by Imogene Nix
“As soon as we get to the shuttle. Just hang in there.” He hated that she looked as if she’d been beaten. The physical evidence was compelling, but he wondered what damage they’d done emotionally as well. He gripped her hand, and after a second of hesitation, she accepted his support.
“Captain, before you leave…” The general entered the room then stopped dead, his gaze firmly fixed on Levia’s face. “Oh...” His face paled, and Sandon bared his teeth as he glared at the man. “I had no idea…”
“No idea?” The banked rage spewed forth. “Then you should have made an effort to ensure her safety. You entered into an agreement with me, without making adequate arrangements for the safety of my pilot.”
“Captain, you must be aware that if I had thought this would happen—”
The conflagration burned white hot. “I expected better, given I was here on behalf of the Juran Commonwealth! I expected you to make arrangements for her safety. Not that she would return to me beaten and bloody.”
He tugged Levia against his side, and she hissed slightly as if in pain. “Leave it, Captain. Let’s just get the cargo and leave this damned planet.”
The general winced as she spoke, and when her words ended on a cough, a tiny dribble of blood appeared on her lips.
“This will be duly noted. Now get us to the shuttle.”
The general nodded, whatever he’d been about to say forgotten with the anger that sparked in the room.
With careful motions, Levia shrugged away, and for a moment, Sandon mourned the loss of her tucked in against him. It wasn’t an emotion he understood or was even comfortable with. In fact, he rather thought it might change him somehow. There wasn’t time to examine his thoughts in any depth, so he followed her. They moved quickly, Sandon watching as she stiffened with each step, from time to time a sound emanating from between her tightly clenched lips. Oh, these bastards will pay for the way they treated her. Right now, his first concern was to get her back to the Echo and into the medical bay.
At the ramp, they stopped. Long boxes were being loaded into the transport bay. She glanced over the steady procession then turned in his direction. “How many bodies?”
Sandon shrugged. “I don’t actually know. As many as they load, I guess.”
For a moment he was sure she would faint, as beads of sweat appeared on her face. Her eyes narrowed so the pupils were little more than tiny pinpricks. She swallowed, her neck contracting, and his innards shuddered.
“Levia?”
“I’m fine.” He watched, amazed as she firmed her shoulders and lifted her chin. “How soon ’til they finish the upload?”
He noted that she refused to directly address any of those on duty, and honestly couldn’t blame her. He cast a molten glare at the general who backed away.
“Let me check.” The man spun on his heel.
They waited in silence. He wasn’t going to question her there, but once on the shuttle and airborne, there were several hours of travel, and he’d wring every bit of information he could from her. That way, when he presented his report to his contact from the commonwealth, he’d detail every injury she’d received.
When the general returned, he mumbled, “Ten minutes should finalize the last loading protocol.”
For their sake, he hoped that would be correct. He gripped Levia’s hand once more, standing like a sentinel as the last box was loaded. Levia tugged her hand free then rounded on the general. “Get them out of my way. I’m about to complete my pre-flight check and if any…” The threat was implicit as she let her voice die away, and he nodded convulsively.
“Of course.”
Sandon gave a signal, his hand shooing everyone back, and she stalked forward, her hand running carefully over the hull, checking the locks, wheels, and the engine recesses. Satisfied, she spun on the ball of her foot. “I’m going aboard. You finish what you have to here.”
Watching Levia stomp up the ramp, Sandon controlled his smile. She wasn’t happy, but at least she was alive.
“On behalf of the Dendaran Federation, I extend my apologies—”
“Save the oxygen. What your men did is unconscionable. I will be lodging a formal complaint with the Juran Commonwealth, and I have no doubt they’ll be in contact soon.”
“Captain, you must understand—”
He snarled. “I don’t have to understand anything! Your men were supposed to keep her safe. Instead, they abused her and returned her injured. Nothing you have to say will—”
“The last time she was here, it was as an assassin. She killed our people. The ship that captured her—”
Sandon’s breath caught as his mind shattered at that one single word. Captured.
“Say one more word and I’ll gut you, General. My past is just that.”
Sandon turned to see a cold mask on Levia’s face. He hadn’t heard her approach, but he guessed she’d probably been taught that in assassin school.
The general nodded and backed away. “No. Of course not. Now that the cargo is loaded, I will arrange for your immediate departure window.”
It was clear he couldn’t get away from her fast enough, and Sandon looked at her, noting the way her hand fisted then released cyclically.
“Levia?”
“Get on the ship, Captain. I want to go home.”
The tone wasn’t encouraging, but he noted with a modicum of pleasure that she called the Echo home. It wasn’t much, but it would have to be enough for now. When things were completed, when she took her downtime, he was fully prepared to raise the issues with her, man to woman.
* * * *
He knew about her capture. If he asked about what happened after that… Her mind stopped as fear crept in. She couldn’t tell anyone, because if she did… You are not a wimp, Levia. Get over it. You’ve done it in the past and you can do it now.
She straightened in her seat, feeling the rigid confines of the webbing and welcoming the sting and ache. She was alive and getting away from Omega V. At the end of the day, that was all she wanted.
“Levia, are you…”
“I can get us off this planet and home without issue. Don’t worry, Sandon. You won’t have to see me like this for much longer.” She hid behind sarcasm, because showing the pain, the deep emotional pain, meant opening herself to the heartache she’d already overcome once before.
“Levia, it’s not that and you know it.”
“Sure I do, Sandon. But right now I don’t want to talk it over. I don’t want to rehash it, okay? Just let me get this craft off the ground.” She dismissed him by jamming her hand onto the comm button. It squawked loudly and she cursed herself for being ham-handed. “Ground control, this is GE-Five-Zero-Nine BB requesting the first available ascension slot.”
“GE-Five-Zero-Nine BB, this is ground control. We have been instructed to hold all traffic until your departure. The skies are yours. We recommend using the following co-ordinates.” The woman in ground control rattled off a trajectory, and Levia checked the details quickly. Her reading of the weather meant they shouldn’t face any turbulence, and she remembered how Sandon hadn’t handled that well on their entry. It should be smoother this time.
She tapped her finger on the console. “Ground control. This is GE-Five-Zero-Nine BB acknowledging. Powering up now.”
“Safe flight GE-Five-Zero-Nine BB. Ground control out.”
Letting go of the communications button, she entered the necessary coordinates and fired the thrusters. “Buckle up, Captain. We’re outta here.”
The craft lifted into the sky, and she gave a sigh of relief as the building started to grow smaller in her sight. Up they went, through clouds while the gravitational pull tugged them against the seat. The ache of her body intensified. The protest of abused ribs and muscles continued. Just when she was sure it would be too much, they rammed out of the atmosphere and she jerked forward with an audible oomph.
“Damn it, Levia, let me see—” Sandon reached for her as she unclipped her belt.
“No. I’m fine.” She rechecked her calculations and rose on unsteady legs. They nearly gave out and she slumped slightly, but Sandon had already risen, his hand ready to steady her.
“You aren’t well, and this is too much.” His tone told her of his anger, even more so than the tight planes of his face.
Her eyes searched his gaze and saw concern. When she raised her hand, it was only with the intention of placing it on his shoulder. Nothing more.
A clang sounded through the shuttle, and she grimaced. “I need to check that.”
Turning back to the console, she noted a red light shining. It wasn’t one that usually shone, and she frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“The fuel… For some reason, the shuttle is struggling to consume the fuel and—” She loosed a swear word and hauled herself away from the console. “Hail the ship, and have them meet us. Do it quickly. I’m heading down to see if…” She shrugged. If someone had tampered with their fuel supply, they probably only had an hour or two of power. They needed the Echo here now.
She hurried away, down the short corridor, all the while accessing the data chip in her brain—she needed to work out what had happened. If their fuel had been contaminated, she might be able to bleed the line, ascertain what the foreign body was and fix it. Maybe.
At the rear of the cabin, she pried loose the cover of the crawl space and shoved herself inside. She needed to get down to the transport bay where the main filters could be accessed. The space was small, narrow, and though she wasn’t large, it was still difficult to maneuver within the confines of the walls. Dropping into the bay meant going head first, so she had no time to protect herself as she dropped. Landing on her shoulder had excruciating pain radiating. She swore loudly.
“Levia? Are you okay?”
She didn’t realize he’d activated the tiny communications link in the shuttle and closed her eyes. “Yeah.” It was a lie of course. More than likely she’d damaged something in her shoulder, but right now wasn’t the time to tell him that. “Did you get hold of the Echo?”
“Yeah. Vestang is powering her up and moving as quickly as possible. He expects to be here in about an hour and a half.”
Silently, Levia wondered if they had that much time. “Good. I’m checking the lines now.”
A chill had invaded her body, and she glanced around, looking for evidence that anything else had been tampered with. Dragging back the cover from the conduit and filter access points, she breathed out and a wisp of steam escaped her mouth. Steam?
“Sandon?”
“Yeah?”
“I need you to replace the hatch cover now.” He wouldn’t likely understand what she was alluding to. At least she hoped not.
“The hatch cover? But that seals the decks.” He sounded confused.
“Do it, Sandon. Do it now.”
If her worst fears came to pass, there was a tiny re-breather facility down here and her suit would give her some protection. If what I think is true…
“Levia, I’m not going to seal you down there!” The anger told her he’d worked out what she was thinking.
“You have to. If they’ve tampered with the seals too, the oxygen will leak out. We’ll both be dead before the Echo can arrive.”
“No. Don’t ask me—”
“I’m not asking, Sandon. I’m ordering you. Do it now.”
“But—”
“My suit pressurizes and there is a re-breather. I can access that from any location down here while I bleed the lines. I’ll be fine. With my enhancements, I’m better equipped to handle the situation than you’d think. Just do as I told you.”
She’d stashed a set of pressure gloves and headset down there when Sandon had demanded she fly him to Omega V. Now she hurried to access them. One of the first things they’d been taught was to always prepare for the worst, and it seemed that advice would save her life.
Once she’d tugged on the safety gear, she located the fuel line and nicked it. Carefully capturing a small amount of liquid in a container, she’d just finished resealing it and rubbed her hands across her face when she felt the loss of oxygen. Realizing she had little time, she hurried through running the tests on the fuel and snarled as she worked out that water had been added to the tanks. It was impossible to know exactly how much water had been added as the fuel replenishment had taken place during her time in the lockup.
“Sandon? Our fuel lines have been contaminated with water.” She dragged on the glove, knowing that time was running short. Once the oxygen in the hold was exhausted, there was the chance that the hold could depressurise. “We need to shut down the propulsion system until the Golden Echo gets here. You know how to do that, don’t you?”
“Uh, yeah. But what about you?”
“If I can get back to you before that happens, then I will. If not, I have a good chance of surviving it.” She injected a bit of mirth into her voice, but knew he was probably frowning right now.
“How much chance?”
“My computations say around ninety-seven percent, but with my suit on that rises to around ninety-eight point five percent.”
“Damn it.”
“I’ve survived worse. Seriously, just get your cold weather gear on and hang on, okay?” Her concern was for Sandon. He had none of the enhancements she did, and that left him vulnerable.
She worked quickly, locating an extra secura-net and erecting it around the door of the hatch, just in case there was an explosive decompression, though she doubted that would happen. After everything she’d been through, she refused to lose the cargo. Then, with nothing more to do, she webbed herself against a rib of the ship and settled in to wait for the Golden Echo to secure them.
Chapter 5
Once more safely aboard the Golden Echo, Sandon prowled the halls. Levia had argued that she really didn’t need to see the medic, but while he understood she didn’t want anyone else to know, his mind had screamed she needed care. So he’d hustled her to the sick bay and extracted a promise from his paramedic officer, Gisma.
The surprise on Gisma’s face nearly coaxed a smile free, but when he’d started the consultation, Levia hissed, and Sandon had roared at the medic.
“I can’t work if you’re in here. Besides, Levia’s already asked you to leave.”
So he’d retreated, pacing to and fro in front of the door. When it opened and Gisma indicated that he could enter, his footsteps were quick. “Well?”
The technician stopped him just outside the consultation room with an extended arm. “She’s taken a nasty beating or three. A couple of cracked ribs, lots of bruising. Some malnourishment. Nothing that can’t be dealt with by some rest and food. But, Sandon... I mean, she’s a Cybe. Why didn’t you alert us? We all deserved to have been told. You kept it—”
“He didn’t know.” Levia rounded the corner, stopping just in front of them.
The green cybernetic implants shone through the paint on one side of her face. The other side carried a bruise the size of a melon, right on her jaw. She was once more encased in her customary suit, though it was still stained. He wondered if the green bio-cybernetic tracery followed the outline of her body.
An ache, hard and urgent, throbbed through him as his gaze followed the lines outlined beneath the ballistic material. Realizing what he was doing, he glanced back up and caught the glitter in her eye and the harsh line of her mouth. Oh yes, she’s seen me.
“If my being a Cybe affects the running of the Golden Echo, I’ll be happy to terminate my agreement with Sandon. After all, that was what we agreed to, right? I just need to find you a replacement pilot.” She spoke carefully and a jolt hit him in the chest, stealing his breath and ability to reason.
Levia leave? “No. Levia, you don’t have to go.” Damn it, that was the last thing he wanted. Couldn’t she see? But he knew, with all the demons that she struggled to hide from him, she would place him and his needs as well as those of the crew before her own.
Gisma p
inned him with a harsh look. “If you asked the crew—”
“They don’t need to know.” He lashed out, only stilling when Levia laid her hand on his arm.
“Gisma’s right. They should know. I could be considered a threat to the safety of everyone on board. It’s their right to be apprised.”
He swallowed the lump that lodged in his throat, shaking his head as he tried to dismiss the thoughts of what would surely follow if they continued on with this course of action. “No.”
“Yes, Sandon.” She smiled a sad, dejected grin that hacked at his emotions. “Now, I need a few minutes to tidy myself up, then I’ll head back to my shuttle. Unless, you need me to assist with…” She stopped speaking, as if saying it were too hurtful.
“No, Levia. Don’t do this.”
She raised a hand to his cheek. “Running away from the truth doesn’t make it easier. I have to do this, and they have the right to know.”
“Damn it, I’ll do it. It’s my job. But you aren’t leaving. I need you.” The words escaped before he even considered their importance. Her hand slid away, but he captured it. Gisma coughed and withdrew, leaving them alone. “I won’t let you go.”
Her sad smile died away. “Don’t commit yourself to a path that will damage your crew and craft. They deserve more respect from you than that.”
“So do you, Levia.” He pulled at her hand, tugging her closer, and the color of her eyes mesmerized him.
The closer she came, the stronger the scent of her. The woman his body and mind craved. Her lips were lush and pink, and he noted the way her tongue darted out to wet them. With a groan he gave in, dropping his mouth to hers, and began feasting. Her hand curved over his shoulders, clutching at him, fingers digging in as she moaned. His tongue sought and gained entry to her mouth. He savored her, like a fine wine, sipping at her lips, while she pushed her body close to his. The touch of her stole his senses, and a delicious warmth wound its way through his body. He wound his arms around her waist, only stopping when she pulled back with a yelp.
