Quantum (8 page)

“You and I need to have a little chat.”

Her heart tripped against her ribs, and she took in a labored breath, hampered by the press of his chest against hers.

“I don’t understand—”

“Of course you don’t.” He leaned in closer, his tone nothing but ice and stone. “So I’ll have to spell it out for you. You took the universe’s biggest career demotion in leaving UAFA to rejoin the IPC. And you turn up just in time for me to nearly get killed four times in less than a single rotation. How’s this sounding for you so far?”

He thought
she
had something to do with his near-miss assassination attempts?

Oh, hell no.

He tightened his fingers around her wrists almost imperceptibly, but it was enough to cause a dull ache, enough of a warning that whatever she said next was going to dictate whether she walked out of this forest under her own steam or got dragged.

“And just when you’re about to dash out to help Nazari”—his voice had gotten lower, with understated power, like the stillness before one mother of a storm—“you tell me that if you die, I need to call up one of my oldest friends to tell him what happened to you. So what the hell is going on here that I don’t know about, Petros? And don’t try to tell me it’s nothing. I didn’t make captain admiral on my stunning good looks alone.”

Goddamn it, she was screwed. Somehow, she had to lie and convince Graydon that she had nothing to do with whoever was trying to kill him. And she got the feeling he’d detect every falsehood that spilled out of her mouth.

Then maybe she wouldn’t lie. Maybe she’d simply withhold enough truth so she wouldn’t betray Rian and hopefully persuade Graydon that she had nothing to do with the assassination attempts.

“How do you know Rian Sherron?” he demanded when she didn’t respond right away.

That was easy enough to answer. “We served together out of the station
Vaile One
for over a year when I first joined the military. After that, we usually managed to see each other every few weeks, except for about eight months—”

“When he was marooned on Minnea, cut off from the supply runners. With me.”

She gave a short, single nod. “And when he was presumed KIA for nearly three years. I was the one who found him, got him back on his feet, and reinstated to the IPC.”

That last piece of information seemed to wind Graydon down a notch, and he lessened the pressure of his weight against her.

“You brought him back? Then you knew about our history before you got here.”

Some of the fury drained from his hard gaze. Maybe he’d be a little more reasonable now.

“I know some things, but most of them I can’t tell you.” She grabbed in a short, calming breath. Because since they were sharing, there was one thing she needed to be clear on. “But maybe you can tell me who wants to see you dead.”

“I have no frecking idea.” The last shreds of anger in his gaze sharpened on her. “But maybe I’m not the target. Are you still working for UAFA?”

She pressed her lips together. If she didn’t say anything, sure, he’d draw his own conclusions, but he wouldn’t know anything for certain.

He cursed and pushed off from her, stalking a short few steps away before stopping. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t cuff you for the walk out of here, pending a full investigation once we get back to the
Swift Brion
?”

She rubbed a thumb over her slightly aching wrist, frustrated that she’d agreed to put herself in this position. “You have my assurance that I want to get you out of this wilderness alive as much as I want to get myself out. If you trust Rian, then that’s all you need to trust me, too.”

It was a long shot, but the only play she had right now.

Graydon laughed, harsh and skeptical. “That’s an awfully unsteady ledge you’re standing on there.”

She shrugged with a carelessness she wasn’t feeling. “Take it or leave it, but it’s all you’re getting right now.”

He muttered something under his breath, but she was too far away to hear it. However, it seemed the conversation was over for the moment, because he went to the packs and pulled out the trowel he’d used to dig the fire pit the night before.

“We’re burying the remains before we go. I’m not leaving Nazari to wild animals.”

Without waiting for her to reply, he turned and walked a few feet from the sergeant’s body, kneeling to dig the small shovel into the soft earth. With a small, tired sigh, she went to retrieve another trowel from one of the other packs and silently joined him.

They still had two days’ hard hiking ahead of them and Jaren to care for. If they were going to make it out alive, then they had to rely on each other, no matter how they felt about each other.

Chapter Seven

Nadira

Rian walked onto the bridge, the viewport filled with nav data as Lianna reviewed her flight plan to Barasa for the millionth time. At least with a borderline-obsessive nav-slash-engineer, they weren’t likely to get lost in space, and he could be confident his ship always ran at optimal capacity.

“Any word from—”

“Lieutenant Marshal Petros?” Lianna shot him an exasperated look, though it strayed into the territory of downright annoyed. “Don’t you think you’d know about it by now if there was?”

“Watch the attitude, McKenzie.”

Ever since Tannin had shown him the hacked Reidar list of government and military officials, a sense of urgency had steadily built in the depths of him, like he had to do something about the situation
now
. Like he was missing something vital, making him second-guess whether he’d gambled on the right game plan in sending Mae after Zander while he followed up the other lead of Tannin’s childhood home planet.

Forcing down the antsy need to do
something
, he sat in his seat and brought up the supply log Zahli had input earlier. They had enough fresh produce to get them through a week, maybe nine days if they stretched it. After that it’d be repli-rations for another week until their last stop before Barasa.

“What are the locals up to?” Lianna asked as she cleared the data, leaving them with a view of Liese’s sad excuse for a spaceport. Evening shadows stretched long fingers across the short grass. Beyond the rough fence, there weren’t any IPC officers manning the gatehouse yet again. Too bad if something happened, like a bunch of wanted intergalactic terrorists landed their ship here.

“Tannin commed me to report that the parade was just finishing up. The party festival is getting into full swing in the town square and other public spaces around the city. Seems everyone is out to celebrate.”

Lianna swiveled her chair to face him. “Do you really think they’ll leave the site unattended? Surely they’ll have one or two people there?”

“These people haven’t got the first clue about security. Nothing has ever threatened their existence. The Assimilation Wars never made it this far. The IPC officers aren’t real. They’re local boys who were given the lowest possible rank of community protection officer and a uniform. I doubt they’ve had even one day of training. And right now, they’re too interested in celebrating their apparent success.”

His comm chimed before Lianna could answer, the signal ID telling him it was Callan. “Go ahead, Roarke, what’s the situation?”

“The local brew has started flowing. Seems like now is as good a time as any if we’re going.”

“All right, comm everyone and let them know we’re going to move. If they want to come, meet us at the ship. I’ll be departing in five minutes.”

Callan confirmed and then cut the signal.

“Are you coming?” Rian asked Lianna as he stood.

She nodded and turned to tab her screen offline. The two of them made their way down to the cargo bay, where Jensen, the ship’s mechanic, tinkered with an old engine part. It’d been replaced months ago, but the mech was still trying to figure out a way to fix it.

Rian had just found a comfortable position leaning against a crate when light footfalls on the stairs caught his attention. He glanced up to see Ella gliding down the steps wearing one of her usual flowing outfits Zahli had procured for her at some point in the last few weeks. The garment somehow managed to seem demure and damned provocative all at once.

“You in need of something, princess?” He watched as she stepped off the last stair and came toward him.

“I would like to come, if you have no objections.”

Hell.
Really? She couldn’t have shocked him more if she’d walked out here naked. And something like that would have seriously jolted his system.

“Let me get this straight. You’re going to leave the ship of your own free will, without me ordering you to.
And
you’re actively going to take part in something that has to do with the Reidar?”

She inclined her head, but not before he saw a spark of temper in her eyes. “I thought my particular talents might come in handy, especially if this simple trip turns out to be something more dangerous.”

“Uh-huh.” He crossed his arms and sent her a hard stare. “While I might have seen you work some mojo, I’d still like an accounting of your
talents
and exactly what you’re capable of.”

“A person doesn’t ever really know what they’re capable of until they are placed in a situation of extremities.” The look she gave him sliced right through his middle, reminding him that at one time, she had used her freaky mind-reading abilities and seen into the darkest depths of his soul.

A cold sweat broke out on his lower back, but he was saved from having to answer or go looking for the nearest bottle of Violaine when the rest of the crew turned up.

“We’re all here?” He walked down the ramp and a quick glance revealed that yes, every single member of his crew had decided to come along on this little jaunt. “Let’s get going then.”

Once everyone was off the ship, he closed up the hatchway and double-checked all the weapons on his belt as he led his crew toward the shuttle stop. As he’d hoped, the local shuttle had been left dark and unattended.

He stopped next to the transport and slapped a hand against the side. “Sen, let’s get this baby open.”

Sen pulled some tools from his belt and took to the control panel.

“We’re stealing their shuttle?” Zahli crossed her arms and sent him a sour look.

“Yes, we’re boosting their ride. But we’ll bring it back, park it right here, and they’ll be none the wiser. Seriously, sis. Are you really surprised by anything I do these days?”

She muttered something under her breath too low for him to hear, but whatever it was had her scumrat fiancé smiling. Lucky Rian was too intent on getting this latest Reidar mystery solved, or he might have had to dish out some violence over that. Unfortunately, he’d need the tech analyst’s skills for the next part of their venture.

Inside the transport, Tannin hacked the shuttle’s primary controls, and Lianna took over, getting them to the discovery location in no time.

As he’d predicted, the tent city was a ghost town. Using the shuttle’s infrared scanner, he confirmed there was absolutely no one hanging around. Rian led the crew off the transport and down the path to where several floodlights lit up the doorway. At least they’d have no problem seeing.

This doorway, and whatever was behind it, had to be the phantom he couldn’t see lurking in the back of his mind, telling him something important he couldn’t understand. He didn’t think he’d been here before, but he had to have at least known about it on some level to be drawn to this planet.

While the crew hung back, he approached the wall, cold sweat spreading along his spine. Though he strove to remain detached, to keep all Reidar-related recollections compartmentalized, sometimes hollow, icy sensation slithered through his defenses. He wasn’t left with a memory so much as a haunting, abyss-like sensory echo of the past.

He took a short breath as he stopped in front of the control mechanism. Old codes the Reidar had forced him to remember surfaced as though he’d used them yesterday, the knowledge on automated recall, trained like a dog to perform at the right command.

Surely, those old ciphers wouldn’t work any longer? The Reidar would have updated their systems, improved their security after he’d escaped. But he reached up and tapped out the pattern of symbols before he’d even finished the thought.

The section of door depressed inward, letting out a puff of cold air, then the whole thing slid to the left, revealing shadows beyond. Harsh white lights flicked to life, illuminating a utilitarian corridor stretching into the mountain.

“How in the fiery pits of Erebus did you do that?” Tannin asked, breaking the weighted silence behind him.

Rian glanced over his shoulder, his crew staring at him with varying expressions of surprise and awe. All except Ella, who looked too frecking serene, as usual.

“In case you haven’t worked it out by now, I know a thing or two about the Reidar. Come on, let’s get this done before we get caught. The locals don’t need to know the truth about this place.” He stepped into the passageway, clenching his fists over the low shiver of dread that unfurled through his body.

“And what if they accidentally find out after we leave?” Zahli asked as she trailed along behind him.

“I doubt the Reidar will let them. Or if they do, they’ll take care of the issue.”

“Take care how?” Zahli demanded.

By blowing them into the stratosphere.
It wouldn’t be the first time the Reidar had destroyed an entire world. The past pushed harder at his mental barriers, starting up a low churn in his guts.
Hell.
He could do with a hit of Violaine right about now.

“I don’t know.” His words came out stiff through a tight jaw. “How about we just concentrate on what we’re doing?”

The passage ended in another door, this one a shiny kind of metal. It slid open automatically as they approached, and beyond the opening, more lights came on. Rian stepped over the threshold and stopped. Because his damn feet wouldn’t take him any farther, no matter how he fought his body’s reactions.
Frecking hell.
His cold sweat had turned into chilled shivers, but he locked his muscles, because when he reacted, the Reidar won.

None of the crew noticed his silent battle for calm. They walked past him and fanned out in the lab. A lab identical to every other Reidar lab he’d ever seen. A lab indistinguishable from the one where he’d been tortured and experimented on for months on end.

It was all white and silver, blinding and aching to sensitive eyes. To the left were the platforms for the invisible cages where the captives were kept. In the center, gurneys were positioned with a hovering instrument mechanism above it, various protrusions making it look like a giant mechanical insect. To the right were the holoscreens where the Reidar recorded information and observed the subjects while their machines did most of the work. Of course, occasionally a Reidar or two liked to get up close and personal for the more special examinations and experiments—

He forced a hard breath through his nose, because his jaw had locked over the sick feeling burning up inside him.

I am stronger than this. I’m the one in control now. They can’t touch me any longer.

Repeating the mantra he’d held onto like a prayer in the first weeks after he’d escaped didn’t help lessen the storm raging inside him.

Have to get out of here.
But his crew kept him right where he was. None of them knew what had happened to him, not even Zahli. He couldn’t let them see how weak he really was inside, like shattered glass someone had swept into a pile because there was no way to put the pieces back together.

A hand touched his arm, and inside he flinched, but outside he’d become stone. He glanced down to see Ella staring up at him. Oh, right.
She
knew the truth. Anger clashed with a rising surge of relief, like something warm, familiar, and comforting wrapping around him. The rage struggled against the tide, trying to rise up, but the warmth simply smothered it until his muscles started to relax.

Ella’s hand on his arm felt too hot, as if she had a fever, while her moss-colored eyes seemed to darken a touch. And then the relief inside him transformed into something else entirely. Something effervescent, something heated in a different way. He went beyond relaxed and started tightening up all over again.

The fog cleared from his mind for a starkly lucid moment as the memory of what happened the last time Ella touched him surfaced. She’d shot him up with a dose of something so full of raw, seductive pleasure he’d nearly lost his head and taken her on the floor of her cabin. She’d claimed she didn’t know how or why it’d happened, and he’d warned her never to touch him again.

He wrenched out of her hold but then changed his mind and grabbed her shoulder, yanking her closer to him. She’d used her damned enchantress powers on him.

“I told you to never touch me again.”

“What you tell me to do and what I choose to do will always be two entirely separate things.”

He clenched his jaw as a burst of frustration erupted through him. “If you don’t follow my orders, there will be consequences. Don’t forget you’re a guest on my ship. I can have you removed and left on a backwater planet just like this one, at risk of being taken by the Reidar again, any time I want.”

She leaned up toward him, not the least cowed by his threat.

“You won’t ever do that. I’m too important to you and your personal war. And I won’t ever stop trying to help you, Rian. You think you’ve built this impenetrable shell around the truths inside you, but in moments like the one that just passed, I can feel everything inside of you burning me here.” She touched the middle of her chest, right over her heart.

His fingers went slack, and she tugged out of his hold. Before he could pull his brain out of a free-fall spiral, she strolled off to join Nyah on the other side of the large room.

This time when he looked around the lab, he felt nothing at all. Ella had done something to him.
Again.
But he’d never be thankful, not when she kept using her freaky Arynian abilities to invade his private hell. The constant icy rage might be cold comfort, but it was all he had left after everything the Reidar put him through. Instead of losing himself in a bottle in the back of some dinky, ass-end-of-nowhere bar every night, he’d used that emptiness and fury in his drive to see the Reidar extinguished from this universe.

He rolled his shoulders and forced himself to move, striding across the lab to where Tannin and Lianna studied a crystal display. Lines of text written in Reidar flowed across the screen. Rian caught a few words, phrases that made his blood go icy again. No way did he want to hang around in here while they translated the information. His quota of patience for the day had well and truly run out. If any locals found them, he’d be more inclined to shoot them with his pulse pistol than bother explaining. And then Zahli would give him one of her lectures.