He met Airen’s gaze. “Full control?”
His second’s gaze flicked to Wren and back. “She contacted me and returned control once the Kantos boarded.”
His gaze moved over Wren’s face and he frowned. Confounding little Terran.
“Now that the systems are functional, we have incoming messages from the Eon High Command, and from War Commander Thann-Eon and Ambassador Thann-Eon from the Desteron. They are demanding to talk to you.”
“Take the calls for me.”
“Me?” The woman’s eyebrows rose.
“Tell them I’ll contact them as soon as I can.”
Airen looked at him, speechless for a second. It was rare for Malax to ignore a call from Eon High Command. He ignored her and strode to the bed. He dropped down and picked up Wren’s hand. It was limp in his.
He watched Thane press an injector to her neck and administer a stim. Next, the doctor held up a small vial. The havv glowed red inside the glass. The bio-organisms, similar to the helians, had been created by one of the first Eon warriors, Eschar. Thane dripped some of the thick, red fluid onto Wren’s face. It flowed over her burns and the red glow intensified as the healing began.
Finally, Thane stepped back. “She’s going to be fine.”
Malax let out a shuddering breath and nodded.
His doctor looked amused. “Maybe I should sedate you, instead of her?”
He shot his medical commander an arch look.
Suddenly, Wren’s eyelids fluttered open. She looked at him and shot him a lazy smile, then she glanced at Thane.
“Ooh, a silver fox.” She made a humming noise and her eyes closed again. “Nice dream.”
Malax cleared his throat. “Wren—”
“Hmm? I’m having an awesome dream. Instead of one hunky man at my bedside, there are two.”
Malax shook his head. “I see you’re feeling better.”
Her blue eyes popped open. “Save the moody for later, WC, you’re ruining my dream.”
He gently squeezed her hand. “You should never have come near the fight with the Kantos, Wren.”
She sighed and squeezed her eyes closed. “I’m not dreaming, am I?”
“No.”
“The Kantos?”
“Gone.”
Her eyes opened fully, and she propped herself higher on the pillows. She glanced at the doctor. “Hi, I’m Wren Traynor from Earth.”
The warrior’s lips twitched. “Medical Commander Thane Kann-Eon.”
“You work for War Commander Grumpy?”
Thane made a strangled sound. “Yes.”
Malax rolled his eyes to the ceiling and growled.
“You don’t like that one?” she said. “How about War Commander Bossy?”
“Thank you for returning control of my ship,” Malax said.
She waved a hand. “Oh, it was nothing. My choices were death by Kantos kill squad, or destruction of Earth and sacrificing my sisters. Easy choice.” The humor dissolved from her face, and he saw sadness move through her eyes.
“Your sisters?” The doctor frowned. “I thought they were safe aboard the Desteron?”
Wren went still and looked into Malax’s eyes, then she glanced at the doctor again.
“Wren doesn’t believe me,” Malax said.
“War commanders never lie,” Thane said.
“You must be hungry,” Malax said.
Her eyes lit. “I’ve been starving for days. Space Corps rations leave a lot to be desired.”
Malax moved to his synthesizer and keyed in some Eon dishes he thought would suit her Terran physiology. When he brought the plate back, she eyed it hungrily.
Thane nodded. “Good choices. They’ll provide her with the nutrition she needs.”
Wren grabbed some things, taking huge bites. She moaned. “I have no idea what this is, but it’s great.” She shoved some more in her mouth.
Malax bit back a smile, enjoying watching her pleasure at eating. Many women in his acquaintance ate delicately, but not Wren. She ate with an enthusiasm he liked.
She tried some other delicacies and moaned again. Malax found his gaze drifting to her lips, watching as she licked them.
“This almost tastes like cheese.” She paused. “Now I have a huge craving for a hot dog topped with cheese, ketchup, and mustard.”
He had no idea what any of those things were. “I’m sure if you give my chef the right information, he can replicate a hot dog for you.”
She chewed and swallowed. “That would be awesome.” She licked her fingers.
Malax’s communicator beeped and he heard one of his communications team. “War Commander, we’ve made contact with the Desteron.”
He touched his communicator. “I’ll take the call in my cabin.” He looked at Wren. “Would you like to talk to your sisters?”
Wren’s eyes lit up, even though there was still skepticism on her face. “Yes. Thank you.”
“You can thank me by ensuring that you do not electrocute yourself again. Or go near any fights with the Kantos.”
“Sure thing.” She shot him a smile that Malax didn’t trust for a second.
Chapter Six
Wren lay on the bed, grateful that whatever the doc had given her was making the last of her pain fade away.
The doctor had left and as Malax rose to get a comp screen, she sat up, and touched her face. There was little sign of any injury, just smooth, tender skin. Man, Eon tech was awesome.
She took in Malax’s broad back, then smoothed a hand over her hair. Ugh, it was a tangled mess.
He returned, sitting on the bed beside her, making it dip. He held up the sleek tablet and the screen flickered. A man’s face appeared. He was a typical, rugged Eon warrior, with a hard glint in his blue-black eyes. He looked like a man used to being in charge.
“War Commander Thann-Eon,” Malax said.
“War Commander Dann-Jad. I’m pleased to hear that your ship is back under your control.”
“As am I.”
“And your…cargo?”
“Safe,” Malax answered.
Cargo? Wren frowned. What were they talking about?
“And your hijacker?” Thann-Eon continued.
“Is fine. We had a small run-in with the Kantos, but she’s recovered from her injuries.”
Malax tilted the screen so Wren could see it better. She eyed the imposing man looking back at her.
He wore the exact same uniform as Malax, and his hair was a shade darker. Somehow, War Commander Thann-Eon looked more intimidating.
“He looks intense,” she whispered to Malax.
“He can hear you,” Malax responded.
Thann-Eon smiled, the expression transforming his face into something quite handsome. “You must be Wren.”
“I’m told my sisters are aboard your ship.” Wren couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice. “And I was also told a bunch of other crazy things—”
“They’re probably true,” the war commander interrupted her. “War commanders never—”
“—lie.” She wrinkled her nose. “So I’ve heard.”
“Is that her?” A female voice broke through. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”
A woman shoved her way in front of the war commander.
Wren leaned forward, unconsciously gripping Malax’s arm. “Eve?”
“Wren!” Eve cried.
There was another muffled voice, and a second woman pushed in beside Eve.
“Oh, God.” Wren’s fingers tightened further on Malax. “Lara!”
“Are you okay?” Lara, always the big sister, demanded. “Are those freshly healed wounds on your face?”
“We had a slight altercation with the Kantos.” Wren waved a hand. “I helped save my war commander’s ass.”
Eve rose a dark brow. “Your war commander?”
Wren’s cheeks heated and she knew she was blushing. She released Malax’s arm. “Well, not mine, per se.” What worked best with her sisters was a swift dist
raction. “I’ve been told some rather crazy things about you two.”
Eve smiled up at Thann-Eon and Wren’s chest hitched. Oh, God. Her sister looked radiant.
Lara nodded, smiling. “All true. The war commander here belongs to Eve, and my warrior is the Desteron’s security commander.”
Wren shook her head. “How is this even possible? You two, mated?”
Eve tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Well, it all started when I kidnapped Davion and we crash-landed on a hunter planet.”
“And it continued when Space Corps blackmailed me into stealing sacred Eon gems, and the Eon sent Caze to hunt me down,” Lara continued.
“Fucking Space Corps,” the three sisters all said at once.
Wren smiled at them, emotion burning in her chest. Despite the odds, they’d survived. She listened, rapt, as her sisters recapped their adventures. Several times, Wren gasped or cursed. She couldn’t stop herself from squeezing Malax’s brawny arm again. Between kidnappings, starship crashes, wild fights with the Kantos, and passionate matings with Eon warriors, it was a lot to take in.
“What happens now?” Wren asked, feeling more than slightly overwhelmed.
“War Commander Dann-Jad, I ask that you rendezvous with the Desteron so my sister can come aboard,” Eve said.
At the mention of her leaving the Rengard, a funny feeling flared in Wren’s chest. Her gaze clashed with Malax’s.
“Right,” Wren said weakly. “Sounds like a plan.”
Eve nodded. “We could use your skills in the fight against the Kantos, Wren. They aren’t going away any time soon.”
Wren nodded. “Okay.”
All of a sudden, the screen started to flicker and the sound distorted.
“Eve? Lara?”
Malax leaned closer, his arm brushing hers and making her pulse jump. He frowned at the screen.
“Airen?” He touched his communicator. “What’s wrong with the communication?”
“We have a problem,” Airen said.
“What now?”
“It looks like the Kantos planted a bug swarm somewhere on the ship while they were aboard. Something is destroying parts of our system components.”
Malax pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something Wren suspected was a curse.
“Where?” he asked.
“We can’t track them,” Airen answered. “Systems are going down all over the place, making it impossible to get a fix.”
“Find the swarm, Airen. Get teams out there searching.”
“Yes, sir.”
Malax shoved a hand through his hair, looking irate.
“This is my fault,” Wren said.
“No, it’s the Kantos who are to blame.”
“But they wouldn’t have been aboard if I hadn’t hijacked—”
He reached out and cupped her face. The feel of those callused fingers on her skin made her chest tighten. It made it hard to breathe.
Don’t, Wren. The last thing she needed was an inappropriate attraction to this man. She’d sworn off men. She pulled her face away from his touch.
“We’ll find these bugs,” he said.
“I may be able to help,” a female voice said.
Malax looked startled. He scanned the room. Wren looked over and spotted her tablet resting beside the bed.
“Um…” Wren mumbled.
His brow creased. “Who just spoke?”
“Me,” Sassy replied.
His gold-black gaze zeroed in on her tablet. For a second, the gold strands in his eyes seemed to glow.
Wren cleared her throat. “War Commander Dann-Jad, meet Sassy.”
“Sassy?” he asked cautiously.
“My tablet.”
“Your tablet talks?”
“Well, it never used to, but it does now.”
“I enjoy talking,” Sassy added unhelpfully.
Malax crossed his arms over his chest. “Explain, woman.”
Oh, he was going all warrior on her. “Weeeell, it’s now my tablet-slash-helian-enhanced intelligence.”
His arms dropped to his sides. “What?” he breathed.
“It’s kind of a long story.”
“I am one of the Rengard’s helians from the central helian core. Wren paid a visit to the core and I was curious about her tech. The merge was unintentional…mostly.”
Malax hissed out a breath. “Cren.”
“I absorbed Wren’s Terran tech, bonded with Wren, and I’ve now evolved,” Sassy said.
Wren held up her wrist and the blue band glowed. She smiled weakly. “Surprise.”
* * *
Malax walked onto the bridge with Wren at his side.
She was studying her surroundings, curiosity in her eyes and her hair a tumble of curls around her face.
He strode over to the light table where Airen was standing. His second eyed Wren for a moment, then nodded at him. Nearby, Sabin stood quietly, watching Wren like she might attack them at any second.
“Airen and Sabin, I’d like to introduce Wren Traynor. Wren, these are my two top warriors. Second Commander Airen Kann-Felis and Security Commander Sabin Solann-Ath.”
Wren waved. “Hi. Sorry about the whole hijacking thing.”
His warriors both nodded cautiously.
“Scans?” Malax asked.
Airen swiped the table. “As you can see, we’ve marked the areas of damage, but we can’t locate the bugs.”
Malax stared at the detailed schematic of the Rengard and the areas marked in red. Wren leaned over as well.
“Ooh, I love this comp table.” She stroked the edge of it.
Her trousers stretched over her curves and his gaze dropped. A body like that should be outlawed. She was so different from the tall, toned Eon women. He felt his own body responding and he fought for some control. When he looked up, he saw several of his warriors also staring at her.
He glared at them, and that was all it took for them to snap back to attention at their consoles.
Airen set her hands on her hips. “It looks like it’s a small swarm of some kind of bug we haven’t seen before.”
An image appeared on the screen, obviously taken from a camera somewhere in the ship. It showed a cloud of small, black bugs zooming down a corridor.
“They’ve chewed through some components on decks Beta-Three and Delta-One.” Airen shook her head. “We have to find them. Soon. Before they damage a critical system.”
“I might be able to help.” Wren set her tablet onto the light table.
Airen frowned at her. “I don’t think—”
Malax held up his hand. “If you think you can help, we’d appreciate it.” He stared at the tablet. “And then I’ll need my team to analyze your tablet afterward.”
“Analyze her tablet?” Airen’s brows rose. “It looks like inferior Terran technology to me—”
“I am not inferior,” came Sassy’s voice. “I’m very advanced.”
Airen blinked.
“There’s a helian in there,” Malax said.
His second’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Hel-lo,” Wren said. “We have Kantos bugs to find. You can worry about Sassy later.”
Airen just looked confused now. “Sassy?”
“That’s her name.” Wren swiped at the tablet screen. “Okay, Sassy, tap into the Rengard’s main systems.”
“Doing it now,” Sassy responded.
Sabin stiffened and took a step forward. “War Commander, that’s a security risk.”
Malax held his hand up again. “It’s fine. Wren has no plans to hijack the ship again.” He shot her a look.
She screwed up her nose. “No.”
“And technically,” he continued, ignoring her, “Sassy is part of the Rengard. She’s just absorbed Wren’s tech.”
“Sassy, I have an algorithm you could use that takes the bugs’ last locations and areas of damage, then it’ll run some probabilities,” Wren said.
“On it.” A pause. “H
mm, those little bugs are playing hard to get,” Sassy said. “Ah, there they are.”
Wren nodded, swiping the screen. “Sassy’s found them. She’s narrowed it down to deck Gamma-Two.”
“Redirect the search teams,” Malax ordered.
Sabin straightened. “I’ll join the lead team.” The tall man swiveled and strode off the bridge.
“It’s still a large area to search,” Airen said.
“I know.” Wren kept tapping, her fingers moving like lightning. “Sassy, I have a program we can try—”
She kept speaking to her tablet, Sassy responding. Malax watched Wren work, completely absorbed and working with quick intelligence. Her eyes were alive, and he suspected she had fully forgotten she was on the bridge of an Eon warship.
The woman was mesmerizing.
She lifted her head and smiled at him.
He scowled back at her, wondering how she could have this effect on him. Her smile faltered.
“Um, I’ve narrowed it down. The bugs are definitely in this section of that deck.” She tapped the schematic of the Rengard on the light table, circling the location.
Malax nodded. “Good work, Wren.” He glanced at Airen. His second touched her earpiece, sending orders to redirect the search teams.
“There’s something else,” Wren added.
“Yes?”
“These bugs are getting awfully close to your ship’s main stabilizers.”
Malax felt his muscles tighten. The stabilizers maintained the ship’s orientation. And right beside the stabilizers was the gravity system.
“Team One is going in,” Airen said.
A screen on the wall flickered and footage appeared. They turned to watch. The feed was coming from a camera on Sabin’s armor. The security commander was now decked out in his black-scale armor, along with his security team. The search team all had their helian armor on, moving in tight formation through a maintenance conduit.
Suddenly, shouts broke out. A black swarm engulfed the warriors.
Wren gasped. “Oh, God.”
They stood, frozen in shock. Malax ground his teeth together. The shouts of his warriors echoed in his ears.
“They’re going in through a crack,” someone shouted.
“Someone stop them!”
“Bring the flamethrowers,” Sabin yelled.
Suddenly, the Rengard began to tilt to the left. Malax gripped the edge of the light table to stay upright.
Heart of Eon: Eon Warriors #3 Page 5