“How? And clean my house? Why?”
Lance stared at Rick. His head tilted to one side. “You’re questioning me?”
Rick paused before the deck fence. He focused on the ocean. “You should’ve made a move sooner. The others might still be alive if you had.”
Lance leaned his hips against the wooden railing and faced the entranceway to the house. “I did make a move. I have Cobra and Viper on the inside. How else do you think I found out about the government’s true intentions—how I took care of your stomach problem? I assigned Seeker and Trigger to clean-up duty after you left your home. You left in a hurry. I wasn’t about to leave that to chance, not after the facility.”
Rick continued to stare at the sea. It seemed like he was not paying attention. In truth, he was waiting for an explanation. Lance understood.
“Rick, listen to me.” Lance faced him. “I was brought in to question the aliens. After my work was done, I was left in the dark. I had no reason to doubt our government’s sincerity when I left. But I wanted to make sure, so I sent two of our people in. Viper and Cobra have been keeping me up to date. We wanted to make a move sooner, but it was too sticky. And our main man, the only one who could pull this off, was overseas.”
“Spare me,” Rick grumbled, even though he knew Lance meant it. The team was unstoppable as a whole, but individually, some of the team members would never survive. Suddenly a fact crossed Rick’s mind. He suspiciously regarded Lance. “How the bloody hell did you get here?”
“I drove.”
“Drove! How did you find me? I ditched you weeks ago.”
“You did. But I knew you had to be headed here, so I camped out by those cliffs over there.” Lance pointed to where he had slept for nearly three weeks. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Rick looked at the nearby rocks. “But I—”
“Yes, I know. You checked.” Lance smiled. “I hid.”
Rick was not happy with that. He had prided himself with being thorough. It seemed he still had a lot to learn from his big brother.
He stared Lance in the eyes. “How did you know I owned this place? I never told you or brought you here. And I know you couldn’t have followed me.” He smirked. “You can’t keep up with me.”
Lance sighed. “True.” He pointed to the house with his head. “But she’s not as good as you at throwing off a tail.” He smiled his famous lopsided smile.
Rick glanced at the house and then back at his friend. “How did you connect Carol Ann to me?”
“Well, that was an accident.” He scratched the side of his face. “You met her for dinner one evening two years ago. I happened to be in the same restaurant with my parents. I saw the two of you enter together. I quickly saw the resemblance, despite the difference in eye and hair color. I took it upon myself to follow your secret relative and find out where she lived. Then one day when you were on vacation, I decided to find out if my hunch was right. And—”
“And voilà! Damn! Who else knows?”
“Just me.” Lance shook his head. “I made sure no one else knows about your secret.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Rick grumbled.
Lance chuckled. “All kidding aside, Rick, what are we going to do about them? The entire army is looking for them. Seeker and I managed to throw them off your trail. But I don’t know for how long that’s going work. We have to figure out something and fast.”
“Then let’s go in and talk to them.”
Lance nodded in agreement.
Carol Ann’s angry voice was heard from the deck. Rick’s ire was on the rise again. His protective nature took hold, and he stormed into the house. Lance followed close behind him. They saw Tigif had gotten his arm bandaged and was now facing Carol Ann in a heated discussion.
“But I thought the two of you were lovers!” he accused.
“Lovers? My God, don’t be so disgusting!”
“There is nothing disgusting about being Rick’s mate,” Leonora put in. She appeared from the kitchen, carrying a bottle of water.
From where he stood, Rick could see the disgust that gleamed in Tigif’s eyes as he scoped Leonora’s form. He was obviously unhappy with what she wore.
“You would know,” he said.
“Yes, I would.” She shoved the water bottle into his chest.
“You’re bloody lucky that man shot you before I did,” added Carol Ann. “I would’ve killed you for touching my Rick.”
“Rick no longer belongs to you. He is mine now,” corrected Leonora.
“Rick will always be mine.” Carol Ann met Leonora’s gaze. “And now yours as well.”
Rick’s chest puffed out. He spotted Lance passing his fingers through his short brown hair. Rick knew his chuckle was directed at him. He did not care. The two most beautiful women in the entire universe were fighting over him, and it made him proud.
“How is that?” questioned Tigif. “If you are not Rick’s lover, what sort of claim can you have over him?”
“The sort of claim a sister would have on an older brother.” In making this revelation, Rick made his presence known. He did not want to, but he saw the need after that morning’s episode. He did not want Leonora to think he was capable of being unfaithful to her.
“Sister!” chimed Tigif, Leonora, and Lance.
Carol Ann smiled at him with eyes full of brother worship.
“You told me your sister died with your parents.”
Rick spared Lance a side-glance. “I lied to protect her.”
Lance’s brows furrowed. His attention dropped to the travertine floor.
Rick gravely regarded the women. “Leonora, Carol Ann, Blaisdale has done what he could to throw the army off our trail. But we haven’t a clue for how long that’s going to work. We have to figure out how we can get the two of you safely back home.”
Those last words brought distress and pain to Rick and Leonora. Their eyes met and held. After living in solitude for so long, neither wanted to give up what they had found so soon.
“How can you trust him? He was the one who drilled us when we were captured and then handed us over to those butchers,” said Tigif bitterly.
“Wrong.” Lance’s focus switched to the cat. “I had nothing to do with that part of my government’s plans. My job was to ask the right questions.”
“Besides, I’ll trust my commanding officer before I’ll ever trust you,” Rick interjected. His glower shouted revenge. “So, how can we contact your people?” he asked Leonora.
“The only way we can do that is by returning to our ship and contacting them from there.”
Lance interrupted, “I thought you said you were dropped off from the mother ship and left here to collect data for a research project you were conducting on our species’ evolution.”
“We lied,” sneered Tigif.
“Shut up, Tigif.” Leonora looked back at Lance and explained. “We did not tell you the complete truth, for we had no way of telling if you were sincere with your words.”
“And after your mad scientists dissected our friends, there was no way in blazes we were going to tell you anything!” Tigif scornfully added.
“Then where is your ship?” Carol Ann asked.
“Same place it has always been,” answered Leonora.
“That’s impossible,” said Lance, scratching his head.
“Why?” asked Carol Ann.
“Because I didn’t believe them. We sent a team to their last-known location and searched the entire area and found no trace of anything extraneous.”
“That’s because you couldn’t see it, am I right?” Carol Ann looked at Leonora.
“You are.”
“How is that?”
“We’ll explain later. Let’s get ready. We’re leaving tonight,” ordered Rick.
Leonora walked toward him. “Right after I take care of your hand and those scars on your back.”
Tigif’s eyes grew wide. “Scars! What scars?”
Lanc
e inspected Rick’s back. “Wow! Rick, that’s got to hurt. And you were in salt water?” His expression turned deadly as his attention riveted to Tigif. “It seems I made a mistake letting you live.” He reached for his gun. “I’ll rectify that.”
Rick lifted a hand. “Relax, Lance, it wasn’t him.”
Lance’s hand remained on the gun’s handle. “Then who?”
Leonora announced with a wide grin, “I did. It’s a soulscar.”
Instantly Tigif’s eyes lit up. He released an angry roar. He would have leapt across the room at Rick if it were not for Lance. Lance’s reaction was a single, fluid move. He held his gun aimed and ready at Tigif’s heart. His glare dared the feline to take a step toward the man he shielded with his body.
Rick was impressed with his speed. He placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder and smiled. “I see you’ve been practicing.”
“Luckily for you,” Lance coolly replied.
Friday, the 16th of August
Grand Canyon, Arizona
“What are you trying to pull? This isn’t where your spaceship is. This place isn’t remotely close to where we found you.” Lance scrutinized the area. “Hell, this is the Grand Canyon. There’s nothing but nothing out here.”
He did not like being made a fool of, especially when he was irritated, tired, hot, and hungry. It had taken them nine days to return to Arizona without being caught by the army that seemed to be everywhere.
“Exactly,” replied Leonora.
Lance stood a few feet ahead of everyone. He glanced over his shoulder at her and asked, “What do you mean?”
“The others were not Seacats. However, I am.”
Tigif paused beside her. Lance saw his face darken at her words. Her words seemed to be an insult of some sort. However, Lance could not care less. All he wanted was to locate the ship and wave good-bye to the most strenuous assignment he had ever undertook.
“I am not an idiot to think there was no chance of us being captured, especially with no sensor devices around our camp’s perimeter,” continued Leonora. “So, while everyone slept, I boarded the ship and flew her here. I then hitched a ride back to camp.”
Rick inserted himself between her and Tigif. He placed his healed hand on the curve of her back and said, “Smart girl. But hitchhiking wasn’t. That’s dangerous.”
“I had no choice.”
He dipped his head once. “I understand. Don’t do it again.”
Leonora smiled. “The others were miffed when I returned. They wanted me to retrieve the ship. But we were surrounded by your army and captured before I could leave the next day.”
“I see,” murmured Lance. He was unhappy with being out smarted by an alien. His ego was injured. “So where is it?”
“Right here.” Leonora pressed several buttons on her left wristguard.
The ship’s cloaking device deactivated. The humans gawked at the shiny, three-story silver vessel that materialized in front of them. Its wingless, sleek, aerodynamic design conveyed maximum speed was on the minds of the builders. A large, tinted-glass window situated above its titled, tapered head showed them the bridge’s location.
“I can’t believe it,” Rick and Carol Ann chimed.
Lance gaped. He thought of all the UFO sightings ever reported. Not one photo came close to what was park before him. This was definitely an advanced species.
Snapping out of his awe, he ordered, “All right people…” He paused and glanced at the Oceanans. “Uh…ahem…well. What are we standing here for? Let’s move it.”
Lance had yet to come to terms with who they were. He wondered if he ever would, or could. He viewed aliens as a type of monster. He could deal with humans who acted like monsters, but real live monsters were a different story—and way out of his comfort zone.
Leonora pressed her lips together and made no comment. She walked underneath the ship’s raised base. She pushed several keys on her bangle. A door opened, and a platform extended. She led the others inside. They were instantly dwarfed by a spaciousness that seemed impossible from the outside.
Leonora led them past two rows of doors on the way to the bridge. “Though smaller than other spaceships, Star Cruiser Nine can accommodate sixty people comfortably in its thirty cabins, each with twin, foldaway beds.”
“And this is small?” whispered Carol Ann.
The team entered the control room. The Oceanans hurried to check if all the systems were still operational. Everything was exactly the way Leonora had left them.
She swirled her chair around and faced them. “We have a problem.”
“What sort of problem?” inquired Lance, a little edgy. He did not like hearing those words.
Tigif and Leonora shared a look. Tigif returned to his controls and continued to send the SOS signal to the Seacats.
“What’s wrong?” Rick moved to stand in front of her. “Isn’t everything the way you left it?”
“Oh, everything is exactly the way I left it.”
“Then you and Tigif can leave before the army finds you,” Lance eagerly put in.
Rick panicked. He knew he had to give Leonora up, but he did not want it to happen so soon. They had been lovers for only a week. He wanted more time. He stared at her. How could he tell her not to leave? How could he be selfish, after everything she had endured? He could not. It would have to be her choice. And whatever she decided, he would have to accept it.
“I am afraid we cannot do that,” replied Leonora.
Rick closed his eyes and released his held breath.
“Why not?” inquired Carol Ann.
“It slipped my mind that we do not have enough fuel to make it all the way back to Oceana. You see, for us to reach Oceana in six tides, we will have to travel at warpspeed three. However, we do not have enough fuel to reach warpspeed,” she explained. “And to travel outside of warpspeed would mean never reaching our world within this century.”
“What’s warpspeed?” asked Carol Ann.
“Moving past the speed of light,” explained Rick.
“Correct.” Leonora smiled at him.
“Then…what you’re saying is that you’re stuck here,” said Lance.
Leonora nodded.
Lance’s head lowered. He walked a few steps away from the group, obviously in thought.
“At least until the Seacats come for us,” spoke Tigif from the communication control board. He looked at Leonora. “I have sent the message. All we have to do is wait.”
“Is there a way to tell if they received your distress signal?” inquired Rick.
“They will,” said Tigif confidently. “It is only a matter of time before they arrive.”
“How long will that take?” Rick met Leonora’s gaze.
“You were not listening, human,” replied Tigif. “It takes six tides to travel from our planet to yours on top speed.”
Six months. That should be enough to gather my strength to let her go. Deep down Rick knew six lifetimes would not come close.
Lance brought Rick back from his thoughts with his question. “What about your ship? We can’t very well leave it here.”
“I think it is best to place it in the ocean near Rick’s home. That way, when the others hone in on her beacon, they will arrive there.”
“In the ocean?” asked Carol Ann. “Are you serious?”
“This craft is an amphibian spaceship—built for land, sea, and space travel,” Leonora proudly explained. “All of our vessels are.”
“Wow,” voiced Rick.
Lance regarded Leonora through narrowed eyes. “Didn’t you finish saying you don’t have enough fuel to fly her out of here?”
“We have seven days worth of fuel left.”
“I see.”
“Why didn’t you come better prepared?” inquired Carol Ann. She fingered several blinking lights on a nearby panel.
“The fuel department was left up to Leo. During all the excitement of preparing to leave, he forgot to pack up extra energy spheres. He did not
remember until we were already here.”
Not waiting to be asked, she went on to explain, “An energy sphere is something like a Frisbee full of Searia, a natural power resource from our planet that gives off an enormous amount of energy. Left undisturbed, beneath the ocean’s crust, it would give off power forever. But when contained and used to power our cities, homes, and ships, we noticed it had to be replaced after seven tides of constant use. We were about to meet our seventh-tide quota, when his troops showed up.” Leonora pointed at Lance.
Rick read the distrust on her face. He glanced at his friend. He did not blame her. However, he would have to reassure her of Lance’s loyalty later.
Unperturbed, Lance clapped his hands. “Then what are we waiting for? Can you fly this thing?”
“She can fly anything that is airborne,” replied Tigif.
“Strap yourselves in, everyone. We are going for a little ride.”
Identical surprised, dubious expressions fell over the humans’ faces. Leonora spun toward the control panels with a huge smile on her face.
Lance and Carol Ann took turns driving back to California. Against Rick’s wishes, Leonora remained behind to fly the ship to the beach house. Rick did not want to leave her, not after seeing firsthand what would happen to her if the army captured her. Leonora had insisted that she would be all right. She reassured him that she would be waiting for him at his home. So, with a tender kiss, Leonora said good-bye to a very distraught Rick and took off.
Before Lance pulled into the driveway, Rick leapt out of the moving car and charged toward the house. He had been on edge for six days. To keep his whining to a minimal, the others ate and slept in the car. They stopped only to use the restrooms when it was time to buy gas.
Rick jammed the key into the keyhole. In his urgency to open the lock, he nearly broke it. He shoved the door open, banging it into the wall. “Nora!” He raced through the entire first floor like a madman, slamming all the doors behind him. “Nora!”
Rick’s fears were running wild. His memories drifted back to the last time he had raced to his home. His loved one had died in his arms that day. He could not go through that a second time. His prayers increased, as did his yelling. “Nora!”
A Seacat's Love (Oceanan Trilogy Book 1) Page 16
