Ari didn’t hear or feel the hum of a sonic shield. She had to assume that meant anyone could be listening. How could she warn him that he was being tested? Or did he already know?
“Not telling me who you were,” she said, “pissed me off, but I could justify it. Enemy territory and all. I’d have gotten over it. But this? Your government is holding me hostage, Auhrnok Riorchjan. Please tell your queen that believing she can motivate me by threatening my life presupposes I value my life in the least. And that is a mistake. You have proof of that.”
She watched Seaghdh sift through her words, processing the fact that she hadn’t accused him. She’d specified his cousin. She’d also reminded him that she’d already offered once to die on his account. At the time, it had been a bid to stay out of Chekydran custody, but if she had walked out the air lock and died sucking vacuum, Seaghdh and his men would have survived. She couldn’t give him many more clues.
His com badge trilled. It wasn’t the same pattern of sound Ari’d heard in the shuttle bay. That he didn’t answer the call confirmed her suspicion. The Claugh coded their hails. Armada hails were all the same. You found out what someone wanted when you answered. She released his cold hand.
He went to the door. It opened. Seaghdh paused. “You can’t make me want to kill you, Captain.”
Message received and understood. Good. She met his penetrating stare. “I don’t have to, Seaghdh. Your cousin has already made the decision to handle it.”
Disbelief fired in his eyes, then alarm. Biting out a curse, he stomped away. As he went, Ari heard him acknowledge the com call in his own language.
Dr. Annantra stepped into the open doorway, her expression troubled. “May I come in, Captain?”
Ari blinked. It was Annantra’s medical bay and Ari was just a prisoner, no matter how politely they wanted to play that game. “Why not.”
“I am sorry, Captain Idylle. I could not risk extraction.” The doctor activated instruments and watched readouts for a moment. “Are you in pain?”
A single humorless laugh escaped Ari. “I deserve it.”
Startled, the woman stared, eyes wide. After a moment, Annantra cleared her throat, looked unseeing at her instruments, and nodded. “Whoever installed the transponder included a fail-safe.”
“A trap,” Ari surmised.
“Yes. One I could not circumvent. It will require a specialist.”
“Neurosurgeon?”
Dr. Annantra’s frown wrinkled her nose. “Possibly a bomb squad.”
“Great.” Armada and Claugh vying for control of one freed Chekydran prisoner. Ari had made some assumptions about why that might be. She was starting to question them. Simple curiosity about why she’d been released didn’t justify the kind of machinations she’d been caught up in.
“Captain Seaghdh would not leave your side.”
“Touching,” she said, damning the warmth that flared within her. Was someone still listening now that Seaghdh had been called away? Ari couldn’t risk it.
The doctor shot her a sharp glance.
“He worked hard to get me here,” she told Dr Annantra. “Your government seems to think I might be helpful. He’s invested a lot in that belief.”
The woman turned to her, planted her hands on her hips, and awarded her a disapproving glare. “You are being deliberately obtuse.”
Ari raised her eyebrows.
“It was not the Auhrnok Riorchjan at your side, Captain,” Dr. Annantra snapped. “It was Cullin Seaghdh, a man I’d only met once before when his cousin was ill and confined to my bay. Yes. He is the Auhrnok Riorchjan, and yes, he can seem heartless. But he isn’t. He’s simply spent his life protecting the ones he loves.”
Which didn’t include Ari or she wouldn’t still have a bomb in her head. She sucked in a deep breath and ignored the heat behind her eyes. Even if he’d only deactivated the destruct sequence . . .
“The fear I saw in that man at your side suggests he has invested considerably more than you credit him for.” The doctor shook her head and dropped her hands to her sides. Before turning back to her instrument panel, she said, “You have far more at stake than your life, my dear. In my professional opinion, he wants your heart. I believe I know Auhrnok Captain Cullin Seaghdh nib Riorchjan well enough to suggest he’ll stop at nothing to win it.”
Shock rippled through Ari. Her heart? Did she still have one? Was that the expanding pain in her chest? She drew her knees up, rested her forehead against them, and prayed Eilod Saoyrse hadn’t just heard a word the doctor had said.
Dr. Annantra chuckled and patted Ari’s shoulder. “When you erect your considerable defenses, be certain that you are indeed protecting yourself.”
Ari frowned. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Throw down arms and shout “come get me”? There was a good idea. The instrument monitor beeped. Increased heart rate and respiration. Damn it.
“You are recovering well,” Dr. Annantra said. “I will leave you to rest.”
Ari lifted her head. “Wait. Is my handheld here?”
“Yes. With your clothes.”
“I’d like to download a language program, if that’s permitted.”
Dr. Annantra brightened. “An excellent idea.”
WHAT was wrong with him? Seaghdh slammed a fist into the lift wall. It had taken Ari’s warning to nudge his brain into gear. He should have seen for himself that his cousin was testing him. Flexing his hand, he leaned back and closed his eyes. He’d been ready to face Ari’s hatred and rage when she discovered they hadn’t removed the transponder. Instead, she’d seen straight through him and offered understanding. She’d trusted him.
The lift stopped.
He opened his eyes.
The doors whisked into the bulkhead.
Eilod stood behind her desk, her features arrayed in what he recognized as her best politician’s mask.
He squared his shoulders, strode into the queen’s chambers, and saluted. “Your Majesty.” He felt the sonic shield go up.
“Auhrnok Riorchjan, we thank you for your prompt attention,” Eilod said. She touched a control on her panel and a holo-image flickered to life beside him. A man, olive complexion, black eyes, silver hair that had once been black, dressed in TFC navy blue, eyed him in return before glancing at the queen.
“Admiral Angelou, my Auhrnok Riorchjan,” she said. “Please, gentlemen, be seated.”
Ari’s commanding officer. Seaghdh’s gut tightened. He sat. Angelou pulled a chair into line with his holo-camera and lowered himself into it.
Eilod looked between them for a moment, then perched on the edge of her desk. “Admiral Angelou requests the return of his officer, Auhrnok.”
“Arrangements for Captain Idylle’s return are underway via diplomatic channels per the Baalkryt Accords signed by our respective governments nearly four decades ago,” Seaghdh said.
Angelou’s lips tightened.
“Something concerns you, Admiral?” Eilod prompted.
“Your Majesty,” Jecaldo Angelou said, inclining his head to Eilod before meeting Seaghdh’s eye. “Auhrnok. Thank you for meeting with me off record like this. This is . . .” He broke off and sighed, shaking his head. “Please understand. Captain Idylle was a promising young officer, one of our finest. Her record is exemplary. When she was captured, we gave her up for dead. We were elated when she was returned to us. Except . . .”
“The young woman returned to you was not the woman you knew,” Eilod finished for him.
“Precisely.” Angelou lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. “Physically, Captain Idylle has begun to recover. Mentally, however, and this is difficult to say, mentally, our doctors tell us she may never be who she once was.”
“You believe your officer has gone rogue, Admiral?” Seaghdh demanded. Something icy spilled into his blood. It could make sense. Read a certain way, everything that had happened since he’d taken her father’s ship could have been an elaborate setup to get Ari into proximity with Eilod. Or the Auh
rnok Riorchjan.
Pain clouded the other man’s features. “I don’t know, Auhrnok. I don’t know. She has been diagnosed with paranoia and delusions. Her psych eval stopped just short of schizophrenia. My doing, I’m afraid. I had hoped I could redeem her, keep her in the ranks. Now, I’m just not sure. She commandeered her father’s science ship as if her own family were a danger to her.”
Before or after he had, Seaghdh wondered, trying not to smile.
“I hesitate to say she’s a danger,” the admiral said. “She means a great deal to me, personally.”
Seaghdh felt the ring of truth in the man’s words at last. It gave him the key to unlocking the man’s lies. A warning fired through him, one he made certain no one else saw.
“As an officer of the Armada, however, tasked with protecting those Accords you mentioned, Auhrnok,” Angelou said, “I confess that Captain Idylle’s mental state frightens me. I don’t want her killed. Neither do I want a galactic incident. She has flashbacks. And when she does, people get hurt.”
“Captain Idylle saved my life.” From the swiftly stifled surprise in the man’s face, Seaghdh gathered he’d not heard that story yet.
“Admiral, Auhrnok,” Eilod said. “Gentlemen, let us return to point. Admiral, your Council has given this ship clearance to enter the Buffer Zone and to rendezvous with the science ship Sen Ekir. We are to transfer custody of your officer to the personnel aboard that ship. We are ten hours from that meet point.”
Angelou hesitated, then shook his head. “If I could be certain of Captain Idylle’s state of mind, Your Majesty, I would be satisfied. I cannot, in good conscience, however, leave her aboard your ship. If she has decided to take it upon herself to eliminate what she perceives as a threat to the Tagreth Federated Council, you could be in grave danger.”
“You wish us to transfer her to the ship you have mirroring our movements at the edge of the Zone?” Eilod surmised.
Angelou smiled and steepled his fingers before him. “The Balykkal is merely a precaution, madam. They were ordered into place before it became clear you had entered TFC on a rescue mission.”
His cousin glanced at him, her expression patently neutral. “Auhrnok? You came directly from medical. What is Captain Idylle’s status?”
“Medical?” Angelou echoed.
Seaghdh nodded, catching Eilod’s intent. “Dr. Annantra classifies her condition as critical. I regret that Captain Idylle’s medical status precludes teleport at this time.”
Angelou’s polite expression fell, and for a second, Seaghdh caught a clear glimpse of the conniving, cold man under the façade. “What happened?”
“She took a dose of poison from a tree on Kebgra,” Seaghdh lied. He caught the approving look Eilod tossed him. “Our doctor was not familiar with the toxin. Your officer seemed fine when first we brought her aboard, but she slipped into a coma just prior to my arrival in this office. We believe your captain will recover, but the paralytic affected respiration and heart rhythm. The doctor will not release her until Captain Idylle is out of danger.”
“I’ve heard of these trees,” Angelou murmured. “We have extensive experience handling . . .”
“Appearances, Admiral,” Eilod interrupted with a smile.
Angelou frowned.
“We have in our custody an Armada officer your people laud as a hero,” she said. “Imagine how it would play in your media if anything at all happened to harm her while she is in our care or being transferred from our care. Just as you feel you cannot risk leaving Captain Idylle with us, the Empire of the Claugh nib Dovvyth simply cannot risk the public relations disaster that would result if Captain Idylle suffered harm at our hands.”
Seaghdh watched the plans and calculation running rapid-fire behind the admiral’s eyes. His desire to recover Ari at any cost warred with his need to make his request appear reasonable, rational. Seaghdh congratulated himself on the fabrication of Ari’s illness. If Angelou tried to contact Ari via the transponder now, he’d assume she hadn’t recovered from the paralytic enough to respond.
“Given the information you have graciously shared with us, Admiral,” Seaghdh continued, “I will require that Captain Idylle be sedated until after transfer. Her Majesty’s safety is paramount, of course, but I respect and admire your desire to protect your officer’s reputation. If a few hours’ sedation can facilitate that . . .”
“It will.” Some of the tension in the lines around Admiral Angelou’s eyes dissipated at the mention of sedation. “Thank you, sir.”
Seaghdh wondered what the man feared. Ari? Or what Ari might say?
“Thank you, Admiral, for your frank disclosure,” Eilod replied smoothly. “Rest assured, we will hold Captain Idylle’s questionable mental state in strictest confidence. I will have the meeting coordinates forwarded to you via this private channel should you wish to send your ship to protect the transfer point.”
Eilod and the admiral exchanged empty pleasantries and then signed off. His cousin pursed her lips.
“Balls of solid Isarrite,” Seaghdh grumbled, relaxing back into his chair.
“He’s a politician. It’s part of the breed description,” she replied without a hint of humor. “Assessment?”
Even after a coded request that he report to her chambers via her private lift and a clandestine conference with Ari’s commander, Seaghdh felt the stilted tension between his cousin and himself. Eilod hadn’t forgotten that he’d disagreed with her regarding Ari’s transponder. He hadn’t forgotten, either. Thanks to Ari, he now suspected his cousin had planned to pin him in such an uncomfortable situation.
“He’s desperate to recover Captain Idylle.”
Eilod nodded, slid from her desk, and dropped into her chair. Weariness showed in the boneless way she collapsed into the depths of the leather.
Seaghdh frowned. “You’re exhausted.”
“So are you. Stay on task, Auhrnok. His accusations against Captain Idylle do make sense.”
Biting back a curse, Seaghdh straightened slowly, anger wiping away fatigue. “You know as well as I that he was lying.”
“On some points.”
“On most points,” Seaghdh corrected.
“Rather like you.”
He stared at his cousin, his breathing tight. “Eilod, what makes you believe I’ve lied to you?”
“I saw your face, Cullin. For a moment, when you said it, you believed that Captain Idylle might have gone rogue. That means you’d thought of it before this and not mentioned it. I was right to order that transponder reprogrammed.”
Ice drove through his middle. “If you’ve lost faith in me, Eilod, tell me so.”
“If she has your heart, how far behind is your loyalty?” his cousin shot. She caught in an audible breath, as if she could call back the words.
“I can’t believe this,” he countered. “You’re jealous? Are you asking me to choose between you and Captain Idylle?”
Outrage and the slightest hint of guilt creased her brows. “That’s . . .”
“You think I’m compromised.” He flopped back in his seat and shook his head at the ceiling, stunned by his cousin’s assumption.
“I don’t know! Do you?”
He bit back a harsh reply and listened to the instinct whispering in his chest that something had gone horribly wrong with his objectivity on this mission. “I have wondered.”
She sighed.
Seaghdh glanced at her troubled face. “She believes you mean to kill her.”
“I did toy with the notion. To protect you.”
He chuckled. It sounded strained to him. “And by extension, yourself. I’m flattered, but I have proven adept over the years at taking care of myself.”
“Yes, you have,” she replied, propping her chin in her hand as she watched him.
“But?”
“I’ve never seen you so invested in a subject, Cullin. You expected her to hate you for leaving the transponder in her head, didn’t you?”
“Yes,”
he murmured, unfamiliar feeling stirring in his chest. Ari had trusted him.
“I saw that stunned, ghur-in-the-sensor-eye look on your face when she didn’t blame you,” Eilod said. “You’re wearing it now.”
Seaghdh took control of his expression and forced himself to pay attention. “If you had given me smart, tough women as interrogation subjects, I might have been tempted to set aside objectivity before now.”
“What do we do?”
At the lost look in her eye, Seaghdh rose and went to crouch beside her chair.
She faced him.
He took her hands in his. “You have a choice to make, Eilod. The same one Captain Idylle faces.”
She scowled.
“Only you can decide whether or not you can still trust me. Nothing I say will make that easier for you.”
She smiled.
The sadness in the expression took his breath.
“We’ve been through so much,” she said.
“Yes, we have. Undoubtedly, there’ll be more. I’m not going anywhere, Eilod. Family is forever.”
“It just doesn’t always stay the same,” she finished for him. “Isn’t that what Mother used to tell you?”
Seaghdh nodded, a knot in his throat at the memory of the first time his Aunt Kystran had said those words to him at his parents’ funeral.
Eilod’s smile turned sympathetic. She drew her hands out of his. “Finish this, Cullin. One way or another. Here. A token of my esteem. And my trust.”
She offered him a handheld.
He raised an eyebrow at her.
“The codes for Captain Idylle’s transponder,” she said. “All of them. The people of TFC border on xenophobia when it comes to races with extraordinary abilities. When her admiral discovers that Captain Idylle is a telepath, and I do not doubt he will, he will use the fact to turn public opinion against her. It distresses me that you now become as much of a target as she is.”
Seaghdh’s heart lifted. He took the handheld. “Story of my life and far preferable to you being the target. You know it’s my job to draw fire away from you.”
“Not for the next eight hours. I’m ordering you off duty, Cullin.”
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