by ML Guida
“Security used a geodrift on him. It makes things float rather than us having to carry it, especially if we don’t want to disturb any evidence,” Vaughn said.
She frowned. “Evidence?”
Marc rushed over to Greum with his medical transrecorder. “Vaughn, this man’s dead.”
“Yes, I know,” Vaughn said grimly.
Sandra gasped and put her hand over her mouth. “Oh, no. How did this happen? He was such a nice guy.”
Vaughn glared at Greum’s corpse. “Apparently not.”
“Greum attacked me.” Ivona’s lower lip trembled. “After breakfast, I went to his quarters and found Sutois’s Echium Glauca plants. They’re poisonous.”
Vaughn tilted his head toward Tash and the Admiral. “The symptoms of the planet causes asphyxiation. Similar to what Tash and the Admiral are suffering from.”
“I couldn’t believe it.” Ivona wiped tears off her cheeks. “Why would Greum do such a thing?”
“How did he die?”
“He…he attacked me. I had to use my eruptor. I meant for it to be on stun. I didn’t mean to kill him.” She broke down sobbing.
Marc hugged her. “It’s not your fault.” He looked at Sandra. “So, your theory’s wrong.”
Vaughn whipped his head around. “What theory?”
Sandra’s beating heart fired up the temperature inside her and her palms turned hot. She lifted her head and met Vaughn’s hard gaze. “Despite the plant, I don’t think what’s killing your brother and your father or the other women is organic.”
“I don’t understand.” He gestured to the plant. “We have hard evidence that the poison came from Sutois.”
“Not Sutois. Ocrion.”
His face drained. “Ocrion? The Kamtrinians?”
“Yes. I believe that the microorganism that infected your brother and father came from Ocrion.”
Ivona shook her head. “That’s not possible. Nothing can survive on that planet.”
Sandra lifted her eyebrow. “That’s not true, is it? The Kamtrinians live there.”
Marc glared. “Her theory, Vaughn, is that extreme cold would kill this microorganism. It was a far-fetched theory. We need to find a cure for the Echium Glauca plant, not chase a woman’s fantasies.”
“You kidnapped me, because of my formula. Everyone on Earth thought it was useless except you. I have another theory. I believe I can find a way to save your brother and your father.” She gestured toward the plant. “But not following lost leads.”
“You’re now the captain, Vaughn,” Marc said. “It’s your decision. But just remember your brother and father’s life hang in the balance.”
The hotness flushing over Sandra turned even hotter. Her clothes stuck to her skin and she could barely breathe, waiting for Vaughn’s answer that would either prove his faith in her or condemn her.
Vaughn stared at his brother and father then looked at the medical boards that blared they were both inching closer and closer toward death. Sandra could practically read his thoughts. This one decision would mark him with his people. If he made the wrong one, he would be the one condemned.
He put his hands on Sandra’s shoulders and she lifted her chin, daring him to throw her under the bus like everyone else had all of her life.
“I believe in you. Don’t let my brother and dad die.”
Sandra’s mouth fell open and her skin tingled as if her clothes were scratching her.
“Vaughn, you’re killing the captain and the admiral.” Marc’s cold voice pierced the silence.
The two security guards cast their gaze down.
“I’ve made my decision.” Vaughn stared into Sandra’s eyes. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t move.
No one had ever believed in her.
Until now.
Chapter 13
The tension in sickbay threatened to explode, but Vaughn had made his decision. Right or wrong, he’d placed his fate in his mate.
Blood thumped between his temples, blustering to bust his ear drums. Doubt and fear burned his gut like acid, but for better or worse, he trusted Sandra. First shock then gratitude flashed into her eyes. She obviously wasn’t used to people having faith in her. Humans could be so foolish. Sandra was a bright scientist, one that if given half a chance, could have made strides in the human world.
He pretended not to notice the you’ll-never-be-as-good-as-Tash look in all the Arians. He’d been given that look all his life, but he didn’t care.
His telicator beeped.
“Vaughn, here.”
“Vaughn, this is Krup. We’re approaching Lathea. We need you on the bridge.”
“On my way.” He motioned at Greum. “Security put Greum’s body on one of the beds. Then search Greum’s quarters. I want his quarters turned upside down to see if there are any other surprises. Then report back to me immediately.”
They both answered at once. “Yes, sir.”
He glanced at Sandra. “If you need me…”
She smiled and lifted up her telicator. “I’ll call you.”
He nodded curtly and left. He headed toward the elevator, but couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that something wasn’t right. The Kamtrinian commander Cer had let it slip that the betrayer was female, but then quickly backtracked saying it was just a slip of the tongue. What if he’d been telling the truth? What if Greum was murdered because he stumbled onto something he shouldn’t have? Ivona had claimed that he’d attacked her, and she’d been forced to kill him.
He stepped into the elevator. “Bridge.”
He hoped he wouldn’t regret this, but he made another formable decision that could come back and haunt him.
“Security.”
“Security, here. Lieutenant Blar speaking.”
“What’s your location?”
“We’re just leaving sickbay.”
“Is Ivona with you?”
“No, sir. She decided to stay in sickbay. Marc said she’s still in shock.”
Vaughn took a deep breath. “Send another security team to search her quarters.”
“Sir?”
“That’s an order, Blar. Vaughn, out.” He leaned his back against the wall. Weariness beat down on his shoulders and squeezed the air out of his lungs. Tash never had anyone second guessing him, even after Sutois.
The doors opened up to more questioning and hostile stares. He forced himself to walk onto the bridge with his head held up high as if he were Tash or the Admiral.
“Status, Navigator.”
“We’re orbiting the planet, Lathea.”
“With the Kamtrinian ship closing in on us,” Stan mumbled. “What are your orders now, Vaughn?”
Vaughn ignored him. “Krup, have we heard anything from the United Planet Confederation.”
Krup shook his head. “No, sir. The Kamtrinian ship continues to jam our frequencies.”
Vaughn sat in Tash’s chair. “We maintain status.”
Stan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Excuse me? That’s suicide.”
Vaughn crossed his legs as if he hadn’t a care in the universe. “I assure you, it’s not.”
Stan crossed his arms over his chest. “I take it this has to do with your grand plan?”
“Actually, it does.”
“Which is?”
“I’m counting on Cer’s arrogance.”
Stan rolled his eyes. “Why, may I ask?”
“Because Cer is counting on my inexperience––”
“You are inexperienced.” Stan’s observation made the hairs on the back of Vaughn’s neck prickle.
“I plan on waiting for him to go into orbit and pursue us.”
“Which he will, and then he’ll blow us up.”
“No, he won’t.” He turned to Grod. “Navigator, the minute the Kamtrininans pull into orbit behind us, I want you to plot a course straight up.”
“Straight up, sir?”
“Yes, Helmsman. Since the planet’s so big, they won’t be able to see us
until it’s hopefully too late. I’m counting on Cer to be stuck in one dimensional thinking. I need you to do a hard right on my command.”
Stan’s eyes brightened. “You plan on coming behind them?”
“Yes.”
For the first time, Stan smiled. “You plan on blowing them up?”
Vaughn grinned. “Absolutely.” He contacted Rye.
“Engineering, Rye here.” His voice was less than pleased.
“Rye, we’re orbiting the planet Lathea. Go to ultra-speed five.”
“But at that speed, Vaughn, the Kamtrinians will be able to overtake us.”
“They would have been able to overtake us anyway.”
“This is suicide, Vaughn. Tash never would––”
“I am in command here, Rye. Not Tash. I’ve given you an order, and I expect it to be obeyed.”
Mutinous silence was his answer, but Vaughn refused to give into one of Rye’s temper tantrums. Rye could be pigheaded, especially when it came to the Intrepid or the crew.
“Is this the same order you gave Marc to watch both our brother and father die?”
All heads turned to stare with open hostility at Vaughn, as if he’d transformed into a Kamtrinian.
“I gave no such order.” Vaughn’s voice was calm, but anger flared through his veins and his bear threatened to burst out.
“Then, why did Marc contact me and report that we found the culprit and the poisonous plant that is killing our brother and father?” His voice turned into a snarling growl that would have scared the pants off any Arian. Once turned into a bear, Rye was deadly, more powerful than Tash or Vaughn, and he’d wounded more than his share of enemies.
At least Rye held together enough not to reveal Greum’s name.
“Rye, I’m not abandoning our family to die. Sandra has a theory–”
“Sandra’s wrong. Marc says that we’re wasting time.”
“I disagree. Rye, I’m worried that you can’t get yourself under control. Do you want to leave engineering and go to sickbay, or do you want to follow my orders and fight the Kamtrinians?”
A loud hiss and snarl reverberated over the intercom and Vaughn waited patiently drumming his fingers on the armrest. He knew what Rye would do.
“I’ll carry out your orders, Vaughn. But you’re taking a big risk with all of our lives. I hope your mate knows what she’s doing.”
“She does. Vaughn, out.”
Or at least he hoped she did.
He got out of his chair and motioned to Stan who came over to him. Vaughn lowered his voice. “I need you to do two background checks for me. Go back as far as you can and report what you find.”
Stan studied him. “This has to do with the intruder, doesn’t it?”
“Possibly.” So far, besides security, he’d kept Greum’s name quiet. He didn’t want an uproar or speculations given until he was sure.
“Who are they?”
“Greum and Ivona in sickbay.”
Stan raised his eyebrow. “How far back?”
“Leave nothing unturned.”
He nodded, but didn’t respond and returned to his station.
Vaughn couldn’t do anything but wait.
Sandra ignored Marc’s open sneer and Ivona’s disgust. Neither one of them had faith in her. It was as if she’d been transplanted in another dimension with Oscar and her mother.
She studied the medical boards that continued to broadcast bad news. Breath shallow, heart beat slow, temperature dropping, brain waves slowing.
But she wasn’t going to be deterred. Everything in her gut, and all the way down to her pretty toenails, told her that the key was coldness. Whatever this thing was, it wouldn’t like cold.
“I want to try something.”
“What, pray tell is that?” Marc folded his arms across his chest.
“Do you have a walk-in freezer?”
He blinked. “Yes, why?” He drew out the answer as if he knew what her response would be.
Sandra cleared her throat. “I want to put Tash in the freezer.”
“Excuse me?” Marc motioned toward Tash. “That’ll kill him.”
“He’s dying already.”
He narrowed his eyes into tiny slits of green hate. “Maybe he wouldn’t if he were researching the Echium Glauca.”
But Sandra refused to be deterred. “Vaughn gave you an order to obey me. Should I contact him and tell him that you spurned his order?”
Marc’s face turned five shades of purple and he clenched his fists, but pressed his arms against his side as if he were struggling not to rip her apart.
Don’t turn into a bear. Don’t turn into a bear. Don’t turn into a bear.
“No.” His word was simple, but his whole body said a different message. “If Tash dies, it will be on your head. Just remember he’s our beloved captain.”
A light quiver flapped in her gut, sending fear flying up her throat. She straightened her stance. “I understand.”
“Fine, I’ll get a geodrift.” He turned to walk over to a nearby wall and passed Ivona who had been watching their exchange silently.
Suddenly, she pulled out her eruptor and fired at Marc. Marc fell harder than a sack of bricks.
Sandra screamed. “What are you doing!”
“You really are smart for a human.” Ivona’s tears were gone, replaced with a sinister smile that would have frightened Thanos.
“You, it’s you.”
“Yes. It’s me.” She motioned her eruptor toward Tash and the Admiral. “I really can’t let you save them.”
“The coldness would have worked, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh, yes, it would. The rarets from Ocrion hate the cold. The cold freezes their skin and then they can’t move. Without movement and the ability to feed, they die.”
“Why? Why are you doing this?”
Ivona laughed, a laugh that turned Sandra’s blood cold. “I’m sure that idiot Vaughn told you what happened on Sutois.”
Sandra needed time, time she didn’t have. “Some of it.” She carefully slid her hand behind her back where she’d stuck the eruptor.
“Some of it? Did he tell you how his father murdered my mother?”
Sandra stopped moving her hand. “What?”
“My mother was a nurse on the Intrepid when the Admiral was captain. He left her on the planet to save his own skin.”
Ivona shook with hate, resentment, and grief. Maybe Sandra could use her emotion against her. “The Admiral is a great man. I don’t believe you. I need proof.”
“Proof? You want proof?”
Sandra shrank from her shrieking voice. She took a deep breath and lifted her chin. “I’m a scientist. Of course, I need proof.”
Ivona moved with lightning speed and snatched Sandra’s hair. She yanked hard. “Fine. I’ll show you.”
She gritted her teeth. “Why aren’t you killing me?”
Ivona whispered in her ear. “Because I have special plans for you.” She ripped out Sandra’s telicator and her eruptor tossing them onto the floor. “Just in case you get any ideas, or your mate tries to find you. Now move or I’ll sizzle your insides like I did Greum’s.”
Sandra’s legs shook, and fear rooted in her gut like a gnarled creeper. Sandra couldn’t believe she thought this woman could be her friend.
Now, she was her enemy. Her killer.
Chapter 14
Vaughn sat on Tash’s chair. His nerves crawled over him like ants. His insides twisted and twisted and twisted until he thought his intestines would burst.
What if he was wrong?
“Vaughn.” Navigator Grod turned around. “The Kamtrinian ship is now orbiting the planet Lathea.”
Let this work.
Krup turned to Vaughn. “The commander Cer is requesting an audience with you, sir.”
Vaughn waved his hand. “Put him on the screen.”
“Greetings, imposter Captain. I take it your brother is still in peril.”
Anger surged through Vaug
hn like a forest fire, but he forced himself to put a mask on his face and not clench his fists. Cer appeared even more smug than he had last time. The light in his ship made his skin shine like a blinding beacon.
Tension crackled through the bridge, and he swore he could feel everyone’s heart beating, threatening to burst with fear. “What is it that you want?”
“I came to give you terms.”
Vaughn lifted an eyebrow. “Terms?”
“I told you once. Hand over the Intrepid, and you may save the lives of your crew. Refuse and die.”
Vaughn leaned back in his chair. “You said may, Cer. Your eagerness betrays you. You have no plans to spare my crew. So, the answer is no.”
“Then prepare to die. Communications out.”
The screen went blank.
Vaughn hit the ship all communication button. “Crew, this is Vaughn. Battle stations. Brace yourselves.”
He contacted engineering. “Rye, go to ultra-speed eight. Now.”
“But––” Rye stammered.
“Rye, do it now!”
“Ultra-speed eight.”
The Intrepid sped, threatening to shake apart. Stars and the fiery planet whipped into blurs.
“Now, Helmsman. Hard up.”
“Yes.” Inry punched the controls and steered the Intrepid straight up.
SHOOOOOOM
Ten kilometers….twenty kilometers…thirty kilometers…forty kilometers.
Vaughn slammed into the arm of his chair. His face stretched, his skin flapped as if being pulled and pinched. Pain throbbed in his side, but he didn’t take his eyes off the screen.
“Navigator, where is the Stealth?”
Grod studied his screen. “They’re right below us, Vaughn.”
Vaughn’s heart pounded and adrenaline flashed through him. He set on the edge of the seat, holding his breath. “This is going to be close. Tell me when they’ve moved ahead.”
He contacted engineering again. “Rye, stand by with photon ruptors.”
“Photon ruptors ready, Vaughn.”
“Stand by, Rye.”
“Standing by, Vaughn.”
“They’ve moved ahead of us,” Grod said.
“Plot a course behind them now. Helmsman, drop the Intrepid.”