Chapter 2

Sheena rested her chin on her chest. Her weight hung against her safety harness. Fresh forest air wafted through the hole in the observation window to prick her nose. Animal noises sounded through the forest outside, and tree branches waved against the sky.

When she dared to peek, she saw the console lying cold and dark under her hands. That shuttle wasn't going anywhere for a long, long time.

She let out a shaky breath and called without turning around. “Everyone all right in the back?”

Ron Simons answered her. “Everyone's all right.”

Only then did Sheena dare to turn around and look. She'd lost enough passengers in her career to know she didn't want to see any missing heads or smashed limbs if she didn't have to. Nine lives resting on her shoulders was enough.

To her relief, everyone sat safe and sound in their seats. Charlotte Simons sobbed, but made no sound. Abigail stared at her daughters with a glassy expression. That stupid grin returned to Rex's face the moment Sheena turned around. “That was some kind of flying, Sheena. Whippers, I wish I had that on video.”

For perhaps the thousandth time since she met him, Sheena silently willed Rex Masters to shut up, but he never would. He always managed to say the most nerve-racking thing possible at the worst possible moment.

Jasmine unbuckled her harness first. “Thank you for saving us, Sheena. That was incredible.”

Sheena struggled out of her harness to stand up and face her passengers. “Don't thank me yet. That thing could come back at any moment. Let's get out of this shuttle and get to the Keep as fast as we can.”

The others freed themselves, too. Abigail helped her daughters. “Everybody gather up your gear to head to the Keep.”

Rex came over and glanced down at the dead console. “Can you send a signal to the Allies where we are?”

Sheena didn't bother to check the console. “It's dead.”

“How do you know which direction to go?”

“I checked the proximity detector right before we landed.” She pointed upward through the shattered observation window. “See? The Keep is right there.”

He followed her gesture. Sure enough, Assan Keep pointed over the treetops, close enough to touch. No matter where they went in this forest, they could head straight for that mountain and never get lost.

Sheena popped the hatch door and swung it open. Jasmine took a look outside before leading the way. The others followed one at a time, but when they saw no danger, they relaxed and started looking around.

Jasmine came to Sheena's side and murmured under her breath so the others couldn't hear her. “It looks like you're stuck here for a while, but at least the Allies will send someone looking for us when you don't report back later today.”

"They'll have no way to find us. They'll have to search, and they promised the Krataks no other Allies vessels would enter the atmosphere as long as the two teams remained on the planet. I wouldn't be surprised if the Allied Command decides not to send out a search party at all.”

Jasmine's eyes widened, but before she could answer, Rex sauntered over. For a man, he threw his weight around more than he should. He took his position as Allies representative too seriously. He may have fought his way up through the ranks of women to get this position, but that didn't entitle him to order his superiors around.

To make matters worse, rumor around the Command Center said Rex had a romance going with Jasmine. That's the last thing this team needed, especially now when they could be facing who knew what in the middle of nowhere on an alien planet crawling with wild men—and dragons.

He gave Sheena his supercilious grin. “I suppose you're going to show us how to build a fire by rubbing two sticks together.”

“Why would I want to do that? We're on our way to the Keep.”

“We should stay here.”

“It's too dangerous with dragons running around and whatever other unknown animals they have on this planet. We have to make for the Keep on the double.”

Rex glanced at Jasmine. “Are you sure you can't salvage something from the shuttle to send a distress call?”

“The shuttle is dead. The computer is shot, and with the starboard engine gone, we don't have enough power to send a signal beyond the atmosphere. Besides, we don't have the equipment or food to stay near the shuttle as long as it would take for the Allies to send someone to find us. As I was just telling Jasmine, the Allies will know something's wrong when I don't report back today, but they might still decide not to send a search out for us. We could be stuck here.”

“Why wouldn't they send out a search? Isn't that what they always do when a shuttle goes down?”

“There are larger political considerations. You should understand that, Rex. The Krataks don't want another Allies vessel running around all over the planet. We could get to the Keep before they got here, and then we'd be safe.”

Jasmine spoke up. “You're not supposed to stay on the planet, Sheena.”

Sheena shrugged and turned away. “I'll do what I have to do. Now come on. Let's get walking before it gets dark. The mountain's not that far away.”

Rex turned to Jasmine. “You're in command here. What do you say?”

Jasmine looked back and forth between Rex and Sheena. “She's right. We can't stay here.”

“So, you're going to side with her against me? That's just great. That's a wonderful way to start a year-long mission together.”

Jasmine took a step toward him. “Come on, Rex. You know she's right. Don't turn this into something between you and me when it isn't.”

Sheena didn't wait to hear anymore. She hated working with couples more than anything, especially when one of them was in command. It messed up everything the team tried to do.

She found Ron and Abigail with their heads together, as usual. They discussed every detail of their gear in hushed voices no one else could hear. Sheena walked past them to Dana and Sophia around the other side of the shuttle.

Sophia took notes in her notebook with a pen. “This forest is priceless. I'll bet no one has set foot in it for centuries. Look at the canopy up there. I haven't seen forest like this in years.”

Dana looked up from her backpack. “I know you don't really want to be on this planet, Sheena, but I'm glad you're with us. We need every level-headed officer we can get at a time like this.”

“Don't say that. I'm afraid my presence here will only cause trouble.”

“Trouble? How could it?”

Sheena cast a glance over her shoulder at Jasmine and Rex. They stood with their noses inches apart and discussed something in heated undertones. One look at their hand motions and facial expressions told Sheena her comments about going to the Keep sparked a conflict between the two lovers.

Dana groaned. “That? Don't tell me.”

“This could be the ruination of our mission,” Sophia remarked. “I only hope Jasmine reins him in soon.”

“General Duncan never should have sent him as representative,” Dana replied. “Enlisted personnel having relationships with their superior officers violates military policy.”

“General Duncan had no firm confirmation they had a relationship,” Sheena chimed in. “When we left, it was only a rumor.”

“The rumor is now confirmed.”

“What about those two?” Dana nodded toward the Simons.

“At least they really are married, and neither is the other's superior officer, much less in command of this team.”

“I'm Rollo's superior officer,” Sheena pointed out, “and we never acted like that on any mission. He would never question my authority in front of another officer like that or jeopardize our team in the line of duty.”

“Yeah, but Rollo's different,” Dana countered. “He's more sensible than most.”

“He may be sensible, but he's still a man. It just goes to show why women should always be in command. It's one thing to assign a man like Rex to represent the Allies to an ignorant race like the Krataks, but men can never take responsibility where a woman could do the job. I wouldn't even want Rollo in command if we had a woman available instead.”

“Well, you know Rollo better than any of us.”

“No one is putting Rollo in charge, either.”

All three women laughed together at the thought, but Sheena got serious. “It looks like Jasmine is putting Rex in charge, though.”

“Maybe Kratak is starting to wear off on her.”

“We can't do anything about it, anyway. She's in command here. We just have to live with it.”

Just then, Jasmine spun away from Rex with a chop of her hand. “I said no, and that's all you need to know about it.” She called out to the rest of the team. “Come on. We're moving out.”

Sheena murmured to her friends. “Thank goodness for that.”

Dana shouldered her pack. “Let's go.”

The team fell in single file with Jasmine in the lead. They headed for the austere peak of Assan Keep looming large before their eyes. Sheena brought up the rear for a while, just to make sure everyone kept up.

They wound their way through the trees, but they could find no discernible path to follow. Only the mountain peak guided them through dense forest. The foliage blocked out most of the sunlight and cast the team into shadow.

For the first two hours, everyone stuck close to their strict line. No one ventured right or left, but the tedium worked on the girls after a while. First one and then another veered off to look at something—a flower or a fungus. Pretty soon, they wandered farther and farther away from the team on wide explorations of the surroundings.

The girls' chatter answered the animal noises rising all around. Unseen creatures scurried away from them, and their passage set the branches and bushes swaying. They brought back samples of their discoveries to show their parents.

Ron and Abigail walked right in front of Sheena, and she overheard Abigail comment to her husband, “You shouldn't let them wander off. It could be dangerous.”

“Oh, let them have their fun. As long as they don't get lost, they'll be fine. You can't smother them for the rest of their lives. I don't see how they can get lost in these woods, anyway. Even if we get separated, they can find their way to the Keep as well as we can.”

“Still, I don't like it. At least back home we understood the dangers. What if that dragon comes back? You know the stories about dragons carrying off young women.”

Ron laughed out loud. “Don't tell me you're worried about that. That was a wild animal. You don't really expect a wild animal to carry off a human being, do you?”

“It might not want to carry one of them off in that way, but it might want to eat them. That's all I'm saying. We should at least be prudent and keep them near us, at least until we know more about this planet.”

“It's not too much farther. Let them have some fun before they wind up cooped up inside the Keep for who knows how long? This could be the only breath of fresh air they get on this planet.”

“You don't think the Krataks would keep us locked up inside their mountain, do you? How can you think of bringing children to a place like this?”

“They're hardly children. They'll be grown in a few short years, and I already see them bucking against your control. Let them run. If you won't take it from me, just look at them. Look how much they need this.”

Abigail gazed at her daughters, but she didn't answer. The girls danced and frisked and gamboled through the woods on the happiest holiday of their lives. Sheena didn't like it any better than Abigail did, but she had to agree with the good doctor. The girls obviously enjoyed the freedom. Abigail must keep them on a pretty short leash at home.