Dream Quest

by Неизвестный

"Morgan ill-used her as he did you."

  Gwen gave a little cry of anguish. "Oh, Kallaayt! I feared for her but hoped no one would harm her with me gone."

  "No one will ever harm her now. She is on her way to my home. Our females are great healers. She will be well."

  "Then let us go, at once. I have said my farewell to Madam Lou for her kindness."She stood up on the ledge. "Take me home with you."

  With Gwen's legs wrapped around his waist, he leapt into the night air, winged toward the west and the true dawn rose behind them.

  Interface

  by Isabo Kelly

  Isabo Kelly, a zoologist by training and a writer by passion, writes science fiction and fantasy romances including The Promise of Kierna'Rhoan and the award winning Thief's Desire. Readers can find out more about Isabo and her worlds by visiting her at www.isabokelly.com.

  1.

  Gina flattened herself against the wall outside her father's private office, her fingernails digging ruts into her palm. She counted to ten, then twenty. Temper, temper! Seconds before, the sound of strange voices from within had halted her entry. The door was cracked an inch, not enough to see into the room but enough to hear the conversation. She'd paused only long enough to make sure she wasn't interrupting an important meeting. And look at the reward for her consideration! She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

  "Gina won't like this,"her father was saying. "Getting her to agree to added security is never easy, but this..."His voice dropped. "She doesn't know about the threats. I didn't want to tell her everything."

  "Is that wise?"a male voice asked.

  "No. Not with her temper. But she'll just have to understand. I won't take any chances now. Not after that last message."

  Threats? Messages? Gina sucked in a breath through her teeth. What in hell hasn't he told me?

  "Do you have any idea who the outside source is, Mr. Xanacovich?"another male voice asked.

  "I can't imagine who would do something like this."

  "With Xanac Corp's ties to the initial development of detectors,"the first man said, "it could be a pro-shifter terrorist group."

  Terrorists? Gina held her breath. Human groups against shifter exterminations were known to engage in terrorist activities. Had one of those taken aim at her family's company because years ago Xanac had been instrumental in developing the technology that could identify Narava's shape changing species, no matter what form a shifter took?

  She could understand why shifters and humans against the exterminations feared the equipment. She had mixed feelings about detectors. She didn't at all subscribe to the views of the Shifter Research Center that painted shifters as a dangerous, parasitic animal likely to wipe out the human population on Narava if not exterminated. She was patently against the destruction of an entire species. But neither was she completely comfortable with the idea of shifters being able to be anywhere--or anything--they wanted without humans knowing. Especially if the rumors, and her suspicions, were true and shifters were more intelligent than SRC claimed.

  Xanac's research had also revealed a way to scan for a previously undetectable, fatal Naravan-based blood virus, and in the end, that was the most important element to her. But would Xanac's contribution to detectors be enough to push one of the pro-shifter groups to terrorist threats?

  "Xanac Corp's contribution to the development of detectors was minimal and before my tenure as CEO. Why hit our research and development team now?"Her father's voice was quiet, strained, as he eerily seemed to echo her own thoughts.

  "To highlight their cause? To move interest away from this rumored guard report to a topic more immediate?"

  Guard report? A series of news briefs flashed through her mind. Rumors had been flying over the last two weeks about the findings of an undercover guard concerning shifters and one of the shifter support groups. Each side of the volatile argument assumed the guard's report would support their view--either to continue the exterminations or to end them. She was hoping for the latter.

  "That situation only started two weeks ago,"her father said. "I've been getting threats for a month."

  "Something to do directly with the M-SID research then? The threats are to get you to stop the work."

  Gina's eyes widened. Her father had told these two strangers about her M-SID work? Without coming to her first? Threats notwithstanding, he should never, ever have mentioned the micro-molecular scanning interface devices to anyone outside of Xanac. And he knew why even more than she did. Her teeth ground together.

  "No. This wasn't done by anyone supporting the shifters,"her father said, closing the subject with that obstinate, "there will be no further discussion"tone that drove Gina nuts.

  There was a pause, the silence heavy. She could feel a vein throbbing in her temple. She tried to relax her clenched fists. Calm, Gina. Just stay calm.

  "Under the circumstances, it's best if the regular security staff don't know about you,"her father said, his voice authoritative but rushed.

  "We understand, Mr. Xanacovich,"the first man said. "Discretion's our specialty."

  Discretion? This was what her father called discretion? Hiring perfect strangers then telling them about her work? Keeping threats to her research a secret? She struggled to contain a string of Deven curses--she always turned to her mother's native language when Naravan or Trade curses weren't strong enough. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, trying one last time to rein in her legendary temper. This wasn't the first time her father had gone behind her back to protect her. It was, however, the first time he'd kept the reason for his actions a secret.

  She rolled her shoulders, and focused on keeping her breathing steady. She would just walk quietly into the room, ask in a reasonable manner what her father was doing keeping these threats a secret from her. She could be calm and controlled when the situation called for it.

  The door slammed against the wall with enough force to echo as she stomped into the office. "What the hell's going on, dad?"

  Hands planted on hips, she took in her father's two guests with a scowl. The one standing was tall and muscular, his long black hair pulled back in a low tail showing a face so handsomely chiseled it was almost unreal. His hazel eyes narrowed at the intrusion. She flashed him a narrow-eyed look in return and got a raised brow in response.

  The other man sat in a chair in front of her father's desk. She met a pair of deep blue eyes and it took her a moment to remember to scowl. He wasn't too handsome, not by a long shot. But he was very male. Tawny hair, strong features, wide shoulders, a heart-stopping mouth. A shiver of electricity skittered up her spine as her gaze locked on that mouth.

  With a disgusted grunt, she pushed the physical reaction aside, calling up her anger. Now was not the time to worry about the faint smile curving that tempting mouth. "Well?"she directed her ire toward her father.

  "Gina."He straightened in his seat, emphasizing his height the way he did when he was nervous. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd still be at the labs."

  "Obviously. But I'm not the one who needs to answer questions. Why didn't you tell me you were receiving threatening messages?"

  "I didn't want to worry you."Her father raised his hands, palms out, trying to placate. Gina wasn't in the mood.

  "Worry me? I'm not worried! I'm pissed off. How dare anybody threaten me to get you to call off this research? You can just tell whoever it is to forget it. They think they can hurt me? I dare them to try."

  She didn't miss that interesting mouth cracking in a grin. She just chose to ignore it.

  "Honey, you don't understand. These aren't nice men we're dealing with here. You can't possibly..."

  "And why not? I bet I've got as much hand-to-hand training as these two thugs you're hiring."

  "It's not a matter of training. Self defense classes are not the same..."

  "Self defense classes? I'm a black belt in karate. I can handle myself, and you well know it."

  "All the training in the world can't stop an unex
pected blaster shot from ripping through you."The deep, slightly amused comment came from the seated thug.

  Gina turned her temper on him, but before she could launch into a satisfying tirade, her father spoke. "I don't care how much training you've had or how well you think you can take care of yourself. That has nothing to do with this situation. Haven't you noticed, damn it? You're one of the brightest women I know, and you haven't figured out yet that the others were not accidents?"

  Not accidents? "What do you..."She stopped. For a moment, all she could do was stare at her father, anger dissipating beneath the shock of facts. Jesus, how could she have missed it? The rash of accidents in the last month, the injuries, the deaths...

  Two of the original group, the only other two besides her and Jack Nevel who'd actually participated in the experiment, were dead. But Mira and Barry had died in a public link accident that had killed fifteen people. The other accidents...Serious injuries, property damage...All members of her research team directly connected to the experiment.

  Gina's stomach flipped. It couldn't be. She had to be wrong. There was no way the accidents could be anything other than an unfortunate set of coincidences. "What makes you think they weren't accidents?"she demanded, not willing to believe without proof.

  Her father sighed and signaled to the seated man. "Mr. Alexander."

  Gina watched warily as the man rose and handed her a messaging pad. She stared at the fist-sized screen, looked up at her father then pressed the pad to activate the messaging recall. Five messages scrolled past, each one more graphic and threatening, each one very specific in relating the details of the events of the last month. They left no room for argument. Someone was killing off or seriously injuring her team. As she numbly read the final letter, she realized that it detailed first the death of Jack, then her own death. She swallowed hard and handed the pad back to the still looming Mr. Alexander.

  "Jack?"Her voice echoed, hollow in her own ears.

  "His body was found yesterday evening."

  Gina looked up into Mr. Alexander's blue eyes without really seeing him. "And the M-SIDs?"She directed the question toward her father while still staring up at the mercenary.

  "There's every reason to believe they disassembled when whoever's doing this tried to extract them."

  "What reason?"

  "The...the blood found with Jack's...with Jack contained traces of the magnesium- iron-eltranium alloy released when the M-SIDs break down."Her father fell silent, then whispered, "Gina, Jack was tortured before they attempted to extract the micro-scanners."

  Her world tilted sideways. When she blinked back the blackness threatening her vision, she was sitting in the chair Mr. Alexander had abandoned. One of the mercenary's arms circled her shoulders, holding her steady. She smiled up at him, though she wasn't sure it was much of a smile. "Thank you."His tempting mouth tilted up, but his eyes were creased and serious.

  "Does this mean you'll accept their protection now?"her father asked. She stared at his hands where they were clenched together on top of his desk. What else could she do?

  "What's the plan?"

  Mr. Alexander's partner answered. "The plan, Ms. Xanacovich, is to put out a story that you've taken ill and are being closely monitored by two of your mother's associates. We're the associates. You're mother can't get back from Neros Seven and the quarantine she's instigated there for another two weeks. So she's asked Alex and I to monitor your condition and treat you."

  "Do you have any medical training?"She directed her question to the dark haired man, too aware of Mr. Alexander--Alex's--hand on her shoulder to dare looking up at him.

  "Alex is a trained medic, and I can lie well if I have to. My name's Nathan, by the way, Nathan Longfeather. And this is Johan Alexander. He prefers Alex."Nathan grinned at his partner.

  "So what will this plan, my being sick, entail?"Her voice was growing stronger, her nerve returning slowly.

  "We'll transport you to a safe house and guard you until the person behind the messages is caught."This was from Alex, said in such a matter of fact way that she turned to gape up at him.

  "But, couldn't that take awhile?"

  "It could. If Nate and I weren't planning on tracking him down personally. Protecting you is only part of the reason your father has hired us."

  "How long? Will I be able to continue my work? Where's this safe house?"

  "Undetermined but not more than a month. No. And it's better if we don't tell you."

  "A month!"She spun in her chair to face her father. "I can't stop this work for a month! The M-SIDs will disassemble in three more weeks. We'll have to start from scratch. That'll put us more than six months behind schedule. The foundation is going to want to know what we've been doing with all their grant money for the last two years."

  "I'll take care of business. You take care of you. It's not just the research that's at stake here, Gina."

  Her father's quiet tone deflated her outrage, and she slouched down in her chair. She didn't like it. In fact, she hated it. There was no way she'd be able to keep from working for an entire month. At least a month was the worst-case scenario. There was every chance that Alex and Nathan Longfeather were as good as they claimed to be, which meant they could find the person behind the threats and "accidents"in less than a month. God, she hoped so.

  "Why can't I know where the safe house is?"she asked.

  When no one answered, she sat up straighter and focused the full force of her suspicion on her father.

  The silence stretched, all three men exchanging a look she had every intention of overriding. It was bad enough her father hadn't mentioned all this mess to her sooner. Her life was in danger...had been in danger for a month now! There was no way they were going to keep anything else from her. "Answer me, Dad."

  Alex answered instead. "Mr. Xanacovich suspects an informant inside your research team, someone unscrupulous enough to either sell information, or someone crazy enough to carry out these threats and warnings themselves."

  "Impossible!"

  Her father winced and looked away from her.

  She scowled. Her father wasn't being logical. Someone inside the group doing this? That didn't make any sense. He was too worried to think this through. She looked up at Alex, still hovering close to her seat, his hand resting on her shoulder. Alex was a mercenary, detached from the situation. He had to see the idea of someone inside the group doing this was ridiculous. "We do a thorough security and psychological check of all the researchers, engineers, technicians and staff before we hire them. Everyone was checked. Even I had to go through one when I started working for Xanac Corp. It's not possible someone inside the group is capable of this."

  "Ms. Xanacovich, whoever's responsible for all of this knows the schedules of the staff, specifics about the habits, social life and schedules of all the members of your team, details about the research you're working on, details that only someone inside the organization could have had access to. This doesn't mean someone in your father's staff is crazed or this vicious."Alex squeezed her shoulder, a gesture she was sure was meant to reassure and comfort but was more disconcerting than his logic. "But the information is coming from somewhere."

  Gina clenched her teeth together, locking her jaw in an effort not to curse. Damn it. She didn't want to believe. But how could she deny it. Her own logic was insisting Alex must be right given the facts he presented.

  She looked at her father. He looked pale and worn, the lines in his face deeper than a month ago. With a shock she realized what he must have been going through for the last month, knowing his only daughter's life was in danger. Had he suspected all along that someone inside the organization was responsible for this? Had he been wondering for a month if he'd wake up one morning to the news that she'd been killed?

  Her shoulders slumped. She couldn't put him through that any longer. Not now that she knew. She was going to give in to the whole scheme. Going into hiding for a month, with no work to do, knowing there was a lunat
ic somewhere out there threatening all the work they'd done in the last two years, threatening her father, threatening her--it pissed her off. But unless she met the culprit face to face, she was going to have to resign herself to hiding and letting someone else take care of everything. For her father's peace of mind, if nothing else.

  "The files?"she asked her father. Her voice sounded flat.

  "They've been encrypted and locked away. We won't give up the work, honey. It's too important now."

  It was. Gina sighed, finding a measure of relief in his assurances. Knowing the work would continue made it easier to admit defeat, to accept going into hiding for a month. "All right. When do we leave? Should I pack anything?"

  The hand on her shoulder clenched, a movement so quick and subtle she could have imagined it. Then the touch was gone. Her shoulder was warm where his hand had rested. "Pack light. Anything you need later can be acquired."

  Her father rose and came around the desk as she stood. He pulled her into a tight, quick hug and awkwardly wished her good luck. He seemed reluctant to let her go and at the same time in a hurry to see her gone. She walked out of his office without looking back, but she called over her shoulder, "I'll see you soon, Dad."She damn well would too, very soon, if she had any say in the matter.

  2.

  Gina paced the length of the corridor between her bedroom and the library in the large safe house, restless and bored. She was used to working, used to the concentration it took to unravel the biotechnological problems she and her team of engineers struggled with every day. She'd suffered four days of inactivity as silently as possible, but the wait and idleness were getting to her. She wasn't even allowed outside.

  She tugged restlessly at the hem of the oversized sweater she'd been given to stave off the cold air that seeped into the building despite the climate controls. The safe house was little more than a jumble of metal boxes atop a flat space of mountain in the desolate Sapphire Range in Narava's southern hemisphere. Only the hardiest of human colonists had tried to inhabit this area of the planet. Most stayed near the temperate coastlines and the lush green ranges of the interior of the three main continents. Crystal blue-white snow covered the slopes surrounding the safe house. On the flight here, in the small on- and off-planet ship that Nathan Longfeather had piloted, the sun had sparkled across the snow like blue diamonds. And until they'd landed next to the safe house, she hadn't seen a sign of habitation.