Hot Zone

by Cindy Dees

  “Yeah, I’ll bet.”

  He closed the distance between them and swept her up against his powerful, and indeed ready-to-serve, body. She gasped at the sensation of his impossible length pushing impudently against her belly through their clothes. “Don’t taunt me, woman. I have my limits.”

  “But Rustam,” she said sweetly, “if I’m carrying your child, you dare not hurt me. We human females are fragile and miscarry easily.”

  He muttered something to the effect of “Fragile, my ass,” under his breath as he turned her loose. He stalked over to the first of his woodpiles and began to lay a fire with sharp, violent movements.

  Silently, she moved to the second pile and did the same.

  For the first time in days, he made an actual camp, spreading out their bedrolls side by side over a patch of soft sand. After they gnawed the last of their jerky and washed down handfuls of dried fruit by drinking from their water skins, there wasn’t much to do but go to sleep.

  Rustam took off his boots and sighed in appreciation as he lay back on the sand. He held out his arm to her. “Come, Tessa. You need rest. The horses will watch for the fleet for us.”

  She’d long since quit marveling at the distinctly non-horselike things he got the beasts to do for him. And she did need sleep. But she wasn’t sure cuddled up with him was the way to get it.

  “I promise to leave you to your dreams,” he murmured, grinning boyishly. “Unless, of course, you have other ideas.”

  She couldn’t help but grin back at his ridiculously hopeful expression. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “No, I’m Centaurian.”

  And so he was. For better or worse. And for better or worse, she was addicted to every arrogant, masculine, alien inch of him. There was no use trying to fight it. As soon as she fell asleep, she would promptly curl into his warmth and strength as surely as she was standing here.

  “What am I going to do with you?” She shook her head as she sank down beside him and laid her head on his shoulder.

  “Laugh and fight with and love me, but never leave me,” he murmured sounding already more than half-asleep.

  Never leave him? What in the heck was that supposed to mean? She was a twenty-first century human and he was…well, he was not. There was no way the two of them had a future together. Was there? Her head spun with the prospect. How would that work, anyway? Would he stay on modern-day Earth with her? Did he expect her to go back to Centauri Prime with him? Her, traveling across the galaxy to some alien planet? The first human in history to do so?

  On second thought, maybe not the first. There’d been plenty of stories of alien abductions over the years. She was beginning to think some of them might just be true. Stranger things no doubt had happened, like a time-traveling human bumping into a stranded Centaurian and having epic sex that might have resulted in a baby.

  If Athena Carswell or Beverly Ashton found out about that, they were going to kill her.

  She lay there, wide awake, long after Rustam’s breathing had settled into the long, slow rhythm of deep sleep.

  Never leave him, indeed. Impossible.

  But a tiny voice in the back of her head wished that somehow the impossible was possible. After all, she’d time-traveled to ancient Greece, and that hadn’t been remotely conceivable even a few years ago.

  She fell asleep praying for a miracle.

  Nineteen

  Rustam woke up abruptly, not sure what had disturbed him. A wordless mental pressure intruded insistently upon his rest. Not human. Polaris. He’d set the horse the task of guarding them and watching the sea.

  Rustam reached for his short sword, which he slept with ready at hand, while he flung his awareness outward. With Tessa plastered against him, it was an easy matter to channel their combined power and determine that no intruder approached by land.

  But the sea was a different matter entirely. A massive, unending flow of humanity covered the Aegean like an enormous algae bloom, choking out all other signs of sea life. It approached from the east and was nearly upon them.

  “Tessa, wake up! The fleet is coming.”

  She jolted up beside him and he scrambled for the first signal pyre, using his fire-starting stones to light the tinder. He blew on it carefully, fanning the blaze. It caught the dry wood quickly and flared up. Soon Tessa had the second fire lit and was fanning it gently. He moved to the third and repeated the process.

  When all three fires were burning strongly, sending columns of flames and sparks up into the endless halls of night, he commenced packing. “It won’t take them long to come investigate. The entire sea is covered with ships. We should practically be able to walk deck to deck until we find your map.”

  “What about the horses?”

  Regret stabbed him. “They have served us faithfully and true. They have earned their freedom.”

  He was no stripling lad to mourn the loss of a horse. But Polaris had been one of the few familiar entities in a foreign world, a loyal friend in a place and time where precious few souls could be called that. Although Rustam had been accustomed to the swirling intrigues of a palace—Persia and Centauri Prime were not so different in that regard—he’d grown lonely from time to time. And Polaris had always given him affection without reservation.

  Would that Tessa would do the same. He felt her holding back on him all the time. Whenever the topic of the map came up, she mentally pulled away from him. And whenever he tried to talk about the two of them, she shut down completely. But maybe she had cause. Maybe she’d caught an inkling of the Centaurian directive in his turbulent thoughts and knew that nothing good could come of their relationship.

  His mind rebelled, roaring in silent frustration. No way could he kill her. He’d planted his child in her, for star’s sake. There had to be another ending to this story. If only he could find it! Time was running out on them. As soon as she found that blasted map of hers, he had no doubt she would activate her retrieval signal and leave him. There had to be a way to bind her to him. A way to neutralize her star navigator talent without killing her. A way to be with her forever…

  Her voice, quiet and tense, interrupted his chaotic thoughts. “I think a small boat has broken away from the fleet.”

  He held out his hand at the same time she did. Their palms connected, and he reeled, startled. Apparently, both of them had been accessing their respective powers simultaneously, he to search for an approaching boat and she to scan for the map. The result was a burst of energy that ripped through him, burning like lightning across his skin.

  “Oww!” she yelped.

  “Sorry,” he rasped. “You first.”

  She frowned for a moment, and then her brow cleared. “Got it. The map’s still off to our left by a half-mile or so. Your turn.”

  He reached out with his mind. Six men. Coming this way quickly in a shallow-bottomed pole barge. Armed. Cautious. Prepared to kill.

  “Let me do the talking,” he muttered under his breath as they stood waiting for the landing party in the flickering shadows of the fires. The heat warmed his back but not enough to make up for the night’s chill on his front. He channeled a thin stream of energy into rendering his body impervious to the weather.

  Tessa fingered her belt pouch nervously, but otherwise was still. She was a brave woman. As the waiting stretched out, a realization broke over him. He admired this Earth female. Respected her. Which was probably a good thing. After all, she was the mother of his child. His consort. His woman. He would do whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant taking on the entire Persian fleet.

  “Who goes there?” a voice called out in Persian.

  He replied in the same tongue. “Rustam of Halicarnassus.”

  “The sorcerer?” another voice squawked in surprise.

  “Aye,” Rustam answered evenly. “Queen Artemesia’s man. I have important information to relay to her right away. Can you give us passage to her vessel now?”

  “I dunno,” the first man answered. The shall
ow boat scraped the sand, and the soldier jumped out, steadying the prow without pulling it ashore. “Who’s that with you?”

  “The pale foreign woman. Her highness sent the two of us out on a scouting mission for her.”

  “Why would the queen send a stranger—and a female, no less—to do such important work?” the man demanded.

  Rustam grinned. “Don’t say that in front of Artemesia if you value your life. She’ll flay the hide off your back for suggesting that a woman isn’t the equal of a man in all things.”

  Snorts of agreement floated from the back of the boat.

  Rustam took a casual, nonthreatening step forward. “Time’s passing, and our news won’t wait. Let’s get going.” He pitched his voice in a tone of persuasive command. He backed it with a mental wave of willingness to do his bidding.

  The soldier nodded obediently.

  Rustam took Tessa’s hand and helped her into the boat. He seated her in the prow. “Hand me an oar. I’m willing to pull my weight if it’ll speed us back to my queen.”

  He felt Tessa’s body clench more than saw it. Jealous of Artemesia, was she? Surprise and fierce pleasure burst over him. Maybe there was a bit of Centaurian in her, after all.

  It took only a few minutes to reach the first Persian ship. Indeed, the entire channel between the Greek shore and the nearest island was quickly filling with vessels. A jumble of masts striped the sky, silhouetted starkly against the night like a burned out forest. Or maybe it was just death clinging to the fleet that his mind’s eye saw.

  General Mardonius was waiting when Rustam planted his hands on the rail and vaulted aboard the vessel. The man blurted, “You? What’s Artemesia’s sorcerer doing lighting signal fires to the fleet?”

  “I have news. Who commands this expedition?”

  Mardonius replied wryly, “That would be the emperor, boy.”

  “Is Xerxes aboard one of these boats?”

  “Aye. Back a few ranks. Your lady queen’s ship is thereabouts, as well.”

  “How do we get back there?”

  The general grunted. “Ye could walk, most likely. Damn crush. I told ’em to spread the fleet out. Arrange it in separate flotillas. But no, they’ve got to move the whole mess at once. Gotta make a grand show of force. Gonna get us all drowned out here if the gods send a storm.”

  Rustam refrained from mentioning the narrowing straits ahead and the logjam of ships that was sure to follow. The Persians would figure it out, to their detriment, soon enough. “Can we take a small barge to the emperor’s vessel?”

  “I wouldn’t try it myself. You’ll likely get run over and drown.”

  Rustam glanced at Tessa, who seemed to be concentrating on something else. Probably seeking her map. “I wouldn’t ask you to risk any of your men, General. I will take the lady with me. Unless you’d like her to stay aboard your vessel—”

  “No, no!” Mardonius answered hastily.

  Rustam grinned to himself. So. A tradition was already established here that women were bad luck aboard a ship in battle? The Centaurian propaganda effort was starting to take root, apparently.

  For several Earth centuries already, the federation had been sending spies to this planet to spread the view of women as immoral, untrustworthy creatures fit only for serving men and bearing babies. Anything to keep Earth females from rising to enough prominence to be allowed to explore their star navigator talents. Too bad it seemed to have been a wasted effort. But maybe it had bought his kind some time to prepare their defenses against these wildly talented human women.

  Then he snorted to himself. And if he was any indication, that effort was doomed to failure, too.

  He murmured, “Let us go, your Highness.” Grasping Tessa by the elbow, he steered her back to the rail where the small barge had yet to be hoisted aboard.

  “I’ll take those oars, boy,” Rustam told the young seaman who was steadying the barge against the side of the ship. To Tessa he murmured, “Can you climb down a rope, or do I need to carry you?”

  She muttered back irritably, “I’m a freaking army officer. Of course I can climb down a rope.”

  He grinned. “After you.”

  Manning a pair of oars, he fought the current and dodged ship after ship bearing down upon them, beginning to question the wisdom of trying to reach Tessa’s map by sea. Lookouts yelled at them continuously and their tiny vessel was in constant danger of capsizing.

  “Where’s the map?” he called forward to Tessa.

  “Off to our left, toward the center of the fleet.”

  Of course. And it was going to be a gentle morning stroll to cut across the ranks of vessels. Risking life and limb, he turned their tiny craft. An annoyed captain hollered epithets at them, and Rustam and Tessa squeaked in front of the prow of his ship moments before it would have cut their little barge in half.

  They repeated the maneuver a half-dozen more times before Tessa murmured excitedly, “It’s close. Very close.”

  “Talk to me, sweetling.”

  “One more ship over.”

  He looked up to gauge the speed of the next oncoming ship, and jolted. The prow of the vessel bristled with soldiers pointing long spears down at them. Tessa gasped.

  “I think we found the imperial barge,” he muttered at her.

  “Who goes there?” one of the soldiers growled.

  “Rustam of Halicarnassus,” he called back. “I come with tidings for my lady queen, Artemesia. Can you point me to her vessel?”

  “She sails starboard and aft of his imperial majesty. Make way for this ship and steer clear of it or we will skewer you and your passenger.”

  “I would not advise doing that,” Rustam replied evenly, stacking his voice and energy emanations with cold menace.

  The imperial barge was close enough for him to make out the uncertain scowls on the soldiers’ faces. But then the undertow of the larger ship sucked at them, and he had his hands full for a few moments, rowing for all he was worth to keep them from being pulled under. This was madness. No map was worth this risk.

  “There!” Tessa called excitedly. “That’s the ship! That’s where it is!”

  Rustam looked up as Xerxes’s barge finally passed by. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No. That’s it!”

  Tessa was pointing at a low-slung vessel flying the red and gold colors of Halicarnassus. Artemesia’s ship. And here he’d been so relieved to have gotten clear of the woman’s web of intrigue and control.

  “Are you certain?” he asked sharply.

  Tessa clambered forward, setting their keel-less barge to rocking wildly.

  “Be careful!”

  She dropped to her knees, lowering her body weight fast lest she dump them both out into the sea. “Sorry,” she gasped. “Give me your hand.”

  He dragged one oar aboard quickly and thrust out his left hand to her. She grabbed it, and a look of sexual pleasure passed over her face as their energy fields melded. His body hardened, ready to take her, as her violet aura flowed over him, hot and sweet.

  “Oh, yeah,” she groaned, sounding nearly orgasmic. “We’re practically on top of it. It’s there.”

  Damn. He sighed. “All right. Let me hail her men. And again, let me do the talking. She’s likely to slit your throat if we’re not extremely careful. Stay close enough to me that I can access your energy. I may need it with her.”

  And then there was no more time to talk. A sentry from Artemesia’s ship spotted them and a shout went up on the vessel, announcing that the queen’s sorcerer approached.

  A flurry of activity erupted and, in short order, he and Tessa were thrown a pair of rope ladders. He was startled that she knew how to climb one properly, going up the outer side of it, straddling one of the long support ropes between her legs. Must be more of that army training of hers. He harrumphed. Completely inappropriate for a woman.

  Tessa grinned over at him as she gained the low, wide deck, almost as if she sensed his thoughts. He scowled back at h
er. And then the charismatic—and highly angry—red aura of Artemesia exploded across his brain. She was awake. That violent flash of crimson must be someone telling her that her missing sorcerer had returned.

  Suffice it to say she was not happy.

  “Stand behind me,” Rustam muttered under his breath to Tessa.

  Thankfully, she had another one of those military-officer moments of knowing when to follow an order without question and scooted behind him just as Artemesia stormed up onto the deck.

  “Well, well, well. Look what the gods have brought me on the tide. My runaway slave…and his whore. This is too rich. I shall give thanks to the gods in the morn for the return of that which left me without my permission. Perhaps I shall make an offering of your black heart, sorcerer mine.”

  Artemesia strolled around him to glare at Tessa, who stood tall and proud behind him. Not defiant, he sent her urgently. Not fearful. Be calm.

  “And the blond bitch, too.”

  “You may call me Princess, Your Highness. And I would like to thank you for the loan of your slave. He saved me from rape and protected my virtue. In my land, this is a woman’s single greatest treasure. And mine is safe because of your man.”

  Rustam snorted to himself. Taking her virtue had been one of the greatest pleasures of his life.

  Behave, Tessa sent him. Aloud, she said, “As we fled my attackers, your sorcerer discovered vital information about the invasion that he knew you would want him to investigate. He said something about gaining you great glory with the emperor if you were the one to bring the news to Xerxes.”

  The queen’s fury abated momentarily. Nice ploy on Tessa’s part. The only thing Artemesia enjoyed more than wielding power was gaining more power.

  Her sharp gaze swung to him. “What news is this?”

  Rustam went blank. Quickly, he sent to Tessa, Okay, smartie. What’s this news I supposedly have?

  Artemesia barked, “Explain yourself this instant or die. Guards, seize them!”