The Playful Prince (11 page)

“Look at the opening. See how it looks chiseled more than formed by erosion? And, look at this. The rim’s covered with that same black moss, only it’s not dying in the air. I know that wasn’t there before when I found this entrance.” Grant pulled out gloves and handed them all round. Avoiding the moss along the edge of the opening, he hopped down into the hole. There was a sound of movement before his light shined up.

Tori and Vitto followed him into the hole. As Grant led the way, the moss became thicker and longer.

Tori’s boot splashed in a shallow pool of liquid, but she ignored it and kept going. The light became dim and it was hard to see as they made their way along the rocky cave system.

“Look,” Grant whispered, pointing his light forward. “I think whatever is behind there is the source of the black moss.”

An iron door was fitted into the wall of the cave. Tori gasped in amazement to see it. “What’s a door doing down here?”

“I don’t know,” Vitto whispered. “But it looks old, just check out the hinges. They’re rusted. I don’t think anyone has been down here for a very long time.”

“Let’s open it and find out,” Grant said, his words edged with scientific excitement.

They all knew it was a little careless to proceed, but no one stopped him from reaching forward. There was always a certain amount of risk in what they did. Tori felt Vitto’s shoulder next to hers. He nodded at her before turning his attention back to the door. She adjusted the mask over her features, making sure she had a tight seal.

After a short struggle, Grant pulled the door open. Light flooded them from within. Tori blinked, letting her eyes adjust as Grant took a cautious step forward.

“Motion light sensors,” Grant said, switching off his flashlight. “Whoever was here must have left them connected.”

“Whoever it was, they haven’t been back in awhile,” Tori added.

Black moss covered nearly everything--tables, chairs, an antiquated computer system with a keyboard and desktop monitor. Only peeks of the equipment and part of the metal floor showed through.

“It’s an old laboratory,” Tori said. “What do you think they were doing down here?”

“By the looks of it, it’s about a hundred or two hundred years old. All the computer files are probably corrupted by now.” Vitto frowned. “But, one thing’s for sure. Whatever this black moss is, it came from in here.”

“Guys, look,” Grant had wandered forward and they rushed to join him. He’d found a couple locked cages with piles of humanoid bones as if whatever was locked inside had just laid down and died. “Do you think they could have starved?”

“Possible,” Vitto answered. “This place looks abandoned, not shut down. I mean, look,” he pointed to a desk. “Personal belongings are scattered everywhere. You can see the outline of a file and papers right there.”

“Okay, here’s what we do,” Tori instructed. She looked at the desk and seeing a long oval, picked it up and swept the moss from it to study it. On a whim, she shoved it into her pocket. “Grab whatever you can that might have some information on it. The Var palace mainframe is a little outdated so this stuff might still be salvageable. I want to figure out just what in the galaxy they were doing down here.

Whatever this moss is, it started here and it’s slowly poisoning this planet. The marshes are already dead.

And, by the looks of the moss in the cave, it’s mutating to survive in air. It could be nothing or we could have an ecological disaster on our hands.”

* * * *

When Tori climbed down the ladder from the cave, it was to find her camp being torn apart by a group of Var soldiers. She frowned, as she saw Commander Falke order the dismantling of her tent. Her mouth opened to protest, but she was interrupted.

“Where have you been? I have guards combing the marshes for your dead bodies!”

Tori froze. She turned around. Quinn marched up to her wearing one of their lab coats. His bare feet and calves peaked out the bottom. Remembering what she looked like when she left him, she unconsciously lifted her hand to touch her face. She was relieved to find her skin smooth.

“Combing the marshes?” she repeated, frowning. “Why ... what’s going on here? What’s happened?

Are you fighting again with the Draig? Why are you dismantling my tent? And what’s that guy doing with my samples! It took us two weeks to get them collected and organized. He can’t carry them together like that. Oh, he’s contaminating them with....”

Tori made a move to go after a guard who roughly carried her samples of marsh mud. The little containers jingled and fell over, mixing together. Quinn’s hand shot out and gripped her elbow, jerking her back.

Her mouth opened, but before she could speak, Vitto yelled down from the cave. “What’s going on down there, Tor? Are we going to move this stuff down today or what?”

Quinn frowned up at the man, not letting go of her arm. Looking at Falke, he said, “Help them out.”

Falke nodded and motioned to some guards to climb the ladder.

Tori gasped, as Quinn dragged her along to the forest. When they were alone, he turned to study her.

“Are you wearing my lab coat?” she asked, her brow arching in slight amusement. “And are you naked underneath it? What’s going on here, Quinn? I don’t understand.”

“Are you harmed?” Quinn demanded ignoring her questions. His eyes roamed over her, not with pleasure, but fearfully searching her for injury.

“Harmed?” she repeated, confused.

“Damn it woman! Would you actually answer a question instead of just repeating it back to me?”

“W-wait,” Tori stuttered, fighting her anger. Her finger lifted and she pointed it at him. “You storm in here and start tearing apart my camp and you think to ask me questions? What in the hell is going on, Quinn?”

“We thought you were injured. After we found Simon--”

“Simon?” Tori repeated. The blood rushed from her face. “What’s wrong with Simon?”

“You weren’t in hiding?”

“Hiding? I was working!” Tori panted, feeling sick. “What’s wrong with Simon?”

“Tori, I’m sorry.... He’s dead.” Quinn frowned. Her dark eyes widened and she slowly shook her head.

“That’s not possible,” she whispered, beginning to shake. “He-he was just making lunch.... He’s my responsibility. He can’t be dead. We were only in the cave for just a couple hours at most. How...?”

“He was ... mauled,” Quinn answered. He shifted his weight uncomfortably on his feet. His heart was still lodged in his throat and he wanted to pull her to his chest to make sure she was all right. He didn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her.

Quinn had been so angry when he left the palace for the campsite. He’d stayed shifted in his cougar form as he sprinted to confront her. Then, he’d smelled the unmistakable hint of blood in the forest. In a panic, he’d found Simon’s body, but he couldn’t find the others. He’d checked the marshes, the forest, the opening of the cave and couldn’t detect their scent. He had no choice but to run back to the palace and get help. Now, looking at her red-splotched face, he worried anew.

“Mauled?” she repeated, blinking in confusion. “As if by a cat?”

Quinn held up his hands. “I know what you’re thinking Tori, but we had nothing to do with this. Let’s just get you back to the palace where it’s safe and then we’ll talk about it. I promise you we’ll find out what happened.”

“Where’s his body?” she demanded. “I want proof! I want to see his body!”

“Tori, please.” Quinn reached for her.

She swatted him away and took a step back. “What are you even doing here Quinn?”

“I’m helping you. Tori, I promise, we’ll discover who did this.”

“No,” she shot, her tone hard. Her eyes dried and she stiffened her lips. “
We
will figure this out. That’s why we’re here. To figure out exactly what is happening on this planet of yours. Simon was one of ours.

If anyone will figure it out, we will. Since your soldiers have obviously carted off the better part of my camp, we will follow you back to the palace. But I want Simon’s body untouched until we get there. I, along with my team, will examine him to determine the cause of death.”

“Tori, wait,” Quinn began when she would walk away. She turned to look at him, her face hard. “What about us?”

“Us,” she snorted, shaking her head as if it was the stupidest thing she’d ever heard. “There is no ‘us’, Quinn. I never should have mixed business with pleasure. But, you can rest assured that it won’t be happening again. All it did was make this situation more complicated than it needs to be. Now you must excuse me, my prince. I have to go inform my men about our loss.”

Quinn said no more, watching her go. He felt as if she’d stabbed him in the chest. He was nothing but a complication to her. The realization was almost too hard to bear. He waited for his heart to stop beating, so that he may fall dead upon the ground. When the ache only grew worse, he forced his legs to move after her. Like it our not, she’d have his help. It was his duty as ambassador to give it.

* * * *

Tori took a long, slow drink of whiskey, glad the food simulator was able to materialize the hard liquor for her. It’d been a rough day. When Quinn said Simon’s body had been mauled, he’d been kind in his assessment to her. In truth, there was little of it left for her and the guys to study.

She took another drink, choking down the burning liquid. They’d examined Simon, ran tests on him to try and discover who or what would do such a horrible thing. She’d made the necessary reports to ESC

and HIA. They had DNA sequencing started on samples taken from the corpse, but it would be a few days before anything was conclusive. They would be able to narrow down the species, but not the exact person unless they compiled a list of suspects and took samples from each one. Problem was, the killer wouldn’t just hand them the evidence willingly. They’d have to take it. Until they figured out who was Simon’s murderer, the black moss project was put on hold.

Tori signed. Unbidden, Quinn entered her slightly drunken thoughts. She wished he was there to comfort her. They hadn’t spoken since the forest, and she’d almost instantly regretted her harsh words. Grief had overwhelmed her with the need to strike out and he’d been the closest thing. She honestly didn’t want to believe that there was nothing between them, for she felt something when she was with him--something raw and powerful and so very real. What she didn’t know was if he felt it too.

It was a stinging connection inside her that called to him, recognized him from that first moment their eyes met in the hall. Just the memory of that first meeting made her sick with jealousy. His lips had been pressed to Linzi’s. She’d been shocked to see them thus, but even more than that, she’d been envious. It had taken her awhile to recognize the emotion, but there it was--made suddenly clear now by the haze of hard earth liquor.

Hearing a knock on her suite door, Tori threw back the rest of her drink and wobbled to her feet.

Unsteady, she stumbled across the palace suite to the door and threw it open. Quinn stood before her and she blinked to make sure he was really there.

“Tori, listen. I came to say I was sorry about Simon.” He held a flower out for her. “I know it’s not much, but I remembered earth women liked flowers.”

Tori looked at the pale solarflower and then back at Quinn. Oh, but he was handsome. She could stare at him all day. Her hand didn’t move to take the gift. Words welled up inside her, bursting to be free.

There was so much she wanted to tell him at that moment, so much she wanted to confess. Her lips parted, held open for an instant before she said, “My face is deformed because of mud and I can’t feel my teeth.”

Quinn frowned in confusion. Tori shrugged. Then, her eyes rolling in her head, she fell forward, completely passed out.

* * * *

“What’s wrong with her?” Quinn demanded, looking at Vitto in concern. He was careful to keep his eyes on the man as he stepped into Tori’s suite. Tori was lying on the bed where he’d left her. Her actions scared him and her words had made no sense. Without a clue what to do with her, he had ordered the palace computer to fetch one of the human scientists, hoping he would be able to help her.

Vitto was the one who came to the call. “She was talking incoherently and making odd noises right before she fell limp.”

To his surprise, Vitto didn’t go straight to Tori, but instead to an empty glass sitting on the table. The man had been sleeping when the prince summoned him and his short, tousled hair stood on end. His tired eyes narrowed, as he lifted the glass up to his nose and sniffed. Flinching slightly, he pulled it back.

“Whiskey.” Vitto stated with a heavy sigh. He moved over toward Tori. “It’s nothing to worry about.

She’s just drunk--very, very drunk. Today was hard on all of us, but most of all her. Simon was her responsibility and he died on her watch.”

“The man’s death is not her fault,” Quinn defended quickly, frowning as he came forward. He kept a sharp eye on Vitto, watching as the man leaned over to feel Tori’s forehead.

“You don’t understand Tori then,” the man chuckled sadly. “She’d never agree with that. She was put in charge and, in her eyes, she failed.”

“And you think to understand her so well?” Quinn demanded, before he could stop himself. He saw Vitto’s eyes soften with kindness, as he pushed back Tori’s dark hair.

Vitto looked up at him, his gaze narrowing as he studied the Var prince. Slowly, he nodded, “Yes, yes I do.”

Quinn’s jaw stiffened. He wanted to punch something--anything. His fists clenched lightly at his sides.

Vitto turned back to Tori and arranged her limbs on the bed. She mumbled, but didn’t awaken.

“I’ll stay with her tonight,” Vitto said, not turning around to look at Quinn. “You can go ahead and go.

There’s nothing more we can do for her.”

“No,” the prince answered without thought. “I’ll stay. You can go.”

Vitto blinked, looking directly at him. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that. She’s unconscious.”

“And why would she be safer with you?” Quinn charged. “I’m her lover. I should take care of her.”

Vitto coughed, nearly choking on his own spit at the bold statement. His face paled and he looked at Tori and then to the Var prince. His mouth opened and then closed. Slowly, he nodded his head. “Fine.