Shifter Planet

by D. B. Reynolds

  Forcing Amanda out of his head, he studied the officer next to the beauty. He was tall and lean, his uniform fitting as if it had been tailored specifically for him. Which it probably had. His name was Randolph Leveque and he was the scion of one of Earth’s wealthiest industrial families.

  Rhodry had been briefed, along with all of Cristobal’s guard, on Nakata and his officers. Everything they’d managed to gather so far anyway. Some of it had been gleaned from conversations with various members of the landing party, and much of it had been offered freely by the fleet’s Commander Wolfrum and his First Contact team. He’d learned enough already to know that the Earthers hadn’t come all the way out here looking for lost colonies. The rediscovery of Harp had been pure happenstance. The Earth fleet was after treasure—minerals and metals, anything they could send back to their home planet for a profit.

  “She appears to be taken,” he told his cousin, noting the way Leveque kept one hand low on the dark-haired woman’s back, clearly staking his claim.

  “Just means more of a challenge, lad.”

  Shaking his head in amusement, his focus narrowed as he scanned past the admiral and his party to fall on a familiar figure. Amanda was conversing animatedly with Leveque’s companion, as if they knew each other well. She should have looked mannish in her uniform, compared to the petite beauty and her elegant gown. Instead, she looked even more attractive to him. Graceful and strong, feminine, and irritatingly sexy.

  He scowled at his own thoughts. Lieutenant Amanda Sumner was trouble. He could feel it in his bones. She was too interested in the trees of Harp, for sure. Even more, she was trouble for him. His position on Harp was complicated enough, between those in the city who suspected him of dynastic ambitions, and his own clansmen who resented the fact that his de Mendoza grandfather had skipped an entire generation in order to name Rhodry as heir and clan chief.

  He didn’t need the complication of an affair with any Earther, much less this one, with her unexpected, and unheard of, connection to Harp’s forest.

  “So what’s she like?” Aidan asked.

  “I don’t know the woman, but she looks like Leveque’s, so watch your step.”

  Aidan laughed. “I meant the Earth lieutenant you can’t take your eyes off of.”

  He shrugged. “She doesn’t know what’s good for her. She wasn’t on the ground five minutes before she was off into the Green, lost in thought, without a care for what might be coming after her.”

  His cousin nudged his shoulder. “And you’ve taken a shine to her.”

  “Hardly,” he lied. “I’ll be glad when they’ve all gone back to their ships, and I can get back to the mountains where I belong.”

  “You think Cristobal will let you go?” he asked doubtfully.

  He turned to regard his cousin. “Why not? He doesn’t want me here; none of them do. And I don’t want to be here, so we’re all agreed.”

  “Aye, but he’s got you here now. And he’s made it clear that I’m not welcome to stay. Maybe that’s what he had in mind all along, and our visitors just gave him a convenient excuse. Maybe he wants to keep you here in the city where he can control you. Far away from your own people.” He frowned. “It won’t work, lad. The Martyns could lock you away for years and we’d never forget you. You know that.”

  Rhodi flashed a quick grin. “You’d never leave me locked away for years in the first place.”

  “Well, no, I wouldn’t. But I was making a point. I don’t like leaving you here on your own.”

  “Go home, Aidan. No need for both of us to be miserable.”

  Aidan’s glance lifted beyond Rhodry’s shoulder, his eyes taking on a speculative gleam. “Our fine Fionn seems to like your woman, cousin. He’s sniffing around her like a poohbear in heat.”

  His laughter at the comparison of the elegant Fionn to one of Harp’s rotund and golden-haired mountain bears died when he turned and caught sight of the other man chatting up Amanda. He was moving before he knew it, before thought caught up to action. Long strides took him across the ballroom to where she was still laughing at whatever fake charm Fionn was ladling upon her.

  She looked up when Rhodry joined them. “Good evening, Mr. de Mendoza.”

  “Ah, Rhodry,” Fionn said smoothly. “Can I trust our lovely guest to your care for now? My father requires my presence.”

  Rhodry gave him a dry look. “I doubt the lieutenant needs your protection.”

  Fionn ignored him to take Amanda’s hand in both of his. “Save me a dance, Amanda.”

  He swallowed a growl, keeping a distrustful eye on Fionn as he moved off into the crowd.

  “That’s not what you said in the forest this afternoon,” Amanda said.

  His gaze swung back to her. “What?”

  “About me needing protection.”

  She gave him a half grin, and he studied her, trying to figure out if she was teasing him. “The Green is a dangerous place, while this…” He didn’t finish his sentence, simply gestured at the crowd of mostly smiling people. “Are you enjoying the welcome party?”

  “I am,” she said, smiling. “And does my choice of apparel meet with your approval?”

  His eyes narrowed as he definitely noted a spark of mischief in her blue eyes. “The white is—”

  “Aidan Devlin,” his cousin said, shoving him aside before Rhodry could say something offensive about the uniform. As if he would. She looked beautiful. Rhodry scowled as Aidan took her hand and raised it to his lips with a small bow. “I’m Rhodi’s more charming cousin. A pleasure, Lieutenant.”

  She laughed. “Call me Amanda, please. There’s no need to be formal is there?”

  “Of course not, Amanda,” Aidan assured her. “Harp is usually a very informal place, although tonight the Ardrigh and his lady seem determined to prove me wrong.”

  She turned and surveyed the gathering as Rhodry had done earlier, seeming to study her fellow fleet officers in their starched whites, the Harp officials in formal black, with the colorful ladies scattered in between. “It is all a bit stuffy, isn’t it? I’m sure you’d rather be outside. I know I would,” she muttered, then cast Rhodry a glance over her shoulder. “If it’s as dangerous as you say, you probably don’t go out into the Green at night very often, do you?” she asked with what he would have sworn was wistfulness.

  “Only at need,” he said sternly. “Which you don’t have.”

  Instead of being properly warned, she gave him a wicked grin, then leaned over to Aidan and said, “Your cousin is upset because I didn’t ask permission before trekking out there today. Tell me, is he always this strict?”

  Aidan laughed along with her, which earned him a disbelieving glare from Rhodry. “Not at all, lass. You’ve just got to catch him in the right mood. Why I’ve seen our Rhodi—”

  “Yes, that’s fine, Aidan. Thank you,” he said, cutting his cousin off, then turning to Amanda. “My concern is for your safety, and that of your fellow officers. Our earliest forefathers learned of the Green’s dangers the hard way. It was decades before the colonists were able to achieve a measure of safety on the planet. I’m simply trying to spare you a repeat of their rather painful learning experience.”

  “Of course you are,” she said with blatant insincerity. “Tell me something. What’s the guild?”

  He scowled. “What guild?”

  She bared her teeth in what might have been mistaken for a smile. Yeah, right. He knew a challenge when he saw one.

  “When Fionn joined us out there this morning,” she reminded him, “he referred to you as his fellow guildsman. I assume that means there’s a guild.”

  He cursed silently. She wasn’t only lovely, she was smart, too. And fucking Fionn needed to concentrate more on minding his tongue and less on charming the ladies. The existence of the Guild came too close to the one subject they definitely didn’t want to share with their Earth visitors.

  “There’s a Rangers Guild,” he admitted, parsing the truth. “Most of us serve for
a time, patrolling the forest around the city, chasing away the worst of the predators. We escort hunting parties and student groups, that sort of thing.”

  “Oh! Can anyone join a hunting party? I’d love to explore some more, and I’m not without skills.”

  The sparkle in her blue eyes made him want to say yes. He could picture her in the deep forest, the joy on her face as she made new discoveries, the dappled sun playing on her hair, the scent of the loam beneath her feet… The destruction her fellow Earthers would leave in their wake.

  “Unfortunately, they don’t go out frequently,” he heard himself say. “I doubt you’ll be here long enough. How long do you think your fleet will remain in Harp orbit anyway?” he asked, knowing he was being rude, but for some reason she brought out the worst in him. Probably because he wanted her, and knew he couldn’t have her. Or at least, he shouldn’t. Damn it. He nearly choked on the snarl of frustration that tried to crawl up his throat, but she didn’t seem to notice. In fact, she was giving him a delighted smile that told him her next words weren’t going to make him happy at all. And she was right.

  “Haven’t you heard?” she asked. “Your Ardrigh and Admiral Nakata just agreed to build a shuttle base on Harp. Congratulations, de Mendoza, you’re about to become part of Earth’s trade route.”

  He bit back a curse. What had Cristobal been thinking in granting the Earthers that kind of access?

  Amanda was giving him a very speculative glance, as if she’d noticed his reaction and was determined to figure out why he was so opposed to the fleet’s presence. Which was not a path he wanted her going down.

  It was Aidan who jumped in to change the subject, however. “What of your Earth, Amanda? I’ve seen several old images of your planet’s great forests. Are they as spectacular now as they were then? And how do they compare to our Green?”

  She turned to Aidan and shook her head, saying, “I don’t know. I’ve never been to Earth.”

  Rhodry was startled enough that he stared at her. “But your fleet is—” he began.

  “The fleet is Earth-based,” she finished for him. “And many of the crew, civilian and military, were born there, including my mother.” She nodded in the direction of the lovely, dark-haired woman who’d arrived with Leveque. “I’m ship-born. I’ve never spent more than a few weeks on a planet, and never on Earth.”

  He didn’t know which revelation was more stunning. That she’d lived her entire life on a spaceship, or that the black-haired beauty was her mother. They looked nothing alike. He struggled for something to say.

  “Beauty runs in the family, then,” Aidan said gallantly.

  She blushed. “She is beautiful, isn’t she?”

  Rhodry thought Amanda was far more beautiful, and definitely more intriguing, and it bothered him that she clearly didn’t think so. He had the idiotic thought that she needed defending, that he should jump in and tell her exactly what he thought of her. Until reason prevailed.

  “Leveque is your father?” he asked instead, thinking that explained the differences in appearance between mother and daughter, and prevented him from making a fool of himself.

  “No,” she snapped immediately, then visibly swallowed her irritation and explained. “Admiral Leveque is my mother’s escort for the evening, nothing more.”

  A hot flush of color crept over her high cheekbones. She didn’t like Leveque, and yet, he was not only her superior officer, but was also, apparently, dating her mother. He had a moment’s unwanted sympathy for her, and so did something he’d never intended.

  “Would you care to dance, Lieutenant?” He held out a hand, studiously ignoring the smug look on his cousin’s face.

  She looked up and met his eyes, then glanced out over the dancers before shifting her attention back to him once more. “I don’t know the steps,” she said, frowning.

  He couldn’t help it. He smiled at her. “I’ll teach you.”

  She reached out and placed her hand in his, and when she looked up at him this time, she was laughing…and every bit as lovely as her mother. A welcome warmth flooded his chest, as if he could fill his lungs again after too long holding his breath. As if everything had changed because Amanda had shared that joyful laugh with him. It was so unexpected that he froze for a moment.

  She didn’t give him any more than that moment, however, tugging him onto the dance floor, while his cousin chuckled his ass off at Rhodry’s expense.

  She stopped on the edge of the crowd, her hands clasped beneath her chin, her watchful study taking in the couples moving rapidly over the center floor in one of the clan’s set dances. City folk on Harp might disdain and distrust the clans, but when it came to dancing, no one did it better.

  “So it’s Rhodry, is it?” she asked, her eyes following the dancers as they flowed and shifted in the complex pattern of the dance.

  He glanced over, but her focus was on the dancers, not him. “It is,” he agreed. “And you’re Amanda.”

  She smiled, eyes still on the dancers, her body shifting in time with the music, almost vibrating with the need to join them.

  He couldn’t resist the happiness rolling off of her in waves, couldn’t stop the grin that split his face. “Well, now that’s out of the way,” he said. “Are you ready to dance?”

  She turned to him, her eyes alight with excitement. A wild laugh escaped as she reached for his hand again, and Rhodry braced for the same unexplainable reaction. This time, when their fingers touched, there was a shock of heat so intense that it was like touching a live flame. He yanked his fingers away reflexively, only to look up and see her staring back at him, equally stunned. Their eyes locked in silent acknowledgment of what they’d both felt.

  He opened his mouth to say something… What would it be? That he’d never felt the like with any woman? That she was his, and he wanted to drag her away somewhere he could throw her down and fuck her senseless? Shit! He couldn’t say that! Where had that thought even come from? It had to be the electro-static shock because of all the dancers swishing about. That sounded idiotic even to himself. And it wasn’t true anyway. Shit again.

  His cousin was now eyeing him strangely, so Rhodry reached out and gripped her hand again, her fingers squeezing his nervously, as they both waited for whatever might happen. When there was nothing but the normal warmth of their joined hands, they both sighed in relief, and he pulled her across the floor.

  Putting them in position at the very end of a long double line, he said, “Watch and learn, Earth girl.”

  Three dances later, Amanda practically fell through the open patio door, laughing when she ducked under Rhodry’s arm as he held it for her. The mild evening air was refreshingly cold on her overheated skin.

  “Are all your dances like that?” she asked, crossing the broad porch to where a stone balustrade overlooked the city down the hill.

  “You mean the dance itself? Or the Ardrigh’s event?” He leaned next to her, his back against the balustrade and the view.

  “Both, I suppose. I’m guessing from your tone that the parties are usually less grand.”

  “That’s one way of putting it,” he acknowledged. “Everyone wanted a chance to see our visitors tonight. Did you feel like you were being watched?”

  “Only every minute. I think they got tired of me after a while, though. Admiral Nakata and the others are much more interesting.”

  “You don’t give yourself enough credit. Dancing is important on Harp. And you can dance, Earth girl.”

  She flashed a grin. “I told you, I’ve never been to Earth, so I’m no more an Earther than you are.”

  He snorted. “Your mother was born there. That makes you a few centuries more Earther than I am.”

  “Hmm.” She rested her arms on the balustrade. She didn’t feel like arguing. “It’s beautiful out here.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at the view, but didn’t comment.

  “You don’t like it?”

  “I don’t like the city. I prefer the mountains
.”

  “We didn’t get readings of any population centers other than this one. Are there many people in the mountains?”

  “Not nearly as many as the city, but there’s enough. We’re more spread out than here. There’s also a small settlement further south, near the desert. It’s a mining operation, with a transient population. No one lives there full-time. Entire crews rotate in, work a month or two, then rotate back out.”

  Amanda nodded. “Is that all of you? No other cities?”

  “There aren’t that many of us.”

  “Enough for a viable population base,” she pointed out.

  “The founders included a number of genetic specialists.”

  She considered following up on that. Did he mean they still had the kind of research capabilities necessary to maintain the stability of the population? It was the kind of data her mother would definitely be interested in. Fortunately, this was a party. And she was much more interested in the man next to her.

  “Why don’t you like the city?” she asked, coming back to his earlier comment.

  He pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Different reasons, some political. The mountain clans and the city folk haven’t always gotten along.”

  “Clans?”

  “The colonists were mostly Irish and Spanish. It was the Irish who settled in the mountains, hence the clans.”

  “That would be Aidan’s Devlin branch of the family, I’m thinking,” she said, smiling at the thought of his charming cousin.

  “The same, although more than just the Irish live there. We’re an independent lot, and it’s too crowded in the city.”

  “Crowded,” she repeated thoughtfully. “You should live on a ship for a week.”

  He smiled faintly. “No, thanks. So how long before your fleet breaks orbit?”

  She straightened away from the railing, grinning. “I think you’re trying to get rid of me, de Mendoza.”

  He seemed to pause for a moment, his face completely solemn as he studied her. He looked away with a shrug, and said, “I’ve studied the background files you’ve sent us, and heard people talking. You’re after profit. Once you build your shuttle base, there’s nothing more for you here.”