by JC Cassels
A gloved hand clamped tightly down over her mouth, jolting her awake. A dark shadow loomed over her. The weight of him pinned her immobile against the rock.
Disoriented and panicked, she tried to push him away. He only leaned harder on her, the hand over her mouth tightened painfully.
Bo inhaled as deeply as she could. A faint, familiar scent teased her, chasing away the last of the sleep-borne fog from her brain. Blade! She immediately stopped struggling, and relaxed against him.
Something large crashed through the brush nearby. Blade released his hold on her and eased away, melting silently into the darkness. In a moment, the crashing sounds stopped. After a few minutes, Blade eased out of the shadows. He lifted the mask that concealed his face just enough to kiss her.
“You were snoring,” he whispered in her ear. He pulled away before she could reply, resettling the mask over his face, but not before Bo saw his lopsided grin.
Shaking her head, she took his hand and let him help her to the ground. His arm slid around her for support. When he touched her left shoulder, her knees gave way and she fell against him, panting with the pain. He froze, then eased her back against the rock. Working quickly, he stripped off his gloves and tucked them into his pockets. He ran his hands over her, probing gently, checking for the nature of her injury. When his wandering fingers touched her shoulder, her breath caught sharply. His hands stilled briefly then, more purposefully, probed the tender area.
“Can you lift your arm?” he asked softly.
“No,” she whispered. “I thought I felt something tear when I landed.”
His hands moved along her neck and collarbone. “I need a medical scanner,” he said softly. “Wait here.”
Before she could ask where he was going, he’d slipped back into the shadows. Straining to listen for any sounds to indicate where he had gone, she was surprised when he soundlessly appeared behind her.
“Don’t mind the blood,” he said offhandedly. Working quickly, he fashioned a sling for her from a black piece of material. When he had her arm immobilized against her body, he pulled her to her feet once more. “Come on. Let’s get you back to the ship.”
“Did you have any trouble? Where’s my father?” She had to keep talking. She had to stay conscious.
“I got it,” he said. “The markings matched. It was definitely your father’s pod, but he wasn’t in it. It was deactivated some time ago. I downloaded the data recorder. That should give us some idea of where the pod was when it was deactivated and what condition your father was in when he came out of it. Beyond that…”
“It gives us a place to start looking.”
Her hand tightened on his and she fell against him. He caught her before she hit the ground, and steadied her until her legs would carry her once more.
“Next time, I’m the diversion and you go after the package. Deal?” Concern shadowed his voice.
Bo smiled to herself and tightened her grip on his hand as she followed him down the steep slope. “Have you seen what he hired for security?” she asked. “There’s no way I would ever have passed for one of them. You’re more the type, which is why I contacted you.”
“Here I thought you’d missed me,” he said lightly. “You just needed a warm body.”
“If that was all I needed, I could have contracted anyone for that,” she retorted. “I know my share of beefy mercs.”
“How many of them will come whenever you call, ask no questions and do as they’re told?” he fired back.
“Is that how you see what you do?” she asked. “My, you are deluded.”
“How so?”
“You question everything, rewrite my plans, and then you take over the entire operation.”
He stopped and pulled her up close to his side. Leaning down, the mask lightly grazed her cheek. “Yeah, maybe I do,” he said, “but you love it, don’t you?”
“Just once I wish you’d follow orders,” she said with a sigh.
He chuckled and turned, pulling her after him down the mountain. “Hell, Barron, I don’t follow my Sovran’s orders. What makes you think I’ll follow yours?”
Bo shook her head. “Maybe I’m the deluded one.”
“Maybe,” he agreed, his voice tinged with humor. “But even if I won’t follow orders, I will always come when you call.”
Reluctantly, she smiled. “I suppose I should be grateful for that small consideration.”
He glanced back at her. “It’s more than my Sovran gets.”
It was enough.
CHAPTER TEN
Bo blinked and stretched. When she tried to lift her left arm, she winced. It had been immobilized in bandages and a snug sling. Glancing around at her empty quarters, the events of the night before came rushing back. After she and Blade had reached Sundance, she’d taken off and set a course for Mondhuoun. Then Blade had insisted she report to the ship’s medical bay to have her shoulder repaired. The injury had required surgery to reattach vital ligaments. After that, it all got a little hazy. Bo reached for her robe, pulled it on with some difficulty, and ventured unsteadily from her quarters. She followed the sound of Blade’s voice, raised in argument with her ship.
“What do you mean?” Blade demanded from the flight simulator. “I did what you’re supposed to do! I rolled under him and pulled out at the top of the arc! How could he fall in behind me? It’s not possible!”
“Not only is it possible, he did it,” Sundance replied. “Arguing about it won’t change the fact that you’re dead.”
“Well, then there’s no way out of it,” Blade said. “I’ve run the scenario a dozen times and every time…”
“You split the roll and flutter your port engine while hitting braking thrusters,” Bo said.
Blade shook his head. “That’ll overload and put you into a spin.”
Bo smiled. “But it’s a recoverable spin,” she replied. “Keep your head and give it a try. What have you got to lose?”
At his dubious expression, she smiled. “Who’s the pilot here?” she asked. “Me or you?”
Shaking his head, he keyed the sim to start over. Bo watched carefully, following his actions with a critical eye. “I know you think everything is a race,” she said, “but you need to watch your speed. Coming in too hot here will only make it more difficult to pull out of the spin. …that’s better.”
He entered the roll, then cut back, fluttered his engine and hit braking thrusters, sending the ship into a spin.
“Cut braking…and…gun it...”
He pulled out of the spin and maneuvered easily into a kill position, fired his shipboard cannons…and the enemy craft exploded in a quick burst, then faded into nothing. With a victorious shout, Blade threw his hands up in the air and vaulted out of the sim, pulling off the display helmet.
With a lighthearted grin, he swept her into his embrace and bent her over his arm in a dramatic kiss. When he pulled her back upright they were both laughing. Bo gripped his shirt tightly, waiting for her legs to stop shaking and her head to stop spinning.
“You do realize that if you’d been in an actual ship, you’d have to land before you go jumping out, right?”
He nodded. “All in all, how would you rate my progress, Commander?” he asked.
“Very good, Agent Devon,” she said seriously. “But I wouldn’t pin wings on you just yet. Did you have a chance to look at the data from my father’s stasis pod?”
With a small, long-suffering sigh, he set her gently away from him. “The good news is that he was alive when it opened.” Blade picked up his data reader from the nearby console and switched it on. “Come over here and take a look.”
Bo followed him to the table and slid onto the bench beside him. He called up the medical data recorded from the pod. She leaned against him and peered over his arm at the readout on the screen.
“Something about the scans bothered me,” he said. “There were trace elements there that didn’t belong. You said your father was terminally ill, right? That
’s why he had himself placed in stasis?”
Bo nodded.
“There is no sign of any illness,” Blade said. “There’s no evidence of any debilitating or terminal disease. The man on this scan is as healthy as I am.”
“That’s not possible.” She took the data reader from his hand. “Are you sure?”
“Look here.” He traced a line with his finger on the screen. “Everything falls into completely normal range. On the surface of it, there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with him.” He took the reader back from her and called up another file. “So I took a look at the symptoms, cross-referenced them, and got a hit almost immediately. That’s when I did a tox-screen and found these elements in his tissue.”
“So you’re saying my father wasn’t sick.”
He handed the reader back to her.
“I’m saying your father was being poisoned.”
“What am I looking at?”
“These levels, here, here, and here are high enough to account for the symptoms your father was exhibiting when he had himself put into stasis.” Blade shook his head. “It was the smartest thing he could have done. If he’d let things continue, he’d have been dead in another season.”
He waited patiently for the information to sink in. Bo set the data reader on the table and buried her face in her hand. After a long moment, she spread her fingers and stared through them at the table. When she finally lifted her head and met his stare, he slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her up against his side. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
“It can’t have been good for him to have that poison just sitting in his system for twelve years.”
“It’s not as bad as you might think,” Blade said. “Stasis means that any further absorption was negligible. Now that he’s out of stasis, he’ll be showing symptoms, but as long as the poison isn’t compounding in his system, it’ll eventually work its way out of his body with no lingering effects.”
“So you’re saying we need to start looking for my father in medical facilities.”
“As near as I can tell, that pod has been inactive for close to a year. Any symptoms your father would have been exhibiting would have worked their way out of his system by now. If he’s been in a medical care facility, it’s a good bet he’s about to be released.”
“So all we have to do is start checking medical facilities…”
“Do you have any idea how many medical facilities there are in the Inner Commonwealth alone?” Blade shook his head. “He could be in any sector…in any quadrant… Hell, he could be in the Outland for all we know. The Commonwealth is a big place, Bo. We’re looking for one man and no way to track him.”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t even try to find him?”
“I’m not saying that at all. I just don’t want…”
“What?”
“I just don’t want you to get your hopes up and get hurt. That’s all.”
“He’s my father, Blade. I have to try to find him. If it were me in that pod, he’d never stop looking.”
Blade lowered his head, chastened. A slow smile touched his lips. “If it were you in the pod, I’d never stop looking either.”
She touched his face. “I know. I’ve got to do this.”
He covered her hand with his and pressed a kiss into her palm. “We’ve got to do this,” he corrected. “That was the good news, Bo. Now, I’ve got some bad news.”
She pulled her hand from his. “Oh?”
“I had a hunch, so I did a tox-screen on you. It came up positive.”
“That’s not possible,” she said.
“Tell me, is Royce still bringing you those homemade treats when he visits?”
“You don’t…” She trailed off, her eyes widening as the likelihood of it crashed in on her.
“You’ve been feeling a little more tired than usual? Short of breath? Nauseated? A metallic taste in your mouth?”
She nodded.
“Yeah. I thought so.”
He slid off the bench and crossed the rec area to the flight sim. He idly powered down the simulator.
“Not Royce.” She said after a long moment.
Blade didn’t reply. He looked up at her and went on fiddling with the controls on the flight sim.
“Blade, I know Royce. He loves me. He wouldn’t…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. “He just wouldn’t.”
“I like Royce,” Blade said, not looking at her. “I like him a lot.” He took a deep breath and blew it out in a huff. “But, love, Royce is the one who all but handed you over to Tennova giftwrapped with a big red bow.” Turning away from the sim, he raked his fingers through his hair. “Look, I’ve been wary of Royce ever since…” Biting back the words, Blade shook his head.
“Yes? Ever since when?”
“Ever since he left you alone in the embarkation lounge on Coromoran.”
Bo stared at him in stunned silence.
Blade shook his head again and braced his hands on his hips. “You’ve got a price on your head. You’re a Second Sector Noble. Hell, your trial was a media frenzy on Cormoran. Dangling you out there like he did… It was almost like he wanted somebody to take a shot at you.”
“Would you poison Chase?”
“Hell no! He’s my brother.”
“Royce is my father’s brother. He wouldn’t poison Papa any more than you would poison Chase.”
“Chase isn’t The Barron.”
“Royce doesn’t want the job.”
Blade snorted. “That was Lord Marin’s assessment, too.”
“That Royce was trying to kill me?”
“That he wasn’t.”
“Oh.” She studied her hand for a moment, lost in thought. She looked up at him as he resumed his seat beside her on the bench. “When did you discuss this with Lord Marin?”
“During my debriefing after the Tennova job.”
“You’ve been expecting this.”
Blade nodded, but he didn’t look at her. “Somebody wants the Black Wing, Bo. They want it badly enough to kill you and your father. I know we talked about going home to Mondhuoun to recuperate, but in light of this, I really don’t think you’d be safe.”
“How long will it take before I’m back up to specs?”
He leaned an elbow on the table. “At least two seasons.”
“Two seasons...” she shook her head. “How am I supposed to find my father if I’m out of commission for two seasons?”
“You’re not,” he said. “Your job is to heal.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I made some calls while you were asleep.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything.
“I called in some favors in the IC,” he said. “I’ve got some people I trust working to find your father. It’s all on the hush low and off the record. I managed to convince some people that recovering your father was a First Sector priority. Until we know who wants the Black Wing and why, it’s important to the status quo that your father is recovered and protected. If he’s out there, they’ll find him.”
“Are these the same people who’ve been looking for him for the past two years?” she asked, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice.
“They’re more motivated now, Bo.”
“Sure.”
“I also talked with your boss.”
A chill ripped through her. “You did what?”
He canted his head at her. “Of all the people in your life, Bo, your boss is the only person besides me and Chase who wouldn’t have reason to want you dead.”
“He does now,” she muttered.
He went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “I transmitted the information from the stasis pod to him and asked him for an independent analysis to confirm my findings. I didn’t want to bring this to you without confirmation from someone you’d trust.”
“I trust you.”
“I know you do, but you needed someone besides me telling you the same thing.” Reaching out, he covered her hand
with his. “Your boss…he’s family, isn’t he? On your mother’s side?”
Bo swallowed hard and stared at him, unsure how to respond. As much as she trusted Blade, he was still IC. The IC had been trying to crack Redmaster Blue for years. “Agent Devon, I can neither confirm nor deny…”
“Don’t!” Blade cut her off with a sharp look. “Don’t you dare go there. I’m not some field agent. I’m…I love you. I’m trying to keep you alive. I need to know who I can trust.”
“He would never intentionally put me in harm’s way.”
“What is he? A cousin? Like Tese and Gena? What happens to male children of Kiara?”
“Dev, I can’t discuss him with you.”
She should have known. He was good at his job…too good. It hadn’t taken him long to learn who she was once he set his mind to it. The only reason he didn’t already know about Edge was because he hadn’t tried to find out before now.
“Just tell me this, who is he closer to? You or Royce? Push comes to shove, which of you will he be loyal to?”
Bo’s stomach rebelled. She pressed the back of her hand to her lips. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Blade’s expression softened. “Come on.”
He slid off the bench, pulling her with him. He scooped her into his arms. Moving quickly, he carried her aft and deposited her in the lavatory. Bo barely made it to a basin before she retched. When the spasms eased, she gripped the basin with a white-knuckled grip and her legs trembled under her.
“Here.”
She gratefully took the damp cloth Blade held out to her and wiped her face with it.
“I’m glad you told me I’m being poisoned,” she said. “I was starting to think I might be pregnant.”
He stroked her hair. “Would that be such a bad thing?”
Bo straightened. A tremulous smile touched her lips. “If I were nothing more than your Joy Babe, it wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.”
Turning away from him, she checked her reflection. She filled her hands with water from the tap and rinsed out her mouth. Behind her, Blade folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the bulkhead.
