Just the thought of Anya with the extraction team, vulnerable to Onred and his filthy men in Bogd, made Joshua’s gut burn. “I’ll lock you up first.”
Hurt flashed in her eyes, and then anger. “Why do you have to be such a stiff-necked, arrogant dictator?”
“I lo…” He bit off the unintended words. “I want to protect you. Don’t you understand that?”
“I’m not a child anymore. You can’t protect me from the world!”
Joshua wished he could order her to her room until this whole disaster was over. But she was an adult, which made everything so much more complicated. In a quieter tone, he replied, “I know you don’t want me to be your protector anymore. But I am still your baron. You will listen to me and obey me.”
“I can’t.” Her voice caught. “Onred wants both of us. I have to go with you, or he’ll launch more thermals. It’s only you and me now, Joshua. We need each other. I need to fight with you. We need to fight together.”
“I don’t want to see you killed.”
“I don’t want you to die, either. But I have to be with you. I have to help my family. Don’t you see that?”
He said nothing for a long moment. “I understand.” And he did. But Anya coming on the mission was out of the question. He said, “Let me think about it,” and then felt like a bastard when her eyes lit up. He had just lied to her. A first, and he hated it. But for Anya’s safety he would do anything. Of course, he’d willingly lay down his life for her, but if a small half-truth would keep her safely here, then all the better. “Give me some time,” he managed to finish. “I’ll let you know what you can do.”
“Thank you, Joshua!” Anya threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
Weak as he was, he couldn’t stop his own greedy desire to wrap his arms around her and pull her soft body against his. He rested his cheek against her silky hair and swore to himself that he would die before he allowed her to put herself in danger. His first order of business would be to talk to his men and warn them not to give in to her forthcoming pleads and demands. Prior to that, he would need to convince her to leave ZCA, at least for a while, so he could formulate his plans in peace.
* * * * *
Anya followed Joshua back inside Command Central. It felt blessedly warm, after the artic temperatures in the airbay. She was encouraged by Joshua’s promise to think about allowing her on the mission. Of course, he’d likely assign her to the back of the fleet, but she wouldn’t have to stay there.
If only she possessed useful military skills. Skyjumping from shuttles, surviving in the wild, and a fair knowledge of computers were all she could offer. Surely, she could make those count.
Learning to pilot an airbird appealed, too. Anya wasn’t foolish enough to think that she could learn to fly before Onred announced the surrender location. And she certainly didn’t think Joshua’s elite force would let her fly a bird, either. However, if she knew piloting basics, wouldn’t that be helpful if an aircraft went down, or if a pilot died? If necessary, she could salvage the craft and perhaps fly injured people to safety. After all, Joshua had learned the basics overnight. She could do the same.
The idea appealed to Anya more by the minute. How could she find a piloting manual?
Joshua’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “It’ll probably be a few hours before Onred contacts us,” he told her. “How would you like to explore Tash while we wait?”
The offer took her by surprise. “Would you come, too?”
“I need to speak to Michael about a couple of matters. I could call one of my sisters to come meet you.”
Anya eyed him. For the first time, suspicion entered her mind. Was he trying to get rid of her? If so, what would he try to accomplish while she was gone? What if he flew out of ZCA? He had never actually promised to put her on the mission, she realized now. He had just promised to think about it. Probably that thought had lasted one second. Hurt and anger arose. It wasn’t like Joshua to be deceitful, but his decision to skate the thin line of truth gave a clue to his deep determination to keep her out of the mission.
What would be the best way to play this? Pretend she still blindly trusted him? Or confront him outright? She wanted to confront him. Outspoken directness was in her nature. However, if she did so, his guard would go back up. He just might lock her up before the mission, like he had threatened.
So Anya managed a fair semblance of a smile. “Ordinarily, I would love to meet your sister and learn more about where you grew up. But I was thinking more about the communications assignment you mentioned. Maybe I could be helpful if I learned ZCA’s communications systems. Do you think one of Del’s men would be willing to show me how they work?”
Now it was his turn to eye her. Unknown thoughts flickered behind the brown gaze. She kept her expression expectant and open.
A faint frown drew his brows together. He wasn’t pleased. Likely, he didn’t trust her, either. But if Joshua attempted to throw her out of ZCA again, she would blandly smile and hang on by her fingernails.
“These computers are taken,” he said abruptly. “I’ll set you up in another room.”
“Where?” she asked warily.
“It’s a back up command center. It’s cold,” he warned, “because it’s right off the airbay.”
Anya smiled. “Sounds perfect.” She pulled on fiber thin black gloves and followed him back into the airbay. They walked to the far end of the hangar, where an open door led to a small, brightly lit room. A burly man with a shaved head and his back to them typed with lightning speed at the glass console. Five computers took up the room, and a mini version of the wrap around screen in the Command Center took up two vertical meters of wall space.
“Slovic,” Joshua said. “Meet Anya.”
The burly man turned, revealing ordinary features but intelligent, pale green eyes. “Nice to meet you.” His hand engulfed hers. “You here to learn the system?”
She smiled. “I’d appreciate whatever you’re willing to teach me.”
“We’ve got a tutorial. I’ll start you on that. Take the computer down there. I need lots of elbow room,” he explained with a grin.
This suited Anya just fine. Hopefully, it meant he wouldn’t be looking over her shoulder every minute. While she did want to learn the communications system, and she wanted to hear Onred when he came on the air, she also planned to find the pilot manual and open it up in the lower left quarter of her screen. That way she could learn two things at once.
After Anya was set up, Joshua hovered in the doorway for a long moment, probably wondering if he could trust her to behave after he left. She didn’t bother to give him a reassuring smile. That would only encourage his suspicions. Instead, she settled down to speed through Slovic’s tutorial. On the subscreen keypad, however, she sent a search for the pilot’s manual.
* * * * *
Anya had memorized the main airbird controls by nineteen hundred hours, and she had also learned that the aircraft possessed a sophisticated autopilot program. That was great news, since she didn’t have much confidence in her ability to fly an airbird by herself tonight. She spent a good deal of time learning the requirements necessary to run the autopilot program. She had also applied more medication to her wound with the medical kit Richert had given her, and had eaten military rations for dinner.
By her calculations, Onred could call anytime in the next two hours. …If he hadn’t called yet. She couldn’t access any communication channels, which frustrated her. The interface was fairly straightforward, but she had discovered that every level required security access codes.
Heavy footsteps approached, so she minimized the pilot manual and resumed her investigation of the communications system.
“How’s it going?” Slovic asked.
“I think I understand it. But it’s hard to tell, since I can’t access the communication channels. They’re locked.”
“I know.” Slovic straddled a chair beside her. His thick fingers moved with surpr
ising speed over the pad. “We’re only working three lines, plus the ZCA channel. ZCA’s a security level you don’t have.”
“Why not?” Anya watched him enter passwords into the three channels. “If I’m going to help, I’ll need access to all the channels.”
“I’ll talk to Joshua about it later. Look here. We’ve got one open channel. We call it Alpha. Anyone can speak on it. It’s blocked, though, so we can’t send a return message. If we do, Onred could trace it and find us.”
“Onred will send his message on this one?” she guessed. “Or has he already?”
“Not yet.” Anya relaxed. “The other channels feed through the housekeeping network. One is a text channel. One is voice. We’ve just hooked the military commanders into it. We won’t say much on those channels, because they could be compromised at any time.”
“Is the virus still replicating?”
Jaw tightening, he said, “It’s a mess. It’s like a blow torch melted the satellite’s circuits. Whoever made that virus is a genius. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Anya wondered how he could sound so awed by malignant software.
Slovic said, “Use these buttons to send and receive. These codes are yours.” He shoved a slip of paper across the console. “Use it when you access the computer. It gives you access to the system and tells the recipients who’s sending the message.”
“Thank you. Can I practice sending messages to you?”
“The internal server should be open.” When Slovic clicked a button, her pilot manual screen blew up, filling the entire screen. “What’s this?” He turned a wide, surprised smile upon her.
“Nothing.” She hastily minimized it again. “I was just curious. Joshua showed me his airbird, and I wondered what all the different buttons were for.”
“Uh huh.” Slovic’s gaze appeared entirely too intelligent. “In any case, here’s the internal system. “I’m Sl1. Practice sending me text and video messages.”
Anya waited until he had returned to his seat before she opened a new window in the bottom corner of her screen and accessed the Alpha channel. Now she would see Onred the instant he sent his message. She also memorized the access codes Slovic had given her. For the next half hour, she practiced sending messages to Slovic. He shot back speed tests, measuring her response time to questions he put to her.
“Good,” he said, from across the room. “You’re improving. I’m sending you an old report. Read the information, then send me a message stating the main points. Speed counts. If the system cuts down to one channel, life and death could depend on how fast you relay messages.”
Anya worked so hard at accurately speeding through Slovic’s assignments that the flicker of static, and then the empty white image on Alpha channel didn’t register for a second.
“Good evening.” Onred’s nasally voice stilled her fingers. His headshot filled the screen. She pushed “send” to Slovic, then maximized the Alpha channel, her gaze glued to the computer screen. Onred looked meaner than she remembered. His black beard appeared more menacing, and his dark eyes were as black as a demon’s.
His lips thinned into a false smile. “Citizens of Donetsk, I propose peace. I am not an unreasonable man. I would be pleased to spare your lives and your homes. I need workers. If you serve me, you will live long and prosperous lives. Under one condition, of course. Joshua Van Heisman and Anya Dubrovnyk must surrender. If they sacrifice their lives, you will keep yours.”
All pretence of a smile fled. “Surrender, Joshua and Anya. Meet me at the wreckage of Astana in sixty minutes. Both of you must come, or in sixty-one minutes I will annihilate Omsk. Next, I’ll order my pilots to hunt the hills and exterminate your people like rodents. Count starts now.” The screen turned black
One hour? Anya choked on a breath. It would take at least fifty minutes to fly to Astana—unless the fighters chose to break the sound barrier. Possible, but unlikely, when dealing with an enemy that could crop up anywhere, at any time. She had to speak to Joshua, and now. Punching a countdown timer into her watch, she bolted for the Command Center.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When Anya burst through the door into the Command Center, Joshua gripped her arm and hauled her none too gently into the elevator.
“What are you doing?” she gasped aloud, taken too unawares to do more than give a token struggle.
He punched numbers into the elevator keypad. “We’re taking a trip.”
“Where?” She didn’t appreciate being manhandled, and wrenched her arm free. All the same, at least he was with her, so he couldn’t meet Onred…yet.
She eyed him while her heart rate settled. It disturbed her that Joshua had appeared to be waiting for her. As if he’d known she’d come running in, full of fire and brimstone and demands to take her on the mission.
He had succeeded in removing her from Zebra Charlie Alpha.
Anya crossed her arms. “Tell me your plan.”
Topaz fire burned in that dark gaze, but he did not answer.
“Tell me!”
He still did not answer. The elevator slowed, and stopped with a jerk. Joshua took her arm again, firmly, and pulled her into Michael’s shabby living room. Anya struggled. “What are you doing?”
“Keeping my promise to you. And your father.”
Finally, she understood his plan. She felt foolish it had taken this long.
Joshua shoved her down the hall and into a narrow bedroom. Inside, she jerked free and faced him across the small space. A snarl thinned her lips.
“He’ll kill everyone, Joshua. He’ll kill them all if I don’t surrender, too.”
“He’ll kill them anyway.”
“What? He said…”
“Do you trust him now?” Joshua’s lips curled back in a humorless smile. “Surrender will never satisfy Onred. He can’t gain full power over Donetsk unless he’s killed both of us, and your family, too.”
Anya gasped. “He wouldn’t! If he’d wanted my family dead, he’d have killed them already.”
“They’re bait. If he captures you, then you’ll be bait for me. I can’t allow that.”
“So you’ll surrender to him?”
“No. I’ll meet him. I’ll tell him that you’ll surrender in a second location. He’ll fly there to get you. My men will ambush him, and we’ll fly for Bogd to help the extraction team.”
“That’s crazy! Why would Onred go to your location? He’ll suspect a trap.”
“I’ll fly with him. If he doesn’t follow instructions, my men have orders to shoot down his bird.” His face was grim.
“With you inside? No!” she cried out.
“Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry?” she gasped aloud. “You’re insane. It’s a suicide mission. I won’t let you do it!” She launched herself across the room, intent on getting out first and locking him in, instead. His solid body blocked her. She fought him with every ounce of strength she possessed, pummeling him, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Stop it.” He gripped her wrists hard. She twisted, burning her skin in the process, and struggled, kicking him, fighting like a mad woman.
“I won’t let you,” she gasped. “I won’t let you die like that. …No!” He forced her backward, and she didn’t realize his intent until the bed hit her knees and she toppled backward onto it. His full weight fell on top of her. Now his sheer size subdued her every movement.
“Get off. Get off!” Their hands were caught between them, and it hurt horribly. “Ow,” she panted, grimacing.
Joshua forced her arms overhead, onto the bed, relieving the pain. Anya struggled again, futilely, against the unyielding bands on her wrists. Her breaths heaved, and she glared up at him. He was so close now that the hard planes of his body intimately imprinted into every soft place of hers. She had dreamed of being this close to him, but never like this. “You stiff-necked dictator,” she spat. “Get off me.”
“I am your baron, Anya. And your protector. I will protect you unt
il the day I die.”
“No!” She arched her back, trying to roll him off. “No. No!”
He remained as steady as a rock. She couldn’t budge him. “You’re a beast! An animal,” she told him. “Only savages treat women like this.”
A smile ghosted his lips. “I told you I was a barbarian. It’s how I was raised. Sometimes my base instincts rule.”
“Get off.”
“No.” His eyes gleamed.
“You like this,” she accused. She struggled again, but with less fervor.
His lids lowered. “Stop.”
And then she understood why. Her whole body flushed, and she went still. “Joshua.” Her heart thundered into a gallop. Long seconds ticked by.
Infinitesimally, and completely involuntarily, she pressed closer to him.
“Anya,” he murmured. His gaze smoldered fire, and slowly it drifted, as soft as a caress, from her lips to her throat.
She arched her neck. “Yes,” she whispered. It was a plea and a prayer.
He muttered a soft word, and leashed emotion pulled his features taut. With agonizing slowness, his head lowered and his warm lips buried gently in the hollow of her throat.
She gasped with the pure, wondrous pleasure of it. “Yes, Joshua,” she whispered again. “Please.”
He drew a shuddering breath, and his soft, lingering kisses burned a molten trail up her neck. His breaths felt like heavy, sultry fire against her skin. Just when she thought he would kiss her lips, he kissed the tender place at the base of her jaw and then traced warm, feather kisses back down her throat. He nudged aside her parka and snow wear and buried his lips in the sensitive place between her collarbone and shoulder. Breaths coming faster, she again involuntarily arched against him, seeking more of his body against hers. Blindly wanting all of him, now and forever.
His warm mouth abandoned her shoulder, but his breaths still seared her skin.
“Anya.” The word sounded anguished. “You’re so beautiful.” He lifted his head, and his eyes were black with torment, need…and self-condemnation.
Ice Baron (Ice Chronicles, Book One (science fiction romance)) Page 11
