Salene's Secrets (31 page)

“Oh,” she said, stopping as she remembered one last thing.  “You should know that Tab doesn’t talk, though as far as I’ve been able to tell, he understands everything that’s going on around him.  Much more than any four year old I’ve ever seen, in fact.  Tonka said he’s never made any sound at all, but no one knows why.”

“We’ll find out what the problem is once we get home to Jasan,” Talus said.  “If necessary we’ll all be learning sign language quite soon.”

“I love you guys,” she said, smiling up at them. 

“And we love you,
Zerura
,” Talus said, wanting to kiss her so much it was hard to hold back until he saw that her lips were taking on a bluish cast.  “You’re freezing,” he said, turning toward the cave.  “We should not have kept you out here in the cold for so long.”

Salene was still smiling as she turned to lead the way back.  She had a lot to smile about.  Her men had accepted her power bond with Wolef, and they’d accepted the children.  They’d even offered to help free the people in the silo.  On top of all that, they loved her.  That, all by itself, felt like something of a miracle. 

So what if there was no real passion between them?  So what if they’d never looked at her the way she’d seen every other male-set she’d ever known look at their Arima?  So what if sex was nothing at all like the hot, earth shaking experience she’d imagined it to be? 

Talus, Jon, and Kar were good men, and they would always care for, and take care of her and the children.  A girl could do a helluva lot worse than that.

Salene’s eyes went straight to Jinjie when she stepped into the cave, and she smiled at his nod of approval.  She had a strong feeling that both Jinjie and Tonka had heard what they’d said, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. 

“Are you all right, Salene?” Mali asked worriedly.

“Yes, I’m all right, Mali,” she replied.  “We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay,” Mali said, the lines of tension on her forehead relaxing, but not smoothing completely.

“Am I correct in assuming that you’ll be going with us to the silo?” Jinjie asked innocently.

“Yes, that’s correct Jinjie,” Talus replied as they all settled around the fire. 

“I’ve no wish to rush anyone, but it will not be an easy trek down the mountain in this snow,”
Tonka said. 
“We should leave soon to make the most of the daylight.”

“I’d agree with you, Tonka, except that it’s not necessary to trek down the mountain at all,” Talus said.  “We can all transport up to the
Aegl
, work out a plan, settle the children, arm ourselves, and transport back down just outside the silo with as many warriors as we need.”

“This is possible?”
Tonka asked in surprise.

“It’s possible, Tonka,” Salene replied, smiling at the Brun.

Tonka looked at the children, not missing the tension on Mali’s face. 
“Please do not be offended, Talus Gryphon, but I promised that I would see to the children’s safety.  Therefore, I must ask what you meant when you said you’d
settle the children
.”

“We will never be offended by your concern, Tonka, on that you have my word,” Talus assured him.  “There’s a Lobo male-set on our ship who raised six sons on their own after their mate passed to the Beyond.  They will not only do a good job of looking after Mali and Tab, they will enjoy it.  They will also defend them with their lives.”

“I know the men Talus speaks of, Tonka,” Salene said.  “Mali and Tab will be quite safe with them, and I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t believe it with my whole heart.”

“In that case, I agree to this plan.  And I thank you, all of you, for your aid.  At this time yesterday morning I had two broken legs, two children hiding below the hut that I could not free, and no idea how I could possibly honor even one of the promises I’d made to my friend.  Now, thanks to all of you, that is no longer the case.”

“We are honored to be able to help you, Tonka, as well as all of those held captive here,” Talus said.

Tonka sighed with relief as he rested his chin on his paws.  Salene smiled at the Brun, then clapped her hands together.  “I suppose we should get ready to transport up to the
Aegl
,” she said, standing up.  “Just give me a few minutes to get ready.”

“Of course,” Talus said, not bothering to suggest that they just leave everything as it was.  Aside from the standard survival gear that had certainly come from Salene’s pack, there were a few rough blankets and some wooden dishes, none of which would be needed on the
Aegl
.  But he knew Salene well enough to know that a suggestion like that would fall on deaf ears.  She was incapable of leaving a mess behind her, no matter the situation.

“We’ll step outside and contact the
Aegl
to let them know our plans so they can prepare for our arrival,” Talus said as he and his brothers stood up.  Salene smiled at them over her shoulder as they left the cave, then she got to work.

A few short minutes later she had the dishes washed, the blankets folded, and her pack organized.  She’d left the blankets, wooden dishes, and the used thermal sheets in neat stacks near the firewood in case someone else stumbled across the cave and needed them one day.  All that remained was the folded blanket that the children were sitting on before the fire, and the food.  She was staring at the sealed bags of dried meat and vegetables that she’d taken from the hut, trying to decide what to do with them when she heard the Gryphons return.  She took one look at their faces and knew something bad had happened.

“You’ve been hiding your emotions from me,” she accused softly as she rose slowly to her feet.  “What is it?”

“The space station self-destructed,” Talus said, a muscle twitching in his jaw the only outward sign of the anger Salene now felt rolling off of him, Jon, and Kar. 

“Self-destructed?” she asked, shocked.  “The Doftles?”

“Yes and no,” he replied. 

“I don’t understand,” she said, her nails digging into the palms of her fisted hands as her tension skyrocketed.  “Please explain, Talus.” 

Talus caught the scent of blood and frowned down at her for a moment before reaching for her hands.  “It’s all right,
Zerura
,” he said while gently urging her to relax her fingers.  “We’re all safe here.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, opening her fists so that he could see the fresh half-moon shaped wounds on each palm just below a matching set of half-moon shaped scars.  His eyes hot with unshed tears, he raised her hands to his mouth and kissed them gently.

“There is no need to apologize,” he said.  He lowered their hands, but did not release her, needing her touch to keep himself calm.  He raised his voice to include Jinjie and Tonka in the conversation.  “The
Aegl
had scanners and sensors trained on the wreckage.  Captain Royce reviewed the data carefully and determined that the explosion came from within the wreckage itself.”

“Do you think it was an accident?” Salene asked.  “A fuel tank erupting or an ordinance locker exploding, something of that nature?”

“No, love,” Jon said, keeping his voice calm and gentle for the sake of the children and Salene, even though less than a minute ago he’d wanted nothing more than to roar with fury.  “It was a thermonuclear explosion.  The most likely explanation is that the Doftles copied the Xanti, and set things up to self-destruct in the absence of a specific signal or action over a specified period of time.”

Salene nodded, fully understanding what a
dead man’s switch
was, and the many ways the Xanti had used them.  The explanation was more for Jinjie’s and Tonka’s benefit than her own.  She searched Talus’s eyes and braced herself.

“Tell me the rest, please,” she said, freeing one of her hands so she could reach up and stroke the muscle still twitching in his jaw.

Talus looked into her eyes and felt his throat tighten.  “I cannot begin to express how much I missed you,
Zerura
, and mere words will never be enough to tell you how much I love you.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.  She went up on her toes and pressed her mouth to his in a gentle kiss.  “Tell me.”

“The
Aegl
was towing the wreckage, so it was quite close when the explosion occurred.  It caught some of the destruct device’s electromagnetic pulse.”

“How bad?”

“The
Aegl
has adequate life support, communications, attitude control, and enough power to run all internal systems, including the infirmary.  The Blind Sight Khurda just installed has its own dedicated and fully shielded power source for just this reason, so it’s fully operational.  Unfortunately, there was massive damage to the
Aegl’s
fusion reactor, main drive, and maneuvering thrusters, so it’s not going anywhere under power.  She’s in a stable orbit around this planet and hidden from sight, so the crew should be fine until reinforcements arrive in a few days.  That’s the good news.”

If that was the good news, she was almost afraid to ask for the bad, but hiding from the truth worked no better than ignoring it.  “Go on, please.”

“With the fusion reactor down, main power is out all over the ship.  The transporter has an auxiliary power capability to send at molecular level resolution, which is high enough to send most kinds of food and equipment.  To send living beings through it you need to be at quantum resolution, and that takes ten times as much power.  By law, we cannot transport weapons at less than atomic resolution, which still takes twice as much power as molecular. 

“What all that means is that we’re not going to be able to count on help if we get into trouble down here, nor can they send us weapons.  The first question is, do we sit tight in this cave until help from Jasan arrives in three or four days, or do we implement your original plan to walk to the silo?”

Salene opened her mouth to respond when an electric chill raced down her spine.  She shivered, attracting the Gryphons’ full attention.  “
Zerura
?”

“We can’t wait,” she gasped. 

“Why?” Talus asked, his hands tightening around hers.

“I don’t know, but if we don’t do this now, if we don’t get those people out of Silo 56 within…,” she paused, thinking.  “I don’t know exactly.  A couple of days, maybe three.  If we can’t get them out of there by then, there’s no point in going at all.”

“Then we’ll get them out,” Talus said, not doubting her for a moment.  “We’re going to have to come up with a different plan, though.” 

Salene nodded, pulled her hands gently from Talus’s, then went to the side of the cave for the blankets she’d just folded and spread them out.  Once they were all settled again, Talus turned to Tonka.  “What can you tell us about the security on this world?”

“There isn’t any,”
Tonka replied.
  “Or there wasn’t when I was last in the silo which, admittedly, was before the Nomen took over more than six months ago.  To my knowledge the Doftles rely on Blind Sight to hide themselves and all they do, and their cameras to record everything within each silo.  The Nomen themselves are well armed, though.  We learned that yesterday.”

“How many silos are there?”

“Oberto thought it was more than one hundred, and less than two hundred, but we were unable to derive a more precise number before he was killed.”

“Can you tell us anything about them?” Jon asked.  “Their numbers, their movements, their weapons?  Anything at all will help.”

“I don’t know much, I’m afraid.  Oberto and I traveled down the mountain to watch the silo every couple of weeks.  He wanted to know how many Nomen were on this planet, and also keep an eye on them in case they started looking for us, but we learned very little for all our efforts.  I can tell you that they visit the silo every fifth day to replace the guards, and that this sector has one big spaceplane and two small ones.” 

Talus frowned, but Salene understood what he wanted to know.  “The large one is about the size of a medium troop carrier,” she said.  “The other two are fighter size.  Their design was unfamiliar to me, and to Jinjie as well.”

“Thank you,” Talus said, then looked back to Tonka.  “The planet is divided into sectors?”

“
Yes,” Tonka said.  “From my time as a guard I know that the planet is divided into sectors, and that each sector has silos.  I don’t know how many sectors there are, or where they are, or how many silos are in each.”

“Did you find out how many Nomen there are?”

“No,”
Tonka said
.  “We couldn’t get close enough to see inside the transports.  We learned that there are generally only ten Nomen on guard in the silo at any one time, but that’s all I can tell you in terms of numbers.”

“Does their schedule ever vary?”

“No
,” Tonka replied
.  “The Doftles are adamant that their rules and schedules be followed precisely, without deviation.”

“That’s very helpful,” Talus said.  “It means they’re predictable.  Since they were here yesterday, we have what?  Four days to get there and leave?”