Close Contact (12 page)

Pushing Leddy’s nasty concoction away, I sat up and swung my legs off the bed. “I’m fine. Really, I’m good. Did I faint? How did I get back here?”

Maybe if I babbled out enough questions it would distract them from the ones I didn’t want asked. Questions I wasn’t at all sure I could answer, even if I wanted to. Surreptitiously, I touched the Imadei with my free hand and barely stopped myself from biting my lip. I’d expected the stone to do something, just not this, and I wasn’t sure how to react.

Reynard arched a brow at me, then let go of my hand and stood. “Apparently the knife attack affected you more than we believed. When you fainted, I carried you back here. Jancen sent a messenger to Chief Lowden, explaining why you couldn’t keep your appointment to meet with him.”

He was covering for me. Probably wanted to grill me all by himself and then toss me in the dungeon, I thought sourly.

“Did someone really throw a knife at you?” Treya asked, her eyes wide.

“It missed me by this much,” I told her, holding my fingers a centimeter apart.

“I don’t understand. Why would anyone want to kill you?”

Marcus patted her shoulder. “We think it might be someone who had a grudge against Echo’s father. Since August is dead, he’s taking his anger out on Echo.”

“If it’s one of our people, I
will
find the culprit,” Jancen said. “It’s a disgrace to attack a woman, and they’ll be punished accordingly.” The twinkle in his eyes had turned to a steely glint and his voice held a menacing note. Suddenly I could see why he was head of the Lovara family and on the chief’s council.

There was a clatter from the front room, and Leddy looked toward the door. “There’s Bim. I sent him for soup.” She waved her hands in a shooing motion. “Now, everyone out. Echo may think she’s fine, but she needs to rest and eat.”

Everyone filed out except the commander. He gave Leddy a dark stare, daring her to object. “I’m staying. I’ll see to it she eats.”

We both waited silently until the door in the front room banged closed, then I stood and checked to make sure everyone was really gone. The commander followed me into the main room, watching as I peeked out the front window. Peri was close behind us. She landed on the table, strutting its length while she cooed at the commander.

Marcus, Leddy, and Treya were heading next door to the Terpsichore, and Jancen toward the gathering. Bim stood solidly at the end of the crushed stone walk with his back to the house, thick arms crossed over his chest as he suspiciously watched every male who went by. As if one look at the axe strapped across his back wouldn’t scare away any sane person, innocent or guilty.

Forcing a smile, I turned. “Alone at last.” And then sput
tered in shock as Reynard crossed to me in two strides, lifted me in his arms, and let his lips crash down on mine.

For a surprised minute, I just hung on and tried to keep breathing. Then, as he gentled the assault, his mouth moving against mine, I decided breathing was overrated anyway.

The room blurred around us and time seemed to stop. Without knowing how it happened, my arms were around his neck, and I was returning the kiss with all the passion I’d felt since I first laid eyes on him.

The heat he roused had me tingling from my toes to the top of my head. I was dizzy with need, and more than ready to head back to the bedroom.

A groan sounded from deep in his throat, and he drew back, lightly nipping my lower lip as he went. It was hard to tell which of us was more shaken, him or me.

I’d been kissed before, naturally. Lots of times. Kissing was pretty much de rigueur in the Department of Protocol. I’d had friendly kisses, serious kisses, nice-to-see-you kisses, even let’s-find-a-dark-spot-fast kisses. But none of them caused the turmoil inside me that Reynard’s kiss had, and it was a little scary.

Trying for nonchalant and failing miserably, I gazed up at him. “Does this mean you aren’t going to arrest me after all?”

His mouth turned up on one side in a half smile. “I’m reserving judgment. But I’ve wanted to get my hands on you from the minute I first saw you, sneaking into my room. Today, when you suddenly went limp, I thought I’d permanently been denied the opportunity. I wasn’t going to waste this second chance.”

His arms were still around me and I was leaning into his hard, muscled body, in no hurry to move. “Scared you, huh? Well, apparently, I’m pretty hard to kill, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Apparently? You aren’t sure?” Reluctantly, he released me and stepped back to put some distance between us.

I clasped my hands behind my back to keep from reaching for him again. “Oh, I’m sure now. But I didn’t realize I was like Kiera Smith until very recently.”

That eyebrow arched again. “How could you not know?”

With a shrug I walked over to examine the soup Bim had brought. It smelled wonderful and I suddenly realized I was hungry. “Because no one told me, and my job with the Department of Protocol didn’t require me to perform feats of superhuman strength, move at super speeds, or get into life-threatening situations that would require me to heal near-fatal wounds to my person. And if anything out of the ordinary
had
happened, I probably would have just chalked it up to being a normal GEP.”

I ladled up two bowls of thick chunky soup and gestured to the chair across from me. When we were seated, I continued. “Then, when I was transferred to the Bureau of Alien Affairs and went into training, I thought the instructors they assigned to me were simply inferior.” Taking my first taste of the spicy stew, I chewed thoughtfully for a second. “Maybe I really didn’t want to know, because the signs were there during training. I just ignored them. It wasn’t until I’d completed training that Kiera Smith suggested I was probably like her, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t prepared to believe anything she told me.”

“You know her?” Reynard had paused with his spoon halfway to his mouth when I mentioned her name.

“We’ve met.” I scowled at him. “And if you start telling me how wonderful she is, this soup is going to end up on your head.”

He merely smiled and continued eating for two beats. “You said you were not an empath like her.”

“That’s right.” I was still scowling, and I’d lost my appetite.

“Then what is your mental ability?”

The spoon I was holding hit the bowl with a clatter. “I don’t have one. No one can make me have one, I don’t care how much Marcus goes on about verge sickness or how Lillith keeps insisting the tests say I do. If I had a psi ability I’d know it.”

“The same way you knew you had these other abilities?”

I leaned back and crossed my arms in irritation. Why did everyone want me to have psi ability? “It’s not the same at all.”

He took in my closed-off posture and slowly nodded. “Tell me why you’re here.”

With a sigh of relief at the subject change, I told him about the Sumantti, how we were sure now it had been stolen, about the Imadei choosing me, and how it had indicated the Daughter Stone was on Madrea. He listened patiently, never interrupting, and it was with some surprise that I realized I’d finished my soup while I talked.

For a moment after I completed the story, his fingertips drummed the table and he stared fixedly off into some distant place I couldn’t see. Finally, his gaze returned to me.

“King Politaus is an honest man. He would have nothing to do with stealing the Sumantti. Is there a reason you believe it’s in the castle?”

“Logic, for the most part,” I told him. “The ordinary people on Madrea wouldn’t even know the crystal existed, much less have a way to steal it. It has to be someone with power, enough power and opportunity to put men aboard a Federation vessel and then arrange their escape from that vessel with the Sumantti. Believe me, it wouldn’t be an easy feat. Any other ship approaching a Federation vessel would be treated as an adversary until they could prove differently, and then they’d still be closely watched. The most sensible option would be to have a man planted on the ship as a crewmember. If he found some way to contain the Sumantti, he
could pass it off at one of the ports when the ship docked. I think that’s what happened, and it would take someone with power and influence to pull it off.”

That reminded me of something. “Lillith,” I subvocalized. “Can you find out where Kiera Smith is? I need to talk to her.”

“Of course. One second, please.” I’d barely drawn a breath when she replied, “Max is currently jumping from ZT Twelve to Orpheus Two. Their estimated time of arrival is late tonight, our time. We should be able to contact them first thing tomorrow.”

While talking to a ship during jump wasn’t impossible, the lag made it damn annoying. I resigned myself to waiting.

Unaware of my side conversation, Reynard continued. “That still doesn’t mean it was the king. There are others on Medrea who have the power to do something like this.”

“Like who?” I asked.

“Chief Lowden, for one, or the heads of the Bashalde families. There are even those among the king’s court who might manage the theft.”

I reached across the table and covered his hand with mine. “Reynard, I know you owe the king a lot and that you’re loyal to him. But even if he didn’t actively participate in the theft, he has to know about it. Not only does he order people to stay inside on the nights they arrive, the ships bringing the girls are landing behind the castle, and the children are taken inside.”

He stiffened, his gaze sharpening as he pulled his hand from mine. “What children?”

“The Sumantti is useless to whoever has her without a Shushanna to wield the crystal’s power,” I reminded him. “Whoever has the stone knows that. They’ve been bringing in young girls with psi ability and forcing them to make the
attempt. But without being prepared by the Orpheus crystals, anyone trying to use it will die. So far, they’ve killed four girls. Two more were brought the same night I arrived.”

“How do you know?”

“I know because Lillith tracked the last ship from the instant it came out of hyper-drive. She recorded its landing, and the party who debarked, and she scanned the children, one of whom appeared to be drugged. The information is now permanently stored in her archives.”

“And the other four? She saw them also?”

“No, I got that data from another source.”

“You will tell me who this source is.”

His tone indicated he would brook no argument, but I hesitated. So far I hadn’t told anyone about my conversation with the Sumantti. Oh, what the hell. I’d already told him enough to ensure I was fragged if he didn’t believe me. Might as well trust him with the rest, especially since I needed all the help I could get.

I inhaled slowly and then let it out. “You know when I fainted today? Well, I didn’t really faint. The Imadei made contact with the Daughter Stone. I was talking to her, and she told me four girls had attempted to become her Shushanna, but that they all went away. The Sumantti is very young and I don’t think she realized the girls were dying. She promised me she’d try not to reach out for this next one, but I’m not sure she can help herself. She said one of the girls feels stronger than the others.”

Lillith let out a screech that had me wincing. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“Because I haven’t had time,” I told her, watching Reynard.

He stood so abruptly the chair almost turned over, and began to pace around the room. “This is an abomination,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “It must be stopped
immediately.” His hands fisted as he turned to face me again. “Did the Sumantti tell you where the girls were being held?”

“No, she doesn’t know. It’s dark and for some reason she can’t send out colonies.”

“And what of the children?”

Again I hesitated, and then sighed. “I think they’re in the castle somewhere. A few days ago I tried to use the Imadei to locate the Daughter Stone and instead, I saw the girls. They were in a small room with only a bed. There were no windows, so I couldn’t tell where it was located.”

“It must be an inside room, then, or below ground in a cell.”

He spun and marched toward the door. I caught him just as he reached for the handle. “Wait! Where are you going?”

He looked at me as though the answer should be obvious. “To organize a search for the girls, of course.”

“Y
ou can’t.” I pushed my way between Reynard and the door and put a hand on his chest to restrain him.

A growl rumbled deep in his chest as he stared down at me and I could feel the tension in his muscular body. If I didn’t convince him fast, he was going to walk right through me. Or at least he’d try, and I really didn’t want to hurt him.

“Please, just listen to me for a second. If you organize a group of men to search the castle, whoever’s holding them will figure out what you’re doing. They could move the girls, or even kill them and dispose of the bodies. After all, they’ve already brought in six girls, so it wouldn’t be much of a problem if they have to kidnap a few more.”

His head tilted slightly and some of the tension left his body as he listened. I took heart and kept going.

“They already suspect who and what I am. That’s why someone has been watching me, why they attacked this morning. But they
don’t
know I’ve confided in you, and that you believe me. That gives us a real advantage. You have access to the castle that I don’t, and you can question your men, subtly, so they won’t wonder what’s going on.”

From her position on the table, Peri sent me waves of encouragement. I took it as an affirmation that I was getting through to the commander, since she was apparently picking up his emotions, too.

“Reynard, I promise you, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure they don’t hurt these children the way they have the others. And while I don’t like it, I need the girls to stay where they are for now. If I can continue to contact them, it may help us locate the stone. Because the most important thing we can do is find the Sumantti and return it to the Federation. Without the crystal, they have no need for the girls. We also don’t need them to move the crystal to an even more remote location.”

His hand fell away from the door’s handle and he nodded. “You’re right. When we find whoever is doing this you may retrieve the Daughter Stone.
But
justice for the children is mine.”

From the look on his face, I wouldn’t want to be in the culprit’s shoes when he found them. But there was one more thing that had to be settled before I agreed.

“And what if your king is in on the whole thing? Will you be able to dispense justice for him?”

His jaw clenched, but he spoke clearly. “He’s not. He would never participate in such an atrocity. But if he is, I will deal with him accordingly.”

“Madrea is your world, the laws they’re breaking are yours. Therefore, you may deal with them however you deem fit, with two exceptions.” When he started to protest, I held my hand up and he stopped.

“One,” I ticked the points off on my fingers. “If any of them are citizens of the Federation, the Federation will deal with them. And two, if I’m attacked, I reserve the right to defend myself regardless of who might have jurisdiction. Agreed?”

Reluctantly, he nodded. “Agreed.”

“Good. Then why don’t we sit down and have something to drink? I know Marcus has a bottle of wine here somewhere.”

Apparently recognizing that the crisis had been averted, Peri warbled and then shot into my room, heading for the open window so she could visit the flowers. Which reminded me of something I’d wondered about.

“Tell me, why are there so many flowers on Madrea?” I asked while rummaging in the cabinets. “Your people grow them like they’re a work of art.”

“They are.” He moved to one of the chairs in front of the fireplace and sat just as I located the wine. “According to the old records I’ve found, the flowers the colonists brought to Madrea had a difficult time with the alien soil, and there was no indigenous insect to provide pollination. They brought bees with them, but something about this world disagreed with the insects and they died out quickly. Most of the flowers also had medicinal qualities, so they couldn’t afford to lose them.”

I poured the wine into glasses and joined him. “It looks like they succeeded in saving them.”

He took the glass I held out and sipped. “Yes, people learned how to do the pollination themselves and made the soil more acceptable, but not before numerous species were lost. At first it was merely a race to save as many as possible, and each success was met with much fanfare. But as generations passed, the reasons for saving the flowers became buried in the past while the prestige of growing them remained. Now they have become not only a status symbol, but also a form of art. No self-respecting Madrean would have barren gardens and walkways.”

“Well, Peri certainly appreciates it, and she’s probably saving some people the trouble of hand pollinating.” Drawing one knee up onto the chair, I shifted enough that I could
see him without straining my neck. “How did you know to look for the old records? I thought the Madreans didn’t remember their origin until the Federation showed up.”

“We didn’t. But when we found out, I searched the oldest sections of the castle and found a very old diary, along with some reports made by those in charge.”

He’d made several comments about reading, now. I tilted my head and studied him. “You’re something of a scholar, aren’t you? Is that why you want Madrea opened again?”

He lifted a hand to rub his forehead, and then sighed. “I believe the Federation has much to offer Madrea. My people should have the right to choose which path they want to take instead of blindly following a charter that was written centuries ago by people who have little to do with the present. Unfortunately, the king thinks of himself as a father, protecting his children from a harm they can’t see, and none of my arguments has swayed him from that belief.”

Mouth tilting in a wry grin, he glanced over at me. “Of course I’m thinking of myself, too. There’s nothing I want more than to travel to Alpha Centauri, see all the modern wonders, visit the libraries. A member of the Federation who was here before the king placed the ban told me they’re vast beyond description.”

I returned his smile, amazed at the sharp mind enclosed in such a wonderfully masculine body. “They are. And the best part of all: the information is available by simply touching a screen and asking for what you want. You don’t even have to leave home if you don’t want to.”

“Did you go to the university there?” There was a touch of envy mixed with a good dose of longing in the question.

“No, but I had the same education. GEPs mature faster than Naturals. We’re adults by the age of thirteen cycles, so all of our learning is very intense and very accelerated. It’s done in the crèche with the best instructors on the planet.”

He reached over and took my hand, the one not holding my wineglass, and toyed with my fingers. “Tell me about your life there, what living on Centaurius is like.”

“Before or after Kiera Smith’s journal was released?” I asked sourly.

“Didn’t you work for the Federation in both jobs?” His tone was curious.

“You could say that. But there’s a huge difference between the Department of Protocol and the Bureau of Alien Affairs. In Protocol, they kind of frowned on the employees killing other life forms. With Alien Affairs it’s almost a requirement. Did you know they taught me fifty-six ways to kill with one finger?” I snorted. “Talk about bloodthirsty. I mean, what if I forget and accidentally poke someone the wrong way? After all, I was created to make nice, to solve problems through diplomacy. I wasn’t created to be a killing machine.”

“I don’t understand.” His brow furrowed in perplexity. “If this Dr. Gertz made you like Kiera Smith, shouldn’t you be able to do the same job?”

My glare pinned him to his seat, and I yanked my hand back. “Look, Commander. Logic won’t win you any favors from me. I’m in deep denial and I fully intend to stay there. I want my old job back. I don’t
want
to be an agent like Kiera Smith. What Gertz did to me is irrelevant.”

Calmly, he took my hand again, and this time kept a firm grip on it. “We all fight change in our own way. Especially those changes we didn’t ask for and don’t understand. Politaus didn’t ask the Federation to discover Madrea. So now he fights to keep our world locked in a timeless prison of sameness without considering the benefits that the Federation’s technology could bring. He sees only danger instead of possibilities.”

“And you’re saying that I don’t see the possibilities?”

“Do you?” His smile was so slow and sexy it set my stomach twisting like a ribbon around a pole in a high wind.

Taking a deep breath, I forced my gaze from his mouth and concentrated on the conversation. “I see there’s a good possibility that sooner or later I’m going to wind up wading through a swamp teaming with nasty bugs and slimy, crawly things.”

“What of the people you can help by using the talents you were gifted with?”

“I can help them just as well from behind a desk on Centaurius.”

He did that brow-arch thing again. “If you were on Centaurius, who would be here trying to help those young girls?”

Abruptly, I became aware of the Imadei, warm against my skin. If Dr. Daniels was to be believed, I’d been the only person responsive to it. And without it no one would be able to communicate with or control the Sumantti.

Maybe Reynard was right. Maybe the children’s lives did depend on me, personally, being the agent sent to Madrea.

I’d never thought of it quite like that before.

“Okay, you win.” I sighed. “There’s no one else who could help them the way I can. I’m obviously meant to be here. But that still doesn’t mean I’m cut out to be an agent for the rest of my life.”

We sat in silence for a moment, contemplating the conversation we’d had. At least, I was contemplating. I noticed Reynard’s mind had strayed in other directions when I saw him squirm uncomfortably in his chair, a tinge of red inching up his cheeks.

“May I ask you something personal?” He was staring intently down at my hand, and I glanced over to make sure my fingers weren’t dirty.

Nope, clean as a whistle. “Sure. Fire away.”

“Do all GEPs receive sexual training the way Kiera Smith did?”

Aw, wasn’t that cute? He was embarrassed! Before I answered, I lifted my glass and drank to hide my grin. “Yes, it’s mandatory.”

Still addressing my hand, he forged ahead with grim determination. “Then you aren’t a virgin?”

Deliberately, I pursed my lips. “No, no, I’m not. GEP females have their hymens surgically removed before they begin sexual training. It eliminates the fear of the sex act and reduces the risk of any potential trauma.”

He gaped at me, shock written all over his face. “You mean they—you…” Carefully, he put the glass down on the small table between us and ran a hand over his face. “I don’t understand.”

I put my glass beside his and patted his hand in sympathy. Even Naturals who are used to GEPs sometimes have a hard time understanding us. That Reynard had done so well up until now said a lot for him.

“Let me see if I can explain,” I told him. “In archaic societies where it’s important to the males to ensure their genes are the ones being passed on, a virgin bride is important. It proves she’s not carrying the get of another male. So, the only real function of the hymen is to prove that the female hasn’t had sex before. In our society, where birth control is easy and abundant, the need for a hymen is eliminated. On the other hand, the first penetration for the female is usually painful, especially if the male isn’t careful. And not many are,” I added.

“For GEPs the situation is much the same, but for different reasons. Normally, we can’t reproduce, so there’s no worry about whose genes are being passed on. Plus, we have no societal taboos where sex is concerned. There’s nothing shameful
or wrong about the act. It’s just another bodily function, something natural that’s meant to be enjoyed.”

“But the GEPs created by this Dr. Gertz
can
reproduce.”

I could almost see his brain working. “Yes. Apparently he wanted to make sure the bloodlines he created aren’t lost. But luckily, the crèche doctors realized early on that I was fertile. They thought it was an anomaly in my creation. To rectify the problem I was given an oral dose of a contraceptive that will prevent conception until the antidote is taken.” I thought for a second. “Kiera must have taken the antidote, because she has a daughter now.”

He squirmed again, and then cleared his throat. “Ah, do you take money for your favors?”

I blinked. Now what the scritch was this all about? “No, of course not. I was created for the Department of Protocol, not to be a pleasure GEP. When I have sex with someone it’s because I want to.”

Red was tinting his cheeks again. “Have there been many times you wanted to?”

“Not as many as you’re probably thinking. I’m very selective.” An evil grin crossed my face. “What about you? Have there been many women in your life?”

Mumbling something indistinguishable, he dropped my hand and jumped to his feet like the chair had bitten him. “I’ve been here too long. It’s unseemly. And I need to begin questioning my men.”

Before I could respond, he was out the door.

How curious. “Lillith, do you have any idea what just happened?”

“Naturally,” the ship responded, her tone smug. “There’s a very high probability that he was trying to determine what kind of woman you are. Remember, in his society, there are only two types, and while all women are respected, he would
only have premarital sex with a prostitute. All other females are off-limits. And you just informed him that you don’t take payment for sex.”

“But he kissed me!” It’s hard to wail subvocally, but I pulled it off.

“I imagine that even in this society, kisses are stolen on a regular basis by courting couples. In the commander’s defense, he’s male, he wants you, and you’d just scared him out of his wits by passing out in his arms. It was more an instinctual reaction rather than a thought-out act of deliberation.”

“She’s right.” I spun as Marcus strolled through the door. Lillith must have been repeating the conversation to him verbatim. “The commander would never have touched you without declaring a formal courtship if he hadn’t been so relieved you were recovered. That he slipped even that much is a measure of the way he feels about you. And he was right to leave. Being alone with you for as long as he was could very well hurt your reputation as a respectable young woman, and truthfully, I shouldn’t have allowed him to stay.”