“No, I’m not.” Jon stood in the doorway. He didn’t look good, but at least he was still human, and the feral glint had gone from his eyes. He lowered himself into the seat next to Callum, stretched his long legs in front of him, and reached across for a glass. He swallowed the amber liquid in one gulp. “So how are we going to do this?”
Tannis turned to Callum. “Why don’t you explain?”
Callum nodded. “Right now, The Endeavor is on her way to Trakis Four—”
“The Endeavor?” Devlin cut in.
“She’s the Collective’s new flagship. Top of the range, stealth technology. Anyway she’s on her way to destroy the Churches headquarters, and we plan to steal her.”
Tannis relaxed back, sipped her drink, and let the rich tones of his voice wash through her. He had a beautiful voice and a way of talking that had everyone paying attention and sitting forward in their seats. He was a born leader, that was obvious, and she couldn’t help but wonder what he would do after… after she was gone. And after he had fulfilled his promise to see her crew right.
Would he go back and rule the Collective? He’d said he’d come to hate the job, but maybe he’d just needed a break away so he could see things clearly.
“How do we steal her?” Devlin asked. “I’m presuming she must have fire power far superior to anything we can put together.”
“I’ll sort that out.” Callum said.
“Will you?” Devlin frowned. “Why would you go against your own people?”
“He will,” Tannis said. “Trust me.”
Devlin gave him a long look but then nodded.
A brief smile flickered across Callum’s face. “Okay, so we board her and between us we’ll work out how to fly her. Then we take her in to Trakis Four using the stealth technology. Meanwhile, Devlin can create a diversion with El Cazador and any of his people who can get there on time.”
“No.”
Callum turned to Devlin and raised an eyebrow. “No?”
“I want to be in the landing party. I want a chance at Hatcher.
Tris was my brother.”
“He’s right.” Skylar spoke for the first time. “Besides, we’ll need him. The captain’s not up for this.” She glanced at Tannis as if expecting her to argue. Tannis opened her mouth then snapped it shut again. Skylar was right, and it would be another day before they made it to the planet, who knew what state she’d be in by then. Skylar continued. “We’ll need Devlin. That will make three of us, me, Jon and Devlin. Jon will shift—he’ll be able to find Alex better that way, but he’ll need us to watch his back and probably fight our way out of there.”
“I’m going in,” Callum said.
Everyone turned to look at him.
“I hope this isn’t some guilt fueled suicide mission,” Devlin said.
“Hardly—I’m not that easy to kill. But I think I can be of some help. I’ve been to the Church’s headquarters before on diplomatic missions. I know my way around the place at least better than any of you.”
“He’s right,” Jon said and Tannis glanced at him in surprise.
She’d thought he still hated Callum, just for being part of the Collective. But now he nodded to Callum. “Thank you. I know the only reason we’re doing this is to get Alex.”
“Not the only reason,” Devlin growled.
“Yes, but we could wait for a better time for revenge, whereas we need to get Alex now. I can feel her, and she’s hurting.”
“She’s a member of the crew,” Tannis said. “So we go after her, it’s a simple as that.”
They started discussing details, and Tannis let the conversation wash over her. It felt odd to think of them going on a mission without her. She didn’t think she’d ever been left behind before. If she wasn’t careful, she was in danger of becoming maudlin.
She almost jumped when Callum reached across and rested his hand on her thigh. He squeezed gently. The touch was in no way sexual; she knew it was meant to comfort her, and the thought made her want to cry. She concentrated on keeping herself together. Finally, it was over.
“That’s it then—all we can do is wait until we intercept The Endeavor. And hope that we don’t just fly straight past her.”
…
Callum wanted nothing more than to just take her to bed and hold her. She was being so brave, but occasionally he saw flashes of fear in her yellow eyes. He peered at her sideways, but she caught the look and scowled.
“I’m fine,” she snapped. “Just concentrate on what you need to do.”
What he needed to do was work with Daisy to set up the search frequencies so they wouldn’t miss T he Endeavor when she got within distance. He wanted to leave contacting Captain Harris until the last moment. While he presumed the Council had told Harris he was to pick Callum up, he also suspected that they would have given him instructions to destroy El Cazador. The ship had been a pain in the Council’s butt for too long now. It was unlikely they’d let her sail happily on her way when they had a chance to blow her to pieces. So he’d prefer to take The Endeavor and her captain by surprise. Not easy with a virtually invisible ship.
Two hours later, he turned around. The bridge was empty except for him and Tannis. Everyone else had gone to bed to try and get some sleep. Tannis was slumped in a chair, yawning.
“You want to go to bed?” he asked.
“Hell no, there’s—”
“—time enough to sleep when you’re dead. I know.”
He was trying hard not to think about the whole dying thing, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to function. There were times over the past few centuries when he’d regretted his immortality, he hadn’t wanted to die exactly, but living had seemed more of a chore than a good thing. Strangely though, even now he didn’t want to die. He knew that if Tannis died, the future was going to be bleak for a long time to come, but all the same, he wanted to live. He had to save Alex for her, then look after the crew, then maybe even go back and put the whole world to rights.
“What are you thinking?”
He glanced across at Tannis who was watching him head cocked to one side.
“That you’ve taught me so much,” he said. “Given me a purpose in life again—thank you.”
She smiled. “Good, now finish your work.”
He turned back to the console and did a scan, there was nothing showing up, and he adjusted the sensors. The trouble was The Endeavor was good. When he looked again, her eyes were closed. He pressed his comm unit and got Daisy.
“Yes,” she said sleepily.
“Are you okay to come up and watch the scanners for a while.”
“Of course, I’ll be right there.
Five minutes later, she appeared in the doorway. As she glanced at Tannis, a frown flickered across her face. “Is she all right?” she whispered.
“Just sleeping.”
Callum picked Tannis up in his arms. She didn’t wake but snuggled close to him. Her skin was blue-white with a fine sheen of sweat, and her lashes were dark against her pale cheeks. He hated to see her so vulnerable when she’d always been fiery and vibrantly alive.
“Shower,” she murmured as he lowered her to the bed.
He slowly peeled off her clothes, kissing her bare skin. He needed her, but was afraid she was feeling too ill, and he should leave her alone. But as he cupped her breast, she moaned low in her throat.
“Don’t stop.” Her hand reached out to cover his and hold it against her.
He pulled free; finished undressing her then picked her up and carried her into the small bathroom. He turned on the water to hot, then stepped into the shower. It was a close fit with his wings, but he could hold her in the spray with one arm around her waist as he soaped her body with the other. His hands stroked over the softness of her breasts, lingering on the tips as her nipples tightened under the attention. Then down the flat plane of her stomach, almost concave now, her ribs clearly visible under the translucent skin, to the silky curls at the base. She opened the legs as his fingers d
rifted through the curls, sliding between the folds of her sex to find her warm and wet.
He was already hard, but he held himself in check, just stroked her gently, caressing the small swollen nub until she pushed against his hand. He went still wondering how far to take this; he didn’t want to hurt her, but if he could give her some pleasure, some respite from the pain, he desperately wanted to.
“Please,” she said as he hesitated. “I won’t break, and I need to feel you inside me.”
Setting the shower to air, he held her in the warm blast. When they were both dry, he carried her through to the bedroom and lowered her to the mattress. He came down above her, locking his elbows so his weight didn’t touch her. She parted her thighs and he slid inside, heard her whispered sigh of pleasure. He made love to her slowly, until her felt her fly apart beneath him, then he lay beside her and slept.
He awoke to the sound of coughing. Tannis was sitting up in bed, when she turned to face him, he saw the tracks of crimson from her nostrils, and he knew their time together was running out. She touched her fingertips to her face and held them up before her eyes. Her lids fluttered closed for a brief moment, when she opened them, her expression was pissed.
“Shit,” she said. “Shit. Fuck. Crap.”
Yeah, that about covered it.
Callum rolled out of bed and hurried into the bathroom.
Keeping his mind blank, he grabbed a towel and moistened it in the small sink, then went back to her and perched on the edge of the bed. Gently, he wiped the blood from her face, leaned in, and kissed her.
“You have to go,” she said. “I just got a comm from Daisy— we’re coming up on The Endeavor.”
This was it then. His gut tightened with the almost forgotten mixture of anticipation and fear he’d always felt as a pilot before he went into action. However many missions he flew, it had always been the same. Once in the air, the sensation had dissipated and he’d reached a cool, calm place where his brain and body functioned with a precision he never experienced on the ground.
He just hoped the same would happen here, but he doubted it.
Back then, there hadn’t been so much at stake. If Tannis was to die, she would go knowing what was left of her crew were safe and those dead were revenged.
“I want you on board The Endeavor,” he said. Whatever time she had left, he wanted her close.
“Just try and leave me behind.”
Chapter 23
Tannis watched through the scanner as they drew away from El Cazador. The ship had been her home for the last fifteen years.
Now, she was filled with the knowledge that she would never see her again, and a wave of sadness washed through her.
Four of Devlin’s men had taken over El Cazador—she would be used as a distraction while they slipped onto Trakis Four on The Endeavor. At least that was the plan.
Rico would be pissed that she was leaving his ship in the hands of strangers. At the thought, she blinked back tears, and then quickly wiped her face with the cloth she held. No way did she want the others to see how bad she was; they needed to focus, not worry about her.
The small shuttle was crowded with the six of them. Whenever they’d gone on a mission before there had always been the buzz of excitement. Today, the atmosphere was subdued. It was good to know they were sad at her dying, but maybe she should say something cheering, like—hey, get over it, everyone has to go sometime. But that wouldn’t even be true in the present company.
She cast a sideways glance at Callum; he stood beside her, his hand resting on her shoulder. He appeared composed and actually managed a small smile when he caught her gaze. He was trying so hard.
Beside him, Skylar stood, her expression distant as she too watched El Cazador disappear from the scanner. No doubt, she was thinking about Rico. But that would pass. She had time after all.
The one she was really concerned about was Jon. He’d already shifted and lay on the floor of the shuttle taking up most of the space. His head rested on his paws, but his amber eyes were open and watchful. If they failed…
She shut down the thought. They wouldn’t fail.
“There she is,” Skylar said.
Tannis had been watching Jon, now she swung around to look at the scanner. The ship appeared out of nowhere. One second they were staring at the vastness of space, the next the viewer was filled entirely with the matt black hull of The Endeavor.
“We’re inside the shielding,” Callum said.
The ship was huge—ten times the size of El Cazador and beautiful, all sleek graceful lines. “So tell me again—how many crew?”
Callum cast her a wry look. Yeah, so she’d already asked, but she needed to take her mind off the coming separation.
“I told you—I don’t know. She can carry up to one hundred men comfortably, but she can be flown by one person—so long as they’re Collective. I can sense five Collective members, but there could be others.”
“Can she really hear your thoughts?” Daisy asked, her tone full of awe. Obviously to Daisy’s mind, telepathic people were nothing special, but a telepathic ship was way cool.
“Yes. We identified the frequencies of the telepathic brainwaves and tuned her in.”
“Can’t you ‘talk to her’ from here?” Tannis asked.
“No, In case of attack I didn’t want anyone to be able to remote control her. But if I can get close enough to the biometric reader, I can take over. She’s my ship. I can override anything.”
“Okay, I’m taking her in,” Daisy said.
Directly in front of them, a split formed in the giant hull, revealing the docking bay beyond. Daisy flew them in and touched down gently beside a line of shining new shuttles that made Tannis’s mouth water. In fact, everything was shining and new.
She was inspecting the docking bay through the monitor, when Callum leaned down and scooped her up. Her mouth opened to protest that she was strong enough to walk, but then snapped closed again—she was by no means sure it was true and besides, she liked being held in his arms.
He carried her down the ramp. A man was waiting for them at the bottom, his violet eyes showing he was one of the Collective.
He was dressed in the black uniform of the Corps and drew to attention when he saw Callum.
“Sir, I’m to take you to the bridge. The captain will meet you there.”
Tannis gazed around her as they walked along the wide silver corridors, then rode up to the next level in an elevator, which opened directly onto the bridge. She quickly took in her surroundings, assessing what could be used to their advantage.
Three men occupied the area, all dressed in the same black uniforms. All drew to attention as Callum entered.
He ignored them and carried her across to a chair situated in front of the main console.
“This place is huge,” she said.
Compared to El Cazador it was. The ceilings were high, the corridors and rooms wide with little in the way of furniture.
“She was designed with certain physical attributes in mind,”
Callum said. Standing in front of her, he spread his wings.
“Very impressive,” she murmured.
“I wasn’t told anyone else would be boarding.” The Captain’s voice took her attention from Callum. She studied the man; he appeared somewhere in his mid-thirties, but of course that meant nothing with the Collective. He could be anything up to four hundred years old, and when she looked closely, she could see the age and experience reflected in his eyes. He also sounded suspicious.
Callum gave her a small smile and then turned to face him.
She could see his posture changing; he appeared to grow, become more commanding.
“I didn’t think it was any of your business, captain.”
Tannis almost smiled at the tone—he sounded so like the old Callum—the Leader of the Universe who didn’t have to answer to anyone.
The captain must have recognized it as well. He nodded. “I’ll have someone show you to y
our quarters. We should be arriving at Trakis Four within a few hours and then we’ll head home.”
“I don’t think so. I’d like you to gather your men together, captain.”
“Why? I’m afraid we don’t have the time right now. We have a problem with the ship that I need to see to before we reach Trakis Four.”
Callum swore softly. “Don’t tell me—the reactor units?”
“Yes—how did you—”
“Because she failed the initial test runs on the reactor units.
They broke down under pressure. That’s why she was back in the dockyards. I gather they failed to tell you.”
The captain remained silent.
“Idiots,” Callum muttered. He paced the deck for a few minutes then turned back to the captain. “I’ll deal with it. You get your men together and gather in the docking bay.” As he spoke, he strolled toward the bank of consoles. The captain frowned; he stepped forward, but it was too late. Callum reached out and pressed his palm to the reader on the console.
He flinched as the blood sample was taken, and then he smiled. “I’m taking over control of my ship, captain. You can stand down.”
“That’s not in my orders, sir.”
“Fuck your orders.” Callum closed his eyes briefly and the captain swayed, his hand going to his head, his eyes widening.
“That was only an example. Get your men to the docking bay.
And if you feel bad about this, then remember—I’m still head of the Council.”
The captain nodded and left the bridge, the other Collective members following.
“So did it work?” Tannis asked. She wanted reassurance that things were going to plan. Exhaustion tugged at her mind, and her body felt lethargic and heavy. The need to give in, to lay down, close her eyes, and just drift away was almost overwhelming. The pain killers were still working, but she was taking too many and could no longer counteract the effects, at least not without going completely wired.
“Yes—I have control.”
At his words, she relaxed and allowed herself a huge yawn.
Callum reached down and picked her up. “Come on, I’ll get you settled, then I need to make sure that the captain and crew leave quietly.”
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