by Jaye McKenna
“Then I guess we’ll put the choice to our people tomorrow.” Cam glanced at Pat. “Big meeting in the gym.”
Pat nodded. “And we keep all mention of it off the net. Word of mouth only.”
* * *
A few hours later, Angus followed Cam into his office on the top floor of the Admin and Education building. This office had been his foster father’s domain for so long, Cam still found it strange to find himself on the other side of the desk. So much had changed, and yet so much was the same.
Angus was one of the things that hadn’t changed; he might be a little older and a little greyer, but he was still the same man who had taken a seventeen-year-old riptide addict into his heart and his home and made a man of him. His favorite brown cardigan — the latest in a series of nearly identical brown cardigans — was unraveling at the sleeves, and the soft leather slippers he wore everywhere were falling apart. His light brown eyes were still bright and alert, and the wrinkles around them, like the lines around his mouth, came from laughing rather than frowning.
Cam activated a sonic disruptor and set it on the coffee table at the far end of the office. “Have a seat. I’ll grab us some coffee.”
Angus settled into one of the armchairs. “Anja and Marek seem to be well organized.”
“They are,” Cam said. “They’ve both thrown everything into this. I just wish we had more time. I’d like to think the Federation Senate will be reasonable, and hear us out concerning alternatives.”
“Avery Cottrell is highly respected among the other senators,” Angus said. “He may very well convince them, especially if we already have a plan. My biggest fear at the moment is that the Aurora Senate might not wait. We’ve got the largest population of psions of any Federation world, and with all that’s going on, I fear they may decide enforced drugging is the easiest way to calm the fears the news nets are stirring up.”
“And if they do choose to act,” Cam said gloomily, “even if the Federation Senate ultimately declares them in violation of the Charter, a lot of lives could be destroyed in the interim.”
“Aye,” Angus said with a brief nod. “I spoke with Avery before he left to gather his forces and drum up support. He was in two minds about leaving at all, but we decided his influence would do far more good in the Federation Senate than it would locally, where he doesn’t even have a vote.”
“I’d go before the Aurora Senate on my knees, if I thought it would do any good,” Cam said as he handed Angus a mug of coffee.
“I’d be right there beside you, lad.”
Cam sank down on the couch opposite Angus. “Will you be there beside me at the meeting tonight, too?”
“I will.”
“Anja will be there to help answer questions about the journey, and Kyn’s agreed to talk about what life on a young colony is like, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to speak, too. A lot of our older residents know and trust you far better than me.”
“Of course I’ll speak,” Angus said. “But don’t sell yourself short. You’re doing a fine job.”
“Oh?” Cam gave his foster father a rueful smile. “You must be referring to all the laws I broke getting Miko out of here. Or maybe the way I so masterfully misplaced a Federation investigator.” The thought of what Draven had done to Sylvester still made Cam’s stomach turn.
“I’m referring to you doing what it takes to protect the people depending on you, no matter what it costs you or how impossible it looks.”
“Am I protecting them? Or am I just giving them false hope?” Cam rubbed his temples. “We both know colonies without corporate backing and thorough vetting have a dismal success rate.”
“Which we will make very clear when we present the options,” Angus said softly. “Of course it’s dangerous. But you’re offering them something the Aurora Senate — and possibly the Federation Senate — won’t: a choice that isn’t going to leave them crippled or mind-wiped.”
“Yeah.” Cam let his breath out in a long sigh. “I just hope they’re not choosing a different kind of death.”
“I think most of us would rather die free than live in a society that’s planning to cripple us.”
“I know I would,” Cam said. “When we present our options, I think we’ll need to focus on—” Across the room, the phone Cam had purposely left outside the disruption field buzzed. He swiped the sonic disruptor off and went to check it, stomach sinking as he read the caller’s ID. “I have to take this, Dad. It’s Neil Iverson.” At Angus’s nod, he answered. “Asada here, what do you need, Neil?”
“Got an update for you on the Sylvester case.” Neil sounded grim.
“Oh?”
“Sylvester’s being shipped back to Earth, and Internal Affairs has officially opened an investigation. They want a word with you. Probably more than a word. There’ll be a preliminary interview, of course, but unless you can do some smooth talking, you can expect to find yourself and possibly some of your staff under investigation. By FedSec Internal Affairs and the Federation Senate.”
Cam muttered a curse under his breath. It wasn’t really a surprise, though it had come sooner than he’d hoped; he could hardly expect to misplace a Federation investigator without answering some tough questions.
Was he still up to answering them?
Years had passed since he’d had to rely on the brutal conditioning he’d undergone to protect his secrets. If he couldn’t evade the questions or withstand whatever kind of interrogation they decided to subject him to, he and Draven were both going to be in trouble. He hoped Draven had the sense to lie low and avoid the campus; if Cam couldn’t hold it together, they could both end up mind-wiped.
“Cam?”
“I heard you. So, what, figure a week before another investigator shows up?”
“At most. I can’t see them dragging their heels on this. I’ve also been told to inform you that you’re confined to the planet. You should receive official notification from the Command Council sometime today, but the orders have already been transmitted up to Aurora Station. Station Security will be alerted as soon as an ID check is run anywhere on-station. They have orders to detain you.”
“So a daring, off-world escape is out of the question,” Cam said drily.
“This isn’t funny, Asada.” The director’s cold tone conveyed his disapproval perfectly, and Cam could just imagine the sour look that would accompany it. “Your job could be on the line.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not like I haven’t been there before, is it? Thanks for the heads-up. I guess I’ll just kick back here and wait for my engraved invitation from Internal Affairs.”
Iverson cut the call without even saying goodbye, and Cam turned to see Angus watching him with a slight frown.
“Bad news?”
“I’m under investigation,” Cam said. He headed back to the couch and sat down hard, then reactivated the sonic disruptor.
“Internal Affairs?”
“And the Federation Senate, apparently.” Cam dragged a hand down his face. “I suppose someone has to take the fall for the attack on Sylvester. His safety was technically my responsibility.”
Angus leaned forward, soft brown eyes fixed on Cam. “I want you out of here as soon as possible. I know you think you can stand up to interrogation, and maybe you can, but I’d rather you didn’t have to. And whether or not you had anything to do with the investigator’s disappearance, we both know that’s how it’s going to end. Go back up to the ship with Anja after the meeting tonight. Kyn and I can coordinate things here.”
Cam considered the offer for almost a minute before rejecting it. “Sorry, Dad, I can’t do that. If I disappear while there’s an investigation going on, they’ll end up searching this place with a fine-toothed comb, maybe questioning people who don’t have the kind of defenses I do. If they find out about Miko, then no one’s getting out.”
“Cameron—”
“No. You didn’t ask me to take this position because you thought I’d run away with my
tail between my legs at the first sign of trouble. And I won’t. These are my people, and if I can buy them some time by cooperating with Internal Affairs, then damn it, I’ll do it.”
“You could end up mind-wiped,” Angus said softly.
“Don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind. I understand what I’m risking, believe me. But if I have to sacrifice my past to keep everyone here safe, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. I made a promise to you and to everyone here when I took this position, and I’m damn well not going to break it.”
Angus gave him a grim smile. “I’m proud of you, Cameron. You’ve come a hell of a long way from that rebellious kid we pulled out of detox.”
“No, not really.” Cam laughed. “You’re still looking at him. He might dress a little nicer and talk a little prettier, but he hasn’t gone anywhere.”
“And he’s still fighting the system with everything he’s got.”
“Somebody has to,” Cam said. “Nobody’s drugging my family. Not if I have anything to say about it. Now let’s figure out how we’re going to evacuate this place without causing a panic.”
* * *
Draven was about to shut down his slate for the night when Aurora News Net ran another story about psions, this one from Earth. A man accused of being a psion had been mind-wiped without a trial by local authorities. When it turned out there was no evidence to support the accusation, an armed mob had descended on the government building and taken hostages. At the time of the report, the situation had yet to be resolved.
Good reason to steer clear of the mother planet. Not that he’d had any plans to go there; Alan Romani’s presence was enough of a deterrent.
When the news net started playing a repeat of a story he’d already watched, he shut the slate down and went to the hotel room window to stare out over the sleeping city of Aberdeen. He didn’t like to think about what Cam would have had to say about how he’d gotten the room without showing any ID. Misuse of psi, Cam would have called it, and Draven had felt vaguely ashamed of himself until he’d considered the alternative. Drilling down into a man’s mind and convincing him he didn’t need to see ID or even collect payment was a hell of a lot more pleasant than sucking him off.
Cam didn’t have to know.
Hell, why was he wasting energy worrying about what Cam would think? Chances were, he’d never see the man again.
Something sharp twisted deep in his gut when he thought about that, and a hollow ache filled him. The things he felt around Cam — safe, secure, cared for — were too damned dangerous, and far too tempting. He’d never had any of those things before, not really. Everything he’d thought DeMira felt for him had been an illusion, shattered once and for all when Draven had been returned to Alpha, body bleeding, mind broken.
He’d been thrown to the wolves for his failure to protect Sergei.
Or, rather, drugged, bound, and given to Vorzana. Which had been rather worse than wolves.
Wolves wouldn’t have enjoyed hurting him.
Wolves wouldn’t have laughed at every whimper slipping out from between his clenched teeth. Wouldn’t have gotten off on his pain, or ordered Trinian to heal him just so they could break him again.
Cam was nothing like DeMira. Cam had dropped everything at Draven’s call. He’d kept him safe, bound his wounds, fed him, risked his life, his career, and his sister’s wrath to hide him.
And Cam had made him feel like maybe there was more to him than his aim and his ass. Had touched him with those gentle hands, made his body sing without asking for anything in return.
It would be too easy to get used to being around Cam, and that was something he couldn’t allow himself to do. The words of one of his mentors still echoed in his mind: Emotional ties make you soft. Soft makes you complacent. Complacent gets you dead.
He knew it. He’d seen it happen; once a man lost his heart, his nerve soon followed. Even knowing that, he’d let himself be seduced by soft brown eyes that knew him inside and out, by soothing words and gentle touches.
It was time to get the hell away from this place before he made any more stupid mistakes. Once he was certain Miko was safe, he would do just that.
The Pattern might feel jagged and broken, but the surface levels of the mythe felt the same as they always had. Draven quickly found the thread Miko had woven between them and gave it a tug.
He wasn’t sure Miko would even respond; Miko hadn’t been happy with him when they’d parted at the McKinnon house.
Love? Draven blinked.
Draven scowled and changed the subject.
They were leaving? Cam moved damn fast when he needed to. It had only been three days since Draven had taken Sylvester from the campus.
Draven shook his head, even though Miko couldn’t see him. Threads tangled together could mean anything, from Cam rescuing him to… well, all those things they’d done to each other at the cabin.
It didn’t mean they had any kind of future together, and it certainly didn’t give him the right to ask anyone to make a place for him. Forcing people who hated him to accept him as one of their own would only undermine Cam’s authority right when he needed it the most.
There was a long pause.
It took a moment for Draven to understand what Miko meant, and when he did, it was like a kick in the gut. Cam had been one of FedSec’s deep-cover operatives, and as such, he would have been conditioned exactly the same way Sylvester had. Impervious to chemical and physical interrogation. And, unlike Sylvester, Cam was able to fool all but the most skilled psionic interrogators.
He’d almost fooled Draven, back on Alpha.
What would Cam’s FedSec masters do to him if he wouldn’t tell them what they wanted? How did you break a man who had been conditioned against all the standard techniques?
He shuddered to think what Cam might put himself through in order to protect him and Miko.
Draven clenched his teeth. Not his problem. He needed to be thinking about how he was going to get himself off-world, not worrying about Cam’s choices.
Draven gave Miko the address and room number.
Draven didn’t answer. He hated telling Miko no, and that was the only answer he’d be able to give him. He withdrew from the mythe and got ready for bed, but sleep refused to come. His mind kept going back to Cam.
Cam apologizing for not having any decent food to offer him out at the lodge; Cam wiping the sweat and tears from his face when he was begging for riptide; Cam on his knees in the shower, taking the full length of Draven’s cock down his throat…
With a groan, he rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut, mind replaying the highlights of those three days they’d spent together during the snowstorm. He wanted to go back, to relive those moments when Cam had treated him like he mattered. Like he was special and cared for.
Wanted to lose himself in Cam’s body again.
