The Dragon Circle (26 page)

“The locals welcomed us with open arms and a feast last night,” Sanchez said. She shifted her weight and shuffled. Her movement forced M'Berra to make nearly a quarter turn.

“When we woke this morning, all our comms and equipment had been stolen, the locals had disappeared, and this immense creature was perched on a boulder the size of a house staring at us. Lieutenant Pettigrew tried to shoot it. It attacked. Then the noise of the landers frightened it off. It . . . it flew, sir. On wings a full five meters wide.” She gulped. “I believe Lieutenant Pettigrew is injured, sir. Legs a mess of abrasions. Medic Lotski has nothing but water to wash the wounds. Everything else was stolen, sir.”

“Why in Allah's name did Lieutenant Pettigrew trust the natives. And where is the lander?”

“I do not know, sir.”

“Where are the rest of your squad, Corporal?” M'Berra sighed heavily and shook his head.

“Back this way, sir.” Sanchez pointed upriver, well beyond the village and the shuttle.

Duggan ground his teeth.

Konner touched the sergeant's shoulder, much as M'Berra had calmed Sanchez.

“Sensors indicate a population center of about one hundred bodies due east of here,” a tech pointed his instruments directly at the village, half a klick away.

Konner swallowed his frustration.

“Corporal Sanchez?” M'Berra raised an eyebrow in question.

“Could be, sir. I got twisted around running to catch you. Lots of landmarks look alike. The natives took all my equipment. I ran too fast to observe my position as carefully as I should.” She wiped sweat off her brow and looked very pale. The medic grabbed her elbow to steady her as she swayed in her tracks.

“One fine actress,” Loki mouthed without a sound.

M'Berra activated his comm. “Find a landing place with good cover and wait for us,” he barked.

“What about the smugglers?” a sergeant reminded his commander.

“They aren't going anywhere. Our first responsibility is to our own.” M'Berra stalked in the wake of the tech toward the village. The entire squad followed without question.

When the last of them disappeared over the rise and the roar of the landers had receded south, Konner crept out from beneath the shuttle and its electronic cloak.

“Now what? Sanchez saved our skins, but we didn't get a lander. Nor did we get fuel for the shuttle.” Disappointment rode heavily on his shoulder.

He breathed easier, though. Relief. He would not have to kill a king stone today.

“Magnificent woman,” Loki let his gaze linger in the direction Paola Sanchez had disappeared with the landing squad. “Too bad she isn't my type.”

His brothers looked at him strangely.

“Open your eyes, Loki. She is precisely your type,” Kim chuckled.

“She's too much like Mum,” Loki protested.

“Not in the least.” Konner smiled and looked lovingly at Dalleena.

Loki's back itched with something more than physical irritation. Could they be right?

He decided to change the subject rather than examine his emotions too closely. “How far away do you suppose the landers went?”

“Couple of klicks from here,” Duggan said with a shrug. “The pilots don't want to be too far off, in case the villagers, or the dragon, gives them any trouble. But I wish Paola hadn't gone down a crystal conduit without a sensor like that. She'll be up on charges before the day is over once M'Berra discovers she lied.” He rubbed his knuckles against his teeth in a worrisome gesture.

“Don't worry. We'll find a way out of this. Now let's see if we can find the landers.” Loki slapped his new friend on the back hard enough to shake him out of his doldrums.

“Minimum flight crews aboard. But every member of
Jupiter
's crew is fully trained and most are combat veterans. Even the judge and lawyers,” Duggan said.

“I'll fire up
Rover
's sensors and find the landers,” Kim said. He keyed open the hatch. “We've got some stunners and probably the element of surprise.”

“We'll have to uncloak to get a reading,” Konner warned him, hard on his heels.

“You aren't the only one who manipulates systems beyond factory specs.” Kim smiled widely.

“The landers are there.” Dalleena held up her hand palm out and faced due west. “A short walk, hardly a full sun mark.”

Duggan looked to Loki for an explanation. “Primitive timekeeping. One sun mark or one candle mark is roughly one hour.”

“About three klicks.” Konner beamed with pride as he pulled Dalleena against his side. “She's almost as good as your sensors, Kim, and untraceable.”

“Get the stunners, Kim. We're walking,” Loki called to his youngest brother.

“A body could get mighty tired of walking,” Duggan grumbled.

“Get used to it. Once we take care of this little problem, walking is about the only form of transport,” Loki replied. “Unless you want to round up some wild horse hybrids. Locals call them steeds. That's a good name for them; can't really call them horses anymore.”

“Um, Loki,” Kim stammered as he handed out stunners, even to Dalleena. “I think I should go back and check on Hestiia, the village . . .”

Loki snorted. Kim wasn't complete anymore without his wife. A total waste of a good man.

But he had to admit that when Hestiia stood at Kim's side, his logic was clear, he acted more decisively, and he led the natives with superb instincts.

“Pryth and Hestiia have taken them all to the next village. Hestiia will be safe with her brother and father,” Konner said. “M'Berra will find only his own people trussed up like wild lumbirds ready for the spit.”

“You could have told us that!” Loki protested.

“Didn't want to spoil the surprise.” Konner and Dalleena grinned at each other like moonstruck Acadian Jolilbirds. They mated for life, and if one lost a partner, never found another mate, and often died of loneliness and a broken heart.

Loki shivered at the thought of tying himself so completely to any woman. Even Cyndi. Certainly he planned to marry the love of his life, but he'd never imagined either of them being completely faithful. Life was too full of adventure for that.

Paola Sanchez would demand monogamy from her mate. And St. Bridget help the man who strayed from her side. Good thing she'd announced that she expected no commitment from Loki. She had a larger agenda than finding a spouse.

“What about Taneeo?” Kim asked. “Is he still free.”

“Hardly, with splints on his leg and his other injuries.” Konner shrugged. “Even if he does harbor Hanassa's spirit, he can't move around enough to betray us.”

“I don't like that Captain Leonard sent M'Berra down with the second wave,” Duggan said, rubbing his knuckles across his teeth. “She usually saves her big guns for more desperate situations.”

“She's lost track of twenty of her crew and an expensive lander. I'd be part of the second wave if I were her,” Loki replied.

“Not our captain. She stays with the ship unless she has no other options. That's accepted military protocol. And believe me, you don't want to get her into a corner with no options. She's one fierce lady with a mind as sharp as a laser cutter.”

“Was, um, er, the
Jupiter
chasing
Sirius
about five months ago?” Loki's stomach felt like it wanted to sink to his toes.

“Yeah, we were. Thought the captain would split a few skulls when Command called her off the chase. She wanted to capture you guys like her life depended on it.”

“If
Jupiter
was called off the chase five months ago, why are you all here now?”

“Captain Leonard got hold of the report of how
Sirius
disappeared through an uncharted jump point. She detoured from delivering a diplomatic attaché to chase you down.”

“Tenacious, isn't she?”

“Obsessed.”

“Just like Mum?” Kim piped in. His voice sounded mischievous. His face looked grim.

“Just like Mum. This mission could be a real pain in the ass,” Loki muttered. He shook his head.

An idea slammed into his brain with the force of a pulse cannon.

“Your Captain Leonard wouldn't be tall and red-haired, would she?”

“No. That would be Lieutenant JG Kat Talbot, our helmsman. Captain Leonard has black hair and blue eyes. Pale skin and a figure to make a man look twice. Maybe four times. But she's all business aboard ship. Doesn't tolerate flirting among the crew, especially not with her.”

“This Kat Talbot . . .” Loki prompted. “Tall with red hair. Green eyes?”

“Green eyes that spit fire. Another woman you do not want to cross.”

Just like Mum.
It can't be. I'd know if it was her. Wouldn't I?
Loki could not dismiss the nagging questions.

(
Would you?
) The voice in his head flitted by so quickly he almost did not hear it.

“Yeah, I'd know,” he replied, as much to himself as that obscure mental intruder. “I'd feel her in my thoughts and dreams.
I'd know.
It's my responsibility to know.” He kept walking toward the two landers and whatever encounter lay ahead, wishing he'd never discovered this godforsaken planet MKO-IV.

Commander Leonard drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair on the bridge. “What is going on down there?” she asked the air.

Beside Kat, Josh Kohler hunched in on himself as if trying to make himself invisible. He did not want to capture the captain's attention when she was tense, concerned, and thinking out loud. He could end up cleaning bilges for breathing wrong.

Any of the bridge personnel could.

“I told you this detour was unnecessary and dangerous,” Judge Balinakas said calmly. He punched notes into his handheld, recording every misdemeanor.

Kat presumed on Leonard's superior rank by answering her question without having been specifically addressed. “If you ask me, sir, the O'Haras have begun a guerrilla warfare campaign.” She sat up straight and caught the captain's gaze with her own. She had too much at stake to let a superior officer's bad mood get in the way.

And she did not trust M'Berra or any of the Marines dirtside to complete their mission successfully.

“I did not ask you, Lieutenant. But go ahead, explain your thoughts.” The captain leaned forward. She kept her face and expression neutral. Her right fist continued to clench and release her electronic pencil.

“Classic opening sortie, sir. Ambush and retreat. Force the enemy to commit more troops. Those, too, will be sabotaged. Cut communications and supplies. Lure more troops dirtside. My guess is that they will try to eliminate, incarcerate, or seduce most of ship's personnel to the planet, then sneak aboard and steal
Jupiter
.”

Leonard's electronic pencil snapped loudly in the silence that followed Kat's words.

Kohler flinched as if his neck had been the intended victim instead of an inanimate tool.

Leonard turned and glared at Balinakas, daring him to add his now familiar diatribe.

“Alert. All ship's personnel. Secure all launch bays. I want armed troops stationed in or near each hatch with full counter-grav gear,” Leonard nearly shouted into ship's comms. Without equipment to neutralize the heavy gravity of the outer sections of the ship, troops would have to be rotated every hour to avoid undue fatigue and physical stress. “No ship comes aboard without command codes and passwords. Sight recognition is not enough.”

Somewhere deep in the ship an alarm blared in response to the captain's orders. Faint echoes filtered through to the bridge. Leonard did not relax.