Heart of Stone (12 page)

As the tech worked, something
miraculous happened. In the air over the computer, a holo-vid of
Frontiera sprang to life. The planet revolved slowly, blue seas,
gold and green land-forms and snowy mountains visible. An
attractive visual, but not the true miracle.

The tech looked at Masterson, com unit
in her hand. "Ready, sir?"

He nodded. "Ready."

She manipulated the unit. A bright red
grid of laser light sprang to life on the holo-vid Frontiera,
locking into place with an audible zing, followed by a fanfare of
trumpets.

As voices soared in harmony, the tech
allowed herself a small smile.

Masterson grinned wryly. A Barillian
choir was only fitting for this occasion. The tall pipes that rose
from their skulls allowed them to create music revered throughout
the galaxy.

The holo-vid images of Stone's partners
steadied and the audible static cleared. And that was the miracle.
Reliable satellite communications had come to Frontiera.

"Huzzah," Jark roared. "We did it."
Other voices joined his, whoops and yells echoing in the big room.
Smiles and handshakes were exchanged, and everyone seemed to want
to clap Stone on the back.

"Well done, Masterson," said Logan
Stark from his holo-vid. "You've done it." Stone exchanged a look
of mutual satisfaction with the owner of the LodeStar
Corporation.

Stark's space cruise ships and
freighters carried the finest Serpentian guards in the galaxy, but
now they all could relax their vigilance in the airspace around
Frontiera.

Stone also happened to know Stark and
his brother, Creed Forth, had recently opened a very profitable
titanium mine in the desert in the southern part of this continent.
Now they could make that public, without pirates swooping in to
maraud and steal the precious ore before it could be shipped to a
refinery.

Stone nodded to acknowledge the chorus
of congratulations. "Thank you. But this has been a team effort
from the beginning."

He looked around at all of them.
"Frontiera was first settled by those wishing to remain outside the
laws of our galaxy. But this is a hospitable planet, worthy of much
more than serving as a stronghold for brigands. It's a place for
families and farms and legitimate businesses. With this new sat-com
system, there will be nowhere on the planet that settlers or
travelers are not within reach of help." He nodded once in
satisfaction. "It's a new day on Frontiera."

Another cheer rang out. Commander Leeza
Bond of the ISF, a slim, tough blonde, shook Stone's hand and
offered her formal congratulations along with a statement about how
the planet and its airspace were now safe for commerce and
travel.

But when they had stepped away from the
holo-vid cams to allow the techs to speak about the system's
capabilities, she leaned closer to Masterson, a sly twinkle in her
eye. "I guess this means no more clandestine runs by Masterson
ships, hmm?"

Stone raised his brows at her. "I'm a
legitimate businessman, Commander. Importing goods and exporting
crops and raw materials."

She grinned, her freckled face
creasing. "Oh, don't worry. I believe you. Don't think you'd have
put this much effort into a security system that would catch your
own ships."

He nodded, but was unable to resist one
last jab. "Unless my ships were equipped with the capability to
slip through the surveillance grid undetected."

She narrowed her eyes at him, and he
shrugged. He might be legit, but he could still have a bit of fun
with the helmets, couldn't he?

The ceremony went on for a bit longer,
as the mayor potentate of Adamant, puffed up with self-importance
and excitement, spoke in mellifluous tones about the great
opportunities awaiting all who immigrated to Frontiera,
specifically his town. Stone ignored him, easing back to the rear
of the crowd.

Finally it was time for everyone but
the techs and first shift of guards to leave. Since Stone had the
cruiser, he ferried three techs, the commander and the mayor of
Adamant with him. Thorne stepped on last, and their eyes met. Stone
knew he still had a reckoning with Rose's brother.

As Jark headed the cruiser back to
Adamant, Stone watched a flock of terra-geese string past, silvery
wings flapping in the low winter sun. Their flock was a family, a
unit of protection and companionship in the wilderness.

He watched them go, and then leaned
back, closing his eyes.

He should be feeling victorious, even
jubilant. Instead, now that it was done, he was oddly depressed,
his victory somehow flat. There was satisfaction in a job well
done, but it lacked something. And he was very much afraid he knew
what that something was. A little redhead beside him, where he
could bask in the approval of big green eyes, perhaps tinged with
awe at his accomplishments.

He snorted at his own fancy. Well, he
couldn't have everything he wanted. He might be a legitimate
businessman and the hero of the hour, but he still had beings with
old grudges after him, which meant anyone close to him was still in
danger. The sat-com might reveal outlaw strongholds and keep track
of legitimate folk, but solitary travelers with the latest tech
could still slip through rifts in the system.

And he would never put her in danger
again. He opened his eyes and stared at his own future. He'd begun
by taking what he wanted and getting rid of other pirates who got
in his way. He'd come full circle now, hadn't he, to fear those who
still operated that way? Not for himself, but for someone
else.

He supposed it was poetic justice, but
somehow the chill in his heart felt more like the prison cold of
Deep Six.

But it was all he knew. He'd never had
a family and he couldn't expect to know how to make one
now.

He'd have to settle for giving her the
chance to have what he never would.

# # #

Branch took Rose to the Adamant Lodge,
luxurious by Frontieran standards, where the Masterson Corporation
kept a suite of rooms. A bastion of civilization in Adamant, the
big hotel sat on a hill overlooking the brawling, bustling frontier
town, with a guard at the gate and armed hover patrols
above.

A fire crackled in the hearth of the
suite's private sitting room, furnished in leather with
arrangements of dried local flowers and forbs on the
tables.

Branch said goodbye as soon as he'd
settled her in the suite.

"I've got to go, Rose. We're installing
the sat-tech in less than two hours. You can watch it on the
holo-vid." Her brother's voice fairly crackled with excitement. He
gave her a last perfunctory hug and dashed out of the
room.

Rose shower-dried and dressed in a soft
green outfit some Masterson employee or one of their wives had left
behind in the suite. It was a bit large, but clean and comfortable.
She grimaced as she looked at herself in the mirror—she was getting
tired of wearing other women's clothing. She styled her hair and
applied touches of cosmetics as if her life depended on it. When
she stood back, she was relieved to see her normal self gazing back
from the mirror, not a wild woman with crazed eyes.

A woman who had not only thrown herself
into a virtual stranger's arms, but had killed … twice.

Shuddering as violent memories burst
like fireworks, she headed for the suite's small kitchen. The
cupboards were stocked with drinks and meal packs with the
holographic label of a Frontieran agricultural company. Rose chose
a hot toddy to heat. As she sipped it, the horrific events of the
afternoon receded. Perhaps because this was her second alcoholic
drink since breakfast. She really should eat.

At the thought of food, her stomach
growled. She found a container of soup and heated that, opened a
pack of herb crackers, and carried her meal back into the sitting
room. Then she settled down on the comfortable divan in the sitting
room, and brought up a holo-vid news link.

She watched the installation ceremony
raptly. Others talked and moved, but her gaze was on the tall, lean
man in the center of the group. When he looked into the cameras and
spoke of making the planet safe for families, she pressed one hand
to her chest over the hollow ache there. A sob escaped and she
pressed her other hand to her lips. Was he speaking to her? Did he
mean that perhaps one of those families could be …
theirs?

After the news cast, she wandered
restlessly around the suite, staring out at the view without really
seeing it. Waiting for him to return so she could congratulate him
in person and find out exactly what he'd meant. Instead of the snow
capped peaks behind the town, she saw Stone's face. He was a man
full of contradictions, a dangerous pirate who'd reformed and now
intended to see that an entire planet was protected as well. He'd
killed to protect her and then held her as tenderly as a babe. His
strong arms had seemed the safest place in the galaxy—and perhaps
they were.

But now she knew that each time he'd
held her, he hadn't just taken a little piece of her, but also
pieces of her heart—until he had it all.

She was washing her hands when she
heard voices in the sitting room. She opened the lavatory door to
hurry out, but stopped a little way into the bedroom when Branch's
voice rose.

"I know you're my boss,
Masterson, but what the
hell
were you thinking, letting Rose come
along?"demanded Branch. She was stunned to hear that tone from her
easygoing brother,

especially directed at his
boss.

Rose tiptoed closer to the door,
straining to hear Stone's reply.

"You're right, Thorne. I acted
stupidly. I'm sorry."

"You should be! You nearly got her
killed!"

There was a pause and then Stone
laughed. It was completely without humor. "I'll listen to anything
you wish, but believe me, you can't say anything I haven't already
said to myself. It was … an impulse and one I'll never stop
regretting."

Rose could take no more. It was all
very well for Branch to rake him over the coals, and Stone to
agree, but she'd had something to do with it too, hadn't
she?

She hurried out into the sitting room.
Branch was pacing before the windows, which revealed the evening
sun sinking over the evergreens to the west. Masterson stood with
his back to the hearth. His face was in shadow, but she could see
the rigidity of his powerful frame.

"Ah, seven hells, man," Branch said
ruefully. "You're making it damn hard to stay angry, you
know."

"Well, you shouldn't be angry at him at
all," Rose burst out. "You were missing for days without answering
my calls. Of course I thought the worst."

Branch turned on her, his cheeks firing
with red. "Rose, none of us were answering calls! We didn't want
anyone to be able to find the site by triangulating our signals.
Anyway, I tried to send you two messages, but they didn't get
through with the winter storms."

"And how was I supposed to know that?"
she demanded, hands on her hips.

"I explained that to you not two hours
ago." He narrowed his eyes at her. "And now that you're obviously
feeling better, I've a few things to say to you, miss. You
shouldn't have come after me. You put the whole delivery at risk by
horning in."

Rose cast a hunted look at Masterson,
wishing that he would defend her as she had him, but he merely
watched the two of them, his gyre-hawk gaze remote.

Her brother scowled. "And you put
yourself in danger as well."

"I can protect myself," she said
furiously. "Didn't I do so just this afternoon? I—I killed two of
those horrible Jangoes. They were going to … to … "

"I know what they were going to do,"
Branch roared. "I've seen what they do, Rose! And my sister is
staying clear away from wild places like this where they come and
go. You'll go back to New Haven, and you'll stay there, do you hear
me?"

"I hear you. And so does everyone else
in the hotel. Including your boss."

Masterson's face tightened, but he said
nothing.

It was too much. She had been through
hell, and now just that look from this man, and heat built behind
her eyes. She hiccupped once and then gave up the fight. A sob
burst out, followed by another as hot tears flooded her
eyes.

"Oh, no, don't—Rosie, come on, don't
cry, sweetheart."

A pair of strong male arms enfolded
her, and pulled her close to a broad chest, a big hand patting her
hair comfortingly.

But they were the wrong arms, and that
was the hardest to bear of all.

# # #

Rose was flown home the next morning in
a company cruiser. Just the sight of the bold M on the side made
her want to cry again. She'd spent the night huddled in the big
hotel bed, wishing Stone Masterson was there to hold her close.
He'd gone quietly away while Branch held her the day before, and
she'd heard nothing further from him.

He seemed to feel that her horrible
experience was entirely his fault. Perhaps he thought she didn't
want to see him again. Well, she did.