Undaunted (Battle Born Book 6) (11 page)

They moved against each other, frantic for something just out of reach. Suddenly, he threw back his head and groaned between clenched teeth. He grabbed her hips and ground the base of his cock against her clit. His big body shuddered again and again then something warm gushed against her belly.

Shocked, yet strangely aroused, she felt another orgasm break inside her. This one was fast and intense, leaving her shaken and confused. They hadn’t actually joined, yet this was a hell of a lot more than marking required. Did he expect her to surrender now that they’d shared intimate pleasure, or were they still just courting?

He must have sensed her conflict, or just anticipated that she’d be upset by his behavior. He rocked back onto his knees and met her gaze. “I got carried away, but
all
I’ve done is mark you. You’re still free to choose.” Then an unapologetic smile rolled across his mouth and he caressed her belly, smearing his scent all over her skin.

The move was so animalistic, so uncivilized that it sent a shiver down her spine. Now every male she passed on Lunar Nine would have no doubt that she belonged to General Nox.

When Garin and Berlynn arrived at Lunar Nine an hour later, Raylon was waiting for them. Rather than securing the
Phantom
before talking to his second-in-command, Garin opened the main hatch and motioned Raylon aboard. “Did you miss me?” Garin felt uncharacteristically cheerful after marking his soon-to-be-mate.

Raylon was often even grimmer than Garin, so it was no surprise when he didn’t smile. His expression revealed nothing, but the tension in his features accented the jagged scar marring the right side of his face. “I just received a message from our contact aboard the
Triumphant
.”

The
Triumphant
, like the
Undaunted
, was more mobile city than spaceship. They were part spacecraft carrier, part battle station, and part military base. The
Triumphant
was headquarters for Apex General Bidon Paytor, Garin’s mentor and the only member of the Rodyte military who outranked him. Or had out ranked him while Garin was still an official member of the Rodyte military.

“What’s going on?” Garin’s cheerful mood deflated. If Paytor was involved, it couldn’t be good.

“According to our contact, AG Paytor has been ordered to arrest twelve battle born commanders and replace them with elite officers.”

That in itself wasn’t a surprise. Ships entirely staffed by battle born crewmembers were a potential weakness Quinton should have reinforced a long time ago. But the ratio of battle born crewmen to elite officers had grown so disproportionate that fewer and fewer of the elite were joining the Rodyte military.

“Which twelve?” Garin prompted.

“That’s the problem. Paytor’s not saying. He briefed the extraction teams this morning, but said all twelve ships will be confronted simultaneously and the identities of the commanders wouldn’t be released until just before the missions launch.”

“That had to be Paytor’s idea,” Garin grumbled. “Quinton isn’t that smart.”

“Do we take preemptive action or rescue the commanders after they’ve been arrested?” When Garin didn’t give an immediate answer, Raylon went on, “Paytor is smart. He’ll likely scatter the commanders across Rodyte-controlled space.”

Garin thought about the possibilities for a moment, not wanting to make a rash decision. The battle born had been on the offensive for the past few weeks. He didn’t want to lose the momentum they’d so carefully built. “Every elite officer fit to command a spaceship is already assigned. I can’t even imagine the dredges Paytor is planning to unleash on our men.”

“Then how do we keep it from happening?” Raylon glanced at Berlynn, then snapped his gaze back to Garin. Bonded males were less sensitive to the scent of other males than potential rivals, but it was obvious Raylon had picked up on Garin’s claim.

“There’s only one way to head this off,” Garin decided. “I’ll order every ship with a battle born commander to abandon his post and go dark until I need him.”

Raylon laughed and then stilled, his gaze searching Garin’s. “Are you serious? There are sixty-some ships with battle born commanders. That will leave one gaping hole in the defense grid.”

“We always knew Rodyte society would have to be broken down before we could rebuild it. We can’t let Paytor move forward with his plan.”

Raylon didn’t argue. He accepted Garin’s decision and moved on to tactics. “So where do we send them? They can’t all come here.”

“They could, but it makes more sense to move them to strategic locations between here and Rodymia. That way we’ll decrease response time to either location.”

“If a small fleet of ships suddenly shows up on the moon, Earth will think we’re invading.”

Garin shrugged. “In a way we are.”

Raylon shook his head and sank into the nearest center-facing seat. “What in hells rings happened down there? Have you called off negotiations with the human taskforce?”

“Basically.” Garin looked at Berlynn. She’d turned her seat around so she could see Raylon, but she just silently followed the conversation. “It was Berlynn’s idea, but Morgan backed her. Morgan admitted that her supervisors will never agree to an open call for willing females, so she suggested that we just go for it.”

“She was a little rattled by the fact that the Bunker is bugged,” Berlynn pointed out with a hesitant smile. “That might have had something to do with her feistiness.”

“Who bugged the Bunker?” Raylon looked from Berlynn to Garin then back.

“They don’t know,” she told him.

Garin pulled the transceiver from his pocket and handed it to Raylon. “This is one of the control units. Nazerel is pretty sure it’s nonfunctional now, but watch what you say and potentially show whenever it’s unwrapped. Have you ever seen anything like it?”

Raylon carefully opened the foil package and unwrapped the device. He turned it over, then slowly slid back the case so he could look at the circuitry. “Could be Ontarian, or Linusian. I don’t think it’s Rodyte. There’s a logo or some sort of symbol on the inside of the case. Vox has access to the Wisdom of the Ages. I’ll see if he can help us identify the source.”

“Good call.” Garin motioned toward mystery device and Raylon returned it to the foil package. “Tell Kotto to expect me shortly. I have a long-range message to send to sixty-odd ships.”

“What about the
Undaunted
,” Raylon asked. “As of right now, her commander is battle born too.”

Garin had left Sedrik Lux in charge, though Garin still considered the
Undaunted
his ship. “I’ll bring her here. If the
Undaunted
appears in the skies above Earth, there will be no turning back for any of us.”

Raylon stood, his expression thoughtful. “Regardless of how much we reveal, I think we passed the point of no return a long time ago.” Then he dipped his head toward Garin and left the shuttle.

Berlynn’s violent shiver drew Garin’s attention back to her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I just can’t believe that man is mated with Chandar. They are so opposite.”

He understood her confusion. Chandar was ethereal, nearly angelic in appearance, but he’d known Raylon since they were both cadets. “Don’t let his gruff exterior fool you. There’s a lot more to Raylon than his scars.”

“There would have to be for Chandar to willingly bond with him.” When he made no other comment, she asked, “What’s the Wisdom of the Ages?”

“The Symposium wasn’t mentioned in your awakening?” She just shook her head, so he explained, “The Symposium is an intergalactic organization that verifies and maintains all of the information contained in the Wisdom of the Ages. They’re completely neutral in all conflicts, other than providing information when it’s requested. To borrow a phrase from Indigo, they’re the intergalactic internet.”

Berlynn smiled, clearly thinking of Garin’s youngest brother and his colorful mate. “Now, Zilor and Indigo I get. They’re perfect for each other.”

“What about Bandar and Ashley?”

“I’ve only met Ashley once and I’ve never even spoken with Bandar.”

He turned back to the main control matrix and quickly concluded the post-flight evaluation. “Would you like to meet my brothers and their mates? I could arrange a dinner or something.” When she didn’t immediately respond, he pulled his hands free of the matrix and looked at her. “It’s a standard part of courting, B. You’re still free to choose.”

“You keep saying that because you’re convinced I’ve already chosen.”

His first instinct was to say,
haven’t you
? But he forced himself to soften the question. “Have you?”

“No,” she said a little too emphatically. “You come with an awful lot of baggage, General Nox. I’m not sure you’re worth it.”

He laughed, undeterred by her criticism. “Then I’ll keep trying to change your mind.” He powered down the ship and stood, drawing her to her feet as well. “I know my situation is complicated, but I’ll make our life together worth all the obstacles. I promise.” He reinforced the vow with a long, deep kiss.

* * * * *

Milanni stood beside the reclined seat in her ship staring down at the battered human female. Grotesque swelling and colorful bruises distorted Nicole’s features and she had several broken bones. The medi-bots dispatched by her ship had stabilized Nicole, but nothing more. That was the nice thing about computers, they took everything literally.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been unconscious, but she’d felt much better when she awakened this time. Her body still hurt in places she refused to think about, but her mind was clear. Fyran expected her to fight her way to the
Intrepid
and then throw herself on the mercy of its battle born crew. The battle born had an overdeveloped sense of honor. They wouldn’t be able to reject two abused females, especially while one was still in desperate need of medical attention.

It was a solid plan, but Milanni had no intention of following through with Fyran’s intended outcome. He wanted her to steal the newly developed full-human formula used to transform battle born males allowing them to access their magic. She understood why Fyran wanted the compound. Every member of his crew was battle born and being able to control magic would give them a serious advantage in most conflicts. But if he thought she’d return to the
Relentless
, like a loyal lapdog, he was deluded. She would either steal the compound and sell it to Fyran through a well-armed broker or she’d find another buyer for the formula. There were millions of battle born males all desperate for the opportunity to unlock their latent magic.

After checking Nicole’s safety restraints, Milanni slipped into the captain’s seat and activated the control panel. According to Fyran, and he had no reason to lie about the detail, the
Intrepid
had been docked on the upper level of Lunar Nine near the main entrance ever since it arrived at the outpost. She had to blast through the energy net covering the mouth of the cave and outrun the ships guarding the entrance. Then she had to reach the
Intrepid
and convince the commander to allow her aboard.

This would either work or it wouldn’t and she was completely out of options. She programed her trajectory then paused. Fyran had an informant on Lunar Nine that was keeping him well informed of everything that went on there. Until her recent falling out with Fyran, he had shared the developments with her. The battle born rebels had formed some sort of alliance with Tandori Tribe, which meant the battle born knew about Vinton’s death.

She heaved a frustrated sigh. She hadn’t meant to kill Vinton Tandori, had done little more than defend herself against his paranoid attack. But without the Integration Guild’s protection, she was just Lady M, a worthless madam, no better than the whores she managed.

Maybe she should run. Get as far away from this star system as possible.

And then what?

She had no intergalactic credits, nothing of worth except her ship. But it technically belonged to the IG. If she tried to sell it, they’d be notified of her whereabouts and she’d be arrested for stealing their property. What a mess. No, this heist was her best option. She’d sell the formula to the highest bidder and then disappear into the night, leaving behind every remnant of Milanni and Lady M.

With her decision made, she engaged the ship’s engines and headed for the dark side of Earth’s moon. The other planets sped by in a blur of color as she engaged her transwarp drive, first Saturn, then Jupiter, then Mars. She’d never considered herself much of an actress, brutal honesty was more her style. But her success depended on the battle born feeling sorry for her. She was about to give the performance of a lifetime.

Her ship curved around Earth and came up on the backside of the moon. Darkness engulfed her, the utter lack of light oppressive after the blue-and-green glow of Earth. Navigating entirely by instrumentation, she positioned herself directly in front of the cave’s entrance. Her ship was shielded, so they wouldn’t detect her until she passed through the energy net. That was her only advantage, so she needed to make the most of it.

Time was her enemy. She had to reach the
Intrepid
before the guard ships intercepted her—or blasted her out of the sky. Every ship in the battle born fleet had a medical bay, most had regeneration units. But the formula was on the
Intrepid
.

Using her scanners put her at risk of detection, but knowing her exact destination would shave time off her arrival. She decided it was worth the risk and scanned the cave’s interior, quickly locating the
Intrepid
.

She locked in the course and whispered a prayer to any god willing to listen. Twin guard ships flanked the entrance. The energy net wasn’t visible, but she had no doubt it was there. If the guard ships detected her scan, they didn’t react. Or they were scanning for her ship and couldn’t find her. She accelerated as she neared the net, knowing every millisecond counted.

Half an instant after her bow penetrated the net, the guard ships spun around and targeted her ship.

“Medical emergency. Don’t shoot. Please don’t shoot!” Her voice broke convincingly as her hands began to shake.