Kaiden

by Vivienne Savage

  As Gareth initiated the logout sequence, Flidais’s concerned face faded from view. He’d make it up to her later, but right now he had other matters on his mind. With a few clicks and his passcode, he downloaded the message from the game server to his personal datapad. The log files painted a desperate, dangerous picture and the attached images turned his stomach.

  “Jem, where is the CO?”

  “Commodore Bishop is in his quarters,” the A.I reported.

  “And Doctor Vargas?”

  “In his office.”

  “Tell Bishop I’m on the way.”

  Gareth straightened his coveralls and stepped into his boots before beelining through the busy corridors to the elevator. He rode to the officers’ level and hurried to Ethan’s stateroom, where he found the commodore waiting for him in the doorway.

  “What’s the matter with you, mate? Jem said you needed to see me, and that it’s urgent.”

  “It is. We need to speak in private.”

  Ethan let him inside and led him to the sitting parlor, his stateroom a deluxe suite separated into three rooms, bed, bath, and a personal living area tucked beside a small kitchen.

  “Have a seat.”

  “I’d rather not,” Gareth said.

  Officers were trained to resist psychic intrusion, their minds conditioned through rigorous hours of meditation and mental preparation, but even the best minds wavered beneath sudden brute assault.

  In this case, begging forgiveness was better than asking permission. Going in hard would be the only way to do it, catching him off his guard. The longer a victim fought against intrusion, the greater the potential for damage.

  Without any warning, Gareth grabbed the commodore by both enormous shoulders, locked eye contact, and slammed past his mental barriers like a battle frigate. As soon as Ethan realized what was happening, he put up a noble fight, first swinging one arm to backhand Gareth away, then wrenching to the side in an effort to escape.

  Gareth saw everything, from Ethan’s latest sexual liaison to his childhood antics. He witnessed the man’s time in the Royal Naval Academy and every honest thought regarding the Admiralty Board. But he didn’t find any treachery. Nothing in Ethan’s mind led Gareth to believe he was in on the conspiracy.

  By the end, the commanding officer stilled with a slack expression. It took him moments to come out of it, and when he did, his features twisted into a furious mask. One right cross from Ethan took Gareth off his feet and put him on his ass.

  Worth it and necessary, even if the carpeted floor didn’t cushion the fall.

  “Explain yourself, Chief.”

  Gareth groaned and flexed his jaw. Unbroken at least. “I deserved that.”

  Ethan fumed and stood over him. “Give me one reason not to beat you within an inch of your life and throw you in the brig.”

  After shakily climbing to his feet, Gareth crossed over to a small table bearing a pricy bottle of brandy. “I’m sorry, sir, but I needed to be certain and that was the only way. Here, have a drink.”

  Gareth poured a double shot, then passed the glass to his glowering commander. Mental intrusion was an offense punishable by court-martial.

  “Tell me why I shouldn’t—”

  “I received a letter from Kaiden. I did that on his request.”

  Ethan’s brow shot up, and some of the fury leached away, his jawline relaxing. “You’ve got something to tell me, I take it.”

  “There’s a leak in our command structure, but we have no idea who. Since you helped arrange the mission, I had to know you weren’t the traitor, sir.”

  “That’s a damning accusation.”

  “It is, and before I reveal anything else I’d like to have Xander join us, and…”

  “And you want to do the same thing to him,” Ethan finished.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Bloody hell. Jem, please let Xander know I need to see him in my stateroom ASAP.”

  After subjecting Xander to the same experience—Gareth loathed himself for doing it, learning more about his friend than he’d ever wanted to know—he revealed the contents of Kaiden’s letter to both recovering men.

  “I’m sorry. Both of you. I’d have never done it if Kaiden hadn’t insisted in his letter.”

  “No,” Xander said after a long pause, kneading one temple. “I get it.”

  “As do I. Now what are you able to tell us?”

  “Kaiden sent an encrypted file of photographs, copies of records they found, and his own observations. I—” He swallowed, throat dry. “It’s not good. It looks like the military, our military, is behind his initial abduction. Which means all those colonists were given up by the folk meant to protect them.”

  Xander gave him a quizzical look. The pallor and shakiness resulting from the mental intrusion hadn’t faded and, again, Gareth felt a vicious stab of shame for hurting him. But he wouldn’t pity him. He refused to pity their proud friend and beloved doctor.

  “Why did he send you this data now? I spoke to them only a few days ago after his bout of overuse. Was Nisrine able to acquire the medication he required?”

  “What?” Gareth’s gut twisted.

  “I received an urgent contact from Nisrine and Kaiden three days ago,” Xander admitted. “I didn’t want to mention it, but he was hurt. Badly. One of the worst cases of overuse I’ve ever seen.”

  Gareth blinked at him. “But Kaiden is no longer a psychic. That was stripped from him.”

  “So we thought. Psionic power is a fluid gift, and it seems Kaiden’s ability has morphed, for lack of a better term. Your brother may be the galaxy’s first technopath.”

  Chapter Eleven

  After tethering the ship to an asteroid in the Viridian Belt, Nisrine activated the RV’s low-power feature and floated aimlessly through space. Life support remained active, recycling their oxygen and necessary resources, but aside from that, the decreased energy consumption spared the necessity of refueling. Her terminal dimmed, and with Kaiden comatose, she subjected herself to complete isolation.

  Using items from their medical kit and the instructional videos as a refresher, she read the file detailing Kaiden’s cybernetic enhancements and supplied him nourishment through an IV line. Between his body going into energy-conserving stasis and some sort of enhanced filtration system modifying his urinary system, he wouldn’t need a catheter. Nisrine counted herself and Kaiden fortunate for that, because she hadn’t inserted one since the academy. All agents learned basic and intermediate medical skills to use in the event of a partner or important asset sustaining prolonged injury, but the passage of time had dulled her memories.

  Besides, she didn’t want her first introduction to his cock to be for medical reasons.

  First, ugh. First implied there’d be more encounters to follow. Dismissing those inappropriate thoughts, she settled on Kaiden’s bedside. She touched his mind and found only pain and disorientation. Confusion and fleeting moments of nothing at all, interspersed by a fragile sense of his presence. She’d felt people on the precipice of death before, but the sensation was no less terrifying.

  A smart agent would have taken Kaiden in for medical treatment, but a wise one knew someone along the crooked chain would declare him dead, and he’d vanish, never to be seen again.

  “You have to pull through, Kaiden. You’re stronger than this. If you survived what those assholes did to you, you can make it through this,” she whispered.

  Nisrine tousled his dark hair and stroked her fingers over it. His skin felt cool beneath her fingers, prompting her to tug another blanket over him.

  Sifting through all the evidence and data they had come across helped her pass the hours and keep her frantic mind occupied. With the battery on her datapad, she pulled up news archives from the past few months and set up a cross-reference program with the dates they’d received from the data drop on the Spellbound servers.

  “You’re sorta cute when you’re focused on work.”

  Kaiden’s hoarse voice
startled her into dropping the slim tablet. The thin pane of pseudoglass clattered to the floor.

  “You’re awake!”

  Nisrine threw herself onto the bed—onto him—and buried her face against his stubbled throat. After a week of silence and only the low hum of the engine, human contact felt good. Seeing him open his eyes and speak sent thrills of elation hammering in her chest.

  Chuckling, Kaiden wrapped her in his arms and squeezed her back with surprising strength for a man who had been comatose for days. “Guess I am. Are you okay then?”

  “Are you? Kaiden, you’ve been unconscious for six days.”

  “Christ.” He glanced at the IV. “You found my port, though. Gotta say, I’m kind of impressed.”

  “Jem left Xander’s notes and a few helpful videos before she lost connection to the ship.” The process had been surprisingly similar to placing a line in a flesh and bone arm, though he’d been unresponsive and frightfully doll-like. Skin that had been clammy and cool for days now radiated comforting warmth, and all she wanted was to burrow beneath the blankets with him, legs entwined.

  “Hey, Nissie?”

  “Yes?”

  “As much as I enjoy having you on me like this, y’mind letting me up so I can pee?”

  “Oh, right. Let me just unhook all this.”

  Removing the IV line and vital sensors took less time than it had to place them. While he was gone, she activated the ship’s normal resource mode and hurried into the kitchen. She reheated a meal and fetched water from the fridge, deciding he’d be starved for real food.

  So was she. Six days of protein drinks and cold rations had been murder.

  When Kaiden returned from the shower, he looked like a new man. The warmth and color had returned to his skin, and his eyes lit up when he saw the greasy, reheated burger awaiting him on a tray. She’d brought one of the dinette chairs into the bedroom and placed it beside her workstation, allowing them to sit side by side.

  “You actually brought it.”

  “It was in the safe house freezer with some other frozen perishables,” she said. “Can you handle this right now, though?”

  “I could eat a drake right now. If I can’t, we’re gonna find out.” He popped a couple enzyme pills and devoured his burger and fries while she summarized the events on Boreas.

  “And you’re fussin’ over me? God, you had it worse. Did they hurt you?”

  “Nothing awful. My shoulder will be tender for a few more days, but I’ll live.”

  His gaze flicked to her shoulder and lingered until heat rushed to her cheeks. “I wish I could have helped you with that assault team, but their hacker was good. Took every trick I knew to keep ahead of him. I was on the console at first, but it wasn’t enough, even after I jacked Jem in. Had to use my powers. You sure letting him go was the right move?”

  “I don’t know, but I wasn’t going to shoot an unarmed man and time wasn’t a commodity I had in spades.”

  He sighed. “You’re right. Still, I hope it doesn’t bite us in the arse later. Then again, the poor sod is probably dead along with everyone else who has crossed them.”

  The thought had crossed her mind as well. “Well, if he’s as smart as you claim, then he should be smart enough to disappear. Either way, it’s out of our hands.”

  “So what’s our next course of action? Do we report… fuck,” he swore suddenly.

  “What?”

  “I may have had Jem send my brother a message. It was something I’d put together in case I didn’t survive this. In case we didn’t survive this. I wanted him to know the truth.”

  “What all did you send?”

  He rubbed his face with one hand and made a low groan. “Everything. I also may have told him to break into the commodore’s mind to verify he was on our side before relaying our findings.”

  Relief and gratitude melted away beneath a deluge of fury. What he’d done broke protocol, but most of all, it showed he hadn’t trusted her enough to include her in his plans. “You did this without consulting me.”

  “Aye, well, if it makes you feel any better, at the time I thought if I was dead, the same would be true for you.”

  With irritation sharpening her voice, she bit out a terse, “You should have told me what you had planned.” She regretted it within moments and softened her tone. “If we’re a team, we can’t make decisions like that without speaking.”

  “I know, I know. I’m sorry, all right? I’m truly sorry, Nisrine. Nothing I can do about it now but apologize and promise it won’t happen again.”

  “You better hope Gareth isn’t in the brig for battery.”

  “I believe in Xander, and I believe he’ll understand once it’s done. The question is whether or not the commodore will allow it to pass.”

  She sighed and rubbed her temples. “Until we find the leak, it’s not safe to contact anyone from the Jemison or United Command.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Then it’s just you and me now, which means we need to get to work. Here, have a look at this.”

  A few adjustments angled the holographic screen for his perusal. Nisrine scrolled through her notes and opened various data files they had collected during their adventure.

  “While you were out, I ran checks against the list of dates we uncovered. Each one coincides with a high-profile death or accident at the location listed with the date. This first one was a shuttle crash that killed Admiral Bristow and his aids.”

  “That’s the day after the queen authorized this mission. Bristow was at the meeting and supported it.”

  “Someone must have taken offense to his approval.”

  “Or he was in on it, too,” Kaiden deduced.

  “The most recent lines up with—”

  “Doctor Watson’s death. We didn’t cause that to happen. It was planned. Look. If you look at these coordinates, you’ll notice there’s some variance in color. I don’t know why I didn’t realize it before, but there’s a hidden message, and you can only see it on this spectrum of color.”

  Kaiden tapped a finger against her tablet, opening a new window with its hologram display feature. It beamed the data package’s contents in front of them in muted shades of color, only to transform before her eyes when he revealed it beneath ultraviolet light. A single word materialized. G. Enquirer.

  “Check the Galactic Enquirer,” he told her. “These last two numbers could be page and line. Let’s see if that works.”

  Nisrine pulled the paper up on her tablet. “There’s an article featuring Tallulah’s very own Doctor Hubert Watson and his charitable contributions to Montgomery medical science. The line in question mentions his home and family.”

  “All the killers have to do is show up at this general location on this day. They get their target and take them out. That’s it. We can decode these, but we’ll be waiting in the dark until they publish their next victim.”

  As admiration filled her voice, she gazed at Kaiden with renewed respect. “How did you put this together so quickly? I’ve been running programs all week in search of any connection I could find.”

  “I don’t know. It’s like my mind is clearer than before. Dual color spectrum coding went out of style before we were born, so I’m not surprised you missed that one.”

  “Looks like some rest did you good, but let’s not push it again.” Her voice softened. “You really frightened me, Kaiden.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Honest.” He quieted and a chastened look came over his features. He exhaled, ran his fingers through his hair, and gazed out the smaller viewport window beside her terminal. “That makes twice I’ve owed my life to your quick thinking. You went above and beyond the call of duty this time, when you could have returned me to the Jemison or the first Royal Medical Center you crossed and resumed the mission without me.”

  “You’re my friend.” Impulse led her to lean in and brush a kiss against his cheek. He hadn’t shaved during his shower, but she loved the abrasive tex
ture beneath her lips. Warm and alive, unlike the flesh she’d tended while he was at death’s door. “I don’t give up on my friends. We’ll finish this together.”

  They held eye contact seconds longer than necessary, and after a quiet moment of introspection, Nisrine broke and turned away first. She cleared her throat and decoded the next line of text in the data packet.

  With his hand on the back of her chair, Kaiden leaned over her shoulder. His warm breath disturbed her shayla as he spoke. “The next assassination occurs five days from now on Albion. Gloucester, from the looks of this.”

  “The Fleet Building is in Gloucester. We can purchase a digital copy of the paper the moment it’s published.”

  At her direction, a holographic map appeared. She rotated it in the air and expanded the touch-sensitive display. Focusing on it distracted Nisrine from her attractive companion. All business, she told herself. She had to keep things professional.

  “Or we could get a copy beforehand. I can try to hack into their systems,” he told her.

  “Then we don’t have any time to lose. Though, we might want to consider acquiring new transportation,” she said.

  A sly grin spread over Kaiden’s face, and his green eyes gleamed with mischief. “You leave that bit to me. By the time I’m finished with our ship, even you won’t be able to recognize it.”

  Nisrine had her doubts when Kaiden took them to an unregistered junkyard on a frigid little moon on the outer rim of Albion’s solar system, but he swore the illegal chop shop would have all the components they needed to return to anonymity.

  “Are you sure about this? We need at least three days to get to Albion.”

  “With our current FTL engine, it’ll take longer. This baby was built to cruise the galaxy for sightseeing and hitting up tourist spots.”

  “Right, but we only have five days.”

  “That’s why I plan to rebuild the engine.”

  If he’d been anyone else, she would have asked if he knew what the hell he was doing, because she didn’t want to end up stranded days out from their destination while a time-sensitive lead waited on Albion.