LOGAN (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 5) (42 page)

Again she turned around and kissed his pain away. "I love you, Logan. Even if I'd never touched your mind, I would know you were innocent just by watching you all these months. You are a totally unique, wonderful, caring, brilliant man, and everyone here knows it."

He dipped his head to kiss her again, but she touched her fingers to his lips. "Wait. I'm not finished. I started this conversation for a reason and got a little sidetracked. I understand the odds, but I wanted you to know that, even if you decide to go back to Earth, we're a team now. Forever. As long as I'm with you, I'd be happy to help appeal your case, then have two children and a dog and live in a pretty little house with a big yard in a small town."

He kissed her quickly, before she could stop him again. "Not fair. You got that right out of one my fantasies about you. If you're going to make all the decisions, we may as well stay here on Heart." His grin assured her that he was teasing. "But the truth is, I think I'd like Innerworld. Maybe they could change my appearance and train me to become an emissary like you."

She studied his eyes. "Possible. The emissary part I mean, not the makeover. I love you just the way you are."

He grinned. "Even the scars?"

"Maybe they could go, but only because they are reminders of times you don't need to think about any more."

He was about to kiss her again but stepped back. Looking very serious, he closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then he smiled and kissed her again. "I have to admit. That was a pretty cool trick. I haven't actually forgotten any of it, but it's like there was a big chunk of heavy rock inside my chest and now it's gone. How did you do that?"

She smiled. "One of the positive side effects of joining is that we can ease the other's pain. But I only helped. Remember, you're to blame for everything."

He rolled his eyes skyward. "Anyway, it reminds me of what I wanted to talk to you about today. I know you've been as careful as possible to keep the mental block up between us."

"Please don't be upset," she said quickly, guessing what he was going to say. "I was so tired, I just forgot—"

He pressed a finger to her lips. "I know. And now I realize it's got to be hard for you to keep it up all the time. I just wanted you to know I really appreciate it and maybe one of these days—"

She stopped him with the same touch. "I'm just happy you're willing to be open while we're making love. I'd hate to have to use any of my focus for something so mundane."

He ran his hand down her back and gave her bottom a squeeze. "I do love the way you focus."

"I'm very glad to hear that, "she murmured sliding a hand down his body. "Because I'm feeling a powerful need to focus again right now."

Like any devoted Heart man, he was happy to grant her wish.

Chapter 22

Tarla looked around the busy space traffic control room with a great deal of pride. She could hardly believe how quickly the last six weeks had flown by. Earth and Heart people alike sent up grateful prayers for every day that passed without any sign of an attack force.

The group of dissidents had been peacefully exiled to the commune after time-release capsules of the antidote were surgically implanted in their brains. Even if they never touched the water, the drug would be periodically dumped into their systems for a full year. By that time, the medics hoped to have perfected a more permanent, behavior-altering solution.

Gianni and the other men staying at the flight center were completely back to normal by their third week off the antidote and had been flying practice missions on a daily basis.

A few problems had shown up when the barrier was first formed, but the last series of tests had gone perfectly.

Though no one had thought it could be done in such a short time span, Heart's new defense system had been fully functional for a week now. A few Heart women had even volunteered for control tower assignments once they were assured their jobs would be non-violent.

Aside from all the activity associated with protecting the planet, another unusual sight had captured everyone's attention. For the first time in recorded history, the second sun had appeared two weeks ago and, instead of vanishing again within a day or two, it had risen every day since. Fortunately, not one crossover had shown up during that time, but it was still odd.

* * *

"Tarla?" Charlene called from her monitor station. "Could you come take a look at this?"

Tarla hurried over to her and squinted at the spot of static in the upper left corner of the screen. She touched several keys that should have either cleared the reception or told her what the problem was, but the computer insisted all systems were in good working order. "Kara? Mandy? Are you having any problems?"

"Yeah," Mandy said. "I've got the same snow in the opposite corner."

"Mine's at the top," Kara added.

Tarla went from one station to another checking the monitors for each sector of space then sat back down at her own place. Flickering spots were somewhere at the edge of every monitor.

It took nearly a full minute of intent staring at the screen before she realized the static was expanding and very slowly moving toward the center of the screen. She needed only a microsecond after that to guess what that meant. "Lord help us. Those are ships! There must be thousands of them closing in on the planet from all sides."

She ordered herself to be calm. Everyone else would react however she did. Taking a deep breath, she stood and faced everyone in the room. "All right. No one panic. Remember, they can't get through the barrier, they can only weaken it if they repeatedly hit the same spot. It's our job to notify our pilots of the hit locations so they can repair the spot before it gets hit again.

"Zoli, contact the flight center and get the rest of the pilots up in the air immediately, then sound the general alarm. The rest of you know what your jobs are. You did great during the training exercises, and I know you'll be even better under real pressure. Good luck."

Satisfied that her voice hadn't cracked through her prep speech, she sat back down, opened the channel to the ten pilots in her sector, and reported the situation.

"They're still some distance away, and definitely not using FTL at the moment. The computer is estimating that you should have a visual of them on your screens within an hour. We've already begun transmitting our request that they identify themselves on the universal frequency, but no response yet."

"Are you okay?" Logan asked over the com, his voice filled with concern.

"I'd be better if you were here." She felt him smiling for her in spite of the deadly threat heading right for him.

"I'll be back before you have a chance to miss me."

"I love you."

"I love you too, angel."

"Hey guys," Robin's voice chirped in. "None of that mushy stuff. I'm nervous enough."

"You, my dear, are never nervous," Geoffrey said in a teasing tone. "You thrive on this kind of excitement and you know it."

A chorus of laughter filled Tarla's ears. "Robin's right everybody. No more chatter. This is the real thing."

Just as the computer had called it, the first visual sightings of vessels were reported an hour later. The giant wall screen that had shown nothing but empty space was now filled with the views from each of the hundred patrol ships. The massive fleet of approaching vessels was possibly the most terrifying thing Tarla had ever seen, but she suppressed her fear to keep the rest of the women in the control room calm.

"They still haven't identified themselves or attempted to contact us in any other way," Tarla said over the open channel. "We have to assume we will soon be under attack. Stand by."

She felt her heart pounding as she counted off the seconds to impact.

Suddenly the wall screen displayed a series of fiery bursts as the front line of invaders crashed into the invisible barrier. The control room simultaneously reverberated with incoming reports and outgoing repair orders.

Like everyone else, Tarla correlated locations of hits with pilot positions as quickly as she could. "Logan, 42.2 lat, 26 and 26.5 long. Robin, 44.1 lat, 25.2 and 25.3 long." For nearly fifteen minutes, the explosions occurred at a faster rate than the barrier could be refortified. Then as abruptly as they had begun, they ceased.

When the smoke cleared, there was only a fraction of the original number of enemy ships left intact, but it was still a lot more than Heart had protecting it.

"They're going to try firing now," Logan declared. "Get ready for round two."

Tarla held her breath and punched in the code that would reverse the polarity of the magnetic field in the barrier. This was the only part Geoffrey had been truly concerned about. Without knowledge of the enemies' weapons, they couldn't be entirely certain that the polarity reversal would do the trick.

The room was completely silent as the women watched every vessel on the screen fire what looked like torpedoes directly at them. Exactly as Geoffrey had intended, the torpedoes ricocheted off the field and went soaring back to their sources with lethal accuracy.

This time, when the smoke cleared, there wasn't a single, whole ship left in sight.

* * *

"Withdraw!" Commander Xytoc shouted as soon as he heard the dying screams come to an end. How could a planet of weak, human females destroy nearly every ship in his fleet in a matter of minutes? They weren't supposed to have any defense system! He would see someone squashed for feeding him such misinformation!

There must have been something wrong with the ships themselves, he concluded a moment later. After all, this was supposed to be a surprise attack, but the FTL power had died well before they'd reached their destination, giving the enemy far too much warning of their approach. The scientists would be the first to pay for their error.

Thank the stars for the sonic emitter hidden on the planet eons ago. When the FTL failed, the navigational system was corrupted. Drawing on ancient memories, he had sent out a search signal for the emitter and received a response. The emission was weak but still functioned well enough to guide them into the proper quadrant.

The invasion that he had been convinced would fulfill Master Po's prediction had turned out to be a disaster. Thus, there must still be another battle in his future. He considered the five ships he had held back from the attack fleet. They didn't amount to much, but it was enough to begin rebuilding his army. In time, he would return. In time, the humanoids
and
this planet would cease to exist.

Meanwhile, he intended to learn everything there was to know about this enemy before striking again. Fortunately the Velid ability to morph into whatever being they saw was the perfect tool to accomplish that goal. He didn't need an army for that phase.

All he needed were a few soldiers hiding in plain sight.

* * *

Celebrations were carried on in every nation of Heart for weeks, despite the fact that the citizens learned that
men
had been primarily responsible for their salvation. It had been an overwhelming victory without a single weapon being fired by anyone on Heart. The Earth crossovers were now heroes and heroines, and the media dubbed them "The Guardians."

Eventually the excitement dwindled and the time came to discuss the future with Parisia. A meeting was set up with her, Iris, Brianne and the original twenty members of the defense team.

"There is no question about your having more than fulfilled your part of our bargain," Parisia said. "But we would like to make you a new offer. We need you here on Heart. Surely you can understand that. If you would agree to remain here, in the positions of Guardians, we would make sure your lives were rewarding and comfortable.

"We believe if we acted quickly, we could even find mates for each of your men. A few women have acknowledged their willingness to live with one of Heart's heroes and make certain adjustments rather than learn how to be a heroine themselves."

"What about the other Earth men on the farm?" Logan asked.

Parisia was surprised by his question. "I suppose they could be brought over as well, but they have been taking the antidote for many years. They may only be capable of servitude at this point."