The Dracons' Woman (20 page)

As she fingered the soft fabric of a long skirt with a high slit that she knew Garen had chosen, a thought occurred to her.  She pulled the items that she felt Garen, Val or Trey had personally chosen for her and inspected them.  While none of the items were overtly revealing or tight, each of them was sexier than anything she herself had chosen.  One had cut outs that revealed her shoulders, another a series of short slits in the long sleeves that would reveal flashes of her arms as she moved, or high slits in the skirts that would reveal her leg as she walked, though not so high that it would be embarrassing for her to wear in public.  One gown that Trey had chosen seemed rather plain at first glance.  The skirt was narrow, and long enough to reach her ankles, with long sleeves and a neck so high that it would actually wrap around her throat and fasten in back.  Curious as to how it would fasten, she turned the gown around and was surprised to see that the gown had no back.  It would bare her entire back from neck to just above her rump.  She hung the gown back in the closet, wondering.

Was it usual for men to purchase such sexy and elegant clothing for a woman if they felt nothing for her?  She had no idea.  She really knew nothing about men.  Still, they were always touching her, carrying her, kissing her.  Could all of that attention be simply concern over a female guest?  She knew that Jasani were known to treat women with great consideration, but did that explain it?  She didn’t think so. 

It was so confusing.  They treated her as though she was special to them, but not as though they wanted her in a sexual way.  Not since the incident in the bathroom.  In fact, she could almost feel their withdrawal.  Then they had selected clothing for her that was both elegant and subtly sexy. 

She shook her head and sighed as she selected a peach satin nighty from her new wardrobe and headed to the bathroom.  Men were just so darn complicated!

 Later that night, Garen opened the door to Lariah’s room, using a minor bit of magic to be certain there was no noise or light to awaken her.  Tiny lay sleeping on the floor near the door and raised his head to stare at Garen for a moment before lowering his head and going back to sleep.  Garen stepped close to the bed and looked down at her, both his heart and his body aching with desire at the sight of her.  He sent his magic into her.  After a moment, assured that she was deeply asleep, he turned and left the room as silently as he had entered.  He crossed the house, joining his brothers in the study. 

“She is sleeping quietly,” he said, leaving the study door open behind him in case Lariah called for them.  Her voice was improving, though still not strong.  With their exceptional hearing it didn’t really matter.  They would hear her if she needed them.

Garen took his chair behind the desk and met his brothers’ hopeful gazes with a satisfied smile. 

“Military Intelligence has responded to our request for information on this Director person Lariah told us about.  He is, in fact, the Director of the Special Operations Directorate of the Intersystem Agency for Law Enforcement and Counterintelligence.  Apparently everyone just calls him “Director.”  His real name is unknown and deeply classified.  He oversees teams generally made up of two field operatives, a weapons and communications specialist, and a psychic.

“The report states further that the Director is a man of high personal and professional integrity--a man of his word.  According to all reports, he has no political agenda, is totally impartial, unshakably loyal to his agents, and absolutely incorruptible.  Our Intel section states that he is to be trusted.”

“I wanted to dislike the man, but this makes it harder,” Val admitted.  “Still, I do think he could have done more for Lariah.”

“I know,” Garen said.  “But if there is a
mole
in his organization, he may not have been able to do more than he did.”

Trey and Val nodded in reluctant agreement.

“Did they provide us with any information on Loggia?” Trey asked.

“Yes,” Garen replied.  “As bad as Lariah made him sound, he’s worse.  He’s the head of the largest organized crime syndicate in that part of the galaxy in over a century.  As Lariah said, he likes
pretty things
.  He has stolen from museums, royal vaults and private collectors on at least ninety-three different planets.  He also steals and sells drugs, both legal and illegal, starships of all types, ground-cars, weapons, precious metals, spices, slaves, rare fabrics, exotic life forms, technology, information and just about anything else that there is a market for in the Thousand Worlds. 

“He has contacts everywhere, and in the criminal subspace, he is feared.  If he orders someone on the far end of the galaxy, for example, Barc Landon, to perform a service for him, then the contact had better do it. 

“Loggia is a confirmed sadistic voyeur.  He has two bodyguards who are with him at all times, and a female friend and co-sadist called Sadisa, who comes and goes.  Word is that the bodyguards do the hurting, while Loggia just enjoys the show.”

Val and Trey grimaced in disgust.  “Are they human?” Val asked. 

“Loggia is human,” Garen replied.  “Nobody is sure about the body guards, but there is speculation that they are either human, or Terien.”

“I don’t understand why nobody has stopped them,” Trey said.  “Teriens are perhaps a bit tougher than humans, but nothing more than that.  How can three human or humanoid males cause so much terror and fear?”

“Because they are highly elusive,” Garen replied.  “As Lariah said, Loggia himself rarely participates in the crimes he orders.  Also, his personal space yacht is equipped with an impressive array of technological tricks, including an espionage grade cloaking system.”  Garen sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily.

“We are used to our planet security, where every ship that enters our orbit is monitored, and only those granted special permission are allowed to land.  But on planets like Earth, Teira and most others, ships come and go all the time.  It’s impossible to check every one of them.  I don’t see how they could possibly catch him.”

“Well, Lariah’s sister, Ellicia, was able to find Lariah.  Why can’t anyone find him?” Val asked.

“Loggia knows about the special units, and he’s very careful.  He apparently never leaves anything he steals from a planet, on the same planet, once he takes possession of it.  The only reason Ellicia has had so much success against him is because she catches the little guys who do the stealing before they have a chance to get the goods off-planet.”

“I wonder how Ellicia was able to find Lariah?” Trey asked.

Garen thought about that.  “I don’t know,” he said.  “Perhaps because they are sisters…” he trailed off, then shrugged.  “I am just glad that she was able to.  It doesn’t really matter how.”

“If Loggia is so difficult to catch, how are we going to stop him?” Val asked.

“I don’t know yet, but we must find a way,” Garen said.  “We must see him destroyed not only for what he has done to Lariah, but also for the threat he still poses to her safety.”

“We need to contact the Director then,” Trey said.  “It appears that Loggia’s current activity is centered around Earth, so the Director probably has the most recent information on him.  And information is what we need.”

“I agree,” Garen and Val both said at once.  Garen reached down and flipped through a few pages of the print out he’d received.  “I have the ISCC code for the Director’s private line.  All we need to do is decide what we want to say.” 

“That’s easy,” Val said. “We tell him who we are, that Lariah is our Arima, and that we wish to find and destroy Loggia for his crimes against her.”

Garen started to object, but reconsidered.  It was direct, and not at all diplomatic.  But they were warriors, not diplomats.  And Lariah’s safety was far too important to worry about diplomacy anyway.

“Agreed,” Garen said at last.

Trey nodded his head in agreement as well.  “What’s our lag time?” he asked.

“About 8 hours,” Garen replied.  “If the Director gets the message as soon as it arrives, then responds at once, the earliest we would hear back would be about 16 hours.  20 hours is more reasonable.”

“Then let’s get this done,” Trey said.  “The sooner we get that message sent, the sooner we can get this in motion.”

“We also need to find a way to convince Lariah to tell us what was done to her while she was in Loggia’s hands,” Val said, frustration in his voice.

Suddenly all three men froze for a single heartbeat, then leapt to their feet and raced from the room.  In seconds they reached the guestroom where Lariah was sleeping, the soft whimpers they had heard from the study much louder now.  Garen resisted the urge to blast the door open, slowing enough to open it properly instead.  As they rushed into the room they immediately realized that Lariah was still asleep, though in the throes of a nightmare.  She whimpered and sobbed, her face streaked with tears as her body trembled violently beneath the covers.  Tiny stood beside the bed, his huge head resting on the edge of the mattress, an expression of worry on his furry face. 

Garen reached down and yanked the blanket away from Lariah, then plucked her easily from the bed, tucking her close to his chest.  Val and Trey crowded close as Garen urged her to awaken.

Lariah opened her eyes, startled to see Garen, Trey and Val all looking down at her.  She realized at once that she was, once again, in Garen’s arms, and started to ask why, when she remembered her nightmare.  She shuddered.  It had been a bad one. 

“I’m fine now,” she said.  “You can put me down.”

“You were having a bad dream,” Garen said, “a very bad one.  Would you like to share it with us?”

“No, I would not,” Lariah replied.  “Talking about…things…earlier today is probably what brought it on, and I don’t think talking about it more is going to help.”

Garen frowned and started to open his mouth, but Lariah beat him to it.  “Please,” she said softly, “It was just a nightmare.  I’m tired and I’d like to go back to sleep.” 

Garen didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to tolerate this situation.  But, he could not ignore the pleading in Lariah’s eyes.  She was not ready, and he did not have it in his heart to push her.

“Very well,” he agreed reluctantly, turning back to the bed and lowering her onto it.  “But, the door will remain open.  Should you have another nightmare, we will discuss this further.”

Lariah merely yawned and turned over, her eyes closing sleepily.  They watched her for several minutes before reluctantly leaving the room.  As they stepped into the hall they looked at each other in silent agreement, then turned and headed back to the study.  It was time to record that message and get it sent to the Director.

Slater cursed himself for a fool when he heard the rumor that spaceport security was demanding the security vid data after Barc’s disappearance.  He had not once thought about security cams.  Well, he consoled himself, he was not really a guard.  He couldn’t be expected to know such things. 

He considered hopping on the next ship out of the system, but he hesitated.  As long as he abandoned his security guard form, the security vids shouldn’t matter.  Nobody would ever find that guard because that guard didn’t exist. 

Pleased with himself, Slater took the form of a sani-tech and made a point of bustling around the main guard station.  First the rumors said that ground security was buried in red tape and might never get the vid data.  Slater was relieved about that.  Then came the news that the data had been sent after all.  He began to feel anxious about that.  Then came the startling news that Planetary Security, on royal order, were coming to the skyport to do their own investigation.

Slater almost panicked at that.  He knew if the Jasani guards were coming to the skyport, it was so they could use their alter-form to try to sniff out Barc.  Slater knew that when he transformed, his scent transformed as well, but he could not remain transformed for long.   

There was a chance he could evade capture, but there was also a chance they would find him.  It was time to get off of the skyport, he decided.  Temporarily. 

He took the form of an elderly humanoid male whom he had devoured weeks before, and purchased a ticket to Rondo, a frequent tourist destination only a few systems away.  He didn’t really care about the destination.  It was the next liner leaving and he wanted on it.  As he boarded the vessel he promised himself that he would return in just a few days.  He would not abandon his plan. 

Chapter 10

Lariah awoke the next morning to an odd tapping noise.  She lay in bed for a few minutes, trying to identify the sound, but she couldn’t.  Tiny whined softly and she rolled over to see him standing by the door leading out to the patio.  A low buzzing in her head told her his reason.  She smiled and climbed out of bed, hurrying to open the door for him.  It was then that she realized it was raining.  She stood on the patio breathing in the scent of the rain, the wet plants and soil, filled with wonder at it all.  Earth’s damaged biosphere was still incapable of producing anything like this.

After awhile Tiny returned to the patio, pausing to shake the water off of his coat.  She laughed as she watched him, his big floppy ears whipping back and forth as he shook himself so hard his gigantic paws lifted off the ground.