HeartStorm (HeartFast Series Book 3)

by Mooney, Linda

  “What if I could come up with a sealer that could do both spot and patch?”

  “It’s been tried before,” Condemner remarked, walking up to join them. “To no great success, as you might have guessed by now.”

  Wooly looked over at the medium-sized transport. “And doing this bit-by-bit method is more feasible than completely re-wrapping the ship and giving it a whole new hull?”

  Condemner gave him a crooked grin. “Something you need to understand, Wooly, is that a new hull would cost a wad of cred. Despite the fact that this section of the galaxy considers us to be the ultimate defenders of all inhabited worlds, we’re not swimming in money. In fact, there are times the paychecks are delayed, or short. We often can’t upgrade some equipment, or purchase new materials. But somehow, eventually, Deceiver manages to even up. We subsist only because of donations. Get what I’m saying?”

  “Is that why Guardian Command has yet to finish rebuilding that top floor?” Wooly inquired, pointing upward.

  Commander nodded. “Exactly. When the money becomes available, Deceiver has to decide where it goes, and how much. Personally, I think the man performs more miracles with the management side of running headquarters than he does as our leader.”

  Wooly scratched the side of his nose as he mulled over what he’d learned. “Then, what you’re saying is we don’t ask for money, and we don’t bill people for the jobs we do. We strictly rely on donations and such to remain self-sustainable.”

  “Exactly.” Condemner nodded, then grinned. “You haven’t read the charter like Deceiver told you to, have you?”

  Wooly gave them an apologetic grin. “Not yet, but I will.”

  “All right. So, let’s assume you can make one of these spot and seal instruments, because I have the feeling this is where this whole conversation is leading up to. What then?” Commander inquired.

  “Well, is there anything that would prevent us from, let’s say, selling it to the public?”

  Commander perched his rump on the edge of the table. “Sell what? The sealer you create?”

  “That. And maybe a few other odd inventions.”

  Both Guardians looked at each other in amazement. “Let me get this straight,” Condemner remarked. “You’re asking if it’s possible that we sell, what? The patent rights to specific equipment?”

  “Equipment you plan to create?” Commander added.

  Wooly grinned. “Well, why not? What about it? Think Deceiver would object?”

  “Would Deceiver object to what?” A voice behind them inquired. The three men turned to see the Guardian leader advancing toward them.

  Commander rehashed what they had been discussing. Deceiver listened, slowly nodding his head until the three men were finished. “Of course, everything I come up with would still belong exclusively to the Guardians,” Wooly hastened to add. “But we could contract some manufacturers to produce and sell the items.”

  Deceiver bit his lips as he thought, giving Condemner a chance to say, “We wouldn’t be breaking our charter, would we? We’d still be taking donations…of a sort.”

  “Just think, Deceiver,” Commander noted. “If Wooly came up with just one product, like a two-in-one sealer. One product. It might bring in enough funds to help alleviate all those sleepless nights you’ve been having these past several months, worrying about our expenses.”

  “Gods, yes,” Condemner chimed in. “Just think of all the space ports who’d purchase one of those things.”

  Deceiver gave Wooly a curious stare. “A two-in-one sealer?”

  Wooly shrugged. “It…was an idea. I know we need one. I thought I could try my hand at cobbling one together, if only for our own use. I just need your approval to work on it.”

  “You honestly think you can come up with one?”

  “Gods, after what I’ve seen, I think the boy can make just about anything you wish for,” Commander drawled.

  Lifting his chin, Deceiver smiled. “I’ll check with the chancellors to see if we can do this and be within our charter. Your suggestion sounds feasible. In the meantime, let’s see what you can come up with. We’ve seen and tried lots of different prototypes, but none of them managed to do exactly what we needed. Even if the triumvirate nixes our proposal to have the item manufactured and sold for public consumption, that wouldn’t prevent us from coming up with our own equipment for our exclusive use.”

  A huge smile nearly split Wooly’s face in two. “Oh, thank you, sir! I’ll get started immediately. Commander, may I use your labs?”

  “Go ahead, kid. Knock yourself out.”

  His grin widening, Wooly started for the exit when Blender’s voice came over the intercom. “Hunter’s on the way! Everyone report to the main hall! Code Two!”

  They ran for the meeting room to find Star already standing in the area where Hunter would appear. She stood with her eyes closed, her face turned upward, arms extended as if waiting to embrace him.

  This time no swirling black wisps preceded his return. When Hunter and Seeker appeared, Seeker stepped forward to address the group. Behind her, Hunter wrapped an arm around his wife and held her close.

  “We found the connection,” the young psychic announced. “Omand Porith is Four.”

  Provoker sat up. “He’s what?”

  It was apparent Seeker was trying to contain her excitement. “There were four men who conspired to bring the Ombitra here. Four. Not three, as we initially believed. When they first met, they used numbers as their aliases. But later, when it came time to escape before the mothership arrived, they revealed their real names so they could contact and warn each other. Corin Sassidy went by the name of One. Tark was Two. Dr. Clearlian was Three.”

  “And Porith was Four,” Hunter intoned.

  “Why didn’t we know about Porith from the beginning?” Condemner asked, glaring at Seeker. “You read Tark when Hunter brought him back, didn’t you? You found the information about Clearlean and the Nimboid cloud and all. Why didn’t you dig out Porith?”

  Seeker shook her head. “I should have gone deeper. I know that now. But at the time, with the attack and Star dying, I thought I got all the information we needed.” She turned an apologetic face to them. “I promise it won’t happen again.”

  “So, now we know why Porith wanted Star and accepted the baby in exchange,” Bruiser summed up. “What’s our next step?”

  “Our next step?” Deceiver rose to his feet. “Hunter, Star, Seeker, Provoker, Bruiser, and Challenger. Take Transport Four and go after Porith and the baby.”

  “And me.”

  They turned in surprise to see Destiny standing beside her seat.

  “I must go with them,” she stated firmly.

  Deceiver relented as he always did when she declared something. “All right. And Destiny. Seeker, when you get this guy, you dig as far as you need into our Mister Number Four, and make sure there isn’t a five, six, seven, or how many else who may have had a hand in bringing this atrocity upon our world. And Star?”

  “Yes?”

  “Make that bastard pay.”

  She smiled. “Gladly.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Nebula

  They were three parsecs away from Bena Tabular when Hunter turned the controls over to Challenger. “I’m going on ahead to do some scouting. See if I can find out where Porith took off to. I should be back before you reach the Tabular system,” he told the others.

  “Explain how you think you’re going to find Porith, when you have nothing to go by but his name,” Provoker challenged. “You know Porith has enough aliases to outfit everyone at Guardian Command.”

  “True. But I’m not tracking him.” Hunter looked at his wife before adding, “I’m tracking my daughter.”

  “Be careful,” Star whispered, reaching out to touch his hand. “There’s no telling what Porith would do if he thought we were after him.”

  “He may already be thinking that, wouldn’t he?” Bruiser spoke up.

  “Why
would he?” Challenger responded. “There’s constant drama going on at headquarters. We accept and ship criminals on a regular basis, so the news media isn’t going to pay any more attention to one small nothing like DiMackerlyn. Especially now since we have that new blackout screen Commander placed over the base that prevents them from snooping.”

  “Bruiser’s right,” Seeker agreed. “There’s still the off chance Porith is covering his tracks. Wouldn’t you?”

  “Unless he can detect me when I’m within my field, he won’t know I’m there,” Hunter assured them. “Once I get Callie back, I’ll let you guys have all the fun of kicking his butt.” He winked at Star. “And you get to have the first swing.”

  Releasing her hand, he vanished. Star sighed and reached up to touch the HeartCrystal. “Tell me when he has her, Emma. Let me know when she’s safe.” The tiny gem didn’t reply, but it grew warm against her throat to let her know it had heard.

  As per Deceiver’s standing directive, everyone climbed inside their spacesuits, with the one exception being Star, who refused to comply. Knowing that no amount of coaxing or threats would convince her otherwise, they didn’t argue the issue.

  They were less than a parsec from the space hub when Hunter reappeared at the back of the transport. Seeker gave a little eep! of surprise, nearly running into him on her way back to her seat with a cold drink.

  “Challenger, divert to the Brodis nebula,” Hunter ordered.

  “Diverting to the Brodis nebula,” the Guardian repeated, punching in the coordinates as he spoke.

  “What’s at the Brodis nebula?” Star asked.

  “A very tiny star cluster,” her husband answered. “In fact, it’s an artificial star placed in a temporary orbit. One planet, two moons.”

  “Why would…” Seeker began, when Provoker cut her off.

  “He created his own paradise,” the man remarked. “Son of a bitch.”

  “One planet with two moons?” Bruiser repeated. “That sounds like Synaria.”

  “Want to bet it looks exactly like Synaria?” Provoker agreed.

  “Did you see her?” Star asked, grabbing Hunter’s arm. “Did you see Callie?”

  His disappointment clouded his eyes, answering her question. “No, but she’s there. I tracked her to that system, then came right back to divert you away from landing on Bena Tabular.”

  “Are you leaving again to fetch her this time?” Provoker asked.

  To everyone’s surprise, Hunter shook his head. “No. From what I can tell, Callie’s not in any immediate danger. I get the sense she’s being well taken care of. Let’s wait until we get closer.”

  Star stared at her husband. She was getting the feeling something wasn’t quite right. There was something Hunter wasn’t telling them, but she couldn’t pinpoint what was bothering her. She caught his eye for a moment, but he quickly looked away. That one split-second confirmed her suspicions.

  “Might not be a good idea, Hunter,” Challenger noted. “What if he has a security grid around the place? Man with that kind of cred, who can order up his own solar system, is bound to have a few mines lying in wait.”

  “Has anyone read the manual to this aircraft?”

  Destiny’s unexpected question silenced them for a moment. Star watched as the woman turned her silvery gray eyes to Hunter. “Have you?” Destiny inquired him directly.

  “Not yet,” Hunter admitted, and waited. However, the psychic leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, dismissing them. Knowing the woman wouldn’t have brought up the idea unless it was pertinent, Hunter took the copilot seat from Bruiser and went to the onboard computer. He had her answer within minutes.

  “Hey, guys. Looks like we’ve been given a state-of-the-art star ship,” he announced. “Listen to this. The outer skin has an invisi-shield. Once it’s activated, the craft can’t be detected by any known security safeguards.”

  “How do you activate it?” Provoker asked.

  In lieu of answering, Hunter’s hands flew over the comm board. An instant later, several people gasped in shock as the entire hull of the craft appeared to disappear, yet their seats and the floor of the ship remained visible.

  “That…can be a bit unsettling,” Bruiser murmured as a small rogue meteorite tumbled past them overhead.

  Star tentatively reached out to touch the wall. Her fingers met with resistance, and she smiled. “I take it we can’t be seen from the outside?” she asked.

  Hunter chuckled. “This is just getting good. Hold on.” A few more manipulations at the panel, and a pale blue glow enveloped them from the outside, encasing the ship within the light.

  “Let me guess,” Provoker drawled. “Those are the shields.”

  “Nope. Already have the shields up,” Challenger noted.

  “The manual calls it a negator,” Hunter explained. “If we come across any man-made defense mechanisms, it will briefly negate our presence and allow us to pass undetected.”

  “Oooh! That’s warp hot!” Seeker cooed. “We have our own little invisible bubble like you do.”

  “Only not as agile,” Hunter corrected. “From what I’m reading, this baby can do much more. It also has a full complement of weaponry, in the event we’d ever need the firepower.”

  “All that, but it can’t invisibly penetrate walls,” Star pointed out.

  Hunter shook his head. “Nope. Guess that means once we reach Porith’s place, we’ll have to invade it the old fashioned way. We personally assault it.”

  Bruiser slammed a fist into his palm. “Now you’re talking my language!”

  “Heads up, everyone!” Challenger called out. “Brodis nebula ahead. Coming out of hyperlight in four…three…two…one.”

  Their re-entry into normal space was smoother than a sip of water. Immediately, an amber light began to flash on the main board.

  “One warning buoy already negated,” Hunter announced, and looked up just as Seeker’s awe-hushed voice whispered what they all were thinking.

  “Wow. Would you look at that.”

  The nebula was a thick, scarlet-tinged cloud of gas and dirt. Bands of blue and green ringed its outer edges, making it resemble an enormous chunk of brodi mineral from the Plutari system. Hence the label, Brodis nebula. From their angle of entry, bright diamonds of pure white stars made a picturesque formation in its upper left quadrant. This close to the cloud, its hues filtered into the transport’s interior, until everyone appeared to be part of the phenomenon of translucent color.

  “No wonder Porith hide his home away from home in there,” Provoker commented. “Most trawlers and cruise ships avoid nebulae. He could lie inside one for forever and never be discovered or found.”

  “Unless he has a homing beacon to bring someone in,” Hunter responded.

  “A homing beacon like our daughter?” Star came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. In answer, she was sent a warm rush of hope.

  “Speaking of beacon, Hunter,” Challenger commented.

  “Laying in coordinates now,” he answered.

  The amber light flashed again, along with a muffled thump to the ship’s underbelly. Hunter checked the readout. “That was an explosive mine.”

  “What happened to it?” Seeker asked. “Did it go off?”

  “We bumped it,” Challenger admitted. “Kind of hard to spot the damn things in time to avoid them.”

  Bruiser looked confused. “If we bumped it, why didn’t it explode?”

  “Because our negator shut it down before we hit,” Hunter answered. “Damn. We need to get Wooly onto this thing. Have him outfit the other transports with a similar device.”

  They continued to flow through the semi-transparent cloud, completely blind to everything other than the kaleidoscope of colors enveloping the ship. If it weren’t for their controls, Star knew they would be hopelessly lost, and commented as such.

  “Like I said,” Provoker replied. “It’s the perfect hiding place. I’ve even heard of pirates and mercenary runners usi
ng them for concealment.”

  “All right, guys. We have a lock on the location.” Challenger’s hands danced over the board. “Take your seats and hold on. Hunter, do we go into orbit? Or try to land this thing?”

  “I have a landing area already scouted out. Feeding in coordinates now.”

  Within moments, the ship left the nebula and entered the upper atmosphere surrounding the tiny planetoid. This close in, Star noted how the artificial moons were ovoid in shape, rather than spherical. Further proof the smaller orbs had only been circling their slightly larger sister for a brief time, since eons had not yet had the chance to wear them down.

  Challenger approached from the dark side, although Hunter assured him the ship would remain invisible and undetectable in the light. Upon closer inspection, they noticed the world only vaguely resembled Synaria. This planet had one small body of water, and two main land masses, all entirely uninhabited with the exception of one tiny blip on their screens.

  “There.” Hunter pointed to it.

  They landed in a remote area behind a short range of cliffs, near but out of sight of the complex where Porith was located. Challenger powered down the engines but didn’t shut them off completely, in the event they needed to make a fast getaway. Turning to face his copilot, he asked, “What’s our next plan of action?”

  “First off, our primary focus is to rescue my daughter. Once we have her safe, we shift our attention to capturing Porith and returning him to face the tribunal.”

  Bruiser broke in. “What if we manage to get your daughter back, but Porith eludes us?”

  “Not a problem. If he’s handled Callie at all, his DNA will be on her. Once I have that, I’ll eventually catch up with him. He won’t be free much longer.”

  “That’s how you managed to track down those three bastards who sicced the Ombitra on us,” Challenger commented, as it finally dawned on him. “They’d handled that container with the Nimbus cloud, and you got their imprint off of it.”