … something I’m sure all your employees are aware of.”

  Aigean nodded in agreement. “I believe they won’t launch the attack until Kardis can send word to do so from my bridge. He hesitates only to allow his fleet to gather for the strike … that and he’s so sated with sex, wine, and Ambrosiaq that he can’t function properly most days. The bastard certainly doesn’t want to return to his own vessel. I do my best to make sure that, if he’s here, he stays satiated,” she informed them. “I waited until my people could glean every detail they could before coming to you now. This is one reason why I let you sleep … besides the fact that you both desperately needed it, as I’ve said.”

  “But why would I have a better chance to get on the bridge?” Lyra asked.

  “No Condorian will allow Soldar access. Even if they believe he’s neutral where his planet’s politics are concerned, he wouldn’t have any reason to be there so soon after arriving. But you could do it,” she insisted.

  Lyra shrugged in confusion.

  “You can disguise yourself in one of my servant’s robes,” Aigean explained. “We’ll alter your appearance to look like someone else. You’re of a similar size and stature as many of my women. But Soldar’s size makes disguising him impossible even if we could cover his facial mark. He’s simply too conspicuous.”

  Soldar shook his head in objection. “Lyra doesn’t know the authe
ntication codes. They’re long. Even if she could memorize them in such a short time, she hasn’t time to enter them into the computer and enter a message to HQ from the bridge. It would take several minutes for her to do this, assuming she got everything correct,” he argued. “Her actions would surely be noticed. Furthermore, those codes change every seventy-two hours. I’m the only member of my team left alive who knows the sequencing alterations.”

  Aigean lifted her hands in frustration. “How did you intend to get any information back to the allies, then?”

  Soldar walked to the wall computer in their quarters and put one hand on the monitor. “All ship spaces have computers like these. They’re solely for internal communications.”

  “Go on,” Aigean prompted.

  “It’s dangerous, but I was going to store the codes in one of these work stations and get someone I felt I could trust onto the bridge. Once there that spy could enter brief messages to HQ. Then I’d have shown that same person how to attach the stored authentication codes from the work station and onto the message sent from your bridge transmitter. In fact, I was relying on you for this part of the mission,” Soldar outlined. “I had a hunch I could never get on the bridge and I couldn’t just hand over the codes to one of your people.”

  “That was your plan?” Lyra asked in wide-eyed amazement.

  He stared at her for a moment before responding. “It was the best I could come up with on such short notice. I wasn’t even assigned to this mission until HQ learned I was in the area. My previous orders were to head to Canis Tor to rescue a diplomat. Turns out he’s dead anyhow.”

  “What Sol’s saying can certainly be done,” Lyra agreed as she stroked her chin in thought. “I know how. I can quickly move what I’ve transmitted into a disguised file and out of the main indexes. Still, unless my actions are overwritten, or I delete everything on your entire computer system, someone searching could eventually find what I’ve done. If we pass on too many messages to Allied Command, someone on this vessel will eventually fall under suspicion.”

  “That will be you, Aigean,” Soldar confirmed. “If the Condorians begin to suspect their battle plans are being leaked from this ship, you and your people will suffer first. And they will find Lyra’s transmissions. One of the first things they’ll do is to go the bridge and search your entire hard drive. Lyra can hardly delete it without further causing suspicion as to why all the ships’ systems are offline. She certainly can’t do that every single time she transmits … assuming we don’t get caught during this first attempt.”

  Aigean sighed heavily. “So, if you enter the message authentication codes in your room’s computer and Lyra accesses them from the bridge, will the codes in your room’s work station be found?”

  “That depends,” Lyra advised. “I can delete the index file from the room computer the same way I delete the index file from the bridge transmitter. Again the problem is the codes will still be in this computer here, until overwritten or I delete the entire hard drive. But if it comes down to it, getting rid of everything on the room work station will be much easier than trying to hide what we’ve transmitted from the bridge.” She shrugged and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Hell, if I have to, I’ll pull the damned thing out of the bulkhead and smash it. I can always pretend I was throwing a tantrum the way I did out in the passageway. Unfortunately, I can’t do that same thing to the bridge transmitter.”

  Aigean paced for a moment before turning to them again. “We mustn’t ever leave your room computer unguarded then. This is just in case some Condorian should find his way into the room, and attempt to order food. Or use the wall work station for some other petty task. If such a thing happened, he could accidentally stumble across the authentication codes. Even if they’re changed every few hours on allied vessels, the very existence of them … in these quarters … will still give you both away.”

  Lyra crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “Why would any Condorian be in this room unless invited?”

  Aigean held out her hands in an anxious gesture of explanation. “I’ve already told you. Nothing on this ship is private, including your quarters.”

  “But if the enemy is as inebriated as you say, perhaps they won’t want to be here,” Soldar suggested. “There are many more pleasurable places.”

  “We can hope,” Lyra chimed in.

  “Right now, we must focus on the task at hand.” Aigean told them. “Before you can get to the bridge transmitter at midnight, or even send the information about the Taurean Seti-Seven attack, you both have a rendezvous with some very highly placed Condorians … including Admiral D’uhr.”

  Soldar glanced at Lyra and found her staring back at him in fear.

  Aigean briefly hung her head. “I’m sorry. I wish you’d had more time. But the admiral’s guards were the ones in the passageway when you arrived. Because you were with me and because of Lyra’s outburst, they’ve assumed what you wanted them to. That you’re the new sex act I promised. That being the case, D’uhr wants to meet you tonight.”

  Soldar lifted one brow in concern. “That’s what we wanted them to believe. And it seems to be working. So why the anxious expression, Aigean?”

  Aigean briefly clasped her hands. “I fixed Lyra’s background as originating from Gratis Major, which is a neutral planet. As long as she remembers that, no one will suspect she’s from Earth. The denizens from both worlds look exactly alike. But before Lyra made an appearance and I had to quickly concoct that tale, I told the Condorians that the new sex servants would be men. Perhaps several of them. So when you showed up with a woman, Soldar, I told the Condorians that the men I’d hired had broken their contracts. I told them I’d taken great pains and had gone to massive expense to engage a new act that was extraordinary. If I’m correct and you do succeed with your cover, the both of you will be very popular. There’s a possibility that the one or both of you will find sex partners accompanying you to this room or some other quarters for the night. This night!”

  Lyra balked. “Wait just a minute! I came up with that story because I didn’t mind — for the sake of duty — making love to an allied fighter. But I’m not about to let any Condorian touch me. Not if frost forms at the outermost regions of hell! I’d rather have a laser blast tear through my skull.”

  Aigean sighed. “I’m afraid that’s exactly what might happen, my girl. A woman who looks like you simply doesn’t book a job on a pleasure vessel without desiring such attention. Even though you’re passing yourself off as a sex couple … emphasis on the couple … I couldn’t promise that you’d never be confronted with offers to pleasure men or women separately. That’s why you may find someone in this room. Someone who might accidentally run across the authentication codes hidden in the work station.”

  “So, we went to all this trouble for nothing?” Lyra asked.

  “Lyra … we discussed this at the oasis,” Soldar quietly reminded her while feeling his own anxiety rise in proportion to hers. It was quite possible she’d take her own life rather than face the consequences their hostess just described. He put his hands on her shoulders to sooth her distress, then saw her gazing up at him oddly.

  “Y-your eyes are glowing,” she remarked.

  “That happens sometimes. When people of my race are under duress,” he lied. Fortunately for him, Aigean knew the truth of his race and quickly intervened with a total change of subject.

  “If the discussion about what will be done on the bridge is over, I’ll need you both to undress,” she commanded.

  “What?” Soldar and Lyra asked in unison as they snapped her heads in her direction.

  “I want you both to undress and let me watch you. We have a few hours before your first performance, and I need to see this so-called act so I can offer any suggestions that might lend credence to your ruse. My staff may as well watch,” she stipulated as she lifted a hand to
encompass the crew she’d brought into the room. “You’ll be more comfortable in front of an audience if you’ve practiced it here. I assume neither of you has done anything like this before?”

  “Not in this life,” Lyra quipped.

  Soldar sighed heavily and began to untie his robe. That was when he remembered Lyra didn’t know about genitalia differences specific to the men from his planet.

  While he’d been told by physicians that internal organs of Earthers and Craetorians were extraordinarily similar, the men of his world had outer extras that were vastly different for some evolutionary reason. His own take on the matter was that males from his planet had evolved sexual stimulating genitalia to better service their women. Craetorian women’s sexual organs were exactly like those of Earth women. At least that’s what he’d been told. Never having been with anyone from Earth, he couldn’t be sure.

  Either way, Lyra wasn’t expecting what she was about to get. If she couldn’t take his penis in her body, what other act could they possibly put together at this late hour?

  Her explanation for holding back at the oasis was for the sake of spontaneity during their live performance. But he could see the absolute downside to that idea. She simply had to know about his anatomy now! Any inhibition onstage could be disastrous for all concerned.

  Some drilled-in code of ethics tried to keep all this on a professional, staid level. But his body was already responding to the situation. Lyra had her back to him, but was also untying her robe slowly, hesitantly.

  He saw Aigean and her minions take up seats on a nearby pillow lounges.

  When Lyra turned to him and dropped her only garment to the floor he swore then and there and by all the deities that had ever lived in any universe that no one would ever have her but him. At least not while they were on this mission. He shrugged out of his robe, saw the shock on her face, and walked toward her.