“You’re a beautiful woman, Alexandria Rose Idylle,” he said, running fingertips across her right cheekbone. Heat trailed in the wake of that touch, jolting her upright. “Beautiful and bright,” he went on, his gaze too warm for her comfort. “Why would someone hire me to kill or capture you?”
Beautiful? She was too thin, too weak, still too broken from the past six months, yet Seaghdh’s appraisal broke open a pit of hunger in her heart. She wanted to be beautiful in his eyes.
She gasped and slammed the door on feeling anything at all. The man was a master manipulator. She could admit that to herself. He’d subtly maneuvered her, levering open her shields with his charm, and then he’d brought the conversation back around to the Chekydran. Fine. She still had a few tricks up her sleeve.
“You want the United Mining and Ore Processing Guild’s Silver City Station?” she said. “I’ll get you there in one piece. Beyond that, I am none of your business.”
“I’m making you my business.”
“Why?”
“Why?” he echoed. “Ari, I’ve got your ship, yet you refuse to let an illness we’ve already contracted murder us. You refuse to turn us over to the Chekydran. How could you imagine I wouldn’t be intrigued?”
Intrigued? Why did that word and his honestly perplexed tone cascade adrenaline into her system?
“You can run from me all you like,” Seaghdh said, straightening, “but I was here for that conversation with the Chekydran. You can’t pretend nothing happened, that you didn’t volunteer to walk out an air lock rather than be a prisoner again.”
She clenched her fists and struggled to draw a full breath around the pounding of her heart. “I’m already a prisoner again, Seaghdh. You’ve seen to that.”
He flinched in the process of reaching for her, his expression troubled. “Ari . . .”
“You have no right to questions!” she yelled, bolting to her feet and across the cockpit. “No right to pry! No right to pretend you give a damn about me or what happens to me! You hijacked my ship!” Right after the Chekydran had hijacked her life.
He stood slowly, watching her every move, sympathy and disquiet in his handsome face. “Talk to me.”
Not quite the same phrase the Chekydran captain had used during interrogation, but close enough. She felt her lip curl as defenses smashed into place. She stared at the man, saw the concern, the hope in his face, but she could not respond. She told herself that she’d had enough of being emotionally batted back and forth. Between her father, Seaghdh, and the Chekydran captain, she felt like a puck in a low-gravity Hazkyt game. The only things missing were the body slams and the blood.
“Talk to me,” he’d said.
She wished she could laugh.
“No.”
Ironic. She’d accused her father of trying to sidestep the past six months of her life. Now Cullin Seaghdh wanted to cut into it and into her. Hell of a time to find out her dad’s instinct to keep silent had been right.
“I was a Chekydran prisoner. You don’t need to know anything else. If I discuss my experience,” she said, shifting her shoulders to break up the tension there, “it will be with my family, not with you.”
“Why not?” he prodded, his gaze assessing.
“An operative from a rival military sent to kidnap me?” Ari snapped, cutting off his intake of breath. She strode back to piloting.
“This isn’t over, Ari.”
She dropped into her chair and glared at him. “I was debriefed, Captain. If you want an account of my imprisonment, hack into TFC’s military data stores and steal the file. Assuming you haven’t already.”
CHAPTER 6
SEAGHDH watched her pretend to ignore him as she reconfigured the view-screen sensors to show the star field in front of them. Then she ran a systems check. To his eye, it came back clean.
“There,” she said, pointing to the readout. “That’s our Chekydran shadow. Unless we deviate from standard procedure, they should follow us to the border and break off. They aren’t above attacking the occasional, one-off target, but they tolerate us because we give them access to our science data. They won’t cross the border and risk running into the fleet. You know TFC military, always spoiling for a fight.”
“I’m familiar with the behavior. You’ve learned to detect camouflaged Chekydran ships?” he marveled.
“Yes.”
“They have no idea?”
“We’d be dead if they did.”
Seaghdh leaned over her to peer at the data from a forward sensor that registered a miniscule spike in an ion particle and shook his head. “How in the Three Hells did you pick that reading out of the background radiation?”
He noted the tremor in her hand as she appended the data to the logs and had to resist the urge to touch her again.
“This is a science ship,” she said. “It’s our job to notice patterns and to put two and two together.”
Something his team had failed to do, it seemed. How had they missed what he’d begun to suspect was the strategic importance of the Sen Ekir and its crew? He grunted and retreated to the command chair behind her. If he didn’t get some distance, he’d completely lose his mind and have her in his arms again. “You make it sound so easy. You do know that ship is their best spy hunter?”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “I did. How do you?”
He stifled a grin. “Putting two and two together is your job, understanding who wants me dead is mine.”
“Speaking of putting two and two together.” She swung around to face him, speculation in the set of her features. “Systems are green and we’re in the lane for TFC space. You’ll want to brief my father and his crew. Scientists without information will do anything to get it. Give them information and they’ll spend all their time trying to dissect it.”
He studied her. “What do you suggest I tell them?”
“The truth.”
“And that would be?” he prompted, frowning.
“You’ll release the Sen Ekir and its crew once we reach Silver City.”
Seaghdh sat back in his chair and considered the notion. He’d been ordered to retrieve Ari, not her family and friends or their IntCom-built ship. He had no reason to hold them, unless he could use them to pry apart her defenses. Though to be fair, he suspected her walls weren’t as well constructed as she wanted to believe. “What makes you think . . .”
“You have no use for the Sen Ekir or a bunch of scientists.”
“Don’t I?”
Eyeing him, she lifted one shoulder. “Your government doesn’t take political prisoners, Captain.”
“What about you?”
“I do wonder how my kidnapping will be classified if I can’t be called a political prisoner. I am not technically a part of this crew. Telling them you’ll release them won’t be a lie.”
“You suggest I omit the fact that you won’t be with them.”
“It is a level of detail that will ensure my father works against you at every turn.”
He grinned. “I am pleased I’ve succeeded in charming you into joining us willingly, Captain Idylle.”
“I have few illusions, Seaghdh. I’m aware you found me before someone hired to kill me did.”
“No doubt about it,” he said. “The old charm is potent as ever.” He savored the surprised smile that softened her features.
“Tell me you intend to release the Sen Ekir and its crew unharmed once we reach Silver City and I’ll cooperate,” she shot.
“At least until your father and his crew are safely away?”
“I see you harbor few illusions of your own,” she said. “Good.”
He suppressed a chuckle, certain from the gleam in her eye that she enjoyed the verbal parry and riposte as much as he. It spurred him to tuck a tendril of come-hither power into his words. “You’ll play the game my way, Captain. I assure you.”
Her eyes widened and turned smoky.
He relished the rush of desire that twisted in his gut. Gods. He rubbe
d a hand down his face to keep from reaching out to her. Did she know what she did to him? Had she read some hint of her power over his senses? Leaning back in the command chair, he marshaled enough will to meet her gaze. He still had a job to do.
“What’s the likelihood that the scientists will cooperate?”
She shook her head. “You had a graphic demonstration of the likelihood when my father preferred to let you die.”
He mulled her statement as she watched him. Seaghdh wondered if she could see his plans shifting with each new tidbit of information she fed him.
Speculation moved behind her pale eyes. “Do you intend to tell me what is so important that your people are willing to risk war for my capture?”
He flinched. Straight for the jugular, despite her offhand tone. She wanted to trade. Information for information. Any other time, he’d take her up on the invitation. He’d give as little as he could and would enjoy eliciting as much as possible from her.
Anticipation sizzled through him, settling low in his belly. Cursing the tightening in his groin, he shifted and pushed the feeling away. They didn’t have time. Too many lives hinged on her part in whatever plan the Chekydran were executing. He had to stick to business, the business of extracting information, no matter the cost.
Hesitating, he realized she still watched him, her gaze probing. She’d shuttered her expression, and he couldn’t read her. If he pressed her now, she could fracture, and he’d have to resort to interrogation. Or she wouldn’t. She’d already surprised him with her strength, her intellect, and her dry wit. Why not give her the chance to do it again?
Aware he was pushing her past her comfort zone, he pinned her with a pointed stare. “I need your trust, Captain.”
She gaped at him. “Given the day I’ve had? Of course you do. No problem. Anything else while you’re daydreaming?”
He choked back disappointment. Neither of his scenarios had been correct. She hadn’t shattered or risen to meet his challenge. Instead, she’d retreated behind her barricades. He couldn’t let her stay there. Smoothing the frown from his face, he pressed, “Is the bridge secure?”
The troubled light in her eyes and crease in her forehead suggested she’d seen more in him than he’d wanted. She rose, crossed to communications, and spent a moment entering commands before locking down the station.
“The bridge is as secure as I can make it,” she said. “Audio logging disabled. We’re on video only.”
He caught the unsettled look on her face as she returned to piloting.
“Thank you, Ari.” He gave her no opportunity to respond. If he gave her time, she’d undoubtedly work out just how carefully he’d guided her into yet another risk. “The Claugh are willing to chance war because war is certain if we don’t have your help.”
She sat, fumbling for her chair, looking stunned. “You’re IntCom.”
“Murbaasch Tu, the Claugh equivalent,” he acknowledged. “Yes.”
“Go on.”
Seaghdh sighed. “Your assessment is correct, Captain. My men and I were sent to find you. The people I represent have uncovered a high-level, very secret alliance between the Armada Admiralty and the Chekydran.”
“An alliance?” She boggled. “The Chekydran don’t even recognize us as life-forms, Seaghdh. Your information can’t possibly—”
“There’s an army,” he interrupted. “An army of Armada personnel modified by the Chekydran.”
Ari paled and memory flashed across her expression before being suppressed. “Modified how?”
“The Claugh hope you can answer that,” he replied.
She shook her head. “This is ridiculous. You want me to believe the Claugh nib Dovvyth gives a damn whether or not I cooperate?”
“Yes,” he said. “Do the people giving the orders care whether I have to kidnap you? No. But ultimately, I think they’ll find they care very much about your cooperation if their suspicions are born out. It isn’t as if they’ll be able to force information from you when three months in a Chekydran prison couldn’t break you.”
If he hadn’t been watching her so closely, he might have missed the tiny, short-lived twist in her lips.
“How do you know they didn’t?” she countered.
“You wouldn’t be alive.”
Memory glinted in her eyes. He moved to the edge of his seat, leaned into her, and stroked her hair before he could blink.
She started and sucked in an audible breath. Her gaze locked into focus on his face.
No, he realized. On his mouth. He held his breath until the need to kiss an unbridled response from her no longer clawed his gut so mercilessly.
“Stay with me,” Seaghdh urged, fighting the impulse to ask her to divulge her memories. She’d already demonstrated that she’d gamble with external trust—matters of the ship, her family, and her own physical safety—but she would not, or could not, confide in him. He hoped, for both their sakes, it wasn’t a permanent condition.
Seaghdh pressed back the thought and drew away from the silk of her hair. This was business. She could easily represent a grave threat to the Empire and he was making a mistake in responding to her in this way. Frowning, he sat back and blew out a short breath. Stop it. Do the job.
“I’m—I need evidence to shore up what you say,” she said, sounding breathless. She turned her gaze away from him and visibly struggled to regain her concentration. “What data supports your theory?”
“This isn’t hypothetical, Ari. You’re thinking like a scientist,” he said, “not a tactician. I’ve seen your record. You have a tactical ability that borders on the arcane. Don’t let loyalty muffle the instinct whispering to you that I’m right.”
She swore, jumped up, and paced the bridge, head down, hands behind her back. “You tell me about this alliance to gain my cooperation.”
“Partly, yes,” Seaghdh answered. “You asked why my people were prepared to risk war for you. You deserve to understand the stakes.”
Her smile looked grim. “If my cooperation is your objective, what prevents you from embellishing your intelligence report?”
“You know I am telling you the truth,” he rumbled.
“I know you believe you are telling me the truth,” she countered. Ari planted her feet and stared at him through hair the color of sunlight on clouds. “You accused me of thinking like a scientist, Seaghdh. Thank you for the reminder. Now that I am thinking like an officer of the Armada you forfeit the right to complain about it.”
A grin flashed across his face before he conquered the expression and obscured his amused appreciation with a hard mask.
She raised an eyebrow at him, clearly enjoying the fact that she’d gotten a reaction from him before he’d shuttered his expression.
“Point to you,” he said. “One all.”
“Your people believe there is a threat to their security,” she said, blushing. “I doubt I can help, but I’m willing to put that aside to ensure the safety of my family and friends.”
“Once they’re safe?” It hadn’t escaped him that she’d lost a command, one she obviously wanted back very badly. Armada Command wouldn’t be able to deny her a ship if she managed to hand them a Claugh nib Dovvyth officer and three of his crew. No doubt about it. They were both engaged in a dangerous game.
“I will have my command back.”
Alarm leaped in him. She didn’t realize someone had stacked the game against her. “What if TFC has issued a hit for you?”
“They had plenty of opportunity to kill me,” she countered, “in the military hospital, before, during, and after my debriefing.”
“Ari, you’re unique in the history of humanoid interaction with the Chekydran,” he said. “You survived.”
“Plenty of people survive Chekydran captivity.”
“Not a single one of whom had ever been accused of spying. You were. You know Chekydran policy. If they say you’re a spy, they kill you. No questions asked.”
She stopped short, processing the i
mplications. “You’re working up to tell me my government didn’t immediately order my death because I was an object of curiosity.”
“Yes.”
Seaghdh propped his chin in one hand to hide an admiring smile. Ari had accepted his pronouncement without flinching, even though it added yet another worry to the collection of fears dragging at her. He hated having to add to her burden, hated that in following orders he had to pick at her barely healed wounds.
She stomped across the deck plating, her too-thin face alight as she sifted through implication and possibility, move and countermove. Had her commanders not bothered to assess her? To find out whether or not she’d been compromised? Or had they simply decided she wasn’t worth the risk? He shook his head. Her commanders were idiots. He didn’t quite have her. Not yet. But he would.
He watched her pacing. She’d come so far. The Chekydran had made no attempt to rectify the damage they’d done to her before they’d released her. She’d been unrecognizable. Bald, both from abuse and from malnutrition, her body had been little more than skin binding broken bones together. Her blond hair, so pale it was almost white, had grown back in curls that would relax as it grew longer. It did nothing to soften her sharp cheekbones, one of which had been shattered by the Chekydran and rebuilt by TFC military medical.
He’d kept count of the numerous surgeries and reconstructions that had pieced Captain Ari Idylle’s physical frame back together and had wondered if anyone had invented a surgery to repair a fractured spirit.
Seaghdh reached out, halting one of her passes with a hand on her arm. “Come with me. I’ll see to it you get a command.”
She stared, the first flicker of real emotion in her eyes. He detected the hollow ache of what she’d lost in the depths of her silver gaze. Hope flared, died down to despair and then anger. She opened her mouth, but nothing emerged.
Seaghdh blinked. He hadn’t just offered an enemy officer a ship. Had he?
Ari managed a weak laugh. “Unless you have rank you’ve failed to disclose, Captain, you’re not in a position to make that kind of promise.”
For a moment, he forgot about masks, about cover stories. Something cold and razor-edged moved through him. He should tell her the truth.
Enemy Within Page 7