Warrior Rogue (The Drift Lords Series)

by Nancy J. Cohen

  Her eyes rounded. “That’s your ship? How?”

  He gripped the steering wheel as he headed west on I-4. “Seems one of the prince’s enemies from his home world destroyed it. Fortunately, no one was aboard, and we have the two shuttles. But we’re stranded here for now until we can get word out.”

  Her face brightened momentarily then she shuttered her expression. Did the thought of him being stuck here please her?

  “Tell me about your team. Who will I meet?”

  His mood lifted at her intent to accompany him. He’d felt bereft at the thought of her heading home on her own. He wasn’t ready to part from her just yet, if ever. He shoved aside that troubling thought for later.

  “Zohar, our team leader, has been reluctant to assume his rightful place as ruler of the Star Empire. He is afraid of becoming like his father. The former emperor fell under the spell of a Trollek female and married her. It was a dark time in our history.” He frowned at the memory of the persecutions.

  Jen gave him a sympathetic glance. “And now?”

  “Nira restored his confidence. Zohar will make a worthy king, but he still has many enemies.”

  Those enemies had colluded with the Trolleks and corrupted one of their team members, turning him against them. This faction had destroyed their ship. They fomented rebellion in the Empire. The Trolleks weren’t the only threat to galactic peace.

  “Who else is on your team?” Jen plucked at her blouse, which she wore tucked into a pair of belted black jeans.

  Paz focused on the road, too easily distracted by the woman at his side. “Yaron is our medic. He plays the larp, a stringed instrument, and likes to sing. Being a Drift Lord wouldn’t be his first choice of an occupation.”

  “Is it anyone’s?”

  He winced at her perception. “No, but we do our job. We cannot deny our destiny.”

  She compressed her lips. “You’re communications officer, right?”

  He nodded. “Kaj is our engineer, and Dal is demolitions. Then there’s Lord Magnor. Lord Magnor is a swordsman of the Tsuran. He was assigned as bodyguard to Prince Zohar by Primer Pedar, Zohar’s regent. Magnor is working on our team, but he’s not an official member.”

  Jen counted on her fingers. “You, Zohar, Kaj, Dal, Yaron, and Magnor. Six of you.”

  “Normally the Drift Lords work in teams of seven. We had two more members when we first arrived here. They were killed.” He counted the traitor as good as dead in his mind.

  “I’m so sorry.” She tilted her head. “Tell me the prophecy again.”

  “The six daughters of Odin must join with the six sons of Thor to utter the ancient words and defeat the coming darkness.”

  “So there are six of you now, counting Magnor.”

  He tightened his grip on the wheel. “Actually, Kaj is still missing. Dal has made it back with a woman in tow.”

  “Made it back? From where?”

  “He’d been ill, poisoned. He checked himself out of the hospital and disappeared. Zohar said Dal would tell me his story later. Our mission takes precedence. Shutting down the rifts is our number one priority.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Jen approached the safe house with trepidation. At last, she would meet Paz’s team. They should be on their way to Palm Beach but she couldn’t begrudge him this opportunity. It’s why he had come to Florida.

  She was familiar with the Dr. Phillips area off West Sand Lake Road in Orlando. Restaurant Row was one place she always visited when in town, not that she got here that often. Her parents hadn’t been fond of the local attractions. They considered themselves above the masses that waited in line.

  The suburban street where Paz had parked their loaner car held single-story ranch houses with attractive landscaping. One home with a sand-colored exterior and white tile roof had decorative garden poles out front. Were those the perimeter defense rods Paz had mentioned?

  As they neared, the door flung wide and a tall, handsome man strode outside. He wore his dark brown hair slicked back from a striking face. His confident posture and regal carriage told Jen this must be Zohar. His turquoise eyes shone with warmth as he gave Paz a quick embrace and slap on the back.

  “I am glad you are safe,” the man said in a deep tone. He turned to Jen, his gaze friendly as he appraised her. “And you must be Miss Dyhr.”

  “Please call me Jen…your highness.”

  His eyes twinkled. “And I prefer Zohar. Formalities are a waste on a mission.”

  She liked his forthright attitude and followed him inside. She didn’t miss how his glance scanned the road before he closed the door behind them.

  “Come, we’re having our strategy session in the dining room,” Zohar said, leading the way. They’d entered through a foyer facing the living room. Around the corner, several people were seated around a long cherry wood table.

  Jen’s eyes popped. Who was that arresting man with the cape and sword? Good God, he looked as though he’d stepped from the pages of a comic book. That must be the alien Paz had mentioned, Lord somebody or other.

  “Jen, this is Nira Larsen. Nira, meet Jennifer Dyhr.”

  Jen spun at the sound of her mythical sister’s name and faced a cute redhead with a warm smile and wide brown eyes.

  “I’m so happy to meet you.” Nira gave Jen a hug as though they were long-lost siblings.

  Nira wore her chin-length layered hair in tousled waves that flattered her face. A chunky turquoise and silver necklace adorned her neck above a cotton blouse. The woman would be fun to dress in her daywear designs, Jen thought, gauging her size.

  Nira gestured to a guy with a trim beard and kind eyes. “This is Yaron, our resident medic and musician.”

  Yaron shook her hand. “A pleasure to greet you, mistress.”

  “Likewise.”

  A wiry fellow sidled up to her. He appeared to be all sinew and brawn. His stern visage didn’t once crack a smile.

  “I’m Dal.” He signaled to a woman who hovered shyly in a corner. “That’s Lianne.”

  The woman looked like an earth goddess with wavy auburn hair, a smattering of freckles across her nose, and intelligent blue eyes. Her patterned maxi-dress swayed at her ankles as she approached. Coral beads dangled from her dancer’s neck.

  Dal was the explosives expert who’d been poisoned, Jen remembered. He’d vanished from the hospital and reappeared later with this woman. Their story should be interesting.

  “And you must be…?” Jen asked the swordsman.

  “Lord Magnor, mistress.” Sweeping his forest green cloak aside, he bowed. He, too, had a beard. His dark hair brushed his shoulders, and his eyes held a sad, regretful look. His brooding presence cast a pall over the company.

  Nira tapped her arm. “We’ll be eating lunch soon, unless you’re hungry now. Would you like something to drink?”

  “No thanks, I can wait.”

  “Then let’s be seated and continue our briefing.” Zohar claimed a chair at the head of the table.

  Jen sat between Paz on her left and Nira on her right. The other women’s presence brought her a measure of comfort. Paz cracked a few jokes about how everyone had thought he was dead, and that eased the tension in the air.

  At Zohar’s nod, he launched into an explanation of how he’d ended up on Jen’s film set, his concern when no one from the team answered his calls, and his efforts to get to Florida.

  “We changed frequencies after our ship got destroyed.” Zohar’s brow creased. “It’s enough that we have to fight the Trolleks without my political opponents entering the mix.”

  “What happened to the traitor who betrayed us?” Paz, his jaw taut, clasped his hands together on the table.

  “He died in battle after saving Yaron from suffering the same fate as you. I listed it as an honorable death.”

  Paz nodded his acceptance. “So we have located the rifts now that the jamming device was destroyed?”

  “That is correct.” Zohar drilled Paz with his laser gaze.
“We have the targets but not the means to destroy them.” He paused, while the other men shifted restlessly. “Do you remember how we determined the Trolleks were shipping solar calculators to a storage room in Drift World and mirrors to a Windermere address?”

  “Yes, and I have a theory about their purpose, but go on.”

  Zohar scowled. “We tracked the address to an estate owned by a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong. His name is Ra Mat Shlom.”

  “Shlom!” Paz half-rose from his seat. “That liver-bellied son of a snipeling. I didn’t realize he had a connection to the Trolleks.”

  “You’ve met the man?” Zohar glanced between him and Jen.

  Jen cleared her throat. “Paz neglected to mention he got shot during his last visit to Togura Island. Shlom’s family is involved in the manufacture of a popular healing balm. That’s how we got onto him. He must be working with the Trolleks under his own will, because he didn’t turn us over to them. Or maybe he wasn’t aware we were on their wanted list.”

  Paz had been applying the balm and his wound had nearly healed. She filled his team in on their encounter with Dikibie and the dragon as well as Agent Monroe and their excursion to Manga World. “The Feds think the Trolleks are aliens who are invading Earth.”

  “I wonder if they’re clued in to the sleeper agents.” Everyone perked up at Nira’s words. “The Trolleks have been confounding people and sending them home for some time now. We don’t know how far their network reaches, but government officials must have caught on to people acting like puppets.”

  “They’ve noticed individuals have gone missing,” Jen added.

  Zohar hunched forward. “I’m concerned that King Jorg may be pushing ahead his agenda.”

  “What about Algie’s role?” Jen shivered as she recalled the dank room in Shirajo Manor where she’d been held.

  “Oh, you met the witch?” Nira raised her eyebrows. At Jen’s affirmative nod, Nira said, “My sympathies. I suppose you had a delightful conversation with her in Tent Ten?”

  “Yes, I did. Algie explained her goals. She hopes to repair the damage to their males’ defective genes. She calls it the SARB project. SARB stands for Stabilize and Reboot.”

  “We know about her project. Algie has been inserting Trollek DNA into humans with the intent of finding a stable combinant strand to fix their faulty genome.”

  Yaron gazed at Jen with narrowed eyes. “Did the female scientist say how close she is to attaining her objective?”

  Jen regarded him from across the table. “Her subjects still die, so I’d say she’s not there yet.”

  Yaron scowled. “She’s a monster. We have to stop her.”

  “For more reasons than one,” Nira inserted. “Algie is ambitious. Females in Trollek society don’t hold positions of authority. She’s an exception because her father is a clan chieftan, but being top scientist isn’t enough for her. She wants more power, and she’s using the Videns to support her goals.”

  “I’m more worried about her husband.” Paz told them how Jen’s apartment had been violated and her assistant compromised. “General Morar wants to recapture us. We made him lose face with our escape.”

  Zohar jabbed his finger in the air. “Maybe we can use that to our advantage. If we draw him out, Algie might follow.”

  “Let’s not lose sight of our prime target.” Paz withdrew a crystal from his pocket. “I was able to get a scan of the dimensional rift at Shirajo Manor with a makeshift PIP and transfer it to this storage unit. The data I recorded is on here, along with information on the power source.”

  Zohar gestured. “We salvaged your things from our previous safe house. We’ll use your reader to access the contents. Dal, get his pack.”

  Paz’s face brightened. “Supernova! I’ve missed having my equipment.”

  “We’ll replace your lost items,” Zohar assured him. “Give me a list later on.”

  Dal left the room and returned a moment later to shove a backpack into Paz’s arms.

  “Thanks, bro.” Paz unzipped it and rummaged inside.

  “Bro, what does that mean?” Zohar scratched his head.

  Nira smiled and patted his hand. “It’s shorthand for brother, my love.” She winked at Jen. “He’s constantly confused by our idioms.”

  Jen smiled back. “I know the feeling.”

  Paz nudged her. “Hey, I do pretty good with your language.” He addressed his comrades. “Any news of Kaj? The Trolleks who held us spoke of him. He’s still alive.”

  Lord Magnor growled. “We have been searching but no trace of Kaj has surfaced. We will increase our efforts.” Magnor handled his sword hilt as though preparing for battle.

  Zohar cut in, his voice somber, “Let’s concentrate on our primary objective. Paz, show us what you brought home.”

  Paz placed the crystal in a square device and put it in the middle of the table. A 3-D holographic display sprang up. Data scrolled down, pages and pages of it in a foreign language.

  Jen rubbed her throbbing temples while the men leaned forward to study the information.

  “This is incredible,” Zohar remarked. “How did you acquire these scans?”

  “I jumped the rift and took a reading.”

  “You did what?” Zohar slapped the table. “Are you insane? You could have been killed.”

  “It was the only way. The main generative thrust is coming from the other side, and I think I know how to neutralize it.”

  “We’re lucky Paz has an engineering background.” Nira leaned toward Jen, wisps of red hair framing her face.

  Jen frowned at her, bewildered. “What do you mean? I thought he repairs space relays for his real job.”

  “He does, but he’s a communications system design engineer. Paz didn’t tell you?”

  “Hell, no.”

  Paz’s expression froze as he overheard them. “I am employed as a field technician.”

  Zohar chuckled. “You may fool SattCom Networks, but not us. We know your true capabilities. When are you going to finish fiddling with your—”

  “By the Creator, this confirms my theory.” Dal pointed to the scrolling holograph, his face ablaze with excitement. “Wait here.” He leapt up and hurried from the room.

  “So you’re a full-fledged engineer, are you?” Jen glared at Paz. “You let me believe you were just a repairman. Why didn’t you correct me?” And why aren’t you working at a job more appropriate to your experience and education?

  “I have my reasons.”

  “Oh, and you don’t care to share them with me?” Jen pressed her lips together. She’d been right about him not being ready for emotional intimacy. After all they’d been through, he still refused to confide in her.

  “I’ll explain later. Now isn’t the time.”

  Feeling shut out by his terse tone, she fell silent.

  Dal returned a few minutes later holding a metal box. “It wasn’t easy to obtain this, but I figured we might need it.”

  “I’ll say.” Lianne glanced shyly at the people around the table. “That thing almost got us killed.”

  “Paz, your scan shows traces of malnatium.” Dal’s eyes gleamed with fervor. “I was thinking along the same lines.”

  Paz nodded slowly. “Those mirror and calculator parts are being used to focus solar energy at the rift on the Trollek side. That’s what fuels their generators and heats the malnatium contained within the arched canopy at their transfer stations. If we can force the cors particles at the event horizon back into the portal, it’ll blow the mechanism. But we’ll need malnatium ourselves to counteract the pressure.”

  Dal lifted his box. “And we have some here. I intercepted a shipment. Guess who sold it to the Trolleks?”

  Zohar grunted. “Why does the name Timerus Halston keep popping up? My former High Exchequer may have paid the price for his treachery, but his rebel legion still has far-reaching tentacles.” The prince hunched forward. “They destroyed the Protector. They’ll do anything to keep us from going
home.”

  Paz tilted his head. “So you’re saying they supplied the Trolleks with this rare element? The fools. Don’t they realize their actions will lead to disaster if we can’t close the rifts? The dimensional drift will expand and tear apart the multiverse.”

  Nira stood and paced, her feet weaving a pattern on the tile floor. “They expect to be saved, like the Trolleks. Loki is feeding them all a bunch of lies. He’s another problem we have to address down the road.”

  Dal flexed his muscles. “I have what I need to rig an explosive device. What’s the target?”

  “Sire,” Paz inserted, “I have reason to believe the main portal is on Togura Island. If we blow that one, it might trigger a shutdown around the globe. Let me show you why I think that would work.” He pulled a stylus from his sack.

  Nira gestured to Jen and Lianne. “I’m getting hungry. Let’s go fix lunch while they’re talking.”

  In the kitchen, Nira selected ingredients from the refrigerator while they shared stories. They agreed their powers were related to an ability to alter atoms at the molecular level.

  “Odin had shapeshifting ability,” Nira reminded them, slapping together a dozen chicken salad sandwiches. “So it makes sense. We’re not that different from each other in terms of our powers.”

  “But how are we sisters?” Jen opened cupboards until she found some plates. “I’m an only child.”

  “Are you? I was adopted as an infant. So, it turns out, was Lianne.”

  Lianne, filling plastic cups with lemonade, nodded. She was so quiet that Jen wondered what trauma she had suffered at the hands of the Trolleks.

  Jen backed away from the counter. “We can’t be blood related. My parents wouldn’t lie to me.”

  “Let me see your watch.” Nira put her knife down and stepped closer. “It says you’re Two of Six.”

  “That’s what Edith told me.”

  Nira’s jaw dropped. “You met Edith? Where?”

  “In Hong Kong. That’s where we saw Dikibie, too.”

  “Askr said he was the last of the Gatekeepers. I guess he lied.” Nira put a hand on her hip. “He gave Zohar a medallion to wear, saying it would protect him. So far it hasn’t done anything.”