He turned and entered the cockpit, sat down and buckled himself in. It occurred to him as he started the engines that his mission cam would send a recording of everything he’d done and said the moment it found a clear signal to do so.
He sighed heavily. His brothers weren’t going to be happy with him.
***
Talon left Tee sitting behind the Commander’s console on the bridge, his eyes fixed on the vid terminal, watching for any sign of Thorn and his ship. Only then did he leave the bridge to meet Declan and Vari in the corridor, and lead them to an empty conference room.
“Thank you, both of you, for your assistance in this matter. I know Ria’s your sister, but I thank you just the same.”
Vari nodded, but said nothing. Talon understood. He wasn’t feeling all that conversational himself with Thorn and Ria both down on that planet.
“Can you tell me more about the man in the transport room?”
“Yes,” Vari said. “He stowed away on the Hilgaria by climbing into a crate of vegetables. He took a day or so to decide whose place he could take and chose the transport operator because he’d run one before. He hit the real transport operator over the head, then killed him by transporting him out into space.”
“If you check the security vids going back to the second day out, I think you’ll see what he did,” Declan said. “Unfortunately, that was before Thorn installed the new system software that would have set off an alarm when he struck the other man.
“Since then, there’s nothing about him that would have set off the new software. He appears to be a legitimate crewman.”
“Why’d he want to hurt Ria?”
“Because she caught him away from his post,” Vari replied. “And because, in his mind, she’s a blind female who got the best of him. He figured since he got away with it once, he could do it again and no one would ever suspect him.”
“The transporter isn’t on a motion detector feed, though it will be from now on. I don’t know why no one noticed him after all this time, though. He doesn't even know how to address an officer properly from what Tee told me.”
“Because he knows enough to know his limitations, or so he believes. He keeps to himself, eats in his stateroom, and never talks to any of the crew if he happens to run into them.”
“So he’s not a spy, or a plant, or anything of that sort.”
“No, he’s not. I would suggest that you scan him for monitoring devices, just in case, but if there’s anything there I can guarantee you that he knows nothing about it.”
“We’ll do that, Lady Vari, and thank you for the suggestion.”
Vari nodded, then turned to Declan. “I’ll leave the rest of this to you men.”
Declan looked into her eyes for a long moment, then nodded. “I’ll stay here until we get Ria back.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Admiral.”
“Lady Vari,” Talon replied.
Both men watched her leave the conference room then looked at each other. Talon already knew what they had to do with the man, and he was sure that Declan knew as well.
“I ask that you find the security vid that shows the man murdering the true transport operator,” Declan said. “With that, and the vid of him threatening Ria and sending her and the Brun away against their will, we have all the proof necessary to deal with him as we see fit. I’ll give the order and sign it if you like.”
“No, thank you Declan,” Talon said. “This falls under our jurisdiction anyway. The matter will be dealt with.”
“Since we’re on the subject of people pretending to be who they aren’t, I’ve been meaning to tell you what we learned about Clay Trask.”
“I’m sorry, Declan, who is Clay Trask?”
“He’s the ex-crewman from the Bihotza that assaulted Ria in the infirmary.”
“Yes, of course,” Talon said. “I apologize. I should have remembered the name.”
“It doesn’t matter much since his real name isn’t Clay Trask anyway,” Declan said with a shrug.
Talon frowned. “Don’t tell me he’s murdering stow away, too.”
“No, he’s not,” Declan said. “With Trask, real name Arphin Greenway, it’s a matter of identity theft. The real Trask is an upstanding Citizen Jasani who is also retired Jasani military.”
“Greenway, Greenway,” Talon murmured. “Why does that name ring a bell?”
“Maybe because there was a three system wide search for him in the weeks leading up to our departure,” Declan said. “He was a small time thief until he and two accomplices entered a bank on Sheara 3, held the bank president at gun point, and attempted to download every client record in the bank’s system.”
“Morons,” Talon said, shaking his head.
“To put it nicely, yes,” Declan agreed. “Long story short, Greenway escaped while using the bank president as a shield. When he discovered he’d gotten away without a cent of real money, he killed the bank president in a fit of rage. Too bad for him that the bank president was the father of Sheara 3’s Minister of Defense.”
“So they threw out a great big net, herding Greenway to Jasan, where he steals Trask’s ID and gets a job on the Bihotza.”
“Exactly,” Declan said. “The question now is, what do we do with him?”
“Good question,” Talon said. “Suggestions?”
“Thorn said he was going to keep a close eye on him. Has he caused any trouble?”
“Not that I’m aware of. Last time I checked, which was three days ago, he was keeping his head down, his nose clean, and his mouth shut. I have to say, when Lady Vari delivers a threat, she does a fine job of it.”
“She does indeed,” Declan agreed, smiling proudly. He thought for a moment, then said, “I think that if he’s doing a job that no one else really wants to do, and he’s behaving himself, and he thinks the rest of us are fooled as to his true identity, might as well use him. One tiny sign of trouble though and we need to rethink the matter. He gets zero chances.”
“Agreed,” Talon said, pushing his chair back and standing up. “I’ll speak with Thorn about him. I want to make sure we keep a very close eye on him.”
Talon headed back to the bridge with Declan and stood in front of his vid terminal. Many seemed to think it would be impossible for his brother to take off in the storm that was raging down on that planet, but Talon knew better. So did Tee and Declan. It was not a matter of if Thorn popped back onto the screen but when.
Therefore, when the tiny green dot finally appeared on the vid screen an hour later he wasn’t surprised. He was, however, immensely relieved. Thorn wasn’t out of the planet’s atmosphere yet, he noted, but he was above the storm, so at least they could see him.
“Good to have you back, Brother,” he said after tapping his headset. Declan and Tee both looked up in relief.
“Good to be back,” Thorn replied. Something in his voice caused Talon to frown. “I’ve got Lady Ria and Star, the Brun,” Thorn continued. “Star has an injury to her hip. She’s also in labor. Lady Ria has an injured arm.”
“We’ll have Dr. Jula waiting in the launch bay,” Thorn said, exchanging looks with Declan. “What about you, Thorn? Any injuries?”
“No. I’m wet from the rain and a little chilled, but otherwise I’m fine. We’ll arrive in about thirty minutes.”
“We’ll be waiting,” Talon said. There was something in Thorn’s voice that troubled him, but whatever it was could wait until they were all safely onboard the Hilgaria.
“I’ll contact Dr. Jula, meet her in Transport, then accompany her to the launch bay,” Declan said, already turning to leave.
“I’ll stop and grab Corin and a stretcher from the infirmary and meet you there,” Tee said, following Declan. As much as Talon wanted to go with them, he couldn’t leave the bridge until he knew Thorn, Ria, and the Brun were safe within the Hilgaria.
A small icon in the corner of his vid screen started blinking. He activated it, pleased to see that it was the recording fro
m Thorn’s mission cam uploading now that it had a clear signal. He waited for it to complete, then opened the vid and leaned back in his chair to watch it.
***
Ria was relieved when the ship took off gently, then picked up speed without too much turbulence. She suspected Thorn was taking it extra easy for Star’s sake. Her suspicion was confirmed a few minutes later when he hollered back at them to hang on.
Ria started to brace herself against a large crate strapped to the deck, but then saw Star beginning to slide. The blanket underneath her had suddenly become a liability, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
Afraid to try to stand, she crawled behind Star using one arm and both knees which gave her an idea of how difficult it had been for Star to walk so far on three legs. She sat so that her lower back was pressed against the middle of Star’s back and bunched the bottom blanket beneath her legs so that her feet were against the bare metal decking. Then she dragged the rubber soles of her sneakers against the deck, pressing hard to slow their slide enough that when they reached the wall it wasn’t too jarring.
She reached up, feeling around for something she could hold onto. After a few moments she found a steel tie-down ring big enough for most of her fingers to fit through. She gripped the ring tightly, and set her heels against the deck again just before the ride got really rough.
Gripping the ring for all she was worth, she managed, barely, to prevent the blanket from sliding out from under her. Keeping the blanket in one place meant keeping Star in one place, so even though her shoulder started to feel like it was going to give out under the strain, she hung on.
The worst part was when she automatically tried to use her injured arm to grab onto Star or the blanket when they were jarred sharply. That happened a couple of times, adding a new layer of pain to the overall experience that she thought she could have done without.
After what seemed to her like a very, very long time the ship went still, the inertia vanished, and Ria knew they’d left the planet’s atmosphere. She had to concentrate on fingers she could barely feel to get them to release the metal ring. Her entire body was trembling from the exertion, and she hurt in a few more places, but she’d prevented Star from further injury so the rest didn’t matter.
“Thank you for your help, Ria. I didn’t know how to stop myself from sliding.”
“No problem, Star,” Ria said, patting her neck. “It should be easy from here on.”
“It won’t get rough like that again?”
“We’re in space now, so no, it shouldn’t. We can relax now. It won’t be long till we reach the ship.”
“Are you sure the people we are going to will help me, Ria?”
“Yes, of course,” Ria replied. “Why do you ask?”
“That man, Thorn, is very mean to you. He put a blanket on the floor for me when I am already dry and warm, but didn’t get a blanket for you, and you’re cold and wet. That was mean, Ria. If others are like him…it makes me nervous.”
“He and his brothers hate me, so he’s not going to do anything more than he absolutely has to do for me. But that has nothing to do with you. No one is going to hurt you or your cubs.”
“What did you do to them?”
“Nothing,” Ria said. “I’ve never met them or even seen them before. I didn't even know his name until he said it when I introduced you to him. They hate me because of something they think I did.”
“Something they think you did?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you tell them you didn’t do this thing they hate you for?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“They never asked.”
“Are they the reason you say you’re a waste of space?”
Ria said nothing for a long moment. “It doesn’t matter, Star. When we get back to the Hilgaria they’ll probably take you straight to the infirmary. I won’t be there with you, but no one will hurt you. I want you to remember that, okay?”
“You won’t be there?”
“No, I can’t stay on the Katres’ ship. I’m surprised he even let me come back with you. I think it must be because my sister is mate to the Mission Commanders.”
“How many ships are there?”
“Three. The Bihotza, the Beacon, and the Hilgaria. The Hilgaria is the Katres’ ship, which is where we’re going now. I live on the Bihotza. I worked there, in the infirmary, until my eyes got messed up. When we get to the Hilgaria, I’ll need to transport back over to the Bihotza.”
Much of what Ria said intrigued and confused Star, but she could satisfy her curiosity later. “I do not like the sound of these men, Ria. They sound like the Nomen. Can I not go where you go?”
“It’s only me they hate, Star. There’s no need for you to worry. When you’re well enough, I think you’ll be able to come to the Bihotza if you want.”
“You think?” Star asked worriedly.
“I truly doubt that my sister or the Commanders would deny you since it was their idea to rescue you. But I have no right to say you can come to the Bihotza, Star. I can only say I don’t think they’ll mind.”
“I don’t wish to be separated from you.”
“I don’t want that either, Star. I’m really sorry, but it’s not my choice to make.”
“Very well, Ria,” Star said, giving up when she sensed Ria’s rising tension. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too, Star.” Ria swallowed hard. “A lot more than you can imagine.”
Thorn sighed as Ria and Star fell silent. He felt badly for giving Ria the impression that he…that all three of them…hated her. He barely remembered saying she was a waste of space, but he couldn’t deny that he’d said it. He couldn’t deny that the pain in her voice was real either.
Hearing Star mention that Ria was cold and wet and that he was mean for not offering her a blanket made him flush hotly with shame in a way he hadn't done since boyhood. He couldn’t believe he’d put one on the floor for the Brun, found an extra jacket for himself, even complained to Talon that he was wet and chilled, and hadn’t once considered that Ria was thoroughly drenched as well. That must have seemed like a deliberate snub to her, further proof that he hated her, though he truly hadn't meant it that way.
Knowing that she had no idea what he looked like had erased the anger and resentment he’d felt toward her, which increased his guilt. How could he claim to love a woman, then treat her so badly, no matter the reason? Not just any woman either, but his berezi.
Thorn froze for a long moment as the enormity of what he’d done finally hit him. Ria was their berezi, and he had treated her without honor or respect. He had not seen to her health or her happiness. Instead, he’d hurt her physically, and then allowed her to fall and injure herself without even attempting to help her. He’d made fun of her. He hadn’t even thought about the fact that she was as wet and cold as he was. Added to the fact that he’d forgotten she was blind...he felt about two inches tall. And every single moment of it had been captured on vid for everyone to see.
***
“What is that noise?” Star asked nervously.
“It’s just normal sounds of the landing bay, nothing to worry about,” Ria said, trying to move her chin as little as possible as she spoke. The pain was sharp and burning now, and she thought it was still bleeding, too, which was worrisome. There were no arteries there. A chin was little more than skin and bone.
“Landing bay?”
“Yes, this is a small ship that’s flying into a larger ship. I’ll bet Dr. Jula is waiting for you.”
“Dr. Jula?”
“She’s a great doctor, Star,” Ria said. “She’s also kind and very gentle.”
Star didn’t want Ria to become more tense than she was, so she said nothing. She was very worried about Ria, whose personality had changed completely after the man named Thorn had arrived. She’d been worried and tense before, but also spirited. Now she was only nervous, and very sad.
Star was
also worried for her cubs, and herself. She was in a great deal of pain, unable to protect herself, and very tired. She hoped Ria’s doctor was as good and kind as she said. But she was still afraid to be alone and so vulnerable with people she didn’t know. She’d feel better, so much safer, if Ria could stay with her, but that wasn’t possible.
A few minutes later the sound of the door sliding open startled Star, as did the small group of people waiting on the other side of it. The moment the ramp extended, a woman with skin and hair as white as her fur, with black eyes, eyebrows, lips, and fingernails hurried into the ship first. Star studied her curiously. She’d never seen a human, or humanoid, who looked like her before.
The woman knelt on the floor near her hip, lifted the blanket away, and leaned close to examine the injury. “Hello Star, I’m Dr. Jula. I understand you’re in labor.”
“Yes, that is so. Too early, I think.”
Dr. Jula looked up into Star’s blue eyes, then shifted her position slightly so that she could press her hands gently against Star’s abdomen. “How much too early?”
“A couple of weeks,” Star replied, using the human counting of time.
“I don’t think a couple of weeks is too serious now that you’re here where we can help you.”
Star listened to the doctor while watching a man even bigger than Thorn enter the ship and kneel down in front of her. “I’m Declan,” he said. “It’s very good to meet you, Star.”
“Thank you, Declan, I am grateful to be here,” she replied, panting heavily as another contraction hit.
“That was a good strong one,” Dr. Jula said when it ended. “Let’s get you ready to move. Corin, I’ll need several of the large sponges please.”
“Ria,” Declan said, looking over Star’s head at her, “I understand your arm is injured. Are you injured elsewhere?”
“No, Declan, I’m fine. I’d like to return to the Bihotza now, please.”
Declan frowned. “What happened to your chin?”
Ria reached up, disappointed to find that the collar had stretched out from being so wet and slipped down without her noticing it. “Nothing, it’s just a scratch.”
Ria's Visions (Hearts of ICARUS Book 6) Page 23