“Jana made me feel differently. We can’t alter the past, but we can build a new future as brothers. I will openly claim you as my brother and I’ll split the Saar empire in half to share with you. A truce, Ryker.”
Satanic laughter shattered the tense silence. “You offer me nothing more than I will claim legally when you are dead. Do you think I desire your affection? Or understanding?”
“You can’t win this time, Ryker, too much is at stake,” Varian argued quietly.
“Look at my face, Varian. She married both of us. Would it ease your suffering to learn she mumbles your name at a climactic moment?”
Rage thundered violently through Varian. He didn’t want to provoke Ryker into an attack, not with that laser gun in his hand. He had to stall. He said sadly, “You’ve won, Ryker. You possess the only thing I truly love, and I can never get her back. Killing me would be like killing part of yourself. We look alike; we carry the same blood. Why end my suffering through death?”
Ryker glowered at Varian. “I will never be free until you are dead. Until Shara…is avenged. Until Jana bears my son. When the Saar heir reaches age one, I will bury Jana at your side; then you two can spend eternity together.”
Varian clenched his fists behind his back. He wanted nothing more than to strangle him with his bare hands.
“Did you set up that trap for me on Karlim?” Varian inquired.
“Naturally,” Ryker boasted. Yet Ryker didn’t expose any connection between Taemin or Jurad and that bloody incident.
When Varian probed him gingerly about Jana’s abduction, Ryker told him the truth about the entire episode. “Like I said, brother, I didn’t plan that crime. Although I will admit your little ruse about your wedding did inspire mine and positively insured Jana’s agreement. Thanks. You see, little Cass is dead and couldn’t respond.” Ryker related how Canissia had vanished. “So, there is no evidence or witnesses against me. Any last words, big brother?”
“What did Jana say when she learned we’re brothers?” Varian inquired.
Ryker laughed oddly. “I was teasing you. She hasn’t seen me without my disguise. She has no idea who I am or that we’re related,” Ryker revealed.
“Can I see her one last time, Ryker? Please…”
Ryker glared at Varian. “So you can escape on the way to Darkar? If you slay me, you can go after her. She is confined in my private complex. The entry code is simple: my name in numbers in correct order, then reversed, then every other letter, and my date of birth. Did you know Cass gave me Jana for my birthday? The day you should have died at midnight. You see, brother, all you have to do to get Jana and all I own is to defeat me. Just think, once inside my complex you will be in possession of all my secrets.”
Ryker was baiting and taunting him: tempting him with Jana’s life, with obtaining all of Ryker’s holdings by marrying his wife and heir, with securing some of the most powerful secrets in the Universe! “You want us to battle to the death?”
Ryker inhaled deeply and leveled the gun on Varian’s heart. “No, dear brother, I’m afraid I can’t risk challenging your enormous prowess. I want you to die knowing how close you stand to acquiring your every dream or wish. By tonight, I’ll have mine. Anything you want me to tell Jana, next year before I plant her body next to yours?”
“The truth, Ryker. Let her hear it before you murder her. I love her.”
“I know.” Ryker sneered. “That’s why you came here alone and unarmed. Idiot! You can replace a whore, but not your life. Good-bye, my brother and matchless adversary. I shall miss our invigorating battles.”
The shrill sound of laser fire echoed over the harsh landscape. The sable-haired male in black sank to his knees, sapphire eyes glued to the bronze face of his half brother. He had fired a stun-beam. Two pairs of blue eyes clashed in lethal rivalry, as the fates had decreed. The gun setting was changed from “stun” to “kill.” The laser fired a second shot, a fatal one. No plea for mercy or cry of pain escaped those lips whose grin mocked the victory. A booted toe slid beneath the limp body and rolled him onto his back in the reddish-brown dust. He leaned over and forcefully ripped the military insignia, stars, and stripes from the man’s ebony uniform. He knelt to make certain the man was dead and the painful past was settled. It was done; he was free.
Jana was walking around a laboratory examining the sophisticated equipment. When the door opened, Jana turned. She grasped the arm of the chair, for she was dizzy.
She shook her head and blinked her eyes. The beautiful blonde with emerald eyes walked over to her and halted before her. The woman of fifty was exquisite. No one had to tell Jana who was standing before her. “You’re…Shara. I thought you were dead.”
“Everyone thinks I’m dead, little alien. That wasn’t me they buried.” Princess Shara Triloni took delight in explaining how she had murdered Galen and Amaya Saar, then faked her suicide with cryonic inducer chemicals.
Jana’s fuzzy brain wondered why Varian would have an affair with…No, it must have been Galen and Shara! Her brain struggled to reason out this clue. If Shara was the one involved with Galen, then…
Shara could tell from Jana’s intense look that she was trying to unravel the mystery. “Relax, little alien. This will explain all.” She pulled a cord which drew aside a curtain to display a picture of Ryker.
Jana looked at the green-eyed blond male and asked, “Explains what?”
Shara pressed a button which caused the picture to shimmer and alter like a hologram. Jana went white. “Ryker Triloni is my son, little alien. Galen Saar was my lover. Since you are a scientist, surely you know that sons favor their fathers in our world. Do I need to say more?” Shara teased wickedly.
“Varian…and Ry-Ryker are bro-brothers?” she stammered.
Shara laughed wildly, almost hysterically, as she disclosed the past to Jana. But the confession only stimulated Shara’s frenzied speech. The madwoman exposed the devious machinations leading to Jana’s abduction, and her impending fate. “Soon, I will have your beautiful face and I will become Jana Greyson,” she shouted, grasping Jana’s chin and shaking it violently.
Jana’s head whirled. She murmured, “You can’t become a wife to your own…son. Varian…will know you…aren’t me.”
Shara lovingly stroked the picture of Ryker. “To me and for me he is Galen. We have been all to each other for five years. He cannot bear to touch another woman. I fill all of his needs, all of them.” She pushed the frame aside to expose a safe. Mumbling the combination as she fingered it, she told Jana, “I have kept journals since I came of age as a woman. Here, behind my love, are all my secrets. When I become Jana Greyson Triloni, I will destroy them and begin a new one for my new life.”
Jana tried to rise and flee but her body would not cooperate. Shara turned and laughed at Jana’s helplessness. “Do not fret, little alien, it wasn’t poison. It is only a tranquilizer in your wine to keep you under control. You poor thing. You didn’t realize you married the image of your lost lover. Oh, yes, little alien, your marriage is quite legal and eternally binding; and you are my son’s sole heir.” Shara clarified any doubts in Jana’s mind about the legality of the wedding.
“Don’t you see, little alien? That’s why Varian sent you here, to woo my son, his brother. After Ryker married you, Varian planned to have him assassinated. Then Varian could marry his brother’s widow and have all of this,” she declared amid crazed laughter as she motioned all around them.
When Jana weakly refuted Shara’s conclusions, the woman informed her of her freedom granted by Tirol. “Are you a fool, little alien? Can’t you see how they’ve all used you as the pawn in their daring schemes? The plan was always to get at Ryker through you, then at Trilabs through your marriage to Varian.”
Jana wanted to shout, You’re insane. She knew that was the worst statement she could make to this madwoman. She shuddered in panic as the woman closed the safe and leaned against the portrait of Ryker. Jana’s teary gaze looked at a near image of
her love. Varian had freed her? He had allowed her kidnapping to carry out a clever ruse? Varian and Ryker, half brothers…
Jana battled to keep a clear head and her consciousness, but so many words were spinning around inside her head. Why had the relationship between the half brothers been kept such a deep, dark mystery? No doubt many, most, people knew the truth! Varian had not been betrayed by an alien lover! Had his Alliance assignment been to find a woman who resembled Shara Triloni and to dangle her before Ryker’s nose, to ensnare her and trick her into stealing Trilabs from his bastard brother? It was such an ingenious, daring plan. Except for one unknown factor: Shara herself was still alive…
Had Varian believed he could obtain Trilabs for the Alliance, and eventually have her as his wife? Why conceal her freedom? Why conceal his past? For certain, Varian did not trust her. He had manipulated her life for monthsl! But why? At least she now understood her strange attraction to Ryker! It was amazing how those green eyes and blond hair masked his identity, yet subtly announced it! This woman was going to kill her. How would Varian feel when he discovered “Jana” wasn’t his Jana…?
Suddenly Shara slapped Jana, then slapped her again, then again. “Wake up, little alien. Do you think you have me fooled?” the woman screamed.
Jana’s ears were ringing. She could not defend herself or reply. She heard Shara scoff, “I know my son craves your young body. As I see Galen in him, he sees a young Shara in you. Before his return from slaying Varian, I will prevent you from tempting him again.”
Jana struggled weakly and tried to question her horrifying words. She sneered in Jana’s ashen face and said, “Your lover is dead by now.” As tears eased down Jana’s cheeks, Shara relished the telling of Ryker’s lethal trap for Varian.
Shara yanked Jana to her rubbery legs and shoved her onto a surgical table. After strapping her arms and legs securely, Shara took a syringe and placed it against the throbbing pulse on Jana’s throat. “You will never get my son,” she vowed, then pressed the plunger. The instrument hissed as the potent liquid was forced through the skin and into Jana’s jugular vein. “Perhaps I will punish Ryker for his lust. Once he obtains the Saar name and empire, as his wife, Jana, I will arrange his demise and take everything. Everything,” she stressed, laughing wildly as she danced around the room. “Good-bye, little alien. Thanks for a matchless face and identity.”
Jana’s vision fluctuated between shadows and sparkling dots. Shara’s voice began to fade away as her thoughts blurred together. Was this how it would end for her and Varian, dying separately at the same time? As a scientist, Jana knew this was no trick; she knew her end was near. Even in death and betrayal, I shall always love you, Varian Saar, always…
Jana’s slender body gradually relaxed into black nothingness. Her ears could no longer hear Shara’s crazed singing. She made no attempt to shield her eyes from the bright lights above her; she could not. It was too late. Her chest no longer rose and fell. The chemical had worked quietly and efficiently. Jana’s trek into madness had ended.
Shara checked Jana, finding no pulse, no respiration, no life. She would make it appear Jana had died of natural causes or self-inflicted ones.
Ten minutes later, the blond-haired man entered the same room. Sighting Jana bound to the surgical table, he rushed to it. She was still warm, but there were no vital signs. His green gaze narrowed and hardened. He fingered the scar on his right jawline as it itched when he clenched his teeth in fury.
Shara entered the room and panicked when she saw Ryker bending over Jana’s lifeless body. When he turned and faced her, she wailed, “I tried to save her, my son. I found her too late. It doesn’t matter. We planned to slay her as soon as the doctor gives me her face. Victory, my son, at last we have victory over the Saars. Remove your disguise and claim your rightful heritage.” Shara hurried over to him. “Come, we must celebrate.”
“Why did you kill her?” he snarled.
Shara teased her fingers over the knife scar on his face. “When the surgeon gives me her face, you must have him repair this scar from Varian’s knife.”
Ten fingers wrapped around Shara’s throat and began to tighten. The woman fought for her life. “No, my son, you can’t do this. She is dead. I must take her place. You are legally wed. How will you explain no wife? Come, let us make passionate love as never before.”
“Never, you evil woman. It is all over…” he shouted.
Shara’s mind snapped. She could not endure Ryker/Galen’s rejection once more. Screaming horribly, her hands closed on a knife, and she lunged at him. In the struggle for the knife, they fell to the floor. It was during the ensuing battle that the knife was buried deeply in Shara’s chest.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The man rose slowly. He stared at the dead woman in a near state of shock. Then he crossed the laboratory floor to where Jana lay. He studied her pale face and stroked her hair. He noticed the bottle on the shelf near Jana’s shoulder. He read the label: Drendazine. Then he spotted the syringe.
Shocked, he rushed from the complex and issued startling orders. The security chief said, “Are you sure you want me to lower our force shields and let Commander Saar and his crew transport to the surface?”
“Follow my orders immediately. There’s been a critical accident in my private lab. I need my brother’s help. I’ve formed a truce with the Alliance Star Fleet; their officers and ships are welcome here anytime. Do I make myself clear? My conflicts with Varian and the Alliance are over as of today.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll see to it right now.” The man stared at Ryker Triloni as he returned to his complex. “He’s gone crazy. But orders are orders.”
When Nigel and Tristan were escorted inside the complex, Nigel anxiously questioned, “Any trouble fooling them?”
“None,” Varian responded, “Not even Shara realized I wasn’t Ryker.”
“Shara?” the two men echoed simultaneously.
“I’ll explain later. She’s really dead this time. Tris, I hope I understand what this drug is,” Varian hinted, placing the bottle in Tristan’s grasp.
“Drendazine, it’s a chemical substance for the first step in suspended animation,” the doctor explained. Varian clasped his arm and shouted aloud.
“Shara used it on Jana. I thought she was dead, scared the hell out of me. Follow me, and we’ll bring my love back to me.”
Tristan examined Jana. “Step one was carried out. I wish I knew how long ago Shara injected her. Once the procedure begins, it must be completed or reversed within six hours. If not…” Tristan’s tone indicated death. “Let’s get busy, or it won’t make a difference what she was given. We barely have enough time to save her as it is.” He jabbered nervously as he worked.
“What can Nigel and I do to help?” Varian queried. Surely this wasn’t another cruel sport by fate, to find her only to lose her?
A medical team transported to Darkar, as did a large security team to assume command of the planetoid. As the medical team searched for a life-support unit and the proper chemicals to save Jana, another drama was taking place. Two of Ryker’s loyal men blew up his shuttle bay and communications room, for they had concluded accurately that the man giving orders was not their leader. As commanded by Ryker Triloni in case of an attack, those two crucial areas were to be destroyed. Ryker had not planned on anyone getting inside his complex. But he had taunted Varian with the code before his death. There was no time for the two men to sound an alert or raise the force shield before being captured by Varian’s crew. Ryker’s other employees were instructed to obey Commander Saar’s orders.
“Varian, we’ve got trouble. We have to get Jana back to the ship. Shara made certain Ryker couldn’t revive Jana. She destroyed the life-support units and the antidote. I can’t reverse the process without returning to the Wanderlust. We’d best hurry. Time is critical,” the doctor informed him.
Just then, Varian discovered other infuriating problems: solar flare-ups were blocking communications with hi
s ship and the shuttle refused to start. Varian hurriedly ordered both things repaired.
In preparation for their mission, only two small Spacers had been left on board at Varian’s insistence and all Darkar shuttles but one had been destroyed by Ryker’s cohorts. Time rushed by, and Varian felt the strain of this dire situation. When he ranted at the men working on communications and the shuttle, they told him they were working as fast as possible.
“That isn’t good enough! She’s dying! I have to get her on board the ship!”
When a Spacer landed and Tesla poked his head out to say, “Communications are out, so I thought you might need something. I know you said not to—”
Varian didn’t allow Tesla time to apologize for disobeying his orders not to leave the ship. “You’re a lifesaver, Tesla. I’m damn glad to see you. Get Tris to the ship so he can prepare his equipment, then return for Jana. Be quick, man, her life is in danger.”
Once Tristan was inside a two-seater Spacer, Tesla touched the controls and was off the ground in a moment. Varian watched the Spacer head skyward. He shifted his gaze to the woman in his arms. He gently cradled her and rocked her. “Hold on, love. I can’t lose you again. Hurry, Tesla,” he prayed aloud.
“What’s taking so damn long?” Varian snapped.
“Tesla will return soon. Dockings and takeoffs are timeconsuming.”
“All I know is Jana is slipping away from me with each passing minute, passing beyond my power to save her. If she doesn’t survive this—”
“Get hold of yourself. She’ll make it. You two will live long and happy lives,” Nigel vowed, squeezing his friend’s shoulder.
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