Warrior's Valor (29 page)

*

“Out of my way,” White snarled. “I don't have time for this.”

Dahlia staggered sideways and fell against a tree trunk. She could feel her ribs bending and waited to hear them crack any moment. Glaring at the woman responsible for shoving her, she saw White also nudge aside the men carrying M'Ekar on the makeshift stretcher.

“What's up?” Weiss met White halfway and Dahlia thought she saw a glimpse of exasperation in Weiss's eyes.

“This isn't working.” White gestured toward M'Ekar. “We have to leave him behind. I know that's cutting our losses, but we'll make a nice profit from her.” It was obvious that White was talking about her.

“We've been through this. We're not leaving him. He knows too much, for one thing, and we need to complete the mission. This is a high-profile job. Do you really think our reputation will survive if potential clients are afraid we'll leave them to die?” Weiss raised her voice. “And just as a reminder, White,
I'm
in charge here. Not you. If you want to assume command of your own team again in the future, fine. But for now, get back in line and carry out your orders.”

White paled and Dahlia knew the two women had reached a crossroads. If White persisted, her actions would be mutinous, and it was clear Weiss wouldn't allow any such thing.

“You're risking everything,” White hissed, her lips thin and whitening.

“So are you, by wasting my time,
our
time, like this.” Weiss stared down her subordinate. “So, for the last time, take your position.”

“Fine. For now.” White pivoted and stalked back along the path.

Dahlia pushed herself away from the tree and couldn't hold back a moan as her bruised ribs sent arrows of pain through her chest.

“What's wrong?” Weiss asked, and neared her. “Are you injured?”

“I'm fine.” She didn't even look at Weiss, but got back in line behind M'Ekar's stretcher. “You should be concerned about your subordinate. She sounded angry and frustrated.”

“Let me worry about White. I think I'll keep you up front with me.” Weiss grabbed her by her upper arm and shoved her forward. She glanced at M'Ekar when she passed him, concerned about his grayish pale coloring.

“He's in bad shape,” she said. “Please, let me check his wounds.”

“No time. We'll take care of him aboard our vessel once we've rendezvoused with our backup.”

“You've planned for every contingency, haven't you?” Dahlia struggled to sound impressed. In a way she was, but her animosity toward her kidnappers made it nearly impossible to pretend.

“All part of the job.”

“I'm curious why you ended up as an outlaw. You strike me as an educated and accomplished woman.”

“We all have our motives.” Weiss sounded indifferent.

“I suppose, but you must have really strong ones to become an enemy of the entire SC.”

“I could care less about the SC or what they think of me. I live by my own rules.”

“You sound rather defensive,” Dahlia said, her legs aching from keeping up with Weiss's longer strides. “I think something happened to you, and you saw no other solution but to choose this dangerous path.”

“This conversation isn't leading anywhere. Shut up and focus on walking.”

“I suppose I could do like M'Ekar and refuse to walk any longer.” Dahlia examined Weiss's expression to judge her reaction.

“I wouldn't try that if I were you. If you cause any trouble, I won't hesitate to kill M'Ekar and have one of the men carry you, even drag you by your hair.” Weiss's matter-of-fact tone made Dahlia shudder. Seasoned enough not to let her feelings show, she shrugged.

“For someone who isn't prepared to implement Ms. White's idea of ditching the ambassador, you do a good job of
trying
to sound sincere in your threats,” she said.

“Oh, trust me, I'm sincere.” Weiss gazed at her crew. “And I only have to give the word for any of my men, or Ms. White, to get rid of M'Ekar. She will welcome such an excuse to release some stress.”

Dahlia knew that Weiss wasn't exaggerating. White was a ruthless sociopath, and it wasn't difficult to imagine the glee on her face if Weiss indeed gave such an order. Dahlia shuddered and dwelt on less harrowing things. Rae and Ewan had to know by now what had happened. If Ayahliss had survived, she and Armeo must have reported the kidnapping. More unwelcome thoughts surfaced, visions of being a prisoner on Onotharat at the mercy of a ruthless interrogator. She felt faint for a second, but decided to attribute it to hunger and lack of fluids rather than fear. She perceived herself as utterly fearless. Now wasn't a good time to let any cracks in that image appear.

“I have no idea who you're talking about,” she answered casually. “I'm confident that you're not only in over your head, but you can't control your own crew. You might as well face it, Weiss Kyakh. This mission will ruin you in more ways than one.”

Fury, coupled with a faint trace of apprehension, traveled across Weiss's features. She raised her fist and her crew stopped as if she'd nailed them to the forest path. Snapping her head toward Dahlia, Weiss grabbed her around the neck with a strong hand and slammed her against a tree.

“I won't tell you again, so listen.” Her voice was menacing and her eyes scorching as she focused her rage on Dahlia. “If you say one more word, unless you're spoken to, you'll regret it. I don't make empty threats. For your own good, I don't recommend that you test me.” Weiss squeezed her neck so hard she couldn't speak or breathe.

Dahlia nodded wordlessly. She did her best to look intimidated, but in fact she was pleased. She'd managed to get under Weiss's skin and rattle her.

“Good.” Weiss let go and shoved her onto the path.

Dahlia surreptitiously let the bark fall from her hands. She had clawed the tree when Weiss lunged at her and hoped potential rescuers would notice the scratches. As she walked quietly behind Weiss, she thought of her family, so important now when she finally understood enough to prioritize differently. Was she so self-absorbed that it took a criminal act like this for her to realize that all she wanted was to go home?

“
Herona
Jacelon,
herona
O'Dal,” Yhja said shyly, and bowed. “We must be very careful now.”

“What do you mean, Yhja?” Kellen asked. Emeron and Dwyn joined them where they were taking a few moments to wolf down an SC ration bar.

“We are approaching the Sacred Space of Light.” Yhja moved her hands gracefully as she explained. “It is the clearing you wanted to reach. Many solar leaps ago, our ancestors, the Revered Disianii elders, came to the clearing once every double-full lunar night to worship the spirits of our Traveled people.”

“Traveled?” Kellen looked between Yhja and Emeron.

“Dead,” Emeron said. “The Disians don't believe in death. They see life as only a small station on the life journey. Death is a transitional thing, like a shuttle port, before we depart for our next level of existence.”

“Go on, Yhja,” Rae said. “How far are we from the clearing?”

“If we continue at the same speed as before, we might reach it before dusk.” Yhja looked over at Trom, who nodded somberly. “There will be a great disturbance in the clearing since we understand that you mean to engage this enemy of yours in battle. It is not without danger for anyone uninitiated to do so.”

“What are you talking about, Yhja?” Kellen asked.

“This is my belief, something that has been natural for me all my life,” Yhja said shyly. “Therefore it is hard to explain in detail. Perhaps Imer-Ohon-Da can clarify.” She gestured gracefully with her small hands toward Emeron.

“Let's see,” Emeron said. “The Disians believe that after all the thousands of years of worship in the Sacred Space of Light, every prayer, every thought or word of worship has grown into a force in itself. Almost like a living entity. Since thoughts and prayers are the most powerful thing they know, they think it would be like firing a plasma-pulse volley into an explosives storage.”

“Any reason for us to take this at face value?” Kellen tried to wrap her brain around this spiritual approach to life.

“If you'd asked me a week ago, I would've said no, but now...” Emeron shrugged, her eyes dark and brooding. “I wouldn't be that presumptuous.”

“We sure didn't take explosive prayers and worship into consideration before we came here,” Kellen said matter-of-factly.

“Exactly.” Rae rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Do we have anything on our scanner yet? Mogghy?”

“My new set of scans shows a cluster of humanoids two kilometers from here.”

Kellen could sense Rae, who stood next to her, become energized, even though they'd been attacked by bots, then walked for ten hours.

“Finally,” Rae said. “We can get down to business.” She pulled out a handheld computer and tapped in a few commands. “I've revised the plan and find only a few things that we need to change.” Rae held the computer up for her perusal.

“I agree,” Kellen said. “We need a base camp for the civilians.”

“Good. Kellen, calculate where we can set it up without compromising safety. We have to send a reconnaissance team to determine if they have scanning capability and to collect tactical data.”

“We have to be close enough to act instantly, but far enough away to keep our civilians safe.” Emeron seemed to be thinking out loud, and nobody interrupted her. “Also, I doubt any of their sensitive equipment survived the crash, and if it did, according to the Disians there wasn't any time to take much gear because they had to leave the ship so fast.”

“But we can't be sure,” Mogghy added. He tucked his scanner away. “All they had to do was to keep an emergency case handy.”

“True,” Emeron said. “Still, we have to approach them in order to get our hands on Diplomat Jacelon and M'Ekar. If they have scanners, that will be a problem, but they're weakened and probably not as well armed as we are.”

“It only takes one weapon directed at Dahlia for them to have the advantage,” Kellen said darkly. “We need to isolate her and M'Ekar, but he's expendable.”

Rae squinted at her. “Let's stick to the plan. I want you, Owena, and Emeron to join me in the reconnaissance party. The rest of you will follow until you reach these coordinates.” Rae showed Mogghy and Leanne a spot on a map on her computer. “Leanne will head up the base-camp team with Lt. Mogghy as her XO. I want the civilians in a safe place. Ensign Oches, page the SC HQ and report every thirty minutes. We need them to keep MEDEVAC units on standby, as well as military backup.”

“Aye, ma'am,” Oches said, and began to arrange his equipment.

“Ensign Noor, you're responsible for the junior officers on your team.” Rae turned to her marines. “Corporals, I want one of you to join Ensign Noor and the other to assist Ensign Oches with communications.” Rae stopped, and the team waited patiently for her to consider further measures. “All right, people. Keep your local communicators handy. Unless I issue other orders, carry out radio silence from now on.”

A unison “aye, ma'am” started a storm of activity. Kellen checked her weapons and tucked her gan'thet rods into her belt. She enjoyed the feel of them in her hands. They were more natural to her than any modern weapon. The rods hummed when an expert such as Kellen wielded them, and they seemed to her like extensions of her arms and hands.

“I see you're ready.” Rae looked challengingly at Kellen.

“I am.”

“And when you have this intense look about you, I know you are unstoppable.” Rae lowered her voice. “I want you to be careful. Mother isn't helped by you going in full force at the wrong moment.”

“I won't.” Kellen knew Rae was right, but it offended her that she felt she had to voice her concerns at this point.

“I'm your commanding officer during this operation,” Rae said, her tone firm. “I need to be sure that my team members are ready to follow my orders.” Her expression softened. “I know you're afraid for Mother. So am I. We have to stay focused and count on her to know how to stay safe during the circumstances.”

“I will try, but I swear, Rae, this is the last time M'Ekar causes our family grief. One way or the other, I'm going to take him down, along with the people who are helping him. He'll regret ever coming up with this plan.” Kellen spoke low, but fiercely, and she knew she had done little to reassure Rae of her ability to follow orders.

“Just as long as we stick to
our
plan.” Rae shook her head. “Work with me, Kellen, and above all, don't get yourself killed.” She paused and a shadow traveled across her face. “It would destroy me,” Rae whispered.

Kellen tensed at the pained words, and then slowly relaxed. Looking at Rae, nobody but Kellen could have seen how she had just slipped out of her command mode for a few seconds. Feeling Rae's conflicting emotions pierce her, Kellen knew Rae had finally gotten through to her.