Dani shook her head as they entered. “This is bizarre.”
Both men wore the look well enough, but it was just wrong.
Whatever Dani and Ian had going in the kitchen smelled great. They’d taken turns cooking on the trip to Sandaria. Actual food prep wasn’t necessary since there was plenty of food packs and the 3-D meal generator could whip up virtually anything, but it was a three-day trip and there wasn’t much else to do. On the burner now was some amazing stew.
They’d made the portal jump a few hours ago and would be back on the PortalNet anytime. Another day and a half and they’d arrive at Sandaria’s spaceport.
Kit leaned against the counter and plucked a grape from a bowl. “So where do we start?”
“The compound is the obvious place,” Ian said.
“How large is it?” Kit asked.
“It’s big.” Balastar took a grape of his own and winked. He was remembering the way they’d flirted while escaping the Torogs. The memory had her flushing with heat. “They’ve been there for nearly five hundred years. It’s a significant piece of Ardos.”
“With that many Vertans, we’ll be able to sense them from maybe a tenth of a mile away,” Kit said. “I take it the compound is larger than that?”
“Yes,” Balastar said.
“We’ll have to get inside.” Dani leaned against the counter.
“I might be able to help with that,” Balastar said. “An old friend of my father has the maintenance contract for their electrical. It will be a tremendous risk for him, so I don’t know if he’ll do it, but we can ask.”
“What if they aren’t there?” Kit asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Ian stirred the stew. “If they don’t have them in their compound in Ardos, then Loc would probably put them someplace remote. That’s what I would do.”
“Can we get satellite imaging and canvas the planet?” Kit asked.
“It wouldn’t do any good.” Balastar grabbed a carrot stick. “They would have it shielded.”
Kit snatched the carrot away from him. “What does that mean?”
Balastar pulsed her with psi. Damn. He could punish her anytime. “We use light-bending technology. We can cloak entire stadiums. If they’ve got them someplace visible from a sat, it’s cloaked.”
“The cloaking generators have a signature like your distorters,” Ian said. “Only detectable at short range, but it’s there.”
“Exactly,” Balastar agreed. “If they’re not in the compound, I suggest we split up and start canvassing the planet for the signature. We’ll lay out a grid and start with the more isolated areas.”
Dani groaned. “That’s going to take weeks.”
“Unless anyone has a better idea, it’s all I got.”
“We’re going to need fake IDs if we’re going to rent four cruisers,” Ian said.
“I can take care of that,” Kit said.
Balastar raised an eyebrow.
“What? I can use four separate IDs at different rental agencies. Easy peesy.”
Dani chuckled. “Looks like your background may come in more useful than we thought.”
“My pleasure,” Kit said.
Balastar put on some music, and they spent a relaxed evening eating talking about everything and nothing at all. After Dani and Ian retired, Kit found Balastar on the bridge setting up the ship’s systems for night watch. Seeing the look she gave him, he stood and leaned a hip against the console. “What’s on your mind, beautiful?”
“I was thinking how much my life has changed since meeting you. Hanging out with people like this. Friends…I don’t know. I only ever did that at home, you know? Space was always a different place, a different world. Colder. Harder.”
He pulled her close, and she moaned when he pressed his erection against her. “I think you’ll find it’s still a hard place at times.”
She snaked her hands around his neck. “Very perceptive, Mr. Alder. Perhaps you could show me just how hard?”
His lips pressed against hers as his tongue swept inside. He tasted of the wine from dinner. Delicious. She rubbed against him, building her own desire. “Bedroom, now.”
He didn’t argue. He took his time teasing her. He brought her to the edge and made her beg. Then, finally, he gave her everything she needed and more.
They lay facing each other afterward. She traced her fingers around his chest.
He pulled his thumb across her lips. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
“Yeah, pretty sure I do,” she said.
A shadow crossed his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been thinking about you. Your past. All those IDs.”
Her hand stilled its leisurely exploration. “Is that a problem?” She hoped not, because that’s who she was.
“Relax. It’s more of a question. When the dust settles, what are we going to do?”
She propped herself up on an elbow. “I won’t stop fighting for my planet. You get that, right?”
“I would expect nothing less. And I’ll have your back. But that’s what I mean. What happens when that’s done? What then?”
Her planet free. It was nearly impossible for her to conceive. They’d been trapped for as long as she’d been alive. She lay back down and resumed her exploration of his fine muscular self. “I honestly never thought about it. My life since getting the Tiger has been nothing more than a series of excursions. My future amounted to finishing the current mission and then starting another.”
I told you about my grandfather and the consortium. When I was old enough, I was sent to Solaris 9 and started training. I’ve been running missions ever since.” She’d loved her Opa and missed him dearly.
It’s going to be up to you one day, Kitayaná. We’ll get her built, and you’ll fly her among the stars. You’ll guide Vertans back to space.
“As a child, Opa taught me everything I know. Taught me how to fly and fix our planet-bound planes. Everything he taught me, he expanded on how it was different in space. Unlike other girls going to debutante balls and out on dates, I grew up in cockpits and engine crawl spaces.”
“That explains a lot.”
The old stab of insecurity hit hard. “What do you mean by that?”
“You never struck me as a debutante type.”
“Yeah, well. Thanks to you, I’m learning to fake it.”
Balastar rolled her on top of him. “Don’t ever fake it for me.”
Happiness spread through her. Not only did he accept her for who she was, he preferred it. “Never.”
***
As they made their approach to Sandaria, they decided to minimize the time Balastar and Ian were visible, so the plan was to spend their nights on the ship. As long as they didn’t mess with any of the existing portals, the guild wouldn’t know they were there. Kit would have a spatial distorter with her at all times. The others would remain on the ship. Even if they found all twenty hostages, they could get all but eight out nearly instantly.
Kit sat next to Balastar in the two captain’s chairs with Dani and Ian standing behind them. As acting captain, Kit received the approach vector and hangar designation for the Sandarian orbital spaceport. It was a massive structure befitting the capital of an empire, but it was the capital no more. Kit whistled as they approached. “It looks mostly empty.”
“She’s right,” Balastar said.
“It makes sense,” Ian said, a sadness in his voice. “It’s just another planet now. One without any outstanding resources. Still, I never thought I’d see it like this.”
The spaceport shone in the sky, largely deserted and rather sad. Like a grand ball to which no one had come.
***
Loc sat at his desk and stared at the holo display. The profiles of seven planets had kept his attention for the past hour. There was a chime at his door, and he glanced at his watch. They were right on time. He closed the holo. “Enter.”
Tarkness, Ira, and Tern filed into his
office and took their places in the chairs facing his desk.
“You summoned us, your Excellence?” Tern said. He’d become the de facto voice of the three.
“Yes.” Loc eyed them. This was a crucial moment in his plan. How they reacted to what he was about to say could make or break him. He leaned forward and laced his fingers together. “As you now know, the guild has been built on the falsehood of a god that does not exist.”
They nodded.
“You are also aware, I’m sure, that Sandaria is floundering in economic and political disarray.”
“We have been discussing that very thing,” Tern said. “Now that the emperor is no more, the only thing Sandaria has as a resource is our guild.”
“That’s right. Gordat Prayda was just here. He is losing touch with reality more and more every day. The crowds are back at our gates, and they grow bolder. Gentlemen, I have a plan.” He paused. This was the moment. “We will move the guild and the Vertans to another planet. One we will keep secret. From there we can rebuild the power of the guild and move forward without the guise of a false god.”
Three sets of wide eyes stared back at him. Time seemed to stop as he waited for a response.
Tern was the first. Slowly, then with more vigor, he nodded. “It could work. We could free ourselves of our political restraints.”
“Yes,” Loc said. He thrilled in the knowledge that his plan had taken another step forward.
“If I may be so bold…” Ira’s thinning blond hair stuck out from his head in comical disarray.
“Go on,” Loc said.
“The friction between you and the elders is no secret.”
“Yes,” Loc said, trying to draw the man out. Let them come to the conclusion on their own, and it’s their idea.
“Perhaps we don’t relocate the entire guild?”
And there it is. He’d selected these men for a reason. “Yes. I do believe you have rounded off our plan to perfection.” Loc pulled the holo back up. “Now, I’m sending you this file. I’ve narrowed our new home down to seven planets. I want you three to take a look at them. We need to select one. Remember, secrecy is of the utmost importance. Merrin and his men must not suspect anything.”
“We will need a ship, your highness,” Tern said.
“I think perhaps two,” Loc said. “I plan to take the 3-D fabricators currently working on the compound. Everything must be timed down to the second. We need to be off-world before anyone suspects our intent.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Veera and Akio sat at a table along with the Standich couple, Thomas and Brie. Half their abducted neighbors back on Vertan were there as well. Veera fingered a pendant around her neck. It was a beautiful purple gem that Kit had given her on her last trip home. She thanked the Goddess she’d been wearing it the day the Torogs had come. Her heart ached at the thought she and Akio might never see her again. She sat up straighter. She couldn’t let that happen.
On the other side of the table sat the Portal Master, Tern. Behind him stood the ever present guards. One sported the most ridiculous sideburns she’d ever seen.
“This will be your primary portal making crew,” Tern said. “The other team will be on call when you are not.”
“Why are there so many of us here?” Veera said to Akio.
“I can’t imagine.”
Tern activated his com’s holo. A three dimensional projection of their galaxy took up the entire space above the table. “Today we have five portals to create for the GTO. I assume with this many of you it will not be a problem?”
Confused looks passed between the Vertans.
Veera leaned forward, assuming a lead. “Yes. Barely sufficient, but yes. With this many of us, we can create five portals.” She didn’t want to risk looking at the others, but judging by their body language from her periphery, at least some of them were figuring out the ruse. “They don’t know how it works with us. Just go with it.”
Akio put on a concerned expression. “We’ll need a rest after that many portals.”
Veera suppressed a laugh. Clearly the PMs had a different set of parameters when it came to making portals. Perhaps they could use it to their advantage somehow.
“Excellent,” Tern said. “We will start with Zeron. We have an existing portal there you can anchor to. We’ll move the end to the desired location once you’ve completed the gateway.
There was no disguising the confused looks this time. Veera leaned forward with her arms on the table. “What do you mean a portal we can anchor to? Do you have a spatial distorter in place on Zeron?”
Tern’s annoyance was obvious, as was his impatience. “Of course not. We know you can anchor to our portals. Do not try and convince me otherwise.”
“We can’t do that, can we?” Veera asked Akio.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Tern, I assure you we are unaware of this ability, but we are certainly willing to try.” Veera looked around the table. “Together.”
Everyone nodded agreement.
“How can you not be aware of this?” Tern asked.
“How could we?” Veera countered. “We’ve been trapped on Vertan for thirty years.”
Tern’s squinty eyes roved the Vertans. “You better hope you can pull it off. We already know it’s possible.”
Veera looked down the table at the others. “Everyone please link hands.” She felt ridiculous asking such a thing. They didn’t need others to create portals, let alone link hands.
“How do we find it?” A woman three chairs down whispered loudly.
Veera considered. “The same way we locate a distorter. We know the planet, focus on that, and try to find something that feels right.” Okay, maybe they did need each other after all.
They all concentrated on Zeron. Veera focused her psi on the distorter and projected an imaginary connection in her mind. Had there been a distorter there, she would have been done. She searched, looking for something even vaguely similar. There. She was shocked, but she could, in fact, locate the PM’s portal. What she could not do, however, was make a connection. She poked and prodded, tried visualizing different anchoring techniques, each more ridiculous than the last. Finally, she gave up. Opening her eyes, she discovered most of the others had already done so.
“Well?” Tern said, tapping his finger on the table.
“I found it.” Veera looked to the others. Five or six nodded agreement, but the rest shook their heads.
“Did you find the portal?” she asked Akio.
“I think so, but there’s no way to make the connection.”
“You are correct in that some of us, at least, found the portal,” Veera said.
“But ain’t no way to make that connection.” It was old Diggers. He was here alone, his wife having died a few years back. If anyone was going to cause trouble, it would be him. He had no filters and nothing here or back home to care about.
“You’re lying,” Tern growled.
“No.” Voices around the table erupted.
“I assure you we are not lying,” Veera said. “You have made the repercussions of any failure on our part quite clear. Can you perhaps explain to us why you think this is possible?”
He regarded them a moment before making up his mind. “We have witnessed such a connection first hand.”
“And this was a Vertan?” Brie asked.
Tern stared at Brie. “I assume the fact this person could use these devices would leave no other conclusion.”
“I don’t know.” Veera looked to the others. “Anyone have any thoughts? Ever hear of non-Vertans using the distorters?”
“We haven’t been allowed to lay hands on these in three decades, how would we know?” It was a woman at the end of the table. Veera had seen her in the neighborhood but didn’t know her.
“Well now, it was early days, wasn’t it?” Diggers said, leaning back in his chair.
“He knows something,” Veera said to Akio.
“What can you
tell us, Diggers?” Veera kept her voice calm. The man had a volatile personality and was easily triggered.
“Before our jailers here decided to play God with our planet, we were among the stars.”
“Yes, go on.”
“We met people like us, only different, like our jailer here.”
“I don’t have time for stories, old man.” Tern was losing his patience. “Get on with it.”
Diggers slammed his hands down on the table top. “What I’m sayin’ is that people fell in love. Found psi-mates. Had babies.” He shoved his chair back and crossed his ankles. “Now you get it?”
“Oh,” Veera said. “Why yes, of course. This person—they must have mixed blood.”
Everyone started talking at once until Tern shut them up. “Enough.” His face was red, and his jaw had a twitch on the left side. “We will dispatch ships with your devices to the required locations. You can anchor to those I trust. Until then, you are dismissed.” He turned and left without another word.
Veera looked to her husband. “That was interesting.”
“I hadn’t thought of someone with mixed psi,” Brie said, addressing the couple. “I don’t suppose it was your daughter?”
“No. We’re all Vertan for generations.” Akio rubbed his chin.
“It must be someone who escaped in the early days,” Thomas said. “Like we did.”
“Or their offspring,” Akio said.
“It’s extraordinary.” Veera considered the implications. “If you can anchor to any existing portal, imagine the possibilities.”
Brie had a worried expression. “Clearly Tern was caught off guard by the news.”
Veera didn’t like the look on the woman’s face. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m simply hoping our value hasn’t just evaporated. I doubt they would take the trouble to send us home.”
“What do you mean?” Akio asked.
“What if they decide they need these mixed breeds and not us?”
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