The Dragon Circle (35 page)

“But how did you find out about the original colonists?” Kat shifted her gaze from the curious sea creature to Kim.

“We found journals. A full record of . . .”

“If this is a lost Earth colony, then why are the locals so primitive? No communications to monitor, no industry, nothing but farms and those are few and far between.”

“Their own technology killed them. We don't intend to ever let that happen again,” Kim said. Anger made his voice husky.

“This planet remains free of GTE interference,” Konner added with equal vehemence.

“That's why you stole the king stone.”

“That's why we stole the king stone.”

“Make me understand why you think primitive life in the bush is more valuable than all the benefits of the GTE,” she pleaded.

“We'll show you as soon as we get this garbage scow out of the water,” Loki reassured her. “Observe closely, because if you do not understand, you will never leave this planet again. None of your people will be given a chance to hint to folks back home that this place exists.”

Kat snorted as if she did not believe him.

Loki gritted his teeth. She was more stubborn than all three O'Hara brothers combined. Maybe as stubborn as Mum.

With that thought he shuddered.

All he needed was
another
strong-willed woman in his life.

So why did the image of Paola Sanchez rise before his mind's eye rather than Cyndi, the love of his life?

D
ALLEENA WATCHED the Others in indecision.

Her tracking talent sensed that Konner returned. She knew that water surrounded him, but he did not drown. Had he flown another vessel into the Great Bay? He did not need her at the moment. But she needed to tell him that Taneeo had disappeared in the move to the other village, then reappeared with two dozen men in thrall and returned all of the weapons and comms to the Others.

She also needed to warn Konner about the Others. They had broken a flag of truce. They honored nothing.

Even now the guards tramped about the fields and swamps, crushing delicate plants and heedlessly scattering wildlife in all directions. One of them took aim at the red bull with his long weapon.

The bull! The heart of the village livestock.

He could not be allowed to kill the beast. They would have to borrow a bull from a neighboring village—rarely a wise move for many reason—or wait for one of the calves to mature.

Saving the bull was more important than watching the intruders from her hiding place. Raiders. Nothing more than pirates.

She abandoned her hiding place and ran full tilt for the man taking aim at the bull.

The belligerent, red creature pawed the ground, head lowered, nostrils steaming, preparing to defend his territory and his harem.

Too far away. She increased her speed. Her lungs labored. Her heart pounded. Her legs strained. Her feet burned with power and speed.

She saw the IMP's finger tighten on the trigger.

“No!” she screamed.

The man barely shifted his attention to her, but his grip on the trigger eased.

Dalleena took a flying leap, knowing she must fall short.

Miraculously she collided with the man. They tumbled to the ground together. His gun flew away.

The bull charged. The ground thundered beneath Dalleena. She looked up. Enormous horns filled her vision. The tips gleamed sharply.

She thought nothing. Said nothing. Only stared in horror at approaching death.

All around her, she heard shouts and screams of panic and warning.

The shooter tried to scramble from beneath her. And then those monstrous horns scooped her up and sent her flying over the top of the bull's head.

She landed hard. Something snapped. Something else crunched.

Black stars crowded her vision. She could not breathe. She could not move.

Pain filled her being. Fiery lances shot through her with each attempted breath. Death. Release.

If she died now, would Konner know that her last thought was of him?

“Something is wrong,” Konner said as he jumped out of the lander's hatch.

Loki had parked the vessel three klicks from
Rover
, well away from IMP patrols.

“Of course something is wrong,” Loki said as he joined Konner on the ground. “Our home is swarming with IMPs.”

They watched the enemy prowl around the village. Few strayed more than a single kilometer from the cluster of their comrades.

“Dalleena is not here.” Konner made a rapid circuit of the lander, searching with all of his senses for sight, sound, smell, or
feel
of Dalleena anywhere in the vicinity.

“She would be here if she could.” Kim placed a soothing hand upon his shoulder.

“Konner, you only spent one night with the woman. Maybe she's had second thoughts.” Loki shrugged his shoulders.

Konner pinned him with a glare.

“Okay, maybe she is special to you. But any one of a hundred things could occupy her right now, including spying on the IMPs. Maybe she's just late.”

“No. I know she's in trouble. I know it here.” Konner pounded his gut with a fist. “And I know it here,” he said more softly, open palm atop his heart.

“Trust your instincts,” Kim agreed. He paused in the hatchway long enough to assist Kat down. The force bracelets still limited her movements.

“Well, if we're going to help your lady, shouldn't you remove these?” Kat held up her hands.

“Your word of honor as an O'Hara that you will not try to escape.” Loki planted fists on his hips.

“My word of honor as an officer of the Imperial Military Police that my duty is to escape and warn my superiors of your threat to the stability of the Empire.” She assumed a posture as arrogant as Loki's even with the force bracelets inhibiting her arms.

“The bracelets stay.” Loki insisted.

“I wish I had Dalleena's tracking talent. Then I could find her,” Konner said. He set off toward the fields beside the village. She was supposed to have watched the IMP intruders from a safe distance.

(
Listen to your heart,
) Irythros said into his head.

Konner stopped short. He paid no attention to his siblings as they plowed into his back.

“Speak plainly, Irythros,” he commanded.

(
Be still. Listen.
)

“Basic technique for working magic,” Kim whispered into his ear.

“You heard him?” Konner did not think anyone could overhear a private conversation with a dragon. Unless the dragon wished.

“That was more than just one dragon talking. I still have a minor connection to Iianthe. Through him, I heard them all speak.” Kim shrugged as if listening to dragons was an everyday occurrence. For Kim and his Tambootie, it might be.

Kat came up beside them and rolled her eyes. “More mumbo jumbo. Why not use the sensors to isolate groups of people. Surely the natives have had enough separation from humanity to have a slight DNA variance.”

“Tech doesn't solve every problem,” Konner nearly shouted at her. “The locals are as human as you and I. Three hundred years isn't enough for genetic drift.”

“Don't be so bushie defensive,” Kat snarled. “I didn't intend it to be an insult.”

“We have to do something with the king stone, Konner.” Loki placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Soon. Probably before we can look for Dalleena. This is the first place the IMPs will look for it, as soon as they realize we've left the ship.”

A moment of panic grabbed Konner. He had to find Dalleena. But the entire future of this planet depended upon keeping the king stone out of IMP hands.

Why hadn't he just smashed it?

Because it was alive and he could no more kill the crystal than he could murder a human.

“You may have to choose between saving the king stone and saving Dalleena,” Loki reminded him.

“I'll scout the village.” Konner checked the position of the sun. Still plenty of daylight. “You three transfer the stone to
Rover
and recharge the fuel cells. I'll be back in an hour. Then we'll look for a place to secrete the stone.”

“What kind of place. I'll review the maps . . .” Kim said.

“I'll know the place when I see it.” Konner stalked off. A plan nudged his brain. But he couldn't do anything about it until he knew Dalleena was safe.

He began walking.

“Take me with you, Konner.” Kat hurried to catch him.

“Why? So you can escape?”

She answered him with silence.

“You stay here where our brothers can keep you out of trouble.”

“Define trouble.”

“Mari Kathleen O'Hara Talbot.” He turned his back on her and kept walking.

The distance to the village had never seemed longer. Before the circle of huts came into view, Konner angled south to keep small hills between him and the intruders. Then he crawled through tall grasses to the edge of the plowed fields.

The moment he dropped to all fours, he heard/ sensed frantic movement off to his left. He risked a peek above the tasseled tips of the wild grass. Five uniformed IMPs carried something away from the bull's pasture. Medic Lotski forged ahead of them speaking rapidly into her comm unit.

Konner wished he were closer. At this distance he could not identify the injured person. Too many people crowded around the inert figure to determine clothing, size, or coloring.

A terrible feeling gripped his gut.

He crawled closer, using the distraction of a serious injury or illness among the IMPs to move faster than he would if armed patrols still swept the area.

He noted a number of natives bound with force bracelets and crude rope on the far side of the fire. Taneeo among them. Yaaccob, the village elder from the neighboring community hunched in the middle of the group, working silently at his rope bindings.

Konner watched the IMPs carry the limp figure into the largest cabin, the one he shared with Loki. The home he had invited Dalleena into last night. As the men carrying the burden maneuvered through the narrow doorway, Konner caught a glimpse of dark leather trousers, the legs stuffed into crude boots. Above the waist, he saw a white homespun shirt and leather vest.

His heart leaped to his throat.

Dalleena!

M
ARTIN FORTESQUE faced his mother.

In person.

No hiding behind a computer-enhanced vid screen. He had to do this in person.

”Mother . . .”

“I told you to call me Melinda.” She continued working at the stack of messages on her personal desktop. The entire surface was nothing more than a compressed vid screen that allowed her touch point corrections. A miniature electronic pencil dangled from her subdued earrings. She detached it from the molecular adhesive of the gold jewelry and highlighted something on her desk, then returned the tool to its resting place. “You are nearly grown now. Soon I will train you to help me run the corporation. In business circles we must appear as equals even though I will always hold a controlling share of stock and votes on the board of directors.”

“Mother, will you look at me when I speak?” Martin couldn't keep the childish waver out of his voice.

Something in his tone must have startled her, for she looked up sharply, narrowing her eyes to look directly at him. And only at him.

Perhaps she had a scrap of motherly emotion in her after all.

Before she reverted to corporate coldness, Martin plunged forward with his planned speech.

“Mother, I need access to systems beyond my tutorials.”

“Why? So you can interfere with my shipping manifests again?”

“No.” That was strictly true. Martin had no intention of messing with shipping
manifests
. “It's for a school project. I need to do some research.”

“Such as?” Melinda touched a corner of her screen.

Martin had no doubt his full curriculum spread before her in minute detail.

He had to make this sound good.

“I . . . ah . . . I'm doing a report on the changes in shipping lanes since the advent of the armed conflict with the Kree.” The only other sentient beings humanity had encountered since entering space had proved belligerent in territorial disputes. So far, those had been few and far between. However, the GTE had taken pains to stay out of sectors now claimed by the winged creatures.

Most of the population went about their lives as if the Kree did not exist and nothing barred the expansion of the almighty GTE. Those who lived near the border prepared for all-out war. Corporations that built their fortunes on interstellar trade had to be aware of the constantly changing boundaries and currencies.