Danger in the Stars: (The Sectors SF Romance Series)

by Veronica Scott

  “I don’t know. I doubt it. There’s high-level Mellurean involvement in the case I’m on, which is one of the critical success factors in my infiltration. The fact you’ve been held for four years argues the operation wasn’t compromised by the SCIA. The Mellureans take a very dim view of abuse of psychic sentients such as yourself, but if they don’t know it’s happening, not much they can do. It’s not easy to accomplish, you know, getting undercover agents in place. Several of my colleagues died or simply vanished in earlier attempts, either they were betrayed or slipped up somehow. Good men and women.”

  “I’ve never heard the term Mellurean.”

  “An ancient race, survivors from a much different time in the galaxy, eons before we arrived on the scene. Not many left. From what I’ve been told, the first encounter between the humans and the Mellureans didn’t go well at all for us. They have power so far beyond even what I suspect you can do that the scope is incomprehensible. The Mellureans allied with the Sectors eventually because we have a common enemy in the Mawreg.” He looked at her face, which must have mirrored her inner confusion. “The Mawreg are the ultimate bosses of predator races like the Shemdylann who invaded your planet. The suspicion of their involvement is part of why I’m here. The authorities believe this branch of the Combine may be working closely with the Mawreg client races as part of a strategy to undermine the Sectors. Their support for the Combine may be an experiment to get humans to betray humans, and if it works, the Mawreg will make the Combine a full-fledged partner. Then we’d be fighting two wars—against the aliens and against an internal enemy. The Combine leaders only care about their own enrichment and power. High stakes for the human race and our allies. So I volunteered for this.”

  “But to what end? Do you report in or—”

  He shook his head. “Never. I have a Mellurean mind implant that records what I see and hear. That’s how I knew you were scanning me with something. Periodically, the implant clears the memory while I’m asleep. I have no control over it, but I assume the records go to Mellure and are shared with the SCIA from there. I never make direct contact at all. Too dangerous.”

  “But you said you’d rescued people. And this house, the car—how did you get those?”

  “I have a way to initiate a no-reply contact. There’s no actual connection between me and anything but an impenetrable AI network, but I can make requests for extraction and flag them as priority. The car, the house, some other assets, are SCIA standard. We have similar things scattered around the Sectors where an agent might need them. I know how to find what I need when I need it.”

  “So you’re condemned to serve here forever? Until you’re caught or killed?” She was horrified and frightened for him. He was as much a prisoner as she was, though he’d chosen his servitude.

  “Actually, I’m coming close to the end of the assignment, I hope. The supreme managers of each Sector and their primary subordinates come together every few years with the Amarotu overlords at a highly classified location. From all indications, the meeting is scheduled soon. Opherra’s risen to a high enough level of territory management to be invited, and I’ll be going as her second. Once I’m on site, I send a signal via a one-time app in the Mellurean implant, and the SCIA swoops in and captures or kills as many of the lowlifes as possible. Lops off the head of the snake, so to speak. I’ll have to testify against the Combine for a long time, but then I can get on with my life.” He toyed with her hair. “I had—have—plans.”

  “If you survive.” Struck by a sudden thought, she blinked. “Doesn’t Opherra think we’re dead right now?”

  “I sent her a quick text when I grabbed the truck, told her I was lying low tonight and I’d make my way to her tomorrow.”

  His wording struck her as odd. “What about me?”

  “I’ve been hoping for a chance to safely extract you, and this is my opportunity. When I leave in the morning, you’ll stay here, and an SCIA team will pick you up within twenty-four hours. You’ll be relocated, protected, I swear. I’ll tell Opherra you died in the fire. There aren’t going to be enough physical remains left to identify anyone. Whoever set up the hit used a combustible known as Shemdylann fire, consumes everything. Opherra won’t lose any sleep over your fate. You weren’t her asset.”

  She bit her tongue for a moment, anger and dismay warring within. Choosing her words carefully, she said, “I appreciate the care you wish to take to safeguard me, but I can’t leave any more than you can. I must return to Opherra as well.”

  “Are you crazy? I can get you completely away from these murderous bastards, where you’ll be safe. I can’t guarantee your life if you go back to Opherra’s control. She could order me—or any of her soldiers—to shoot you, or she could send you to one of her brothels… Miriell, I’d have to choose between the Sectors and you, and Lords help me, I’d do anything to save you.”

  “Together we are the priestess and the warrior, the unbeatable pair spoken of in the most powerful legends of my people. Thuun has answered my prayers at last and set us on our path,” she said. It was clear to her, and now she had to convince him. “I must avenge my people. I’ve done such things in the last four years as to make myself dishonored beyond saving, yet Thuun allows me to take the power still. Therefore, he has work for me yet. If I go with you, I can help destroy the network perpetrating horror on so many, including my planet and my family. I…I could regain my honor and be worthy of a man such as you.”

  “That’s right, you said you had a sister back on Devir 6, didn’t you? I’m sorry for your loss, but sweetheart, this isn’t some trideo tale of the old-time heroes. It’s ugly real life, and I can’t let you stay in the mix. As for being worthy of a man like me…” He swallowed hard. “I’ve done things I relive regularly in nightmares. I’m not worthy of you. I can’t promise anything, but I swear I’ll do my best to find you, wherever they’ve relocated you, after this case is all over. The SCIA will owe me the information— reuniting us is the least the authorities can do, considering my services rendered on this case. If you’re still willing, we can see where we go from there.”

  She rose from the bed, needing distance to say what she had to say next. Swathing herself in the blanket as if in her ceremonial finery, she took a deep breath. “This isn’t your decision. I understand when I speak of Thuun and my beliefs that the words are nothing to you but fanciful stories—”

  “I’m not trying to insult your religion.” His protest was instant and hot. Leaving the bed himself, he came to take her in his arms. “I’ve seen you in action. I respect the beliefs underlying your choices.”

  Miriell nodded. “I accept the apology. But you must accept the reality of how I do battle in my own way. Last night at the restaurant, the tree gifted me its entire life-force, down to the tiniest mote, after the seeds launched. The sentient housed in that guise had lived thousands of years, and I now hold all the accumulated power. To what purpose, if not to help destroy the Amarotu monster at its lair? At this meeting you speak of.” Unbending a bit, she let the sheet fall and framed his face with her hands. “Too long have your commanders left you alone in the battle. I’m here to be your shield mate, the sword at your side. You need me.”

  He held her so tight she couldn’t breathe for a moment. “I do, but I’d never take a civilian into this fight, much less a woman I care for so much, not when I could send her—you—to safety.”

  “I stopped being a civilian the moment the Shemdylann attacked my world.”

  He nodded. “I understand the analogy. But assuming for a moment I agree to take you on as my partner in fighting the Combine, how do we make it work? Convince me.”

  “You tell Opherra how I saved you. Tell her I’ll help you search for whoever set us up. Make it clear you’ve done what she ordered and, as she inelegantly put it, fucked me, so now I’m even deeper in your thrall. I’ll do anything to please you, or so you assure her. With this much power at my disposal, I probably could get Bazin to have sex with her in front o
f his fiancée, if Opherra demands a test.”

  “You don’t for one moment believe what we did, that my making love to you, was anything but genuine, do you? I’m not trying to manipulate you.”

  She read his anger, his fear she didn’t trust him, his concern that her feelings for him would shift, that the trust between them was not strong enough yet. Conor’s shields no longer held against her, and the knowledge gave Miriell hope and courage. “I know the truth in your heart, my love. I’ll never doubt you.”

  He released her, sitting heavily on the edge of the bed. “I must be crazy to even think about the possibility of doing this. Of risking you.”

  Thuun be thanked, the right words came to her, an argument she knew he’d have to accept. “If I’d been waiting for you here at this safe house with a blaster and my own warrant, if I was an SCIA operative, would you accept my help? Even if we cared for each other?”

  There was silence for a few moments.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, then. Choose to think of me in that way, as a fellow officer. In a sense, one could say I infiltrated the Combine against my will four years ago, when they bought me from the Shemdylann. I’ve been in the middle of their operations, if not by my own choice as you arrived, but I fully understand their methods and cruelty. I am so ready for the final act of bringing them down. Don’t deny me the satisfaction.”

  “I can’t think of you as anything but the woman I’ve fallen in love with,” he said, voice low and strained.

  “And your partner.” She held out her hand. “We’re beyond a truce now.”

  He stared at her for a moment before taking her hand in his and shaking it. “But I’ve watched your power drain away over time if not renewed. How will you manage after the first few days?”

  “This was the entire life essence of a powerful being, in its own way. A priestess isn’t allowed to take that much from anyone. But it was a gift, freely given, in return for my blessing and help in saving the seeds, ensuring there would be a next generation. The transfer of power was nothing like the small sips I took here and there in the hotel garden and from the plants. I can hold this energy inside, in reserve with ease, until the right moment comes to unleash the gift upon those I hate. I’m a senior priestess, well versed in the intricacies of Thuun.”

  “I think Opherra would be scared if she knew, which thankfully she doesn’t,” he said. “Can you influence her at all? Or is she like Jareck? Genetically immune?”

  “I’ve only scanned her lightly. Someone like her is tricky to manipulate, and I was too weak before, as you saw. I’m not sure I had enough power at my command before today.”

  “We’ll have to be careful.” He drew her to stand between his knees, resting his head against her stomach. “I’ll have to treat you as if you don’t matter to me.”

  She ran her fingers through his hair, delighting in the silken weight of the strands, so unlike her own. “Together we can do this, I’m sure. I never expected to emerge alive from captivity, once I understood my people’s insignificant place in the universe and the forces against us. I certainly never dreamed of finding love.” Waving one hand at the house around them, she said, “These few hours we have together are a blessing, and I’m grateful.”

  He pulled her onto the bed, and she came willingly. “I intend for us to emerge very much alive. I’m going to do my damnedest to mold future events to achieve our survival. When I was on my own, I was resigned to being on a suicide mission, my life a small price to pay to accomplish the downfall of the Amarotu if the situation went so negative. But now I have a new, overriding goal—I want you to survive, to be free.”

  “With you.” She kissed him. “Thuun must be merciful enough to grant that we survive together or we die together, but either way, we must achieve the victory.”

  “Now who’s the warrior?”

  The return to the hotel and Opherra’s sphere of power on the next day after the restaurant bombing was easily accomplished. Miriell put on her tattered, sooty dress and Conor his dress trousers and the uniform shirt. Slowly, they walked down the narrow hall to the kitchen. “This house appeared to be so large from the outside, yet it’s actually quite cramped. Why the odd design?” she asked.

  He rapped his knuckles on the wall, as if knocking. “There’s a lot hidden in this part of the building—the AI, secret data-gathering and transmitting gear, storage. The safe-house aspect is almost the least important piece of the structure. Even I only have access to some of the things in there.”

  She asked the question that had been bothering her since their middle of the night conversation. “If you’ve been reporting on events automatically, then why haven’t these Mellureans done anything to help me since I arrived?”

  Frowning, he shook his head. “I have no idea, unless it’s because the timeline on this operation is close to being over. They may not want to risk blowing the whole takedown on the Combine at this point just to rescue you. No offense. If you’d let me transmit an extraction request last night, the SCIA would have been able to get you to freedom later today with no suspicion on Opherra’s part.”

  “We’ve already decided that point—I remain at your side to play my part in ending the Combine’s evil. And I’ll rely on our partnership to get us out of trouble, not on the Mellureans or anyone else.” She rose on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. “I trust in you.”

  The last thing he did before they left the house was put the deactivated necklace around Miriell’s neck. Conor paused as he was fastening the clasp. “I wish—”

  Sensing what he was about to say, she let her hair fall from her hand onto her neck and turned to him, putting her fingers on his lips. “There’s no going back now. Harder tasks than this lie ahead.”

  “One step at a time.” He nodded. “Battle comrades. You watch my six—my back—and I’ll watch yours.”

  “Always.” Going on tiptoes, a little off-balance in the high heels, she kissed him.

  He swept her off her feet and carried her into the garage.

  He drove them in the groundcar to a mass transit station and parked in the outer reaches of the grounds. “SCIA will have a team take care of this and erase our presence at the house in a few hours.”

  “How can the Combine stand against such a well-organized opponent?” she asked.

  “Like any other agency, mine is spread thin across the Sectors. The people in charge can only prioritize so much. Without sounding boastful, I have to say that not just anyone can become an agent either, whereas the Combine can sweep up the dregs of many worlds and employ them.”

  Nodding, Miriell said, “That makes sense.”

  He laid a finger on her lips. “No more talking about these things from here on out.” Sealing his instruction with a kiss, he led her toward the terminal.

  He bought her a breakfast of fast food before boarding a gravlift train. Ignoring the stares of people around them, she sat hand in hand with Conor for the first few stations, and then when they transferred to another line terminating in the hotel area, she sat side by side with him in silence.

  Conor took her into the hotel through the back entrance they’d used before and up to the penthouse floor via the servants’ gravlift. Today, the service lift was full of housekeeping personnel and others concerned with the smooth running of the hotel, most of whom studiously avoided eye contact with Miriell, though a few gawked at her torn and soot-stained dress. When the portal opened onto Opherra’s floor, armed guards confronted them.

  “Hey, it’s only me,” Conor said. “Nice way to greet a guy who survived an attempted hit last night.” He put his hands up, subtly angling his body in front of Miriell.

  She raised her hands as well and let a tendril of her power drift toward the two soldiers. The men were uncomfortable treating Conor like a possible enemy but too afraid of Opherra to stand down.

  The closer one held out his hand. “Give me the blaster. If you check out okay with the boss, you’ll get it back.”

 
; “No problem.” He handed over his concealed weapon with no hesitation. “What I really want is a shower and some fresh clothes. Decent breakfast maybe.”

  The guards escorted them into the regular gravlift and down one floor to the business area of Opherra’s operations. They were shown into her office, where she sat flanked by two more of her thugs, blaster rifles at the ready. Today, she was all business, in a power suit, her hair in a severe updo, her nails painted black. Head tilted, she stared at Conor.

  “Sit down and tell me your side of the story.”

  He sat, and Miriell slid into the chair next to him, consciously assuming her façade of compliant and cowed prisoner. As calmly as if there weren’t four blasters aimed at them, he walked Opherra through the events of the disastrous night. When he reached the part where Miriell had warned him something was wrong, the crime boss’s gaze settled on her, although plainly she was addressing Conor.

  “So the female saved you? Only you? And how did she know there was going to be an attack?”

  Miriell bit her lip, unsure if she’d been given permission to speak. Conor jabbed her in the ribs. “Hey, the boss wants to hear from you, so answer the questions.”

  “Yes, sir.” Smoothing the bedraggled dress as if nervous, Miriell said, “I didn’t know there was going to be an attack. I knew the manager and the waiters had been acting odd all evening, giving off waves of anxiety, which I could sense. I assumed the staff was intimidated by the fact that the Combine was present in a large group, afraid of giving offense perhaps. And then they suddenly disappeared without serving the last course, so I thought I should alert my controller at that point.”

  “How nice of you.” Opherra’s voice was acidic.

  “I have no wish to die, and I was frightened.” As always, Miriell stuck to the truth as much as possible. She was taking peripheral glances at the crime boss’s aura, careful not to linger with any scan. Opherra was suspicious, hostile, but also curiously excited. There was none of the anger or upset Miriell had expected to see at the loss of so many of her people, no discernible pleasure at Conor’s survival.