Jadrian

by Veronica Scott

  “Seven hells.” She blinked, her gut swooping with unease as a sudden realization swept over her. “The Badari aren’t the subject of the special research. I am.”

  Eyes narrowed, Aydarr did a double take. “And what leads you to this conclusion?”

  So much for waiting for Jadrian to discuss my past with him privately. “I was a Sectors undercover agent, about to infiltrate a ring working directly with the Chimmer and possibly even the Mawreg overlords. I was betrayed—the details don’t matter right now. I wasn’t a random colonist abducted in the middle of the night or a passenger plucked off a ship by pirates, okay? I was handed over to the Chimmer, who told me they were going to give me to people who were quote experts in what they do unquote, who would peel my mind like an onion. And here I am. I wasn’t the pet project of a mad Khagrish scientist—he and his team were deliberately trying to break open the mental safeguards a Sectors’ operative like myself has implanted. Which have never to my knowledge been broken before. The Chimmer were able to keep me from carrying out my highest priority order, to kill myself on the spot, so I retreated to the next tactic, which was a near total block on my memory.” Taura took note of her listeners’ body language, evaluating how they were reacting to her information.

  Jill was nodding. Eyes narrowed, Aydarr was leaning forward in his chair and showed every sign of being highly interested in her tale. “Yeah, I wasn’t high enough in the Special Forces to get those kinds of implants, but I sure heard about them. Gossip in the ranks.” The Alpha’s wife touched her husband’s arm. “Her story hangs together, Aydarr.”

  “If you need more corroboration, get Walt in here,” Taura said, although she didn’t sense any disbelief in her audience. “He said he was on his way to search for me when his ship was swept up in a pirate raid. I bet he has the same psychic implants I do.”

  Aydarr crossed his arms, his face unreadable. “I’m relieved to hear he has a valid explanation for his behavior toward you, although he’s still in trouble for circumventing my direct order not to approach you without permission. Walt has been a valuable military resource for us. I’d hate to lose his support.”

  “And a good friend,” Mateer added. “We’ll have to interview him, of course, in light of the new information, but if his only infraction was talking to Taura—”

  “He was trying to carry out his orders from our Command,” Taura said. “Those predate yours. Can you recall Jadrian and his team?”

  “Surely if these mental implants are so important to your people, you want us to find out whatever we can about what the Khagrish were doing?” Aydarr sounded surprised by her request. “We can transmit an update of what Jadrian should be looking for.”

  “Although it may be years if ever before we can pass the information he finds along to your people,” Mateer said.

  “I have a bad feeling.” Taura rubbed her arms as if a cold breeze had blown through the cave. “You said there’d been Khagrish activity in the area recently. Finding out any more details of what was done to me isn’t worth risking Jadrian, or any Badari.”

  “Your concern does you credit, but the team is due for extraction tonight,” Aydarr said in a tone of voice signaling he wanted no argument. “The squad leaders are experienced soldiers.”

  Taura wasn’t convinced, but the Alpha was the supreme military commander here. She’d said as much as she could on the subject of how and where he deployed his troops. She only had a prickling in the back of her neck to go on, after all, an agent’s superstitious sign to be on the alert for an operation to take a bad turn. Intuition which had certainly failed her spectacularly on Dardanel Three. “Will I be able to talk to Walt tomorrow maybe? I’d like to close the loop with him on what I’ve remembered from the Sectors.”

  “I’ll give the order. You can meet with him in my office, and I’ll sit in on the briefing as well,” Aydarr said.

  Megan touched her hand to get her attention and her eyes sparkled with happiness for her patient. “Just based on casual observation, you seem much calmer.”

  “More in control, less likely to be triggered by events,” Taura agreed. “Not to say I won’t have any more flashbacks or nightmares, but I think I can handle them better, stay on top of the panic, knowing what events are at the root of the problem.”

  “You slept peacefully for the last three days and two nights.” Jill chuckled. “Too peacefully maybe.”

  “Catching up after all the bad dreams.” Rested and serene overall, Taura was anxious to see Jadrian and have a long talk. Any other time she might have been alarmed to sleep for such a long stretch of time but she’d been debilitated and needed the healing slumber. “Am I free to go to my own quarters now? I’d like to wait for Jadrian there.”

  Put on the spot, Megan hesitated. “Speaking as your physician, I hate to have you alone just yet. Jadrian’s cave is a bit isolated too, as I recall.”

  “We have plenty of room here,” Jill said, gesturing expansively at the large cavern.

  Taura had the feeling her preferences weren’t going to be honored in this discussion and she didn’t want the Alpha to weigh in with an ultimatum. Clearly, no one was going to allow her to be completely by herself yet.

  Briefly, she pondered invoking their Great Mother’s intervention, but even she wasn’t sure the regaining of memories would insulate her from the debilitating flashbacks. The voice in the wind hadn’t addressed that issue, only the memory loss itself. “Thank you for the invitation. I’ll be happy to hang out here then, unless Kelli needs me at Stores.” She had a pang of guilt. “I was supposed to start working there days ago, wasn’t I?”

  “Don’t fret; she hasn’t had time to organize it all without you. Your job is safe.” Jill chuckled. “We’ve kept her updated at a high level. She’ll be happy to have you helping her whenever it’s possible.”

  “I think I’m going to go lie down again.” Taura rose, planning to take her plate into the food preparation area before heading back to bed. Annoyed with herself, she realized her pulse rate was accelerating and the demented butterflies were fluttering in her gut, both of which signaled an anxiety event. Why now? Why couldn’t she catch a break? “Just a bit woozy. Probably ate too fast or something.”

  She felt the four pairs of eyes trained on her as she walked briskly to get rid of the remnants of her breakfast and the dishes. She walked toward the entrance to her guest bed chamber, trying not to rush or show her keyed up state.

  Suddenly, an agonizing pain erupted in her right arm, starting at the wrist and traveling toward the center of her body, burning its way through her nerve endings. She screamed and collapsed in a heap on the rocky floor, clutching her wrist.

  Megan was first to reach her, falling to her knees and trying to prevent Taura from moving. “What is it? What hurts?”

  Taura attempted to speak, but the pain was excruciating. She clenched her teeth and rode the waves of agony as she’d done in the lab when tortured.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone was using a neurocontroller on her,” Aydarr said as Mateer rushed up with his wife’s medkit. “But she’s not wearing one, and even if she was, we’d never do such a thing.”

  Dimly, Taura was aware of the enforcer pausing in midstep, staring at her. “You’re right.”

  “Give me the medkit.” Megan’s tone was sharp and she made an impatient gesture, spurring her mate to action.

  Taura pushed on the doctor’s arm. “Don’t put me to sleep. I need to be conscious. Fully functional.”

  “All right, for now.” The physician pressed an inject to Taura’s skin. “Local pain blocker.”

  Cool relief spread from the site of the inject. “Jadrian,” Taura whispered as her body relaxed. “Something’s happened to Jadrian.”

  Megan smoothed her hair away from her face. “Ssh now, I’m sure he’s fine.”

  “His pain,” Taura forced out the words. “Not mine, not truly.”

  “Are they mate bonded?” Jill asked from outside

of Taura’s limited field of vision. “Are they linked? Could she be right?”

  “I’m trying to reach Jadrian,” the Alpha said. “He’s outside our range for direct telepathic contact.”

  “Then how would she be able to receive anything from him either?” Mateer asked. “They’re not even—”

  “Mates?” Taura finished the sentence for him. “I’ll scream if I hear one more person say that to me. It’s none of your business, people.” The shock on the faces surrounding her would have been amusing at any other time. “I’m telling you I know in my bones this pain is a reflection of whatever Jadrian’s trapped in the middle of. We have to go help him now.”

  “I’m talking to Pratym in the coms room right now.” Mateer exchanged glances with Aydarr. He shook his head. “The report isn’t good. She may be right.”

  “Can you please get her off this cold stone floor?” Megan asked.

  Despite his distracted expression, her mate obligingly lifted Taura from the cave rock and carried her to a comfortable chair next to the fire ring in the main living area of the cave.

  “Thank you.” Taura settled on the cushions. “The pain is easing. I think maybe he’s blocking it. What’s going on?”

  Face set in grim lines, Mateer gave a concise report of his telepathic conversation with the Badari command center. “Cadet Lieutenant Evgan reports via com they were ambushed by a sizable Khagrish security force. Jadrian ordered him to take the cadets into the wilderness surrounding the lab and go to ground, which he’s now done. He states Jadrian remained behind to provide covering fire for the retreat and has been captured. Pack soldier Ulmar has been critically wounded, and the cadets are attempting to keep him alive long enough for his Badari healing abilities to kick in.”

  The other two women gasped.

  “You sent cadets on this mission?” Taura asked, remembering the fresh young faces of the Badari teenagers who usually sat at the table with them in the dining hall.

  Mateer flicked a glance at her. “Cadets must learn their combat skills in the field. Jadrian is an excellent mentor and teacher, one of our best. And the danger of attack was deemed relatively minimal. Clearly, we failed to take all the critical factors into account.”

  “The Khagrish are probably hoping to find me lingering in the vicinity. Or my body. They need something to give the Chimmer.” Taura’s gut roiled with fear. Jadrian would never allow any Badari cadets to be captured, not while he had breath in his body. So she wasn’t surprised to hear he’d made a valiant stand to ensure the boys got away. She shoved away her panic and worry over his being tortured. Time to be the cool operator right now. Fall apart when he’s safe. “When do we go?”

  “We?” Aydarr raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  She rose to her feet, puzzled by the response. “We have to go rescue him—you can’t leave him there to be tortured by the Khagrish.”

  “Don’t lecture me on my responsibilities, human. Mission planning is ongoing as we speak, and the strike team will be leaving in half an hour, under my personal command.” Aydarr pointed at her with the talons that had appeared on his hands during the discussion. “You will not be with us.”

  Taura ground her teeth, fighting to hold her temper. “I can help. I may not have combat experience per se but I’m a trained operative. I can be a distraction for the Khagrish when you’re ready to launch your attack. I know the enemy is desperate to recapture me—they won’t kill me, at least not immediately. While they’re dealing with me, you can take them by surprise.”

  “You’d give yourself up to them?” Mateer’s voice held grudging respect.

  She looked him right in the eyes. “To save Jadrian? Of course I would.”

  “Admirable, but no.” Aydarr’s voice was vehement, his stance aggressive, hands on hips as he enumerated his objections. “You’re not fully recovered, you’re an unknown quantity to me—”

  “I’m fully trained,” she said again. “Thanks to your goddess, I’ve regained all my memories and skills. Maybe that’s why she agreed to help me, so I could be useful now.”

  “Thank you for the offer, but again no. It’d be too much of a risk. You’ll have other chances to participate in future operations if your skills are what you claim.” Aydarr checked with Mateer. “Time to go.”

  There won’t be other chances to save Jadrian. Taura fisted her hands on her chair arms to keep herself from attacking either of the two senior Badari in the room. She bit her tongue to keep from yelling but was compelled to blurt out one more question. “Is this reluctance because I’m a woman?”

  Aydarr seemed genuinely stunned as he swung to stare at her. He gestured at Jill. “My mate is the fiercest warrior I know, if not in stature, in intensity and skills. We’ll be taking a member of Gabe’s crew, Flo, with us as part of the ground forces. She’s proven her worth in combat many times. There are other human female fighters in the valley and you can join our ranks, once I’ve assessed your skill level for myself. We perform an evaluation of each new member of the group, male and female, before they are allowed to serve in an armed capacity.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence in the cave when he finished speaking. Jill moved to Taura’s side and touched her arm. “I know you want to help Jadrian. We believe you’re a person with training and resolve. No one doubts any of what you say but be reasonable for a moment.” She raised one hand to forestall Taura’s objections. “Badari fight as a pack. They’ve integrated Flo, me, other humans including women as my mate said, into their ranks but such a sensitive mission is hardly the best place to test your combat readiness after all you’ve been through. You can trust Aydarr and the others to retrieve Jadrian or die trying. All right?”

  Clearly this was a battle she wasn’t going to win. Concealing her smoldering anger by putting on a calm face, Taura waved the Alpha’s well-meaning mate away. “I’m fine. Go, do what needs done. We’ve wasted enough time now and I get the picture. Don’t worry about me.”

  “I’ll walk with you.” Megan stood and linked arms with Mateer. “I should alert the clinic staff in case there are any casualties we can help Timtur with when you get back.” Megan paused to check on Taura. “Doing ok pain wise? Com the clinic if you need me.”

  “Will do.” Unable to formulate more words past the mixed emotions clogging her throat, she gave a thumbs up signal.

  Hand in hand, deep in discussion, Jill accompanied Aydarr, MARL floating in her wake, the three of them debating what long range scans MARL could perform to support the rescue mission.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Taura took a deep breath as the cave grew silent, everyone else having departed. The pain traveling along her bond with Jadrian was a dull throb now, either because he was blocking it, as he’d blocked the other Badari on their link when he was younger and being tortured, or else the pain killer the doctor had given her was working. Taura didn’t much care which reason was right. I’m not fucking staying here while Jadrian’s a Khagrish prisoner. Aydarr needs me, whether he’ll admit it or not. She got dressed in a rush and hastened from the cave, relieved no one had posted a guard to watch over her.

  There was one person left she could request help from.

  The valley was in an uproar due to the emergency deployment of most of the pack, with small groups of people clustered here and there, talking in tense tones. Taura found it easy enough to snag a passing Badari cub and get directions to Walt’s quarters. Apparently, he’d been given his own small cave in deference to his superior military skills and presumed rank in the Sectors. With a smile, she wondered what exactly he’d told the Badari initially about his background.

  No guard stood at the entrance to Walt’s cave, which did surprise her since Jadrian told her previously the Alpha was upset at the human’s disobedience. Maybe Walt had gotten back into Aydarr’s good graces to some extent since the incident with her in the garden. She knocked on the wooden nameplate bolted to the rock face of the cliff. “Walt?”

  “Come in.”