“We could take this vehicle and hightail it straight down the damn freeway.” Even as he made the suggestion, Mitch hit the accelerator.
“Risky. May be our only chance, though.” Pounding a clenched fist against his palm, Tom swore. “Damn. If the Mawreg penetrate this Sector we’re facing catastrophe.”
“Is the situation really that bad?” Andi swallowed in sudden fear.
Eyes narrowed, lips compressed, Tom nodded. “The big brass and politicos keep details from civilians to avoid panic. And maybe you don’t get much of what they do release to the media, since Zulaire is in such an isolated Sector, but once the Mawreg get entrenched, their presence is like a cancer. We have to make it cost too much for them to stay. Sometimes it takes the destruction of entire planets to eradicate them. Once in a while victory requires the destruction of whole systems.”
“What about the people on the planets?” Andi’s jaw dropped. I can’t imagine the destruction of an entire solar system.
Tom turned her chin with one finger so they were gazing at each other. “Sweetheart, the Mawreg don’t leave any people alive.” His mouth tightened, deepening the wrinkles. “I’d hate to see it happen to Zulaire. Despite the current situation, it’s a damn nice planet.”
“And it’s worth fighting for.” Andi squared her shoulders and clenched her jaw. Mawreg takeover isn’t going to happen here. We can’t allow that.
“Hitting the transportway,” Mitch said. “Should be a better surface now.”
The ride did indeed smooth out. The main road was well kept, as opposed to the ruts and potholes of the village access road. Despite ominous whining from the old engine, the sergeant accelerated to the truck’s top speed.
“Shit!” The truck swerved suddenly as Mitch yelled, brakes screeching until the vehicle slewed to a stop sideways. The cranky engine sputtered and died.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tom had braced Andi during the sudden stop, and even now the truck had stilled, he maintained his tight hold on her.
Mitch was apologetic, eyes open wide, mouth a thin line. “Vehicle abandoned in the middle of the road, sir. Didn’t see it in the dark until I was nearly on top of it. Sorry.”
Revving the motor into life again, he prepared to continue on their way, but Tom stopped him. “Wait. Let’s check this out. With the size of our party, we could use another vehicle. Keep the engine running.”
Climbing out, the men walked back to the abandoned vehicle. Andi waited in the truck for a minute then slid out, not wanting to be left alone in the dark. I may never want to be alone anywhere ever again. As she approached them standing by the abandoned car, Tom’s hand lamp illuminated the vehicle’s front panels, showing an intricate pattern of an urabu dancing in the midst of flames overlaid on a gleaming, yellow undercoat.
Andi stopped, her mouth falling open in a short gasp of recognition. “Gul.”
Tom stared at her as she walked up. “You know the owner?”
“Yes, this car belongs to Gul Tonkiln, the older son of the Planetary High Lord. He was supposed to return to the summer compound for his sister’s handfasting, but he never showed up.” I can’t believe it, but he must be dead. A pang of sorrow made her heart skip a beat for a moment. Trailing her hand along the embossed panels, Andi walked the length of the car. Hard to remember back to that day now. He wanted to see if the relationship had a future. I guess I always knew it didn’t. Raising her head, Andi squinted against the light in Mitch’s hand. Hastily, he redirected the beam to the ground.
Tom had an odd expression on his face, eyebrows raised. He looked away from Andi. She sighed. We’re going to have to talk. Rapping her knuckles on the engine compartment of Gul’s car, she said, “I don’t see any damage. What do you think happened?”
Mitch walked over to join her, squatting to look more closely at the elaborate Tonkiln insignia. “Ambush most likely. Maybe they staged some kind of fake accident, and he stopped to help.”
“Gul wouldn’t stop to help,” Andi said with a bitter laugh. “He’d only pull over if there was a big obstacle in his way. And then he was lured out of the car somehow.” Hard to remember now what she’d ever seen in the arrogant Obati lord, especially with Tom’s solid, dependable presence beside her. But Gul didn’t deserve… She hugged her arms around her waist, suddenly chilled.
“No sign of a body.” Mitch darted an uneasy look her way, then glanced down at the road.
Leaning over, Tom tried the door. “Autolocked. Probably why the attackers didn’t boost it or blow it up. We could blast it open, but the electronics would be ruined. What I want most from this vehicle is a working comlink.”
Unnerved by the hard, shuttered expression on his face, Andi eyed him warily for a moment. Drawing in a deep breath to fortify herself, she said, “I can open it for you.”
“You drove his personal groundcar?” Tom’s voice was flat. She glanced at his face, but he kept it carefully blank. “How close were the two of you?”
Raising an eyebrow, annoyed now, Andi was edging toward offended. It’s really none of his business who I was involved with before I met him. “I drove it in town occasionally.” She triggered the lock with her thumb. Pausing for a moment after the doors opened, not looking at Tom, she elaborated. “Gul Tonkiln and I knew each other well, but it wasn’t serious.” Her small burst of anger had tired her out, making her aches worse, and she didn’t even glance Tom’s way before sliding into the driver’s seat of the beautiful machine. Automatically, the car adapted itself to her height and reach. Soothing music played as the dim internal lights came on. She caught a faint hint of Gul’s aftershave, citrus and wood. A small stab of memory made her eyes prickle as she thought of him, and all the people who’d died in this stupid Clan war.
For a very long moment, Tom didn’t budge. Sighing, Andi made the first move, leaning her head out the open doorway. “Didn’t you want to use the comlink?”
“I’ll stand guard,” Mitch volunteered, glancing from Andi to Tom before quickly walking out of earshot.
Tom came around to get in the other side, easily sliding into the passenger seat. “Hey.”
She turned her head at his soft greeting. Eyebrows raised, Tom met her gaze steadily, a tentative smile curling his mouth. “If I need to apologize for being an asshole just now, consider it done. The thought of you with any other guy—even before I met you—makes me crazy, Andi.”
She kept her frown going for a second longer, then took pity on him and smiled a little. “Apology accepted. We can talk about it later, but…I was never in love with him, Tom. We had fun, we were a couple off and on, attended a lot of business dinners and awards ceremonies together. No man has ever meant anything close to what I feel for you. Okay?”
“Okay. I am sorry it appears he’s dead.”
She sighed. “Me, too.”
He stared at her for a few more seconds and then switched his focus to the com system, pulling out the small earpiece and clipping it to his ear. Examining the dashboard, he flipped the system from music to communication. “Figures he’d have an illegal scanner, but it’s our good fortune tonight. He could surf the Sectors’ military channels.”
Head tilted, he fiddled with the controls. “Zulaire Command, this is Patrol KJ123, declaring an emergency. Need immediate extraction, party of eight military and civilians, highest priority.”
A response came almost immediately.
“Identify yourself. You are an unauthorized station intruding on military networks.”
“Patrol KJ123, Captain Deverane commanding. I’m declaring an emergency, priority Red Alpha, do you understand?” Tom put more emphasis into his question. Frowning, he gave Andi a sideways glance of pure frustration.
“Current code word?” The male voice on the other end of the link sounded hostile to her, and she didn’t understand the man’s odd reaction.
Tom didn’t seem to like it either, taking a deep breath before he answered. “Soldier, I’ve been in the field for weeks, out
“Nice try, whoever you are. If you were with the good guys, then you’d know the entire planet is under lockdown. No emergency extractions, no evacs, no sorties, nothing. Now get off this military link before I do a tracer and have you arrested.”
Drawing himself up in the seat until his head nearly touched the roof, Tom’s face grew even more grim, a vein throbbing in his neck. “You’re addressing a senior Sectors officer declaring a priority Red Alpha. Get me the officer of the watch, on the double.”
“Yeah, right. You ain’t decoying anymore of my guys out there into an ambush like you did to poor Deverane. At least you had part of your story right. Have a nice night, asshole.” There was a sharp click. The channel hummed a second, then died.
Andi jumped as Tom punched the dashboard, denting the panel. “Stupid fucking bastard of a ground trooper doesn’t know a Red Alpha priority from his ass. When we get back to the capital city, I’ll find this idiot and guarantee him a posting to the most desolate, Mawreg-infested planet I can identify.” He leaned back in the seat and sighed, looking at Andi. “Guess we go back to the original plan.”
She stared at him with her mouth open, never having seen him lose control before. “Are you all right? Did you hurt your hand?”
He shook out his fingers, looked them over. “No, just bruised my knuckles. It was a dumb thing to do, I realize, but to finally get my hands on a comlink then not be able to reach someone in authority—” He broke off and sighed. “There’s so much at stake right now. Having a known Betang on the planet elevates the situation to the top of the crisis scale.”
“What—what was the original plan? I’ve kind of lost track of that at the moment.” Andi looked around at the car’s controls blankly.
“We’ve still got to get ourselves out of this mess on our own,” Tom said. “Can you drive with all the stuff Mitch pumped into you back there?”
“I think so. It’s not too far now to the station.”
“We’d better hightail it. We’ve been in this one spot far too long already. Especially if the rebels, or the Betang, are monitoring com chatter. I’ll go tell Mitch what’s up.” Tom climbed out of the low-slung sports car with an effort.
Andi laid her head on the wheel. Every cut and bruise hurt. Her wrists ached where the ropes had bitten into them. I’m tired, and I want this whole ordeal to be over.
A minute later the car dipped as Tom swung back into the passenger seat. “Follow the truck and leave the lights off. The less attention we get, the better.”
Andi cruised down the transportway in the truck’s wake. She turned the com on and found soft music. The drugs were kicking in harder now, waves of disorientation sweeping over her every few minutes. The blaster sear on her side stung and throbbed.
“I wish I could drive for you.” Tom rubbed her shoulders as best he could. “You look worn out.”
“I’ll make it,” Andi said. “We’re getting pretty close to South Amri, right? We Loxtons are tough.” She squared her aching shoulders and smiled. Lucky this car practically steers itself.
“So you are Loxton’s great-granddaughter?” Relaxing into the passenger seat, Tom reached for her free hand and clasped it.
She glanced over at him. “How did you know?”
He pointed, directing her attention back to the truck’s taillights ahead of them before answering. “The details were in the background briefing when we came onplanet. I didn’t pay much attention. You weren’t someone I expected to meet.”
“I see.” Conversation might keep her more alert, Andi decided, despite the fact it took energy. “The briefing was correct. There are a lot of us in the third generation, though, so the connection doesn’t mean all that much. We still have to work our way up through the ranks if we want to go anywhere in the Loxton family business. Which is what I’m doing.” Andi rolled her head in a lazy circle, trying to loosen the tension in her shoulders. “Did you think it was my great-grandfather who had you diverted to rescue me?”
“Not exactly,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
Tom sat in silence for a minute. She glanced over and saw he was rubbing his forehead, eyes narrowed in a pained expression. Jaw clenched, he met her gaze. “You have to admit it was pretty odd for us to be pulled away from our primary mission to extract one lost Sectors citizen. When we got our pre-Zulaire briefing, the officer had suggested you dating Gul was a cover, that you were actually his father’s mistress. I told you before, changing my orders required someone with a lot of pull. The Planetary High Lord was the obvious answer. I’d forgotten the Loxton connection. I’d forgotten all of that until my orders were changed.”
The miles ticked away on the readout.
She bit her lip and shot him a small, uncertain glance, her heart clenching. “Tom, what if I had been the Planetary High Lord’s mistress?”
“Meeting you was like—like a gift, Andi, like the Lords of Space reached out and showed me a taste of heaven.” His voice was choked with emotion, and his brilliant green eyes locked on her face. “I love you. I’ve never said those words to any other woman. I never will. You’re it for me. Unless you had a husband, I’d have done my damnedest to convince you to give me a chance.” Now he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I’m not saying this right. I’m not the best with words, but I know what you mean to me.”
She rested her hand on his thigh. “Tom, I know. I feel the same, starting when you showed up at the dance that night.”
Wrapping his fingers around hers, he kissed her cheek softly. “When we get out of this mess, when we have downtime, I’ll show you much I love you. I promise.”
A fairy tale…this is like an ancient fairy tale or a legend. I found my knight in shining armor, and he rescued me. How lucky can a person be? Andi laughed, suddenly remembering. “You know, I met the urabu on the afternoon you arrived at the compound. I even touched one.”
“Urabu? Like the carvings all over the monastery?” Tom wrinkled his forehead and looked sideways at her. “I thought they didn’t exist.” Circling her wrist with his fingers, he unromantically checked her pulse. “You’re not making much sense right now. Are the tranquilizers affecting you too much? Do you want me to flag Mitch over? We can all ride in the truck. We don’t have to keep this vehicle.”
“No, I’m fine.” She laughed again, tossing her hair. “On Zulaire, there’s a legend about the urabu. If they appear to you, you live happily ever after, like in those old children’s stories. And the day I met you, I’d just encountered a whole herd of them, out in the glade where I was sitting. It was magical. Once in a lifetime.”
“I’m not much on fairy tales.” He peered at the badly dented control panel then thumbed the tab that made the windows disappear. Cold night air rushed in at them.
Andi shivered. “What the hell—”
“I think fresh air might clear your head a bit. You know, the ordeals you’ve gone through since we met aren’t my definition of happily ever after.”
Andi shook her head. Hardheaded military man. Well, he can think what he wants, and I’ll know what really happened. The urabu were real, I saw them, and they’ve brought me Tom.
“Concentrate on the road, woman.” He tapped the windshield. “Turn off to the station coming up.” The sign was much defaced, but enough of the legend remained to tell her where she was. “Watch for Mitch’s lead.”
She toggled the switch to make the windows close again. A little touch to the acceleration tab, and she was closing in on the old truck. “You know, I’m overdue to accept another assignment, somewhere other than Zulaire,” she said.
“Why have you stayed then?”
She shrugged. “I love this planet. The people are so warm and friendly—ordinarily—and it’s a beautiful world. I felt at home from the first day I landed. But I am ambitious, and the only way to make planetary agent is to move around. The company will never promote me into the job here. My ultimate goal has always been Sectors vice president for Loxton, and that requires a lot of varied assignments.”
He stretched one arm out along the seat back behind her, toying with her earlobe. “I warn you, I like to sleep with the windows open.”
“We can handle that issue when we come to it. You’re tickling me.” Andi jerked her head to dislodge his hand.
Laughing, he left her earlobe alone. “Well, it probably was your family who got us diverted to extract you. Nothing else makes sense. It would take someone with heavy political juice, Sectors-based pull. I don’t think anyone on the planet could work it, not even Tonkiln. Once your boss left Zulaire, old man Loxton would have known, trust me. And he’d have found out you were left behind.”
“It’s nice to think my grandfather cares. I haven’t seen him in years.” Andi guided the luxury vehicle up the off-ramp close behind the truck. The small convoy hummed along for another half mile before pulling into the rest station’s courtyard.
“You can be my chauffeur anytime.” Tom kissed the soft spot where her neck met her shoulders, then clambered out of the car to greet the rest of the party, who were coming from the darkened restaurant to meet them.
Releasing the controls, Andi fell back against the soft contours of her seat, exhausted. I can’t go one more step, not even to find a place to lie down or something to eat. Her body ached, and at the core, she felt weak. Surviving the river, then the incident with the Betang, followed by her near death at Uraku’s hands, had worn her out.
The vehicle’s door opened, letting in the scent of night-blooming flowers. Lifting her easily with his strong arms, Tom carried her into the restaurant, where a temporary camp had been established. He bumped open the door to the private back office with his hip and laid her on a couch there. Yanking a tablecloth free from a nearby stack, he used the fabric to tuck her in. After making a pillow with another tablecloth, her captain kissed her cheek. “Sleep now, sweetheart. I ’ll wake you when it’s time to move.”
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