by Tess Mallory
"He won't. I'll see to that."
"You aren't exactly on his A list anymore, bud."
"I'll make things right with my father," Eagle said, emphatically. "Say it, Telles. If we don't find this 'evidence,' you'll come back with me. We'll rejoin the Forces, I'll get a new assignment, and it'll be just like the old days."
"Is that really what you want? The old days?" Eagle didn't answer.
Telles sighed, toying with one of the scraps of material wound around the end of one long golden braid. "All right," he said. "I can agree because I know what we'll find inside the temple. I know this is true. I am the son of an Andromedan Seeker, and so are you."
Eagle clapped one hand on his friend's shoulder and shook him slightly. "We'll find out, together."
They started toward the lift and Telles stopped, turning and raising one brow. "But I'm not cutting my hair," he said.
Eagle laughed until the doors to the lift shut behind them. His laughter died away as they traveled down to meet Sky in the belly of the ship. He felt pain in his hands and realized he was clenching his fists so tightly at his sides that his nails had broken the skin and his palms were bleeding. He wiped his palms on his trousers.
"Courage," Telles whispered.
Courage? Eagle silently echoed. He was beginning to wonder if he knew the meaning of the word.
Sky leaned back against a tree and watched Telles and Eagle evaluate the denseness of the junglelike terrain stretching before them. After Kell's fit of temper—that was the only way she knew to describe what had happened on the bridge—she had gone to her cabin and paced, weighing his disapproval and his advice. In the end, she knew she had to take the chance, even if it proved to be a trick. But she wasn't walking blindly, innocently into anything. She had donned the tynarium droid suit and as she did, was struck by the irony of the situation.
She had first worn that suit to attack Station One and rescue her sister. There she had met Eagle and her world had been sent spinning into a vortex from which she had still not yet been able to extract herself. Now Eagle was helping her find her sister and she was wearing the suit again for protection. Why Eagle was being so cooperative she couldn't fathom, unless he was beginning to believe Telles's claims they were both Andromedans. Surely it wasn't because he cared anything about her. Her face still burned every time she thought of their tryst beneath the stars. It seemed almost like a dream, as though it had never really happened. As surreal as their first mental touching had been so long ago.
Could it possibly be true Eagle was the son of a Seeker? She lifted her hand unconsciously to touch the silver band around her forehead. If only he would let her inside his mind, she could end this debate. But only for herself, for Eagle didn't trust her. Until Mayla was found and brought to safety, Eagle would always think everything she did and said was tied to saving her sister. She closed her eyes and let the cool breeze of Andromeda brush against her face. How good it was to be home. She hadn't realized until now how much she had missed it. Since coming back had never been an option, she had blocked all dreams of returning to Andromeda, all memories of her happy childhood days there. To remember would be to torture herself with something she could never have. Now she was here with Eagle—and that made her homecoming all the more intense. If only she could know for sure that he was truly on their side. If only she could trust him and he could return that trust. She opened her eyes and her gaze drifted over him where he stood talking to Telles.
He was so handsome. His dark hair had gotten slightly longer in the days they had spent together, and she found the habit he had of raking it back from his face oddly endearing. His face. Had there ever been a face so strong, so filled with determination, so square-jawed with confidence? And yet she had seen the other side of that strength—seen the vulnerable man who needed her, needed to be reassured he still existed. He glanced over at her just then, his eyes as green as some of the fernlike plants around his feet. His gaze quickened when he saw she was looking at him, and a slight smile curved one corner of his mouth before he turned his broad shoulders back toward Telles. She loved him, and the knowledge startled her. She loved him. She loved his square, rough hands, and the way he gestured with them as he talked. She loved the slight crook in the bridge of his nose and the way his mouth hardened into that grim, determined line, but could just as quickly alter into a sensual smile. She loved the faint crinkles at the corners of his eyes. She loved the fact that he was loyal to his father, even if his father was a lying, murdering bastard. She loved that the more he had to face what his father had done to Andromeda, the more he struggled with that same loyalty.
She loved him. With a groan she closed her eyes again and leaned her head back against the huge, rough-barked tree behind her. Footsteps, hurried, pounding, startled her into alertness, and she opened her eyes to find Eagle towering over her, his hands moving to circle her upper arms, his face dark with concern.
"Sky, what is it? Are you all right?"
She stared at him, open mouthed, then found her voice. "I'm fine. What's the matter with you?"
"You groaned and threw your head back. I just thought—" He broke off and dropped his hands from her arms. "You've been through a lot in the last few days, you know. Are you sure you're up to this?"
A smile touched her lips. He was concerned. The man never ceased to amaze her. Shouting at her one minute, caressing her the next.
"I'm really all right. I was just—just yawning," she finished lamely.
Eagle's gaze swept over her, taking in the droid suit, disapproval settling over his features.
"Why in the name of—why are you wearing that contraption? It will just slow us down."
"It gives me the strength of twenty men," she said, unable to look away from his eyes, aware, as always, of the heat between them, even when they weren't touching.
"Yes, I'm quite familiar with what it enables you to do," he said dryly. "The first time I saw you I thought you were an android. Imagine my surprise when you pulled off your head and instead were a beautiful woman."
Sky blinked before laughing self-consciously. "Why, Colonel, I think that's the first nice thing you've ever said to me."
It was his turn to blink now, and a look of sincere regret flashed across his features. "Is it?" he said softly, lifting one hand to lightly touch the side of her face. "That's a shame. There are so many nice things I want to say to you, Sky. So many nice things I want to do to you."
"Ahem."
Sky felt both frustrated and relieved by Telles's not-so-subtle interruption. You can't trust him, her inner voice screamed. And at the same time, another, stronger voice whispered, But you love him. Would you—could you—love a murderer? Maybe Telles is right. Maybe he's not his father's son.
"Ready?" Telles asked, his tone flat but somewhat amused. He held something at his side, something long and sharp.
"What's that?" Sky stared as he held out the weapon for her inspection. It had a wooden handle and a huge, curved metal blade. "Where in the world did you get that?"
"It's a packing splitter," he explained. "Pretty ancient actually, but I found it in your cargo hold. You must have an antiques collector among your crew."
She nodded. "Srad, my engineer. He collects old things." Sky smiled, imagining Srad's face once he discovered something from his precious collection was missing. "I'd put that back if I were you," she advised. "You wouldn't like to see Srad get angry."
"We need it to cut our way through this jungle." He waved his hand toward the dense vegetation in front of them. "Let's cut through it with phasers. Wouldn't that be faster?"
"We can't," Eagle explained. "We can't risk the noise or the heat. Sensors would pick them up."
"Then are we ready?" Telles asked again. "We've got to reach the temple before dark."
Sky glanced upward. It was only an hour or so after sunrise. They had plenty of time, as long as the Dominion Forces didn't discover their presence. "Yes, let's go."
Telles took the lead,
chopping the thick brush and long, stiff-limbed branches that wound over what he said was once a road leading to the temple. She and Eagle followed in silence, stopping now and then to help him clear the hewn limbs from their path. To her surprise, as they walked, Eagle started another conversation.
"Did you come here often as a child?" he asked.
"Can you believe that I've never been to this particular part of Andromeda in my life?" Sky admitted. "I never really knew much about the Seekers. My mother loved history and insisted on teaching me of Andromedan history herself, instead of using a Seeker as a teacher, as the Cezans usually did." She smiled, picturing her mother's face for a moment. She'd been beautiful, but more than that, she'd been a wonderful mother.
"I think now that perhaps she sensed what was going to happen in the future and wanted the time with me. I was her only daughter, then. She died only days after Mayla was born." Tears glazed her eyes and she blinked them back hurriedly. This was no time for morbid recollections. "But why did the Seekers build their temple in such a remote, unapproachable area?"
"It wasn't so remote or unapproachable fifteen years ago," Telles said as he hacked through another patch of blue-green bramble. "The Seekers liked their privacy, and it was a sanctuary where they could study in peace without the distractions of the outside world. But over the years the road has fallen into disuse and the jungle has grown up around it. Even the Forces won't come out here. They're afraid of the place."
"Afraid?" Eagle helped him pull a large branch from the path. "Of what?"
Telles glanced back over one shoulder and shrugged. "It's said that the ghosts of the Seekers who were slain by Zarn walk the halls of the temple. Who knows, maybe we'll run into our fathers."
Eagle fell silent and Sky felt a sudden compassion surge through her. She reached over and took his hand. He looked up in surprise, then squeezed her fingers tightly in his, pulling her closer to his side. They walked in companionable silence for what seemed like hours when Telles finally stopped walking, his arm hanging limp at his side as though broken.
"Need a break?" Eagle asked, grinning. "You Andromedans always were weaker than Rigelians." Telles glared at him, hot, sweaty, and obviously in no mood for banter, especially on that subject. "You think you can do better? Have at it."
"Wait a minute," Sky said, moving to stand between the two tall men. "Let me cut the path. All I have to do is connect the energy ports on my suit and I'll have the strength of twenty men. I can plow a road through here in no time. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner."
Telles handed her the blade, but before she could even curl her fingers around the broad handle, Eagle plucked it out of her grasp.
"I'll cut the path," he said.
"Why?" she demanded. "Because I'm a woman? With this suit I'm stronger than both of you."
"Not because you're a woman," he said, sliding his hand down the front of his shirt, splitting the closures. He pulled the cloth apart and the harsh invectives Sky had been prepared to hurl at him died in her throat.
"Then what?" she said, her gaze glued to the thick swirl of dark hair across the broad, sculptured chest. She ran her tongue unconsciously over her lower lip as he tied the shirt around his waist.
"You should save the energy in that thing for a time when it might be really necessary—life or death. I can handle this."
"Uh, sure," she heard herself saying as he turned and began attacking the undergrowth. "I think you're right." He shot her a look of surprise over one shoulder, then shrugged and lifted the blade above his head, bringing it down with a resounding whack.
She followed him, Telles behind her. It was good for him to do something physical like this, she reasoned, trying to keep her mind off the sudden curious aching inside of her, the yearning she wanted desperately to ignore. She shook her head, wishing she could shake the slow burn from her veins. Yes, chopping through a jungle would take his mind off what might possibly He ahead, what they might discover. In the meantime, what could possibly take her mind from the thought of making love to this man? She knew she must look like a love-sick schoolgirl, drooling over the sleek, well-honed muscles rippling through his arms as he swung the blade through the undergrowth, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't help but admire the slope of his back, the narrowness of his waist in contrast to the broad shoulders. Once or twice she had to restrain herself from walking up and wrapping her arms around him, pressing her lips against the bare, hot flesh of his back. When those urges came upon her, she thought desperately of Mayla, of her parents, of anything but Eagle. Or she tried.
At midday they took a break, sitting down and opening the container P'ton had filled with food for them. Sky leaned back against a tree, grateful she no longer had the temptation of Eagle bare to the waist in front of her. Her relief was short lived. He came strolling up just then and plopped down beside her, cross-legged. She groaned inwardly and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the pulsating fire pumping through her body.
"Berry?"
She opened her eyes and Eagle was only inches away from her, holding a mekalb berry to her lips. Unable to speak, she opened her mouth and allowed him to place the fruit on her tongue. Juice dribbled down her chin, and he wiped it away with his finger, then stuck his finger back in his own mouth. Sky blinked, then scrambled to her feet.
"I need to—need to—I'll be back in a minute." Walking quickly, she plunged into a dense part of the forest surrounding them and stood, trembling for a full minute. What was the man trying to do? No, she knew the answer to that—he was trying to seduce her again. But why? She had nothing he could possibly want, no secrets to entice from her, no information. She refused to entertain the thought that he might simply want her for herself.
As she stood there, trying to gather the shreds of her poise, something suddenly registered within her mind, within the deep, telepathic part of her mind. She felt it, as though a piece of information had just been dropped into her brain. Intrigued, Sky turned inward, searching for what had touched her. She found it. It was a subconscious knowledge, a telepathic insight. Mayla was not here. Sky drew in a quick breath. Mayla was not on Andromeda. She felt it to the fiber of her being. Of course there was no way to know for certain, not without removing her deflector band, or unless Mayla contacted her again. But she had learned over the years to trust her telepathic instincts. If Mayla wasn't on Andromeda—then what were they doing here? Was it a trick? But she had seen the information in Telles's mind. Making up her mind, she marched out of the forest toward the two men. They both looked up as she approached and she stopped, hands on hips, glaring down at them.
Eagle was still munching a bunch of mekalb berries and gazing up at the dense foliage above them. "How much farther?" she demanded, turning to Telles. "I'm not sure."
Eagle tossed one of the berries he held up into the air, caught it in his mouth, and crunched it as he remarked cheerfully, "Not much farther. There's another stone up ahead and that's the one-mile marker that—" He stopped speaking, his breath catching in his throat, his fingers crushing the berries in his hand. The juice ran down his fingers, blood-red. He stared at the stain, then lifted his horrified gaze to hers.
For a moment Sky forgot her suspicions, for the look on Eagle's suddenly ashen face affected her more than she wanted to admit. "Eagle," she began, kneeling beside him and placing one hand on his arm. "Let me—"
Without warning, he jerked away from her and jumped to his feet. Throwing the crushed fruit to the ground, he began pushing his way through the jungle, the blade forgotten and abandoned. Sky followed quickly behind, never losing sight of him. He moved like a man possessed, his fingers digging into the twisted, heavy growth, bloody welts rising on his hands as he tore through the vegetation, bloody strips appearing on his arms as flexible limbs snapped and flailed him. He ignored them, pushing forward like a madman, sweat glistening on his body, until at last he came to a stop beside a large flat stone stuck in the ground like an ancient signpost. Sky stumbled up to his
side just as he slid to the ground beside the rock.
"I've never been here," he said to himself, his eyes glazed. "I've never been here."
"Eagle," she said softly, kneeling down beside him. "You can't do this alone. Let me help you."
He looked at her, his face fierce, forbidding, closed. She trembled a little at the strength she saw in that face. The determination. Then she found her own courage and lifted one hand to touch his stiff jaw.
"Let me help you," she repeated softly.
With a groan, Eagle pulled her into his arms. She felt the tension of those strong arms as they wrapped around her and crushed her against his hard body. His mouth sought hers with a savage desperation and Sky was there, opening beneath his rough demand, allowing his need to possess her for the moment. He ravaged her mouth, holding her so tightly she thought her ribs might crack, then suddenly his hands slid to her waist, cradling her gently, his lips softening, moving to caress her neck, the hollow of her throat, the edge of her collarbone with infinite care.
"Eagle," she whispered, her arms around him, "you can handle this. We can handle it. Whatever lies ahead for you—for all of us—we can handle together."
"Why?" he said, his voice ragged, his breath rushing over her mouth, his hand cupping her face. "Why should you? If Telles is wrong and I am Zarn's son, and if what you believe is true, then my father killed your people. Why would you want to help me?"
"Because I believe Telles is right."
"Then that leaves me as a nameless, mindless—"
"No!" Her fingers covered his mouth to stop the terrible words, and he captured them with his lips, then moved his mouth back to hers, his need burning into her, his fear, his denial. She broke the embrace and threw her head back as she gazed up into his pain-filled eyes. "You aren't nameless—or mindless! You have a name." Sky hesitated. Should she tell Eagle of the name she had seen in his mind—Ranon? She was afraid, afraid if she told him it could trigger a violent reaction. She cleared her throat. And your mind—your mind can be healed, Eagle, if you'll only let me try."