Eternity Row (20 page)

“You shall have whatever you require,” RrissVar said.

I nodded toward the screen. “You’re sending the lizards off with him?”

“No. The others will go with them.”

Personally I’d be happy to see the back of all the League soldiers, but the trader would have to rendezvous with the
Sunlace
in order to off-load them. “What if they’ve got contacts with the League? Or the local mercenaries?”

“Niat-Nuom’dain do not trade information. Only goods.”

“You’re sure?” I asked, and he arched a brow. Of course, he probably knew every spy within a million light-years. “Right. How did you get RrissVar out of detainment?” Given Xonea’s decree that both the Hsk-tskt and the League soldiers would be detained until he could unload them on the first suitable planet we came to, the lizard should have still been in the brig.

“I requested permission.”

The Niat-Nuom’dain addressed him once more. “We will transport the League soldiers to the closest outpost. The price is forty thousand stancredits.”

I cut the audio feed on the console. “That’s highway robbery.”

“We don’t have a choice.”

“Yeah, but where are you going to get that kind of currency?” I frowned as I realized just how poor Reever and I were. All our needs were met by the Jorenians, so credits simply hadn’t been a priority with us. “I doubt Xonea will finance our little venture.”

RrissVar tossed something on the console. Something small and green and glittery. “This will satisfy the trader’s transport fee.”

I picked the gem up and studied it. It was a perfect sphere, the center of which had an odd, bewitching glow that seemed to intensify at my touch. “Nice sparkly. What is it?”

“A verdant pearl from a Rabbat bivalve.”

I rolled it over my palm. “And this is worth forty thousand stancredits?”

“Twice that.” RrissVar took a pouch from his tunic and opened it. Inside were at least a hundred more green pearls. “Make the counteroffer, HalaVar.”

The trader’s eyes lit up at the sight of the gem, and he quickly agreed to Reever’s terms. My husband arranged a rendezvous point and terminated the signal.

I wasn’t quite satisfied with the whole deal, though. “Why would you pay the League soldiers’ transport fee, Centuron?”

RrissVar replaced the pouch. “It will satisfy my blood-debt to your mate.”

Reever had saved the Hsktskt’s life yesterday, so that made sense. Until I saw my husband’s expression. “What?”

“We must signal the other trader in privacy.”

I sat back in my chair. “You want me to leave?”

The Hsktskt’s lower eyelids slid up. “It would be best.”

He couldn’t be serious. “Excuse me, but I think the fact that I saved your big green tails entitles me to a little trust here.”

Reever’s mouth curled on one side. “It is best you know nothing of this transaction. This trader handles living beings.”

Slavers. They were going to contact slavers. “Well, I certainly know how to take a hint.” I stomped out of our quarters.

When I entered Command, Xonea barely spared me a glance. “Has Reever been successful?”

“If you mean in getting rid of our unwanted cargo, he’s found transport for them.” I couldn’t exactly tell the Captain Reever was calling his old buddies, the slave traders. However much I was tempted to do just that.

My ClanBrother frowned. “Your bondmate plays dangerous games.”

“Tell me about it.” I thought of how furious Salo had been, added my husband’s penchant for dealing with the scum of the universe to the mix, and sighed. “But it’s better than letting them stay on the ship. One more incident and you know we’ll end up with a variety of viscera strung over every door panel. It’ll drive the sanitation crews nuts.”

Xonea set aside the data pad he was working on. “Are you here to defend your bondmate to me, Cherijo? It is not necessary.”

If only he knew. I’d been mentally rehearsing what I wanted to say, but actually getting the words out was much tougher. “Xonea, is there a difference between loyalty to the HouseClan and loyalty to one’s Chosen?”

“Not for Jorenians. They are one and the same.”

“So no one has ever messed up and been loyal to one over the other.”

“One’s Chosen always belongs to the HouseClan.”

I held up my left hand and studied the silver band engraved with alien symbols. “Not always.”

“The House is greater than any one of its Clan. Even one whose Chosen does not belong to Joren.” He got up and came around the desk. “Allow me to be ClanBrother instead of Captain now. What say you tell me what is troubling you?”

“Qonja. He’s here on orders to watch me, or study me, or something. You know why. You’d have to know-you’re in charge.” When he stiffened, I clenched my hand into a fist. “Tell me why, or I’m getting off the ship at Taerca with Reever and Marel.”

Xonea looked away. “I cannot.”

“That’s what Qonja said. I didn’t think you’d do the same, ClanBrother, but I was wrong.” I squared my shoulders. “I’ll start packing.”

He seemed stunned by that. “Cherijo, you cannot leave us.”

“Watch me.”

That was when a signal came in over his console. “Captain. Trader vessel
Eniad
requesting permission to dock and load transport passengers.”

Off-loading the League and Hsktskt soldiers went remarkably fast and without complication. Reever and his lizard friend arranged for the slaver vessel to dock with the
Sunlace
first, and I ran a quick exam on each of the reptilian soldiers after they reported to the launch bay.

RrissVar stood in silence as I lectured him on how to take care of his leg wound, and gave him a pack of medical supplies for himself and his men. “Change the dressings twice a day for the next week, and don’t skip your dose of antibiotics, unless you want to try to re-grow that limb.”

“Thank you for providing aid, physician.” He nodded to Reever, then followed his men toward the remarkably bland-looking shuttle.

Xonea had come down to watch over the transfer, and now came to stand beside me. “I do not recognize the design of the transport. Who are these traders?”

I twisted the ring on my finger absently. “Friends of Duncan’s.”

The Captain gave my husband a thoughtful look. Reever and RrissVar clasped arms, and spoke in low tones just before the big reptile boarded the shuttle. “Indeed.”

The second trader docked about an hour after the Hsktskt left. The League soldiers were not as quiet, or polite, as we sent them off with the Niat-Nuom’dain, nor was Xonea pleased to see me hand over a pouch containing the verdant pearl RrissVar had lent us.

“They should finance their own passage,” my Clan-Brother muttered.

I put my arm through his and guided him away from the second trader shuttle. “Let’s just get them off the ship, huh?”

All the fireworks done with, the crew settled back into their normal routines. I noticed Salo making a distinct effort to avoid me, but left that situation alone. If our friendship was ever going to heal, it needed time without a lot of poking and prodding at it.

We were two rotations from reaching Taerca when the Captain called an unscheduled staff meeting. I covered Medical so Squilyp could attend, and got back to work on our hypercellular experiment, prepping the cloned Jorenian liver for testing.

The staff meeting was short, and the Senior Healer called me into his office as soon as he returned. He handed me a data pad with a copy of a direct relay from Joren.

“The Captain received this earlier today. Read it.”

I skimmed through the text, then set the pad down on the edge of his desk. “Joren intends to mediate peace for the League and the Hsktskt? Talk about a complete three-sixty.”

“It gets better.” Squilyp sat down and rubbed a membrane over his eyes. “We’ve been ordered to rendezvous with the
CloudWalk
, HouseClan Jado’s ship. The Jado ClanLeader wants to be briefed on all the events that led up to the Varallan conflict with the Hsktskt and the League before they initiate peace talks.”

“In other words, my life story.” I sat down and propped my chin on my fist. Had my ClanBrother somehow arranged this to keep me on the ship? No, even I wasn’t important enough for an entire species to reverse their political stance during an intergalactic conflict. “What does Xonea think about all this?”

“The Captain believes in aggressive defense, as you well know. Cherijo, I don’t believe the Jado or anyone on the Council fully understands the danger to Joren. In matters of interstellar war, these people are remarkably overconfident. I would say, even naive.”

“Comes from having a rep as the worst species to fool with.” I sighed. “Other than the standoff in Varallan, they haven’t been involved in any large-scale conflicts.”

And now they were blindly walking into the biggest one since the Hsktskt had obliterated the Nokkian Alliance. Could Reever and I really walk away from my adopted family right now?

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to discharge my daughter and take her to her father.” I picked up the pad and tucked it in my tunic pocket. “Reever was at the meeting, right?” Squilyp nodded. “Good. That should give us something new to argue about.”

I didn’t argue with Duncan in front of our kid- much as I was tempted-but left her in his care.

“Are you going back on duty?” he asked when I kissed Marel good-bye and promised to take her to visit Fasala tomorrow.

“No, I think I’d better go see Xonea. I need to finish those program inspections, and maybe while we’re sparring, I can talk to him about the Jado.” His reaction was subtle, but of the disapproving, glacial variety. Not a good time to tell him Xonea was mixed up with Qonja, I guessed. “They’re going to try to negotiate peace between the Hsktskt and the League, Duncan. I think they should know exactly whom they’re dealing with, and why they’re at war.”

“You are not responsible for Joseph Grey Veil’s actions on Fendigal XI.”

I noticed Marel was watching us both intently. “Sweetie, do me a favor and go check on the cats for me.” We’d moved Juliet and her litter into Marel’s room, and as soon as she went in, I confronted the very thing we’d been avoiding discussing. “You don’t care why I’m getting involved. You just don’t want me involved at all.”

“You already have too many emotional ties to these people.” He made it sound like an illness. “If you become entangled in these peace negotiations with Xonea and the Jado, it will only make it more difficult for us to leave when the time comes.”

“Xonea and the Jado didn’t put the recording drones in our quarters. Qonja did.” Before he could say anything, I shook my head. “I don’t know why yet, but go ahead and remove them.”

“The Captain doubtless ordered him to do it.”

The way his eyes glittered sent chills through me. “What is the problem between you and Xonea? It can’t be jealousy; whatever he felt for me in the past is over, and you know it.”

“He intrudes on our lives too often.”

“This from the man who has ticked me off more times than a yellow star has solar flares in one revolution.” I went to stand in front of him. “I thought we agreed to communicate better. So communicate.”

“I want you to stay out of these negotiations.” He got up fast, and showed a great deal more animation as he pulled me into his arms. “Don’t become involved in Xonea’s politics.”

“You
are
jealous.” I pulled back a little, but his arms were locked around me. “Duncan, he’s like a brother to me.”

“He means to change what you are.”

“Look, if it comes down to a choice between Xonea and the Torins, and you and Marel, I will personally pilot the shuttle we take off this ship. You have nothing to be worried about.”

“Then you will lose nothing by doing as I ask.”

I dodged the angry kiss he meant to give me, and jerked free. “How about my self-respect? That may take a few dents.”

“Do what you will then.” He strode out of our quarters.