Only Human (22 page)

“Thanks, Whiteside.” Tychon cast a sardonic
glance at Nova. “Don’t all look at me like I’ve got three noses. She’s talking
about a future generation. And mostly politics. I don’t know what the Shantirs
are up to and I don’t care. This is now. And speaking of now, Carras wants a
debrief while we're all here."

The others got busy with their arrays, not
without another speculative glance at the Delphian among them. Cubber recorded
their reports as each downloaded information about their work on various
assignments into the message going back to Targon.

There had been the surprise rebel attack on
the peaceful colony of Nebdan. Settlers murdered, whole families taken to slave
camps on Drar Drogh, livestock and machinery destroyed.

There had been the evacuation of Pelion's
third moon, Bria. Vanguard Nine and One had made countless trips to protect the
refugee ships as they ran before Tharron's guerrillas. Bria was laid to waste.

There had been the loss of one of the super
stations, Skyranch Twelve. Vanguard Nine arrived in time to watch it fragment. Two
thousand dead.

And there had been the rebel takeover of
Zera, dangerously close to Targon and Delphi. A costly counter offensive had
been launched and the planet was taken back by the Union.

Adachi reported on yet another lab
suspected on Bellac where Tharron's people dabbled with defoliants, viruses and
nerve gasses. Doctor Comori was becoming more inventive. And cheaper than the
hardware required to destroy towns like this one.

Nova listened silently, more distraught
with each account. Was there nothing that Tharron considered out of bounds?
Nothing sacred? Hiding his outposts among civilian populations, he carried out his
operations in plain sight, safe in the knowledge that the Union's dealings were
ruled by public opinion. Instead of conducting all-out warfare against the
scattered rebel armies, much of the Union's methods were preventative. Using
scout teams like the Vanguard remained the most effective method against places
like Tamotsu Comori's laboratories but for every scheme they uncovered, his
people devised three more.

She looked around the demolished room, saw
her squadron mates, heavily armed, dirty, combat-ready and exhausted, perch on
broken bits of other people's lives. Eagle Eight had been destroyed with all
hands two weeks ago. Eagle Twelve was just a memory now. How would any of them
stop Tharron if the rebel leader was handed a weapon that needed nothing more
than a cheap ticket on a commuter transport to wreak the sort of destruction
that would otherwise require planes, explosives, manpower and currency? What
more would the K'lar leader be willing to do? How many more civilians would get
in his way?

Her eyes lit on Tychon who had also fallen
into a dismal mood as the reports continued. Perhaps Colonel Carras was right.
How could the sacrifice that he demanded of Tychon possibly measure up against
the horror of these events? Even Tychon would not put Kiran's life ahead of so
many others. But would he pull that trigger? Nova looked into her bowl of rice
as if to find some answers there. But like her tea cup it was empty, no leaves
at the bottom revealed what lay ahead.

"Boys," Cubber said, looking up
from his screen. "And assorted not-boys. Time to do the dishes. Bogeys
coming in fast."

All of them came to their feet. "Let's
bug out, then," Haddad said. "I'll rush into their waiting arms while
you get skyward. It's shrill-hunting time!"

"We'll come along," Adachi said.
"Whiteside left her Eagle in Deen for some light housekeeping. Let's give
them a head start."

Haddad laughed raucously. "What's a
little flak compared to clean sheets, I always say."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Eagle
was out of air. And coolant."

The group filed out of the building. Eagle Two
and One were airborne and heading toward the rebel recon group before Tychon
and Nova had even reached her air car.

"How did it go with Carras?"
Tychon asked.

 "Fine. I didn't stay long on
Targon."

"Because you missed me?" He placed
a hand on her rump. "So much so that you couldn't wait to get back here
and forgot to load up some air?"

Nova frowned, irritated by his mild
censure. She gestured back toward the ruined building. “I suppose those boys
all think I’m sleeping with you.”

“You
are
sleeping with me.” He
peered into her face. “What’s wrong?"

She shrugged. "They don't need to
know, that's all."

"Nova, they don't care! They know you
didn’t sleep your way into Vanguard, if that's what you're worried about. Bowie
had you vetted for the team months ago, when he was lecturing on Myra. In fact,
he wanted you for V2 but he needed a spanner so he drew the little Centauri,
whatever her name is.” He grinned. “I’m convinced I got the better deal.” He
climbed into the skimmer. “Gets lonely out here, Nova. Don’t think that Dylan
and Cubber aren’t sharing a bunk and Adachi couldn’t care less as long as they
do that quietly. Frankly, Dylan would look good to me, too, after a few weeks
on Aram. You drive.”

Nova was silent on their flight back to
Deen. They hurried over an inland road through tall vegetation to hide them
from distant eyes. Haddad and Adachi were doing their job. No shrill found its
way out to the coast to harass them on their way back to the airfield.

She stole glances at Tychon’s sharp profile.
He was lost in some khamal that allowed him to recharge without needing sleep
and she read nothing but tranquility there. Had Anders been right? Was Tychon’s
affection for her little more than simply gratitude for sharing his bed? Having
given his heart once, would he really never do so again? Perhaps that was all
there was ‘out here’. Sex for convenience on a lonely and dangerous mission.

* * *

"You are beyond the definition of
utterly awe-inspiring," Tychon opined when he saw the connectors leading
to the Eagle at the service station on the outskirts of Deen. One of them was a
water hookup. "I am going to stand in the shower for about an hour, I
think."

They passed through the cargo space and
into the interior of the Eagle.

"No, you're not," she said. She unbuckled
his wide weapons belt and let it drop to the floor.

"I'm a filthy mess, Nova," he
protested, not especially forcefully when she stepped into his embrace.

She kissed him. It was not a tender kiss.

“My boots. Can I–"

“No. Leave them.” She loosened her waistband
and let her pants slip to the floor. Once he pulled her shirt over her head she
pressed her body against his and he grunted in surprise when she ground her hip
against him.

He nudged her backward until she dropped
onto the cabin lounger. She pulled him down with her and flipped him onto his
back with very little effort. Astride him now, she leaned down to kiss him and when
his fingers brushed over the interface nodes at her temples she felt his gentle
touch inside her mind just as she felt it on her skin. Too gentle.

"You're a live wire," he
murmured, feeling the tension that occupied her conscious mind. "What's
got you so
–"

She stopped his words with another kiss,
gripping the collar of his fatigues, demanding from him the thoughtless
oblivion that their mental and physical coupling brought. She wanted to stop
thinking, to feel him inside her head and her body and let his powerful
presence erase the orders she had been given and the doubts in her mind.

He needed no further persuasion and within
moments he grasped her hips to pull her over himself, pushing into her with one
deep stroke. She groaned and began to move, slowly, until his patience broke
and he pulled her down to turn her onto her back, his movements as rough as she
needed him to be. Nova clutched his clothes, feeling the coarse fabric rasp
over her skin, the hard edges of fasteners and buckles digging into her as he
moved, lost in the ancient rhythms that their mental connection churned into a
tempest of physical ecstasy. Both of them held back for as long as they could
until, finally, Nova cried out and he pulled her close, finding his own release
in almost painful bolts of pleasure.

He collapsed drunkenly, struggling to catch
his breath.

Nova squirmed out from under him. "All
right," she said, equally breathless. "You can go have your bath
now."

"Thank you, Captain," he gasped
and flopped onto his back. "I had no idea you were that fond of
uniforms."

She leaned over and kissed his face. He
watched his hand move idly through a long strand of her hair. “Feel better
now?” he said.

“Hmm? Oh yes, don’t you?”

“I was just fine,” he grinned, his brow
furrowed in puzzlement. He stroked a finger along an angry red mark left behind
by his collar clasp. “What is bothering you?”

“Not a thing. Go get cleaned up.”

"Don't go anywhere. We're not done
here."

"Yessir!"

He struggled across her and off the
lounger, dropping pieces of his clothing as he headed for the tiny bath stall
that connected the two sleeping cabins.

Nova stretched and purred, feeling tired
and content but not enough of either to fall asleep before he returned from his
shower. She made some attempt at straightening the rumpled blankets when
something near the cockpit caught her eye.

Not long later, Tychon re-entered the cabin
wearing a long robe, apparently not ready to make good on his promise to spend
an hour in the bath. He found her by the communications station. "I
appreciate the fact that you're naked, but can you be that in bed?" He
stood behind her and nuzzled her neck. "This control board is a bit too fragile
for what I have in mind."

"Aaag, your hair is wet!" she
protested. "Look."

"Hmm?"

"Message. From K'lar."

He lifted his head. "K'lar? What does
it say?"

"You won't believe it. Someone has
information about Kira."

He nudged her aside and bent to the screen
to read the written message. It was barely literate and sprinkled with words
from several languages, but the message was clear. The sender promised
information about Kiran's location if they met him or her on Tor Ag, a distant,
relatively neutral planet that Nova had never even heard of before she had
called up more information about it.

"What do you think?" she said.

He ran his hands through his hair.
"Seems a little fortuitous, doesn't it? Rebels selling each other out
already?"

"Rebels are rebels," she said.
"But how did they find us here? I didn't file a flight plan.  Someone must
have tracked me from Targon to see what jumpsite I'd be using, and to where.
The Eagle would have noticed that, even if I didn't."

He nodded thoughtfully and then gestured at
the screen. "We should check this out."

"We should look for the rest of the
message," she said. "Must have gotten lost."

"What rest?"

"The bit that says 'It's a trap'."

"Oh, that," he shrugged. "We
can't
not
check it out. I'll send a report to Carras. We'll leave in the
morning. The good news is that we'll have to crack a new breach to get there in
any reasonable amount of time." He stepped down into the cockpit to
program the scanners. "We'll see if the keyhole to K'lar will get us there.
We'll know by tomorrow. Are you ready to give it a try?" Tychon looked up
to spend a few moments in silent contemplation of her. "Although, unless
you put on some clothes, it's doubtful that I'll be able to concentrate enough
to assist."  He steered her back to the lounger. "I almost forgot. I
need you to do something for me."

She reclined enticingly. "What did you
have in mind?"

He snatched something from a compartment by
the map table and joined her on the bed. "We may have to deal with some
government bodies in order to get to Kira. If he's being held on a planet where
we have some influence, we can get by with Vanguard clearance, but you may need
more identification if we split up."

"No splitting up," she pouted.  She
put her hand on his thigh. "I work better in a team."

"Sure you do. In any case, hang on to
this. If you need proof that you are acting on Delphi's behalf it will give you
that authority." He opened a small leather pouch and upended it into his
palm. What tumbled out was an octagonal disk of metal with deeply etched
engravings that she recognized as Delphian lettering. Hesitantly, she raised
her hand to touch it, then turned it over in his palm. A large, flat sapphire
was held onto the back by metal bands. The piece had the look and feel of
something old and very sacred.

"Ty," she said, awed.
"That... that's your sigil, isn't it?" She looked up, stunned.

"Yes," he said. "Although it
escapes me how those idiots at the school could have mistaken a forgery for it.
There is a lot of information in there that you can scan, but not record on
it." He pointed out a thin layer running through the disk itself.
"The stone is just pretty."

Nova bit her lip. "This is... I
mean... this is your sigil!" She looked into his face, again feeling the
dark weight that Carras had placed on her shoulders pressing down on them. This
jewel was more than just identification. It had to do with clans and affinities
and so many other things that she still didn't understand about Delphi. She did
know that it was not traded casually. "Thank you. For... for trusting me
with this."