by Imogene Nix
He hadn’t realized she’d returned to the security offices until he had arrived at her apartment, hoping to catch her before she began the day. Then he’d buzzed her, several times, through the comm channels, but she didn’t respond, making him worry that something had happened. When she’d finally come through the door, the weariness was clear on her face, and there were shadows under her eyes, but even so, she still looked amazing.
Gustav recalled the first time he’d seen her, new to the security detail aboard the Star of Ishtar and widowed less than six months. The sadness in her eyes was the first thing that drew him in. It hadn’t hurt that she was also sexy, he reflected with honesty. Her curves had been outlined in the flight suit, her eyes piercing with intensity. While addressing the new crewmembers, his focus kept returning to her. Her hair had been tied back in a bun, showing off her long, lean neck and strong chin that she’d raised—warding off an emotional blow, his mind offered. One against the world. He’d found the strong woman who’d faced great challenges appealed to him.
He remembered her drive and the way she’d been determined to make the most of her opportunities for advancement. She’d excelled in martial arts while aboard the Ishtar and had shown an aptitude for security and leadership. Those qualities had been the catalyst for her moving through the ranks, not at a meteoric rate, but slowly. She’d taken on extra duties and made choices that showcased her character and abilities. Of course, her amiability also helped, as other crewmembers found her approachable too.
Not overtly, and he doubted even consciously, she had drawn him like a moth to a flame. His awareness of her had been instant, and as she had emerged from her grief, he could tell she found him intriguing. He’d detected it in her shy smiles and soft glances. But he’d kept to his time-honored theme of no emotional ties. When he finally reconciled himself to any possibility of creating a relationship, he had made the worst mistakes in the book.
That damned night. He clenched his fist.
She’d been everything he wanted, and while he might blame the alcohol for dulling his senses, he knew placing all the blame on the alcohol was unfair. He’d wanted her. Badly. Enough to lose his head as his inhibitions dulled and slipped away. In turn, because of his actions he’d lost her before they’d had a chance to find out what the relationship might become.
Gustav shook his head. How could he possibly expect her to come back for a second round?
Kera had frozen him out once they’d reached Aenna, and that initially puzzled him...until he’d remembered. She had only stayed a few months, distant and cool, before taking on the diplomatic posting. Losing her left him both empty and alone.
Now she was back, and once more he let that encounter become a wedge between them. The anger and anguish in her eyes the night before told him her emotions were still raw. He exhaled heavily, sitting down once more on the hard furnishings of the falsely bright room. The yellow on the walls mocking with its gaiety.
Placing his elbows on the table, he let his head drop into his waiting hands and thought about options. He needed to make her see that he had learned from the mistakes he’d made.
The chimes of the door alerted him, and he sat upright. As if she’d been listening and waiting, the door to her bedroom opened and Kera marched out, piercing him with a stare. “Stay right there.”
He subsided, unsure and uncomfortable with her giving him orders. But she was the security expert, and he already ranked on her problem list. He didn’t want to climb any higher than he already was.
“Ahh, thanks so much.” Her voice filtered from the room beyond, and he listened to the drone of someone else talking. The door shut, and the voices stopped. He waited for a moment Then she returned, exiting from the kitchen door, holding a tray. “So, you ordered it for here?”
He couldn’t tell if she was upset or not, but she indicated the small table and pulled the holo-goggles off it as she started to put the tray on the black-grained surface.
“I thought you would have arranged something in the mess.” She exhaled. “I suppose we have a few minutes to eat, but I’m expecting an update from the crew, so I need to get back quickly.”
He watched her pull the covers off the steaming dishes, grab a fork, and started on the frittata. She didn’t sit down, but moved constantly while she ate.
Gustav groaned inwardly, taking a bite of the hot food and a drink of the cool juice. She clearly didn’t want to spend any extra time with him. Gustav placed his fork down. Kera speared the last piece of food and lifted it to her lush, pink lips. He glanced away, a lump forming in his chest as his groin twitched again.
He reached over and grabbed a denta-tab from the tray. “You know, I read somewhere they used to have to use brushes to clean teeth. Imagine how much time that wasted. Thankfully, now we’re more civilized.”
She smiled thinly, grabbing the other denta-tab. “Yeah, just imagine. Now, if you’re ready, I’ll get you to your office. Oh, and from now on, Admiral? Don’t wander around without your detail. Until we get the infiltrator situation dealt with, we don’t know what they’ll try.”
Chapter 7
Kera’s coffee cup needed refilling often as she read the reports coming in throughout the day. She noted the team had the STAD devices installed, and she waited to evaluate how well they worked. Of course, more to the point was if they worked. She had a sense of surety, not just based on intuition as much as the frequency of the communications, that another would come soon. Hopefully today. She drummed her fingers on the desk.
The results of the decoding weren’t great. If she had Meredith Gentry here, she’d probably have them decrypted already, but as she needed to manually hack the message the work wasn’t that simple. Her frustration mounted. She checked the chrono on her desk screen. Barsha! She was supposed to meet with Gustav—no, she reminded herself firmly, not Gustav, the admiral—in ten minutes.
Standing, she brushed down her uniform before clipping on her pistol and communicator. She grabbed the sheaf of prints so she could give the hard copies to him. Kera worked to soothe her ruffled nerves, taking a deep breath before stepping away from her desk.
Her walk was purposeful as she called out to the assistant by her office. “Heading to the admiral’s office, Eve. Not sure how long I’ll be gone. I’m on comm though.” Her words sounded firm and calm, and Kera congratulated herself as she walked away from Eve’s desk, working her way through the maze of privacy cubicles and into the main corridors. She moved through the complex, past the reception desk, flicking a disinterested gaze at the women operating it as she headed up the corridor toward his office.
A flash of her identification across the screening unit opened the door soundlessly. The two female personal assistants sat at the desk beyond, just as they had previously, and the darker- haired assistant raised her head.
“The admiral will be with you soon, Commander. Please take a seat.” The words were quiet, and Kera wondered about the atmosphere between the two women. She noted the blonde glance at her swiftly, and Kera was pretty sure the woman was trying to freeze her with the cold stare.
Sitting in one of the hard chairs against the wall, Kera placed the printed file on her knee as she scanned the room. Last time she’d only filed away impressions. Now she had time to look and explore. The quiet blue walls held images of ships, with the Star of Ishtar featured prominently. She smiled as she realized they were all ships he’d served on.
The door to his office slid open, and Gustav strode out, not noticing her, and Kera followed his movements with her gaze, fascinated by his air of command. “I want those reports, Marina. Today.”
The blonde woman raised her eyes, lips flattened with fine, white lines bracketing them. She nodded. “Yes, Admiral.”
He turned and saw Kera sitting in the seat. “You’re here to see me?”
Kera rose. “I’ve got those reports you requested, Admiral. If you’re ready?”
He nodded and indicated she should go before him, watching whi
le she stood, then followed her into his office. “Kera, I’m aware you’re working on decoding the communication. How’s that going?” He sat down, and Kera laid the prints on the desk.
“Not so well. They’re using a hybrid code, which is causing us some concern. We thought we’d found the key yesterday, but when we moved through the report, we noticed the dates didn’t match.” Kera sighed, venting her frustration. In the three days since she’d seen Gustav, they’d worked like demons, hacking at the code and looking for some way to break it. “If we could get Gentry...” She lifted her eyes to meet his.
“No. She’s working with Duvall and his crew. I can’t recall her at this point.”
“Fine then. This is what we have.” Kera pulled the first page out, laying it on his desk. “Here is the message received three nights ago. We can break sections of the code, but not all of it. This is what has been decoded so far.” She pulled a second sheet from the pile.
Gustav bent over the page, and he grunted before raising his head, his gaze meeting hers. “What do you think?”
“Based on our current intelligence, I’m sure something is going to happen. It’s just the what and when we can’t work out. I am expecting another communication soon.” She pulled yet another sheet from her stack and carefully placed the papers in front of him. “We’re basing our assumptions on this record here.” Kera tapped her finger against the file. “Communications are between three and six day intervals. There is no way they could detect our use of backup servers to work on the problems though, so we do have a tactical advantage. I ordered a number of desk screens, sequestered from the Ultranet system, so there can be no trace of what we’re doing.”
Kera rubbed her hand over her eyebrow, hoping to massage away the tightness that lay beneath. She could feel his cool eyes on her while she waited for his input.
“Do you think your work is being monitored?” His words were gruff, and she shrugged tiredly.
“At this stage? I think it’s fair to assume someone is in a position to keep track of our progress. That’s another reason I have a secondary team working on a bogus aspect of the investigation. If we can keep them off our tail while we work on the decoding and continue to monitor for transmissions, we at least have hope.” Kera sat back in the chair, watching him pore over the papers she had presented. Her fingers itched to move the lock of hair falling over his face and to wipe away the tiredness in his eyes.
He lifted those blue orbs to her. “What time did you start this?” His query startled her as much as the softness in his face.
“What? Oh, sometime around 0400 hours. The team is working all hours at the moment to find the infiltrators.” She shrugged again. She didn’t want the complication of knowing he was concerned about her.
“Tired people miss things. You need a break.” His words were quiet, and she reared back.
She wanted to yell at him, anger rising in her chest, but she spoke with a professional calmness. “Are you saying we aren’t doing our job?”
He waved a hand at her. “No. All I’m saying is that you’re tired. It’s there in your eyes, and you clearly have a headache. You need to rest.” She wanted to argue, but knew he was right. She needed a break.
“I can’t. Not yet.” She swallowed, knowing she needed to warn him. Had to make him understand. “Admiral? I’m concerned. I think they’re planning something big. I need to ensure, at this point, you don’t go anywhere without your security detail.” She knew he often went without them, and a bubble of fear rose in her chest. He had to listen this time.
“Come on, I don’t—”
Kera cut him off mid-sentence. “Yes, you do. Please.”
He looked at her with a calculating expression. “Only if you promise to call me Gustav, like you used to when we were alone, and you have dinner with me once this is over and discuss this mess between us.”
She stared at him. What? That isn’t fair. “Admiral. Please, this isn’t something to joke about.” Her words were thin, and she waited for his reaction.
He smiled! “Agree to those conditions and I promise faithfully.”
Kera gritted her teeth. “Barsha! All right. I don’t want to though. So be clear, it’s only under duress that I’m agreeing.”
Maybe she could find a way out of that agreement down the track, but right now, she had him where she wanted him, and that was all that mattered.
“Fine!” she growled the word, but he didn’t look triumphant, more sad. She wanted to call back her acquiescence before reminding herself of the mess that had come before. “Permission to be excused? Gustav?”
She understood he was troubled by her unwilling acceptance, but he nodded, and she rose. The sooner I’m out of here, the better.
Chapter 8
Both Marina and Allison had left for the day after Gustav shooed them out, seeking the silence which now prevailed. Under normal circumstances he’d consider them efficient, but Marina’s perpetual bad mood—especially since his comments in front of Kera of needing the report finished earlier in the day—seemed worse. Of course, his assistant didn’t cope well with other women, a fact he learned early on in their association. Her ability to work with Allison seemed to be based on the fact Allison’s lover was also female. Therefore, Marina didn’t consider her colleague competition.
Marina had worked out quickly that Kera held a special place in his heart and now expressed her deep anger with him. For years he had rebuffed the woman’s advances, not that he ever encouraged them. She made it clear in more ways than one she would welcome an interlude; the way she spoke to him, handled matters, and those secret smiles she sometimes bestowed. He huffed with frustration.
Now her barely concealed animosity any time Kera’s name was raised built to a level he couldn’t ignore. Allison also confirmed, quietly, Marina’s refusal to talk to Kera. “Perhaps I should consider adding Marina’s name to the list of possible transfers.” Gustav made a mental note and continued packing away for the evening.
He grabbed his palm unit and the micro-files to take them back to his suite. He needed to work on reviewing the ships’ allocations. He was tossing around the idea of not calling the security office to arrange for an escort when a loud bang on the outer door alerted him to something odd going on. He grabbed for his laser pistol only to remember that he had left it in his suite. “You damned fool, why didn’t you listen to her?”
This time the bang was louder, and he knew something had been smashed to the floor. A surge of adrenaline raced through his system. He lunged for his door control, sweat trickling down his shirt as the door slid shut, creating another obstacle. But he knew the barrier in here was weak—being more for show than security.
Gustav depressed the communicator and called Kera. Her voice sounded tinny through the small device. “What’s up, Admiral?” Before he spoke, a third and even louder bang filled the air. “Gustav? Are you okay? Where are you?” Her voice turned urgent.
“Office. I’m fine for now.” He kept his gaze on the door, knowing it would only hold for so much longer. He hoped she had reinforcements with her and would arrive soon. The walls shuddered slightly under the impact of whatever they were doing on the other side.
“On my way.” The sounds of scraping and then exertion echoed through the communicator. Her breath coming in measured puffs told him she was running as she spoke.
He moved around the desk. If they got to him, he refused to be taken cowering like some half-witted, local yokel. I’m an admiral. One who wears the uniform with pride, and if they do gain entry through the door, then I’ll look every inch an admiral. Gustav straightened his jacket, tugging on the cuffs as he sat down.
He waited for what seemed an age, though he was sure only a few minutes passed. Another bang resounded, and a crash, louder this time, followed by...silence.
His communicator blared again. “Admiral? Gustav?” Her voice came through the device breathless and strained.
“Where are you, Kera?”
“At your door. Open up now and be prepared to move fast.”
The sound of voices rose in the background as he grabbed his micro-files, shoved them into a pocket, and slapped the door lock button.
She stood there, chest heaving and face glowering. “We need to get you out of here now.” She grabbed his hand tightly and his fascination with her kicked in again. This was a side of Kera he’d never experienced before, not in this sort of situation.
A breather mask was shoved into his other hand, and he grabbed onto the plastic, checking she also gripped one.
“What’s going on?” he asked. Now she had him jogging down the plush corridor.
“Not now,” Kera answered tersely before pushing him into the arms of his security detail. “Get him stowed in my office and don’t let him wander.” She pulled the hidden blast door shut as she disappeared back inside the office area.
“What’s going on?” he asked again.
Anger mounted as the officers ignored his demand, propelling him toward the security suite and into Kera’s small, dingy office. Two burly guards assumed a sideways position at the front of the door, arms crossed over their broad chests, and he glanced at the large laser pistols at their hips.
“I demand to know exactly what is going on.” He didn’t yell, but they still winced at the tone of command before sharing a glance. One of the men left the room.
“Admiral, my partner has gone to check clearance on what we can tell you at this point. Commander Aarens gave us very specific instructions pertaining to your safety.”
Gustav didn’t much like those words, but he understood exactly why Kera made the decision. Keeping a lid on the situation meant a calm base. He didn’t like the idea that she was in the thick of it though, and him not knowing if she was safe had him climbing the walls.
The second guard returned with a grim smile on his face. “We are authorized to explain what happened. Commander Aarens responded to your call for assistance. While she made her way to you, she sent out an urgent request for assistance. On arrival, she noticed gas-based explosive canisters had been deployed. As we were accessing your office, another call came in alerting us to a range of chemical explosions occurring in another part of the compound. Commander Aarens felt that you should be brought here, as it is a safe haven, until such time as an all-clear is given.” The monologue now delivered, the guard stepped back, taking his previous position in front of the door.
