The Key (52 page)

No more unassuming attitudes. No more charm.

He was the Supreme Leader to his toenails.

And he was pissed.

His gaze zeroed in on her.

Rage and lust warred for prominence in his eyes.

Oh, crap.

He strode toward her, his gaze raking her body for a heated moment. She thought she was ready for it, but she wasn’t. His body slammed into hers. His hands and mouth were rough. He bit her lip, drawing blood, then found her neck with angry insistence.

She made a face. “What I don’t even get a, hi, Sara, how have you been?”

His hands tried to find a way into her vest.

“You’re looking good for a dead girl?”

He froze.

“Unless I look like crap. Which I could. I mean, dying isn’t pretty, is it? So you can tell me if I look like crap. I won’t be upset.”

His head lifted. It was a relief to see reason returning to his eyes, to see humor filter in there with it.

Sara gave him a cheeky grin, her brows slightly lifted.

“I thought you’d be glad to see me.”

“You…” he stopped.

“I know.” She shrugged. “You’d think dying would make me less annoying, wouldn’t you?”

Her gaze swept the room. There were about twenty guys at his back, all watching them.

“Didn’t think you were into voyeurism.”

His brows arched.

“Companioning with an audience.”

A bit of color came into his face.

That was interesting. Not quite sure how to use it, but it was… interesting.

He didn’t say a word, but the two men released her arms.

Sara shrugged her shoulders. They weren’t out of joint. That was good. It was always easier when the shoulders worked.

His hand settled on her waist, desire started in his eyes again, but he was back in control.

“Hello, Sara.” His voice was as intimate as his smile. He touched the side of her face, smoothing her hair back off her face. She could feel his gaze ping on her mouth.

“Hello, Adin.” She tipped her head to the side. “You look…tired. Not sleeping well?”

His eyes widened. Wary crept in there. He stepped back and studied her.

Sara kept her chin up, her slight smile in place. Carefully, cautiously, she went deeper into the Dusan network. Now, more than ever she could sense the different connections. It was incredibly complex with lots of built-in fail-safes. Her only hope to help the fleet was to disrupt the whole network, or take it completely down…

“What are you up to?”

“What do you mean?”

“You knew I was coming.”

She pointed to the panel behind him. “Saw you on tracking.”

“And you stayed?” His brows arched. “And you are here alone.”

It was amazing. He was still sending orders to his armada. No sign of strain on his face. He looked relaxed, totally focused on her. Maybe he did deserve to be called supreme.

He touched her cheek again, just one finger following the curve of her cheek.

“You look…tired, too. What have you been doing…since you died?” A flicker of a smile softened his intent expression for a moment.

Sara stepped back and sat down on a stool. She propped her elbows on a console, and let her chin rest on her hands. She felt the need. The split in focus made her feel like her brain was being sawed in half.

“I’ve been exploring the Garradians’…wonders.”

That caused a huge flicker in his control. Clearly right bait for the hook. She went deeper into the network.

He stepped to the other side of her console, his face a cross between a brood and a pout.

“Want to know the funny part?” He didn’t say he did, but she went on anyway. “I didn’t have the key. I
am
the key.”

His brows arched. And again his control of the grid faltered.

“Crazy, isn’t it?”

“It is certainly…unexpected.” He pulled up a stool opposite her. His gaze reminded her of their last encounter. Focused, intent…dangerous.

Her only hope was to keep him off guard. If he found her inside his head, well, she’d seen what he could do with just a thought.

“It’s not the only unexpected thing I learned…since I started playing with the…wonders. There’s actually a very…interesting story about how I came to be the key.”

“And why would you share that story with me?” Suspicion darkened his eyes.

“A fair question. But I should think it’s obvious. I’m hoping to stop this war…before it gets out of hand.”

“Before I destroy the people who brought you here.” A flicker of satisfaction sparked in his eyes.

“You’re so sure you’re going to win?”

It was his turn to shrug. “I believe I told you, shortly after we met, that I always get what I want.”

“You didn’t get me.” Sara didn’t like the direction this was going. But it was helping to lessen his control.

“I seem to have gotten another chance.” His eyes told her he still wanted her. “My suite is not far from this place.” He smiled again and his gaze warmed. “We could finish what we started.”

“Yeah.” She looked down, then up. “Someone tried to clean that up, but you can still see the bloodstains under my chair.”

He didn’t move, but Sara felt his mind flinch.

His gaze sobered. “So much blood. I felt you die. And yet, here you are. Looking quite…beautiful for a…dead girl.”

A slight smile as he tried to recover.

Sara’s grin felt wry. “I am as surprised as you are.”

He leaned toward her. “How is it possible?”

His control slipped a bit more. Sara moved into the gap. Damn, she didn’t know how he did it. It was a…remarkable achievement.

“To explain, I’d need to tell you the…story.”

“Your last…story…ended…badly.”

“Yes, it did.” Sara stared at him. “Maybe this one won’t have to.”

* * * *

More Dusan battle orders began to appear on the HUD.

What was she waiting for? She needed to take Xever down…

Not that the distractions weren’t helping some. Just not enough.

It was strange, but Halliwell could almost see each time Xever’s attention was diverted from the battle. A Dusan ship would be ready to take out one of theirs and just…pause. Then control would return. Sometimes it was too late.

Sometimes it wasn’t.

It was more than a furball out there. It was a knife fight in a freaking phone booth and messy, real messy.

Their guys were kicking ass, but it wasn’t enough. There were just too many of them.

What was she waiting for? Why didn’t she kill him? Unless she’d discovered a back-up in place? They’d worried that there would be someone who could take over if Xever went down, they just didn’t know how long it would take his replacement to get up to speed. That had to be it. He just had to give her more time.

He hoped he had it to give her.

* * * *

As he watched the assault force close in on Donovan, Henderson went with his gut and turned over one of the cloaked ships to the Gadi force. He let the Gadi leader go with them. They were probably all going to die anyway. When he was sure they were pointed at one of the Dusan ships—and not heading back to the outpost—he gave the launch order for their cloaked ship.

The plan was to land his squad as close to the bridge as possible and neutralize the command crew. Either they’d take the ship, or at least provide a distraction to keep Xever off guard while Donovan did whatever it was she was supposed to do down there.

They didn’t have the firepower, even combined, to take on a battle cruiser.

It sounded simple, straightforward.

It probably wouldn’t be.

* * * *

Fyn found more weapons on the dead Ojemba in the hallway and added those to his gear. In addition to pulling up a HUD on demand, Fyn found he could also make the lights turn off and on, and open or lock doors. As Sara liked to say, cool.

Near as he could tell, there were about one hundred and fifty men between him and Sara. So far she seemed to be fine. Xever was keeping his distance.

For now.

Fyn intended to be there when he stopped.

With guns in each hand, both set to kill, he got in the elevator and started up. When the door opened, he did a rolling dive out into the corridor, his arms crossed over his chest. He fired both directions.

When he got up, the corridor was clear.

* * * *

Things had gone from bad to worse. Their shields were down to fifty percent. This was close quarters fighting, but with big ass ships.

It was a brutal, messy business.

The Dusan were now using some of their ships as bait for the cloaked ships, while others waited for them to pop into view. They’d also dropped some kind of timed missiles, like old-style depth charges, that went for the cloaked ships as they appeared. Even with the upgraded shields, the ships were getting pounded. The cloaked fighters were taking a beating, too, when they popped into view.

Despite it all, they were hanging in there.

The worse news, they’d been boarded. The Dusan had managed to sneak assault transports through the chaos and into a couple of the bays. The distant sounds of small arms fire rang through the
Doolittle
, like a counterpoint to the battle raging in space. Everyone who could use a weapon was putting up a fierce resistance, but once again, the numbers were against them.

The good news, the barrage of missiles had let up on the two earth ships.

Clearly Xever hoped to take them intact.

Take no prisoners.

Not even the women were to be spared, though after seeing what they did to them, maybe that was a good thing.

The even worse news, small arms fire was getting closer to the bridge with each passing minute as defenders kept falling back and back.

Halliwell studied the HUD, trying to sort through all the data coming in. The fighters were buzzing in a cloud throughout the larger battle.

The Dusan had lost a huge number of ships, but their ambush had turned the tide in their favor. And they still had a shit load of ships left.

The Gadi had lost two ships.

They’d lost two of the Garradian ships and their crews. Halliwell had ordered the other two to withdraw and regroup.

Just under half of their fighters were down, and casualties were mounting quickly inside both the
Doolittle
and the
Patton
.

Amidst the chaos, the cloaked ships now reengaged to support the beleaguered fleet. For now they were still holding their own.

Barely
.

Clearly Donovan was finding it harder than she expected. He couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like to be in contact with so many minds. Perhaps it was time to help her out a bit.

It was time punch to through the Dusan fleet.

“Commander Gaedon, papa lima alpha on my mark.”

* * * *

The pain was bad. She needed to show Adin her back until she got it under control. Sara got up and walked over to the tracking screen, poking it with a finger and watching the ripples spread out.

It was weird to be so many places. Here. There. Even weirder that most of the Dusan didn’t seem to be…thinking that much. It was almost like their brains were empty slates that only Adin wrote on. Except for the small circle of minds waiting to take over. It was pretty creepy.

But it did give her hope that if she could take the network completely down…

The pain eased a bit. Enough. She turned and smiled at him. It helped keep a grimace at bay.

“Did you have a brother?”

“I had…several.” He hesitated. “What do my brothers have to do with your story?” His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

She could feel his mind sharpen, as if he sensed an alien presence.

She came back and sat down. “My story is about two brothers, you see. And…Miri. Can’t forget Miri, can we?”

That pulled his attention back inside the room.

His brows arched. “Brothers?”

Sara nodded.

He was quiet a moment. “So Miri had…many men interested in her. This does not surprise me that these brothers also both wanted her.”

His eyes told her he still wanted her, but she felt nothing. He’d lost the power to touch her. It was a relief. She didn’t need to be fighting her own messed up libido while she fought him. She’d come a long way from their last encounter.

“Miri loved one of the brothers, the younger, but he didn’t know how to love. He felt the hunger of passion, but was unable to be filled when he got it. He was always hungry, never satisfied.”
       Adin didn’t speak, but she’d affected him. She could feel it through the connection. His lips tightened. “And the elder brother?”

“Oh yes, the elder brother…”

She could feel his mental shift, feel the weight of his thoughts moving more and more her direction and less and less toward the battle.

Sara clenched her hands where Adin couldn’t see them, as she wormed her mind deeper and deeper into the Dusan network. There had to be one, central command channel. If she could find it…

* * * *

Things were bad, real bad. Hawkins’ fighter shook as a stray shot pinged off his shields. They were holding, but not for much longer. The Dusan reinforcements brought even more fighters, a big ass Dusan Flagship, and a slew of cruisers.

“This is Halliwell. I need Alpha to tango on that Delta Foxtrot with some EM Mikes. It’s pounding us to hell!”

Hawkins did a bat turn as he responded. “Roger that. Alpha group does anyone have any EM mikes left?”

“This is alpha6, I’ve got one.”

“Tango on the Delta foxtrot and I’ll cover you.”

They accelerated towards the massive hulk. Hawkins blasted a fighter that tried to get on Jenkins’ six. The defensive fire from the ship was intense. Space was thick with lasers and projectiles. He could have got out and walked on them.

“Fire that mike! We won’t last much longer here!”

A streak of fire shot out from Jenkins bird. He started to bank off, but caught a blast from the ship. He spiraled toward Hawkins, catching the edge of Hawkins’s bird just before he exploded.

His ship shook violently. Warning lights and buzzers sounded. His shields went down.

He felt the loss of control…

He was a smoking hole in the making, but maybe he could do some damage…