“So?” Tannis prompted.
“They’re under siege—pinned down. The Church has a fleet of ships orbiting Trakis Five, and my council is too fucking scared to take the offensive.”
“Sounds like the Church are taking the opportunity to try and get control while you’re off playing,” Rico said.
Callum tossed him a filthy look. “Thanks for that assessment— very insightful. Apparently, according to the Church, we’re all abominations and as such must be eradicated with extreme prejudice. We’re all to burn in the Church’s fires. Me first.”
“Ouch.”
“I told them to wake the fucking colonel up and get someone in charge who has a clue what they’re doing.”
“So we can’t expect any help from your people?”
“Once the colonel is back in charge—maybe. Until then, we’re on our own.”
“Isn’t there a garrison on the station orbiting Trakis Seven?”
Skylar asked.
“No, we’ve been pulling people off there. Closing the place down.”
“Why?” Tannis asked.
He glanced around the room, then shrugged again. “I told you. The Meridian is finished. There’s no point in anyone else being sent there to die for nothing. We’ve searched the entire planet—it’s over. And by-the-way we don’t want that information spread around.”
“No,” Rico said. “I can imagine it would severely deplete your influence if that bit of news got out.”
…
Callum slumped low in his chair, his gaze fixed on Tannis. She looked so sexy strapped into that harness. Maybe he’d take her like that one day. Or one night, when they had the bridge to themselves. Again. He was definitely making progress with her.
She certainly hadn’t seemed scared; she’d seemed hot and eager and… His cock twitched and his balls ached. Shifting in his chair, he forced himself to look away. Maybe he needed to get his mind on something else. Like the fact that everything was falling apart.
The Collective had ruled for four hundred years. It had taken them nearly a hundred years after the initial discovery to work out what Meridian was doing, to recognize that they weren’t aging, and were almost indestructible. After that, they had worked out a plan, how to best utilize their discovery, and they had quickly grown in wealth and power. But the Collective were still only relatively small number compared with the overall population.
They had maintained control and kept the warring factions at bay by the promise of Meridian—anyone who pissed off the Collective could kiss goodbye to any chance of immortality.
But one day, the news would leak out that Meridian was finished. Or someone would realize there were no new members, and come up with the right answer all on their own. Then their tentative hold on that power would be lost.
He couldn’t get worked up about the idea. Mainly because he was fed up of the whole lot of them looking to him to solve their problems. It hadn’t taken him long to realize that while great wealth and power weren’t all that exciting; they were hard to walk away from. Now, he’d made the first move, and it felt good. He couldn’t shake the feeling that it was time for him to try something new, and for someone else to take over.
But he didn’t want it to be the goddamn Church.
Money was no problem; he had accounts set up all over the place. He could go anywhere, do anything, maybe spend some time trying to understand what he was and what he would one day become. He stroked a finger along the tip of one wing, where it reached up past his shoulder. Was this as far as the changes went? Or would there be more in the future? What would he be in a thousand years’ time? If Temperance bloody Hatcher and his cohort of zealous fanatics hadn’t cleansed him in their fires by then.
And if Tannis got the treatment, then he’d have someone to share that journey with. He’d told her the truth, he didn’t believe in love. But he liked her, and he wanted her, liked the way she stood up to him, the way she melted in his arms, and that was a hell of a lot more than he’d felt in a long time.
So tomorrow, they would meet with Venna and head off to Trakis Seven. Venna had been in charge of the investigation since they had realized that Meridian was something more than the inanimate element they’d originally believed. She’d been a scientist before she was changed, one of those dedicated people hungry for knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and she’d been relentless in her pursuit of the truth. Still, she’d found nothing of any use.
That was why Callum had decided to go back to Trakis Seven himself. He’d never been back after that first crash landing, but he had an idea that the answers were there somewhere. He would see what he could find, get Tannis the treatment, and then decide where to go from there.
He stretched, suddenly realizing he was tired. Something else he hadn’t felt in a long while. Glancing across at Tannis, he found her watching him, and he stretched again and gave her a slow, lazy smile. “I’m going to bed,” he murmured.
Her gaze ran over the length of his body, and heat pooled in his belly. Then she looked away and shrugged. “Good night.”
Maybe he hadn’t quite won her over. Yet.
Chapter 8
The shuttle door slid open, and Venna stood in the opening.
Beside him, Tannis let out a gasp, and he shot her a quick glance.
Shock and something else showed on her face, but was quickly gone, her expression blanked out.
He frowned and looked back at Venna, but could see nothing to cause the reaction. He was sure the two didn’t know each other—he didn’t think there was any way they could have met, and he saw no recognition in Venna’s eyes.
Venna was beautiful, but he’d always found her cold and rather calculating and so he’d never been interested in making their relationship personal. That had pissed her off; she was used to men falling over her. She was small and curvy, the complete opposite of Tannis, with a mass of blond curls and a rosebud mouth.
She gave Callum her warmest smile, then tossed Tannis a cold glance. “My luggage is in the pod. Take it to my room.”
She put a hand on Callum’s arm, and the smile was back.
“Take it yourself,” Tannis snapped.
Venna’s violet eyes turned icy. “Who is this…person, Callum?”
“Or better yet,” Tannis continued, “leave it on board. You can stay on your pod. The ship is full.”
Callum swiveled to face her and studied her face. His first thought was she was jealous, and he liked the idea. Still, he should reassure her, tell her that there was nothing between him and Venna. Had never been anything.
But Tannis didn’t look jealous. He couldn’t define her expression; it was as though a mask had dropped in place. She raised an eyebrow when she caught him watching her.
“What?” she snapped. “You want to give her your room— feel free.”
He frowned. “No, she can stay in the pod.”
“But—” Venna began but he cut her off with a wave of his hand.
“Let’s go—you can tell me what’s been going on, and then we need to decide exactly how we’re going to do this.”
He waited for Tannis to lead the way, but she stood there, hand resting on her laser pistol, that icy-cold look in her reptilian eyes. A shiver ran through him.
“Well?” he asked.
“Well, what?”
“Are we moving? Or are we going to stand here all day?”
What the hell was wrong with her?
She shrugged but then headed off up the ramp out of the docking bay. Venna raised her eyebrows at him, but he ignored the implied question and followed Tannis. Venna fell in beside him.
Tannis led them to the large conference room in the center of the ship. It was decorated in the usual black and silver with small tables and chairs scattered around the large area. They all took seats around one of the tables.
“Okay,” he said to Venna. “So what’s been going on?”
She gave Tannis a quick glance and then shrugged and started to give
him a rundown on the past few days. But he was finding it hard to concentrate. There was definitely something wrong with Tannis.
She didn’t appear to be paying attention to the conversation.
Instead, she was gazing at the ceiling, one booted foot swinging, her fingers drumming on the arms of her chair.
“Are we boring you?” he asked.
She turned her head to look at him, her eyes cold and yellow, the pupils narrowed to mere slits. “Yes.”
Then she got to her feet and stalked from the room without looking back.
…
Tannis kept her pace slow until she heard the whoosh of the door closing behind her, then she headed toward her cabin at a run.
Her mind was whirling, a whole load of disjointed thoughts and memories swirling around her head.
Venna looked like an angel. A fucking goddamn angel and something had clicked in Tannis’s head when she’d seen the other woman.
She recognized her immediately as the Collective woman who had visited the research center all those years ago.
Her angel.
The woman who had given her chocolate and awoken a dream.
Rico had asked her the other day what the woman had been doing there and she’d replied she didn’t know. But since he’d asked the question, it had been festering in her mind. Demanding that she come up with an answer.
So what would Callum Meridian’s head of research have been doing at a privately owned research station?
She slammed her palm into the panel and the door slid open.
Stopping just inside her room, she thought for a minute, finally hurrying over to a closet behind the bed. In the bottom, she found a box and inside was a small scrap of material. It was stained brown with old, dried blood and a shiver ran through her at the memory of that day.
She smoothed it out, every cell hoping that she was wrong. Her fingers ran of the writing—the insignia of the research company.
And everything went cold inside her. CM Research.
She crumpled it up in her hand, and then sank down onto the bed.
Just about all her life she had yearned to become one of the exalted Collective. She’d imagined she would be like that beautiful angel of mercy who had given the children chocolate and patted their heads. While all the while she had been responsible for the torment they endured every day. Why hadn’t she made the connection before now?
Because she’d been only six years old and such things had been beyond her understanding. She’d grown up isolated from the world, only knowing what they told her, which had been very little. She’d needed something to cling to, some hope of a better future, and she’d picked on the Collective, idolized them in her mind. When she’d left that place with Rico, she’d needed a goal so she had clung tenaciously to that dream.
But maybe all along, deep in her sub-conscious she had known the dream was flawed. That’s why she had put thoughts of revenge away, because if she’d gone after those behind the research center then her dream would have shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving her with nothing.
She’d told herself she would get her revenge, but later. After she’d got the Meridian treatment and become one of them, one of the angels.
Shit. She was pathetic. And blind. And stupid.
And there was a good chance that Callum fucking Meridian was responsible for everything.
She flung the scrap of material across the room. Then she was hurling anything she could reach until there was nothing left, and she threw back her head and screamed. Black rage filled her.
She recognized it, her old friend from back in the research center.
The emotion that had kept her going, as one by one her friends disappeared. Her sister.
She wanted to go out and kill them both, blast them until they were no more than smoking ashes. She leaped to her feet and paced the room, slammed her fist into the wall and cursed at the pain. But it cleared her mind a little and an icy rage settled over her.
What should she do? First, she had to check out her facts.
Maybe the dream was within her grasp. Just a little bit altered from the original version. She could still get the Meridian treatment, and her immortality, then say goodbye to them.
Permanently.
The buzzer sounded and she crossed the room and peered into the monitor, relaxing a little as she saw Rico standing outside.
“What do you want?” she snapped.
“To come in perhaps?”
She shrugged and pressed the panel. “Actually, I was just leaving. Why are you here?”
“Callum said there was something wrong. He asked me to come and check on you.”
“Did he? How sweet.” She forced a smile. “Well as you can see—I’m fine.”
He studied her, head cocked on one side. “No, you’re not.”
He peered around her into the room, his eyes widening, and she followed his gaze. The room was a tip; she’d thrown just about everything that was moveable.
“I was just doing dome clearing up.”
“Really? What’s the matter?”
She thought about telling him. Rico had suffered in that place as well; he had a right to know. But she wanted some proof first.
“Just a moment.”
She crossed the room and searched among the debris for the scrap of material. She found it and stuffed it in her pocket, before returning to Rico.
“Where are they?”
“Who? Callum and his blonde girlfriend?” His eyes narrowed.
“That’s not what this is about is it? You’re jealous?”
“Hah. Did Callum suggest that?”
“No, I thought of it all on my own. There’s no need. I was just winding you up. They don’t have the look of a couple—my guess is the relationship is strictly business.”
“And you’re mistaking me for someone who gives a shit.”
His frown deepened. “Yes, I was. What’s going on?”
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll tell you once I’ve checked something. Are they still in the conference room?”
“Yes.”
“And Janey?”
“In her cabin, I think.”
“Good.”
She stalked off down the corridor, Rico following. At Janey’s door, she pressed her palm to the panel and heard the buzzer.
Janey appeared a moment later.
“Can I come in?” Tannis asked.
Janey yawned. “Of course. What do you need?”
“Some information. I want you to try and get me some background stuff on a company.”
“Sure, should be no problem. Come in.”
They both entered. Rico leaned against the wall just inside the door, his arms folded across his chest. Tannis sat down in the chair by the bed, pulled the material from her pocket, and handed it to Janey.
“Ugh. What is this?”
“The company insignia. Will it be enough?”
“Might be.” Janey sat down and flipped on the console. She placed the material on the desk beside her and smoothed it out.
“CM Research.”
“What is that?” Rico asked.
“The badge I took off the guard I killed in the research center.”
“Really? And I’m guessing that CM stands for Callum Meridian.”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“I did wonder when you told me there had been visits from the Collective. But that’s hardly conclusive evidence.”
“That’s what I’m hoping Janey can come up with.”
Gripping her hands together, she watched as Janey’s fingers flew over the board. “What do you want to know?” Janey asked.
“Could it stand for anything else? Can you find any proof that Callum Meridian is behind the company?”
“Well there’s only one company coming up. Closed now by the looks of it—in fact it closed fifteen years ago.”
“Really?”
“Let’s see if we can’t find out who’s b
ehind it.”
She worked in silence for the next five minutes. Tannis sat and tapped her foot on the floor and tried to curb her impatience.
“What is this company?” Janey asked, her fingers not slowing.
Tannis considered ignoring the question, then she shrugged.
“I was brought up in a research center.”
“You were born there?”
“No—I think I was sold to them when I was four or so. Most of my family was killed, I presume by the Church though I don’t remember the attack.”
“Most?”
“My sister and I survived.”
Janey glanced over her shoulder, a small frown on her face. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“I don’t. Not anymore.” A wave of sadness washed over her as she remembered Thea, her baby sister. “She died. They did some sort of experiment on her and she…” She broke off.
“I’m sorry.”
Tannis shrugged. “It was a long time ago. Anyway, I thought the center was run by the Church or at least funded by the Church—looking for new and better ways to kill us off.”
“No, there’s no Church connection. At least not in the ownership. There are large payments going out to the Church though. Could be buying in children like yourself.” She sat back in the chair and gestured at the screen. “Come and look.”
Tannis pushed herself up and stepped closer, her legs strangely heavy, and she realized she didn’t want to see this. Didn’t want confirmation that Callum was behind the horror of her childhood, the death of her baby sister. Rico came up behind her, put a hand on her shoulder, and squeezed. He so rarely touched her, as though he was aware she found it hard, and she knew her feelings must be showing. She took a deep breath and allowed a mask to fall over her features. The same mask she had worn every day in the center.
The screen blurred for a moment, and she forced herself to concentrate and read the words. She was expecting it, but all the same, a jolt of shock ran through her at the sight of Callum’s name clear on the screen. She read the information slowly, making sure she understood.
“So it was privately owned, not by the Collective.”
Nina Croft Page 12