No Words Alone (29 page)

“Promotion!”

“Yeah. The GE sees him as a valuable asset. We’re all
being called heroes for surviving the crash. Now that you’re here,
they’ll use you as an example of why we shouldn’t ally with the
Scorpio. If they can find an excuse to lay claim to this planet,
they’ll be happy to send more ships and men out here.”

“Why? What can possibly be so precious about this
place? You’ve seen it; it’s one step removed from hell.”

He glanced at her tray. “Finish up and I’ll take you
to the lab. There’s something you should see.”

Xera translated for Rysing, who grimly gagged down
her dinner, minus the mashed potatoes. In minutes they were walking
into the labs where Ensign Trevor worked as a technician. He nodded
to the lone woman on staff and took them over to a bench. “We’ve
all be taking turns bringing our buddies in here, showing them why
the GE wants this ‘stinking hole of a planet.’ You won’t be seen as
unusual.”

He said it in a way that Xera wondered if he’d be
questioned later. Maybe he was pushing his luck to be inviting her
in, explaining. Maybe he was trying to make amends for their
misunderstanding on the desert planet.

“Watch this.” He put on gloves, then took a big tube
full of murky water and showed it to them. “This is the toxic water
from one of the oceans. Now look what happens when I pour it
through this filter into this other beaker. You see this sediment
forming? We’ll get back to that.” A clear drip of liquid was slowly
filtering into the tube. He set it back out of the way and reached
for another tube. “This liquid is already filtered. Now we use a
nano-filter to separate out the oil and water….” He repeated the
process with a new beaker.

“Oil? I thought the two didn’t mix,” Xera said.

“Not unless they have an emulsifier, but this is
special stuff,” he agreed. “Okay, this is now separated. You can
see the value of the water without my explaining it. As for the
oil….” He stuck a wick inside and set it on fire. “Ta-da! Fuel,
ladies. Oceans of it, enough to power a whole civilization for a
long time. But wait! There’s more.”

“I’m afraid to ask,” Xera said. Clean water and a
cheap fuel source were bad enough. Her homeworld of Polaris had
started out with much less, dragging asteroids into orbit around a
gas planet and using lunar ice to form lakes. This planet didn’t
even need that much effort. Sure, it was overrun with pests, but
varmints could be trapped and killed.

“You should be,” Ensign Trevor confirmed, “because
this sludge rivals tranium as a fuel source.”

Xera gasped. Tranium was the most efficient fuel
source ever found for starships. If a rival source were found, the
GE would shed blood to get their hands on it. Suddenly cogs started
clicking into place. “You didn’t just discover this. The GE has
been here before.”

“And lost ships to the Khun’tat,” he confirmed.
“Nobody will admit it, but I’ve got a friend on the inside who says
it’s true. You know what? I think those monsters are out here in
this sector because they’ve spotted a new food source.” He looked
her in the eyes, his expression deadly serious. “You went through
all the trouble to send a message out, but you didn’t tell the GE
anything they didn’t know, lieutenant.”

“And they’re willing to risk everything for the
fuel,” Xera said softly. She felt sick. Countless lives were being
thrown away, and for what? So some rich guys could get richer. She
also had to warn Ryven.

Rysing demanded to know what was up. Her brow
furrowed in concern as it was explained, and she looked
thoughtfully at the tubes on the bench. “If all this is so, why are
they here now? Why not attack already?”

“Specimens,” Trevor explained after translation.
“They want some live critters this time, and more soil samples,
weather data, etc. We also have to study the bugs and fungus we ate
in the cave. Unless we find other native prey animals, future
colonists might have to live on them.” He looked disgusted.

Xera’s lips curled in memory, too. “Ugh!”

Rysing didn’t look horrified by the description of
the situation, just thoughtful. “I’d like to see this place,” she
said when their fortress destination was described.

Xera started to argue with her, but was interrupted
when the ship intercom announced their impending descent. All
personnel were to prepare themselves for landing.

“I think we’ll ride this out in our room,” Xera told
Ensign Trevor. “I’ve got a lot to think about. Thank you. I hope
we’ll get another chance to talk.”

He gave her a jaunty salute. “My pleasure. Remember,
stay clear of Khan. The current commander is all right as they go.
Stay on his good side and you’ll be okay.”

Xera shook her head slightly as she left. Would she
be able to stay out of trouble? Considering her goals, she doubted
it would be for long.

Chapter 21

“I want to go outside.”

Xera stared at Rysing like she’d lost her mind. “Why?
There’s nothing good out there.”

“I need to see it,” the Leo-Ahni said quietly, but
her face was determined. At times she could be every bit as
stubborn as Xera herself. “I understand if you are afraid. I will
ask the commander to allow me to go with his party.”

Xera drew breath. She didn’t want the girl wandering
around alone; she felt responsible. “You won’t understand what
anyone is saying. You could get hurt if someone called a warning
you couldn’t understand.”

“So you’ll go?”

Xera sighed. “I guess. I’m going to request a gun for
the outing, though. It’s too dangerous for even one of us to be
unarmed. I don’t suppose you can shoot?”

“I was never taught.”

So they ended up going out in the chill desert sun.
Xera felt like a bodyguard as she hovered near the small Leo-Ahni
and surveyed the rocky plateau. While Rysing looked around with
curious eyes, Xera scanned the skies and ground for danger.

“Relax, Lieutenant, we’ve got you covered,” one of
the accompanying marines drawled, smiling a lazy and confident
smile. His big blunt face was tolerably good-looking, but his
attitude grated.

“When you’ve marched for a day over these sands with
things jumping out of the sky and the sand buckling under your
feet, we’ll see how well you can cover me,” she told him grimly. “I
think I’ll stay on guard until then.”

He shrugged, thick-skinned enough not to mind her
attitude. She noticed he stayed close, though, and she caught a
subtle nod between him and Ensign Trevor, who was also part of
their party. Was Trevor pulling favors, having his friend watch
over her?

She’d have to be careful; she was really starting to
like him.

Captain Khan was also there, cane and all. He sent
her one cold look then pretended she didn’t exist. She wasn’t
fooled into thinking he’d given up his revenge.

“A woman could run for miles over this sand,” Rysing
said longingly, her eyes on the horizon. “I need to go down
there.”

“Don’t get any ideas about going for a jog,” Xera
warned her. “Running for miles in this stuff is deadly.”

Rysing looked at her with dignity. “I’m not a
fool.”

“Thank God for that, because I must be to let you
talk me into this.” Xera muttered in her own language. She nodded
to the far end of the plateau. “Look, they’re getting ready to go
now.”

She kept her breathing even as her group moved away
from their massive ship toward the nearby fortress, reminding
herself that they were fully armed. It wasn’t night, so fliers
weren’t a threat, wouldn’t be even if it were pitch dark, because
they didn’t like the lights spraying out from the ship. She’d had
all the precautions explained to her. In addition, the men ahead of
the party had equipment capable of detecting the other dangers,
were even setting traps for them. There was no reason for her
feeling of doom.

“Easy now, ma’am. It’s a short walk, and you’re
surrounded by guns.” The marine sounded like he was calming a
skittish animal.

“A happy thought,” she assured him, but she made
herself walk tall as if she felt no fear. There was a moment of
déjà vu as she remembered her first meeting with Ryven. She’d
walked tall then, too.

Rysing paused on the sand and breathed deep. Her eyes
half closed as she took in the scents. She’d never looked more like
a cat than when she knelt down and splayed the fingers of her right
hand over the sand. She was very still, as if listening. “There’s
something coming under the sand.” She pointed to the southeast,
toward the sun.

Xera translated rapidly.

“Naw, the sensors aren’t picking up any…whoa!
Incoming! Sandworm,” yelped one of the technicians manning the
sensors.

“The traps aren’t ready,” Ensign Trevor said grimly.
“Better shoot it.”

Rysing watched the chaos calmly. “Hold still and it
will stop,” she murmured, but no one was listening. She placed a
hand on Xera’s arm when she tried to pull her away. “Be still. It
hunts by vibration. If you are still, it is blind.”

Xera didn’t want to experiment, but she told the
marine with them what Rysing had said.

“How does she know?” the man asked softly, but he
held still, his gun trained where he thought the worm would be.

Their care was unnecessary. As soon as the beast got
close, it was shot. Rysing shook her head. “Silly.”

“We’d better get non-essential personnel inside,” the
Commander ordered. “I want those samples double-quick.”

Since it was built for keeping out animals, not
people, the security was easy to overcome. All too soon they were
entering the tunnel that led to the main room.

The fortress was everything Xera remembered, but the
circumstances were vastly different. She’d expected fear, but oddly
the place gave her a rush of melancholy. She missed her husband. If
she wanted to see him again, she was going to have to do everything
in her power to get herself back to him. If an opportunity came up,
she was going to have to run for it.

Rysing didn’t seem in a hurry to leave. She inspected
every inch of the main cave as if it were a house on the market.
She even followed Ensign Trevor below to look at the worms and
mushrooms.

Xera stayed topside with the marine. There was no way
she was going back down in that hole. She caught Khan looking at
her once, but she knew there was nothing to fear yet. He wouldn’t
make his move in front of witnesses.

Rysing came up munching on a mushroom. She carried a
jar full of bugs in her other hand.

Xera looked at her in horror. “
What
are you
doing?”

Rysing popped the last bite in her mouth and licked
her fingers with a slightly pointy tongue. “These are much better
than ship’s food. I’m hoping the crawling ones will be as well. At
least they’re fresh.”

Xera gagged. She had to turn away quickly to keep
from embarrassing herself.

“I know the feeling,” Ensign Trevor said as he came
up carrying his own jar. “Nothing like squishing through the…say,
you’re not going to puke, are you?”

She came very close. For a moment she had to close
her eyes and breathe very carefully. To comfort herself, she
murmured, “I could understand it if
she
were the one who was
pregnant.”

Suddenly it registered what she’d said. Her eyes
popped open. Ensign Trevor was staring at her with a particular,
frozen expression. Pity or horror? She couldn’t tell, but it was
time for fast decisions. She shot a look at the marine. His gaze
was across the room, as if he hadn’t heard a thing, but she didn’t
believe it.

She looked at Trevor. “Could you escort me back to
the ship? We need to talk.”

He nodded stiffly. “I’ll take a load of
specimens.”

“We’ll watch your back,” the marine said, and he and
Rysing fell into step a couple of paces behind.

She waited until they were climbing the stone stairs
to the platform before she spoke. “The commander of the Scorpio,
Ryven, is the father. If you saw the tapes from the conference, you
must have known that.”

He nodded. “Yes. It’s just…I’m so damn sorry for you.
No woman should have to suffer that.”

She shook her head. “No suffering here. However he
behaved with you all, he’s different with his family, with women. I
want this baby to have his father.”

The silence was thick. The ship was getting nearer.
Had she made a mistake?

“I see. What do you want me to do?” Trevor said
finally. “You know better than to ask the Commander to let you
go.”

“Can you help me? We’re leaving in what…two days? I
can’t go back, and Rysing…I’ll ask, but I think she wants to stay
with the Scorpio, too.”

There was a heartbeat of silence. “I’ll see what I
can do.”

She sent him a look of gratitude. “Thank you.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I’m a sucker. I know.”

The time passed quickly as the GE party collected
their specimens. Xera worked on her report and Rysing played games
on the computer, or pestered Ensign Trevor in the lab, armed with a
handheld translator he’d found for her. She was insatiably curious,
particularly about the planet. She told everyone it was because
she’d never gotten to see anything but a small portion of her own
planet and a confined space of the Scorpio world. She was so
childlike and cute, she got away with it, especially since she was
free in telling anyone who asked about her own world. On a ship
full of explorers, she was in constant demand.

Even so, she assured Xera privately that she wanted
to return with her. She had hope of seeing her own people again
someday. Not all of them were ready to let the Khun’tat rule, and
she hoped to help the rebels in some way.

Xera didn’t spend too much time thinking about the
girl’s motives; she had her own hopes and worries to occupy her;
and other people’s motives. Time was getting tight. She needed off
the GE ship, and soon, and she needed Trevor’s help. Would a man
she’d once spurned really help her escape?