LOGAN (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 5) (35 page)

Chapter 18

"A
delay
?" Commander Xytoc shouted at the quivering scientist. "I will not tolerate any delays. You will complete your work according to ssschedule, or you will be sssquashed!"

The senior scientist crept a bit closer to the exit before attempting to explain again. "It is not our fault, sir. The plans for the FTL unit call for an element that we do not have on this planet. It is impossible to complete production without it."

"Where
can
thisss element be found?"

The scientist's antennae twitched nervously. "The closest planet is in the Aries system."

"
Aries
!" Xytoc roared. "It would take nearly a thousand sssunrises to get there and back.
No!
I will not wait that much longer when we are ssso clossse to total victory. You are a ssscientist! Jussstify your position. Find a sssubssstitute for the element. Sssynthesssize it. I do not care how you do it, but our troops
will
be taking off in shipsss capable of FTL no later than ninety sssunrises from today. Disssmisssed!"

The scientist slithered away as quickly as possible, content that he had gained an additional thirty sunrises to complete his task. He was already working on a synthetic for the missing element. It had a slightly unstable quality to it, but it should work well enough to satisfy the commander and keep himself and his team from being squashed.

He was just glad he didn't have to be on any of those ships when they departed for Heart!

Chapter 19

Gianni noted that the line in front of Nadia's tent that night was a lot shorter than it had been the first week she went into business. When he first realized what was going on, he'd felt obligated to have a talk with both Wilkes and Nadia, mainly to verify that the woman was a willing participant. Based on her responses and previous behavior with Higgs, he was convinced that the arrangement was acceptable to her.

Gianni wondered what he would have done to keep the peace if Wilkes hadn't become her pimp. It kept two potential troublemakers busy, while pacifying an entire troop of restless men. Capitalizing on Nadia's sexual appetite was working so well, Gianni had taken advantage of her services himself last week, but this week, he just didn't feel the need.

The first few days after the advance team went beyond the wall, griping and speculating could be heard from sunup to sundown. Hardly anyone mentioned it any more. For the most part, the men had all settled into a routine of working all day, playing cards with a deck they'd made up or visiting Nadia in the evening, then sleeping until it was time to go back to work.

Most of the men, Gianni included, found that having one glass of the sparkling water with dinner was the equivalent of a cold beer. It was relaxing without scrambling their brains and it helped to make the long, boring days a little easier to get through, knowing there was something pleasant waiting for them back in the big house.

* * *

"That's it then," Geoffrey declared. "Everyone agrees this is the plan we're going to suggest." He received a chorus of endorsements then addressed Tarla. "Are you prepared to present it as is?"

"Absolutely," she said without hesitation. "It's fairly straightforward. I shouldn't have any problem answering any questions about it."

"Shall I call my mother and Iris?" Brianne asked her.

Tarla glanced at Geoffrey and Logan and noted their nods. "Yes. We're ready."

As Brianne made the call, Tarla pondered over the progress made during their first two weeks on the job. Though the team was made up of a wide range of talented men and women, they had all had plenty of doubts as to whether any of those talents would be of use in performing the monumental task they'd been given. Partly because they'd worked around the clock every day, only taking breaks to eat and get some sleep, their doubts had been groundless.

Kara's and Ray's computer expertise smoothed the way through the research stage, and Ray had a bottomless reserve of science fiction stories from which to draw ideas.

Jeremy's, Trish's and Sunny's backgrounds in math, general science and physics came in handy for translating Heart's technology into language the others could understand, while Geoffrey and Robin used their engineering and mechanical skills to come up with ways to apply it.

Alicia, Nathan and Edward applied their navigational knowledge to interpreting the maps and star charts.

As expected, Logan, T.J., Greg, Kevin and Lee concentrated on defense strategies and ideas for weapons using Heart's existing technology.

Hal's and Darcy's business acumen was temporarily on hold, but they knew they would be needed for more than brainstorming as soon as the plan was approved and set into motion.

Mandy and Charlene had little to contribute to the war effort, other than acting as sounding boards for everyone else. Therefore, they used the bulk of their time studying the medical data banks in hopes of returning to Earth with a wealth of valuable information.

Tarla managed to subtly offer suggestions, using her greater knowledge of advanced technology and defense, without anyone but Logan guessing how she might know those things. He didn't give her secret away, but she felt his derision every time she spoke.

Generally, progress had also been made in personal areas, each couple gradually drifting into compatible relationships of one kind or another.

After a rough start, T.J. eventually accepted Lee Tang in a maternal role. Alicia, Darcy, and Sunny had settled into comfortable friendships with their roommates, while Trish's, Mandy's, and Charlene's partnerships showed hints of progressing beyond that. Shy little Kara had Ray acting like an adolescent with his first attack of puppy love, much to everyone's amusement.

Robin and Geoffrey were spending so much time brainstorming together, they often finished each other's sentences. Geoffrey had not yet given in to Robin's urging that he share her bed, but Tarla could tell he didn't have much resistance left in him.

Robin had told her what his main excuse was and, though it was quite admirable, Tarla's intuition insisted there was more to it than he was admitting. If Robin could find out what his real excuse was, Tarla was certain there could be a happily ever after in their future.

Only she and Logan had failed to find a workable solution to the dilemma of living together. She let her gaze land on him for a moment, but as soon as he noticed, she looked away, just as he did when she caught him watching her. Their tasks didn't require that they work side by side like Geoffrey and Robin, so it was not difficult to avoid each other.

At the end of each day, it was usually late enough to simply retire to their separate corners. And if it wasn't, Tarla visited one of the others until they ordered her to go home.

Robin, of course, honed right in on the problem and told her to lock herself and Logan in the bedroom and stay there until they either had sex or killed each other.

They had gotten so good at avoiding contact with one another, they were able to get ready for work each morning and go to bed each evening without spending more than a few seconds in the same room together. Tarla had been convinced that, in time, she wouldn't have to
think
about avoiding him, that it was bound to become routine sooner or later.

To her extreme relief, she hadn't had another episode of hormonal insanity, which allowed her to believe that whatever
had
happened to her, it was
not
the Noronian mating fever and Logan was
not
her soulmate.

So why, fourteen days and nights since they'd had their fateful encounter, did her stomach still flutter when he walked by? And why did it still hurt so badly that he believed she was a freak whose mere touch was poison to him?

To further mess with her mind, with each passing day, she saw more about him to admire. He was intelligent and reasonable, a strong leader when he had to be and a gentle persuader at other times. Everyone in the group looked up to him with respect and trust. No one seemed to remember the court martial or his chains, and they didn't even have the advantage of
knowing
he was innocent.

It was clear she'd made a serious error in letting him know about how she'd touched his mind. Perhaps if she'd explained how doing that accidentally would be possible if they were soulmates, but since that didn't seem to be the case...

She forced herself to think of someone else—Brianne and Jason. It had taken less time than she'd imagined for Brianne to stop being flustered when one of the men forgot the rules and addressed her directly or accidentally made physical contact.

Jason had literally become Logan's shadow. He was always ready to perform any service requested of him but he would look to Logan before going ahead. The most interesting thing about Jason was that lately he seemed to be standing a little taller than he had at first. Tarla thought perhaps he was watching Logan so closely that he was beginning to mimic him.

Parisia's and Iris's arrival ended Tarla's ponderings. The time had come for the Earthlings to prove their worth.

* * *

"The plan itself is fairly simple," Tarla began as soon as everyone was situated. "And from what we've researched, all the technology required to implement it exists already. Since Heart has no ground forces willing to combat an enemy face-to-face, and we assume that it would be difficult to find enough volunteers to pilot a large force of armed aircraft, there is only one solution.

"Using the same principles that went into constructing the invisible wall around the farm, a shield could be created to envelop the entire planet. Instead of simply being a barrier, however, the magnetic energy would be strengthened to the point where it would repel anything attempting to penetrate it. In other words, if an enemy ship tried to break through, it would rebound and destroy or cripple itself in the process. If they tried to fire a projectory, it would boomerang back to the ship that launched it. Thus, an attacking force could destroy its own fleet without anyone from Heart having to do a thing."

"That sounds quite logical but what about a friendly visitor?" Parisia asked.

Tarla gave Geoffrey a glance. He had said that would be the first question. "Any approaching ship would be picked up on monitors in a continuously staffed space traffic control tower. The visitor would have to identify themselves and their purpose, and deactivate any weapons systems before being granted entrance. To enforce that, a squadron of ships assigned to constantly patrol the air space inside the shield would be equipped with several devices.

"One, a controller, similar to the one you use to create an opening or repair a weakness in the barrier wall, only on a larger scale. Second, a weapons detection system to scan the visiting ship to make sure they are unarmed or at least deactivated.

"And third, a laser cannon capable of destroying a large ship if it became necessary. The main reason for this is, we have to assume that an enemy could develop a controller like you have and be able to create an opening in the barrier themselves, in which case it would be the patrol ship's responsibility to stop them before they reached the planet's surface."

Parisia and Iris murmured to each other for a few seconds, then Iris responded for them both. "What you have proposed is so simple, it is somewhat embarrassing that we had not thought of it ourselves, but as we have explained, defense has never been a priority on Heart. There is only one part of the plan that we can immediately foresee as a problem, and you pinpointed it in your opening statement. It could be nearly impossible to recruit pilots for the squadron of patrol ships who would not only have to be trained, but be willing to perform a lethal act."