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finish line, she’s always been a fast one.”

“Who is Winter? Don’t tell me, she’s another one of your kids,” Tyler said.

“Yeah. I’ll answer any other questions once we have our current problem solved.” Devlin

wanted to wring Tyler’s neck. Oh, how he wished he’d gotten his way six months ago and made

Tyler go for a swing. Alas, he never seemed to get what he wanted when it come to the bloody

sod.

“Quinn, what’s going on with Charlotte and Samantha? I don’t want to sound rude or

anything, but I expected to hear from one of them.” Johanna sounded really worried.

“Samantha has been injured,” Devlin forced the words out.

“Injured? How bad is it?” Johanna sounded terrified.

“Johanna, don’t get your knickers in a twist. Samantha and Charlotte will both be fine.

Devlin has Samantha with him on her hover motorcycle and Charlotte is in my capable hands.”

Quinn’s voice was stable and calm.

“I think Charlotte has gone into one of her trances,” Quinn remarked.

“She must be trying to guide Rory,” Tyler said.

Quinn slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “I want Rory back, this game The

Triad is playing has gone too far!”

Devlin wanted to know why Quinn would refer to Rory’s kidnapping as a game. Was

there more to Rory’s abduction than Quinn was letting on? If he found out that Quinn was

stringing them along for some reason he’d break his balls.

“No worries, I’ve got the
Star Speeder
tagged. They won’t even know what hit them

since the
Excalibur
is in stealth mode,” Tyler said.

“We’ll be there in about ten minutes. Keep an eye on them. When they go to hyperspace I

want to know.” Devlin took over where Quinn had left off. Quinn had to know that he wasn’t in

full control of the operation. Devlin had a sneaky suspicion that Quinn wasn’t being entirely

straight with them…and Devlin wanted to know what exactly Quinn was hiding. Maybe

Samantha and Johanna had been right to doubt the man.

“Oh wait, we have another ship emerging from hyperspace. This one’s a
Star Speeder,

Warrior Class
.”

“
Warrior Class
? Are you certain of that, Johanna?” Devlin asked.

“Yes. I’m certain. It’s called the
Snow Queen.
”

“Excellent. Hail them from stealth mode. Tell Winter she arrived just in the nick of time.

I knew she’d come for me. It was just a matter of time. We’ve got more than a slim chance now

to save Rory. Winter can stick to The Triad’s
Star Speeder
like glue.”

“I’m hailing Winter as we speak.”

“When Winter responds, tell her that the
Excalibur
will need to dock in her docking bay

so that we can follow The Triad ship.”

“Right. I’ll see you guys in a few.” Johanna cut the communication feed.

Devlin felt a headache coming on. Now he knew what Samantha had to feel like most of

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the time. There was too much to think about. Too many people had agendas. Everyone knew that

he usually had an agenda, but in this case he only had one—get Samantha and her family out of

this alive. Then, there was Quinn. Quinn was an enigma and an outcast from Samantha’s family.

Would Quinn really do anything he had to do to get Rory back? And would that include selling

out his family to reclaim Rory? Whatever Quinn tried to do, Devlin would have to make sure that

he was one step ahead of him.

Static filled the line as Johanna reopened the com signal. “The Triad ship is on the move.

You guys had better kick it into high gear, we can’t let them get too much of a lead on us. I’m

already going into docking procedure on Winter’s ship. But we can’t leave you two behind.

Winter’s long term sensors show that there is about fifty ships converging on you guys from the

surface. We might be able to beat them, but why risk losing anyone? Devlin, you and Samantha

are particularly vulnerable. Those shields of yours won’t withstand a missile blast from a
Star

Speeder
.”

Grimacing, Devlin pushed the hover motorcycle near to the breaking point. It could only

keep up the present speed for a few minutes. Devlin’s heart surged. He’d known all along that

his daughter would not fail him. He knew that Jordan’s penchant for treasure searching was why

he had not joined the fight yet. He would come if he were in range of receiving of the urgent

transmission he’d sent out. He’d given Winter her
Star Speeder: Warrior Class
for her

eighteenth birthday. The ship was the pride of his collection. It was painted a beautiful snow

white and seemed to shimmer like a diamond. The docking bay doors opened and Devlin guided

his hover motorcycle into it. Devlin lifted Samantha off the vehicle. She immediately sunk into

him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He fought the urge to kiss her. Her coloring didn’t

look so great…but she was alive.

She felt cold; he brought her up close to him and tried to give her some of his body

warmth. Tyler came rushing into the docking bay. He came toward them, and Devlin knew he

was going to try to take Samantha from him. He shook his head at him. “Not going to happen,

Tyler,” he growled. Tyler looked provoked but he dropped his arms listlessly to the side. Instead,

Tyler looked to where Charlotte was. Devlin studied the sheen of concern that lit Tyler’s gaze.

“You don’t deserver someone like Samantha,” Devlin growled, wanting to keep his claim

on her. Quinn was reaching inside of the car for Charlotte. “I think you should go and see to

Charlotte, I can see your chomping at the bit to do just that,” Devlin remarked wryly.

Without any further hesitation Tyler bolted toward Charlotte and took her from Quinn. “I

think we’d better take these two to sickbay. What do you think?” Quinn called out to him.

Devlin nodded his head.

The docking bay doors that led to the other part of the ship opened to reveal Johanna

standing with Winter. At the age of twenty-one, Winter was the spitting image of her mother,

Jane.

“Father?” Winter eyed Tyler and Quinn with curiosity. “I have to admit I was a bit

surprised to find you on New Beijing. When I got to New Monaco and found Gregory in control

of the planet I feared the worst. I did as much damage as I could to his fleet. They are limping

quite badly now and we should be able to easily take back control of New Monaco. I can’t

understand why you let them take over in the first place....” She was about to elaborate when

Devlin cleared his throat and gave her a pointed look. She widened her eyes, seemed to

understand what he was trying to convey and quickly changed her tune. “Well, after I

bludgeoned Gregory black and blue I had to find you. So, I had to track you by the homing

beacon I put in the pair of gold cufflinks I gave you last Christmas. Honestly, you must think I’m

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 98

a bloody mind reader. Thankfully, you always wear those cufflinks.”

“No, I just knew you’d find me by using the homing beacon device. Don’t think you can

put anything over on me, my dear, I know all of the tricks in the book, having created some of

them myself.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re alive. Don’t ask me why, though.” She smiled and flung her

hands up in the air. “Then, when I arrived out of hyperspace only to be hailed by Johanna. Well,

as you can imagine my interest has been piqued. What sort of adventure have you gotten yourself

into this time? Lots of juicy fun, I hope? I am in for a thrilling ride!”

“The ship I asked you to follow belongs to The Triad.” Devlin walked up the ramp

toward Winter. Johanna was chewing her lip so voraciously that she was about to make it bleed.

He could fully understand what had her so antsy.

“I knew that. Johanna told me as soon as I emerged from hyperspace. Not to worry, my

pilot entered hyperspace as soon as everyone was docked safely we are at this moment riding the

Triad ship’s tail.” At this, Winter tossed Tyler another curious gaze. “What does a woman have

to do for an introduction around here, anyway?” Winter smiled. “And who are you carrying,

Daddy? This wouldn’t happen to be the next Lady Devlin would it? She’s quite pretty I can see

why you fell for her.”

“She is my wife,” Tyler interjected. Winter looked surprised.

“Really? For how long? My father always gets what he wants and I can tell you, he wants

this woman....” She smiled at Tyler making him grimace wider. Winter looked between Charlotte

in Quinn’s arms and Samantha in Devlin’s arms. “I think you should introduce me to all of your

friends. I know Johanna and I know one of these twins is Samantha....”

“Winter, now is not the time for introductions. Lead the way to your sick bay. Johanna

needs to attend to her sisters.”

Winter’s eyes fell to Charlotte and Samantha. “Identical twins. What a sight. I knew they

were identical but bloody hell they really are identical! Right this way.” She motioned for them

to follow her. “In case you’re wondering, daddy, I tried to get in contact with Jordan but he must

be out of communication range. You know how he gets when he’s on a bloody treasure hunt.”

Devlin really didn’t want everyone else to hear Winter elaborating on Jordan’s escapades.

Samantha stirred in his arms, and mumbled something incoherent in her sleep. He looked back at

Winter when she began to talk again. Winter always had been a chatty girl.

“I had the rest of my fleet wait for me back on New Ireland. They are awaiting my orders.

Whenever you want to take the fight back to New Monaco, we can finish what I started. I think

Gregory is licking his wounds right now.”

“Right now, Winter, we have to rescue Quinn Mallory’s daughter.”

“Ah…now you’re throwing me a bone. Finally. I tried to get something out of Johanna

but you know how talkative she can be when she’s worried sick.”

A few minutes later, they entered a high tech Medical Room. It was equipped with the

latest medical advances.

“I can have my doctors assist you, Johanna,” Winter offered.

Johanna nodded her head and walked over to reach for the necessary medical supplies.

“Charlotte will be in better condition than Samantha, so I’ll let your doctors attend to her,

Winter.” Johanna had officially gone into control mode.

Winter looked between Samantha and Charlotte. Tyler had placed Charlotte down on the

med bed that was next to Samantha’s.

“Slight problem, Johanna. Which one is which?”

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 99

“Samantha is the one with me,” Devlin murmured.

“Oh okay, then. Doctor Doyle, I need you over here to attend to this patient.”

Devlin held Samantha’s hand, while Johanna attended to her. He kept a close eye on

Charlotte as well. He couldn’t say why but he didn’t trust Charlotte. There was something off

about her and when he finally figured out what it was he’d rest easier.

Johanna had rolled Samantha onto her side so that she could investigate the wound.

“What did you say hit her?” Johanna asked, furrowing her brow at the injury.

Quinn ambled over to them.

“It was a nerve stun pistol.” Quinn shook his head and grimaced. “I got hit by one when

they took Rory. They really can throw you for a loop.”

“Are you sure that’s what it was? This wound is showing all the signs of being infected

with a fast acting virus.”

“Virus?” Winter heard the word and slipped over to them. “Maybe you should let my

physician’s take a look at that injury.”

“Johanna is more than up to the task,” Devlin said giving Winter a warning look.

“That won’t be necessary, Winter. I think I know how to stop it. During my time on

Jupiter Prime, I came into contact with this exact form of an injury. Unfortunately, that wound

proved fatal for the person since we didn’t yet know the cure.” Johanna reached for a hypo spray

filled with something bluish and injected it into Samantha’s blood stream. “That should do the

trick. I trust Charlotte is coming round?” Johanna turned to look at Charlotte.

“Not yet,” Tyler muttered. He wanted Charlotte to wake up and flash her beautiful eyes at

them.

“Hmm....” Johanna murmured. “I’m thinking her system was just overstressed and she

shut down to recuperate.” Johanna settled her gaze back on Quinn. “What I want to know is what

the hell went wrong down there?”

“It was pretty scary down there. The Triad had us surrounded on all fronts. Samantha was

going in to retrieve Rory and she was shot in the back. Devlin went in to get her while I pursued

Rory and her captors,” Quinn explained.

Johanna’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t want to know anymore. Once Samantha and

Charlotte regain consciousness, they can shed some light on this very confusing situation.”

“Yes, they probably will.” Devlin continued gripping Samantha’s hand tightly. “Any

ideas when they’ll both come to?”

“Only time will tell.” Johanna pushed her hair off her shoulder. “Until then, we can only

hope for the best and try to think out another successful plan to bring Rory home.”

“Well, when Samantha wakes up, she will be royally pissed. She’s going to go after them

with a gung ho fervor that will be impressive for even Samantha.” Johanna sighed and walked