by Susan Kelley
“Who ordered it?”
“Someone who didn’t like me asking questions after I found out about it.”
“And your court-martial offense?”
“Looking back, I think it was a test. We were ordered to attack a pirate enclave, but when we got there we found no pirates or pirate ships. Just another uncharted town filled with women, children, and simple houses. We refused. I refused. They arrested us. By then there were only eleven of us left. They sent in someone to destroy the town anyway.”
“How did they countermand your argument at your trial?”
“We weren’t permitted to speak or testify. The army owns us. I was the only one permitted to attend.”
“Did no one speak for you?”
“Many spoke against us.”
“Joe, I think you were set up.”
“Set up for what?”
Edow stood up and began to pace. “Set up to take a fall so what you knew could never come out. You saved Queen Callie when her ship crashed on the same planet where you were stranded?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“My primary duty as a Recon Marine is to protect the people, civilians, of the Galactic Alliance. Isn’t it yours also, captain?”
“It is. I assume that when you were court-martialed you were stripped of your military status.”
Joe nodded. It had been the last ignominious actions taken against them.
“Then you are a civilian, and as a civilian you can request a law expert to defend you. You also have the right to the protection of me and my soldiers.” Edow placed his hand flat against an identification panel and then punched in a code. The bars retracted into the ceiling. “Would you care to join me for a meal, Joe?”
* * * *
“Will we catch up to them, Jak?”
“It doesn’t matter if we do.” Jak leaned over the shoulder of one of the pilots. “I wish we had brought a bigger ship and more men. Joe will be furious to see you have only me and ten men to guard you.”
“He can rant about it when we free him.” As if Joe would ever display such emotion. “I’ll have my own set to with him about his high-handedness in trying to keep me away.”
“He was only thinking of you.” Jak moved to a different display, asking a quiet question of the soldier examining the input of the ship’s sensors.
Callie didn’t doubt Joe’s loyalty or his willingness to make a personal sacrifice for her. When did those things cross the line and become love? Would Joe know love if he felt it? Could he feel such a deep emotion? If she told him of her love, would he run or feel even more indebted?
She sensed his feelings of obligation though she didn’t understand his reasoning. He’d saved her and her friends on Crevan Four, but he acted like she’d rescued him. She wanted Joe with her forever, but only if he freely chose to remain. She didn’t want him tied to her by his overwhelming ideas of duty.
Jak spoke with the officer working the communication station. Callie watched their expressions, realizing the captain had acted distracted when they spoke moments ago. When he retraced his steps to speak with the pilots again, alarm surged through her thoughts.
“What is it, Captain Sontu?”
Jak pulled her aside and lowered his voice. “We’re being followed. It’s a large ship, and they’re not trying to hide.”
“How long until they overtake us?”
“Two earth hours.”
“You believe they’re hostile?”
“They won’t answer our hails, your highness.”
Callie stared out the front viewing screen, seeing nothing but glittering lights from stars so distant no traveler had ever visited them. It seemed as if the obstacles in her life stretched as endlessly. “How far ahead is Edow’s ship?”
“No less than ten earth hours. They’re able to move faster than us.”
“Request their aid and apprise them of what we know. If our shadow is an innocent and only a rude traveler, I’ll apologize the Captain Edow.”
“They won’t get here in time.”
“I know.” Callie wished her Sentinel was at her side.
* * * *
Major Hooper joined them for dinner. He and Edow discussed shipping lanes while they ate.
Joe only half listened, his thoughts on Callie and worrying about her safety with Hadrason still on the loose. Hopefully the mine owner was on the run and no danger to anyone, but Joe couldn’t stop worrying about it.
“Joe, did your unit ever go into the Foxanna system?” Edow asked, pulling Joe back into the conversation.
“Once.”
Edow did the thing with his eyebrow. “Want to expand on that answer?”
Joe realized the raised eyebrow indicated amusement. And expanding on the answer would require conversation. Joe needed to practice conversing about things beyond giving or taking orders. “It was early in our deployment. We still numbered forty-two. One planet and one moon had been judged habitable for humans by an unmanned probe.”
“I hadn’t heard they colonized that system,” the major said.
“I’m pretty sure they didn’t. Our sensors showed no sign of intelligent life, no buildings or energy readings. An abundance of wildlife thrived all over the moon where we set down first to begin our survey. We were attacked by large felines before we could secure a perimeter for our two ships. We killed dozens of them before they broke off. I split our force in half, one part staying with the ships, the rest set out on hovercrafts with me. We thought we’d be safe above the treetops. The vegetation was so thick, we couldn’t see the ground. We flew less than a mile before our sensors showed some fast moving aircraft closing in on us. Except it wasn’t any kind of craft. Giant hawks dove on us in mass, knocking our hovercrafts from the sky. They didn’t follow us down, but they didn’t need to.”
“The felines?” Edow asked.
“Name something. It was a menagerie of hostile beasts. Snakes, lizards and even herds of antlered deer. The wildlife attacked like they shared one mind. It took hours to fight our way back to our ships. We lost two men and had a number of injuries. We had to lift off when they started dropping trees on us.”
“That’s an incredible story,” the major said. “Do you think the animals were intelligent after all?’
“I don’t think they were any more sentient than other beasts, but there was something that bound them together with one purpose. They wanted to protect their territory from invasion, and it worked. We landed on the planet after escaping the moon and found the same situation though some of the animals were different. I understand they tried setting up scientific stations to study the odd behavior of the wildlife and each unit was overrun.”
“So they gave up?” Edow asked.
“They didn’t send us back, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t try again. A large scale poisoning might have been tried, but we’d moved on by then.”
A soft beep interrupted Edow as he prepared to ask Joe another question. He touched the mike on his collar. “This is the captain.”
“Sir, we have a distress call.”
“From where and whom?”
“A Captain Jak Sontu from Giroux has asked for our assistance.”
* * * *
“They threaten to blow us to pieces if we don’t allow them to board.” Jak’s eyes were bleak.
“Then we must let them come.” Callie tugged on the sleeves of the loose tunic she’d changed into once they knew they would be overtaken. The top stopped about mid-thigh. The loose pants she wore beneath it brushed the top of the sturdy boots she’d replaced her silk shoes with. The knife hiding in her left boot grated on her ankle bone. She sat in a chair near the communication station to adjust it. The small stun gun up her sleeve weighed almost nothing though its presence nipped constantly at her thoughts.
“Send the message and open the docking bay,” Callie ordered when Jak hesitated. “Don’t blame yourself. You didn’t want me to follow Joe, and I wouldn’t listen. You were righ
t, and I take full responsibility for the trouble my decision brought to us. Now send our reply.”
Jak sent the message himself. None of the other Giroux men spoke, but Callie saw the frustrated anger in their eyes. She’d put them in this position, and now her fear was for them. They watched the approach of the shuttle from the other ship on their rear view camera. As it neared, Jak selected three men to go with him to the docking area to greet their uninvited guests.
Callie stood up when the interior lift beeped to indicate Jak’s return. Her captain came off the elevator first, his face white with anger. Geoff Hadrason followed him, a triumphant smirk on his face. Six heavily armed men spilled out of the doors, leveling their weapons on Callie’s men.
Hadrason pushed Jake out of the way. “Ah, my reluctant bride. Have your men stand down, or we’ll kill your loyal captain.”
“Can’t you see it’s over?” Callie’s emotions swirled with alternating anger and disbelief. “We had video surveillance in my home. We have you murdering Smeltz on record as well as your attack on me. The Galactic Council will put a warrant out on you. You’re an outlaw.”
Hadrason’s cold eyes didn’t blink, and his reptilian smile didn’t falter. “They can’t touch me if I’m in control of the one and only source of Space Dope. You’re my ticket to freedom, my darling.”
“Why would I marry you?” Callie’s stomach tightened, fearing the answer. Her men edged closer to her but she wanted to tell them to run. But there was no place to run in space.
Hadrason laughed, a sound like a sandstorm on Crevan Four battering the windows. “You’re not much to look at, but I’ve always given you credit for some intelligence. Look around, Callie. There are many reasons to marry.”
“Don’t do it for us, your highness,” Jak said. “We’d all rather die than see him have you.”
“I’ll kill you all and then take her, old man.” Hadrason’s slimy smile stayed on his face. “I’m being kind by letting her choose a way to save you.”
There was no choice to Callie. Her men would die for her, for nothing, because they weren’t enough to stop this crime. And it would be her fault they died. “I’ll go with you, Hadrason, and cooperate if you let them alone.”
Mutinous expressions appeared on the Giroux men’s faces. Callie shook her head as Jak opened his mouth to object. “Don’t worry about me. My Sentinel will find me. He’ll kill Hadrason for this.”
That finally turned Hadrason’s smile sour. Cold hate replaced the arrogance in his eyes. “I know the Galactic Military took that freak away. He won’t ever be back.”
Jak and the men no longer looked defeated. At least they had that hope to hold to. She had none. Joe wouldn’t be able to help her. He was Edow’s prisoner and even if the captain answered their distress call, he wouldn’t let Joe come after her.
“Come along. Bring Sontu also. Having him with us will assure my bride’s good behavior.” Hadrason took Callie’s arm but she jerked it away and walked in front of him.
Callie held her chin high as they rode Hadrason’s shuttle back to his massive luxury cruiser. If thoughts were messages, they bombarded Joe. She sent him her love and her farewell. Once they were clear of her ship, she had no intention of cooperating with Hadrason. He might kill Jak and her, but they were both willing to accept that rather than deliver Giroux to such a loathsome character.
Giroux would survive without her thanks to the discovery of crystallized iron on Crevan Four. She wished she’d told Joe she loved him.
* * * *
Joe paced behind the captain’s chair. Edow glared at the viewing screen as if he could see through the thousands of miles of space that still separated them from Callie. Why had she followed them?
“Anything more, major?” Edow asked, breaking an hour long silence.
The major looked up from the illuminated display showing all the nearby star systems. “Nothing on long range scanners, sir.”
Silence descended again, reminding Joe of the hugeness of the space they searched. Though only two earth hours had passed, it seemed like days.
Another half hour crept before the major spoke again. “Got something, sir.”
Joe joined Edow leaning over the star display. The major pointed to a small blip on the very edge of the screen.
“An hour away yet, sir,” the major explained.
“They’re not moving.” Dread coiled its vicious tentacles around Joe’s throat.
“You’re right, sir,” the major answered. “They’re dead in the air.”
Edow frowned at the major whose face reddened. Joe didn’t bother trying to figure out what had just happened. All he could think of was the many reasons the ship might be calmed.
“Hail them,” Edow snapped at the communications’ officer.
“They’re at the far reaches of our communications capability, sir.”
“Do it and keep trying until they answer.”
The bridge hushed again except for the soldier sending out call after call. None were answered.
Joe had stood some lonely watches before but none with the stakes of this one.
“Close enough to run some scans, sir,” the major said as the blip grew larger. He focused on his instruments for a few moments. “A number of life signs aboard. All propulsion and communication systems without power.”
“How many people?” Joe asked.
“Looks like ten, sir.”
“Prepare a boarding shuttle, major,” Edow ordered. “You’ll remain onboard while I investigate. Select twenty men to go with me.”
“I’m going.” Joe wasn’t asking.
Edow looked at him, and Joe could feel the stares of the other men on the bridge.
“I’m Sentinel to the Queen of Giroux.”
“You take orders from me,” Edow said.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m not giving you weapons.”
“I’ll go naked if you want, sir. Just let me see to my queen’s safety.”
* * * *
“I allowed your crew to live, now give me the cooperation you promised.” Hadrason looked her up and down, his lip curling. “Don’t worry about your virtue. I prefer my women to look like females, not men with breasts.”
Callie refused to let the insult touch her. Joe worshiped her body. Why should she care what space slime like Hadrason thought of her when she’d been with a real man?
Hadrason laughed. “You’re so easy to read, Callie. Are you thinking about your freakish lover?”
Callie turned away.
“My spies on Giroux told me you welcomed that creature into your bed. I guess with no mind of his own, he just followed orders like a trained pet. Tell me, was his cock as well-constructed as the rest of him? Did he make you come?”
Callie spun back to him, furious that her memories of Joe’s lovemaking might be tainted by this bastard’s words. “Do you want the details so you can find some vicarious pleasure from it? Is that how a spoiled child like you receives his gratification?”
Hadrason slapped her.
Callie clenched her fists so she wouldn’t rub the sting. She smiled. “Definitely a little boy’s reaction. You call Joe a creature, but he would never hit a woman. Then again he has honor, something you know nothing about.”
“Careful, bitch. I can turn this ship around and blow your crew to hell.”
“Please try. I’m sure our distress call has brought help by now.” Callie hoped that was the case.
Hadrason laughed, the sound uglier than before. “It doesn’t matter. You’re under my control now, and soon Giroux will be also.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to visit that little planet you’ve laid a colonization claim to. I believe that’s where we’ll find your secret iron mine and perhaps your missing friends.”
Callie’s heart slammed against her chest. “My friends died in the crash.”
“Really? That’s a weak attempt, dear. Why did you never mourn them? Why did you tell
members of your household all those wonderful ladies would return at a later date?”
Callie cursed herself for her unthinking mistake. “You’ll never find them.”
“I think I will. My men are due for some entertainment. It’s been so long since they were all in port. How old is that little girl that usually travels with her mother?”
“I’ll kill you.”
“I don’t think so. After we find the crystallized iron and your friends, we’ll go to a little out of the way space station I know and get married before a Galactic Magistrate who owes me favors.”
‘I’ll never marry you if you hurt my friends.”
“Yes, you will. Even you know that there’s something worse than hurt. There’s dead.”
Chapter Sixteen
“I didn’t know what to do, Sentinel,” the familiar young sergeant said. He gestured helplessly at the other men standing behind him on the ransacked bridge. “Hadrason made sure we couldn’t follow them. Our life support system won’t last more than another hour.”
Joe didn’t recognize the emotions on the faces of the Giroux soldiers, but he sensed they waited for him to tell them what to do. He finally remembered the sergeant’s name. “You did what you could, Becker. You stayed alive so you could tell us what happened. Did Hadrason say anything about where they were taking the queen and Captain Sontu?”
Becker looked relieved. “Something about crystallized iron, sir.”
Fear slapped Joe. Riba and the baby, little Glory and dainty Grace, feisty Yalo and curious Acacia, all hiding on Crevan Four. Had Vin and the other marines had time to prepare?
“What is it, Joe?” Edow had sent men to check the drive crystals and the other damage to the ship.
