Deceiver glanced over at Bruiser. “You were with him the whole time until he gave you the slip in the restroom. Did you tell him about Star giving birth?”
The big man’s face went from pasty white to flaming red within a matter of seconds. His obvious discomfort was a flashing sign to the rest of the group.
“Bruiser? You told him about the baby?” Seeker demanded, voicing what they all were thinking.
“I didn’t do it intentionally,” Bruiser defended himself. “We were in the Accolade Room, and he saw the display where the vid was showing the Ombitra attack. He asked if Star was indisposed like he’d been told because she was still recovering from it. I…I told him no, that wasn’t the case. I…” He turned to Star, his eyes filled with sorrow. “I’m sorry, Star. I told him you were indisposed because you’d just had a baby. I’m sorry.”
Hunter felt his wife take a deep breath. Like her, he sometimes felt sorry for the big guy. Bruiser was an intelligent man when it came to his work, but he wasn’t skilled in subterfuge.
“Don’t fret over it,” Star finally told him, her voice soft with regret. “What’s done is done. I believe you never intentionally meant to tell him.”
Bruiser appeared less chagrined after hearing he was forgiven, but Hunter could sense the man was far from relieving himself of the blame.
Dropping a kiss to his wife’s hair, he stepped away from her chair. “I need to leave now. I’ll notify you once I reach the space station and keep you updated as to my status.”
“Be careful,” Commander bid him.
Giving Star a departing, loving smile, Hunter softly said, “I’ll find them, Terrin. I don’t care how long it takes or how far I have to go, I’ll find our baby, and I’ll make DiMackerlyn pay for his crimes.”
“I love you,” Star whispered, and a moment later he was gone.
*
The room remained quiet for a few seconds. Letting out a loud sigh, Deceiver refocused the remaining Guardians.
“All right. Time to get our butts in gear. You all have your assignments. Bruiser, you help Disaster with patching the outer hull. Commander, you’re in charge of overseeing all repairs.” He gave them a steady glare. “Any questions? Then let’s move it, people.”
Everyone got up from their seats and began filing down the hallway toward the landing bay. Devorah hurried over to snag Star’s arm before the woman left the room. Star gave her a tired but curious glance.
“I need to talk to you,” Perlakian requested in a low voice. “Come with me. Deceiver, I need to speak with Star for a few minutes alone. I won’t take longer than a couple of minutes, then I’ll let her join you to help.”
Deceiver waved a hand to show he understood and turned his attention to the comm board.
Star silently followed the physician to the clinic. Once they reached the outer examination room, Perlakian gestured toward a chair. “Please sit. This won’t take long.”
“I feel fine,” Star started to say, when the doctor waved her into silence.
“I said to sit. Before we go any further, I want to thank you,” the doctor told her.
Star gave her a blank look. She was tired. Depressed. Frightened and worried. She kept a small flame of hope burning in her heart that Hunter would be successful and find her father. And Callie. It was the only thing keeping her going at the moment.
She stared down at her hands lying dormant in her lap. In no way was she anywhere near peak condition, and Perlakian knew it would take her a long time to get over this latest development if the baby was never recovered.
“Thank me for what?” Star asked, finally looking up at the doctor.
“For interceding. For suggesting to Deceiver that they take Wooly with them instead of Commander. I understand why you did it, and I want you to know I’m grateful.”
“Wooly needs to get his feet wet,” Star commented.
“Yes, he does. But you know what I mean,” Perlakian insisted gently.
Star brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “I…I saw that look in your eyes. The panic. It reminded me of the first time Hunter and I were separated after I recovered from the Ombitra attack. How I felt when he had to leave, and I thought it may be the last time I’d ever see him again.”
“But you eventually got over that feeling,” the doctor commented.
Star shook her head. “Not really. It wasn’t until Destiny told me I would have a son that I think I lost that fear. I know Udo may go missing. Perhaps for months or years. But I believe her prophesy that he and I will have a son together.” She bit her lips, adding, “I have to believe her. Otherwise, I don’t think I could manage.”
She glanced up to see the doctor’s wistful expression. The woman’s normally stoic mask was gone, revealing her vulnerability. Rising, Star walked over and wrapped her arms around the physician, who hugged her tightly. “This job is harder when you love,” Star murmured.
They held each other for several moments, until Star pulled away to clutch her chest. Immediately, Perlakian’s countenance shifted, and she was the cool-headed, no-nonsense doctor once again.
“Your milk’s coming in?”
“Yes.” Star gave her a concerned look. “What do I do? My baby’s not here to feed.”
“Come. We’ll pump you and save the milk for when she’s returned.” Walking over to a panel, Perlakian opened the small rectangular door to reveal a palm-size apparatus. Pulling it out, along with a purple box, she went back over to Star. “Get up on the bed and let me show you how to use this. Then, whenever you need, you can take care of yourself in your apartment, and store the milk in your refrigerant.” She grimaced, following it with a smile.
Star saw the glint of amusement in the doctor’s eyes. “What are you thinking?”
Snorting, Perlakian’s smile widened. “I’m thinking that right about now DiMackerlyn may be having to deal with a very hungry baby, and most likely a very dirty diaper. When Hunter calls in, have him ask around if anyone’s seen a perturbed older man with a squalling baby. Chances are, Callaura may help lead him to our kidnapper.”
Chapter Eighteen
Vengeance
Hunter couldn’t allow himself to think about what DiMackerlyn was doing with his daughter. Neither could he worry about what the man had planned for her. At the moment, he had to concentrate on getting to Star Base Carnesium without running out of oxygen.
He had never been in this part of the galaxy before. The stars and planets were new and therefore potentially dangerous. But he remembered the words of wisdom his father had imparted one evening, back when he was a teenager and just beginning to venture away from his home world of Abernath.
“Why don’t you spread your wings, Udo? Launch yourself a couple of parsecs into the next solar system?”
He shrugged. “Too afraid right now, I guess.”
“Afraid of what? That shield of yours can protect you from most anything, can’t it?”
“So far, yeah.”
“Then what else worries you?”
“I’m afraid of running out of oxygen. What if I get too far out, and there’s no place for me to restock?”
His father smiled. “I’ll let you in on a little secret we flit pilots learned. Look for a planet where you can see water on its surface. If it has water, the chances are good it has a breathable atmosphere.”
“How’s that?” Hunter asked the man he idolized.
“Water’s made of oxygen molecules,” Vall Vosstien commented. “Finding water means there’s a good chance you’ll find at least some sort of oxygenation.”
The advice had been sound, and had saved his hide on many occasions when he needed to glide through the universe.
A rainbow of color greeted him as he entered the Carnesium system. A massive globular nebulae lay parallel to the space station like a giant carpet of glittering paints. The star base itself was spindle-shaped, rotating at a sixteen degree angle like a top on its axis. Quickly, he zoomed into the nearest landing bay, i
ts door kept open to receive incoming craft. Once he reached the airlock, he melted through the titanium door to emerge into a receiving room. Dropping his shield, he strode out into the hallway and hailed the first uniform walking by.
“Your commander, who and where is he?”
It took the young ensign a moment to collect himself. When he did, his eyes grew round with surprise. “You-you’re Master Hunter! Of the Guardians! Oh, great stars!”
“Your commander, who and where is he?” Hunter repeated. “It’s urgent!”
“Uhh, he’s probably on level seventeen where base headquarters are located.”
“Which way is level seventeen?”
The ensign pointed upward.
Giving the young man a curt thank you, Hunter wrapped his bubble around him and shot into the ceiling, going rapidly from level to level until he reached one where the profusion of uniforms was too many to ignore. As he had below, he disbursed his aura and tagged a passing blue shirt.
“Your commander, who and where is he?”
This time the old woman smiled as she raked her eyes over his form. She tilted her head. “Come with me.”
She led him through an outer ring of offices, most of which were empty except for the largest one in the corner. It’s open portal bore the title Regent Direction Targian.
The woman officer paused in the doorway and cleared her throat.
“Yes? What is it?” The voice was raspy, metallic. The unmistakable sound of an implanted translator.
Hunter sensed pride in the woman’s voice as she announced, “Master Hunter of the Guardians is here to speak with you.”
She stood aside to let Hunter in, and at first glance he realized why the regent used the device. He was a Co De Verial, one of the rare humanoid species who lived beneath the waves of a planet that was ninety-nine percent water. A mask covered the regent’s nose and mouth, with a tube extending over the man’s left shoulder to where it was attached to his tank. Hunter could discern the hum of the tiny motor which fed oxygen into the liquid the regent breathed.
The man rose in greeting. “Master Hunter. Can I assume you’re here with regards to your ship and fellow Guardian?”
Hunter frowned. “Fellow Guardian?”
“Yes. The man who identified himself as a new member of the Guardians. He referred to himself as Vengeance.”
The moniker jabbed him in the gut. Wincing, Hunter replied, “Yes, he’s why I’m here, but the man in question is not a Guardian, and never will be. His real name is Aginthon DiMackerlyn, and we have cause to believe he may have stolen something very valuable from us.”
Targian bobbed his head. “Your ship.”
“Not just our ship. My newborn daughter.”
A gasp behind him told Hunter the woman had not left. Targian came around from behind his desk.
“Come with me,” the regent ordered, sweeping past the female officer to lead Hunter into another section on the same floor. This time Hunter recognized the familiar surroundings as the central core and command headquarters.
Targian strode immediately up to a man bearing the insignia of a communications director. “Master Dotharbith. You were the one who gave clearance for the Guardian Transport to dock?”
The director glanced curiously at Hunter. The man immediately recognized him. “Yes, I did. Why? Is there a problem?”
“Let me guess,” Hunter ventured. “You gave him clearance because he was in a Guardian Transport, and not because of who he said he was. Am I correct?”
The director paused. He was beginning to realize something was amiss, and he may be responsible. “We received a full recognition and registry for the vessel. We had no idea who the man piloting it was, but we took him on his word. After all, there’s no reason to distrust or believe a Guardian would lie to us.”
“Where is the man now?” Hunter asked tersely.
“Umm, probably somewhere on base. Why?”
“He isn’t a Guardian,” the regent informed him.
“Do you know if the man had someone with him?”
“Another Guardian? He didn’t say if someone was with him.”
“I need that man detained, but don’t try to arrest him. Just…stall him,” Hunter said. “Use extreme caution. If he thinks you’re on to him, he’ll disappear on you.”
“Disappear? How?” Targian asked.
“We believe he’s an M’golifian.”
“I’m not familiar with that species,” the regent admitted.
The communications director said differently. “I am. I’ve had dealings with his kind in the past. If you surround him with a strong negative electrical charge, it’ll dampen his ability to vibrate his cells and vanish.”
“Do you have a way to do that?” Hunter asked.
“It should be pretty simple,” Dotharbith told him. “I’ll notify Engineering and have them send up a portable unit.”
“We have to find him first,” Hunter commented.
“How can we when we don’t know what he looks like?” Targian questioned.
“Don’t you have security cameras in the corridors?”
Instead of answering, the officer went over to a display board and brought up a series of small vid transmissions. Several of them blinked out as he dismissed the feeds, finally settling on one.
“This is the scope facing the docking bay where he was instructed to land.” Dotharbith reset the timer. “Let’s see if we have a good picture of him.”
They watched the screen as the clock in the bottom right-hand corner ticked off the seconds. After a while, the communications director frowned. “That’s odd. He should have emerged from the bay by now.”
On a hunch, Hunter instructed, “Slow the playback. Show milliseconds.”
The director reset the feed a second time, until the numbers crawled.
“There!” Hunter suddenly barked, pointing at the screen. “Back up one frame at a time.”
Dotharbith manually reversed the video, when a figure suddenly appeared. But it was a partial shot, taking in three-quarters of the man’s face and right shoulder for a split-second before DiMackerlyn went off-screen.
“I don’t get it,” the director muttered, readjusting the vid. “How…”
One moment the corridor was empty, then there was the brief glimpse of the man. One or two micro frames, and that was all.
Dotharbith gave an exasperated sigh. “He must have materialized into the corridor, which is why we only got this incomplete sighting. Sorry, Master Hunter.”
“Yeah, but it’s something you can give to your men. At least they’ll have an idea what their target looks like,” Hunter reassured the man. Inwardly, though, disappointment welled within him. From what they could see, there was no telling if the man was carrying anything. Carrying Callie.
The regent strode immediately to another section of the comm board and called for security to report on deck. Once he was done, he rejoined them. “I’ll have the guards check this place out from one axis to another. But what if he’s managed to jump base?”
“He’s not capable of that,” Dotharbith stated. “He’s a great escape artist, but he still has to move from point A to point B just like the rest of us.” He turned to Hunter. “But since he can literally vanish through walls and such, there’s the possibility he may have hopped another ship.”
“Can you check your manifests? Notify every vessel that’s left since my ship arrived?” Hunter asked.
The regent nodded. “And every ship due to depart. Master Dotharbith, take over.”
The director bent over the comm board, his fingers flying over the console.
“Master Hunter,” Targian added. “What happens if he’s nowhere on another ship. Any idea what you’ll do next? Can you track a person who can disappear at will?”
Hunter gave the man a one-sided grin. “That’s what I’m good at. First, I need to check out the ship. Where is it docked?”
“I gave him clearance to dock at Bay twenty-eight B,” Do
tharbith answered, his head still bowed over his work.
“And that’s on what level?”
“Level thirty-one,” Targian replied.
Hunter pointed a forefinger toward the ceiling, then at the floor.
“Below,” the regent grinned.
Nodding, Hunter vanished, counting the floors as he shot downward. Normally, he would have blindly searched for the ship on his own, but it always helped if he had some information to guide him.
Reaching the thirty-first level, he stepped into the receiving room. A look around the area didn’t reveal anything, and he moved on into the bay. With the ship docked, the main entry doors were sealed shut to allow the transport’s occupants to disembark within an oxygenated atmosphere.
Guardian Transport One sat several meters away, parked haphazardly on the cradle. Apparently DiMackerlyn wasn’t accustomed to landing, but he knew enough to take off and pilot. The transparent hatch was open. Hunter frowned, his mood darkening. The guy didn’t even close or lock down the ship.
Striding over to One, he bent over the open cockpit and searched the interior for something that he could use to focus his powers in order to hunt the man down. Placing his palm on the front seat gave him a faint trace. Same for the throttles. But it wasn’t enough.
He mouthed a curse word and moved to the back seat. This time he got a different reaction.
It ran like a shockwave up his arm, exploding outward from the center of his chest. The sensation rocked him backwards, knocking him onto his butt. Hunter hit the metal floor and remained there for several seconds, stunned and disoriented.
Callie. Callie!
He’d felt her. Her distinct pattern was all over the seat, so strong he could almost smell it. Taste it. See it.
Scrambling back over the side of the ship, he reached again to absorb all he could from the traces on the seat, ratcheting his hunting abilities to their maximum levels to absorb all he could. Tracking DiMackerlyn would take too long. But with a lock on his daughter, Hunter could cut that time into a fraction.
Slowly, he slid his hand over the upholstery, drinking in every molecule, when he caught sight of something peeking from beneath the seat. Something white. Bending down further, Hunter dug at the object with his fingertips to dislodge whatever had gotten hung up. The item came loose, and he brought it out to where he could see it.
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