“We searched the city and found no sign of her. I want an exhaustive search of the Odyssey, immediately.”
Roth abruptly asked, “What do you know about this, mate?”
“The same as you, nothing.” she said, bristling a bit as she took it as an accusation.
“It was a simple question, little captain.”
“I haven’t seen Lana since the day before we left, in the hallway outside the med-bay.”
“She was seeing a physic? Why?” Trask demanded.
“Routine tests, at least that’s what she told me.”
His dark brows slanted together in a troubled frown. “She mentioned no scheduled tests to me.”
“She was not on the list of those returning, none of the mated females were, except for myself. Why do you think she is here, General?”
“Lana is there, I know it.” Though still strikingly handsome, Trask’s face was drawn, with vertical lines of distress between his brows and grooves around his mouth. Lack of rest had left dark circles beneath his eyes.
Her mate rose and took a step closer to the screen. “We’ll do a thermal scan and begin a level by level search at once, my friend. If she’s aboard, we’ll find her.”
“I’m shuttling over. She could be lying ill somewhere, what with the separation, and might need my intervention.”
“What about you?” Roth asked. “Are you symptomatic?”
He shook his head, lifting his hands to run them through his loose hair, clearly agitated. “I’m experiencing tension, worry, and sleeplessness, but the last is likely related to the first two. Nothing significant.” He paused as though lost in thought for a moment, then he refocused, his eyes snapping back to Roth with blazing intensity through the screen. “Alert your landing bay to accept an incoming shuttle within the next time cycle. Trask out.”
It took the computer minutes to identify two hundred forty-eight heat signatures on board, which was one too many. Lana was here, somewhere. It would take much longer to confirm the identity of each one. To expedite matters, the off-duty crew and all the passengers were congregated into the large common areas. After eliminating the bridge, engineering, and sickbay, they narrowed it down to one remaining, unaccounted-for thermal sign in the cargo bay.
Maggie followed Roth, who walked beside Trask down the corridor on the lowest level to the storage section. Its temperature was set lower than the occupied areas, so there was a distinct chill in the air as soon as they entered.
“Lana?” Trask called out as he strode between the secured shelves loaded with enough supplies to last twice the anticipated six-week-long voyage.
“Roth to bridge,” the commander called. “Pinpoint location.”
“To your left, by the rear wall, far right corner.”
Immediately reacting, Trask veered that way. His long legs ate up ground quickly and Roth kept pace. Maggie had to jog to keep them in sight. When they both disappeared at the end of the aisle, she increased to a run, skidding to a halt when she cleared the shelving and saw Trask bending over a mound of blankets on the floor.
“Paulova,” she heard him murmur as he ran his hand over her hair.
Asleep until he touched her, Lana’s eyes fluttered open. A split second later, she twisted and sat up.
“I’ve been so worried.”
She lifted her eyes, pain flickering there as she said, “You shouldn’t have come after me, Trask.”
Stunned, his head recoiled. “What? Why would I not?”
She didn’t answer, instead meeting her captain’s gaze over Trask’s shoulder.
“Are you all right?” Maggie asked, while taking a half step forward.
She nodded, but she didn’t look good. Her face was as pale as her lips, and she was trembling.
“You’re freezing,” Trask observed gruffly, gathering a blanket and wrapping it around her.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, her eyes darting from Maggie to Roth, and on to Trask briefly, before they again skittered off.
“It’s been three days, have you eaten?” Trask inquired, his voice rising. She didn’t reply, her gaze shifting to a box in the corner, and the full shelves.
“I’m well-stocked in here,” she murmured at last.
With a grunt of disapproval, he got down on one knee and leaned forward. When he stood the next second, he had her cradled in his arms, blankets and all. “We’ll discuss this back on the Dauntless.”
She stiffened. “No, put me down.”
“We’ll shuttle over and be in my quarters in half a time cycle. The physic can examine you there.”
“I don’t need a doctor, and I’m not going to your ship.” She was struggling in his hold. “I’m going home.”
“Unfortunately, we’ve come too far to turn around, so going home isn’t an option for several months.”
“Not your home, Trask. I’m going to my home, on Earth.”
His jaw tightened visibly. “You’re not making sense.”
“I am. This is my right, by the treaty the Princep proposed.”
“That does not apply to females already mated. Further, it hasn’t been approved by both governments yet. Until that happens, your rights are what I give you. And right now, since you’re not acting rationally, I am making the calls and you will do as you’re told.”
“Maggie…” she called as he carried her past them.
“Lana—”
“No,” Roth warned near her ear. “They are mated, and you can’t interfere.”
As Trask carried Lana to the dock and the shuttle, she went wild in his arms, kicking and twisting, and shouting to be let go. She got so loud and panicked that Roth directed Trask to their quarters. He also alerted the medical staff, including the Odyssey’s female doctor, of a potential emergency and to be on standby.
Maggie was helpless to do anything for her as the doors swished shut behind them.
She and Roth glanced at each other with concern, silently agreeing to wait in case they were needed. They moved down the hall a good distance to give them privacy, but could still hear the low rumble of Trask’s voice, occasionally rising in anger, intermingled with Lana’s higher pitched tones, especially her frequent shouts.
About thirty minutes passed when the doors slid open and Trask appeared, both frustrated and bewildered. “She’ll be staying,” he murmured as he walked toward them.
“What can we do?” Maggie offered, full of concern for them both.
“Have your doctor evaluate her as soon as possible. She became hysterical and wouldn’t calm until I agreed to go.” He looked up at Roth, his face ravaged with pain. “My presence is only making her worse.”
“Trask…”
“I need to think. I can’t do that here. I’m returning to the Dauntless.”
“But General, won’t you both get sick?”
He shook his head sadly. “We were matched, although not nearly as high as you and Roth. It was in the lower range of compatibility, in fact. Three days have passed. If symptoms were going to appear, likely they would have by now.” Once again, he addressed the commander. “Have her examined, by both the Earth doctor and by one of our own. Let them know, I’ll want a full report.”
“I’ll deliver your orders myself and keep an eye on her, as will my mate.”
He nodded absently, appearing to Maggie like he’d been hit by a truck. “I’ll be in touch,” he murmured, moving slowly down the corridor to the lift, while his fingers rubbed his forehead, thoroughly floored.
“What do we do?” Maggie whispered as she watched him go.
“We support them, that is all we can do. It is between them, whatever this is.” His arm around her shoulder curled her into his chest. “Go to Lana now, Maggie. I’ll alert your doctor and our medical team.”
Other than melancholy, which Lana insisted was homesickness, Dr. Juna found nothing wrong. “I collected a blood sample. Compared to what was last on file for her, there was no significant difference. The Primarian physics are also runni
ng tests, seeking answers.”
“She still refuses to go back to him, and won’t say why?” Roth asked.
“Not to me, Commander. I wish I knew more, because that is one miserable woman in there.”
He nodded.
“Oh, and you might want to check on your general, or I can have the doctor check on him too.”
“What for?”
“There was blood on the floor.”
Maggie gasped.
“It was the general’s blood, Captain. I asked Lana. She insists he didn’t touch her.”
“Of a certainty, he did not.” Roth’s reaction was vehement as he came to his friend’s defense. “He wouldn’t harm her.”
“Lana said that as well,” the doctor assured them. “Oddly enough, despite their quarrel, whatever the cause, she trusts him completely. But you also need to alert maintenance; your three-room suite is now two. Apparently, he punched through the wall, and did so more than once.”
25
Determined to break through to Lana, who was stubbornly closed-mouthed, Maggie approached her the next morning in the dining room. She brought reinforcements, figuring if her superior officer couldn’t get her to talk, maybe two of the other scientists, who were also close friends, could.
“Spill,” outgoing, bubbly Mila ordered without greeting.
Lana glanced up from where she had been distractedly moving food around on her plate and stared as Mila took the seat beside her. Her head snapped around to Maggie next, as she sat across from her, and then to Saige who slid in on her other side, the three of them effectively hemming her in.
A shadow of sadness crossed her face as she set her fork down, and dropped her hands in her lap. Her tone was flat, without variation when she answered. “There is nothing to spill. It’s over between us, and I want to go home.”
“To what?” Saige demanded to know. “You’ve got no boyfriend waiting, and no family, except your brother who is assigned to another ship. And aren’t you the girl who was always talking about having a family, someday?”
“Was he mean to you, honey?” Mila asked quietly.
Lana glanced up when she answered. “No, he was very kind, actually.”
“Then why not stay?” This came from Saige who stared at her, baffled.
“Circumstances have changed with this treaty,” she replied. “I decided being the general’s mate wasn’t for me.”
“Have you seen him?” Mila posed the ludicrous question.
Lana’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Naturally, I’ve seen him. I spent the past three weeks sleeping and bonding with the man.”
“I don’t think you really saw him, either that or you’re blind,” Mila suggested. “’Cause the general is one smoking-hot alien.”
This earned her a scowl. “What about you?” Lana demanded. “I didn’t see you or Saige rushing to sign up for a whole new way of life as a Primarian mate.”
“That’s because I’ve got shitty luck,” Mila replied matter of factly. “I wouldn’t get a sexy warrior to sweep me up in his arms and carry me off to a life of luxury. I’d get a working-class male who’d send me out to slave in the fields, or underground to mine that green ore.”
“Uladite,” Maggie supplied.
“Yeah, that stuff. I’m not into manual labor, and since there are no guarantees of sexy generals with this game of mate roulette, I decided to pass.”
“Women don’t work in the mines,” Maggie explained. “And if you did get matched to a service-class male, he’d treat you as good as a warrior, or a merchant, would.”
“But they also spank, which means, with this mouth, I’d be bent over his knee time and again. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m as much into kink as the next girl, though not for real, as in ouchie punishments. Uh-uh, no thanks.”
“Can we not talk about this?” Lana snapped, a crimson blush on her cheeks.
Maggie was about to put a halt to her plan, which was backfiring spectacularly, when a loud crash rang out in the crowded dining room. Conversation ceased as fifty heads turned toward the galley entrance.
“He’s cut himself,” someone called.
On her feet in an instant, Maggie pushed through the women gathered at the galley door. Lying on his side in the floor, dishes and food spilled everywhere, was one of Roth’s warriors. Two of her crew were already on their knees beside him, giving him first aid.
“What’s wrong with him?” she asked as he let out a groan and pulled his knees up to his chest.
“He grabbed his stomach suddenly and keeled over.”
“Don’t anyone touch any of the food,” Maggie ordered. “And someone call for the medics.”
“I already did, Maggie,” Lana said as she came up behind her. “Do you think it’s the food?”
“Their meat is green,” Saige commented dryly.
“Yes, but it’s normally that way.”
More male groans had them whirling in the opposite direction, where two other Primarian males were doubled over.
“Yes,” Maggie murmured with a troubled frown, “I think it’s definitely the food.”
“I’m out of beds, Captain,” a frantic Juna called to Maggie, who stood in the sickbay entry watching the chaotic scene.
Every medical bed was full, and the warriors who were unfortunate enough not to have one, were lying on blankets in the hard floor. They all looked as green as the meat they consumed for lunch, and a familiar, foul stench of sickness permeated the room.
“Is it food poisoning?”
The doctor, who was bent over a groaning man while starting an infusion of fluids, glanced her way with a slight shrug. “I’m almost certain that it is—99 percent—but haven’t had time to complete testing to be sure. It could also be an intestinal virus that we are not susceptible to. In either case, I wasn’t prepared to treat an outbreak of illness affecting so many at the same time. I need more beds, more supplies, and a lot more medical staff to treat them.”
“None of the women have reported in?”
“Not a one.”
“Good thing, I have them manning all the vital stations, including on the bridge.” Her gaze swept the men, searching for one handsome face, above all. “Have you seen the commander? He wasn’t on the bridge, or in our quarters.”
“Third cot down on the left. I started his fluids and gave him some meds a bit ago. He might be groggy. Hopefully, this will pass quickly.”
She was talking to Maggie’s back as she rushed toward the cubicle she indicated.
A groan sounded from the unusually pale man on the bed.
“Roth,” she exhaled in relief, a palm pressed over her heart, as she quickly moved to his side. As she placed her hand lightly upon his warm cheek, his eyes opened. What she saw in them: anger, disappointment, and—something she prayed desperately she was misreading—accusation. The raw emotion rocked her on her heels. She would have withdrawn from the force of his wordless indictment, but his fingers wrapped around her wrist and prevented any retreat. His strength, even in illness, was breathtaking.
“Tell me you aren’t behind this, Maggie. That you didn’t poison us.”
Her head twisted sharply to hide the hurt. That he would think this, despite as far as they’d come. “Why would I do such a thing?”
“You’ve tried to escape twice before. If you incapacitate us, you could do so again.”
“To what end, with the Dauntless shadowing us. And those two times were different. We were captives. Now we are entering an alliance that will benefit both our people. Besides, the doctor believes its food poisoning or a virus, not sabotage as you think.”
“I’ve had a food illness before, this does not feel like that, but a million times worse.” A shudder shook his large frame as he writhed on the bed, distinctly in agony.
“Bridge to Captain Vohlmer.”
“Maggie, here.”
“There is an unidentified vessel coming into range.”
“Did you send a third ship?” she asked Roth.
He acted as though he didn’t hear, moaning hoarsely.
“Roth, honey, listen to me. Did you send a third ship?”
“No,” he groaned.
“Have they spotted us, bridge?”
“Not yet, ma’am. I activated stealth as soon as they were a blip on our screen.”
Maggie glanced down at Roth. “You reinstalled it?”
“Yes, for the trip.”
“What about the Dauntless?”
“We didn’t have time to replicate it; besides, our ship is well equipped to take care of itself. Your ship is slower, less capable… at risk.”
“Bridge, stealth is no good. The Dauntless isn’t equipped, and heaven knows that colossus won’t be missed on a scan. Deactivate stealth and go with full shields. I’ll be right up.”
“Contact Allon and Trask,” Roth rasped.
“I will. They need to send assistance. All of your men are ill, and they have overwhelmed our medical capabilities.”
“You need a pilot, warriors to protect you...”
She stiffened. “The tables have turned, Commander. We are the dominant gender now. And you’ll have to trust us to be able to hold back your hair while you puke, and at the same time, defend your asses from this new alien threat.” Although she was angry at him, she bent and kissed his temple. “I’ve got to get to the bridge.”
He caught her wrist and stopped her. Gazing up at her through bleary eyes, he barely managed to whisper through his dry lips, “Love, I’m sorry.”
“I can’t believe you would accuse me of doing this. We’re mates.”
“You’re right, and I shouldn’t—” He had to stop to swallow, his throat also dry, making him hoarse. “I shouldn’t have jumped to that conclusion. I’m not thinking clearly.”
“Yes, and that’s the only reason I’m still speaking to you.”
“Captain, the Dauntless is hailing us. Their captain isn’t very happy about being hailed by a female, and is demanding to speak to Captain Dayne, or the commander.”
“Tell them they’re incapacitated and I’m on my way up.”
“I don’t like this, Maggie,” Roth whispered. “Feeling so helpless, and leaving you unprotected.”
His By Command (Primarian Mates Book 2) Page 26