Girl Gone Nova (48 page)

She had an email from the Major. Didn’t want to read it. If she survived, she’d send him a resignation. If she didn’t, he’d get the memo. The email from Sara she opened.

It was chatty and fun. She’d been to see the new
Star Trek
movie. It was about an alternate time line and how crazy was that, but also very fun.

Fun.
Yeah, Doc was having a hilarious time.

She rubbed her face, managed to craft a response that didn’t include a wail of anguish. Curious, she pulled up their emails for the last two years. It was a relief to find them much as she recalled. At least that hadn’t changed.

She closed down her email and turned to her room. It looked like she remembered, devoid of personal details that gave people insights into who she was. She opened a cabinet and found her weapons. Did that mean she’d gone down to the outpost without them? That wasn’t like her if she had. On the upside, she could put them on now. She stopped at the visible ones. Not part of the plan to get shot by a jarhead.

With some reluctance, her brain circled and landed on the subject of Hel. It had been hard to explain events to someone who knew her. How hard would it be to convince him if he didn’t know her? The
ma’rasile
mark itched. Was that from missing him, or from wanting proximity? It had gotten more defined with every light year the Gadi ships got closer to the outpost, but now the ships appeared to have paused a hyperjump away, just like Conan’s ships. Would there be a last diplomatic effort or was this the prelude to battle?

Whatever it was, the General was out of time.

As if he’d heard her thoughts, she got her summons back into his presence. What it meant that she still had an escort she didn’t know.

* * * * *

She was too well informed, knew stuff she shouldn’t.
Donovan trusted her
. Briggs agreed it was crazy, but crazy didn’t make it bogus. She hadn’t been near Miri’s lab. He’d checked. She hadn’t been on the outpost long enough to do much of anything before she’d collapsed into a still medically unexplained coma. The thoughts of any kind of link with Giddioni made him want to hit something. The thought he might be a prisoner on his own ship helped. But none of it solved the basic problem.

If she was right and this Vidor Shan character could pluck the tagged women off his ship, then he had a problem. He couldn’t leave. He couldn’t stay. His only way out was with Gadi help and that was a long shot. She hadn’t sugarcoated any of it, he’d give her that. They were in a tough spot, even if the Gadi came down on their side again. They’d expect access, possibly a complete withdrawal from the galaxy by the expedition. His bosses would be pissed. Good thing he was retiring after this deployment.

Asking the Gadi for help made his gut burn, no question about that.

He looked up as the doors slid back, the SO detail delivering the Doc back for round two. He used the power of his eyes while he waited for the detail to leave the room. This appeared to amuse her for some reason. He thought about calling her on it, but there was no time. If the Gadi attacked before contact could be made, they were screwed.

“Why do I have the feeling you have a plan, Doctor?”

“I always have a plan, sir.”

When she laid it out, Halliwell almost couldn’t find his voice to ask the question. “You go in alone? That’s your plan?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t right.

“Anyone you could send would just slow me down.” She almost smiled. “I require a high level of autonomy. It allows me to be functionally flexible, and I don’t have to explain anything I don’t have time for.”

“You shouldn’t be alone.”

“I’m always alone.”

Some emotion, and not a good one, flickered in her eyes before she masked it.

“If it can be done, I’ll do it. If I can’t do it, it can’t be done.”

It was arrogant, the words were arrogant, but her tone was resigned.

“How long…” He trailed off, not knowing how to ask her when he should give up on her.

“The impossible takes a little longer, but if the Gadi start shooting real missiles…” She finished with a shrug, too fatalistic for someone so young.

“What if Vidor Shan tracks you?”

“The phase cloak should block his tracking capability.”

He made one last try. If he could get Shan off their back, he’d retreat without hesitation. “Donovan was able to affect Gadi systems using her nanites. If you got on board Shan’s ship, couldn’t you do that, too?”

“The nanites were designed to aid in first contact, but Vidor Shan is from a different galaxy, with different tech. It will take time for my nanites to learn to talk to their tech. And if the Gadi attack before I take him down…” She gave him a sympathetic look. “I did consider all possible variables. This is the one with highest probability of success. And it’s not that high.”

If having her board the Gadi flagship alone and trying to convince Giddioni she’d met him in another reality was their best hope for survival, they were screwed.

Doc didn’t let it go to her head when she was able to board Hel’s flagship with no discernible problems. Fate could pull the rug out later. And the law of unintended consequences was sure to have a go at her, too. She spiked into their systems with no muss and no fuss. Her peeps were as curious as she was. All that time in a test tube.

They were sentient. She’d always known it, but had to ask when she was about to put her life on the line again. Lucky for her there were only three defined personalities, one per test tube. If all of them had been individually sentient, the vote might have taken too long. They’d worried they were bothering her until she pointed out she’d always had multiple personality disorder.

I’m always alone
, she’d told the General, but this time the peeps had her back in a way no human could or would. They’d taken to the phase cloak like ducks to water and adapted something similar for her personal use. It wasn’t a total phase, because she didn’t want to accidentally shoot out of the ship into hard space from say, firing a weapon. Actions always had reactions.

Each light year closer to the Gadi flagship had eased the itching around her marriage tattoo. That had stopped when she’d come aboard. Hel was on this ship and he was close. He had enough surviving nanites to achieve a minimal connection with hers and together they made her a map. That he still had nanites gave her some hope he might remember her, though she’d been unable to communicate with him. Doc was eager to see him and terrified like she’d never been terrified before and that included her thirty year battle with
them
.

Would she be stuck in limbo, forever bonded to a man who didn’t want her, who maybe had never wanted her?

She finished gearing up, and the peeps made her a hole in the phase cloak. She stepped out into a little-used storage bay. No surprise it was pretty. Their garbage compactor was probably pretty. Also no surprise it was empty. That had been the plan.

Doc carried a stun hand weapon, had a stun rifle strapped across her back. Was packing some doubles for Hel. Also had some projectile weapons, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to go in shooting-to-kill when her mission was semi-diplomatic. It was a pity that the future weapons had disappeared when the creeps messed with them.

It was easy to avoid contact with the crew on the first few decks, but as she got closer to Hel’s location, crew contact increased exponentially, though the people she saw looked more like goons and mercenaries. And they weren’t that pretty.

There was no guard outside Hel’s room, which felt wrong. The door was secured, not a problem for her peeps. Three life signs inside. Doc pulled an extra ray gun and prepared to drop cloak. Her peeps popped the lock. She stepped over the threshold. Saw two guards, weapons pinging on the open doorway and puzzled looks on their seriously goon-like faces. These two were not Gadi. They made the mistake of looking at each other when the door slid closed again. Doc dropped cloak. Then she shot them.

Hel lay unmoving on the bed. Her wrist tingled as she moved closer, the mark turning intensely silver, a mini
ma’rasile
dance of joy? He had a setup attached to his arm that looked much like the one he’d used on her when she was sick on his ship in the other timeline. If they were sedating him, she hoped it didn’t take long to get him alert again. She reached out to shut it off.

Arms closed around her.

Her feet left the decking.

Her back slammed against the bed.

A long, strong body pinned her down.

She could have put up more of a fight, but her body liked being flattened into the soft mattress by Hel, it liked the feel of him, the smell of him and wanted to taste him right now. His hands shackled her wrists, holding her arms above her head, igniting a now familiar system meltdown.

“You are a female.”

No sign of recognition in his face or eyes. It was kind of embarrassing she was still turned on. Though he wasn’t completely indifferent either. It took all she had to keep her face blank and calm. There were several smart ass retorts she could have made, but she didn’t. “Yes.”

“You are an assassin.”

“No.”

“I do not believe you.”

Doc looked for changes in his face. Other than the dislike and suspicion, which was new, he seemed the same. She felt an odd desolation quiver in the center of her chest. He didn’t recognize her. He didn’t like her. Hello, law of unintended consequences. Maybe she could hook up with a new law. This one wasn’t working that well for her.

A frown pulled his brows together.

“Why are you here?”

Did he sound a bit less hostile? Or was she hoping he was less hostile?

“The General sent me.”

“You jest.”

“I never jest about the General. He doesn’t like it.” She wanted to close her eyes and inhale him back into her soul. His face loomed over her, his mouth was so close his breath puffed against her skin. The edges quivered, as if her comment amused him. She tried to calculate the distance, tried to use math and science to get some emotional distance but proximity to him had put key processes offline.

His leg hooked over hers, though she’d made no attempt to free herself. She shifted against him, though not in flight or fight. In the back of his eyes, tiny flames flickered and steadied. She didn’t read anything into it. He was a guy, and she was technically a girl. Her heart pounded against his, but he didn’t seem worried. Maybe he thought she was scared. This Hel didn’t know how dangerous she was. Or that fear wasn’t her primary emotion around him.

He didn’t know her.

But their bodies did, hers knew him right down to her DNA, and not just because she was his
ma’rasile
.
If she didn’t get black ops girl back online, bride might derail the mission. No matter how lovely it felt to be with him in this bed, it wasn’t a good idea to consummate her marriage to a man
who
freaking
didn’t remember her
.

The tough talk, the mental shout, helped. Fortunately her DNA had a little pride left.

“Why would the General send you here, except to kill me?”

“That would be a waste of resources.”

He frowned. “I do not understand.”

“Well, isn’t that your cousin’s plan? Take your ship, your position, your life?” She gave a small shrug. “I would be redundant.”

His body jerked, his gaze narrowed to sharp points. “What do you mean?”

“Your cousin, Glarmere, is running things, isn’t he?”

“How could you know this?”

Doc couldn’t help it. She’d learned it from him. Her mouth curved into a smile meant to be provocative. “I know a lot of things I shouldn’t.”

He almost smiled, but caught himself in time. Did that mean her Hel was in there somewhere? He could be pissy over being imprisoned. That would make her pissy.

“Why are you here?”

“To ask you a question.”

“You sneak onto my ship, shoot my guards, risk your life to ask me a question?”

It did sound a little crazy when he put it like that. His body shifted, removing all doubt he was unaffected by her proximity. Doc tried not to let it go to her head.

“I might have two questions.” His brows pulled together in what could be the start of a frown, so she added, “What? It’s not like you have something else to do right now.”

That stopped the frown in its tracks. His body shook with the chuckle he refused to allow past his lips.

“What is it that you wish to ask me?”

Doc stared at him for a fifteen count, because he was being a bit of a jerk. “Just wondered if you’d like help taking back your ship?”

He tensed. “You have an assault force waiting on your ship?”

“No.”

He was off her in a move so sudden and graceful, she was impressed. And he took her two ray guns in the process. That was the second time he’d taken weapons from her. But since it was in two different time lines, it wasn’t a habit yet. And she’d let him take them, so technically he hadn’t taken them. Doc straightened slowly into a sitting position. Now was not the time to get shot with one of her own guns. She curled her feet under her.

It looked relaxed. It wasn’t.

His expression was assessing, a bit amused. It reminded her of her Hel in the infirmary when he had tried to figure her out.

“Your General sent one woman to assist me.”

She shrugged.

He looked amused, but not convinced. “So General Halliwell returned with the
Doolittle.
I wondered if he would. And the Key?”

She shook her head.

“This I expected.”

Doc felt a stab of jealousy. He’d wanted the Key for more than her unlocking capabilities. Had he ever wanted her?

“Miri’s Key will never return to this galaxy.” Her voice had a bit of an edge to it. Not a surprise, since this was her first time in the jealous zone, well, in this timeline. She might have been jealous of Hel’s first wife. That part of her brain that was always curious, moved in to study this with scientific detachment. The rest of her was glad to hand it off to the study department. It wasn’t pertinent to the situation. And it was a bit embarrassing.