“You’re supposed to stay off your fucking ankle.”
“It’s fine.” Actually, it hurt like hell, but between Grabon’s bandages and a new boot, she could walk and that was all that mattered.
Once they had the Elginar and Kaisarian scientists assembled in one room, Faith tossed in a small ball. A green gas filled the room and as soon as it cleared, they entered. There were thirty Elginar and three Kaisarians gathered in the lounge and as they slowly regained consciousness, a babble of talk started. They were all pale and weak, but that didn’t stop them from glaring at Athtar’s crew as they kept guard at the door. Once Faith saw Skevyk was awake, she stepped inside.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded as soon as he saw her. Even though he was obviously ill and could barely sit upright, he hadn’t lost any of his arrogance. “I thought that idiot Zartan finally dragged you off to satisfy his unnatural lust and you both died in the storm.” The prospect had obviously not bothered him. “Where is he?”
“The Emperor has him. If he’s still alive.”
Did a flicker of fear cross his face? She couldn’t be sure because he immediately reverted to his usual sneer.
“Zartan won’t tell him anything, but I should have known you would try and sabotage my project. I suppose you were responsible for Detauk’s death as well.” He laughed bitterly as she stared at him in confusion. “Why did you bother to come back?”
“Because I found out what you’ve been doing with my research.”
He shrugged. “So?”
Ignoring him, she addressed the rest of the group. “I have discovered that this project is not about creating a habitat for life as I was told. Instead, it was used to destroy a planet and billions of lives. It will be used that way again.”
The scientists stirred uneasily. One of the Kaisarians stepped forward.
“It is as Napisten wills.”
She studied his face and saw only complete conviction. Nothing she said was going to convince him. She turned to the others.
“You have a choice,” she said softly. “You can leave now, abandon this terrible project, return home.”
“Leave now? When we are so close to completion?” Skevyk scoffed. “You must be mad.”
“Mad because I want no part in a project whose only goal is destruction?”
“What does it matter?” His eyes gleamed. “It is a tremendous scientific achievement.”
“But at what cost?” She shook her head. “No, I will not permit it. Leave or be prepared to pay the price.”
Some of the other scientists were looking at her uneasily, but Skevyk only sneered. “Do you think you can make me leave?”
“No, and I’m not going to try. But I’m giving you the choice.”
Vack, one of the older scientists, stepped forward, ignoring Skevyk’s glare. “I have a family on Elgin. I choose to leave.”
“You’re no better than a common verka,” Skevyk sneered. “Choosing family over scholarship.” He said the word family as if it tasted like dung in his mouth but Vack ignored him and moved to their side of the room. Two more of the Elginar scientists followed him but the rest remained, although a few of them looked uncertain.
“This is your last chance,” she said urgently. One additional man gave Skevyk a despairing look, then dashed over to join them.
“Traitor,” Skevyk hissed. “You’ll never find another reputable position.”
“Neither will you, Skevyk.” She turned her back on him and walked out of the room. The rest of her team followed, and she heard the lock click shut. Her hands were like ice and she realized vaguely that she was trembling.
“What now, baby?” Athtar’s big arm circled her and she leaned gratefully into his warmth.
“We leave them. The drug has increased the effect of the poison. It won’t be long now.”
“You drugged us?” Jepoc gasped. He was the last one to have joined them. “You traitorous bitch.”
Athtar backhanded him casually, sending the man to the floor without loosening his hold on her.
“Shall I toss him back in?” he offered.
“No, thank you, love.” She tried to smile but she suspected it wasn’t very convincing. “He made the choice to leave. Give him the antidote.”
“When he’s on the fucking ship.”
She didn’t try and argue. “I have to set off the reaction. Can you make sure the rest of the doors are open?”
“I’m not letting you out of my fucking sight. Thynmirr, guard these four.”
“Aye, Captain.” The little blue alien aimed his weapon at the scientists with a grim look on his face, not looking remotely like a muppet. Faith led the rest of them deeper into the complex and showed them how to set the doors to stay open. The crew split up but Athtar stayed at her side with his arm around her. She leaned into him.
“Does your foot hurt, baby?”
She nodded, but even though her ankle was throbbing painfully, the ache in her heart surpassed it. Her mind kept returning to the scientists locked in their lounge.
“Maybe we should let them go.”
“Fuck no. Did any of them not know that this was a weapon?”
She thought of their faces when she made the announcement—none of them had been surprised. She shook her head. “No, they knew.”
“Then fuck ‘em. You even gave them a choice to leave and they didn’t fucking take it.”
“I don’t think they believe I can do it.”
“After being around you for eight fucking years? Then they’re fucking stupid. I’ve only known you for two weeks and I know you can do it. You’re fucking brilliant.”
A little kernel of warmth broke through her despair. “And you don’t think I’m a terrible person?”
With a muffled curse, he pulled her up in his arms and kissed her until she was breathless. “You’re fucking amazing and you know it. Now let’s get this shit done.” He placed her carefully back on her feet and gave her a gentle smack on her butt. She wiggled against his hand and he laughed. “Later, baby.”
The labs were arranged in three tiers leading back to the central cavern where the project was located. She had seen it on the maps but had never gone beyond the first tier. With Athtar at her side, she went straight to the heart of the complex, then stopped at the entrance to the cavern and took a deep breath.
“Hand me the pack, please.” After he pulled it off his back, she put a hand on his chest. “Please wait for me here. I don’t want to take any chances.”
“You said it was fucking safe.”
Her part was—the ingredients inactive until they were ignited—but she didn’t know if there were any hidden security measures. Somehow, she suspected that telling Athtar that would only make him more determined to accompany her. Instead, she put a soft hand on his chest. “I just… I need to do this myself. Please.”
With a reluctant grunt, he released her arm. “I’m staying right fucking here.”
She walked alone into the vast cavern where the terraforming… where the weapon was being assembled. It looked so innocuous—a spherical metal object, perhaps fifteen feet in diameter, its metal shell still open to reveal the maze of components and chemicals inside. It was the first time she’d actually seen it and as she surveyed the interior, there was a bitter taste in her mouth as she recognized much of her work. Even though it had been under duress, she had been proud of what she accomplished. There was no longer room for pride. With a regretful sigh at her foolishness, she began placing the small canisters around the perimeter of the sphere, then carefully connected them with a thin wire. Unreeling it behind her, she backed to the door where Athtar was waiting. Her ankle was shaking, and with a curse, he pulled her up into his arms.
“Can we fucking go now?”
“Yes. I just need to string this out behind us. Once everyone is out, I’ll set it off.”
“Those little fucking bottles are going to destroy all this?”
“Not the stone, but everything else�
��metal, plastic, glass. There won’t be anything left to find.”
“Fuck. My dangerous woman.”
“The power of chemistry, baby.” She tried to keep her voice light, but it wasn’t a very successful effort. Athtar hugged her closer.
“Don’t you dare fucking cry. This is not your fault and you’re trying to stop it happening again.”
“What if it doesn't work? What if they have another lab?”
“If they do, they’re missing one brilliant scientist. They’ll fucking fail.” He shrugged. “You can’t save the whole fucking galaxy. Let the emperor do his fucking job and protect it.”
Somewhat comforted, she buried her head in his neck and let him carry her back to the entrance to the labs. The rest of the crew were already there, waiting silently as Athtar put her down.
“Step back outside the blast doors,” she said. “I’m going to light this and then we’ll close them behind us.”
The crew took off. Athtar, of course, refused to leave her and stayed while she lit the long fuse. The end ignited and a bright red glow began traveling rapidly along the thin piece of wire. As soon as he saw it move, Athtar rushed her through the doorway, then he and Grabon closed the massive doors.
“Could it melt these doors?” he asked.
“Yes, given enough time, but I designed it to burn fast and hot. It won’t burn long enough to penetrate them.” Even as she spoke there was a low rumbling in the distance. Despite the thickness of the doors, they could all feel the vibration and everyone instinctively took a step back.
“How long?” Grabon asked, looking grim.
“No more than fifteen minutes.”
“Maybe we should wait in the loading dock,” Studoc suggested.
“You don’t need to be here,” she agreed quickly. “Why don’t you get everyone on board ship while we’re waiting?”
“Where do you want us to put them, Captain?” Ultana asked.
“The Elginar can go in the fucking brig.”
“They won’t like it,” she responded calmly.
“I don’t give a shit.”
“Yes, sir. And the other scientists?”
“Put them in Birgraz’s old cabin. Once they’ve been dosed, we’ll find out what the fuck they want to do now.”
Faith realized that something was missing. “What about the Kaisarian guards? Didn’t any of them take the offer?”
“No,” Kanithe said shortly. “They were fanatics, not true believers. They will not receive Napisten’s mercy.”
Fuck. More people on her conscience. She didn’t argue with the other woman although she suspected that Kanithe’s method of questioning might have been a trifle one-sided.
“That’s it then.” She sighed. “Why don’t the rest of you go back to the ship? I—” Athtar growled. “—We will wait and confirm that everything has been destroyed and then join you.”
The crew departed, with the exception of Grabon.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “You—both of you—need someone watching your back.”
“Are you expecting trouble?” she said, trying to sound flippant.
“Always.”
Her legs started to shake, and she slid down to a seated position with her back to the doors.
“Fuck, baby. I knew this would be too much for you.” Athtar dropped down beside her and pulled onto his lap.
“You don’t have to hold me all the time,” she protested, even as she sighed and relaxed against him. He was much more comfortable than the stone floor and metal door.
“Yeah, I do,” he muttered. While I can. He didn’t say it out loud, but she knew they were both thinking it. She pressed a kiss against his chest and closed her eyes.
“This reminds me of that fucking fight pit on Dotov,” he said to Grabon, his voice rumbling against her cheek.
“You and I remember Dotov very differently,” Grabon said. “Now, Salos Thirteen, on the other hand, where we tried to trade pesh plants to those Veruvians? That was about as much of a clusterfuck.”
“Nah, that was just fucking trading. Gigantu, now that was a clusterfuck.”
The men bantered back and forth, and she found herself drifting into an exhausted sleep, worn out by pain and tension. The last thing she heard before darkness descended was Grabon’s voice. “What are you going to do?”
Chapter Eighteen
Athtar looked at his friend and then down at the woman sleeping in his arms. Her face was pale and strained, even in sleep and his chest ached. He hated seeing her like this.
“What am I going to do? Fuck if I know. I can’t give up The Lady and she wouldn’t be happy on board without her research.”
“A lot of captains have a home port,” Grabon suggested.
“I know. I’ve thought about it.” He tugged on his beard. “If she found something on Sherae, I could trust Rast and Deb to look after her while I was gone. Fuck.” He shook his head. “That’s the same fucking thing I suggested to the emperor. Now I know why he turned me down.”
“Because a man doesn’t want to be without his mate.”
“Yeah. Fuck.” He banged his head back against the door in frustration, wincing at the noise but Faith didn’t stir. Sitting like that, he gradually realized that the door was heating up behind him. With a startled oath, he scrambled to his feet, trying his best not to disturb Faith.
“What is it?” Grabon, too, was on his feet.
“The door is getting fucking hot. She said it wouldn’t come through, but…”
Grabon stepped up and put a hand to the door, then grimaced and backed up. “We should move further away. How much longer did she say?”
He checked his watch, “Another five minutes. And if it’s that fucking hot this far away from the fucking cavern…”
“Let’s go,” Grabon said grimly.
Faith finally stirred as they started moving rapidly through the corridors. “What are you doing?”
“Getting away from that fucking hellfire you created.”
She pushed her glasses up her nose and gave him a sleepy glare. “It’s not hellfire. It’s a controlled chemical reaction. I’m sure my calculations are correct.”
“Fine. They can be fucking correct from further away.”
She huffed but didn’t protest until they reached the loading docks. “I’m sure it’s safe to wait here.”
Since he really didn’t want to have to take her out into the cold unless he had to, he agreed to wait by the door. Grabon paced, his wings fluttering, an unusual sign of restlessness from the big man, while Athtar longed to join him.
“It’s been fifteen minutes,” Faith said finally. “It should be complete.”
“I’ll go check,” Grabon volunteered.
“It was my plan,” she said. “I’ll go. Just put me down, Athtar, and wait here.”
“Woman, we’ve had this discussion. Where you go, I go.” He glared at her and she lifted her chin and glared back. Fuck, this was definitely not the moment for his dick to get hard.
“By Napisten’s elbow, I’ll go.” Grabon was gone before either of them could protest.
“What if he gets hurt?” Faith said, frowning after him.
“You said it was safe and he believed you.”
“Yeah. He did, didn’t he? Maybe he’s starting to like me a little after all.” A faint smile tugged at her mouth and he couldn’t resist dropping a kiss on those pretty lips. Despite the situation, despite her exhaustion, she responded as passionately as she always did, and her sweetness aroused his own need. He groaned and swung her around in his arms so that her legs could wrap around his waist. She rubbed her breasts against his chest, trying to get closer and he was one step away from taking her up against the wall when Grabon reappeared.
“Can’t leave you two alone for a second,” he said, sounding surprisingly cheerful. “The door is cooling. Your experiment, lady scientist, appears to have worked.” He dipped his head and Faith grinned at him.
Athtar bit bac
k his instinctive growl. “Do you need to see the damage, Faith?”
The smile left her face. “Yes. Just to verify.”
Without protesting, he carried her back, Grabon trailing behind them. When they reached the entry, the doors were cool to the touch and he put Faith down while he and Grabon pried them open. More than half of the foot thick metal was simply gone, and the inside surface that remained was pitted and scarred. They both stared at the doors in silence.
“I’ll be a dung-headed son of a swamp whore,” Athtar said finally.
“My thoughts exactly.”
Faith hobbled to the door. “I told you it would work.”
“You were right. Where now?”
“The cavern and the server room. If those two are destroyed, then I’m confident about the rest.”
Nothing remained in the server room except some patches of melted metal and they moved on. In the center of the cavern lay a circle of silver burnt into the rock. Nothing else remained.
“Eight years of work,” Faith muttered softly.
“Do you regret it?” Grabon asked.
“In many ways, the work was the only thing that kept me going. I regret the waste.” She looked directly at Grabon. “But I would never let it be used that way.”
“I believe that now. You have my loyalty, Faith.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, then blushed and pushed up her glasses. “We should go now.”
“Thank the fuck.” Athtar didn’t wait for her to change her mind but headed back the way they came at a fast pace. He saw her give the Elginar quarters a sorrowful look, but he didn’t give her a chance to renew her protests. As soon as they were dressed in their outdoor gear, he was through the door with a sigh of relief. He didn’t even mind the snow scouring his face or the wind trying to take his breath away. Once they were on board The Lady, he ordered Ultana to take off immediately.
Faith was still too pale and tired looking for his liking but they needed to decide on their next move, so he carried her to the bridge.
“Captain, there is an Imperial Fleet ship in orbit,” Ultana said immediately. “I have plotted our course to depart from the other side of Hothrest but I can’t guarantee they won’t record our departure.”
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