"And mine, Admiral." I didn't invite him in. "I will be happy to meet with you tomorrow."
"We can't waste time." He leaned his arm against the archway, above my head, and looked down at my face. "You need a strong base, Pharaoh. People you can trust."
"And you offer such a base?"
"I think he's offered enough," Eldrin said tightly.
Ragnar turned with lazy insolence, his arm still above my head. As I stepped away from the admiral, Eldrin walked toward us in the corridor outside my suite. His step remained slow, measured, so tightly controlled I almost expected him to explode. He watched Ragnar as if he had found a small, many-legged creature scuttling along in defiance of the robo-sweeps that cleaned the ship.
Ragnar bowed to him. Then he drawled. "My greetings, Prince Eldrin."
Eldrin didn't stop until he stood right in front of the admiral. They were about the same size, Ragnar a bit taller and Eldrin a bit broader in the shoulders.
Then Eldrin said, succinctly, "Fuck you," and swung at him.
He struck at the side of Ragnar's neck with the knife edge of his hand, aiming for below the ear. Ragnar jerked away fast, but the blow still hit his shoulder. He stumbled to the side, out of my doorway. As Eldrin went at him, Ragnar snapped into an enhanced mode. Moving in a blur, he pinned Eldrin against the bulkhead outside my door, pressing his forearm across Eldrin's neck. Although Eldrin possessed greater natural strength, Ragnar's augmentation increased both his strength and speed.
"No!" I shouted. In that instant, Eldrin struck Ragnar's elbows hard with the heels of his hands, breaking his grip. He shoved the admiral away, but they immediately grappled again.
"Security," I said. "Send backup." It was probably a redundant request— the monitors had almost certainly recorded the altercation and dispatched a response— but I had no intention of taking any chances.
I didn't try to interfere with the fight. Even if I could have held one of them back, it would only have given his opponent a chance to hit him harder.
Wrestling hard, they stumbled across the corridor and hit the opposite wall. Ragnar was obviously restraining himself; he could have seriously injured Eldrin by now. With a chill, I realized that if he toggled into full combat mode, he could kill Eldrin before he stopped his programmed reflexes. He would have it all on record, too, that he acted in self-defense.
"Eldrin, don't!" I lunged forward and put myself between them, gambling that their reluctance to hurt me would make them stop. They might knock me over instead, but it was worth the risk if it kept them from killing each other.
They did pause, but only for long enough for Eldrin to push me to the side. Ragnar spoke in an urgent voice. "Dehya, stay back."
Four Jagernauts ran around a corner in the corridor and came toward us. Nozzles had also emerged from the bulkheads. On command, they could disperse a gas that would put us to sleep, but they had done nothing yet. It didn't surprise me that Security sent Jagernauts and only threatened the gas as a backup. I doubted they wanted to be responsible for knocking out any of us. Protecting me and interfering in my private affairs were two very different matters, and the border between the two wasn't at all clear.
Eldrin and Ragnar staggered across the corridor and hit the other bulkhead, dark figures against the white walls. The thud of Ragnar's back against Luminex resounded through the air. His face had the same impassive mask that Jagernauts took on when they switched into combat mode. Sweat dampened Eldrin's blue shirt.
When Eldrin closed his hands around Ragnar's neck, the admiral brought up his arms, fast and hard. He used so much force to break the hold that it threw Eldrin across the corridor into the other wall. The back of Eldrin's head hit the bulkhead and he froze, his eyes glazed.
A husky Jagernaut interposed himself between Eldrin and Ragnar. When Eldrin tried to lunge forward anyway, the Jagernaut caught him in a hold meant to restrain rather than harm. Eldrin's fury seared my mind. His gaze was unfocused as if he saw none of us. His rage beat against my mind like storm-tossed breakers crashing on a rocky shoreline.
Two other Jagernauts were holding Ragnar. It took them both to control him, but within moments he stopped fighting, and his face lost its automated expression. The fourth Jagernaut, a man with red hair, had stopped a few paces from Eldrin, his body positioned between the fighters. Although obviously prepared to help, he hadn't yet touched anyone.
Suddenly Eldrin froze, staring at the fourth Jagernaut. He spoke with a scorching hatred. "You have no right, you goddamned bastard."
Puzzlement washed out from the red-haired man, but he remained poised, ready to act.
Gradually Eldrin's gaze cleared. He finally seemed to see us. Attuned to Eldrin's mind, the Jagernaut holding him slowly released his grip, but maintained a ready stance.
Eldrin turned to Ragnar, who stood quietly now, flanked by two Jagernauts. "Tread carefully," Eldrin told him softly. Then he strode away from us, down the corridor. His raw fury reverberated even after he left.
I knew then he hadn't been fighting Ragnar or the Jagernauts.
His rage had burned at Corbal Xir.
* * *
"Can I enter?" I asked the door.
"Please wait," it responded.
I stood shivering in the remote corridor, facing a blue archway in the Luminex wall, my arms folded across my torso. I wasn't really cold, not physically. It all came from inside.
The Jagernauts who had accompanied me stood a few meters down the corridor, trying to look invisible. I had threatened a court-martial if they didn't go away. They stayed anyway, but at least they had the tact to remain back there instead of looming behind me.
I was about to query the door again when it said, "Please enter." Then it shimmered and vanished, revealing a dimly lit living room beyond.
I glanced at the Jagernauts. One inclined his head to me, but neither came any closer. A wise decision; I might have actually considered the court-martial if they had intruded that far. They would come to the door after I entered, but once the entrance closed, we would have a modicum of privacy inside.
I walked into the suite and the wall reformed behind me. It was almost dark inside; the only light came from holo-panels on the walls. They showed twilight views of the Dalvador Plains on the world Lyshriol. Shadowed grasses rippled in an unseen breeze, and stained-glass bubbles floated through the air, translucent, almost invisible. One popped and showered glitter over the grass. In the distance, mountains raised spindled peaks to a dark sky.
It was Eldrin's childhood home.
As my eyes adjusted, I made out Eldrin sitting on a divan across the room, his elbow resting on its scrolled arm. Even in this dim light, dark smudges were visible under his eyes.
I spoke awkwardly. "My greetings, Husband."
"What do you want?" His face was unreadable.
"Your company."
"You had plenty of company earlier tonight."
"I didn't ask for it."
"No?" He mimicked Ragnar's gravely voice. " 'Dehya, we need to talk. Now that he's back.' "
"He was out of line. I told him so."
Eldrin snorted. "Right."
Dryni, you know it's true. If I had ever had an affair with Ragnar, you would have seen it in my mind.
When he kept his thoughts barricaded, I said, "You ought to know me better than that."
"I thought I did."
"I haven't changed."
He spoke harshly, "He doesn't want to talk strategy with you. He wants to control your power. He wants to control you. And he wants to get under that flimsy little nightshirt you're wearing beneath that robe."
"Eldrin, don't."
"How can you be so brilliant and miss something so obvious?"
I didn't say I missed it.
Yet still you trust him.
Right now I don't trust anyone.
Not even me?
You, I always trust.
Maybe you shouldn't.
Why not?
His thoughts had a clenched feel.
I've been with the Traders.
I stepped toward him.
Don't let them shame you.
Now you're going to do the comfort thing, right? I don't want it.
I stopped.
What do you want?
His hand curled into a fist. The slave cuff glittered on his wrist.
To forget.
I so much wanted to go to him.
Let me help.
I don't need help.
All right.
I knew if I pushed, it would drive him away.
After a long moment he relented.
Come sit with me.
I almost closed my eyes with relief. Then I went to the divan and settled near him. "I'm glad to see you, Dryni."
A shadow crossed his face. He lifted his arm as if to touch my face, then let it drop again. In a low voice, he said, "I truly believed I would never…" He shook his head as if to throw away a memory.
"We don't have to talk about it."
He didn't answer. But after a moment he thought,
I had an idea that might help free my parents from Earth.
I would like to know. But maybe you should kiss me first.
He shifted his weight.
Dehya, later.
I need an excuse to deactivate the monitors.
Ah.
He still didn't look comfortable, but he drew me into his arms, his motions stiffly formal. Then he lay on the divan, drawing me underneath him. As we sank into air-cushions, he gave me a perfunctory kiss. It felt familiar and strange at once, the first time we had touched this way since his return.
As we kissed, our hands wandered. At first Eldrin stroked me with a distant formality, only going through motions. But gradually his touch grew more urgent. He hinged his hand around my breast, and my nipple hardened under the nightshirt. He needed no thumb to complete his caresses; what he could do with those four opposing fingers made my body tingle. I pressed against him, distracted from my original intent to discuss Roca and Eldrinson.
After a while, I thought,
Shall I deactivate the monitors now, so we can talk?
I smiled.
We must be raising the blood pressure of everyone in the Security office.
Eldrin laughed against my neck.
Indeed. Perhaps we should save the talking for later.
I agreed wholeheartedly. "Suite attend," I murmured.
"Attending," the suite's EI answered.
"Please contact Laplace in my quarters and have it run 'Welcome.' "
'Welcome'?
Eldrin nuzzled my neck.
What is that?
It will stymie ISC Security.
I paused.
I called it 'welcome' for you.
He pushed up on his elbows and looked down at me. His face had gentled.
Can Laplace give us privacy?
For a while. Maybe a couple of hours.
He traced his finger over my lips.
We shouldn't waste our time then.
I drew him back into my arms, more thankful than I knew how to say that he was returning to himself, bit by bit. I breathed in his scent, and a trace of cologne tickled my nose. It made me wonder if he had come to my quarters earlier tonight for a more intimate evening. Blasted Ragnar. But perhaps this would work out.
I rubbed my cheek against his neck, pushing aside his shirt— and the diamonds of his collar pressed my skin, cold and hard. Startled, I jerked, my hands going still on his back.
The doctors haven't finished mapping the web of biothreads inside me,
he thought with brittle anger.
The threads keep growing, using resources from my own body. It's why I tire more easily now.
Flaming Aristos.
He dragged his wrist across my ribcage, pushing up his sleeve. The gems on his cuff scraped the underside of my breasts.
Does it bother you?
My face flushed.
Actually, it feels good.
Curiosity flickered in his mind.
What, this?
He pushed his cuff over my breast and my nipple hardened.
I felt myself redden.
Sorry.
For what?
