Undaunted (Battle Born Book 6) (9 page)

“I appreciate the heads up. It’s this sort of thing that makes me hesitant to accept Garin’s offer. I don’t want to be dragged into the middle of a war.”

“Now you understand how I feel,” Berlynn said with a sad sort of smile.

“Did you sleep well?” Garin managed to keep the pleasure out of his voice, but one corner of his mouth twitched. Berlynn appeared neat and freshly groomed, but faint smudges shadowed her golden eyes.

“Like a baby,” she infused her tone with a sensual purr and Garin’s smile broadened. He loved it when she was feisty. She’d been ready to depart when he arrived at Stargazer Ranch a few minutes ago, but it was obvious that her rest had been just as troubled as his.

After confirming their course in the
Phantom
’s navigational system, Garin engaged the autopilot then turned his head toward Berlynn. “You look lovely, by the way. Those colors suit you.” The flowing skirt mixed shades of gold, amber and bronze into an abstract pattern that brought out the luster of her long blonde hair. She’d paired the skirt with an ivory shirt with jeweled buttons and flat-heeled boots. Still, the image of her pale body, bathed in moonlight kept teasing his imagination.

“I wouldn’t know what colors suit you,” she returned. “I’ve never seen you in anything but black.”

“Occupational hazard, sweetheart.” Her gaze collided with his and his pulse accelerated. He hadn’t meant to use the endearment, but there was no way he’d apologize. She was his sweetheart, his love, his mate, and he refused to pretend otherwise.

Rather than comment on the slip, however, she asked, “Did you speak with Danvier and Haven?”

“Briefly. And I’m ashamed to say, their mission was more successful than ours. The steering committee, which is all the guild masters, has agreed to back the three-person council I proposed once Quinton is overthrown.”

“What three-person council? This is the first I’ve heard of it.” She sounded faintly annoyed.

He thought for a moment and realized she was right. “I didn’t withhold the concept intentionally. The subject just never came up.”

“Well, tell me about it now.”

A bossy note sharpened her tone and desire flooded his system. Every time she issued a challenge, his inner hunter insisted he respond with carnal aggression. But now was not the time. It only took half an hour to reach the Bunker and her seduction would require more time than that, much more time. “The battle born comprise thirty-two percent of the Rodyte population, yet they’re not allowed to join any of the guilds. Conversely, every guild member is elite, yet the elite comprise only six percent of the Rodyte population.”

“Meaning only the elite have any say in how things are done?”

“True. They also arrange everything to benefit their interests and only their interests.” Immersing himself in business seemed to be the only way to keep his mind off seducing his reluctant mate, so he focused on the coming confrontation. “Quinton is supposed to be the ultimate authority on Rodymia, but everyone knows the guild masters have the real power.”

“Especially the Integration Guild?”

He nodded. “Letos is less of a threat than his predecessor, but that much power has a way of corrupting even the most well-meaning soul. So I proposed replacing Quinton with a three-person council. They’ve been calling it the Triad. One person would represent the guild masters, one the battle born, and the other Tandori Tribe.”

Emotion flashed in her gaze, yet he wasn’t able to decipher the cause. “The vast majority of Tandori Tribe now live on Earth. Why would you give them a seat on the Triad?”

“It’s my understanding that many would like to return home once the changes have been implemented. You also have a wide network of supporters on Rodymia. This would give them a voice as well.”

She nodded then glanced away. “There has been grumblings for years. It doesn’t seem to matter that most of us were born on Earth, our parents too, for that matter. Rodyte roots sink deeply into a person’s soul.”

He waited until she looked at him again to ask, “Would you return if you were no longer a fugitive?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged, her gaze searching his. “I guess it will depend on the other full-blood Tandoris. Some of us will need to stay on Earth. Unless everyone decides to return, and I don’t think that will happen.”

They lapsed into a companionable silence until they reached the Bunker. There were many things Garin wanted to say, but none of them would create a harmonious working environment. Their personal conflict would have to wait until they’d hammered out an agreement with the human taskforce.

The parking lot parted and Garin maneuvered the agile ship into the underground hangar. The complex was surrounded by miles of desert and the only above-ground building was a maintenance shed. Even if someone caught a glimpse of the place, there was nothing remotely interesting, at least on the surface.

Garin began a quick post-flight evaluation when Nazerel pinged his mind. Nazerel was telepathic, while Garin depended on the nano-coms integrated into his brain.

Let us in. We’ve maintained the masquerade longer than we can stand.

Intrigued by the statement, Garin sent the signal from external cameras to the main viewscreen. Nazerel and Morgan stood beside the ship, obviously waiting for him to activate the hatch. Nazerel looked dark and brooding, as always. But Morgan’s appearance surprised him. Her bright red hair had been drawn back into a simple ponytail rather than secured into a neat upsweep. Devoid of cosmetics, her sculpted features made her appear vulnerable, uncertain, and that was completely out of character for the ever-confident female. Too curious to refuse, Garin triggered the main hatch and waited for their visitors to join them inside the small ship.

“What’s this about?”

Engage audio dampeners
, Nazerel advised.

He gave his cousin a confused look, but did as he’d asked.

“You promised us a ride.” Nazerel’s tone was still stiff and cautious so Garin didn’t react to Nazerel’s odd behavior.

“Then have a seat and strap yourself in.”

Nazerel and Morgan quickly sat and latched their safety restraints.

Still not understanding what this was all about, Garin waited for the overhead opening to appear then launched the
Phantom
back into the sky.

“We’ve suspected that the Bunker is bugged for several weeks now, but all of our scans kept coming up empty.” Morgan began once the complex was far behind. “Then one of my maintenance crews stumbled across a strange unit this morning. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“The transceiver was shielded, impossible for our scanners to detect,” Nazerel added, looking every bit as rattled as his mate. “We haven’t spotted one yet, but the unit we found controls some sort of micro-bot that provides visuals as well as sound. The memory contained recordings from all over the complex, so the units are either networked or have components that are able to move. Now that we know what to look for, we’ve found eleven more. But I suspect we’re infested with the damn things.”

Garin programed a holding pattern for the
Phantom
then swiveled his seat around so he faced the concerned couple. “Then whoever is spying on you has alien technology.”

Nazerel nodded. “And it’s not Rodyte. Just like Morgan, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Is this why you’ve been so uncooperative?” Berlynn was never one to beat around the bush.

“Of course,” Morgan cried, less composed than Garin had ever seen her. “Every time either of you said anything important, I wanted to crawl across the table and cover your mouth. This has been exasperating.”

“Then why wait until now to ask for a ride?” Berlynn wanted to know. “You could have done this the first morning we arrived.”

Morgan spread her hands in a helpless shrug. “We weren’t sure if we were just being paranoid or if we had a real problem.”

“And we still have no way of knowing if they can pick up on telepathic communication,” Nazerel pointed out. “We have no idea who’s spying on us or why.”

“How can we help?” Garin was tempted to use this opportunity to further the negotiations, but bringing it up seemed heartless.

“If I give you one of the units we found this morning, can your people backward engineer the thing? Maybe figure out how to detect them?”

“Or better yet, shut them all down?” Morgan suggested.

Garin hesitated. “Are you sure it’s inactive? I don’t want to give your stalker a look inside Lunar Nine.”

“As soon as we started tampering with it, the device turned itself off,” Nazerel told him. “That’s part of the reason we weren’t able to figure out much about it.”

“I can’t promise results,” Garin stressed, “but I’ll give it my best shot.”

That seemed to settle them down. Morgan blew out a ragged breath and Nazerel reached for her hand.

“So where does this leave me?” Garin finally asked.

Morgan exchanged a pained look with Nazerel before she spoke. “As I’m sure you’ve figured out, we can only authorize Rodyte interaction with human females if it’s completely contained. My superiors insist on complete secrecy from everyone who comes to Earth.”

“How would they stop us if we decided not to ask for permission?” The open challenge in Berlynn’s voice made Garin smile for a change. Her flashes of spirit were much more fun when they were aimed at someone else. “As long as each female is offered a choice, it’s not really up to anyone but them.”

“I happen to agree with you,” Morgan assured her. “Unfortunately, my supervisors don’t.”

“Then your supervisors need to come out of the shadows and explain it to me.” Garin let impatience creep into his tone. “I’ve tried to be patient. Obviously, I can shatter this illusion in an instant. I want to work with the human authorities. That’s why we’ve remained at Lunar Nine. But frankly, I’m running out of time.”

“I’ll try again.” Morgan sounded sincere, so it surprised him when she added, “Between you and me, they’re never going to agree. I’d just go for it.”

“Morgan.” Clearly Nazerel was even more shocked by her suggestion than Garin had been.

“Will your supervisors blame you if I ‘just go for it’?”

Morgan shrugged. “At this point, I don’t really care. They’re secretive and myopic. And worst of all, they’re foolish enough to believe they’re in control. They need someone to shake things up. You’re a far better choice than some of the beings we’ve encountered.”

On the surface her attitude seemed disloyal, but Garin understood the long-term benefits of shaking up the status quo. “Proceeding without their permission now will help prepare them for future negotiations with a more aggressive force?”

“Hopefully.” Morgan finally relaxed enough to smile. “These people are slow to learn and hopelessly set in their ways.”

“At least we understand your motives,” Nazerel added. “You’ve assured us that only willing females will be allowed to participate in the program. As Morgan said, the rest is between you and the females.”

Garin accepted the recommendation with a thoughtful nod. “Then give me the unit you found this morning and I’ll let you know what we learn.”

Nazerel drew a small package out of his pocket and handed it to Garin. The device had been wrapped in a dense cloth and sealed inside a foil bag. Dormant or not, Nazerel wasn’t taking any chances.

“We appreciate your help,” Morgan told him. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t more help to you. Bureaucrats can be extremely frustrating.”

“If my actions become a hardship to you, please let me know. I don’t want you to be punished for the needs of the battle born.”

“My supervisors will be pissed, but there’s not much they can do about it. You’re a far superior force and they know it.”

That seemed to conclude the unconventional negotiation session, so Garin took control of the
Phantom
and returned Morgan and Nazerel to the Bunker. After the couple departed, Garin navigated away from the human complex, then paused to look at Berlynn.

“That was…odd.” She shook her head then glanced at him. “I suppose you have your go-ahead, but it still feels unfinished.”

“If it weren’t for Nazerel, I wouldn’t have given Morgan this much latitude. Their joining is relatively new and I didn’t want to create conflict between my cousin and his mate.”

“It sounds like she has bigger problems than angering her supervisors. I know how hard she works to keep her organization secret. This development is a serious security breech.”

“To say the least. It’s likely some human group traded for the technology, but this could also indicate that there are aliens on Earth of which the humans are not yet aware.”

“What a mess,” Berlynn muttered as she gazed out the main viewscreen.

Garin scrolled through the control screens, confirming the functionality of each system before giving Berlynn his undivided attention. On the meandering course he’d set, it would take nearly two hours to reach Lunar Nine. And he had unfinished business to conclude with his reluctant mate.

She responded best to honesty, so he came right to the point. “I can’t allow you to return to Lunar Nine without my mark to protect you.”

“That’s bullshit and we both know it. I was on Lunar Nine for almost a week without your mark ‘protecting’ me.”

“You arrived with your uncle, which made you his responsibility. Ulrik has since proved to be an unworthy protector and you are now my responsibility.”