GALLANT (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 3)

by Marilyn Campbell

  That thought made her reflect on his reactions when he saw her in the chamber. He had covered his eye rather than his body. Although none of the Noronians she knew were overly modest, it still seemed to be an odd response, especially considering just how strongly, and quickly, he had responded. The other curious thing was, in the split-second peek she had, his left eye had appeared to be normal... which was more than she could say about the rest of his extraordinary body.

  All of a sudden she felt pressure build up in her ears and she automatically yawned to pop them. The sensation of pressure went away a moment later, followed by a drastic change in the sound of the ship.

  Quickly, she hid the cubes beneath the mattress and hustled to the bridge to find out what was going on. There, she immediately saw the reason for the change. Looming some distance ahead was a large, rusty brown sphere. Awareness that it was her first glimpse of a planet sent every other thought out of her head. "Is that Zoenid?"

  "Yes," Dot answered. "It would be advisable if you were seated somewhere when we dock."

  Not wanting to disturb anyone further, but hoping to get the best view possible, she went in front of the control panel and sat down on the glass floor.

  Cherry thought she heard Gallant make a groaning sound, but she was too fascinated with the view to be concerned with him at the moment.

  The color of the planet didn't improve any as they approached it. She had assumed it would look like satellite photos she had seen of Earth. Instead, the surface was nothing but a never-ending desert. Where were the oceans? Mountains? Forests? Where was the civilization? "Do people really live down there?" she asked aloud.

  When Gallant didn't answer, Mar did. "Not generally. But there are some small oases in the southwestern quartersphere where some species reside. We will be coming around that side of the planet very shortly."

  "Species?" She looked back at him but he had returned his attention to the navigational monitor.

  As promised, it was not long before they began a vertical descent toward the section Mar had spoken of, but Cherry wondered how he could have used the word "oases" in connection with what she was seeing.

  At least a hundred boxlike structures, of the same rusty brown shade as the land, encircled a green, bubbling mass that could have been a cross between quicksand and nuclear waste. Had she not been looking closely, the various-sized buildings might have been thoroughly camouflaged. Here and there along the otherwise barren landscape, clusters of tall straight sticks jutted upward, making Cherry think of stands of bamboo trees that had lost all their leaves.

  About a quarter mile from the buildings, however, was an even stranger sight—space ships in a variety of shapes were lined up in rows like some futuristic parking lot.

  "You've got to be kidding," Cherry challenged Gallant as they touched down. "I distinctly remember your saying Zoenid was a fascinating little planet. What do you call hell—a tropical resort?"

  Gallant stood and came around the panel to where she was seated. "Did you notice the bog as we were coming in?"

  With a sarcastic laugh, Cherry rose to her feet. "If you mean that sea of slime, I could hardly miss the only spot of color on the whole planet."

  "That slime is known as the elixir of life around here. Not only does it provide necessary fluid, it has rejuvenative properties. A few glasses of the stuff takes years off a person's life, heals the sick and mends the wounded."

  "If that's true, why hasn't anyone bottled the stuff and marketed it?"

  "Because it only works after it's been drawn out through the tube plants, and those plants can't survive anywhere but here. And before you ask, the place isn't overrun by youth-seeking tourists because the residents value their privacy and keep it a secret. There are dozens of oases in the quartersphere but this is the only one where I'm assured someone will recognize me."

  "You want to be recognized?"

  He shrugged. "It would help. Strangers aren't exactly welcomed with open arms in places like this."

  Cherry didn't care for the sound of that. She still wasn't certain Gallant would keep his promise to return her to Earth anytime soon. Since she learned he was a cheat as well as a liar, the odds against his keeping that promise had gone up drastically. If the natives were hostile, catching another ride home would be next to impossible. Until she had a better handle on her situation, she decided to play along with him as if she didn't know he had won her promise to cooperate under false pretenses.

  "Where are these privacy-loving residents?" Cherry asked when she realized no one had investigated their arrival.

  "Inside the shelters, probably just waking up. The sun here is too brutal during the day for anyone to move about. It will be dusk any minute now and then we'll go have a look around."

  "Don't you think it's about time to tell me about this acting gig you want me to do?"

  Mar cleared his throat and Gallant threw him a warning look before saying to Cherry, "Yes, it is. If you would come to my room with me, we'll leave Mar-Dot to complete the landing check and secure the ship."

  Cherry had been doing a fine job of not thinking about him or his incredible body but being closeted in that cramped room with nowhere to sit but his bunk had her traitorous pulse picking up speed again. She remained standing with her arms crossed beneath her breasts. "Shoot." Apparently one glance at his bed convinced him to stay rigidly upright as well.

  "The first thing you need to know is that just about every being out there has come here to hide from something—usually the law. Some of them would incinerate you just for looking them in the eye. Others might not be murderers but they're still capable of doing you harm. An attractive, humanoid female has a number of uses in a place like this."

  "You're making this planet sound more delightful by the minute," she said with a sneer.

  "I only wanted to warn you in case you had the urge to befriend someone out there. You have nothing to worry about... as long as you stay with me."

  Cherry cocked her head at him. "If everyone's so hostile, how can you be sure they'll put up with you?"

  He paused and rubbed his chin. "As I said before, I should be recognized."

  "And accepted as one of them?" she asked warily.

  "In a manner of speaking."

  She had thought he looked dangerous but she hadn't considered the fact that he might have a criminal background. What had Dot told her? Compared to Frezlo, the captain was a good guy. The key words now seemed to be "compared to Frezlo." Cherry's need to pace was building but there was no place to go.

  "You look worried," Gallant noted with concern. "Don't be. I'll protect you."

  But who will protect me from you? Cherry was tempted to ask but held her tongue. "What do I have to do?"

  "Nothing... except to let yourself be seen with me. Although one of the ships out there looks like Frezlo's, I'm not positive it is. I have no way of knowing if he's at this camp or another. Questions about someone's whereabouts aren't tolerated any more than snooping around the shelters. I need Frezlo to come to me."

  "What if he's not here?"

  "If I offer the right... incentive, he'll hear about it wherever he is."

  Cherry's puzzle logic clicked into gear. "Incentive? Like something you have that he might want?" His mouth shifted from side to side and comprehension hit her. "Me?"

  "It won't—"

  "You son-of-a-bitch!" She crossed the room in a flash and delivered a solid punch to his gut. Whining, he backed up to the door. "You planned to use me as bait all along, didn't you?"

  "That's not true."

  "You wouldn't know the truth if it walked up and bit you on the ass!"

  It looked as though she was preparing to strike him again, so he grasped her wrists and secured them against his chest.

  She started to pull away when a sudden tingling in her robotic hand distracted her enough to keep her from moving.

  "I did not intend to use you... until after Mar-Dot touched your mind and came up empty. I couldn't thin
k of anything more effective to lure Frezlo than to let him find out the Weebort had told you something important before he died."

  "I don't believe you." She could tell he was getting angry and she didn't care. It was all she could do to ignore the peculiar sensation of warmth creeping up her right arm. "Tell me, were you including beast bait as one of the uses a female might have around here? I bet, with a little effort, I could find someone with a use for me that wouldn't put my life at risk."

  He inhaled sharply. "You want the truth, Cherry? This is the truth." In a heartbeat, his hands moved to brace her head and his mouth came down on hers.

  As before, there was no warning, no build-up to the explosion of passion. He was instantly devouring her and she was driven by an urgent hunger of her own.

  They dove headlong into an age-old struggle of need and dominance, with neither combatant willing to be the first to surrender, yet both desperate to do just that.

  It was wrong and right at the same time. She was furious with him, and she wanted this devastating kiss to go on forever.

  But recalling how unsatisfactorily their last bout had ended gave Cherry the willpower to retreat a bit. Perhaps he had been thinking the same thing because his attempt to draw her back was easily discouraged.

  He retained a firm grip on her shoulders to prevent her from moving further away while he caught his breath. After a moment, he spoke in a raspy voice. "I will admit that I intended to use you as bait for the last couple days, but believe this—I'm the only one on this godforsaken planet that's going to use you... for anything."

  With her own breathing barely under control, she simply stared up at him. For once, she had no doubt he had spoken the truth. For better or worse, he had appointed himself her protector and, for the time being, she was dependent upon him.

  Slowly, he released her, but another few seconds passed before she moved away and shook the tingling out of her arm. She wasn't sure what happened to her each time they came into physical contact but she definitely noticed that it was the only time her arm acted up. Whatever it was, neither one of them seemed anxious to talk about it, but sooner or later, she was going to discover more about the phenomenal chemistry between them.

  Taking another step back from him, she reminded him of why they were in his room. "You said I needed to do a little acting. What role am I supposed to be playing?"

  The question returned Gallant the rest of the way to sanity. He rubbed his chin as he tried to come up with a way to ease into what she had to do. After her offhand threat to seek someone else's protection he really had no choice but to follow through with his original idea... for her sake as much as his own. But he knew she wasn't apt to be complacent about it.

  He walked over to a storage cabinet in the wall and said, "I've tried to give you a fair picture of the kind of beings that inhabit this area. If there was any way I could draw Frezlo to me without your help—"

  "You're repeating yourself, Captain. Get to the point."

  He opened the cabinet door and took out her peasant girl costume. "I held on to this. You need to look the way you did when Frezlo saw you last."

  "And what if I say I've changed my mind about helping you?"

  He raised his eyebrow. "I thought you were in a rush to get back to Innerworld. If you refuse to play along, it could take weeks to ferret out Frezlo. And then there's the little matter of our wager. You lost, remember?"

  She opened her mouth to protest that he'd cheated to win that game then resealed her lips. If she told him that, she'd be giving away her only chance to get back at him later on... if she was still dependent on him to get home.

  Despite Gallant's numerous deceits, Dot had convinced Cherry of the seriousness of his mission and genuine need of her assistance. Besides, she could see the logic involved in using her to speed things up. "Okay. Give me the damn costume."

  He waited patiently for her to don the sackcloth gown over her jumpsuit and arrange the braided, blond wig on her head. "Good. Now there's just one more item to add."

  She watched him remove something else from the same cabinet, but as he turned around to her, he managed to keep it behind his back.

  "Understand, this is the only way I can positively ensure your safety."

  Cherry groaned. "Spit it out already!"

  "First, close your eyes."

  "Absolutely not. Whatever you've got planned, I want to see it coming."

  He frowned with the knowledge that he hadn't yet earned her trust. "All right, but at least stand still for five seconds."

  She gave him three but it was all he needed to get the collar around her neck and lock it.

  "What the—" Her fingers quickly examined then tugged at the circle of heavy metal links. She had played a slave girl often enough to recognize the collar by feel but those she'd worn for fantasy reenactments had an escape catch. This one was missing that feature. Before anxiety had a chance to set in completely, Gallant was explaining.

  "I swear I'll take it off as soon as I've got you safely back on board."

  "Does it ever occur to you to tell the truth to begin with, or do you just naturally have to be underhanded about everything?"

  "I beg your pardon?"

  "Why don't you try explaining things to me instead of always tricking me into them? I'm an intelligent person. If you ask me to do something and it makes good sense, I'll do it willingly. Your way only makes me angry and I'm much more cooperative when I'm not angry."

  He let her words sink in before responding. "You have a valid point. My only excuse is that I'm not accustomed to dealing with cooperative people and deception is often the only way I get a job done. From now on, I promise to try to explain things to you first."

  She studied him for a moment and decided that a promise to try was probably the best concession she would get from him. "Begin by explaining why I have to wear this collar."

  Looking somewhat contrite, he said, "It's for your protection. The only way I can be sure you'll remain unmolested out there is if everyone's convinced you're my property."

  "Hmmph. You make it sound like all the dangerous characters are so afraid of you that they wouldn't dare mess with what's yours."

  "Let's say, I have managed to establish a certain reputation among this element."

  She recalled Dot saying something about his "unsavory reputation." She considered asking him to elaborate, but decided she was better off not knowing exactly what he had done to earn that reputation. There were already too many risks involved for her peace of mind. However, her conclusion remained that it would all be worth it if it got her home faster. "Okay. I'll pretend I'm your slave. But don't push the master business too far or you'll regret it."

  With a loud click, he snapped a chain leash to the back of the collar. On the other end of the leash was a manacle that he clamped over his left wrist. "I'll do my best not to take advantage."

  Cherry wondered how he managed to say that with a straight face. Those two white stripes in his hair looked more like devil's horns every day.

  As politely as though they were going out on a date, he asked, "Shall we go? I'm sure the sun is down by now."

  Lifting a section of chain to take the strain off her neck, Cherry grimaced and gave him a nod of readiness... for whatever he was dragging her into.

  Mar and Dot both wished them luck, although Dot sounded considerably less enthusiastic.

  Gallant opened the hatch and a wave of oppressive heat lapped over Cherry. As she waited for the stairs to telescope their way down to the ground, she noted the red haze on the horizon where the sun had recently set. She couldn't begin to imagine how hot it must be during full sunlight.

  "Go down slowly," Gallant instructed her. "I'll be close behind. But after that, be careful to stay a step or two behind me... and keep your eyes downcast whatever you do."

  She turned and clucked her tongue at him when she reached the ground. "You don't have to tell me how to play a slave girl. I've done it thousands of times. Being lord
and master over a helpless woman is apparently a universal male fantasy. But"—she wagged her finger at him—"like I told you before, don't get carried away with your role."

  Instead of looking threatened, he winked at her. "I promise to whip you only if it becomes absolutely necessary to prove my manhood to the locals."

  "Very funny! Can we just get this over with, please?" She readjusted the collar and lifted the chain a little higher. "This rig isn't getting any lighter."

  Gallant frowned and gently touched her neck. "Your skin's already rubbed pink. I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. Let's go back and put some kind of padding inside."

  He started to go up the stairs again but she gave the chain a yank. When he almost fell, she laughed out loud. "How about that? This thing works both ways. Forget the padding. A heartless master would hardly think of such a kindness. Anyway, what's a little irritation if I can help save the universe?" The concerned expression on his face was so sincere that she knew she had just gotten another glimpse of the real Gallant Voyager. That confirmation of his secretly sensitive nature went a long way toward relaxing her. "Come on, before someone besides me figures out your wicked reputation is mostly hype."

  The rust-colored ground beneath her feet was hard as marble and had cracks large enough to trip in. She was having to be so careful about where she was walking she didn't notice the gruesome display at the edge of the camp until she was right next to it. Staked out on the ground were two skeletons.

  "A not-so-subtle warning to unwelcome visitors," Gallant told her. "If an offender is lucky, he'll get put out here in the middle of the day. That way, he only lasts about two or three hours before he's completely dehydrated, then at least he's not alive to see the ugly little creatures that come crawling around after dark to clean his bones."

  Cherry shivered, both from the image his words created and the noticeable change in the temperature. The red haze was gone now and it was getting darker by the minute. Gallant paused when they reached the inner circle of the windowless buildings, and Cherry cautiously halted a bit behind him, in case anyone was watching.