Mage

by Cyndi Friberg

  Emily dragged her gaze away from Vox and smiled at her cousin. “If you’re happy, I’m happy. You don’t have to justify anything to me.” But the possibility wouldn’t leave her mind. Was she genetically compatible with Vox? And what exactly did it mean if she was?

  Kaden stepped toward her and held out his hand. “I’m Commander Kaden Lux. Lexie speaks of you often. It’s nice to meet you.”

  She shook his hand. He was certainly handsome enough, but how well could Lexie have gotten to know him in such a short time? “It’s nice to meet you too.”

  They chatted for a few minutes while Emily finished eating, then Lexie gathered up the dishes and put everything back on the tray. “It’s decision time, Em. Are we taking you to Lunar Nine or to Africa?”

  Emily pressed back into her chair and looked from one expectant face to the others. She wanted to ask if Vox was coming as well, but didn’t want to encourage his interest. There was no room in her life for romance, not even romance with someone as intriguing as Vox. “I want to see Lunar Nine. But,” she paused for effect, “I will not be part of the transformation program, even if I’m genetically compatible with half the outpost.” It was more of a reminder to herself than a warning to the others.

  “This is strictly business,” Lexie assured, but the gleam in her eyes warned Emily that Lexie didn’t believe her own words.

  Chapter Five

  Vox fidgeted in his seat aboard the Phantom. He hated conventional space travel, found it slow and tedious. But he couldn’t seem to stay away from Emily. Even though his work was back on Earth, he found himself following after her like an obedient puppy. He’d used his illness as an excuse to tag along, claimed he needed to check in with his doctor and make sure his recovery was continuing on course. It was utter nonsense. If he were really worried about his health, he’d have sent for a Bilarrian healer. Rodytes were clueless when it came to Bilarrian physiology.

  They were almost to Lunar Nine and he’d barely spoken during the entire trip. Kaden sat in the pilot’s seat, the navigator’s seat was empty, and Vox sat across from the two females in the center-facing seats. Lexie and Emily had known each other their entire lives, so they’d chatted away, catching up on recent happenings. Kaden seemed content to play chauffer. He doubtlessly knew how much Emily meant to his mate and was happy to let them have some girl time.

  “Not all Rodytes can speak English,” Lexie told Emily as the shuttle reached the dark side of the moon. “You’ll need translator nanites and routine vaccinations, so our first stop needs to be one of the clinics.”

  “I’m used to getting vaccinations when I travel, but do the nanites require an injection or surgery?” Emily’s knitted brow revealed concern even though her voice remained calm.

  “Just a simple injection, over in an instant. It’s nothing to worry about. I promise.”

  Emily only nodded, but Vox wasn’t pleased. Anything that upset Emily upset him.

  Kaden cleared their approach with outpost security, which triggered a thought in Vox’s mind. “Have you arranged security for Emily?” he asked Kaden. “It’s my understanding that unmated females must be escorted.”

  The females fell silent and Emily’s gaze whipped toward him. “Are you serious?”

  “He is,” Kaden cut it, “but I’m way ahead of him. Dakar will either escort you himself or arrange for one of his men to ensure your safety. He’s senior enforcer now, so it’s all arranged.”

  “Dakar? Your youngest brother?” With an impatient flick of his wrist, Vox released his safety restraints and scooted toward the edge of his seat. “I know Dakar’s reputation. He is not an acceptable escort for my…for an unmated female.”

  Kaden spun his chair around, clearly upset by the accusation. “I resent the implication that—”

  “I don’t need a body guard,” Emily insisted, not waiting for Kaden to finish his defense. “It’s hard enough to get people to open up to a reporter. If some armed goon is following us around, it will be impossible.”

  “Dakar is not an armed goon,” Kaden muttered. “As I said he is senior enforcer. That means he oversees security for the entire outpost. He’ll be discrete and professional, but there are no exceptions to the rule. Unmated females must be escorted.”

  Emily looked at Lexie for support, but Lexie shrugged, then said, “It’s not just for your protection. It keeps the outpost running smoothly. I’ve met Dakar. He’s laidback and pleasant. You’ll like him. I promise.”

  The assurance made Vox even more agitated. According to gossip, Dakar was a flirt. His fun-loving personality drew females to him like metal to a magnetic field. The last thing he wanted was Emily spending time with Dakar Lux.

  “I will escort Emily myself. There is no need to involve your brother.”

  Kaden made several quick adjustments to the control matrix before responding to Vox. “There are twelve newly transformed couples heading to Stargazer Ranch because they expect to be trained by you. Are all twenty-four of them supposed to sit around and wait until you’re finished courting Emily?”

  “We are not courting.” Emily looked at him, her expression tense, eyes wide-open. “I don’t want a mate. I told you that already.”

  Vox arched his brows, unwilling to allow the statement to stand. “You don’t want to share your life with someone, grow old at their side as you watch your children mature and start families of their own?”

  Her chin raised a notch and defiance sparked in her gaze. “I might want that at some point in my life, but not right now.” She paused for a quick breath, then glanced away. “And not with you.”

  Tension banded Vox’s chest for just a moment, then burning determination consumed the hurt. He needed to see her eyes, gauge her emotions. His instinctive reaction was to pursue her, chase her down with escalating intensity until she surrendered to a force more powerful than either of them. Instead, he whispered, “I understand.”

  Her gaze shot back to his, her features open and expressive. He saw shock and disappointment, but most of all fear. She started to speak, then closed her mouth and looked away again.

  His spirit settled, accepting the path he must take. She was terrified of being hurt, understandably distrustful. Patient persistence was the only approach that would work with someone so wounded, so afraid. Three months wasn’t a lot of time to overcome a lifetime of betrayal, but he’d use every day, every hour if need be, to wear her down.

  They docked along the arrival concourse a few minutes later. Watching Emily react to her first sight of Lunar Nine made it all feel new again.

  “I had no idea it was so big.” She shook her head, eyes round with wonder. “How could all of this go unnoticed by Earth? It’s astonishing.”

  “The outpost was built almost fifty years ago,” Lexie told her. “The rebels just reopened it.”

  “Even fifty years ago humans had telescopes,” Emily pointed out.

  “The moon revolves around the sun, but it doesn’t rotate like the Earth does. The dark side of the moon is always facing away from your planet.” Kaden finished his post-flight checks and moved to stand between the two forward-facing seats. “When we emerge from hyperspace, the moon blocks Earth’s view of our ships. We’re basically free to come and go at will.”

  “That’s a seriously disturbing thought,” Emily muttered as she released her safety restraints.

  Lexie reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “We can’t go on pretending. Ignorance, no matter how comfortable, is dangerous. That’s our primary mission, to educate our world on the true reality.”

  They fell into tense silence as they disembarked. Emily paused at the top of the gangway and turned in a slow circle. The outpost had been built against, and at some points into, the cavern wall, creating a semicircle of multi-level buildings. Two concourses protruded from the main entrance, one on top of the other. The top level was reserved for arrivals while the lower level housed departures.

  “Come on.” Lexie motioned Emily onward. “There i
s so much I want to show you.”

  Vox strode along the steep gangplank behind the females, silently plotting his next move. He’d give her a day or two to wonder why he’d given up so easily, then he’d send her flowers or offer some other romantic gesture to let her know his interest in her remained. She’d rebuff him, no doubt, but he’d continue until she agreed to see him again. Then he’d be polite yet slightly distant as if he might discontinue his pursuit at any moment. It would all be an act, of course. He had no intention of giving up on her, ever.

  “Welcome to Lunar Nine.”

  The cheerful male voice drew Vox from his strategy. A Rodyte male stood on the platform at the base of the gangway. His long dark hair had been drawn back from his face and braided. The familial resemblance to Kaden easily identified him as Dakar Lux. He wore a black-and-gold uniform different enough from the military uniforms to indicate a different role. His lips parted in a friendly smile and the purple rings in his eyes shimmered.

  “Thank you, kind sir.” Lexie returned his smile, but Emily only glanced at Dakar then continued her visual inspection of the outpost.

  “Raylon wants to speak with you immediately,” Dakar told him. “They’re in the jungle.”

  “Jungle?” Emily echoed. “I presume you don’t mean that literally, so what’s the jungle?”

  “Hydroponics farm. It’s all nice and orderly now, but it was completely overgrown when they first got here,” Lexie explained. “A human woman runs the project. Her name is Raina and her mate, Kotto, commands one of the ships.”

  “The Crusader.” Kaden provided the detail.

  “Is every woman up here mated to one of the battle born?”

  Vox didn’t wait for someone to answer. He nodded to Dakar and walked away. Every instinct Vox possessed protested his leaving Emily in the company of an unattached male. Still, he had no other choice. His new strategy required a show of indifference. Besides, their conversation en route indicated that Lexie intended to stay with Emily, so Emily wouldn’t be alone with Dakar.

  Though his heart urged him to turn around and return to his mate, he forced himself not to look back.

  The main entrance to Lunar Nine led to the commerce tiers, oblong rings of shops and restaurants stacked one on top of another. He barely glanced at the wide array of wares and services now available to the rebels. Instead he took one of the express tunnels leading to different parts of the outpost. The agricultural zone was part of the high security area and couldn’t be entered without proper clearance. Raina must have instructed one of her assistants to watch for him because a smiling Rodyte teen opened the security door and motioned him inside.

  He’d never visited the jungle before, but he’d heard a lot about it. Large plant trays, one stacked on top of another, stretched out before him in seemingly endless rows. The air was dense and humid, no doubt from the nutrient-rich liquid circulating through the trays.

  “They’re downstairs in the wonder cave,” the teen told him as they walked down one of the long, narrow aisles.

  Vox nodded, acknowledging the comment without engaging the young man. His mind was too filled with thoughts of Emily to tolerate small talk. He was escorted into a storeroom near the back of the massive room, but the teen didn’t accompany him as he descended the twisting metal staircase.

  Like the jungle above, Vox had heard about the mysterious terraformed cave Raina had discovered shortly after her arrival on Lunar Nine. No one seemed to know how it had come into being or why it had been made. To Vox’s knowledge, there were only eight races with the ability to transform a barren wasteland into an ecosystem capable of sustaining humanoid life. Rodytes were not one of the eight. Neither were the Bilarrians for that matter.

  He stepped just inside the transformed “wonder” cave and paused. A faint trail led through the lush vegetation, but the leafy trees and flowering bushes were so out of place on Earth’s moon that it gave him a chill. Why had the cave been created, and more importantly, why had the creator stopped with only this one small cave? Why had they not transformed the entire moon?

  “We’re back by the waterfall.”

  Vox recognized Raylon’s deep voice and followed the trail until it emerged near the back wall of the cavern. As Raylon had indicated, water trickled down the stone wall and formed a pool surrounded by spongy grass. “You wanted to speak with me, Governor.”

  “I did.” Raylon moved to the side, clearing Vox’s view of a small human female in a dirt-smudged lab coat. “This is Raina Tarr, Kotto’s mate.”

  Vox proffered his hand in the manner of humans. “Vox Loriet, glad to meet you.” Like her domain, Vox had heard about Raina, but he’d yet to meet her face-to-face.

  Her handshake was surprisingly strong and she met his gaze directly as she said, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “Likewise.”

  With a directness he’d likely learned from his mentor, Apex General Nox, Raylon dove right to the heart of the matter. “We weren’t as cautious as we should have been when talking about the cave, so most everyone on the outpost already knows about it. What we’re about to show you, however, is completely confidential. Can we count on your discretion?”

  Vox shot Raylon an impatient look. “Of course.”

  “Then stare through the water in the pond. Do you see the oblong shadow?”

  Turning to the gently rippling water, Vox spotted the shadowy discoloration to which Raylon referred. “I see it. What am I looking at?”

  “We thought it was some sort of portal left behind by whomever terraformed this cave. A probe came through this morning verifying our hypothesis.” Despite his outward nonchalance, Raylon’s tone was gruff and filled with frustration.

  “What sort of probe?” Any unauthorized infringement on the outpost was a serious security breech.

  “We’re not sure. It caught us by surprise, so we weren’t able to capture it.” The admission clearly bothered Raylon, but he said nothing else.

  “Why bring this up to me?”

  Raylon clasped his hands behind his back and raised his chin, looking through Vox rather than at him. “There’s no mention of a transformed cave or hidden portal in any Rodyte database and Quinton insists he knows nothing about it. I’d like to ask the Symposium if they have any record of what we’ve found or if they know who might have created this cave.” After a short pause, he admitted, “Garin is worried that providing the information to us directly could be construed as support for the battle born cause.”

  The Symposium was a Bilarrian council dedicated to collecting objective information from all over the universe. They remained neutral in all conflicts, regardless of how minor. They were one of Bilarri’s proudest achievements. “I am happy to find out what, if anything, they know.”

  Raylon nodded once, then glanced at Vox. “Thank you.”

  “Higher priority will be given to the request if my father submits it. With your permission, I will ask him to contact Lord Drakkin of Hautell directly.”

  “That would be great.” A wry smile curved Raylon’s lips. “We’ve got a prince in residence. Might as well take advantage of your connections while we can. Your father wants to talk to you anyway. He contacted me again this morning.”

  Vox tensed. “Regarding?” Why hadn’t his father reached out to him telepathically if he needed something? Vox was no longer shielding his location from his family.

  “He said he pinged you twice, but you didn’t respond. He wanted to know if you had relapsed or something. I told him you were on the surface, but to my knowledge you were fine.”

  “I’ll contact him immediately. I’m sorry to bother you again.” Concealing how concerned he was by the information, Vox left the cave without further conversation.

  He retraced his steps until he stood on a railed walkway in a secluded section of the utility level. Telepathic communication had been effortless for Vox for a decade or more. This was yet another indication of his depleted strength. Despite all of his assurances to
others that all he needed was food and rest, clearly that was not the case.

  Emptying his mind of everything but the task at hand, he found the common link members of his bloodline shared and flowed along the connection. His father’s signal was easy to identify. Awred blazed in the distance like a beacon. Vox sent a telepathic ping and Awred responded immediately.

  It’s about time.

  Vox ignored the provocation and kept his mental voice calm. I was told you were trying to contact me.

  Why didn’t you respond to my pings?

  Worry rather than annoyance accompanied the thought, so Vox answered honestly. I didn’t sense you. I’m still weaker than I’d like to admit.

  Have there been any other symptoms?

  Nothing was gained by glossing over the truth. He couldn’t let his pride stand in the way of his recovery. I lost control while I tried to teleport. No one was harmed, but it was humiliating.

  You need energy. Clearly one transfer—even from me—was not enough. I’ll send you a selection of feeders.

  Vox cringed. He’d always hated the label and avoided their use. Feeders were Bilarrians with unusually high concentrations of energy. Generally their only ability was to transfer their energy to someone who could use it. They were well compensated for their willingness to share, but Vox still found the practice demeaning.

  My strength won’t return on its own?

  Unlikely. If it were going to regenerate without assistance, it would have by now.

  Vox sighed, accepting the inevitable. Send them to Stargazer Ranch. It’s located in Boulder, Colorado. Now was there a reason you reached out to me?

  I was worried that something like this might happen. I don’t think you realize how close you came to death. Any other healer would have failed to bring you back at all. There was no arrogance in his father’s claim. Awred was stating a cold, hard fact.

  I’m aware, and I’m grateful that you responded as quickly as you did. Despite my recent discontent, I am not ready to pass beyond.