The task force’s new route to Onddo had been approved just that morning. Once Garen told the Shearans about the Xanti’s artificial jump points, and Faith’s ability to spot them, and see through Blind Sight, they’d practically fallen over themselves to agree.
The only part of the whole deal that Jackson didn’t like was that now there were even more people who knew about Faith and her unique talent. Sheara 3 was an honorable world with an honorable government, and they’d given their word to keep the secret. They didn’t know her name, of course. Or even her gender. Only her codename, Unblind. But Jackson was security minded, and he was uncomfortable with it. A secret that was known by so many people could no longer be considered a secret.
There was no help for it, though. The information had to be shared so they could get permission to cross Shearan space with a Naval task force. Besides, if Jasan was successful in carrying out its current plans, the Xanti would no longer be a threat to anyone in the Thousand Worlds.
Without warning, his office door flew open and Clark filled the doorway, one hand on the vox in his ear, Rob right behind him. “The sensor readings have just changed,” Clark said. “The Door just opened.”
Jackson didn’t ask any questions. He stood up, turned sideways, and disappeared from the room. A second later Clark and Rob disappeared as well, reappearing a moment later in the room near the top of the Jasani Skyport set up to monitor the Xanti’s Door into their space. Jackson was already getting a report from Landor Bearen-Hiru.
“The sensors indicate that the Door opened two minutes ago,” Landor was saying. “We’ve already got a squadron scrambling. We’ve done some testing out at the new Sheara 3 jump point and we’re confident that we’ll be able to tell if, and when, a ship comes through, even if it’s cloaked in Blind Sight.”
“How?” Jackson asked.
“The space both within and around a jump point reacts in subtle, but specific ways when a ship goes through it,” Landor replied. “We won’t see the ship, but we should know exactly when it comes through, and it’s position for those first few seconds when the jump is complete. We’ve never paid attention to this before because we’ve always been able to see when something came through. We’ve corrected that omission, and are continuing to collect data.”
“Good job, Landor,” Jackson said. He turned to glance at the monitors over the shoulders of the men at the sensor controls. “How long before the fighters arrive?”
“They’re in position now, Consul Jackson,” Landor replied. “Just in time, too. Here it comes.”
Jackson, Clark and Rob watched the monitors, then looked up through the viewport. While the data screens showed a large area of space reacting to the movement of an object in the center of the artificial jump point, or Door, their eyes saw nothing.
“Let me know when its all the way through,” Jackson said, unnerved to know that an enemy was so close, but both silent and invisible. How long had the Xanti been looking over their shoulders like this without their knowledge?
“It’s clear,” one of the technicians said.
“Fire at will,” Jackson said.
Landor gave the order to the fighters, and immediately a dozen anti-proton beams shot from a dozen fighters, aiming at the area indicated on their monitors rather than what they could see through their viewports. The effect was instantaneous and terrific. For one, brief moment, they could all see what was clearly a Xanti cruiser. Their minds had barely identified what they were seeing when it erupted in a ball of incandescent plasma so bright that it nearly blinded everyone looking at it. The brilliant sphere quickly dissipated as the ship and it’s spider like inhabitants ceased to exist.
“Status?” Jackson asked a few moments later, giving the sensors time to reset after the distortion of the explosion.
“The Door has been closed,” a technician reported a moment later.
“Damn,” Jackson muttered. “Looks like they know we’re on to them now.”
“Not necessarily, Sir,” another technician said as he scrolled through a couple of screens on the panel in front of him.
“No?” Jackson asked.
“Let me just confirm....yes, there,” the young man said, excitement in his voice. “See this,” he said, pointing at one screen. Jackson looked, but it meant nothing to him. “These are the recorded sensor readings on the Door. Right here it shows the Door closing just a fraction of a second before you gave the order to fire.”
“Very good,” Jackson said, patting the man on the shoulder. Then he gazed out the viewport for a few moments, thinking.
“It won’t take long,” Clark said.
“No, it won’t,” Jackson agreed. He turned to Landor who was waiting patiently for a translation.
“When Faith saw the Door the first time, she said she saw a ship come through it, then go back,” Jackson said. Landor nodded. “She didn’t say anything about it closing. In fact, our sensors didn’t identify a change until two days later. This time, it closed as soon as the ship came through. I’m afraid they suspect we’re on to them. When this ship does not return, their suspicions will be verified.”
“Shall we bring in more fighters?” Landor asked.
“More than that, I’m afraid,” Jackson said. “We need to speak with the Dracons and the Lobos first, but you might as well know I’m recommending we go to Planetary Defense Condition 2. In the meantime, yes, bring in a couple more squadrons. That should be enough since only one ship can come through at a time. If anything does comes through, blow it to the nine hells.”
“With pleasure,” Landor replied.
Jackson sighed inwardly. There was no pleasure in any of this for him. In fact, he found it disheartening. For over three thousand years his people had called this world home. In that time they had never once been forced to defend their planet from attack. So why now? Why, when they finally had a chance to come back as a true race, were they threatened? He thought of Hope, the boys, their unborn daughters, and all of the other precious children, each and every one treasured, loved, wanted. He straightened his shoulders. They had not asked for this fight, but they would fight nonetheless. And they would win, or die fighting.
Chapter Thirteen
In the few days she’d been aboard the cutter Faith had become more comfortable than she would have ever believed possible. The Falcorans had relaxed with her after that horrible first day, and that had allowed her to relax as well. She’d been a little apprehensive about their motives at first, but when a couple of days passed without them mentioning the word Arima, or asking her to explain her nightmares, she’d begun to cautiously let her guard down.
She still had nightmares, and found herself in odd places when she woke up in the morning. That was disheartening, since she’d thought she’d beat them before leaving Earth. On the upside, there was no indication that the Falcorans entered her cabin again.
She felt better physically too, thanks to Joseph. He not only prepared all of her meals each day and had them delivered to her, he’d gotten creative with the foods that made up her limited diet. The man was a genius when it came to food, and she never failed to eat whatever he prepared for her. It would take a while before she was able to replace all the weight she’d lost on the passenger liner, but at least she was going in the right direction.
The biggest surprise for her had been when Tristan had suggested that she remain on the Eyrie for the trip to Onddo so that they could search out new jump points along the way. She wasn’t surprised at the plan. She couldn’t find jump points if she wasn’t in space, after all, and the Dracons had mentioned it as a possibility. She was, however, surprised to realize that she felt no hesitation or worry at the thought of spending months in close quarters with the Falcorans. Once she realized that she was worrying over her lack of worry, she lost patience with herself. From that moment on, she refused to give any more thought to the matter. Once she made that decision, she found herself not only relaxing with the Falcorans, but actually enjoying their co
mpany.
When she entered the dining room the morning they were due to arrive back at Jasan, she knew at once that something was going on. She could feel the barely restrained excitement rolling off of all three of the brothers. She took her place at what had become their table, Joseph having already had her breakfast delivered for her. She watched the three men who were studiously not watching her.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Up?” Gray repeated, glancing up at the ceiling. Faith smiled.
“I meant what’s got the three of you so excited?”
“We reached Jasan last night,” Tristan said.
“Oh, that’s good news,” Faith said, wondering why they were excited about it since they’d planned it ahead of time.
“We have this one day before leaving for Onddo,” Gray said. “We’d like to take you shopping in Badia.”
“That would be wonderful,” Faith said happily. “There are several things I need to get, but I didn’t think we’d have time for it. When do you want to leave?”
“When you’re finished eating, if that’s convenient,” Tristan replied.
“Sure, that’s fine,” Faith said, standing up. “Just give me a moment to grab my purse and a jacket.”
“But you haven’t eaten,” Tristan said.
“I can eat later,” Faith said.
“You’ll hurt Joseph’s feelings,” Jon pointed out.
Faith frowned. Jon was right. It would hurt Joseph’s feelings. She sat back down and picked up her fork. A few minutes later, glad for the first time that she could eat only small meals, she put her fork down and finished her milk.
“Okay, done,” she said, standing again. “I’ll be right back.” They just nodded, but she knew they were all holding back laughter. She ignored them and left at a fast walk.
“I can feel her excitement,” Tristan said when she was gone. “I just don’t understand it.”
“I think she’s excited by the prospect of getting outside in the fresh air, and doing some shopping,” Gray replied.
“The fresh air I understand,” Tristan said. “Being excited over the prospect of shopping seems odd though.”
“As surprising as it may sound, I have heard that some women actually enjoy shopping,” Gray said.
“I don’t mean to be insulting, but that is inexplicable to me,” Tristan said with a grimace. “Do you think that she’ll be offended if we purchase things for her?”
“I’m not sure,” Gray replied. “I wish we knew a woman we could ask, but we have studiously avoided females for too long.”
“What about Arima Berta?” Jon asked. “She’s family, and she seems nice enough.”
“True,” Gray replied. “I think we should save that option for a more serious matter. If Faith is offended, we can tell her, quite truthfully, that Prince Garen asked that we see she has everything she wants or needs, and that he will reimburse us.”
“You intend to ask for reimbursement?” Tristan asked in surprise.
“Of course not,” Gray replied. “But it is true that he would reimburse us if we asked.”
“I see,” Tristan said. “You suggest we tell her the truth in a way that misleads her. That feels dishonest.”
“Because it is dishonest,” Jon said. “We should simply tell her that we wish to purchase things for her. If she refuses, we must accept that.”
“Agreed,” Tristan said, then both of them looked at Gray expectantly.
“Fine,” he said. “It won’t be nearly as much fun though.”
“What won’t be fun?” Faith asked, entering the room just in time to hear the last part of what he’d said.
“It won’t be fun shopping with you if you don’t let us buy things for you,” Jon said.
Faith stilled for a moment, her arms half way in her jacket. Jon stood up and helped her the rest of the way into it as she considered what he’d said. Her first reaction was to refuse, but she was getting to know these men, and she knew that when they said something, they meant it. It really would be fun for them to buy things for her. She could even feel their restrained enthusiasm, and their worry. She didn’t want to disappoint them, nor did she want to offend them. But would it be right to let them buy things for her?
“I understand how you guys feel, and I don’t want to spoil your fun,” she said. “At the same time, it goes against the way I was raised.”
“You were raised not to allow people to purchase things for you?” Gray asked. “I’m sorry, I do not understand the reason for such a rule.”
Faith lowered herself into her chair. “If a man buys a woman something, especially if it’s lavish or very personal, then it’s all too easy for her to feel as though she owes him something personal in return. Not all men would have those kind of expectations, but many would. Even if a man doesn’t ask for, or expect anything in return, others might assume the worse and judge the woman accordingly. It’s just better not to go there.”
When she finished speaking she realized that all three of the Falcorans were tense, their bright eyes nearly glowing with suppressed anger. “Don’t worry, I know you guys would never do anything like that,” she assured them quickly.
“We appreciate that,” Tristan said. “Still, it is difficult for us to imagine any male taking advantage of a female in such a manner.”
“Most men wouldn’t,” Faith said. “But some would. I know that people think differently here than they do on Earth, though. So how about we compromise. I’ll let you buy me some things, but when I say no, you gotta accept it. Is that all right?”
“Perfectly,” Gray agreed with a big smile. “Thank you, Faith.”
“I ask that you make one exception to your rule and allow us to buy you a gift of our choosing,” Jon said.
“A gift?” Faith asked. “What kind of gift?”
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you what it was,” Jon replied.
“You didn’t say it was supposed to be a surprise,” Faith pointed out.
“I’m saying it now. So will you?”
“I don’t know,” Faith replied. “Why would you want to buy me a gift on top of everything else?”
“There are many reasons,” Jon said. “Do you know that a Xanti ship came through the Door you discovered near the Skyport?”
“No, I didn’t know that,” Faith said, instantly worried. “What happened?”
“A few weeks ago Jasan officially declared war against the Xanti, and sent them a formal message to that effect,” Jon said. “Therefore, their battle cruiser entering our space under cover of Blind Sight was an overt act of war, so it was destroyed. The point is, we would not have known it was there if not for you. You have done much for our world, Faith Meyers. Jasan owes you a great deal. But we, the three of us, want to buy you a gift simply because we would like to make you happy.”
Faith felt Jon’s sincerity, and knew that if she said no, she would hurt his feelings. She’d hurt all three of them. A week earlier she wouldn’t have cared. Today she did. “All right, all right, one gift. But that’s all.”
“Thank you, Faith,” Jon said, smiling.
An hour later they left the Jasani spaceport and headed into Badia’s shopping district on foot, Faith walking beside Tristan, with Jon and Gray flanking them. They spent the entire morning going from shop to shop, and Faith had to admit that she was having a very good time with the Falcorans. She filled out her wardrobe and got all of the items on her list, letting the Falcorans pay for about half of what she selected, plus one outfit that she’d tried on and loved, but would not have purchased herself. It wasn’t easy for her to let them buy so much for her, but their obvious enjoyment helped. The Falcorans had all of the purchases sent ahead to the spaceport to be loaded onto their private shuttle, and then they went to lunch.
“Wow, I’m tired,” Faith said as she sipped her juice. She’d already finished her meal and was enjoying watching the guys put away what seemed to her to be an amazing quantity of food, even for them.
“I’m glad we’re finished.”
“Faith, have you ever had a pet?” Jon asked.
“Yes, once,” Faith replied. “Grace and I had a cat when we were little. She was the sweetest thing. Why do you ask?”
“Just curious,” Jonathan said. “And we’re not quite finished yet, either. Don’t forget, you said we could get you a gift.”
“Oh yeah,” she said. She wondered if they meant to get her a cat, and decided that would be fine with her. She liked cats.
After the guys finished eating and paid the bill they went back out onto the street. “Which way?” Tristan asked Jon. Jonathan gave him directions and they set out. A few blocks away from the main shopping district they stopped in front of a small building with no signs out front, and shade covered windows. Jonathan pushed a button and Faith heard a bell ring faintly from inside the building.
“Yes?” a tinny voice said over a speaker next to the button.
“It’s Jonathan Falcoran, Mr. Fray,” he said. “We have an appointment.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Mr. Fray replied. “Please come in.” The lock on the door clicked and Jon opened it and stepped inside. Tristan guided Faith in behind Jon, with Gray bringing up the rear.
Once Faith’s eyes adjusted to the dim lighting after the bright afternoon sunshine, she was surprised to see that they were in what appeared to be an average living room. There were chairs grouped around small tables, two sofas, photos on the walls, even a bookshelf with a dozen or so real books on it. She’d half expected a pet store, but clearly she’d guessed wrong about the cat. In fact, this wasn’t a store at all. What sort of gift were they planning on giving her, anyway?
A small, rotund man with merry eyes and a balding head entered the room. “Welcome, welcome,” he said, smiling. “I’m so happy to be able to accommodate you kind folks today. I’m planning to leave on an extended trip tomorrow, you see.”
The Falcoran’s Faith Page 11