Better to tend to duty. She silently wished Lyon and his team a successful search, certainly for the sake of the pilots, but also so she and Wulfe could finish that small but important rite. A ripple of anticipation moved through her. She couldn't wait to put the bonding chain around Wulfe's neck where it belonged. Not one normally to be superstitious, Cat couldn't keep herself from seeing Wulfe's necklace as a symbol. Returning the chain to its proper place would somehow set things right and assure they'd find the children soon. Safe and happy. She would accept no other outcome or interference from Sister Fate.
The scrambled flight squads launched, barely clearing the bay doors before her comm tag alerted her to a message. Seleen's loyal, ever-watchful eye, Cat figured, timing the interruption with utmost care. "Culver."
`You have an urgent transmission from Space Corps Command. Your eyes only, Commander.'
"Hold and relay to flight bay control room on my command." Hope chased away part of terror ripping her apart inside, but she couldn't-- would not--allow herself to rejoice yet.
`Aye.'
Cat entered the control room and urged Ellery to take a break, trying to be tactful in her haste. "Ready, Seleen."
The comm screen flickered from dark to the Corps Command insignia to Flemming's face. `Catherine.'
"Admiral, I don't mean to be rude, but unless you have something about the children, we're in the middle of trying to track a flight squad of fighters."
`I don't mean to be rude either, Catherine, but this is as important as three fighters and their pilots.'
"Have you received some news about Hawke and Cass?" Her heart lifted, waiting for word about her family, but she sensed Flemming had anything but good news.
`Unfortunately, I've heard nothing about Cass and Hawke or the children. I do need someone with your clearance on Nutralis immediately.'
"Nutralis? The Falchion can leave as soon as we find our pilots. You should have spoken with Wulfe, but I'll pass the order to him when--"
`No. Take your own craft and go. Wulfe and the Falchion need to stay in the Sisyphus system a bit longer.'
Cat's stomach contracted into a tight ball of frustration. Violent rebellion boiled through her. "You expect me to leave the Falchion while my children are still missing? Forget it!"
`Catherine, allow me to make myself clear. This is not a request. This is an order. You are to depart for Nutralis as soon as possible. This is your responsibility as a member of Covert Ops.'
"Then, with all due respect, Sir, I'm not a Free Agent in Covert Ops, as of right now. My children come first. If anyone has information about them, this is where they will contact me."
`The Nutralis Council Chairman has received a death threat. He is a crucial component of the peace effort. We can't afford to lose him any more than we could afford to lose your father or your mother when they were kidnapped a few weeks ago.'
"My children are my priority! Roy, you're asking far too much of me this time around."
`Maybe not. The chairman may have useful information.'
"You mean about Fallon and the children?" The fine balancing act of her emotions teetered again, this time dangerously close to elation, prodded by sheer desperation. Costly emotions. "I find that highly unlikely."
Flemming moved one meaty shoulder in a vague gesture. `You did not hear those words from me.'
Code words for `maybe, but leave me out of the official loop on this one'. The crumb of hope Flemming held out to her stilled her protests, though she couldn't fathom how the council chairman would have come into such knowledge. Her mind worked madly, weighing the odds. Cat mentally shook herself. To the Underworld with odds, even at a million to one, if that one chance could bring news of the children and Fallon. "I'll explain the situation to Wulfe."
`You may tell him about the threat to the chairman if you wish, but nothing about the children, otherwise he'll want to go with you, and I can't allow that. Not yet, anyway.'
"Do you have any idea how my husband will react when he thinks I've put the well-being of my children secondary to duty? That's what bloody well caused our separation to begin with! I can't do that to Wulfe again. He will go absolutely nova on me!"
`An unfortunate situation, I agree, but one that cannot be changed at this time. Then again, Catherine, Wulfe's reaction to your absence may not be as explosive as you imagine.'
"Easy for you to say. You're not out in the middle of space with him and an airlock with your name emblazoned on the panel." Cat stepped as close to the comm unit as she could; her face had to fill Flemming's screen on the other end of the link. "I'll go, but if I even suspect you've falsely lured me with the children as bait, you've sent me on my last assignment. I won't play Covert's games at the expense of my family."
`If I had anyone else I could send, I would. Also, when the chairman learned of your family ties, he seemed to relax a bit.'
"Nice touch." Cat straightened, half-resigned to risking Wulfe's wrath in exchange for possible information about the children. "I'm trying to hold together a marriage that seems doomed to fail faster than a leaky oxygen tank in space vacuum, and you're telling me I have to leave my husband. I must be space happy even to listen."
Flemming's face betrayed a sudden uneasiness. `I'm trying to tell you that Wulfe may not be as troubled by your absence as you may think. Perhaps, considering the circumstances, distance between the two of you may not be a bad thing, Catherine.
A warning sounded in her mind. Flemming seemed to be working mighty hard to say something without really spitting out the words. Cat detected numerous strands of emotion from the older man, none of them positive. Caution, worry, sadness, regret. And, worst of all, pity. She couldn't--would not--tolerate pity. "What are you trying so hard not to tell me?"
`This isn't easy for me to say and I regret the necessity. Wulfe put in a request to have you transferred off his ship.'
"Oh, he did, did he?" She looked away from the screen, unwilling to see the compassion in Flemming's eyes and unable to allow him to see the agony that must show in hers. Wulfe wanted her gone. From far away, she heard a hollow thudding that meant her heart continued to beat despite the savaging Flemming's news inflicted, but she couldn't have proved the fact to anyone just now. "I wish Wulfe had told me himself. When did he ask this?"
`Actually, the request came more as a demand from him.'
"Indeed." What in the universe had made her think Wulfe would be infuriated if she left? Arrogance, that's what. Her own out-of-control arrogance. Deep down, she'd believed Wulfe's love for her would overcome his failure to remember the good things, his propensity to recall only the bad. Why did he want her transferred off the Falchion? Did the bad outweigh the good in his mind?
But then why the farce with the necklace? She knew bloody well he'd intended for her to fasten it around his neck. She'd like to put the chain there now and twist the links tight! How could Wulfe radiate loving emotions but still want her out of the holograph? Her head pounded with teeming doubts, swirled with insecurities. Nothing made sense anymore.
She focused on duty, the only stable thing in her life right now. "Does the chairman have protection until I arrive?"
`Some. The council guards are present, though they are not of your caliber. The chairman has never received a direct threat of this nature, and it's thrown all of them. Nutralis really does need your expertise and practical guidance right now.'
"I'll go, so don't waste time and energy on flattery." She broke the comm link. "Computer, location of Captain Kincade."
Captain Kincade is in the captain's office.
He would probably be there for a while. Good. She didn't think she could face him yet and successfully keep the extent of her anguish from him. The too-raw hurt pierced her, heart and soul, with unrelenting force. "Computer, open a communication channel to Station Uhlein, station commander or head of security."
Standby.
Cat waited. She used the delay to bolster her flagging courage. By leaving the shi
p now instead of staying to fight for their union, she figuratively drove the last rivet into the casket holding her marriage. With her own sonic wrench. Maybe, but Wulfe held the power pack for the blasted wrench--his request to get her off the Falchion--and seemingly couldn't wait to charge the bloody thing.
`Commander Culver? My name is DiMarco. I'm Uhlein's security chief. I'm the one who reviewed our security logs.'
"What did you find?"
`About five minutes worth of your children and their nurse on our docking ring alpha with a Space Corps captain by the name of Wheeler, Erich Wheeler, of the SCF Orion.'
Blast, Wheeler had gotten back to Uhlein in time to speak with Fallon. Poor, gullible girl probably vowed to remain true to him, too. "Where did they go after speaking with Wheeler?"
`They entered the personnel lift.'
"And?" Any remaining patience vanished like mist in the hot, dry Sacred Wind. `Wheeler,' her paranoid mind whispered.
The security officer ran a finger around the inside of his uniform collar. `When the lift stopped several levels later, the children and their nurse weren't inside.'
Cat slapped the table top on either side of the comm screen, unable to rein in the intense anger surging through her. "I swear, DiMarco, if you don't tell me everything you know, the next time I'm on Uhlein I'll take out your tonsils with my dagger, and I won't bother honing it first!"
DiMarco swallowed audibly. `The children and nurse never reappear on our security logs.'
"They didn't evaporate all by themselves!"
`No Ma'am. We believe they were transported out. We discovered residual readings indicative of a translocator beam, but no way to trace the ship of origin or the destination.'
"Did you find any trace signatures?"
`Only those found in a standard Space Corps translocator.'
Any hint of where they'd gone vanished with the news. "Or any one of a hundred different worlds that use the same type of equipment, so we have no definite leads."
`Aye, that's the case. Your security chief, Lyon, received a roster of vessels from us. I hope that helped some.'
"Didn't do us much good, other than verifying what you just told me." Not one bloody bit of good, and no further hope. `A Space Corps translocator, as on Wheeler's Orion,' her floundering mind warned her.
`I do have one piece of good news for you.'
"I could use some, DiMarco."
`The body we found wasn't the missing nurse. Turned out to be a pleasure worker from a casino barge.'
Relief swept through Cat, then remorse that another woman had forfeited her life. Sweet Creator, the children weren't alone. Fallon must still be watching over Garrett and Morgan, protecting them. Unless the children had been with Cass.
`Wish we could have done more. Sorry, Commander.'
"Not as much as I am," Cat said to the blanked screen. Her head pounded with relentless force now. She opened a link to Wulfe before she could change her mind.
`Kincade.'
"Wulfe, we need to talk." Her mental shields went up, an instinctive reaction to protect herself. She left them in place.
`I can meet you in the officers' mess in about an hour.'
"Something immediate would be better, Captain." The empty silence on the comm link almost made her wince. "Privacy for this particular meeting might be a good idea."
`Put that way, make it star cartography in five minutes.'
"Agreed." Cat took a deep breath, closed the comm link. Her stomach bounced around like an activated aeroball while she tried to figure out a way to tell Wulfe she intended to leave. Then again, in view of the request he'd put into Command, he probably couldn't wait to see her go.
Cat entered the main section of star cartography. The deck beneath her feet, fabricated of the usual biranium and plazsteel construction, supported her within the clear plazglass of the huge stardome. The optically pure clear bubble, completely undetectable unless you got close enough to touch, made her feel as if she walked among the stars, part of the Celestial Glory.
An ethereal place to visit, the dome remained one of her favorite haunts, especially with only the radiant glow of the stars to light her way. Cat tipped her head back, allowed the endless view of space to encompass her until a sense of free fall caught her up in a temporary retreat, a sensation of pleasurable floating through time and space.
Somewhere--out there, Creator willing--her children waited for her.
The doors behind her slid open and closed with a soft whish. The infinitesimal sound of Wulfe's footsteps came closer. The fact that such a massive body moved so silently never ceased to amaze her.
His arm went around her, pulled her back against his body until her knees wanted to go weak. Wulfe's musky male-scent and his possessive, familiar touch threatened to make her resolve falter, too. Cat sensed curiosity, grief, the potent stirring of desire. So much for the effectiveness of her reflexive mental shields. She reinforced the barriers, isolated herself from him emotionally. In turn, the strategy kept her own fear, grief and desire hidden away.
"Did you hear something about Garrett and Morgan, ma'ten?"
With an intentionally detached, emotionless voice, Cat recited a nearly verbatim account of her communication with Uhlein's security chief.
"It's a relief to know that Fallon is not in the station's morgue. She will protect the children for us, Cat."
Wulfe shifted his stance, allowed the heat of his growing hardness to press against her back. He moved her hair aside, traced the line of her neck with warm lips until he found the most sensitive spot.
He seemed to remember that well enough. Slow delicious shivers rippled along her spine, through her limbs. Wulfe cupped one breast in his hand, squeezed the sensitive nipple, sending a new wave of shivers right to the soles of her feet. Heat coiled low in her belly, tight and eager and feverish, waiting for the slightest chance to explode.
"Did you want to talk to me about something else important, or did you simply have the need to be distracted again?" Wulfe's voice resonated from deep inside him, and she felt the bass vibrations against her shoulder blades and spine.
A wonderful, powerful voice until filled with anger. Or, worse, chill indifference. Blast! Her mouth and tongue didn't want to move--except maybe against his. Fantasy, all fantasy. Rude fact intruded now. "I'm going to give you what you want."
"Are you now?" He asked in his deep voice. Wulfe nipped her ear, growled softly. "No wonder you sounded so urgent."
"Ha!" Her heart had shattered and he spoke of sex.
"Cat, ever since we...the fact that we were able to comfort one another so effectively--"
"Effectively?" Effective! One of the most profoundly moving encounters of her life and he called it effective!
"Successfully, then. However you wish to describe our coming together, the experience has renewed my faith in our ability to make our union the glorious one destiny and fate intended."
Her heart plummeted in response. Why now? Why hadn't he said these words before she'd received the orders to leave? Once again Sister Fate twisted and reshaped anything resembling fairness. "Wulfe, you can't be sure of that when you can't remember what we shared. Or, more tellingly, what we didn't share."
His hurt puzzlement pierced her mental shields, made her writhe inside until she strengthened them again. The bravest, strongest warriors sheltered the most fragile of egos, and she wanted no part in the disintegration of Wulfe's.
"Perhaps if we resumed a normal union, I would recall the past with greater ease." His teeth grazed the side of her neck.
"I've considered that possibility, and it might work but for one thing." Two, actually, the first being him wanting her gone.
"What stops us?"
Cat moved away from Wulfe and his mesmerizing touch capable of stealing her ability to think. "I'm leaving the Falchion."
"Say again." Wulfe's voice had gone precise. "I must have misunderstood your words."
She deliberately used the same tone. "I will
be absent from the Falchion for an undetermined length of time. I plan to leave immediately."
Wulfe grabbed her arm. "You think you can come and go as you please, at the slightest whim on your part?"
Cat swung around to face him, instantly realized her error when she saw the starglow illuminate the fiercely striking lines of his face, now marred by harsh anger. She doubted anything could cause the ache in her heart to grow any more hurtful. She'd trek through the Underworld before allowing him to see that hurt, though. She redoubled her effort to hold the mental barriers in place. Pride and honor would not allow her to reveal such a weakness to him. "My decision is a little more than a whim."
"Really. Where do you think you're going?"
Wulfe pulled her so close she had to angle her head way back to see his face. A definite tactical disadvantage for her.
"I have to go to Nutralis." Hope seemed to flare in his eyes. So. Flemming hadn't misunderstood Wulfe's demand. He wanted her gone from his precious ship. Or did she intentionally misread his feelings to salve her conscience?
"Have you heard something about the little ones? Are they on Nutralis? Or do you have news of our siblings?"
More deceptions--gods, how she detested them, even deception by omission. "I've been ordered to Nutralis to help protect the council chairman. He's received a death threat."
He fairly bristled with suspicion. Wulfe's grip on her tightened. "And you're off to save his peace-loving butt."
Cat ignored the resentment in his voice and tried to temper her own. "Aye, I'll try to keep him safe."
"No," Wulfe said flatly. "Absolutely not."
So typical. She felt like they'd regressed eight years. Wulfe so easily fell right back into the old pattern of trying to control her. Buried resentments welled up in her, plummeted over the dividing line into anger. "Exactly what will stop me?"
Devoted Deceptions, A 4th Millennium Adventure, Book 3 Page 23
