CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The wait for T'Van to collect her and Arek for supper in his hovie, was silent.
As soon as Mia was ready, she stalked down the ramp to wait outside. She couldn't bear to be in the ship with her loathsome partner for any longer than she must.
When she found him waiting in the shadows of the cruiser, she stopped short, glared at him and turned her back, walking in the other direction. She waited on the other side of the ship.
She sneered at the calm sea. Of course it looked good now—it was just like him, tempting an innocent visitor such as herself to stray close, so it could betray her.
She wished she could turn into a water-spout and douse Arek until he sputtered for air. If he begged her for forgiveness, possibly she'd let him up for oxygen.
On the ride to the top of the hill in the hovie, Mia found the view so entrancing she neither looked at nor spoke to Arek.
Of course he made this easy by climbing into the front seat beside his friend, and talking of military things she knew nothing about, and cared less. It was extremely irritating, she found, when the person one was determined to ignore didn't even notice he was being ignored.
Also, now that she thought about it, he was being very cold to her. Why, she had no idea. It wasn't as if she'd done anything to... him...oh, no. Could it be?
When the hovie slowed to a stop on top of the hill, she leaned forward and tapped Arek on the shoulder. "Arek? Can we talk?"
"About what?" he barked, jumping out and looking back at her with such coldness that she recoiled.
Her defenses flying back up, she curled her lip at him. "Excuse me. I mistook you for someone else—a gentleman."
Then she flipped her legs from the seat and slid out, stalking away with her chin high, and a smile on her face for T'Van, who was looking from her to Arek and back with his eyes twinkling.
"Thank you so much for inviting me to your camp," she said. "It looks surprisingly cozy."
"You're most welcome," the Aurelian replied. "Our camp is yours."
Mia hadn't been sure what to expect of this outpost. But she was shocked by the cozy camp they'd set up in a flat vale near the highest hilltop. Three large pods housed a small barracks, a galley and wash area, and storage. She also hadn't expected the camp to be run by a tall, slim, lovely Aurelian woman her age. Mia was glad she'd taken the extra moments to fix up.
Arek greeted the other woman with raised brows. "Reva... does your father—and mine—know you're here?"
The young woman blushed to the roots of her strawberry blonde hair. "Well, they do now."
"What are you doing on a military mission?"
Mia watched their interchange warily. Arek obviously knew this Reva well enough to scold her. Was she the reason he'd suddenly turned icy toward Mia? Oh, goddess, had he been cheating on her with Mia?
When T'Van slid his arm around the woman and smiled proudly, Mia nearly swooned with relief. "Reva is now my wife-to-be."
Arek looked surprised, but not displeased. He congratulated the happy couple.
"She's also our quartermaster," T'Van went on. "And a good one, too. Wait till you taste her cooking—damn sight better than mine."
"Or any of ours," said L'Nola, a lean blonde with freckles. "I'm real glad she's here."
"So, what will you have to drink? We have ale, water or malberry juice."
"Better make it ale," Arek said. "We've had a rough day."
The Aurelians laughed.
"Were the pussies mean to you, Commander?" one of the warriors asked, as Reva handed out chilled ales.
"The only wildlife we had besides rockrats, and you had to go and annihilate them," said another.
"Next he'll be after those little birds that sing in the trees," T'Van chimed in. "The ones you like so much, Reva mine. Better not feed him until he swears to leave them alone."
She laughed, then shoved him away. "Ask our guests to sit, and I'll get drinks."
As if he'd just remembered she was there, Arek gestured Mia to one of the camp chairs, then ignored her again.
"This is what I have to put up with after routing those fur-covered menaces?" he said to his friends. " I'm already sorry you found us."
"I'm not," Mia assured them with a glowing smile. "I thought I was hallucinating, but I've never been so glad to see anyone. But how in the universe did you all come to be here?"
"The real question is, why weren't you here sooner?" Arek demanded of T'Van. "You were scheduled to land two weeks ago."
T'Van winced, and Reva moved to stand at his shoulder, looking nervous but determined. "That was my fault. I sort of...hitched a ride through the jump device, and wound up traveling with T'Van."
He shook his head, reaching up to put his hand over hers. "Reva, for the hundredth time, that was not your fault. There was something wrong with that quarking jump device. Anyway, we both landed somewhere far, far from here." He grinned crookedly. "Had to hitch a ride with a friend. We'll tell you that story sometime."
"As to why they are here," Arek said. "They're here to do what they did—keep us alive."
She looked from face to face, wonderingly. "You mean, you planned this ahead of time?" she asked T'Van.
"Well, Arek's father did," T'Van said. "The general likes to be prepared for eventualities."
"Such as his son being mauled by furry little bots," L'Nola added, grinning.
But two of the warriors exchanged a look, and Reva looked down rather than meet Mia's gaze. There was more to their presence here on this planet than helping Arek win the race, Mia realized.
But if Arek didn't wish to tell her more, she could hardly demand he do so. Especially when he wouldn't look at her or speak directly to her.
Even as furious as she was with him, she was in awe of his team's coordinated efforts. The Aurelian military clearly had access to a jump device of their own, or to Octiron's, and had used it to support their prince in the Race.
"Well, thank you for saving my life," she said politely, and sipped her ale.
T'Van gave her and Arek another strange, amused look. Mia decided to ignore them both.
"May I help you with anything?" she asked Reva.
The redhead smiled at her as if Mia had offered her a huge gift. "Yes, thank you. I'd like that."
They ate supper under the dusk. The food was similar to what she'd been eating on the Starry Night.
The Aurelians ate with gusto, but Mia's appetite had deserted her. She sipped her ale and pretended to eat, listening to Arek and his friends talk and laugh. They were all so easy together. The others treated him with respect, and affection, and he and T'Van seemed as close as brothers.
She just wished she had friends of her own here to even the tables. Surrounded by these tall, stalwart warriors, she felt as alone as she had at the beginning of the race—or possibly more so, because for a few, dizzying hours it had seemed she and Arek were truly partners, even companions. Lovers.
But all that had come crashing down. And how was she to even probe at the reason why, if he wouldn't speak to her?
After the meal, she shot out of her chair as soon as Reva rose, and helped her clear away the meal.
T'Van and Arek walked a little way away to inspect the contents of the storage pod while the others lingered to help, then went off on their own tasks.
Mia looked out at the dusk falling over the gentle landscape, the sky a lovely lavender shading into blue over the sea. "It's so lovely here," she said to Reva. "Hard to believe it's full of the traps. What kind of monstrous beings would do that to a place like this?"
"I know. They consider themselves scientifics," Reva told her, her face tight with disgust. "But I'm with you—they're really monsters. Reports in this galaxy show that hundreds, perhaps thousands of travelers have died here. The team found a trap east of here that looks like a kind of outdoor playground... but let's just say, it wasn't. The team spent two days springing the traps there."
Mia shuddered. "Did they have to destroy the place?"
"No. Some they disabled. But some are psi-traps, and none of us have psi. Do you?" the blonde flushed. "Sorry—I don't mean to pry. I just don't know much about Tygeans."
"No psi powers here," Mia said. Unless one counted her feline senses, of course. But it wasn't as if she could move objects with her mind, just sense that they were there.
She looked to the grassy knoll beyond the camp. She was tired, sore from the fight, and a little achy from her sexual exertions with Arek. But just thinking about him made her restless.
"Any chance we can go for a walk?"
Reva pointed to a series of thin white stakes in the grass around the camp. "I'm sorry, I need to finish preparations for breakfast tomorrow. You're welcome to walk around, but stay inside the perimeter for now. We widen it out every day, but there's so much we don't know yet about the traps left here. We can't take chances."
"Sure," Mia agreed. "Having experienced one of their efforts already, I understand."
She strolled to the highest point and turned slowly, taking in the view. A gentle breeze stirred her hair, bringing the scent of grasses and the sea with it. As she walked down the hill toward the pods grouped in the hollow, the murmur of deep voices traveled on the quiet evening air. Arek and T'Van on the other side of the pod, hidden from view, but well within hearing. She stopped, listening wistfully to the ease in their conversation.
"... build a settlement down by the sea," T'Van was saying. "River comes in there, bringing fresh water, and making it easy to travel by water. A road alongside it, and we're set."
"So you're ready to stay here?" Arek asked. "You and Reva?"
"Me and Reva. Nothing for either of us to go back to. Neither of us have family like you. Although it sounds like you may be moving on too, yeah?"
"Yes," Arek agreed. "The high council has plans, it seems."
Mia was eavesdropping, and she really should move on. But then, though Arek lowered his deep voice, she heard the word 'Bryght'. She froze, holding her breath.
"Really?" T'Van asked. "An embassy on Bryght? That's a new direction."
"It's time," Arek said. "The Tygeans are open to our overtures, according to the general."
"Start with them, and move on to talks with the other Alliance planets, huh? Hey, is that why you partnered with your pretty little Tygress, by chance? Show the Tygers we can be allies in more ways than one?"
Arek answered too quietly for Mia to hear his words.
But it didn't matter.
She'd heard more than enough, including the way the two men chuckled together. Laughing at the way he'd inveigled his way into her arms... and even worse, into her trust. When he, and probably T'Van and the rest of them, thought she and her people were sly, untrustworthy felines.
Her supper an icy knot in her stomach, she turned blindly and walked away. She stumbled once on a tuft of grass, and righted herself, then walked on. Past the galley pod, which was empty now. Past the white stakes in the ground, and down the hill. Anywhere, as long it was away from the Aurelians.
Especially one Aurelian in particular. Her lying, conniving, seducing liar of a Race partner. Who'd slept with her, and probably gotten himself assigned as her Race partner, because his people wanted an 'in' with hers. A channel to diplomacy.
Probably so they could take over the Alliance, she thought bitterly. A clandestine coup from the inside, instead of shooting their way in with their warships.
Something whizzed past her ear and flickered at the edge of her vision. She flinched, and then glared at the spybot hovering before her at eye level. Great, Octiron had found them again.
"Go away," she hissed.
"Sorry, Tygress," Deuce said in her ear. "No can do. May I assist you in another way?"
She crossed her arms and glared at the tranquil copse of trees below on the hillside. "Yes. You can find the nearest psi-trap for me. In fact, find the worst one on this planet—so I can throw my partner into it!"
"Erm," Deuce said. "That's also a negative."
"Then just... be quiet. Please." While she attempted to calm herself enough to return to the Aurelian camp and face Arek without rearranging his face more than the mawwr bots had today.
And if the thought of hurting him physically made her stomach knot even tighter, that was too bad.
"Mia?' asked a familiar voice.
Startled, she looked through the evening shadows on the edge of the trees, and into Tenn's smiling face. "Tenn! What are you doing here?" Not only on Altaria, but near the Aurelian camp.
He strolled out of the trees toward her. "The same thing you are, I imagine. Here to complete a challenge. But at this moment? Trying to escape my partner—at least for a little while."
She huffed a laugh that tasted bitter on her tongue. "You got that right."