by Laurie Roma
“Lord Rego, I am Naila D’Veen. I’m glad that Reva has you in her time of grief.”
“Naila,” Reva growled in warning, but her friend just smiled as she walked toward a sitting area. She took a seat, and Reva and Malik sat down on a couch facing her. “I know we spoke about some of this already, but will you explain what you saw for us?”
“About a month ago, a mercenary ship called the Cutlass arrived. The men usually spent their time in the bars, but several of them had come to Starscape a few times over the last few weeks, and I sensed that they were dangerous. Not just that, there was something dark inside of them, but a great deal of visitors have that same sort of vibe. You see, people who come here are usually hiding something, so we don’t really ask questions or pry into their lives.”
Reva wondered why Naila was on the station, but didn’t ask.
“The mercenaries didn’t cause any problems here, but things changed the day the Intrepid arrived. I was in the cargo storage area looking through a shipment that had just come in the day before, and I felt something. I’m not a seeker, but when a feeling or impression is strong enough, I can sense it without touching someone,” Naila explained. “The only way I can describe what I felt is…evil.”
“That would be a good way to describe Quilla,” Malik commented.
Naila nodded. “From what I’ve heard, this is true. I couldn’t tell who it was coming from, but by the time I followed what I was sensing, I saw a group of elites walking out of one docking arm. There was a group of around ten people, and the ones in the front were carrying cargo containers. They seemed to be guarding someone in the middle, but I couldn’t see who it was. I figured it was a prisoner transport or something.”
She paused as she got up and retrieved a tablet from inside her desk.
“Instead of going into the station, they turned to enter another docking arm. From where I was standing in the shadows, I could see a few of their faces. That is when I saw they weren’t elites. They were the mercenaries dressed in elite uniforms.”
“Why didn’t you tell the commander of this station? He could have sent a ship after them,” Malik added.
“Because I don’t know him well, and another officer waved them through, as if it was all planned.” She tapped the face of the tablet, then handed it over to them. It was a screenshot of the docking logs. “I went to check the ship they had come from, and I looked up the numbers that I saw. It was the Intrepid, but it had been logged in as the Variance. And the ship they had left on? The logs said the Cutlass had left a week ago.”
Reva and Malik looked down at the screenshots of the docking logs, confirming what she’d told them. “Both of these were logged in by Officer Suresh Patel,” Reva growled. “I’m going to rip his face off.”
Malik patted her thigh. “As entertaining as that would be to watch, we need information from him first.”
Naila nodded. “And I would like to know who else is working with him. After we discovered that General Whitmore was a traitor, who can we really trust here? As I said, people here on Beta Station 4 have their secrets, and I do not trust Alliance officers easily.” Naila glanced over at Reva. “In all the years we have known one another, you have never asked why I am here.”
Reva shrugged. “It’s not my place to ask. If you wanted to share your story, I figured you would have told me.”
“Did you know that the D’Aire, Krytos, and the humans were close to losing the war with the Zyphir before the Dragon Warriors arrived?”
Nodding, Reva said, “I’ve heard that.”
“In order to get a lead or some way to defeat the Zyphir, one of the military commanders pushed for a D’Aire to do a mind scan on one of the bugs. He convinced several leaders that it was the only way for them to win.”
“But mind scans are dangerous if the person isn’t willing. How could any D’Aire do a mind scan on a hostile alien?”
“Exactly, but this commander pushed for it, and more humans were brainwashed into thinking this was the only way for them to win, to get an advantage against their enemy. Urian Z’Vor was manipulated into doing the scan, and it killed him. Urian was young for my race just having turned twenty-four years, but he was a strong warrior. One with honor and courage. And he was my keeper.”
“What?” Reva gasped. “Stars, Naila. I’m so sorry.”
Naila just looked away for a moment to compose herself. When she turned back, she said, “I was only twelve when he left to go to Earth, and we had just discovered we were fated. I was too young, so we hadn’t merged yet. He’d said he had to go fight for the humans. He sent me video messages while he was gone. In the last one…he said goodbye to me. He knew he wasn’t going to come back. They had been sent on a mission that had no chance of success. Urian knew he was going to die whether he did the scan or not, but he was going to try if it saved the life of another of our race.”
Malik felt for the female, as he knew that the D’Aire only had one keeper. If hers had died, she would forever be alone. He couldn’t keep the angry bitterness out of his voice when he said, “The commander sent your keeper to his death on purpose.”
“Yes, while he was safe in an office somewhere, he sent my keeper into a trap. Thomas Marks was heralded as a hero during the war for the information he gathered from the people he sent out on missions. No one cared that he hadn’t actually done any of the work. His son is on the Council of Regents, so I do not trust any of them.”
Reva growled, “Fuck. That’s Regent Everett Marks. I’ve never heard of any of this.”
“Of course not,” Malik said softly. “Just as the humans’ story about their first visit to Tartarus was altered, I can believe they would have covered this up.”
Both females looked at him. “What are you talking about?”
Malik answered Reva by briefly explaining what had happened when the first human ships had arrived on Tartarus, and how it had bred mistrust and hatred for any outsiders for years. “Still, as we are hunting my own sister, I cannot pass judgement on other races.”
“I’m not surprised about any of this, unfortunately. Though, if I have learned anything in my travels, there are assholes in every race.” Reva paused before adding, “All we can do is get rid of the little shits before they start to stink up everything.”
“That is an interesting description,” Malik murmured with a frown. “If you had proof, why didn’t you show it to the humans, or even one of the D’Aire Ambassadors?”
“My mother and father also died in the Alien Wars,” Naila said softly. “I was staying with cousins who didn’t want to handle the backlash from accusing a leader of the humans. By the time I was old enough to do something myself, I had heard Thomas Marks was dead. What good would it do to besmirch their family name now?”
Reva studied her friend. That was kind of Naila, though Reva thought she should have ripped Thomas Marks’ head off, even if she was only twelve. Then again, that was just a Helios’ way, not the D’Aire approach. “I have to ask, why are you on an Alliance station?”
Naila sighed. “Where else am I to go? I couldn’t stay on my home world, so this is the farthest place I could think of to start a new life. I have come to accept that I will never know what it feels like to have true love. But I still believe that the D’Aire have been far too trusting of humans over the years. I don’t believe that all humans are evil, but many of them do not—and never will—understand integrity or honor.”
Reva thought about that as she and Malik left Starscape.
She believed that her friends within the Alliance were honorable, but it seemed that Quilla had so many elites working for her. She had to wonder how they could have turned on the principles they had sworn to uphold, and she would be sure to ask Officer Patel that very question.
Naila had been strong enough to start over.
Could she do the same?
As they left the atrium, she stopped in the hallway leading to the interrogation rooms, and looked up at the male who made h
er feel so many things that she’d never felt before. When she looked at him, she didn’t see the crimes his sister committed. She didn’t care that he was from another race, or that he lived on planet where there was probably a million ways to kill a person.
Malik Rego was worth risking everything for.
He was kind, yet strong enough to rule a kingdom. She admired his honor and integrity, and she knew she could trust him. And gods, he was so handsome that her stomach flipped when he looked at her the way he was right now.
As if she were the most beautiful female in the entire universe.
She had questioned her decision to leave him since the minute she had left Tartarus, but she was given a second chance with him now…and she wouldn’t waste it. What she felt for him was real. He wasn’t just a fling, and she couldn’t make herself walk away. Unlike Naila, she had a chance to be with the male who owned her heart.
If she had five minutes with him or years, she wanted to make the best of it.
“Why are you looking at me like that, helicca?”
Reva found herself doing something that she’d never done in public before. She reached up and stroked her fingers over his forehead, then down the side of his face until she was cupping his cheek. “You are an amazing male, Malik. And I just wanted to tell you how glad I am to know you.”
His eyes widened slightly, then she saw the desire burning in his dark gaze. “Thank you, helicca. Coming from you, that means worlds to me, and I feel the same. You are a treasure, Reva Golaris.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “I think I like that.”
“I endeavor to please you, my lady.”
He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers lightly, but her hand sank into his hair holding on as she took the kiss deeper. Pushing her back against the wall, they fed off one another, their mouths taking, their tongues tasting.
“Get a room!”
“Shut up, dude,” another voice whispered. “We can’t watch if they leave.”
Reva pulled away from Malik and bared her fangs as she let out a low growl. The sound seemed to scare the two human males standing several feet away. She assumed by their smaller frames and lack of uniforms that they were not elites and more likely just civilians that worked on the station.
As the two males scampered away, Malik laughed softly. “You are so fierce, my lady. Perhaps we can use that ire in our interrogation of Officer Patel.”
“Good idea.”
She led the way into the security center, where the interrogation rooms were located, and asked an officer if Patel had been brought up yet. The officer looked at them with suspicion, but before he could say anything to piss them off, Matt, Darius, and Maverick walked in.
Reva looked at Matt. “Did you find anything?”
“We got a list of everything on board from the crew of the Intrepid while we were on New Vega.” Matt’s jaw clenched in anger before he added, “There are uniforms, blasters, and other weapons missing…including two fucking laser rockets.”
“Son of a demon! We encountered those on Tartarus when we tried to stop Quilla from going to Lomar Palace,” Malik explained.
“Hellfire, I am very glad we have a Dragon Warrior in our group if that bitch shoots that shit at us again,” Darius muttered.
“What room did you put Patel in?” Maverick demanded.
The officer hurried down a hallway, then gestured to a closed door. “Here, sir.”
“You can leave us, Officer Martin.”
The elite saluted by thumping his fist over his heart, then he all but ran away from them. Maverick walked over and opened the door next to the interrogation room. Inside were a few chairs and a desk under a large window that looked into the room where Officer Patel was sitting on one side of a table.
“You can watch from here while I question him,” Maverick told them.
“Not going to happen that way,” Reva said before anyone else could speak.
Maverick Cain stiffened with insult. “I am commander here, which means I am in charge. I’m going to question that son of a bitch and find out exactly what he was doing here on my fucking space station.”
“Which is why you can be present,” Matt said, facing off with the other commander. “I have permission from the Council of Regents to run this investigation however I see fit. Both Malik and Reva will join us in the interrogation room, and I think we will get the best results if they do the questioning.”
“Malloy, this is—”
“What is going to happen. We contacted the others, so they should be here soon.” Matt turned to Darius. “Have them wait in there with you.”
Darius nodded, then walked into the observation room, keeping the door open. Matt gestured Malik and Reva to follow him, and walked over to the interrogation room. Maverick stormed after them and stood in front of the door.
“I need to turn the damn cameras off in there,” Maverick said. “I am not losing my command here for whatever you are going to do.” He tapped on the panel beside the door, then opened the door, going in first.
“I’m guessing you can persuade this asshole to talk?” Matt whispered to Reva.
“Oh, yeah.”
The four of them walked into the room, and Matt closed the door, leaning against the wall next to it with his arms crossed. The room was dark, and had been made so with the purpose of unnerving a suspect. The walls were made of a dark-gray, foam-like substance to deter someone from hurting themselves by slamming against it, and two spotlights shone down from the ceiling, all pointing toward the chair designated for the person being questioned.
On the other side of the table were two other chairs for the interrogators. They had learned over time, and all three of the chairs were now bolted to the ground. The edges on the table in the center of the room were rounded off, and was also bolted to the floor.
Officer Suresh Patel was a big man, with skin the color of dark cocoa, and eyes that were almost black as he smirked at them from the chair under the lights that had been turned to a normal level of brightness. He had on a black tank top and black pants that were standard for elites. He’d been stripped of his uniform when taken into custody. His wrists had cuffs on them, and the chain connecting the shackles ran through a metal loop set into the top of the table.
“What’s this? You needed backup even though I’m chained, Commander Cain? I don’t have anything to say to you.” Patel sneered at Maverick, then swung his gaze over to Reva. “But the pussy can stay.”
Malik moved before he could think, and he slammed his fist into Patel’s face. The man’s head snapped back, and he looked like he was going to pass out for a second. Instead, he shook his head to clear it and looked a little dazed as he glared up at the Tarin.
“Was it something I said?” he mocked.
Reva cut to the chase. “Where is Quilla?”
Patel smiled at her slowly. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Not giving anyone a clue as to what she was going to do, she walked over to the table and sat down close to him. She shot Malik a look, but he shook his head, letting her know he wouldn’t step away when she was so close to the traitor. A note of fear entered Patel’s dark gaze, but it was too late. He had already pissed her off. She let two of her fingernails grow, and they turned into claws, but she kept them covered with her other hand. “I’m going to ask again…and you better tell me something I want to hear this time.”
“Why don’t you—”
She slammed her two claws deep into his right shoulder.
“Ahh! Fuck!”
“Holy nova, you can’t do that!” Maverick yelled, looking at Matt, who just shrugged.
“Yes, I can,” Reva said darkly. “And I will take him apart piece by piece if he doesn’t tell me what I want. Where did Quilla go after you let her take off in the Cutlass? Where is she now?” She saw the surprise in his eyes that she knew, but she also saw the knowledge. He knew. She pulled her claws out of him, then rested her hands on her leg as she relaxed. “No
w, is there something you want to tell us?”
“Fuck you, bitch!”
This time, she just leaned forward and stuck her thumb in one of the holes she’d made on his shoulder. She moved it, and he screamed in pain. “You’re going to have trouble using the arm if you keep it up. Want to try again?”
“Okay, okay! Just stop!” He relaxed as she sat back again. “I don’t know anything, really. Those guys just paid me to change the logs. That’s all!”
“I call bullshit, again.” Reva leaned forward, but he yelled before she touched him.
“Listen! Fuck, okay! I didn’t know she was Korsek until we got the notice that she had left Tartarus. When someone contacted me about changing the logs, I didn’t know about New Vega. I swear! But they had paid me already, so I had to do it.”
“You poor, poor idiot,” Reva said without an ounce of sympathy. “Where did she go? And who else is working with you?”
“I don’t know.” He started to sweat as she moved her claws over to his left shoulder, and he screamed, “Stop! Shit, I’m fucking bleeding to death here!” Frantically looking over at Maverick, he yelled. “Cain, you can’t let her do this to me!”
Maverick just put his hand on top of the blaster at his hip and said, “You have to tell her something.”
Glad the commander was getting into the swing of things now, Reva pushed her claws against Patel, just hard enough to break the skin.
“She—shit, they have a base on Reema, okay? It’s a place I was supposed to go to if I ever got caught. That’s what you wanted, right? I can give you coordinates. I...I have another wrist unit stashed in my quarters, and the coordinates are on there. Okay? Shit! For fuck’s sake, stop putting holes in me!”
After he told them where it was, Reva got up and walked over to Malik and Matt, then said, “We need to see if it’s really where he said it is.”
“I’ll go, and take Darius with me to search,” Matt said. “But we still need to know who is working with him.”
He opened the door, but before he could leave the room, a shout rang out. The metal loop in the center of the table had broken, and Patel had his chain wrapped around Commander Cain’s neck, holding it with one hand while he pointed the commander’s blaster at them with the other hand.