Deep Indigo (7 page)

This excited him, as did the notion that perhaps his newest scheme would impress her enough to warm those perfect pale cheeks, those cool blue eyes.

“Yes, the fool only wanted to witness our little experiment,” he said.

She turned and he followed her out onto the balcony that overlooked the university fountains.

“Did it go as you’d planned?” she asked.

He leaned on the railing beside her, looking down into the cascading layers of water sparkling in the lights.

“It went just as I planned. She responded to the boy’s distress, as I knew she would. Navos now knows she wields an inordinate amount of power for a female.”

“And did they work together, to stop the boy?” His mistress’s voice was soft, musical as always, but her slender hand gripped the railing tightly.

“Yes. It was quite fascinating, really. They—”

“I don’t wish to hear the details.” Her voice sliced through his words. “Do you think he’s attracted to her?”

Cyan smiled to himself. “They’re no doubt engaged in sexual congress right now. Combining powers can have that effect, and she’s already infatuated with him. She had his holo-vid on her bureau, as if he was that Chaz Jaguari creature all the girls sigh over.”

Her hands tightened even more on the railing and his eyes narrowed. It was as he’d suspected. She had more than profit behind her desire to bring down Navos and his ship.

“You used and discarded him when he was young and naïve,” he said casually. “Perhaps he will do the same with her.”

“Don’t try to be ingenuous,” she said coldly. “It doesn’t suit you. I used him, but I was not…quite through with him yet.”

“Ah, he was supposed to remain with you.” Amusement tickled the back of his throat and he swallowed a laugh which he knew she wouldn’t appreciate. “As your consort.”

“Yes, but now I have you, haven’t I?” she murmured. She turned to him, one elegant hand lifting to touch his face. “And you won’t fail me…will you, Loftan?”

He straightened. Such lovely eyes, with so much danger lurking in their icy depths. “No. I won’t.”

Her lips curved up. “You want to destroy your stepdaughter as much as I want to destroy Daron Navos, don’t you?”

“Certainly,” he agreed readily. “All that lovely money. Her mother should’ve left it all to me. Then I wouldn’t have to kill her daughter to get it.”

She began to laugh and he joined her. He kissed her long throat, breathing deeply of her exotic perfume.

“Tell me how they’ll die,” she demanded, sliding her arms around his neck.

He bent to lift her into his arms and carried her back into his office. The elegant leather sofa made a delightful place for sex.

“If you insist,” he replied. As he laid her on the pale leather and lifted her skirts, he murmured his plan into her ear.

It excited both of them.

On Pangaea, Rra sprang up from the elegant divan in his penthouse sitting room and began to pace back and forth before the huge, floor-to-ceiling windows. Lly sat perfectly still, her eyes never leaving him. She did her best to appear relaxed, a little smile playing about her tinted lips, hoping he wouldn’t notice her silky green hair was wrapped tightly about her slender throat.

“This had better work,” he said. “I’m out of patience. I’ve tried everything—an enviro-terror group, a paid saboteur in their own guard, even those damned serpents! If these Indigons cannot deliver that ship to me as they have promised, I’ll take a weapon and go after her myself!

“The
Orion
,” he sneered. “The shining hope, the flagship of Logan Stark’s space cruise and transport enterprise. Ha! He’ll lose his arrogance and position as the darling of investors soon enough, when I’ve destroyed his ship and his reputation. Then PanRra Air will arise as the premier shipping line in the galaxy. And I’ll be the vaunted one, not that upstart bastard!”

A chime sounded and he whirled, a look of rage on his narrow face at the interruption to his tirade. Then he smiled slowly as he turned to Lly. Fear trickled icily down her spine. It was not a pleasant smile.

“Ah,” he said smoothly as if his rage had never occurred. “Our guests are here, or should I say, our entertainment for the evening.”

“You invited entertainers?” She tried to look pleased.

He gave her a gloating look. “Oh, yes. I must have a respite from this constant stress. And you’ll be joining them, my dear.”

She rose in a flutter of yellow lii silk. “What do you mean?”

He chuckled softly as behind him a small group of beings appeared. A lovely Serpentian woman swathed in a long golden cape was followed by two tall, muscular human males clad only in tight snakeskin pants. One of them carried a covered cage.

“I mean, my dear, you’ll be part of the show.”

While Lly stood like a statue, too frozen with shock to move, he threw himself back onto the divan and picked up his drink, gesturing expansively at the Serpentian and her companions.

“Get on with it,” he ordered.

The Serpentian woman threw back her cape, revealing that under it she wore only a few bands of snakeskin. She smiled enticingly at Rra, darting her forked tongue at him as she dropped the length of gold fabric over the long hassock before the divan.

One of the men drew the cover off of the cage. Lly caught her breath in revulsion as she saw it contained a large snake, its head swaying back and forth, tongue flicking the air.

The other man sauntered over to Lly and, before she could defend herself, he grasped her delicate gown in his hands and ripped it open from top to bottom.

She cried out in horror. He grinned down at her, his gaze crawling lasciviously over her slender, naked body. “Don’t worry, sugar,” he drawled. “We’re gonna show you a real good time.”

Lly reached out entreatingly to her lover. “Rra—please!”

But he merely smiled, his eyes alight with a cruel pleasure. “Entertain me. That is why I keep you in silk and jewels, isn’t it?”

Chapter Eight

Nelah Cobalt had suffered injustice before in her life, but none had ever angered her as much as having Daron Navos first enter her mind, then her body, only to inform her that, after all that, she was not to be his intern.

It didn’t matter in the slightest that he’d offered her a clear choice and then stuck to his word. What mattered in her heart was that he’d given her a taste of the heavens and then yanked it away. Even after they’d been through such a harrowing experience, sharing the communion of fellow combatants. The deep bond between them hadn’t been just sexual—it hadn’t!

She scrubbed herself in the shower-dry unit until all traces of their sexual union were obliterated, dressed in fresh clothing and sank down cross-legged to calm herself with meditation. All this soothing exercise did was give her a headache.

When it was accompanied by a hollow rumbling from her stomach, she realized she was desperately hungry. In fact, she couldn’t remember her last meal. She thought it had been an attempted snack in the space terminal café, though she’d been anxious and excited about boarding the
Orion
and meeting Navos.

Well, she’d gotten over that, at least. She used her com-link to order breakfast from the ship’s service and fell on it ravenously, eating the entire dish of artfully arranged Pangaean fruits before pouring herself a cup of steaming tea, which she enjoyed between bites of fragrant spice bread and eggs.

With her hunger satisfied, her head was clearer. She’d truly been operating without fuel. Settling back in the comfortable armchair with her tea, Nelah held it close to absorb the warmth, and stared unseeingly into the steam gently wafting from the cup. What should she do now?

Her eyes narrowed. It must be something suitably defiant. She was sure of one thing—she wasn’t going to slink quietly away for Daron Navos’s convenience. She wanted to inconvenience him—as much as possible.

And meanwhile, since she was no longer employed, nor a student, she supposed she was a tourist. On a huge, state-of-the-art cruise ship, equipped with a gym, a spa and even shops. Her lips curled up with satisfaction.

Her parents had left her rather well-off. Her mother had been a wealthy woman when she married Loftan Cyan. After her death, he spent his portion of the inheritance and sold the lovely house in the mountains. But, thanks to her mother’s financial advisors, he’d been unable to access the money left to Nelah. He’d tried to get his revenge by sending her to a post where she was not welcome. By building her a bubble and then popping it.

She’d known something was wrong when he bid her goodbye before this journey—he’d had such a peculiar gloating look in his eyes, as if he were trying not to chuckle. Now she understood why.

Realizing she was likely to end up in tears again if she allowed herself to dwell on the past, Nelah rose, her small chin set firmly. She was going have a good physical workout, avail herself of the technicians in the spa and then go shopping.

Wandering the passageways of the huge ship, she stopped to look at a map of locations on her com-link. Finding a chapel just ahead, she slipped quietly into the quiet, softly lit room and sank down on one of the small seats. Bowing her head, she said a silent prayer for the poor mad soul who had died and asked forgiveness for her part in his death.

When she left, she felt steadier. Better able to accept that her life was indelibly changed. For the first time she had a visceral sense of the great responsibility she and other Indigons of power carried. Her professors had lectured her about the subject and she’d listened, but now—now it was real.

She also, reluctantly, understood more clearly why Daron Navos was so…so quarking controlled. He was extremely powerful, psychically speaking. He also held a position of great responsibility on this ship. If anything happened to the captain, Navos would assume leadership.

If she were honest, Navos was the epitome of Indigon chill, as she and her friends had said in school. It was partly that which had attracted her to him. His deep blue eyes, his very demeanor, promised calm and competence.

He was the polar opposite of her father. Poor Dad, she thought with a wry smile. He’d been a brilliant inventor. But he was also a perennial child, with all the bursting enthusiasm and essential unreliability. He’d been her favorite person when she was little—always sharing some new toy or idea for fun. As she grew older, she realized her mother was the one who held the family together, who struggled to find equilibrium for herself and her daughter between the cycles of wealth and poverty, as her father created new inventions and then failed to care for the financial end of his business.

Fortunately, Nelah’s mother had found a good lawyer to help her patent his last invention, lawn-care robotics. They were an instant hit on Indigo, Pangaea and Earth II. When he died in the horrible accident with a malfunctioning robot, the family was solvent. Their small fortune had grown steadily, at least until Loftan Cyan got his hands in the coffers.

Nelah grimaced, wishing she could stop thinking of him. Here was the gymnasium, with what looked like a class in flexion. She needed to move. Both her mind and her healthy young body were restless. She accepted a brief singlet from the attendant and changed quickly in the locker room. In moments she was perched on a series of mats between a slender, pale green Pangaean and a red-speckled Hobian, watching the class instructor, a graceful, silver-haired Aquarian with a serene smile.

As she flowed smoothly through the moves of her flexion routine, Nelah let her mind run free along the path of revenge. She might understand why Daron Navos behaved as he did, but she still wanted to get even, in a purely feminine way.

Navos had called for another intern to be brought out to the ship. He wouldn’t train her, even with her talent, which she’d been told was extraordinary for a woman. He was ready to accept her only on his terms, as a sexual partner. Very well, she would throw herself into the part of seductress—only she would choose another lover, right in front of him. After she arrayed herself for battle.

The
Orion
’s spa was a small gem, a place of gentle corals and creams, with golden light that made every being glow. It was like being inside a huge seashell, Nelah thought as she settled in an exquisitely comfortable air-pillowed chair in front of the mirrors. The attendant, a graceful male with lavender skin and hair spiked up like a jet-and-purple thistle, wrapped her in warm towels, smeared thick goop over her face and throat and then set a steaming drink by her elbow before drifting away.

“Hi,” said a soft, friendly voice. A lovely young woman smiled at her from the next chair. Her red-gold hair was sleeked back from her face, wet, and she had green goo smeared on her hands and feet. “Enjoying your voyage?”

“It certainly has been interesting, so far,” Nelah said carefully.

The other woman’s eyes sharpened and she made a face. “Oh, dear. I just realized who you are. You’re Indigon. You must be Nelah. I’m so sorry about what happened.”

“Thank you,” Nelah said faintly.

The other woman’s cheeks flushed. “Sorry,” she said again. “I’m Tessa Craig. Captain Craig’s wife. I’m not usually so gauche—I think.”

Nelah had to smile at her then. Tessa’s self-deprecating candor was charming.

“I’m Nelah Cobalt. Thank you for your concern. It was indeed horrible, what happened to that poor man.”

“Yes. I’m glad to see you’re doing therapy,” Tessa said. “The spa is very soothing. Makes me feel like a new woman.” She waggled her hands. “I’m in the ships guard and we train constantly. My hands and feet are always developing new calluses.”

“You work on the ship, even though you are married to the captain?” Nelah asked.

“Oh, yes. Steven knows I’d go crazy just sitting around. I didn’t train so hard for nothing.”

“Indeed,” Nelah agreed. Neither had she. Her anger at Daron Navos flamed again. His captain was apparently enlightened, even if he was not.

Her attendant returned and she said goodbye to Tessa Craig before she was escorted off to a bath before her cosmetics session.

That evening Navos sat at the head table in the mess hall with a sense of relief. He planned to have a glass or two of blue wine with his dinner, relax and then go to his room early—alone.