Bait

by Viola Grace

  Billie has worked for peace and harmony as an Enforcer, but she wants to kick the butt of the man who has the nerve to demand her as his own.

  Billie first met the love of her life when she was working for the Alliance, but he transferred from her unit, and he was out of her life. Two years later, she is on an assignment to recruit more Enforcers of the Oefric species. Their instincts, shifting abilities and love of order make them ideal officers.

  Arcros knew that he could not remain in the same unit as his Terran. He wouldn’t be able to control himself if she was near him and that was a dereliction of duty he was not going to court. Three years later, his people finally admit that he has already chosen his mate and he is allowed to send for her. The Alliance wants twenty warriors in exchange for the woman, and Arcros believes that he is getting the best part of that deal.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Bait

  Copyright © 2012 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-257-4

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Bait

  A Terran Times Tale

  By

  Viola Grace

  Prologue

  The volcanic explosions rocked the entire planet. Billie Praco held onto the defensive screen in her suit and screamed at her superior officer.

  “Get your ass out of here, Captain Dlenner! I am stuck, but you have a clear run to the shuttle.”

  Billie was stuck, pinned beneath a chunk of rock that had tumbled down the hill. Her suit was taking the pressure, but there was no way for her to get out from under it. The researchers that they were evacuating had made it past, but bringing up the rear, Billie hadn’t had a chance.

  “Officer Praco, you are going to leave this world with us before it shakes apart. Whatever you do, don’t move.” Captain Dlenner approached and waved the other officers and the researchers onto the shuttlecraft.

  She watched him get nearer, and as he leaned toward the rock, he shifted. His form slid between feline and canine, while his body remained that of a biped. The captain crouched, braced himself and shoved at the rock.

  It crackled, pieces cracked away and finally, under his clawed grip, it rolled off her leg and hip. The moment she was free, she tried to rise to her feet, but a dark growl got her attention.

  Hands lifted her and cradled her against a massive chest as her Oefric captain carried her past the evacuees and into the shuttle. He settled her carefully on the medical bed, paused to inhale deeply of her hair and skin before shifting back into the normally rugged features she was used to and pretended not to notice every day.

  “You should have been leading our escape, not following. You know you are prone to getting trapped and tangled.” His voice was a growl, but she could hear the gruff concern.

  “I had to keep an eye on the stragglers. Some of those researchers wanted to record every piece of this planet’s death.”

  He sighed and smiled as the readouts were displayed. “You are fine. Your suit took the damage…again.”

  She grinned and sat up. “Thank you. I will help settle the researchers and get back to my duties.”

  Captain Dlenner helped her to her feet. “I have some paperwork to do. I will re-join the unit on the station.”

  His hand caressed her cheek softly, and her eyes went wide. Billie had had a crush on her captain since she had been assigned to his unit of Enforcers, but the flaring fantasy that the feeling was mutual had never solidified until now.

  Captain Dlenner went into his private office on the shuttle and Billie joined the researchers, taking head counts and making sure that they buckled in. Leaving an unstable world was not going to be comfortable, so the tighter they were tucked in, the better.

  As Billie took her own seat and clicked her harness, she smiled at the good-natured ribbing of her unit but couldn’t help but send longing glances to the captain’s office.

  She was a screw up, everyone in her unit knew it, but she meant well and usually her body was the only one harmed. Something was telling her that Captain Dlenner was about to pay the price for something she did.

  Chapter One

  Billie sat and watched her superiors fidget. “You want me to what?”

  The Dhemon at the head of the table was wearing the uniform of an Enforcer detachment commander. He sighed and scratched his chin. “We want you to help in negotiating with the Oefric colony for more personnel.”

  She drummed her fingers on the arms of her chair. “Why me?”

  Billie rarely questioned orders, but the blushing nervousness with which the table of superiors was looking at her had her suspicious. Her commanders were trying to look at anything but her, and in a group of men and women who faced uncertain political climates every day, it was not a good sign.

  Commander Geering smiled hopefully. “You are uniquely qualified for this assignment.”

  Billie glared at the only other female in the room until she squirmed. “Why? Why are you sending me to Chysan for this negotiation? I am a horrible negotiator. I tend to start shooting when I lose my temper. You all should know that. I have been written up more than once.”

  High Commander Afloss inclined his horned head. “You are the only one that the ruler of Chysan will listen to. He has refused all of us entry to their colony. He will not refuse you, and you will get his agreement for twenty Enforcers.”

  “High Commander, you still have not answered the question, why me?”

  The High Commander blushed, “He has a penchant for Terrans.”

  She opened her eyes wide in surprise. “Well, hell.”

  That explained quite a bit. Billie had seen the Oefric fascination with her species first hand, three years earlier, but his self-control and her reluctance squelched the blossoming romance before it got started.

  “So, I am bait or a bribe to get his agreement.” She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at those assembled.

  Commander Geering leaned forward and tried to be helpful, “You are an enticement for him to see things our way. Once you have his agreement, you will return and resume your duties.”

  Billie fidgeted a little, “Twenty Oefric?”

  It would be a coup for the Enforcers. No one was as adept at crowd control or sensing the dangers in a situation as an Oefric was. Their ability to shift into any form while retaining their intelligence made them an asset worth pursuing.

  “Twenty. Their population has more than enough of a male-to-female ratio to spare a few men.”

  “What if women want to enter as Enforcers?” She had to ask.

  “They will have to take it up with their community. We cannot train them if their world is not willing, but if they are willing and free, they can join.” Commander Geering nodded.

  “Fair enough. Do I get a dossier about the man I am
meeting with?” It was customary for them to provide information for their operatives.

  “No. We do have some data scans on Chysan though. They are three generations into colonization and doing very well.” High Commander Afloss nodded encouragingly.

  She sighed. “Fine. I get it. You are sending me in blind. Oefric are all about the instincts, and you don’t want to wreck my reactions.”

  Commander Geering looked uncomfortable. “Something like that.”

  High Commander Afloss nodded decisively. “You will go, and the Oefric will be recruited. Dismissed.”

  She got to her feet, nodded to those assembled and left the room.

  Her wristband quivered, and to her surprise, there was already a departure booked. She had three hours to get her kit and report to the shuttle port. There was a warship connection, and she needed to catch it.

  Billie shook her head and grimaced. She had better get moving.

  “You do not resemble any Enforcer I have ever seen.”

  Billie was eating at the captain’s table on the Heko Mor. She paused and looked at her dinner partner, a water-breathing emissary from a world whose name even Alliance Common could not manage.

  “I look like at least five others that I am aware of, two males and three females of the Terran species.”

  “Peculiar. Why do you put yourself in harm’s way?”

  She blushed when she realized that other folk nearby were listening. “It isn’t what I want to do, it is what I was trained to do. Instinct drives me to help folk when they panic, and the result is that I am an Enforcer.”

  The emissary inclined its head. “I can understand that. Instinct drives my kind to spawn and die in our ninety-third year. We do not have a choice. We do it, or we live knowing that we are incomplete. Our lives hold no meaning without passing our knowledge to the next generation.”

  “So, you give your memories when you spawn?” It had gone from uncomfortable to fascinating in a moment.

  “We do. Each generation is a true copy of the previous one. When my time comes, I will lay thirty eggs, and one will be my true inheritor, and the others who survive to adulthood will serve my people.” The gills fluttered at the emissary’s neck.

  Billie smiled, not showing teeth. It was a skill she had learned in her years as an Enforcer. Many races took the baring of teeth as a threat display. “I wish you a good journey when your time comes.”

  “Thank you. Why do you find yourself here this evening?”

  Billie cocked her head while she contemplated her answer. “I have been sent on a recruiting assignment. It is not a comfortable thing for me, but it is my duty, and I will see it through.”

  “Do you have a mate?”

  More gazes from those at the captain’s table eyed her speculatively.

  She cleared her throat. “I do not. It is not practical for an Enforcer to have a spouse. We travel extensively and are often in danger. It is not fair for our loved ones to wonder if we are coming home.”

  The emissary accepted the answer and turned conversation to a more neutral topic.

  Billie welcomed the discussion of the funding of the Sector Guard, counting the days until she could get off the Heko Mor and onto Chysan.

  One could only stand so many formal dinners after all.

  Chapter Two

  Her feet touched the tarmac of the Chysan spaceport with relief. A man was there to greet her, and he smiled with similar relief.

  “Enforcer Praco. Thank goodness you arrived on time. Our leader has been most eager to meet with you.”

  She inclined her head. “That is why I am here. Is there somewhere I can freshen up?”

  He grinned, and she looked up at his ridiculously handsome face. Her brain sighed happily, but she throttled down her hormones. It wasn’t her job to seduce twenty Oefric, just recruit them.

  He took her duffel and led the way through the spaceport, standing by while she was checked through customs and biologic-import control.

  Billie stood still while the scanners ran over her from head to toe, recording her biological processes and making sure that she wasn’t carrying any infectious agents.

  The agent administering the test was precise and thorough. A few UV flashes and she was good to go.

  Her escort loaded her into a skimmer and sealed the top a moment before the skies clouded over and opened up.

  Billie smiled out the window at the natural rain. It had a different scent than the precipitation manufactured by machine and chemistry.

  “We are very excited to have you here, Officer Praco.”

  She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

  He coloured, and she took in how very young he seemed. His body was adult by any stretch of the imagination, but he had the behaviour markings of a teen. “Really. We were worried you would not be here in time for the reception.”

  “We?”

  “The support staff for the clan chief.”

  His lips tightened as if he had said something he shouldn’t have, but she couldn’t imagine what it had been. Nothing in his words sent off warning bells in her mind.

  The rain was heavy, and it kept her from seeing the view, but her ears popping told her she was heading uphill.

  Absently, Billie adjusted her uniform collar and touched the coil of blonde braid that she had fiercely confined. If she was here as bait for the Oefric to find working with the Alliance enticing, she wasn’t going to make it obvious.

  Her escort hadn’t introduced himself, but she had bigger things to worry about as they slowed in front of a huge building, parking under a canopy that led to the interior of the archway.

  He lifted the duffel and helped her from the skimmer. Her hands were slightly clammy when she realized that her assignment was about to kick into high gear.

  Billie’s talent for being attracted to danger had gotten her this far, but she knew that eventually her luck was going to run out. As she walked into the shadows of the huge building, she had the suspicion that that moment might have come.

  A mature woman stepped out to block her path. “Officer Praco. I am Kadahr, the clan chief’s event organizer. Please come with me.”

  Surprised, she looked to her escort, and he bowed shortly. “Your bag will be in your room. You will be in good hands with Kadahr.”

  Billie followed the woman through a back hallway, up two flights of stairs and into a brightly lit room where three other women waited for them.

  Kadahr turned to her with a smile. “The event you will be attending is formal dress and your uniform is not suitable. The clan chief has made arrangements for you to blend into the crowd. He does not want you to feel singled out.”

  It was thoughtful, but the pink gown that was brought forward did not leave a lot to the imagination. It did allow her full range of movement, and the lemon yellow silk pashmina went well with it.

  Two women sat her down and unfastened her hair, straightening the ripples left by the braiding.

  Billie wanted to ask what the heck was going on, but the third woman swiftly and deftly applied makeup on her face.

  Dressed, coifed and made up, Kadahr pronounced her ready, and the woman took her by the hand to lead her further into the enormous edifice.

  “There will be a contract at the door. It stipulates that you agree to abide by the laws of Chysan while you are here.” Kadahr was speaking in low tones.

  “Thank you for the warning.”

  “There is more. There is food, but only take the food which appeals to your senses. It is important. Your acceptance by this community depends on it.”

  Billie was getting that feeling again. The sensation that she was entering a very dangerous situation was overwhelming.

  As she and Kadahr were approaching a well-lit area full of noise and the scents of food and perfumed women.

  At the door, the contract was proffered to her, and she gave it a cursory reading before pressing her thumb to it.

  The attendant smiled, “A signature too, pl
ease.”

  Surprised, she took the pen he held and signed a print copy for the first time in years. Officer Wilhelmena Praco, Enforcer, born of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra.

  It was nice to see her whole name in print even if there was a lot more of it now than she had been born with.

  Once she handed over the document, she was waved inside what appeared to be a large ballroom filled with women and men. The odd part to her was that the genders were split fairly evenly down the middle, the men on one side and the women on the other.

  Not one to mix it up, Billie moved over to the women’s side of the room as music began to play.

  The men moved forward in a slow surge, and one by one, ladies took to the dance floor.

  Billie kept back and hid behind the crowd of women who were eyeing the dancers wistfully. The dance seemed oddly formal and everyone knew the steps. It was enough to keep Billie firmly at the back of the gathered females.

  A voice brought her out of her study with a jolt. “You always did like to hang back.”

  She turned and her mouth opened in an unladylike gawp. “Captain Dlenner!”

  He was dressed in elaborate clothing that suited him far better than the Enforcer uniform ever had. Rich black fabric covered with intricate gold embroidery encased his massive chest and left his arms bare to the embrace of several detailed metal cuffs. He was wearing more jewellery than she was, and the thought made her smile as she met his coal dark gaze.

  “Officer Praco, I am glad to see you here. Will you dance?” He held out his hand and raised a brow as he bowed slightly.

  “Um, I don’t know how to do this. It seems pretty involved.” Despite her words, she placed her hand in his.

  “Follow my lead.”

  The captain led her to the dance floor, took her in his arms, and with delicate pressure on her back, she swayed back as he stepped forward, and they were off.