DarkRevenge (24 page)

“Bullshit,” Tory said. “This plan has been going on for two
generations, Darius. It began in your grandfather’s time and he was no
pushover.”

“No, not at all.” Darius sighed. “How long until we can get
to my injured man?”

Tory pressed the com button. “Dink? Clear the bay. And send
medics.”

“Okay, Commander.”

Another hiss and the bay cleared. Tory opened the door for
Darius. “You’d better prepare for a firefight with your own men.”

“Well, at least I’ll know who my friends are.” The sarcastic
tinge to Darius’ words made Tory wince.

“You’re welcome to stay aboard.”

Darius shook his head. “No.” He gave Tory a steady look.
“What are you going to do with the container?”

“The container?” He gave Darius a wicked grin. “I’m going to
sell it to the highest bidder to see who knows what was in it.”

The other man’s eyebrows rose. “Was?”

“Was.”

Slowly, Darius nodded. “I see. And you’ll tell me nothing
else.”

“Nope. That’s it. It’s a lot, actually.” Tory crossed his
arms and observed the rush of medics. His men contained the other Teran One
soldiers. “So, you’re going to go back to the warships?”

“Yes. There are more men loyal to me than you think.”

“I hope you’re right.” Tory strode to the shuttle at the men
unconscious on the ramp. “What about these two? They’re definitely not loyal to
you.”

“Keep them restrained. I’ll take them back with me.” He
climbed onto the shuttle.

Brave. Stupid, but brave. If the fighting broke against him
on his warships, two fewer men might make the difference. Darius caught the
expression Tory wore and smiled. “I know you think it’s crazy, but I save them
from you and then they owe me. It might save my skin in the future.”

Tory shrugged. “It’s your skin.”

Darius thrust out his hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you,
Commander.”

Tory took the man’s hand. “Likewise, sir,” he said with no
sarcasm at all. The king was young. He was embattled. But he was a leader. “I
wouldn’t go back to Teran One for a bit. We discovered another shipment of the
same contents has been delivered.”

There was no surprise on Darius’ face. “I understand.”

The man boarded the shuttle, three of his men unconscious
and two trussed up, to go back to what was likely a mutiny. He saluted from the
cockpit and Tory cleared his men from the bay.

The shuttle swerved into space and flew toward the nearest
warship. Tory hit the com. “Dink, what’s the last bid we had?”

“Two hundred and seventy-five million leders.”

“From whom?”

“Teran Four.”

“Any sign of them?” The Teran Fours would try to take the
item by force rather than pay. Teran Five would leave them alone as long as
they stayed out of the Teran Five airspace. Teran Three would buy off someone
on
The Pinnacle
to steal it. And Teran Two wouldn’t want to be involved
at all. They’d sent a protest.

“No, Commander. Bud says there’s no chatter, either.”

Which was not reassuring. It meant if Teran Four planned a
hit, his people couldn’t prepare. Better to be prepared than dead. “Head toward
Teran One. We have some unfinished business there.”

Teran Four wouldn’t try for the container as long as Teran
One weapons were aimed at
The Pinnacle.
It was the fighters he worried
about. Would Gregor shoot down a huge vessel containing a deadly plague? Well,
hell why not? He was planning to release it to kill off whole sections of the
population.

If the plague was going to be released on Teran One, he owed
a few people their lives. He had to rescue the people who had been part of the
underground. At this point, he had no idea where the other vials might be. He
was hoping his contacts did.

* * * * *

Relief flooded Alex’s system and she couldn’t stop
trembling. Jezar shoved her in a seat on the bridge. It wasn’t going to happen.
Tory wasn’t going to die. Darius didn’t start shooting. The vision wasn’t going
to come true.

When she heard Tory order Dink to send for medics, her heart
stopped. She didn’t relax until he ordered Dink to set a course for Teran One.
Then, she started shaking.

Jezar came over after they’d made the adjustments. “You
should go to your quarters. Shall I take you?”

He must have known she wasn’t sure she could walk. Somehow,
she rose to her feet and made it to the elevator. Jezar said nothing as the car
took them down.

She took deep breaths and by the time the doors opened, she
was less freaked out. The possibility of losing Tory had hit her like a
supernova and she’d buckled. After the whole thing was over, of course.

Jezar opened the door to Tory’s quarters and waited until
she was inside. “Thank you,” she said.

He bowed. “I’m sure Tory will be here soon.” And he left.

What did Tory have planned? They were going to Teran One,
but for what? Questions whirled through her mind. What in the hell had Darius
and Tory talked about?

Darius.

When he’d taken the throne, she’d been a new commander,
intent on proving herself. He’d been a child, really, trying to be brave, his
father dead, his family decimated. All he had was the Zeerah family and an aunt
who had married that piece of shit, Gregor. Alex had been determined to keep
Darius on his throne. It had been her brother Samuel’s political savvy and her
own military prowess that had kept Darius in power. When Alex’s family had
begun to die, her power in the court lessened. Samuel had fingers in all the
pies. She was a commander, a genius at warfare, but a political bull in a china
shop. Diplomacy wasn’t her strong suit.

Samuel had always been the one who handled the delicate
political maneuvering. He negotiated with all the families, keeping the Zeerah
bloodline in power. Once Samuel was gone and Gregor held sway over the
families, Alex had spent less time at court and more time training.

Now she wondered if that had been a wise choice.

Darius showed brilliance at the political nuances but once
Gregor showed up, Alex stayed at the forefront of her men, fighting for Teran
One, rather than put up with the new face of power. Had she blundered? Darius
had been nineteen when Alex’s heart had been shattered by Tory’s exile and
she’d thrown herself into the planet’s defenses rather than her cousin’s court.

While she paced the room, she ran through everything she
knew about Teran One bloodlines. The Gregors were one of the old families. The
Stenders were connected to the Gregors by several marriages, but the Zeerahs
were closer to the throne.

The old families were vulnerable. They were the ones who
didn’t marry new lines, the ones that stayed insular and isolated. The
bloodlines with new blood were more likely to survive, bloodlines that had
apparently emanated from Ardasia. The isolated lines were the ones who would be
infected by the plague. That had to be the plan. Infect the planet, get rid of
the old families. In the past, families had fought for prominence, for power.
Get rid of the first families, the ones who still held most of Teran One’s
political clout, and the status quo would be destroyed. One bloodline could
sweep in and dominate the Teran One government. The question was what family
would come up with a horrific plan like that? She felt like she ought to know.

She’d studied bloodlines, the families, as a counterpoint to
the violence of her military career. Pacing, she clicked off the latecomers.
There were several, but only a handful showed up during the right period—when
Darius’ grandfather implemented the
Saria
. Up until that generation, new
families weren’t integrated into the structure of Teran One society. They lived
on Teran One, but they weren’t a part of the economy and the bloodlines until
Lando Stender had stopped the constant bloodshed between families by creating
the
Saria
contracts.

It was the new families, the Ingles, the Vinars, the Byrons,
and many more who made the
Saria
contracts work by arbitrating them,
creating rules that all the Teran One families could live with. Tory’s
bloodline, once extensive and prolific, began to drop off immediately. Alex
remembered when she had studied his bloodline. Before she’d presented a
possible Courtship Contract to him, she’d wanted to know everything about him.
And his family. His great-grandfather had stood beside Lando Stender, had
fought to put him on the throne even though he was from Teran Five. Arden Ingle
had fallen deeply in love with a native Teran One woman, Melia Orion, who
refused to marry him. It was Arden who began the fairy tale little girls were
told for the next three generations.

Arden Ingle, lonely and unmarried, had only his brother to
carry on the bloodline on Teran One. The last male heir of the Solly family, in
a foolish drunken brawl, killed Arden’s brother. By Teran One’s new
Saria
law, Arden had the right to kill the last male heir. Instead, he chose to take
a woman from the Solly family. It was this
Saria
contract, created with
the Mutual Nullification clause, that carried on the Ingle line. Regina Solly
Ingle had five boys for Arden Ingle. A happy ending all around.

Why was she thinking about some random fairy tale? She
should be trying to discover who was coming up with this apocalyptic plan. But
something about the tale was connected.

The Gregors.

The hatred of the Gregor bloodline for the Sollys’ power
dotted Teran One history, each side committing acts of violence. After the
joining of the Solly and new Ingle bloodline, the Sollys went on the soar in
popularity as the Gregors tumbled to obscurity. Bloodlines ebbed and flowed,
but political power on Teran One was held through strong genetic connections.
The Sollys recognized that their line had been weakened by isolating. New
blood, through the Ingle line, had reinvigorated them, yet allowed them to retain
their First Family status.

Only the Gregor bloodline had refused to include new blood.
They had stubbornly clung to the old ways, the old families, and as a result,
died out. Pontoon Gregor had only two sons, both the last of their line. He’d
married Darius’ aunt, but they’d had no children so the Gregor bloodline
remained pure. And vulnerable.

Wouldn’t it be in Gregor’s best interest to intermarry with
those with the anti-plague gene?

Unless it wasn’t the Gregor family.

Shit.

His own sons didn’t have the gene to protect them. Could the
Gregor family be the target?

One of the new bloodlines? Perhaps. But most of them were
connected to the old families. It would be a genetic throw of the dice. Some
would carry the gene and some wouldn’t. How could anyone be sure?

No, it had to be someone who knew they were immune, their
bloodline was safe. She stopped abruptly. The Sollys would feel safe. And they
hated the Gregors.

The Sollys had been on their last leg as a bloodline when
Regina became Arden’s
Saria
. Fenton Solly, the last male heir, was a
drunk. His two sisters, Regina and Char, were both in danger from destruction
by the other families who wanted them dead. Regina married Arden and founded
the Ingle family bloodline on Teran One. Char married another newcomer, a
Byron, Arden’s closest friend. But Fenton went on to a loveless, contracted
mating that produced only one child, who died without producing an heir.

It was Char Solly Byron’s bloodline that inherited the Solly
land and the Solly name. And, apparently, the Solly hatred. With their own
genes safely stowed in the Byron blood, the new Solly line would benefit the
most from the destruction of the old lines.

And killing off the Ingles? Collateral damage. The Ingles
were close to the Stenders and the Zeerahs. Kill them all and be the last
standing. That was the plan.

She had to be right. And she had to tell Tory. Now.

Her finger stabbed the com button. “Commander Ingle?”

“He’s on his way, Alex.” Jezar’s voice cracked over the
radio.

“I think I know who’s planning this.” She didn’t want to
wait. Before they reached Teran One, she had to let Tory know.

“Wait.” Jezar was silent for a moment and, for some reason,
Alex’s nerves stretched tight.

Something wasn’t right.

“Alex? Come to the bridge. Don’t talk to anyone and stay in
contact with me. Tory has been abducted.”

Her stomach contracted as if someone had punched her. “No.”

“Leave now,” Jezar ordered her.

She smacked the door button and fled down the corridor
toward the elevator.

I was able to read Tory, but it was faint. Apparently,
the traitor has made their move.

Who, Jezar? Who is it?

It looks like Pulzer has kidnapped him. He’s taken him in
a shuttle and they’re heading for Teran One.

His contact, Jezar. On Teran One.
She had an idea she
knew, but she needed Jezar to confirm it. The elevator was too fucking slow.
She had to get on that bridge and rescue Tory.
I know he had one. To hide
Celeste, he had to have someone on the planet giving him information and help.

Her name is Ena. Ena Solly.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I read she is part of the family you suspect.

Yes, and I imagine Pulzer is related somehow.

Tory would not let me do a deep read on his crew, so I
don’t know.

The doors whooshed open and Alex strode onto the bridge.
Dink looked green, like he was going to puke on his shoes. Bud’s fists were
clenched, his face white and ghostly. Jezar wouldn’t meet her gaze. Guilt.
Rage. Fear. None of that shit was going to help now.

“Get this bucket moving, Bud. Now. We’re going to catch that
shuttle.” She bit the order out and Bud glared at her.

“He’ll kill Tory if we threaten him.”

She shook her head. “He’ll try to bargain with him. You
managed to fuck me over and I had explosives, an unknown weapon in my hold and
a suicidal resignation. Pulzer doesn’t have shit. Move.” She shouted the last
word and the crew was galvanized into action.