Devoted Deceptions, A 4th Millennium Adventure, Book 3

by Cherie Singer

  "Most of the time."

  Wulfe shrugged. "Better than none of the time."

  "Hmm. Come with me. I need to show you something."

  "Fine." Wulfe adjusted his stride so he wouldn't outdistance her. About now, she'd probably be prickly about something even as trivial as outpacing her. "How's the security shaping up, over all?"

  "Fair, I'd say. A threat against the chairman is the last thing anyone here expected. They could use some of your security people as mentors, if you've a mind to share them."

  "My security people?"

  "You did have me transferred off the Falchion, did you not?" Cat met his stare with one of her own. "Even so, I'd personally like Space Corps personnel escorting my mother and watching the chairman."

  "Your mother's here?"

  "She brought the Seeker." Cat passed her wrist over the sensor next to a door. A scanner read the implant in her arm and the lock mechanism released the door to swing open.

  Wulfe followed her into the comfortable living quarters. The rooms contained only one aspect of Cat's personality--her unique scent. She keyed in a command to the computer. The screen lit up with one short sentence that he read in a glance.

  The Kincade children are unharmed

  Exultant relief fought its way to the surface, but cautionary disbelief held it at bay. "Ma'ten! Is this true?"

  "You tell me." Cat whirled, paced from one end of the room to the other, a frown marring the lines of her face. She stopped directly in front of him, her breath unsteady. "Why would someone go to the trouble of taking our children and then bother to reassure us?"

  "Doesn't make sense to me." Wulfe's muscles tightened with pent-up frustration, wishing he had something more helpful to say to her.

  "Almost sounds like guilt or remorse."

  "No." Bitterness welled up in him. "Whoever has done this doesn't have enough honor to feel such emotions."

  "Fear, then? Second thoughts?"

  "Both, more than likely." Now, if only that fear didn't drive the person to dispose of the children and Fallon to cover his tracks. "Cat, you didn't think I had anything to do with that message?"

  "No. I have faith in you." She favored him with a grim little lift of her lips that didn't quite deserve to be called a smile. "Too bad you had so little faith in me that you believed I'd leave the Falchion without a thought for the children. Or you." She touched his chin with a forefinger, pushed up against his slack jaw. "You can shut your mouth now, love, unless you've a brilliant idea."

  He did shut it, just his lips, around her finger. Wulfe let her withdraw the fingertip, felt his temperature go up a degree when she stroked his bottom lip and their gazes met. He cleared his throat. "Use that wondrous mind of yours, will you? All you had to do was trace the transmission back to its source."

  "You think I didn't?" Cat snatched her finger away. "Computer, display related search results."

  Wulfe scanned the information line by line, racing to the end. The Falchion. "What the narg is going on?"

  "Like a kick to the midsection, isn't it?"

  "More than you know. At the risk of great physical damage to my body, are you certain about this information?"

  "The communication specialist backtraced the transmission first. I didn't want to believe her findings--I wanted it to be wrong, too--so I verified her work. She's right."

  Corps did not betray Corps! The tenet ran deep, an unspoken article of faith that bound its members together. Someone had subverted that trust. Wulfe let loose a string of Bellon curses.

  Cat's face reflected a new wariness, so he put his arm around her reassuringly. "I do not vilify you, but the one who has taken Garrett and Morgan, and the treasonous of'al helping him. When we find who's responsible, I will bring the children to you, my Lady, and to no other." She relaxed against him, the simple action warming him. "Your cheek should always rest against my heart, Cat, as it does this very moment."

  Cat's breath caught at the huskiness in Wulfe's voice, the tone he used when he said her name, the tone that made her feel cherished, the tone she hadn't heard for far too long. How could she tell him she wanted her cheek to rest in that precise spot every night, every day?

  Maybe Albright had been wrong. Maybe she could tell Wulfe everything and not cause him harm. Maybe? She'd risk his well-being on a maybe? Not bloody likely, no matter how badly the waiting made her hurt inside. She reached out mentally, desperation making her search for the bonding link. Nothing. The lack of connection shook her. For a brief instant, her mind tumbled closer to madness, a match to her careening emotions.

  She forced herself to move away from Wulfe. The comment about her cheek seemed as genuine as his shock over the message about the children, but first things first. "Can you think of anyone on the Falchion who'd have a part in Morgan and Garrett's disappearance?"

  "No. It is difficult to accept the fact that any Bellon would have so little honor. You must feel the same."

  "Yes, certainly. Until a few days ago, though, Bellon blood was in a minority on the Falchion."

  "That's true, but still! Corps does not turn against Corps! No matter the background!"

  Cat sensed he didn't believe that entirely. "A wonderful sentiment, Wulfe, but even you don't believe that entirely. Not anymore. Someone from the Corps has betrayed us."

  "Who would you accuse? A Syllogian? Carnobian?"

  "I don't know!"

  "Grimalkan? Earther? Somehow, I can't see Seleen or Nora Albright doing this!"

  "Nor can I!" But one name leapt into her mind yet again. Wheeler! The Earther had succumbed to using drugs, and hiding the habit from anyone who could help him. Under the influence, who knew what he may have become capable of?

  "Cat, this message could be a ruse to send us chasing ourselves, doubting our comrades, instead of finding the ones truly responsible. A method of wasting our time."

  "Maybe. Are you willing to take the gamble?" If a ruse, were the children unharmed? Her mouth went dry. She had to believe they were safe or go mad with worry. "If I were to point a finger at anyone, Wheeler would be the target."

  "Why would Erich do such a thing?"

  "Why would he use Endorphidrine?"

  "He wouldn't!"

  "Oh, but he did! Check his medical files."

  "This is news to me."

  "I know. I didn't discover the fact until after he'd been assigned to the Orion. Why bother you with something over which you no longer had control? I allowed Corps Command to handle the situation. You would have done the same."

  "You're probably right." Wulfe let out a sigh. "We must consider something else. Morgan and Garrett may have been with Cass when her ship...the messages about the children could be a sick form of emotional torment, something to keep our hope alive where there is none."

  Cat leaned into Wulfe's mighty frame, seeking contact, warmth, comfort. His arm held her, and for that second, she'd swear it was the only thing that kept her heart beating. "That thought has been with me every moment of every hour. Whatever happened to Cass and Hawke, I prefer to think our children were not with them. I must believe Garrett and Morgan are well, as this coded transmission claims, or I can't keep myself from the brink of madness."

  Sensing his hesitation, Cat stepped out of the circle of his arm. "What news have you received?"

  Wulfe focused on the far wall over the top of her head, then brought his gaze back to her. "The message Cass supposedly sent to my parents originated on the Falchion as well."

  "Frak." Her blood turned to ice right in her veins. Cat pressed her lips together. Her vocabulary had grown decidedly more vulgar over the past week or so. Not without reason. "If I accepted even the possibility that Garrett and Morgan perished with Cass, I think I'd..." She found Wulfe's eyes, the warm brown dulled by a painful bleakness. "The only way I've stayed sane so far is to tend to business."

  "Business it is, then."

  Bless the Creator. "What about security assistance here for the chairman and my mother?"
/>   "Right. I'll start sending crew members down in shifts and have the flight squads perform surveys of the system. Do you have any preference for your mother's escorts?"

  Cat knew Mykal Lyon needed to stay with the flight crews. Any member of his security team would do a good job but the Dove deserved the best. "I'd be happier with Bellons around her."

  "Done. I'll take care of it." He glanced behind her, motioned to the computer screen with his bearded chin. "Looks like there's another message."

  "I'll take it while you contact the Falchion. If you have time, stick around. I'll introduce you to M'Lissa when I'm done here." Cat thumbed the response pad, stopping the blinking light. "Culver. Go."

  `Commander, I've received a second message about your children.'

  "Relay at once!" Cat's knees weakened from surprise and tension and fear. Good news or more useless taunting? Wulfe cut off his conversation with Seleen to listen.

  `I have a problem. The first half of the message is clearly addressed to your attention and lists the contents as being related to the children. The body of the transmission is encrypted with a code I haven't been able to break.'

  Damn and double damn. "What about the source?"

  `Looks to be several relays again, only this time the coding is very sophisticated. Unraveling this could take me days.'

  "Get busy! I want it done now!"

  "Send a complete copy of the transmission to my communication officer on the Falchion," Wulfe ordered in his deep, authoritative voice to the Nutralian and cut the link. "Won't hurt to have two working on deciphering the information. Seleen's mind probably works a bit more deviously than a Nutralian's."

  "No doubt." Bless the Creator for Wulfe's presence. He gave her strength without realizing he did so--and she couldn't tell him. A warrior expected his mate always to be strong, stoic, capable. A warrior must be strong--a warrior must be strong. The mantra all Bellon children were taught as they learned to reason. Maybe, if she could find just the right words, she could convey to Wulfe some of what she felt, how much she loved...a knock at the door cut off the idea. "That should be Mother and M'Lissa."

  Wulfe caught her hand in his. "Does your mother know--?"

  She sensed the worry, guessed at the cause for his concern. "I realize we agreed not to say anything about Hawke and Cass, but face to face...Mother felt something wrong, and I couldn't hide it or lie to her."

  "I would never expect you to lie to your mother. I only asked so I wouldn't say the wrong thing. How did the Dove take the news?"

  "She remains hopeful. Don't discourage her."

  The door opened, allowing the two women to enter.

  "Lady Burnelle, I greet you."

  "And I greet you, Wulfe." Dove handled the quick introduction of M'Lissa.

  Cat caught the look of surprise on M'Lissa's face. Despite the little Erosian's assertion of not having been sheltered, Cat doubted M'Lissa had expected anyone as tall or broad-shouldered as Wulfe. He affected most people that way, even some other Bellons.

  Dove clasped Wulfe's forearm. "Now, the formalities are concluded. How are you?"

  "As you can imagine, I am not pleased by all that has transpired."

  A soft melodic chime sounded in the room, floated in from the hall through the open doorway. More trouble. Cat's body automatically prepared for action, flooded her system with adrenaline. She checked to make certain the sidearm clung to her hip, the dagger rested in her thigh sheath.

  Next to her, Wulfe's body tensed and he reflexively mirrored her actions. "What is that?"

  Cat stopped, already halfway to the door. "More security problems."

  "Security!" Wulfe followed the outburst with a one-word expletive that left no doubt how he felt. "Sounds like they're calling the compound in for evening meal, not alerting everyone to danger! What is wrong with these people?"

  "Nothing! This is a world of peace. How can they know what our alarms and call to arms sound like?" Cat couldn't keep herself from sparing her mother a worried look. This new danger might easily encompass the Dove.

  Wulfe must have seen her hesitation and reacted immediately. "You know the layout of the compound, so go. I'll stay here to protect your mother from harm."

  "I am not helpless--"

  "Mother, for once, let someone take care of you!" Cat sensed the increased worry coming off Wulfe in waves, the concerned affection. She nodded, gave him a quick smile in response. "I must go."

  "Watch your back, ma'ten. That's an order."

  "Aye, my Lord. No problem." Cat dashed through the doorway and into the hall, wishing she felt as confident as she tried to sound. She grasped at the prospect of duty as a means to cling to her sanity. She must remain sane to bring everyone home safely.

  Cat met the security force outside the main building. They'd already divided into teams. She joined the smallest group to even out the numbers. One by one, the men and women took their positions and started the search for intruders. Alert to every unexpected sound, every new scent, Cat made her cautious way from one pool of light to another, melting into the darkness when light failed to penetrate, but her heart stayed behind.

  WULFE WATCHED Cat leave, a cargo bay full of emotions warping through him. Concern, irritation. Love, resentment. He squared his shoulders and turned his attention to the women still in the room. "Lady Burnelle, my ship's defenses are better suited to protect you and M'Lissa." Are they? he wondered, thinking of the messages about the children issued from the Falchion. "I suggest you board her until such time as Nutralis is safe for you."

  "I appreciate your concern, Wulfe, but I must spend time with the chairman. That is the main reason I'm here."

  "Simple enough. The chairman is welcome to join you aboard. While the two of you plan, M'Lissa can familiarize herself with the ship. The Falchion won't be going anywhere at least until we finish decrypting the latest message about Garrett and Morgan."

  Dove gave a wordless gasp. "You've had further word?"

  "A short time ago. One of the chairman's people is working on decoding the message and so is my communication officer."

  "How long will that take?"

  Wulfe paced three steps one way, then four steps in another direction, too keyed up to stand still. "Too long, by far, but I know Seleen won't rest until she's completed the task."

  "I hope that's soon. Aside from the danger to the children, something that has us all frightened, I don't know how much more Cat can take. I'm truly concerned she may be right on the edge."

  He scrutinized Dove's open, guileless face. Her high cheekbones and the slant of her eyes reminded him so much of Cat's. "You think she's that close?"

  "You can't tell? You know her better than anyone--gods, I forgot. You don't know her entirely right now, do you?"

  "Do--did--I know Cat better than even you do?"

  Dove's wry expression answered before she said a word. "Better than I, Wulfe. The two of you," she shook her head, "your souls were destined for one another. I have never seen that degree of understanding between two people who are not pure Erosian. You are exceptional together. Surely, you can sense that?"

  "Aye, I feel--I know--we were once extraordinary. My chief medical officer mentioned something disturbing to me about Cat's mental state, too. Is it true that Erosians can go mad if their bonding link is severed?"

  Dove's mouth tightened and she nodded. "Or die."

  Worry clutched at his heart. "Every time?"

  "Not always," M'Lissa said. "We have ways of helping those afflicted."

  "Even someone who isn't pure Erosian? How can I protect her? What must I do to keep her safe?"

  M'Lissa shook her head. "Not being Erosian limits--"

  Dove placed a hand on M'Lissa's shoulder as though in warning. "Wulfe, mixed blood can make the situation more difficult. Sometimes even impossible, especially when that person is...exceedingly stubborn or passionate, or has a reason to put another's life ahead of her own."

  Wulfe met Dove's tormented gaze. "Those w
ords describe my mate."

  "And my daughter."

  "What do you feel to be the answer?"

  "We take care of her the best we know how."

  A deafening blast vaporized any intention to respond. The wall of sound battered their bodies, lifted them from the floor and threw them down again.

  Wulfe climbed to his feet. By the gods! Cat! "Pulse cannons? Plasma bombs?" He thought he asked the questions, but couldn't hear his words or a response from anyone.

  Wulfe felt something touch his arm and pivoted to find Dove using his wrist for leverage while she tried to stand. She pressed one hand to her abdomen. He helped her up, steadied her. M'Lissa stood and circled an arm around Dove's waist. Dove's mouth moved, but he couldn't make out what she said. "What?"

  He couldn't even hear his own words yet, only an irritating, dim roaring sound over which he tried to speak. "I must find Cat!"

  Dove pointed to the door and nodded.

  The roaring sound receded enough for him to decipher part of what Dove tried to say.

  "Go...be fine. Find...bring..."

  Wulfe pivoted toward the exit, turned back for one quick look at Dove. "When Cat finds out I left you alone, she'll take my head!"

  "...won't matter...she's..."

  Wulfe sprinted through the doorway.

  Chapter 19

  WULFE CHARGED down the hall, whipped around the first corner to the right and caromed off a Nutralian struggling to his feet. A few meters further and he vaulted over two unconscious females and skidded around the next left turn. Hoping against hope that Cat had enough life in her to try taking his head for leaving Dove unguarded, he hurtled through the closest exit at a dead run.

  Soft, silent night air enveloped him. Nothing stirred, not even nocturnal insects. Torn between bellowing Cat's name and remaining warrior-silent, Wulfe hesitated for one thunderous heartbeat. His eyes adjusted to the darkness so he could scan the surroundings. Bodies scattered everywhere. He froze in place, wanting to sense Cat's sweet mindtouch more than he wanted to take his next breath. Nothing.

  Wulfe slapped a hand to his comm tag. "Seleen, get some med teams down here on the double. Make sure they're accompanied by armed security personnel. Pinpoint Commander Culver's position through her tag."