| |
Somewhere inside the Etterian battleship Phoenix
A visit to another common.
To visit Pannos as promised, Macy stepped into the Lysarans’s common, darting her gaze around while hoping to spot them before they pounced on her. Not that she was scared of them, but she worried their sex appeal would seduce her like it did last time. She’d told Illan where she was going and to fetch her in an hour if he didn’t hear from her.
“Pannos is not here, sweet Macera.” Bry-dar appeared behind her. His voice breathed across her neck, sending shivers down her spine. Stiffening and vowing not to succumb, she faced him with a smile plastered on. She’d forgotten how handsome he was.
“Oh, no. Will you tell him I came by?” she asked, hoping Bry-dar didn’t smell anything other than friendliness.
“Macera, sali, please forgive me for frightening you. Your emotional range overloaded my senses.” He held up his hand, offering peace. “Come, sit with me. I would enjoy learning about you, if you will share this with me?”
She hesitated, casting a glance at the door. “Where’s Myn-ras?”
“He is organizing our departure,” he said.
“You’re leaving?” She took a seat opposite Bry-dar. The width of the table separated them, but it didn’t help. His intense gaze remained fixed on her, spiraling butterflies in her belly.
“The offer stands, Macy. I would love to show you Lysara. It is splendid with its lilac sunsets and pale-yellow skies.” His love for his homeworld was evident and for a moment, she wished she could trust his intentions. “Quin is coming with us, just for the shuttle ride.”
“She is?” Macy smothered a twinge of jealousy, not that Quin traveled with him but that he knew her friend. She must’ve been spending time here, as well. A selfish part of Macy wanted to keep Bry-dar’s admiration for herself. He made her feel beautiful even though it was a lie. “I will think about it, Bry-dar. I must travel to Etteria in gratitude and support, and visiting with you will delay that.”
“Your sense of duty makes you more appealing, Macera. But I fear, once my kuna meets you, I shall have to forfeit any claim to you.”
“What?” She blinked at him. Who spoke like this? “Claim?”
“Suns above! You do not know how breathtaking you are. This rattles my control, and every day you visit Pannos, I must fight the need to be near you.”
“You’ll say that to any human woman, Bry-dar,” she said with a dismissive flick of her hand. “I’m the only unclaimed Earthian female on board.”
“True, I might react this way to another of your species.”
She winced. His words stung, but she needed to hear them. “I’d like to think of you as a friend, who’d one day claim a woman of your own.”
He studied her for a while, his face expressionless yet his eyes swirled. She understood that to mean inner turmoil. “I would cherish your friendship, as would Myn-ras.”
“That’s a nice thing to say.” She flashed a delighted smile.
“I do not say what I do not mean.” He frowned. “I sense my words brought you joy, and I am grateful for that.”
She chuckled. “That doesn’t give you carte blanche to compliment me. My reactions would diminish the more you sweet-talk me.”
His lips curled in a heart-fluttering way, and she glanced away, praying Pannos or Illan would arrive to save her from herself.
“I prefer you happy. Your scent is so much sweeter.”
“Thanks, I think.” She jumped up to order two cappuccinos from the rehydrator then slid one across to him before resuming her seat. Sipping it would serve as a distraction from his gold eyes. He tasted the hot beverage before pushing it aside with a shudder.
“We are fruitarians,” he said with a shrug. She giggled. A man who looked like a vampire from the legends survived on fruit? “You find my food choice humorous?” he asked, a grin splitting his cheeks.
“One day I’ll explain it to you,” she said, cupping her cappuccino.
“Lady Macy,” Myn-ras said in greeting, choosing the seat beside her. “Has Bry-dar convinced you to visit our wonderful home?”
“Yes, but not now. I have obligations I need to deal with first.” She gave up on convincing Myn-ras to call her by her name. Underneath the table, she stretched out her legs, trying to ease the ache in her muscles. She’d swear Oyaz was trying to kill her.
“You are in pain?” Myn-ras asked, his brow furrowing.
She stiffened, winced, then lowered her feet. “You can’t smell muscle pain, can you?”
“Pain has a sour undertone to it,” Bry-dar said. “Should I summon Medic Rior?”
“It’s not necessary.” She sipped from her cup. “Oyaz is teaching me how to defend myself.”
“He is?” Myn-ras laughed. “How did you convince an Etterian warrior to allow a female to train?”
“Fitness first, hence the pain.” She arched her back, trying to ease the tense muscles, although the action brought some measure of pleasure.
“Why not have Medic Rior add anesthetics to your cleanser?” Bry-dar asked.
“I’m proud, not wanting to ask anyone for help, and I have to endure the pain to believe I’m accomplishing something.” She rose to order orange juice from the rehydrator. Bry-dar arched a dubious brow before sniffing then tasting it. When he smacked his lips in delight, she returned to savor her coffee.
“This is better than that.” He pointed at her cup.
“When do you leave?” she asked Myn-ras, who sipped his juice.
“Within the hour,” he said.
“So soon?” she gasped, shoving her O.D.I. at him. “Punch in your details.” She jerked her arm back. “You have an O.D.I.?”
He gathered her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. “We do.” He released her to activate his implant. He tapped her arm, and a buzz traveled up to tingle in her elbow. Bry-dar did the same. The appearance of Oyaz snagged her attention. Had Illan sent him instead? Was she out of time?
“I’ll talk to you daily.” She placed her cup in the recycler. When she spun around, both men had risen to their feet. She wrapped her arms around Myn-ras, allowing him to hold her close before pulling away to hug Bry-dar. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Suns above, sali, I hope so,” Bry-dar said.
Hoping they didn’t pick up on her sadness, she pinched her lips closed, smiled at them, then dashed over to Oyaz.
“Was this wise?” he asked as soon as they were alone along a passage.
“I promised Pannos I would visit.” She raised her chin, prepared to argue about this.
A pulse ticked at the base of his jaw. “I know, ensa, however, the Lysarans—”
“Which is why I asked Illan to save me.” She huffed. “And besides, it hasn’t been an hour, Oyaz.” Halting her steps, she faced him. “So why so early?”
“I’d like you to join us in your quarters.” He paused. “There has been a...development.”
Her spine tingled. She blinked at Oyaz then gestured for him to lead the way. “Of course, my friend.”
Trailing him, she pondered what this all meant. And why did he need her to attend? Skipping to keep up with his long strides, she spent the time focusing on her breathing, not wanting to be huffing and puffing after him like a pissed-off rhinoceros.
She let them into her quarters where Iddan and Cyndi waited. “Where’s Quin?”
“On her way,” Illan crowded Macy from behind, forcing her to step aside.
Oyaz darted around her and leaned against a wall, his posture casual. With the way he’d rushed them to reach here, she didn’t believe it. His pulse was going crazy along his clenched jaw.
She chose a comfy and slumped into it, stretching out each leg to twirl her foot. The pain was easing, which was good.
Iddan laughed then sliced a glance at Illan, who wore an expression of amusement. His lips were pursed together, and his white eyes twinkled. She dipped her chin, once again excluded. A peek revealed Cyndi giggling as well.
Yup, just Macy alone against the universe. She picked at her jeans, trailing a finger along a seam. With a deep breath and a slow exhale, she squared her shoulders. It was time to move on, to find a group of people she could call her own.
The door opened, and Iddan smiled as he addressed Xan and Quin stepping into the room. “Idiot? I have often thought him such,” he chuckled.
“Only a human would dare to call me that.” Illan gestured to Oyaz to reveal this ‘development.’
“We are incapacitated, and we suspect the offender is a prisoner, perhaps more than one.” Oyaz gazed around the room.
“Sabotage?” Quin frowned.
Macy stilled. It had to be serious. Oyaz wouldn’t involve them if they weren’t...well, involved.
“I have received strange comms from various sources.” Oyaz pushed himself off the wall, stiffened, relaxed, then leaned against the wall again. “Twice in the last few days, the engineers replaced the cylinders for the fusion drives. With no documented defects, they have inexplicably fractured. Pilot Msar deactivated the drives to perform the repairs.”
“The sec vids confirm the destruction?” Xan asked.
“No, there is nothing, no suspicious activity, almost as if someone tampered with the data. Kemt is investigating this since only a select few on this ship have the skills and the access to do so.” Oyaz scowled and unfolded his arms only to refold them across his chest, his body remaining tense.
“There’s more,” Xan said.
“Yes, life support malfunctioned, powering up the backup tanks. Doing these repairs has cost us four hours. They tampered with the acceptable oxygen levels, and the emergency failsafe kicked in. As malfunctions go, this was minor but still critical.”
Macy took in a deep breath, as if oxygen might be denied to her at any minute.
“So they had to know the ship’s design well.” Xan watched Oyaz, who stiffened further. “What else?”
“We are transmitting an encrypted signal to an unknown receiver. Kemt has disabled it, but it has compromised our location. The usual comms masked the low-frequency signal. We still do not know what it communicated nor what awaits us en route.” He lowered his arms to his side, slumping.
“It is a prisoner. That is the logical conclusion.” Xan glanced at Quin then frowned at Cyndi. “Milady, you were with the prisoners the longest. Did anyone act out of the ordinary, any behavior that could raise suspicion?”
She clung to Iddan’s hand. “They were happy we rescued them. A few were a little cold toward us, distrustful. I can’t say it’s unexpected. We’re an unknown species.”
“Have we documented these prisoners, their origins, the people they contacted?” Quin asked. “I mean, we can’t assume they spoke to their families.”
“Kemt is investigating this,” Oyaz said, “but perhaps he should do a more detailed assessment.”
Xan grunted. “See to it, Oyaz. Someone gains by this delay.”
“It would mean waiting for something en route to us. That makes the most sense,” Quin said. “Here, we can control the battleground. Who knows what they’re preparing for our arrival.”
“Alter our course, Oyaz. The Yithians would gain the most, and perhaps news has reached them of their prince’s death.” Xan weighed his options. “Have Kemt delve into any Yithian connections to the prisoners and their blood-bonds.”
“Acknowledged, Supreme Commander.”
“Are you sure it’s them?” Quin gasped. “Did I bring this upon us by killing the prince?”
Macy jerked back. How was this tied to the rescue? If Quin thought herself to blame for this then Macy and Cyndi were just as culpable.
“Your actions were justified, ensa.” Xan gave her a sideways hug.
Quin flicked a glance at him. “That doesn’t mean I made wise choices.”
With a punch on his O.D.I., he activated the display vid. Macy leaped off the comfy to crowd Oyaz and Illan, watching the meet-and-greet with the prisoners where she’d met the space vampires.
“No, it cannot be.” Oyaz pointed at a familiar Maloidian and scowled. “He seemed so docile, so grateful.” There on the vid, Pannos fiddled with a panel while Xan’s focus was on Quin.
“That sweet old man?” she squeaked. “He has a son he hasn’t seen in a while and hoped he could bring him home.”
“Msar, locate Pannos, the Maloidian,” Xan snapped into his wrist.
“Last known location was in engine room three.” The surprise in Msar’s voice came through the device. “That cannot be accurate; it is an access secure area.”
“I will investigate.” Xan strode to the door, tugging Quin with him. A whispered argument followed.
Macy slumped into the comfy again. What did Quin think she could do? This was a shitstorm of a catastrophe. Macy couldn’t believe Pannos had done this. Sure, he hadn’t been at the common when she got there. Nor could Bry-dar tell her where he had disappeared to. Still, to sabotage a battleship needed some epic skills, right?
She had to hear it from Pannos’s lips. But first, Xan and Oyaz had to catch the old Maloidian in the act.
~*~
Etterian Battleship, Phoenix
Sec Center, where Macy shouldn’t be.
Macy thumped Illan on the arm when he grumbled for the thousandth time.
He yelped and glared at her. “How did you convince me to do this?” He rubbed his arm while slicing glances down the passage.
“What?” she gaped. “I asked you for directions, yet here you are. This isn’t on me.”
“Oyaz would expect me to dissuade you from this madness, not be complicit in it.”
She squeaked and raised her fist.
Illan threw out his hand and leaped away from her. “I am curious.” He harumphed.
She schooled her features, folded her arms across her chest, and tapped her foot as if impatient. Damn toes spasmed from this morning’s workout, ruining her pissed-off-Gran stance. She twisted and turned to uncramp her toes while trying not to giggle.
Illan blinked at her, watching her do the marionette-dance, his eyes twitching.
“By all means, please do elaborate,” she snapped while bouncing on her feet, working free the cramp.
“I cannot fathom why you need to see Pannos.”
She tilted her head, implying he was being an idiot. “Oh, well, it’s simple. I want to know his motives.”
Illan slumped, leaned against the bulkhead, and grinned. “Ah, I see.” He straightened. “Then we best have done with this. The security center is down the next passage.”
She jerked back and scowled. “So close? I swear, Illan, next time we spar, I’ll make sure to knee you where it hurts.”
He frowned, not from anger but in puzzlement. She couldn’t be sure he wasn’t calculating the statistics of her successfully kneeing him in the groin.
“I fail to understand this threat, Macy. Would it not hurt anywhere on my body if you knee me?”
She threw up her hands, grabbed his forearm, and dragged him around the corner. Then stilled. At the end of the passage stood a circular room, glowing bright white. In the center of that was a desk with an Etterian warrior on duty. She shoved Illan against the metallic wall and plastered herself beside him.
“Shit. I hadn’t thought about guards,” she whispered while Illan peered around her. “Now what?”
“If Quin was here—”
“He’d be on the floor, groaning, stunned, or dead. Yeah, I get I’m not Quin.” Macy huffed. She pushed off the bulkhead, straightened her baggy shirt stained from her earlier ice cream binge, and squared her shoulders. “But I’m adorable me, and sweet-talking is my superpower.”
“Macy,” Illan hissed, but she ignored him and flounced down the passage.
She smiled at the guard and rested her elbows on the counter. “Hi.”
“Good day, milady. How can I be of assistance?” The Etterian’s gaze traveled her face.
She fluttered her eyelashes in all innocence. “I’d like to visit my friend.”
She twirled to study the cells. Seamless metallic panels lined the walls. Dull lighting illuminated the one cell housing Pannos. Why have a jail if honor was everything? Was there such a thing as a dishonorable Etterian? She doubted it but supposed it was possible. There were good and bad people in all cultures.
“I have received no notification of your visit. Is Supreme Commander Xan or Sub-Commander Oyaz aware of your request?”
“Xan’s too busy with Quin to care about me. And I’m not talking to Oyaz after he slammed me into the mat this morning and knocked the ever-loving breath out of me.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I thought I was dying.”
The Etterian’s eyes twitched. She frowned. Was she having this effect on everyone now?
“My apologies, milady. Visits must be authorized.”
Shit, were all Etterians this stubborn? She gritted her teeth, about to demand he contact Oyaz.
“An exception can be made, I am certain.” Illan strode into the lit circle.
Now he helps? She huffed and damned if the guard didn’t salute Illan as if he was effing royalty.
Illan grinned and dipped his head to whisper, “Superpower, huh?”
She shrugged. “Every heroine has off days.” She nudged Illan shoulder to shoulder. “Thank you.”
With a skip, she crossed to Pannos’s cell, wary of the humming. The front was open, though she guessed she needed to avoid the pulsing white line running the length of it. She’d seen enough illegal vids to know to be suspicious of anything unusual. She snorted. Here she was, sneaking into a security center. Nothing odd about that.
“Pannos?”
The old Maloidian male sat on his bed, and at her greeting, his sad gaze rose to meet hers.
“Lady Macy,” he said, though his usual enthusiasm was absent as expected under the circumstances.
She sank to the floor to sit Indian style, and in her blue jeans, it was easy. Thankfully, her padded backside softened the hard floor.
“Tell me what’s going on, lommia? Why couldn’t you come to us...to me? You know I would’ve done everything to help.” She studied his downcast head, his slumped shoulders, and sorrow lanced through her. Under the bright lighting, the shadows under his eyes revealed how he’d worried, lost sleep, and allowed this to affect his health. Yet his tentacles swayed like they were caught in a gentle breeze.
“My son...” His voice cracked. “The Yithians have my son, milady. When I commed my blood-bond to let him know I was safe and that you had rescued me from the Yithians, he informed me they’d captured Mannx.” His head drooped in despair. “Because of me, they know you took their ship. I did not think beyond my selfish need. For this, I have jeopardized your planet. I cannot ask your forgiveness... I truly cannot.”
“I have hope and faith, lommia, that everything will work out for the better. And I can’t fault you for wanting to save your son. I would’ve moved heaven and hell to save my child.”
“You are not angry with me?” Pannos’s solid-black eyes widened.
“Of course not. You were desperate. The Etterians won’t understand, though. You did violate their trust.” She winced.
“I know. Thank you for speaking to me, Lady Macy.” He graced her with a small smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Not that she could tell in his black murky depths. Expressions were different and yet similar across species.
“Would you mind if I visited again?” She scanned the cell, devoid of anything interesting. As far as she was concerned, if anyone could fix this situation, it would be the Etterians. Did she have an absurd faith in them? Yes, but dammit, who else could sort this out? “Or is this goodbye, Pannos?” Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them away. Desperation was all too familiar. It contorted your thoughts and led you down the wrong path.
Pannos sighed. “You are an emotive species, mitkaari. I will never regret meeting you.” He rose to his feet and shuffled toward the shimmering light. “I would appreciate it if you did visit.” He smiled at her, and this time, it crinkled the edges of his eyes like laugh lines. The devil was in the details, her gran used to say.
“Don’t give up yet. Xan and Oyaz will do what they can for all parties. They’re the good guys, Pannos, and everyone knows good always kicks evil’s ass.”
“Your faith is that of a child, mitkaari, but I thank you for sharing it with me.”
She jumped to her feet, threw a beaming smile at the security guard, looped an arm through Illan’s, and ushered him the hell out of there. “I could do with apple pie. My treat.”
“Do I have a say?” Illan smiled, patting her hand resting on his forearm.
“Nope, and you’ll thank me later.”
Page of 194
