Shielder — A new Science Fiction Romance (Book 1, Shielder Series) (33 page)

Perhaps she should be alarmed, but every
instinct told her Chase wouldn't turn them in to the Controllers,
even if he was a shadower and had undergone indoctrination. Perhaps
he was too intelligent to be affected by it. And, for whatever
reasons, he seemed to be pursuing specific people, not just anyone
with a price on their head.

She sighed, fatigue already returning. She
watched Chase sleep, drinking in every detail, memorizing his
features. He looked tired, and badly in need of a shave. His hair
lacked its normal glossy sheen, and his flightsuit was badly
rumpled.

Love wrapped around her heart. She would
cherish every memory of their time together for as long as she
lived. She didn't understand the inexplicable bond that had brought
them together in passion, but she knew it was temporary. Permanent
matings were for other women—whole women. No man would want
her.

She sat up gingerly, every muscle in her
body screaming in protest. Waves of dizziness swept through her,
and she took deep breaths until the spinning stopped.

Chase stirred and mumbled. His head lifted,
then dropped back down. Tenderness welled inside her. Reaching out,
she brushed his hair back from his face and stroked his cheek,
feeling the rasp of a beginning beard.

He stirred again, then jerked awake with a
start. "What—" He looked toward her. "Nessa! You're awake."

He rose from the chair, the muscles of his
powerful body rippling beneath his flightsuit. Her breath
hitched.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, leaning
over the bunk and placing his hand against her face.

"Okay," she whispered shakily.

"Lie back down.” He eased her onto the mat.
“Let's see how you're doing." Retrieving the medical monitor, he
scanned her.

She lay quietly, content to watch him. She
found the play of emotions on his handsome face fascinating—first
concern, then concentration as he read the monitor, then immense
satisfaction. His intense gaze flashed to hers, taking away what
little breath she had left.

"I think you'll live."

Although he spoke the words lightly, Nessa
sensed his deep relief. Without thinking, she raised her hand
toward him. He took it, settling on the edge of the bunk.

"I thought we were going to lose you."

She nodded her agreement. "I was afraid it
was the end."

"Volunteering to be injected with Orana was
an incredibly brave thing to do. You're quite a lady."

The pride in Chase's voice warmed her soul,
but Nessa knew bravery had little to do with it. Desperation and
despair had motivated her actions. "I'm not brave. It was the only
thing I could do for my people."

"For a people who had turned their backs on
you?" he asked, a quiet anger underlying his voice.

Staring at her hand nestled in his, she
sought to avoid that subject. "How did you know I'd been injected
with the Orana?"

"Your brother Jarek told me."

Acute joy swept through her. "So he's all
right! I didn't dream seeing him on the ship after all. Sabin must
have gotten him out of the prison."

Chase chuckled. "My partner has the most
amazing connections. I believe he decided to collect on a gambling
debt to get your brother free."

She owed Sabin more than she could ever
repay. "What about the Orana? Is there a cure now?"

"Yes, thanks to you, a vaccine is being
replicated in Santerra's medical laboratory. It should be ready in
another day or so."

"Thank the Spirit!" She indulged in a
feeling of triumph. A moment later, a thought occurred to her and
she struggled upright. "The children! I forgot all about them. Are
they all right?"

He pushed her back down. "Take it easy.
They're fine. They don't appear to have contracted the Orana, but
they'll get an inoculation as soon as the vaccine is ready. Raven
told us everything you did to protect her and Brand. You were right
to take them to Sabin. Matter of fact, you did everything right
except
stealing my ship instead of trusting me enough to
tell me the truth."

So he was still angry about that. "I was
afraid to tell you because you—you were—"

"A shadower." Chase’s voice was laced with
frustration. "Blazing hells, lady, after all that passed between
us, you should have known I would never harm you."

The heat rose to her face, and she looked
away from the accusation in his eyes. "But with Controller
indoctrination, you'd have no choice but to turn me in."

"I wasn't indoctrinated."

She stared at him, amazed. "You weren't? But
how did you avoid that?"

"Before I underwent the procedure, I put
myself through extensive autohypnosis to make my mind resistant to
outside hypnotic suggestions. As an added precaution, I injected
into my body compounds that temporarily interfered with
neurotransmitter activity in the brain and helped block the
Controller's psionic brain waves."

Chase lowered his face close to hers. "So
the indoctrination didn't take. I certainly wouldn't have brought
you to Santerra if it had. Do you believe me?"

Nessa's instincts had already banished her
doubts, but hearing his explanation still relieved her. "Yes."

"Good. Then it's time you start trusting
me." He released her hand and stood. "Are you feeling up to
visitors? You're no longer contagious, and I know two children who
are very anxious to see you."

Her spirits lifted at thoughts of Raven and
Brand. "I want to see them, too. Can they come now?"

In answer to her question, Chase went to the
console and punched some pads. "Travers, are Raven and Brand with
you?"

Sabin's disgruntled voice came loud and
clear over the com. "Where else would they be, old man? Leeches,
both of them."

"Quit complaining and bring them to the ship
in five minutes. Nessa's waiting to see them."

"Well, son of an Antek. We'll be right
there."

Moments later, the panel slid open. "Nessa!
Nessa!" Letting go of Sabin's hand, Raven ran across the room, but
stopped short of the bunk, suddenly uncertain. Nessa held out her
arms. "Come here, sweetness. Give me a hug."

The slender girl crawled onto the bunk and
burrowed against her. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Nessa's arms tightened around her. "I missed
you and Brand. I hope you behaved for Sabin."

"Oh, we did." Raven's head bobbed up and
down emphatically.

Brand moved hesitantly toward the bunk.
"N-e-ssa."

"Brand, you're still talking." She held out
a hand. "Come here, little warrior."

"Oh, he's talking all right." Sabin nudged
the boy forward. "
Chase
,
Nessa
,
Chase
,
Nessa
. That's all I've heard."

Brand turned and grinned at Sabin, the first
time Nessa had ever seen him smile. "Saaabin."

Sabin's mouth fell open. "Well, I'll be—" He
stopped and ruffled Brand's hair. "Get over there, you wild little
kerani, and see Nessa."

A moment later, Brand cuddled against
Nessa's other side. Both children looked wonderful, their coloring
healthy, the haunted look gone from their eyes. The welts and
bruises were almost completely faded. Squeezing them gently, Nessa
savored the warmth of their vibrant bodies.

"What have you been doing on Sabin's
ship?"

"Playing a bunch of computer games," Raven
said. "Brand is really good at Black Hole now. Sabin gave us lots
of caroba. And he let us jump on the bunks all we wanted."

"He did?" Nessa patted Brand's back. "Did
you jump really high, Brand?"

He nodded, his face hidden against her
shoulder. "Did you fall off any?" she teased. He shook his
head.

"He did, too!" Raven scoffed. "But I
didn't—not even once."

Nessa noticed Turi had plastered himself
against the side of the plexishield case. He watched her longingly.
"Where's Lia? Is she on Sabin's ship?"

"Yes. Her case is in our cabin," Raven
answered. "Sabin was pretty upset when he saw her and Turi playing
together, so he made them stay in different cases. I guess that
made Lia sad, because she's gotten really fat."

"How interesting." Nessa glanced at Sabin,
who rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Now we're going to
have a frigging lanrax colony. But it will be McKnight's problem
soon, because I'm bringing the little slut—I mean Lia—back
here."

"I don't think so, Travers. I don't intend
to take allergy injections the rest of my life. However, I know a
vendor on Elysia who might relieve you of a few lanraxes," Chase
offered.

"Go jump in the Abyss," Sabin growled.

The children giggled, and Nessa smiled at
him. "Thank you for taking care of Raven and Brand. And I hear you
rescued my brother. I can never repay you."

"Yeah, you owe me big time. Don't worry,
I'll collect."

The gold grubber. However, she strongly
suspected there was more to Sabin than met the eye—much more. "By
the way, where is Jarek?"

"He's meeting with Santerra's leaders. He'll
be here later." Sabin sauntered closer. "You look a lot better than
you did the last time I saw you. Lucky for you, Dr. McKnight here
knows his way around a medical laboratory."

"
Doctor
?" Nessa's head pivoted to
where Chase leaned against the console, scowling at his partner.
He'd changed to a clean flightsuit, but he still needed a
shave.

"Yep. McKnight is a physician. If it hadn't
been for him, you wouldn't be here."

Amazed, she couldn't tear her gaze away from
Chase. Still scowling, he advanced toward Sabin. "Why don't you
shut up, Travers?"

Suddenly, everything came together. How
Chase had treated her seizures and her shoulder; his interest in
her leg injury. The ship's laboratory, with all the advanced
medical equipment. "I should have known," she mused. "You saved my
life."

Chase looked at her, his expression
impassive. "I can't take the credit for that. The Santerra lab
contributed a lot toward finding an antidote."

"But he kept you alive during the trip to
Santerra," Sabin explained. "And he had isolated the virus
components by the time we arrived. The lab here had the equipment
needed to complete the process, under Chase's supervision."

If Chase was such a competent physician,
then why had he chosen the path of a shadower? The closed
expression on his face indicated he didn't wish to discuss the
subject further. Confused, Nessa snuggled Raven and Brand
closer.

"What about the Orana? What happens next?"
she asked.

Chase returned to his chair by the bunk.
"Santerra's lab is making up batches of the vaccine. Tomorrow or
the next day, it will be shipped out to Shielder colonies."

"But how can you do that without being
caught? The Anteks search almost every ship traveling the main
sectors."

"Ah, but we have a secret weapon." Sabin sat
on the edge of the bunk. "Moriah."

The fatigue seeping through Nessa made her
question if she'd heard right. "Moriah?"

Sabin nodded. "Best damn smuggler in the
quadrant. Or used to be, actually. Now she oversees a whole
squadron of runners, all of them women. They're the best in the
business—and a great source of information."

Disbelieving, Nessa looked from Sabin to
Chase. "Really?"

Chase nodded. "Really. Moriah's an amazing
lady. She's offered to get the vaccine delivered."

"But for a price, right? Most Shielder
colonies have no money to spare. How can we pay her?"

"Shhh." Leaning forward, Chase placed a
reassuring hand on her arm. "Don't worry about that. You did your
part. Sabin and I will take care of the rest. Besides, Sabin is in
a special bargaining position with the lady."

She sank back, exhausted. Taking Chase's
advice and not worrying about anything held a tremendous appeal
right now. After a little nap, she'd think about all this new
information. Cuddling the children closer, she had just closed her
eyes when she heard the panel open.

"Nessa."

The familiar voice brought her instantly
alert. Her brother stood by the bunk, looking incredibly handsome,
the smile on his face brighter than a nova.

"Jarek!" She disengaged from the children,
clumsily struggling to sit up. "Oh, Jarek."

He sank onto the bunk, gathering her to him
for the second time in her entire life. She clung to him, heedless
of her soreness. Vaguely, she was aware of the children scrambling
out of the way.

"I thought we'd lost you," he grated. "If it
hadn't been for Dr. McKnight, we would have. Thank the Spirit he
was there."

"I thought I'd lost
you
, when I saw
you at the prison," Nessa mumbled against his chest. "I was
terrified. I begged Sabin to help, even though I didn't know if he
could be trusted."

Jarek drew back to glance toward Sabin, his
expression amused. "Imagine not trusting Travers. You, and about
all the other women in the universe."

Sabin snorted and shook his head.

Nessa found her brother's attitude puzzling.
"Of course I didn't trust him. He's a shadower."

"I've known san Travers a long time. He's
obnoxious, but he can be trusted."

"You two know each other?" She looked from
one to the other, amazed.

"Sure do," Sabin leaned against the wall,
his legs crossed at the ankles. Raven pressed against his side,
obviously comfortable with him. "Ranul and I have engaged in a few
forays against the Controllers."

"He's also contributed a huge amount of gold
to the cause," Jarek interjected, gently easing Nessa down.

"He has?" She looked back at Sabin. He
shrugged and studied his nails. No doubt about it—there
was
more to the man than met the eye.

"He's a loyal Shielder," Jarek assured
her.

Her thoughts whirled from sensory overload.
"I don't know what to think about all this."