by Gun Brooke
“What did she want?” Kellen did not trust Weiss Kyakh for a second, but something in Ewan’s voice made her think that worse people than the woman who had kidnapped Dahlia were out there.
“Trax M’Aldovar is alive.”
“Ewan…” Kellen’s heartbeat became louder as it seemed to thunder somewhere just below her throat.
“I know. I didn’t believe her at first. She claims he is about to purchase davic crystals from Podmer, who in turn stole them from the Nemalima moon.”
“I killed him.” Emotionless, Kellen stared out through the viewport as the shuttle took off.
“You apparently injured him severely. He is completely paralyzed and depending on a ventilator to breathe. Sounds to me like you snapped his neck, but somehow they managed to save him. Something tells me he’s kept this a secret even from his own family, or we would’ve heard about it via his sister.”
Kellen knew that Andreia M’Aldovar, also known as Boyoda, the leader of the resistance movement on Gantharat, would never keep such a thing from them. This would not be easy for her to hear.
“What are my orders, sir?” Kellen was trembling, and the only way to keep from shattering was to remain formal.
“I am transmitting their coordinates. They are not far from your location and I need you to assemble a strike force and take M’Aldovar out. We can’t allow him to take these crystals to Onotharat. The Onotharians are weakened due to an energy crisis, and if they get their hands on such an enormous shipment of crystals, they’ll be able to keep this war going for decades. Not to mention power their weapons factories and research facilities. I’m sending units from the SC as well, but you have a better chance.” Ewan lowered his voice and sounded even closer. “Kellen. You report only to me when it comes to this mission. You have my authority to use what resources you require, including manpower. Assemble your best crew and take him out. Kill him again, as it were.”
The gallows humor wasn’t lost on Kellen. “It will be my pleasure, Ewan,” she said darkly and knew just how feral her smile was.
“All right. Move out ASAP, Protector.”
“Aye, sir. Kellen out.” She sat motionless for the few minutes it took for Ewan’s documents to load onto her computer. Flashbacks from the fight she had engaged in with Trax M’Aldovar mixed with images of Rae, bleeding profusely from a wound in her neck.
Desperate to shake them, Kellen stood and returned to the others. Dahlia’s head snapped up, her eyes dark with worry.
“It wasn’t about Rae. There’s still no news. It was Ewan. I have a new mission.”
“What is it?”
“It involves going back into space.” Kellen made sure the doors were closed to the junior officers’ section of the shuttle. “I’m glad we got so much done today. I need to use Ayahliss, Leanne, Owena, Roshan, and Andreia. Additionally, I’ll require a strike-force unit.”
“This sounds bad.” Dahlia stood, pressing her palms together. “What can Amereena and I do?”
“Keep up the negotiations. Stay safe with the reinforced security detail. Pave the way for peace.” Kellen walked up to Dahlia, carefully taking her hands. “We will find Rae, and I will return with Ayahliss and the others after this mission. I know the thought of losing everyone plagues you right now, but I won’t let that happen.”
“Do you promise, Kellen? I love you like a daughter and…if Rae…you, Armeo, and Ayahliss—”
“Hush. Don’t. Rae is resourceful. She’s strong. She’s every bit as stubborn and determined to survive as you were in the Disi-Disi jungle. She will return, and so will Ayahliss and I. Have faith in that.”
“All right. Yes, of course.” Dahlia hugged Kellen tight. “Will you be able to remain in contact?”
“Yes. I will report continuously to Ewan.”
Dahlia looked relieved as she kissed Kellen’s cheek and let her go. “Good.” She visibly pulled herself together and took her seat.
Turning to Owen, Kellen said, “Gear up and I will see you, Leanne, Roshan, and Andreia at the shuttle bay at 2000 hours. Ayahliss will also accompany us. I will brief you once we are en route.”
“Aye, Protector,” Owena said solemnly. Her dark eyes did not waver, and Kellen knew she and Leanne would go into battle with her with the same abandon as always.
Swallowing against a burning sensation in the back of her throat, Kellen tried to wrap her mind around what awaited them as she sat down and attached her seat harness. She would have to reach the resistance headquarters planetside where Ayahliss, Roshan, and Andreia were part of the planning. They had so much to do and simply no time to do it all. Staring out into space through the small viewport by her seat, she allowed thoughts of Rae to surface. How would she be able to focus on her mission when all she wanted was to turn the Circinus to her wife’s last known coordinates? It infuriated and pained her not to be part of the search-and-rescue detail. Kellen wanted to be there and search, grid by grid, herself.
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes briefly. She could make it through this only by focusing on what Rae would want her to do. Rae most certainly wanted Trax M’Aldovar incarcerated or dead. This man had hurt them both, several times, and knowing he was alive, though severely incapacitated, infuriated her. Pouring all her fears for Rae’s situation into her hatred for the man who had nearly killed Rae, Kellen tightened her fists. She intended to kill him once and for all. He would live only long enough to know who his perpetual nemesis was, and she would show him no pardon, no mercy.
A small voice inside asked her how she could wear her Ruby Red gan’thet suit with honors if she killed a defenseless man, a quadriplegic, according to Kyakh. Pushing the disturbing thoughts away, she willed herself to think of Armeo, Rae, and their family and friends, trying to calm down. As the shuttle docked with the Circinus, she knew her efforts to think of loved ones only upset her even more.
*
Jacelon moved slowly through the shuttle, glancing only briefly at the Onotharians. They were secured, tied up twice, just to be sure. One was conscious, but clearly affected by his head wound; he hardly stirred.
Her midsection burned and a worrisome internal throbbing ache weakened her with each passing hour. She surmised she was bleeding, and only a specialized tissue fuser wielded by a physician could help her. Jacelon reached the two men lying on the floor at the far back of the Onotharian shuttle.
“How are you doing, Ensign?”
“I’m all right, Admiral,” the young man said between clenched teeth, clearly trying to be brave when facing his commanding officer. “Dgobdo is worse off. He hasn’t moved since I pulled him inside.”
“Have you managed to examine him?”
“I have. His left eye isn’t responding as it should when I shine a light on it.”
“Damn.” Jacelon wanted to growl. Dgobdo probably had a subdural hematoma, a bleeding between the brain and the skull. She looked at the unconscious man. His complexion was gray and his carotid pulse was slow and barely noticeable.
“What can we do for him, ma’am?” Ensign Hallberg placed an unsteady hand on Dgobdo’s forehead, as if trying to heal him through a physical connection.
“Other than keeping him comfortable, which you’re already doing, his only hope is that we run into the search-and-rescue vessels.”
“They’ll assume we’re Onotharian.”
“Not if I can help it.” Pushing herself back on her feet, Jacelon groaned at the pain in her belly, now more piercing than throbbing.
“Admiral?” Hallberg looked at her with increasing concern. “You’re injured.”
“I’ll be fine. Take care of Dgobdo, Hallberg.” She saw him hesitate and struggled to not sway. “Do I have to make that an order, Ensign?”
“No, ma’am.” Hallberg didn’t look convinced. “Just let me know if I can do anything. Anything at all.”
Jacelon sighed. “Thank you.” She limped up to the helm and continued her scans. Her thoughts went to Kellen, with reluctance, since she kne
w well of the excruciating pain that would pierce her when she did. Kellen’s mission was dangerous enough as it was. Worrying about her meant Kellen could lose focus, which could be disastrous.
Jacelon blinked against the dryness of her eyes. The information on the screen before her became garbled, and she gently rubbed her eyes, afraid of missing something. Trying a technique that had sustained her before when she and Kellen had been forced apart by their different missions, she inhaled deeply and held her breath. Trying to recall Kellen’s own scent, something clean, like citrus and leather, Jacelon remembered how Kellen’s embrace made her feel. Kellen’s strong, loving arms, her full breasts and wiry frame, and the plump, pink lips and the way Kellen’s kisses tasted… Jacelon released the air from her lungs. There it was, that magical feeling that only Kellen could instill in her.
With renewed effort, Jacelon returned to her scans. Nothing would stand between her and Kellen. She would find a way to signal for help, and fast, because the agonizing pain in her stomach and the increasing weakness that made her cling to the controls told her time was running out.
Chapter Twenty-two
Madisyn regarded the sleeping woman on the other bed. She had to wake her up, but she wished she could just remain here, exploring every feature of Weiss’s face, every curve of her lithe body. Madisyn couldn’t remember ever being so emotionally conflicted. It was easier when everybody perceived her to be an impersonal android, little more than a glorified machine. With Weiss, that was impossible. Weiss had proved to her that she was indeed a real person, completely functional when it came to emotions as well as sexual desire and arousal.
Before Weiss confessed to a long career in piracy and being a mercenary, Madisyn had felt they were becoming closer, like friends, but also something more. It had shocked her to her depths but also became an unexpected beacon in the darkness that was her personal life. Madisyn had never expected to find true friendship or, the Seers forgive her, romantic love.
The night Weiss held her and they kissed, Madisyn began to glimpse the possibility of experiencing what had so far only been part of very secretive dreams at night. When Weiss confessed to her background, to really being who everybody aboard the Salaceos thought she was—Weiss Kyakh, pirate and mercenary, really nothing more than a common thief—something within Madisyn died. She had built her hopes up, despite vowing to herself a long time ago never to do that.
Madisyn hugged herself, a faint moan escaping her lips. Looking at Weiss like this, when she appeared relaxed with softened features and an innocent expression, was almost surreal. Her lips slightly parted and one hand turned palm up against her cheek, Weiss appeared ten or fifteen years younger.
Madisyn glanced at the chronometer on her arm. She couldn’t put if off any longer.
“Weiss? Weiss. You’ve got to wake up. We’ve got to go.”
Weiss stirred, but only rolled on her side and muttered something inaudible.
“Weiss!” Madisyn steeled herself and shook Weiss’s shoulder. “It’s time.”
Weiss was awake and clearly in battle mode before Madisyn had finished the last word. Moving with a feline grace, Weiss flung one arm up defensively and grasped Madisyn’s neck with her free hand.
“Stop it. It’s me!” Madisyn used her own training instinctively. She shoved her arms up, crosswise, knocking herself free.
“For the love of—” Weiss eyes were narrow slits as she glowered at Madisyn. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Waking you up.” Madisyn pushed herself away from Weiss, resisting an overwhelming urge to smooth the tousled hair from the stunningly chiseled face. “We’re due on the bridge. We’re having company.”
“Oh, yeah? Don’t tell me. M’Aldovar.”
“The very same.”
“Damn it, what changed his plan? He never meant to come aboard.”
“I don’t know.” Madisyn rose and put on a black vest over her coverall, tightening the clasps with jerky movements. “I sent a subspace alert to the admiral, but it might be too late for them to move back into position.”
“If it is, we’ll just have to figure things out ourselves. Bad enough I couldn’t get out of handing over the computer chip to them. We need to figure out a way to keep them from getting their hands on the crystals. Having them would enable them to replenish their fleet. It would be disastrous.”
“I agree. I will report.”
“Why don’t you remain behind here in our quarters and do that. I’ll go to the bridge.”
“And if anyone asks for me?”
“You’re performing a security scan of your systems.” Weiss shrugged. “You took quite a hit, just like I did, when we crashed onto the shuttle bay deck after our Nemalima adventure.”
“True. A robot can only take so much.” Madisyn had to smile at her own irony.
“Yes.” Weiss stunned her by briefly touching her jaw with her fingertips. “A screw coming loose and that’s pretty much it.”
“Oh, you!” Madisyn snorted. “I’ll repay you for ‘screw,’ just you wait.”
“I look forward to it.”
Suddenly, Madisyn realized that they’d slipped into flirtatious mode again, like before she knew who Weiss really was. Taken aback, she recoiled, uncertain how she could have forgotten, even for a second, that to her, Weiss was just as much the enemy as Podmer and his crew.
Weiss’s eyes lost their sparkle and she swiftly tied her hair back in its usual austere fashion. She donned a similar vest as Madisyn’s. “All right. I’m out of here. See you later. Let me know if Rae Jacelon is back.”
“I will.” Madisyn watched Weiss stride out of their quarters and heard her steps fade down the corridor. “Oh, damn. I just don’t know what to do.” She sat down with her head in her hands for a few moments, trying to regain her composure. Pull yourself together, Pimm. Don’t let anyone see you with your guard down.
Adjusting her inner sensors, she began paging Jacelon. When a male voice responded, Madisyn began to worry. What was going on? After Admiral Ewan Jacelon provided her with information regarding the latest turn of events, Madisyn fought to not be overcome. No matter how impersonal Jacelon senior sounded, this was his child missing in action.
“Sir, I have something important to report as well.” Madisyn spoke quickly. “Trax M’Aldovar is going to be aboard the Salaceos shortly. I don’t know the exact time frame, but within a few hours, approximately.”
“Good job, Ms. Pimm.” Jacelon senior spoke curtly. “We have a task force on a direct trajectory for your sector. You’re only hours away from the Gantharian system. Using your internal beacon, I can pinpoint your exact position.”
“Who is in command of the task force, sir? I will need a call name.”
“Kellen O’Dal is in command. She’s also known as the Protector of the Realm.”
It all made sense, Madisyn thought when her whirling mind began to calm down. The protector was famous, and the news of her marrying a human woman from Earth—and a high-ranking military person—had reached Guild Nation even before it was a member of the Supreme Constellations. “Your daughter-in-law, I believe, sir.”
“Correct. She is heading a formidable team and has a unit of twenty-four marines at her disposal, as well as twenty assault craft. You will be able to identify her cruiser by these markings and this configuration.”
More data streamed to Madisyn’s internal sensor, and she blinked at the faint pain. She had never disclosed to anyone that using her artificial senses this way hurt physically, and she would not do so now. Clenching her teeth and closing her eyes, she breathed evenly. It was just a matter of letting the data stream run its course for only seconds.
“Affirmative, sir,” Madisyn said when she had all the required data. “I will report back as soon as we have a new development.” She hesitated, straightening her vest to occupy her hands. “And sir…I pray your daughter is found in good health, Admiral. I respect and admire her greatly.”
“Thank you. She is qui
te impressed with you, Ms. Pimm.”
“I will do my best to live up to her expectations. The Seers are with her.”
“Jacelon out.”
Madisyn left the quarters, knowing that the upcoming hours would have great impact on the conflict, and she and Weiss, despite their differences and the private hurt, were in the middle of it all. There was no margin for error. If M’Aldovar left with the crystals, he would make sure the Onotharian ships kept running for years. Without the crystals, the SC had a chance to wear them out. Onotharat was a depleted society resource-wise, and with a corrupt and despotic ruler that the average Onotharian must loathe. Madisyn was not a political expert, but even she knew that such a society toppled easily because it had no foundation among the people.
Hurrying toward the bridge, she caught herself smiling faintly at Weiss’s comment about the screw. When her assignment was over she would actually miss having someone who knew, who even had the audacity to joke with her about it. And not just someone. Weiss.
*
Jacelon slumped sideways at the helm of the Onotharian shuttle. Inside her survival suit, her clothes were rigid from her slow-trickling, coagulating blood. She kept tightening the makeshift pressure bandage, but she wasn’t kidding herself. She didn’t have very long. The darkening edges at her outer field of vision proved that she would soon lose consciousness, and when that happened, the game was over for her and the young ensigns behind her.
The thought of the young men, her crew, her responsibility, made her force herself upright. A new gush of blood, this time more than a mere trickle, warmed her side. “For stars and skies, where are the damn search-and-rescue ships?” Jacelon scanned the debris, but found no new life signs and certainly no SC ships. “How can that be?” she muttered. “Don’t they know what happened here? Surely they must know.”
At first the small light at the left lower corner of the viewport looked like debris gleaming in the light of a distant star. As it grew in size, Jacelon clutched the helm computer console tightly. Soon the light became two, then three and four. Eventually, she counted ten small flickering lights. A grid search. They were performing a grid search.
