No Words Alone (28 page)

“We’re going to bring you in,” he said, as if she
might disagree with that option.

Xera nodded and gave him an enthusiastic thumbs
up.

“Who are these people?” Rysing asked.

“My former employers,” Xera said bluntly. Realizing
her position, she turned her back on the screen and told the girl,
“They’re kind of enemies of the Scorpio, so we’re going to have to
play this carefully. They’re to think we were both held against our
will; that should be easy for them to believe. If they thought
otherwise it might go badly, understand? Don’t tell them about the
baby. In fact, it would be best if you didn’t say much. Try to act
shell-shocked, like you did when the Scorpio first found you.”

Rysing looked disgruntled at the reminder.

Xera wasn’t above pleading for a good cause. “Please?
If we’re not very careful, I might never see my husband again.” An
eight month journey was too far away for casual visits, and if the
GE did take her back to Polaris, her baby would be nearly a year
old before she could return to Ryven. That was assuming she could
find the money and a private craft willing to take her so far out.
With the Khun’tat running around, it became too dangerous to
risk.

Maybe, someday, conditions might be right to meet her
sisters halfway; they could each travel for four months and meet at
a place somewhere in the middle. None of that mattered today.
Today, she had to choose between them.

Rysing looked at her intently. “And is that truly
what you want? You have a chance to see your sisters again. I’ve
heard you speak of them…you miss your family.”

The ship shivered as the GE ship’s tractor beam
locked on. Xera had minutes to make up her mind. Her husband or her
sisters? New or old? There was only one choice her heart would
accept.

“Commander! You need to see this.”

Ryven took the tablet from the ensign and scanned it
quickly. His eyes slowed as he took in the data.

“What is it? Toosun strode over and tried to read
over his shoulder.

“One of the cloaked satellites around planet 4 Zega
picked up a human ship. It looks like the interlopers are back.
That’s not all. An hour ago they towed one of our shuttles onboard.
The satellite picked up a transmission.” He keyed the audio and
heard the human Commander say, “Lieutenant Harrisdaughter? What are
you doing here?”

Ryven’s heart lurched when he heard his wife’s name.
He listened intently to the rest of the exchange, learning all he
could. If her communicator was jammed, what else might have been
wrong with the ship? What was she doing on it in the first
place?

Toosun looked sober. It was obvious he was
considering the implications of Xera conveniently appearing near a
GE ship.

Ryven looked at him. “There’s no way she could have
known it was there. We didn’t even know until now. “

His brother still looked somber, but continued
Ryven’s line of reasoning. “She couldn’t have killed her guards,
not by herself. We all watched her, and she had no one who would
have helped. There was no indication she ever tried to make any
allies to help her escape, either. But if a chance opened up to
run? Would she have taken it? She knew how to pilot a shuttle.”

“With jammed controls, through Khun’tat infested
space? She’s not suicidal,” Ryven snapped. But it begged the
question, was she put in there? If so, someone had seemed intent on
an ugly death for her. Who hated her, or him, that much?

Toosun bit his lip. “We’d better get to her fast.
It’s three days if we leave now.”

Ryven gave the order. The ships were already fueled
and standing by. He prayed they’d get there in time to prevent a
disaster.

It was a disaster. Xera just didn’t have the patience
to pretend to be downtrodden and abused. She sat in the commander’s
office and tried to at least look weary. That was easy enough.
She’d forgotten how much she hated bureaucracy.

To give him credit, Commander Telis seemed to be
trying to be sensitive. He offered her coffee and asked again if
she’d like to see the medic. When she refused, he settled down to
politely interrogating her. “Lieutenant, I know you’ve been through
a lot these past months. We at the GE salute you for your bravery
and daring in escaping your captors. While we know it will in no
way make up for your pain, rest assured that you will receive a
promotion and a substantial bonus for your suffering.”

There was the bribe, she thought dispassionately. The
man sounded like he was at a board meeting. “Thank you,” she said
into the expectant pause.

He cleared his throat and looked down at his
electronic tablet. “As I’m sure you know, the Galactic Explorers
finds itself at odds with the Scorpio on a number of matters.
They’ve objected to our exploring this particular planet, for
instance.”

Xera maintained a polite silence. They both knew the
GE was breaking the treaty by being here.

“In spite of the risks, our leaders feel it’s a world
that requires at least a cursory survey. There are so few habitable
planets that we can’t afford not to learn all we can about each new
discovery.”

In other words, the greedy board members were willing
to risk having their charter revoked to explore this planet. They
must think there was something valuable to be had. If they got in
and out quickly, they could get away with samples and a cursory
survey without anyone being the wiser. If they did find anything of
interest, who knew how far they’d go to obtain the planet? Even if
there were a movement to revoke the GE’s charter, the Intergalactic
Council might not have the power to stop them. After all, the IC
was simply an under-funded, unappreciated peacekeeping committee.
The GE had grown powerful. It might take a true war to bring them
down.

His next words confirmed her fears.

“Of course, should the planet prove as valuable as we
hope, the GE may decide to press our claim on it. After all, there
are no Scorpio currently living here. Why should they be allowed to
claim a planet they aren’t currently using?”

Why should the GE?
Xera thought privately, but
she said only, “That’s very ambitious, sir.” And wouldn’t the
Scorpio love to know about their attitude? Of course, the fact that
the commander was telling her all this confirmed that he didn’t
expect her to bolt back to the Scorpios.

He nodded. “Do you have any reason to believe your
escape was discovered or tracked? We’d hate to cut this mission
short.”

Xera frowned. He was ready to pull out if she said
yes. That might make her life very difficult. If they left, she’d
have no choice but to go with them. “If they had any idea they’d
already be here. I have no reason to think they’ve discovered us.”
She tried to look anxious for the mission. “I’m sorry, sir. It
wasn’t my intention to make this difficult for you.”

He relaxed a fraction. “It’s certainly not your
fault. In fact, you could be of great value to us all. No one else
has been so deeply integrated into the Scorpio culture. Any
insights you can offer would be appreciated; especially anything
with military applications.”

She didn’t have to fake her distress. There was no
way she was going to betray Ryven’s people to the GE. “I’m sorry,
sir. I wasn’t allowed to witness much of a military nature. They
didn’t trust me, you know. Except….” She frowned as if reluctant to
dredge up the memory. “I was on a ship once that was attacked by
the Khun’tat. You did get the message they let me send to the IC?
You know what they are?”

The commander looked uncomfortable. “We got the
message. Our understanding was that they mainly existed on the
other side of Scorpio space.”

She let the full weight of her concern show. “We were
attacked close to the site of the peace talks. That’s not so far
from here.”

He was silent a moment. “Any additional information
you have will be useful. I’d like you to file a formal report as
quickly as you can.

“Meanwhile, your assessment has made me want to get
this assignment done with all speed. We’ll be landing on the planet
shortly.” Her alarm must have shown, for he added, “You don’t have
to worry about your safety. We’ll be using the ‘fortress’ you know
from before (we have a full report of it) and our ship is in good
working order. Our force field will be more than sufficient to
repel any creatures.”

“Yes, sir. I…I won’t be required to leave the ship,
will I?” It was easy to act petrified. Maybe it wasn’t so far from
the truth.

His expression was kind. “No, lieutenant. For now I’d
like you to concentrate on your report. You may go.”

She was glad to leave, and more rattled than she
liked to admit. She had no good memories of this place. Finding out
she was going back, however briefly, was an unpleasant shock, but
not as bad as the one she got when she found out who else was
sharing her ship.

Captain Khan was waiting for her in the hallway.
There were people around, so he didn’t pause, didn’t say a word as
he strode forward. He didn’t have to. Though he used a cane and
walked with a pronounced limp, his stare was still predatory. It
intensified as he neared. Waves of hatred washed from him, as if he
could do her harm with a thought, and his cold eyes promised a
reckoning.

Xera held the man’s gaze and tensed, prepared to
defend herself, though she doubted he’d try anything here. No, he’d
wait for his moment. She was going to have to watch her back.

She wondered why he was here and decided the GE would
want his experience of the planet for this mission. She suspected
if he’d been punished at all, it had probably been a hand slap. The
GE would value his knowledge more than they would care about his
“alleged” bad behavior.

She warned Rysing about him as soon as she got to
their room.

The Leo-Ahni sat on her bunk in their tiny cabin and
eyed her. “You have a special talent for making friends, don’t
you?”

Xera grimaced. They’d been allowed to clean up and
change into spare uniforms when they arrived, though Rysing’s
bagged hopelessly on her slender frame. It was hard to say whether
human space rations would agree with her, but Xera hoped she’d try
to eat; the girl couldn’t afford to lose more weight.

Well, they’d soon have their chance to find out. On
Xera’s advice, Rysing had given a blood sample to the medical
technicians to test for allergies. Out of politeness Xera had
waited with the Leo to eat. Fortunately the med techs were quick.
Rysing tested allergy negative to most common foods, though that
was no guarantee she’d like them.

The galley was just ending a shift when the women
walked in. A quick glance around showed no Khan in sight. “Okay,
girl. Time to try some more alien food,” Xera remarked. “I’ll try
to steer you away from anything with teeth.” She gave the girl a
quick smile and handed over a tray.

This far out in space, shipboard fare was pretty
dull, so Xera figured it’d be easy to keep Rysing’s sensitive taste
buds from rebelling. The girl’s nose twitched suspiciously as they
moved along the cafeteria line, and she looked less than thrilled
with the globs of reconstituted mashed potatoes, hydroponic veg and
dehydrated fruit. Even the tank-grown fish were met with looks of
stoic determination.

They sat at a table. Rysing stared at her tray and
took a deep breath. She put a tiny bite of mashed potatoes in her
mouth…and promptly gagged.

Xera nodded sympathetically over her own bite. “You
get used to it.”

Rysing bravely took a sip of water to clear her
mouth, and tried the beans. She didn’t gag, but she didn’t look
happy. After trying the fish, she put down her fork. “I don’t think
I’m hungry anymore.”

“You haven’t tried the veg.”

“I don’t think I dare.”

Xera exhaled in amusement. “I see your point, but you
need to keep up your strength. Trust me when I say the food gets no
better than this.”

Rysing looked at her plate and swallowed hard. After
a moment, she picked up her fork and dug in. She chewed
mechanically, an empty look on her face, as if she were trying to
distance her mind from what she was ingesting.

“I’ve seen that look before. You looked like that
when we were dining on bugs, lieutenant,” a new voice said.

Xera looked up into the face of Ensign Trevor, the
man who’d once offered her a comb…and made her a scandalous
proposition. The memory made her voice cool. “Ensign.”

He looked nonplussed, then reddened with memory.
“Ma’am. I was hoping we could talk. I think I owe you an apology.”
He looked at her steadily until she relented and allowed him to sit
down.

He stared at his own tray a moment as his face became
a deeper shade of red. It was an unfortunate combination with his
orange-red hair and the pale skin that made his freckles stand out
in glaring relief. “I, uh, want to say I’m sorry for the way I
handled things in the cave. It’s just that…” He took a deep breath
and looked her in the eye. “I had a crush on you, ma’am, and I
didn’t want to see you get hurt. I just picked the wrong way to try
to protect you.”

She could see no deceit in his face. Looking back,
she could see how she might have taken his interest hard, but
things had been very different then. She’d been feeling trapped and
vulnerable, imagining the worst. She could believe that he’d been a
slightly horny white knight who bungled his approach. Here and now,
he could be excused.

“I think we were all out of our element, Ensign. I
can forgive you for fumbling your catch.”

He grinned at her description. “Thank you. I think
you had it worse than most, though.” He sobered and glanced around.
“Listen, you need to watch out for Khan. He was forbidden to speak
to you upon your arrival, but he hasn’t forgotten what happened.
He’s up for promotion, too….”