Shielder — A new Science Fiction Romance (Book 1, Shielder Series) (26 page)

"I have authorization to be here," he said
tersely.

"Remove your helmet."

Damn! He lifted off the helmet and glared at
the guards. "What's the problem here? I have proper identification
and I'm an authorized agent."

His words bounced off the stupid Anteks like
radar waves. "You will come with us," one demanded harshly. "And no
sudden moves."

Dansan would be well gone before he got
clear of these idiots. He longed to pound them into the dust. But
the disrupters aimed at him convinced him of the folly of arguing
further. Seething inwardly, he strode toward base control.
Commander Domek would set the matter straight.

But it was several frustrating hours later
before he even saw the commander. He spent those hours in a holding
cell, pacing and cursing the fate that had allowed Dansan to get
away once more. The guards hadn't even bothered to look at his
identification, or verify his palm or voice prints. He'd gone
straight to holding.

"Captain McKnight. What a surprise to see
you here." Commander Bron Domek stood on the other side of the
force field, eyeing Chase with some humor. Only half Antek, he
possessed reasonable intelligence, although he had the physical
bulk of an Antek. Chase frequently transported prisoners to Alta
for the commander, a courtesy to foster his freedom to roam the
quadrant.

Domek grinned broadly. "A good thing the
females on base didn't know you were being held. They'd have rushed
the center."

"Very funny," Chase muttered. "Why the hell
am I being detained, Commander?"

Domek shrugged. "I have no clue. I just
returned from border patrol, and I'm meeting with Lieutenant Etan
immediately. We'll get to the bottom of this. But I can't release
you until I know what's going on."

He left Chase to stew another hour before
sending a guard to release him. By then, Chase could barely contain
his fury. As he entered Domek's office, he forced himself to greet
the commander, although he wanted to tear the place down.

"Have a seat." Domek turned toward the
cabinet behind his massive desk. "How about a drink?"

"I hate to be rude, Commander, but I'd
really appreciate an explanation of what happened today, if you
don't mind. I'm a little short on time." And very short on temper,
although he refused to show it.

Domek poured himself a generous drink. Chase
knew he imbibed frequently; alcohol made life on an isolated
Controller base more bearable. Sinking into his seat, he downed a
healthy portion before answering. "To be honest, McKnight, I'm
still not certain what happened. I can only guess. I suspect
someone wanted you delayed for some reason."

Chase clamped a heavy reign on his anger.
"Why do you say that?"

Domek slid a com unit across the desk. "This
message came in to the center today at 1100 hours."

Totally mystified, Chase read the
message.

Be advised I have tracked a wanted offender
to Odera. His name is irrelevant, as he goes by many aliases. He
has blond hair and gray eyes, and is supposed to be meeting with a
man named Kant at The Nebula today. Detain him for transport to
Alta. Chase McKnight.

Stunned, Chase stared at the paper. Who had
done this? And who, besides Sabin and Moriah, even knew he'd been
headed for Odera?

Ugly suspicions reared their heads. He'd
worked with Sabin for over two seasons now, watching his actions
closely, as he made it a policy to never trust anyone. But he'd
never uncovered any reason to doubt Sabin. He didn't know Moriah
quite as well, although Sabin swore she could be trusted.

"The message had your transmission code on
it," Domek broke into his thoughts. "And we picked up your ship's
homing signal when it came in. It had to be sent from your
ship."

Sent from his ship?
Disbelief slammed
through Chase as the implications became clear. Nessa. She must
have sent the message. But how?

Suddenly, things began falling into place.
Nessa's skill on the computer. Her ability to decode his hatch.
He'd assumed she'd just gotten lucky and hit the right combination
by trial and error. A rash assumption, considering he'd used a
six-digit code, virtually impossible to determine randomly—without
a computer.

She must have decoded his PWL file. Damn him
for a fool!

For a moment, his anger obscured all reason,
but then his thoughts whirled another direction. Why would Nessa
have done this, unless…He leaped from the chair.

"I must get to my ship right away."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, McKnight."
Domek took another long drink. "Your ship received permission to
take off four hours ago. It's long gone."

Another wave of fury roared through Chase,
obliterating everything but thoughts of Nessa's treachery. All this
time, he'd thought her an innocent. He'd accepted her into his bunk
last night, believing she really desired him. He’d fallen for her
large dark eyes and trembling lips.

The lying, conniving, little bitch.

"I have a request, Commander Domek," he
ground out, battling for control over his rage. "Please report my
ship stolen to all Controller bases. And for its return, along with
the
live
capture of the thief, I offer a reward of ten
thousand miterons."

* * * *

"Do we
have
to go in there?" Raven
asked, her voice quavering. "Why are you wearing that mask over
your mouth?"

Nessa sighed, inundated by a barrage of
emotions. Battling debilitating fears, she prayed to Spirit to help
her take care of everything before she entered the advanced stages
of Orana.

"I explained this to you. I'm sick. I don't
want you and Brand to catch my disease, so I can't come close to
you or touch you. This is a surgical mask over my mouth. It will
help to keep the germs from spreading."

"What do the germs look like?"

Ah, the innocence of the child. "They're so
small you can't see them, sweetness. Now, please, get into the
decontamination chamber."

"But why?"

Exhausted, Nessa leaned against the wall.
Not wanting to panic the children, she had to remain calm and
patient, even though she felt like pounding the walls and
screaming. "Decon will kill any germs that might have gotten on you
and Brand."

Raven considered a moment, then her eyes lit
up. "Then if you go through de—con—tamation, all your bad germs
will be dead!"

If only it were that simple. "The bad germs
are also inside me. The decon rays can't go in there."

"Would they go in there if you opened your
mouth? The rays could go in your stomach, like Chase's light
did."

Nessa thought of Chase examining her to
reassure the children. "No, sweetness, it won't help. Please, no
more talk. Go on in, and don't come out until I call you. Turi and
Lia are already in there, so you can pet them."

Raven's mouth quivered, but she obediently
took her brother's hand. "Come on, Brand. Don't be afraid."

Brand drew back, shaking his head
vehemently. The terror in his eyes tore at Nessa's heart. He'd
probably been locked in a small room for transport as a slave, and
the fear lingered. She tried to think of an enticement to get him
to enter the chamber, as she didn't dare touch him.

"You can have some caroba when you come
out," she offered.

His little body trembling, Brand just stared
at the floor.

An idea occurred to her. "Chase will be so
proud of you when he hears how bravely you entered decon."

His head came up at that. He thought about
it a moment, then stepped through the entry. Heaving a sigh of
relief, Nessa secured the panel and started the cycle. What to do
next? She rubbed her aching forehead, trying to decide.

First, she had to consider getting Raven and
Brand somewhere safe before she lost her faculties. Santerra was
the closest known Shielder colony, but could she make it there in
time? Further computer research on Orana had revealed the symptoms
could appear up to seven or eight days before the victim succumbed
to the final stage. But that offered no guarantees, with Santerra
almost six days away. Nessa wasn't willing to risk it.

Star Base Intrepid, the closest highly
populated settlement, was less than three days away. It appeared
the best option. Since Nessa couldn't just leave the children
there, she'd have to find someone to take care of them.

Sabin
. His name leaped into her
mind.

She immediately rejected the idea. Sabin was
a shadower. There had to be another solution. But where to take the
children? Nessa thought of Moriah. She had been kind and generous.
Perhaps she would take Raven and Brand. No, that wouldn’t work.
Calt was too far away, almost as far as Santerra, and in the
opposite direction. There must be some place, with someone, where
she could safely leave the children.

She searched through the computer files,
frantic to find a solution, and coming up again and again with only
one solid possibility: Intrepid. But she couldn't leave the
children there alone. They'd quickly fall prey again to slavers or
end up in the Pleasure Domes.

Nessa wrestled with alternatives, coming up
repeatedly with one workable answer—Sabin. He presented the only
logical choice. He was a Shielder, he already knew about the
children, and he might be close enough to meet her at Intrepid in
time.

But he was a renegade, she argued to
herself. A traitor who hunted his fellow Shielders. Or did he?

As far as she knew, he'd never revealed her
identity to Chase. He hadn't told Chase about the children, either,
and he had returned Turi. She had to believe he possessed a good
heart, even if he was a shadower. And because he was a Shielder, he
was immune to the psionic brain waves of the Controllers, so he
wasn't indoctrinated. The only thing that would impel him to turn
the children over to the Controllers would be greed for gold. Nessa
could only hope his conscience would win out.

At this point, she had absolutely no choice.
She was too afraid of the children contracting the Orana to risk
keeping them with her for the six-day trip to Santerra. She had to
leave them at Intrepid, with Sabin. She'd just have to trust him,
and pray that he wouldn't betray them.

Going to the cockpit, she entered the
coordinates for Intrepid into the flight controller. Then she sent
a message to Sabin.

Travers, meet me at Star Base Intrepid in
three ship cycles. I'll send the time and location later.
McKnight

After that, she dragged out the portable
sterilizer unit and sterilized Chase's cabin and lav. She wanted
the children to stay there the remainder of the trip. They'd have
more room, plus the computer to entertain them.

She prepared several days' food, along with
some caroba. She used sterile gloves, but planned to run the food
through decon as an added precaution. Then she went to the
decontamination chamber intercom.

"Raven and Brand, are you all right in
there?" She peeked through the portal, to see Brand huddled next to
Raven on the bench. Turi and Lia were curled together beneath the
bench.

Raven waved at the portal. "We're fine."

"Listen, I'm going to slip some food through
the door, then run the cycle again. When it's done, I want you and
Brand to carry the food and the lanraxes straight to Chase's cabin.
Don't go anywhere else. Stay in the cabin until I tell you.
Okay?"

Obviously baffled, Raven nodded. "Good
girl," Nessa praised her. "And Brand, you're being very brave. I
can't wait to tell Chase. He'll also be pleased if you take care of
his cabin while he's gone."

Raven smiled, and even Brand seemed to
brighten. Staggering with exhaustion, Nessa sterilized the rest of
the ship, working her way to the cockpit. She wanted the corridor
to be as clean as possible when the children went to Chase's
cabin.

When she was done, she contacted them from
the cockpit. They did just as she asked, going straight to Chase's
cabin. Then she went through decontamination herself, hoping to
kill any external germs that might be on her. At that point, the
exhaustion claimed her, and she fell asleep on the bench.

Alone and terrified.

Chase contacted Sabin from Odera, asking his
partner to meet him. Commander Domek offered Chase transport on a
ship headed for Alta, which he planned to take as far as the
rendezvous point with Sabin, two ship cycles out.

Two very long cycles, providing ample time
to think. Far too much time, as thoughts of Nessa and her treachery
pounded Chase mercilessly. Other thoughts, memories of her lying
beneath him, crying out in passion, warred with the knowledge of
her betrayal. There was too much time to feel pain he had
successfully managed to channel the past three seasons into the
hunt for Dansan—up until now.

What had possessed him to allow Nessa to get
too close, to fool him? He could only guess her seeming innocence
and the long months of loneliness had weakened his vigilant
guard.

But he learned quickly from his mistakes,
and he never repeated them. He knew Nessa's true nature now. She'd
be much easier to hunt down than Dansan. And she would pay for her
treachery.

He was relieved to see Sabin when their
ships finally docked, even if the idiot acted his usual irritating
self.

"So you lost your ship, did you, old
man?"

"Could you be serious for once, Travers?"
Chase snapped, tempted to pound the smile off Sabin's face.

"Hijacked by a mere female—and a cripple at
that."

Chase snagged the front of Sabin's
flightsuit, dragging him up until they were face to face. "I do
not
find this situation funny in the least. Don't tempt me
to rearrange your features."