by Leslie Chase
"That still sounds pretty inconvenient," Ashley said. It was certainly inconvenient for her if security was tight all the time. Perhaps, though, if the security team was all looking for outside threats she'd go unnoticed? It was a hope to cling to, anyway.
"It can be," Dr. Cooper said, apparently oblivious to her tension. "Shouldn't bother you too much, though. You're the one we're bringing in to figure out the stardrive, right? That's out in the spaceship, and no one's ever gotten that far in a break in. We'll be able to work in peace."
There was something creepy about how he said that. A combination of tone, the little smile that flickered across his face, the way his gaze dropped to her chest for a second. Ashley worked to keep her smile, not looking forward to working alone with this man.
"I doubt you'll be able to do much, anyway," he continued. "The best minds the Consortium could put together are working on unraveling the mysteries of the dragons' stardrive, and we've had no luck. Even the damned dragons have no idea how it works. I don't think a ruins scavenger is going to do much better, but I suppose it's worth a shot."
That stung. It didn't matter that Ashley had thought the same thing, coming from him it sounded different. The casual way he dismissed her skills made her want to prove him wrong. Don't get caught up in it. You're not here to solve the problem, you're here to steal what they've already got, she reminded herself. Let him think what he likes — at least I won't feel too guilty taking his research.
"Can I see it now?" she asked as sweetly as she could. "The stardrive sounds fascinating, and I've only seen pictures."
"I don't know," Cooper replied, pretending to weigh the question. But she'd judged him right, and the chance to show off to her was enough of a draw to overcome his reservations. "I suppose there's no harm in it, though. Come on, I'll show you what all the fuss is about."
Part one of the mission done, Ashley thought as she followed him into the complex. And it was easier than I expected, really. So why does it feel like I'm sticking my head in the lion's mouth?
The journey through the crystal spire of the Imperial Research Center was short but still gave Ashley a lot to think about. There were numerous doors, each needing a card to pass, and while Dr. Cooper assured her that she'd get her own soon enough, it was worrying that she would be tracked so closely. And, until she did get that card, she was reliant on someone else opening the doors for her. That didn't bode well for a thief.
On the other hand, the locks didn't look that secure. Back on Earth she'd faced worse on scavenging trips into the ruins of the old cities. By now most of the easy to access stuff had been recovered, so finding a way through security devices was part of any skilled scavenger's toolkit. Maybe if the Center thought that the locks would keep thieves out it would work to her advantage.
Dr. Cooper talked the whole way through, but she couldn't follow most of it. Too technical, too complicated, and the strange alien architecture they were walking through was far too distracting as well. It was one thing to read about the dragons' designs, but to be standing inside one of their crystal towers was entirely different. Ashley couldn't keep her mind on what the doctor was telling her. Hopefully there'd be a briefing manual or something, and she could catch up on what she was missing.
Or perhaps it wasn't even relevant and he was just showing off. That sounded just as likely.
The spaces here were huge, big enough for a full-sized dragon to move through, and the central chamber of the tower was wide enough that she wondered if one could fly up to the top. It was an amazing bit of architecture, and a terrifying one. Ashley couldn't even imagine what it would be like to look down from the top of the tower but her heart raced at the thought of the drop.
Fortunately, Dr. Cooper didn't take her far up the ramp that spiraled up the tower. Instead, he led her off one level up and through another set of secure doors. Laboratories on either side of them were full of human scientists working alongside towering dragons. The sight made Ashley's curiosity itch, and she wished she could see what they were up to. There was so much knowledge being uncovered here.
And I'm here to steal some of it. She tugged at her collar, throat feeling tight. Come on, this isn't the time to feel guilty.
"— here we are," Dr. Cooper said, and Ashley realized she'd stopped paying attention to him a while ago. He'd stopped outside a forbidding doorway. This one actually did look tough to crack, and Ashely managed to bring her mind back on task. It was an exterior door, an airlock, though neither she nor Cooper were wearing spacesuits.
"You've not heard a word I've said, have you?" Dr. Cooper asked, an artificial smile giving away his annoyance. He took a breath, held it for a second, and then continued. "Never mind, I know it's rather distracting in here. But do try to pay attention in future."
Ashley nodded, a little embarrassed that he'd caught her out. Not that she expected Cooper to have anything important to say: what little she'd heard had been about how important his work on the stardrive was. It must be frustrating for him when his audience doesn't get how wonderful he is.
Still wearing his pinched expression Cooper turned to the door and Ashley paid close attention to how he opened it. It didn't make her feel very confident — there were three locks, one opened with a keycard (she could spoof that), one with a fingerprint (tricky, but doable) and the last with voice print (crap).
Let's hope I don't have to break in here because that's going to be trouble, she thought. On the plus side, she was supposed to be working in here. As long as that was true, the security would keep anyone else from disturbing her. Try to see the silver lining, Ashley.
The great door slid aside silently, letting out a breath of cold air. On the far side was a short corridor that connected to the Grace of Herendar. Ashley's heart skipped a beat as she followed the scientist across and into the spaceship. The ancient ship seemed to creak under her boots, though she knew that was all in her mind. The deck was solid, but the place was so old that she felt it should creak.
Cooper led her through the ship's broad corridors, lit by hanging bulbs rather than the ship's own lights. "We keep the systems we're not testing off so that they don't interfere with each other. Most of them still work, but if we powered up the lights—"
"It would mess up experiments on all the linked systems," Ashley interrupted. Cooper blinked at her and she grinned. "Hey, I salvage abandoned tech for a living. Don't be surprised when I know how these things work."
His eyes narrowed and she could have kicked herself. Pissing him off wouldn't do her any good, and if he was angry with her he might be less helpful. But still, it rankled that he didn't think she'd understand what they were doing.
After a moment he shook his head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to imply..."
She let him trail off, then held up a hand. "Hey, it's okay. I know I'm not a scientist, but you brought me here for a reason, right? If I didn't get this I wouldn't be much use."
"Fair," he said, though there was still a hint of resentment in his tone. He'd been showing off for her, and it looked like he was one of those smart guys. The guys who didn't like it when a woman didn't need everything explained to them. Ashley sighed, trying to make her smile look genuine.
That might have been a mistake. Cooper's eyes lit up and his tongue darted out to moisten his lips. Ashley suppressed a shudder and looked away, trying to hide her revulsion. There wasn't time for a romance in her life, especially not with one of the scientists here, and even if there had been Dr. Cooper wouldn't be her first choice. Or her hundredth. Her mysterious employer would almost certainly tell her she should seduce Cooper to help her mission, but ew!
That didn't mean that getting him angry would help. She needed the job and that meant putting up with him. Within limits, anyway. So she resigned herself to not telling him to fuck off.
"There's a lot I don't understand, though," she said, hoping that she could get him talking again. "Like, what's the ship made of? I don't recognize the material."
Cooper
nodded enthusiastically at the question. Just as she'd thought, he'd leap at any excuse to lecture.
"It's a fascinating substance," he said, turning to lead her deeper into the ship. "The dragon name for it simply translates as hullmetal, and the dragons here on Mars don't know how it's made. It's tougher and lighter than anything we've been able to manufacture..."
Ashley nodded along, though she didn't follow the details he went into. The one thing she did get from it was that the hull was very hard to cut through. It would take a plasma lance to get through even the interior walls, and those weren't subtle tools. I can cross off any plan to cut my way out, she thought.
They reached the drive room before Cooper had run out of things to say about hullmetal. Inside was a large space which focused on just one thing. A chunk of crystal in a rough cube, about six foot on each side, floated a foot off the floor. It glowed softly, different colors pulsing through it as Ashley stepped inside. Human-made sensors were attached to each of its surfaces and holographic displays floated all around it, but she ignored them. The crystal itself was what she was here to see. It was beautiful, awe-inspiring.
It was the bridge from Earth's solar system to the stars.
Moving forward, she stretched out a hand and then froze before she touched it. Looking back guiltily for permission, she saw Dr. Cooper watching her, eyes alight with interest. Whatever else he might be, Ashley could see that he genuinely wanted the mystery solved.
"Go ahead," he urged. "The Baby doesn't mind being touched."
Ashley raised an eyebrow at that, and the doctor's face reddened. "It's my nickname for the thing," he explained. "It's delicate, irreplaceable, and temperamental. But formally it’s called Hyperdrive Sample One (Semi-Functional)."
"I can see why you needed a better name," Ashley said, pressing her fingers to the crystal structure. It felt weird, cold but not unpleasant. Something shifted under her fingers, as though the crystal was moving subtly, but the change was too small to see.
"Oh, that's odd," she muttered, more to herself than to Cooper. He stayed quiet and she leaned in closer to the crystal machine, wonder filling her. This had carried dragons, and other aliens, across countless light years.
It was damaged, that much was obvious. Some of the crystal had sheared off, and there were dull patches where the glow dimmed. But her instincts told her that it worked. This was a machine that still wanted to do its job. All it needed was some help, and that's what the Center had brought her in for.
I just need to find out what they already know about it, she reminded herself, and her elation faded. Finding something like this buried in wreckage was one thing — a valuable piece of technology that needed repair was exactly what she'd spent most of her life digging through ruins on Earth for. Finding them, fixing them, and selling them. This was different. She wasn't here to repair anything.
She was here to steal whatever Dr. Cooper and his men had already discovered.
It wasn't a pleasant thought, but Ashley couldn't afford to forget it. There was too much on the line, both for her and for Michael.
Before she could take that thought any further, an angry snarl filled the room from the doorway. Ashley jumped at the sound, spinning to look, her face flushing with guilt.
In the doorway stood a dragon shifter, his face dark with rage. The man towered over Dr. Cooper, at least eight foot tall, and his wings made him look even taller. Despite herself, Ashley couldn't keep her eyes off his body. She wasn't usually one to be distracted by a guy, no matter how good he looked, but damn.
His upper body was bare, and the deep red of his alien skin stretched over taut, powerful muscles. Scales gleamed in the light and Ashley's gaze roamed across the alien as he moved into the room, watching the flexing of those muscles as he moved. His perfectly defined six-pack, his broad chest, his strong, stern face framed by a mane of dark hair...
She caught herself chewing on her lower lip as she stared.
The first shifter she'd seen had looked strong and dangerous, but this man was so much more. She found herself wondering what those muscles would feel like as they moved under his protective scales. Just the thought made her fingers tingle with a desire to find out, and she gripped her hands behind her back, hoping that her feelings weren't showing.
Stop that, she told herself. This is no time to get distracted, no matter how—
The thought cut off as his eyes met hers with an almost physical force, rocking her back and driving the breath from her in a gasp. There was something in that look, a sense of recognition. For a moment, it was as though the two of them were alone in an empty room. An empty universe, just for them.
4
Kosar
Staring into the eyes of the interloper, Kosar felt his heart pound and the whole world seemed to fall away. The rage that had filled him at seeing an uncleared human allowed into the room of what was perhaps the most precious piece of technology the Dragon Empire possessed wasn't gone, but it was pushed back and down. Buried under a wave of recognition as he looked into the eyes of his mate.
Don't be ridiculous, he tried to tell himself. She can't be my mate, that's not possible.
But whatever he thought, it was impossible to doubt the reaction of his body. He could feel his pulse speed, his wings flex, his breathing quicken as the dragon inside him saw the one woman he was destined for.
Dr. Cooper was talking, but Kosar paid him no attention. The human was an annoying irrelevance. Nothing mattered except the woman. The emotions flickering across her face told him that she, too, felt the pull between them. Though as a human, she might not recognize what she felt.
"—Ashley Warren, our new 'expert' from Earth," Dr. Cooper said, finally saying something that Kosar cared about. "You weren't available and I was excited to—"
"You should have waited, or shown her the staff facilities," Kosar snapped, doubly angry as he tried to get control of himself. "Not taken her to the most secure room in the Center before her security briefing."
Dr. Cooper took a step backward, paling in the face of Kosar's rage. Stepping into the room, he moved his gaze back to Ashley. It was difficult to keep his focus on his anger when he looked at her. She was beautiful, stunning in a way he'd never imagined a human female could be. Her presence called out to his soul and he wanted to know everything about her.
But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to do his job. Ashley Warren might be his mate, the one woman in all the worlds that his soul craved, but that didn't mean that she wasn't a security risk, and Kosar had a job to do. This salvaged stardrive was the only one of its kind, and nothing was worth taking a risk with it. Without its secrets, there was no telling how long it would take to work out how the ships of the old Empire had traveled between the stars.
The human woman before him looked up, a mix of guilt and defiance in her gaze. She was angry and determined but that wasn't all. There was a hint of fear in the way she held her hands, as though she was trying to keep the hand that had touched the drive hidden from him. Kosar felt a pang of anger at himself as he saw that — this human female had nothing to fear from him, and it hurt to think that he'd scared her.
Unless she is a spy or a saboteur, he reminded himself, then shook his head. The universe couldn't be that cruel, but that didn't mean he could dismiss the possibility. It was his job not to, and he'd made Emperor Verikan a promise. He would take it seriously.
I thought that fighting off those intruders was going to be the toughest thing I had to do today. Now I have to untangle whatever this mess is, too. Kosar sighed. Meeting his mate should be a joyous day, but he was letting his frustrations get the better of him. He tried to smile, to calm himself and get his feelings under control. The pain in his wings was still there, a distant throb that spoke of more damage than he'd admitted to the doctors, and it was clouding his judgment.
"I am pleased to meet you, Ashley Warren," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and even.
"Doesn't look like it," she replied, rai
sing an eyebrow. "Looks more like you want to tear my head off."
Kosar bit back an angry denial and shook his head. Counted to three before answering. "You are in a secure area without permission, and it's my job to stop that from ever happening. Come with me and we'll sort it all out."
"What's the harm?" Ashley put her hands on her hips as she asked, not moving. "I need to be in here to do my job, the job your bosses want me to do. Do we really have to go through the formalities, or can I just get on with it?"
There was something behind the impatience in her gaze, and Kosar frowned. More fear? Guilt? Or just a burning need to dig into the technological secrets of his people? He couldn't tell, and it didn't matter.
Stepping forward, he towered over her and Ashley had to crane her neck to look him in the eyes. He found himself admiring the way she didn't back down, didn't look away or step backward. Most humans he'd encountered wouldn't stand up to a dragon like this.
Close up, her scent was intoxicating. Kosar's wings spread wider, a twinge of pain shooting through his back at the involuntary motion. The urge to sweep the human female up in his arms was overwhelming, almost too strong to resist, and it left him little concentration for his words.
"You will come with me because I tell you to," he heard himself say. "There are things we need to discuss before you begin your work here."
For a moment their gazes were locked, and he wondered what he'd do if she refused. Pick her up and carry her out? That was a dangerously tempting thought. Before he got to that point, though, she nodded and broke eye contact.
"Fine," she said, and he saw the tension leaving her shoulders. Her relaxation was obviously forced, but at least she was making the effort. "Let's get that over with so I can get on with what I came here to do."
Kosar's office was a mess. Usually he didn't care — he had too much going on to bother tidying it, and the only person the mess could bother was Davenport. Now, though, he was acutely aware of Ashley's presence and wished he'd taken some time to clear the desk.