Starla clung to Dagan and collected the many sensations which flooded her quivering body. She had believed the experience would be enjoyable, but it was magnificent. Unless her wits and instincts had been destroyed, it was obvious she had won the man of her heart. She belonged to Dagan Latu in evei-y way except one: legal bonding, a marital state which might never occur. But she would love and
desire this galactic-hopping rogue until her soul lived among the stars in Kahala.
Dagan moaned and tensed as his climactic moment arrived. A landslide of pleasure carried him away as he found intoxicating release. He cherished every thrust and spasm to the fullest, and the woman who provided them. His mouth and hands continued to send sweet and receptive messages to her; this time, they were ones of satisfaction, joy, and serenity. His heart brimmed with love and jubilation; his mind preened with pride; his spirit soared with victory. Starla was his of her own free will, he told himself, at least until his mission was finalized. But she would remain his forever if he could find a way to extricate her from her past recklessness. "I love you, Starla Vedris. I've never known such pleasure and peace of mind."
She saw his tender gaze and was convinced he spoke the truth, evoking mixed emotions. Her fingers traced his sensual lips as she said "I love you, too, Dagan; I always v/ill, no miatter our fates."
Many deegas passed before Starla and Dagan found themselves waiting in the Adika's teleportation room to carry out their next moonbeam raid.
She glanced at the authentic-looking Seki emblem on the dark-green space ranger jumpsuit. "I presume these uniforms and insignia mean we're attacking somewhere in Kalfa. We—" Starla halted and slirieked, "Pmlu. Dagan, we're under attack! That was a photon blast! Let's get to the bridge and save ourselves." She raced out the door with him behind her and yelling for her to be careful.
After they joined the Icarians, they found a panicked Sach piloting the ship while an injured Auken handled the weapon's controls with one hand.
While trying to evade enemy fire and escape the larger and slower vessel, the less than superb pilot shouted, "It
was a trap! We veered off when she lacked the proper signal, but she came after us and fired on us!"
That told Starla and Dagan they had decloaked to send some type of signal to their target, and hadn't received the desired response.
A worried Auken glanced up. "Glad you came; I haven't had time to summon you since things went wrong. Starla, take over as pilot and get us out of here; at least get an obstacle between us and them; our force shield and cloaking device aren't functioning."
As she took the captain's seat from Sach, Starla sent a furtive signal to Cypher in the concealed Liska which indicated he was not to interfere in the grim situation unless she requested help or a rescue. Her darting gaze rapidly scanned the ship's instruments and monitors as her keen mind plotted an escape course and assessed the extent of their current peril.
With the skilled female at the helm and putting distance between the Adika and the transporter, Auken continued. "Dagan, see what you can do about the problems with my force shield and cloaker. Sach will help you repair them while I operate the weapons. We have speed and agility and a superior pilot on our side while you're getting the ship back to normal."
"I'm heading for that astroid belt twenty preons away," Starla revealed. "It's dangerous to challenge one, but it might be our only chance for escape and survival with our deflectors down. Since you're hurt and your reactions might be delayed or restricted, Dagan should be in charge of our defense until we're out of their range. With luck, they won't follow us into that hurtling maze. Sach can be checking out our problems while we head for our destination; then Dagan can join him after we reach it." After Auken nodded agreement to her suggestions, Starla advised, "Dagan, fire only if absolutely necessary. With our shield and cloaker mal-fiinctioning, any drain on our power source could overload
it and shut down our engine or life-support unit. Besides, if we strike them with a blast, that will only provoke them into pursuing us at all costs, especially if those are Sekis or I-GAFQTsr
"She's right," Auken concurred. "Defend but don't attack." He looked at his second best friend and said, "Get started on those repairs, Sach; Dagan will join you soon. I'll watch the monitors for them."
No one spoke again in an attempt to prevent distracting Starla from her evasive course of action as she closed the distance to her target. With Dagan and Auken's helpful warnings, she dodged all incoming blasts with maneuvers that elated her teammates and astonished her pursuers.
Dagan was glad his lover's defense suggestion sounded logical so he wouldn't have to fire on the other ship. He was relieved that even though their survivals v>^ere in jeopardy, she had tried to avoid having life-taking charges added to their records as they had agreed. That told him she loved him and wanted a future with him. If it came down to a fierce battle, could he, Dagan mused, should he destroy the other ship and crew to save their lives and to protect his crucial mission? He hoped he didn't have to confront that awesome dilemma, nor endure her capture. He realized there was another possible peril: he recognized the location as being near the planet of Orr in his world's galaxy; if Sekis or I-GAF agents weren't in current pursuit, those forces could be soon if their persistent opponents summoned help while the Adika was vulnerable and their retreat was hindered. He dared not look at or speak to his cherished love, as he could cause either or both of them to lose focus on their critical tasks. His hands itched to take charge of the controls, but he couldn't do a better job than she was doing, though it would keep him from feeling so helpless.
Starla's anxiety and suspense mounted by the preon as she struggled to concentrate on getting them to safety. She must avoid exposure of herself and her mission, and cer-
tainly prevent the deaths of whomever was assailing them. The traveUng expanse of scattered space debris and irregular-shaped bodies which ranged from a few to several hundred migs in diameter loomed ahead of them, but she was afraid the next photon blast would disable the ship before they could reach cover. If that happened, Dagan would be captured and. . . . Stay alert, Bree! You have to get yourself and your beloved out of this perilous trap!
^nixtssn
At last, the Adika reached the asteroid field before the other vessel could overtake it. Starla murmured to the others, "If C3^her-T were here, he would get us through this belt without a problem and he could handle our repairs with haste and skill. But I'm glad he isn't here and won't be entering this perilous region because it could interfere with his circuits and damage him; I'm glad he's at Noy and I hope he's replacing the water in my ship's system in case we need the Liska for our next raid." She concluded the intelligent android would grasp her clues and not follow the Adika; she was certain he would understand she wanted him to return to the Free-Zone.
Starla guided the ship into the belt, then positioned it behind and kept pace with an asymmetrical body for a while. She observed the other objects moving around them, eluding them as necessary. Within preons, it was obvious the Kalfans didn't enter the hazardous location, at least not at the same penetration point. She glanced at the golden-haired male whose black gaze was locked on the forward screen and said, "Auken, it should be safe for Dagan to initiate our repairs. You and I can monitor the sensors."
Auken agreed, and Dagan left the bridge for the engineering section.
"How's your hand?" Starla asked the scowling Icarian. "Do you need to go bind it for comfort?" He shook his head, and she asked, "What happened back there?"
"I was taking my seat after I . . . stood to optically scan the transporter when she fired on us. The unexpected jolt knocked me down and I twisted my wrist; that's why Sach took over as pilot until you arrived."
"Why did they attack? Were you given the wrong code word or signal?"
"They fired the preon we decloaked to check her out. I wasn't given a chance to communicate with them, and they didn't issue a warning."
Starla knew he didn't have
to stand to look out the viewer screen, so Auken had needed to be near the transascreen — perhaps with the strange black box still laying nearby—to check for that signal Moig had mentioned to her before she placed him in an ill-fated coma. With luck, Starla hoped, Cypher had picked up the frequency when he recorded the incident for evidence. Since the raid had been foiled, she wondered if that meant Syrkin had exposed himself, been removed, and hadn't been able to alert Tochar or Auken to trouble before his downfall. "Did you say anything to them after they fired on us?" she asked. "Do you know who's aboard that ship?"
"I used the watchword we were given; it must have been changed because it didn't halt their attack, and they never identified themselves."
"That's strange," she murmured, keeping an eye on a big asteroid as she began to weave her way through the in-motion maze.
"More than strange if you ask me. Don't worry; Tochar will find out what happened and make certain it doesn't occur again."
"If we get out of this trap alive," she muttered with a frown as she evaded collision with another large asteroid. She guessed their pursuers were Sekis and doubted those space rangers would give up the chase this soon. She tried to surmise their opponent's strategy so she could outwit it. She didn't want Dagan captured along with Auken and Sach
as that wouldn't give her the time or opportunity to explain the truth to him as she struggled to convince those officers of her identity and mission. Until she proved herself, she would be locked away like one of the villites on this craft.
The passage of time seemed contradictory: snailish, yet swift. Starla perceived the heightening of Auken's tension and suspected he was afraid, a condition which the alien must have found annoying. She also was apprehensive, but neither summoned aid from their busy teammates and waited in silence as they watched for hazards.
Dagan finally communicated with Auken to relate he was checking on several solenoids, triaxial connectors, transducers, multiplexer interface adapter, and two inverters. He had replaced a couple of damaged parts, bypassed a module he didn't have a replacement for, and repaired another component. "I'm re-engaging the deflector shield now," he announced, "but she has a weak spot in section three, so keep that side away from the enemy if they return. Most of the sensors and scanners are back to normal. The indicators seem to be ftinctioning correctly, but I can't be certain without the right kind of flow meter; there's one on Tochar's ship I can use after we return to base. I'll replace these substitutes I've rigged and the other damaged parts from those we got from Sion if Tochar hasn't sold them during our absence. Sach has sealed those two small ruptures, and pressure in all compartments has stabilized. We're still working on the cloaker; the interface coupling is ftised solid; I'm trying to reroute it around that segment."
"I know you're doing your best, Dagan," Starla urged, "but we need it ftinctioning fast so they can't detect our exit point and intercept us when we come out of this belt. We can't stay in here much longer; the field is getting very tight and crowded and navigation is becoming difficult. At least with the force shield up, we can bounce the smallest ones off our hull if necessary, but the large bodies are increasing in number and in velocity."
Dagan wished he could say something comforting and intimate to her, but that was unwise. He responded on the internal com-system, "If this idea works, I'll have it repaired in about ten to twenty preons. Don't worry, Starla, you can do it, you're one of the best pilots I've seen. I'll hurry."
"Why don't we halt and wait here for him to finish, conserve our power?" Sach asked Auken. "If those Kalfans are trying to get ahead of us and lay another trap, we don't want to zoom right into their snare."
"We can't, Sach," Starla replied. "Natural drift would crash us into one of the big asteroids, or pull us into that radiation beh to our right and knock out instrumentation. We have to keep going slowly and dodging these obstacles. If it gets worse, I'll have to turn around and keep pace with the original entry point; but we shouldn't exit without that cloaker. If there were Sekis or parsec jumpers aboard that vessel, by now, they could have an entire unit laying in wait for us along both perimeters. I can't get an accurate reading for other lifeforms with so much interference from this debris."
More time passed, and Starla noticed that Auken was showing signs of extreme tension. She knew why: she had been compelled to retreat along their previous course to escape the increase of asteroids; and he feared the Kalfans knew that action would be mandatory and would be waiting ahead to seize them.
"What's that?" she asked, motioning to the apparatus near him.
"Something personal of mine," Auken replied, and put it away.
So, she mused, still not trusted completely. . . .
Dagan and Sach arrived on the bridge, and the ebony-haired male said, "Engage her and see if she responds; we've done all we can. If she fails, we'll have to make a run for it."
"Hope for the best, my friends," Starla murmured as she
pressed the button. She smiled and whooped with joy. "She seems to work. Let's get out of here and put some distance between us and this quadrant."
"My suggestion exactly before that device realizes Sach and I tricked her and she gets angry and quits on us for spite," Dagan jested with a broad grin to help calm everyone's tension. "With that said, I'll hush so I won't distract our superior pilot."
As soon as the ship cleared the asteroid field, Starla cloaked them and went to starlight speed. As she performed those tasks, Auken, Sach, and Dagan scanned their monitors and sensors for the presence of other ships, but found none. Even so, each of them knew that another cloaked vessel could be lurking nearby; for that reason, she kept the Adika obscured until they were far away from their thwarted raid.
"Those were some excellent maneuvers, Starla. We're lucky to have you," Auken complimented her as he relaxed.
"Thank you, my friend. I'm going to decloak soon so I won't put stress on Dagan's repairs in case the device is needed later."
"Sounds like a smart precaution to me," the band leader replied.
Dagan looked at his weary lover and offered, "Why don't I take over for a v/hile, Starla? You must be tense and sore from all the strain and pressure back there. I'm sure you can use a break."
"That would be appreciated, Dagan." She sent him a glowing smile and mouthed she loved him as they exchanged places. She knew he couldn't respond in like kind because he was facing the others, but he did give her arm a gentle squeeze as he assisted her to her feet. Once more they had survived near-death, Starla mused, but more perils loomed before them, and the possibility of eternal and agonizing separation.
* * *
Three deegas later, Starla and Sach were summoned from their quarters and told a medical wares ship was within their reach for a raid.
"If we take her cargo back to Tochar," Auken reasoned, "this trek won't be a total waste of time and supplies."
And it will help appease that fiendal's^ry. Starla's mind reasoned.
"Medical products and drugs sell for high prices in secluded ports," Auken continued. "She should be a simple challenge with little risk."
"What if she's a trap?" Sach wondered. "Been put between us and the boundary to tempt us to take her to avoid going back emptyhanded?"
"What do you think, Starla?" the team leader questioned.
"Sach could be right; it would be a cunning tactic." She pretended to concur, in case the medical goods were in desperate need somewhere.
"What do you think, Dagan?" Auken queried the last member.
"I say we slip into our Seki uniforms and lay claim to her haul," the Kalfan agent answered; he would explain his clever reason to Starla later.
Auken grinned and said, " Dagan's right; we take her load."
After everyone was deceptively attired as space rangers, the raid was carried out without a problem, and a valuable cargo was taken aboard the Adika.
When the group reached Noy, it was late at night, so they did not meet with their leader or unload their cargo. Ins
tead, Sach, Dagan, and Starla took a shuttle to the landing grid while Auken remained aboard his "injured" ship to sleep there. A fatigued Sach bid the couple farewell and headed for a nightspot to enjoy several drinks before retiring to his abode.
Starla decided, much as she loved and craved Dagan, she leeded to concentrate on her mission and duty tonight, not 3n him. "I don't think you should come to my ship and I shouldn't go to your chamber tonight," she said, then searched her mind for a plausible excuse. "I'm certain To-jhar is furious about our failure and will be looking for somebody to blame for our recent trouble. We not only didn't get those crystals he wanted, but we almost fell into a lethal trap. I suspect his Kalfan contact failed him; since we were assaulted, he might have been exposed and captured; if that's the reason, Tochar will be reality-impaired and furious. It could look suspicious for two of his newest team members to be so close so fast, despite our admissions during those Thorin tests. I know we haven't been alone for wegs, Dagan, but we don't want to take any risks of displeasing him. I doubt that medical haul will assuage him when it's moonbeams he wants badly. We should let him settle down tomorrow, then get together the following deega. Do you concur?"
Dagan, who needed to send and receive a report from Phaedrig, was compelled to respond, "Yes, I think that's wise. For all we know, he could be watching us this very moment and wondering if we're plotting against him. We should hug and kiss and go our separate ways tonight."
Moonbeams and magic Page 24