Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest (7 page)

“I like my freedom and my life too much to change.” She sipped her drink. “What of you? Are you married?”

He shook his head and forked salad into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “You mentioned after your mother died that you wanted to move away from your relatives. What of your father?”

Kirek was a good listener. Angel shrugged as if what she was about to say didn’t matter. But it still hurt. “Mom was never sure who my father was. After she was pregnant none of her lovers stayed around long enough to take a DNA test.”

Although single motherhood was accepted on a social level, she’d always been jealous of the kids who’d had fathers. She and her mother hadn’t shared much in common—and then her mother had gotten sick. They’d lived mostly on government welfare and charity from relatives. Her mother had expected Angel to be perfect, to not upset the delicate balance that was their life. She’d always felt guilty that she’d been more interested in sports and space and business than the handmade pottery her artistic mother had sold to help make ends meet.

“I’m sorry.” Kirek’s warm gaze found hers, and she had the feeling he wanted to wrap her in a giant bear hug. “I was very lucky. On Rystan, we have family units. One wife to each husband, but couples live together and bring up children together. My parents are wonderful.”

“Tell me about them.” She liked the way he spoke so freely about his family. She appreciated how much he obviously cared about them and didn’t mind letting her see his affection. Kirek was one self-assured man. But it was already quite clear to her that he wanted a marriage like the one his parents had for himself. Clearly, he was not “fling” material.

“Dad taught me to hunt. Mom always fusses over me. Although they worry about my voyages, they never hold me back.”

“What of the others in your family unit?” she asked, curious. One of the reasons she enjoyed her work was the interesting people she met.

“We’re getting to be a very diverse group.”

“Really?”

“Tessa is from Earth.”

Tessa?
Surely there couldn’t be that many Tessas on his world from Earth.

“Tessa Caymen?” Angel stopped chewing. Tessa had become a living legend ever since she’d won the Challenge and had been responsible for Earth joining the Federation. “You know her?”

“She’s my aunt. Her husband, Kahn—”

“Is your uncle,” she finished, more impressed than she could have imagined. Tessa and Kahn were famous for surviving a particularly difficult Challenge, and their love story had been made into holovids. It seemed strange that Kirek could be from such a famous family and that she hadn’t recognized him. Although Kirek was a common Rystani name, why hadn’t his face also been plastered on the holovids? “How do I know you aren’t lying to impress me?”

Kirek appeared genuinely puzzled. “Why would my family impress you?”

“Tessa and Kahn are legends.” She wouldn’t have been as impressed by royalty or presidents. But she admired adventurers and explorers. People who soared into the unknown and blazed trails. Perhaps she was romanticizing the Challenge, but she’d grown up reading the story in her history books.

He shrugged. “Dora and Zical are legends, too. They reprogrammed the Sentinels which guard the galaxy against the Zin. Xander and Alara saved the Federation from the virus. Everyone did their duty.”

“But they succeeded where others could not and in spectacular fashion. Why haven’t you asked them to help you with the Zin?”

“Zin spies are always watching. I have a better chance of slipping through their defenses alone, on a small ship, with strangers.” He spoke easily. “I’m just as proud of my mother’s cooking as I am of the rest of the family.”

As she bit into the salad and the tangy sweet taste spread over her tongue, she grinned. “She taught you well.”

“Thank you. Since I’ve been gone so much, she’s been cooking for Dora’s twins and Tessa and Kahn’s two boys.” His mouth softened as he spoke about his family, sending warning signals straight to her brain.

She knew Rystani valued their families. She’d read about their old-fashioned values. She realized that as sure as old Sol kept shining, Kirek would want a family of his own one day. The need was stamped all over his handsome face. For his sake, she should maintain a distance. Because clearly, he was interested in her. There could be no mistaking the heat in his eyes. But she valued her independence way too much to hook up with a Rystani male, one who took his “hooking up” way too seriously.

“How does Tessa find time to be a mom and run a planet?” she asked as she dug into a potato.

“My mother and Shaloma help. So does Alara. Tessa still frequently sneaks away for lunchtime picnics with Kahn and the boys.” Kirek made their life sound practically idyllic.

“Do you think Tessa is bored with her life?” she asked.

Kirek laughed. “She adores those boys. She’s trying to talk Kahn into another child. She wants a girl. I’m sure Tessa will get her way—she usually does when it comes to her husband. He loves her with his whole heart—even when they’re fighting. Maybe
especially
when they are fighting.”

“Now, that I would like to see.”

“Come to Mystique and I’ll introduce—”

“Captain.” Leval interrupted their meal over the com.

“Yes?”

“If we maintain this heading, we’ll exit the cloud within twenty Federation minutes. Already our sensors are picking up indications the Kraj ship is waiting for us.”

So Kirek’s assessment of the Kraj tactics had been correct. They hadn’t given up. Neither would she. “Change direction, twenty degrees to starboard.”

“Aye, Captain.” He paused. “The Kraj ship is turning with us.”

“I’m on my way to the bridge. Find an option to get us to Dakmar without confronting the Kraj ship.” She stood and took a potato with her as Kirek cleaned away their implements. “Thanks for the meal.”

On the bridge, Angel discovered the situation to be exactly as Leval had described it. The Kraj ship hadn’t entered the cloud and remained on the fringe of their sensor readings. While her first officer piloted, Frie monitored the data and shook her head in disgust.

“Kraj sensors must be more sensitive than ours. They seem to know exactly which way we’re heading but are no doubt afraid to follow us into this dust storm. With the
Raven
towing the Vogan ship, the Kraj are much faster. They can wait in safety and cut us off when we emerge.”

Since they’d used up the
Raven’s
booster fuel to secure their salvage, Angel’s options were dwindling. “Can we lose them if we go farther into the clouds?”

“I don’t know.” Frie’s hands flew over the console. “If you plan to go in deeper, let me increase the shields first.”

“Do it.”

Apparently Kirek had finished his kitchen duties, because he appeared on the bridge. He glanced over Frie’s shoulder at the console but didn’t comment. He looked like he wanted to make a suggestion but pressed his lips together and remained silent.

“Shields will drain power a little. Nothing we can’t handle,” Leval reported.

Angel nodded. “Understood.”

“Shields are now at full strength,” Frie said.

Leval kept a steady tone. “Captain, the Kraj ship is closing fast.”

As if determined to hold back a comment, Kirek now had his lips pressed together so tight, they’d turned white. With every muscle taut, it was obvious he wanted to say something, yet he didn’t violate her edict to remain quiet while he was on her bridge.

“Suggestions?” When her crew didn’t answer, she included him in her glance.

He didn’t hesitate. “Let’s cut through the center of the dust.”

Frie gasped. “We can’t. Our shields aren’t meant to—”

“I can calibrate them to a higher efficiency level.” Kirek looked at her for permission.

“How long will your modifications take?” Angel asked.

He glanced at the vidscreen. “If we steer toward the center cluster now, I should be done before we arrive.”

“Should be?” Leval asked.

“It’ll be close,” Kirek admitted.

Angel took a deep breath and released it in a whoosh of air. Since she’d decided to follow Kirek into the Andromeda Galaxy, she would have to trust him, his skills, and his timing. While she hadn’t expected to have to do this so soon, she had few choices open to her. Fighting the Kraj with the Vogan ship in tow was not a viable option. She wasn’t willing to hand Kirek over to his enemy. So they had no choice but to flee.

After she gave her permission to modify the shields, she’d expected to have to unlock the computer codes she’d installed to keep him out of her systems. But Kirek didn’t even move to the control panel for direct access to the computer. Instead, he remained still and closed his eyes, as if going into some kind of trance.

Angel exchanged a long glance with Frie, who raised an eyebrow. Then Frie’s gaze focused on her monitor and surprise caused her to stare then blink hard several times.

“Report.” Angel requested softly, unwilling to pull Kirek from whatever he was doing. However, later she intended to ask how he’d so easily bypassed her codes.

Frie rubbed her chin, leaning closer to her vidscreen as if to watch more carefully. “Captain, I’ve never seen this kind of configuration.”

“Will the shields hold?” Leval steered deeper into the thick of the dust cloud.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know how he’s altering the systems without touching the controls.” Clearly fascinated, Frie didn’t even look up from her systems.

But Angel took a moment to glance at Kirek. He appeared more relaxed than she’d seen him since he’d come aboard. Whatever he was doing, he was right at home with their systems, displaying ultimate confidence in the casual tilt of his head and the squared set of his shoulders, fully assured in his ability to alter her computer.

Leval spared a glance from the vidscreen to Angel. “Ten seconds to contact with the thickest dust.”

“Kirek?” Angel asked softly.

“Almost there.”

“Five seconds.” Leval ticked down the count.

“Shield status?” Angel turned to Frie.

“One hundred and forty percent and climbing.” She bit her bottom lip. “We need one sixty.”

“One sixty-five point eight three,” Kirek corrected.

“Two seconds.” Leval kept his tone even as if he had no worries at all and complete faith in Kirek.

Angel held her breath and hoped she looked as calm as her crew. But her heart pounded. The hull groaned as it withstood enormous bombardment from the stray particles.

“Shields at one fifty. One sixty.”

“We’re in the center.”

“Kirek’s extended the
Raven’s
shields around the Vogan ship.” Frie’s tone rose in awe. “There is no way our computer system can do what the monitor says it’s doing. Even if he could force all our power into the shield, we’d be short energy by a factor of two.”

Leval piloted through dust so thick, the viewport looked as if they flew through a sandstorm. The hull held. “The energy has to be coming from somewhere or the dust outside would penetrate our shield.”

If the shield failed, the hull would be breached, and they’d lose pressure and explode. Angel looked at Frie. “Are you certain?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“She’s correct.” Kirek jumped into the conversation without opening his eyes.

Angel assumed she could now safely ask questions. “Exactly what have you done to my ship?”