Tolan Lark knew his mate was seconds away from stunning his ass again, but he had no give where this subject was concerned.  Even he was surprised at his reaction to the thought of her at Cor Warrung’s mercy.  He could take many things. But not that.  He turned his eyes to Lucan Warrung and Danika.

"Warrung was in a damaged ship looking for a mech on Rindel but that was nearly a ship standard month ago," he said, his voice as cool as he could make it.  "Do you have any new intel?"

Lucan looked from him to Jax and back again before he spoke.  "We know he has not changed ships, which leads me to believe that he does not have another base we don't know about.  I received word that his cyborgs were resupplying on Crotin not a ship standard day ago."  Lucan looked back at Jax.  "Word was spread that any information on a Dainaree female mech would be paid for in platinum."

He felt Jax start beside him.  "He could find any number of mechs on Crotin if he wanted to replace Mixa.  Why am I suddenly a priority?"

Tolan felt his teeth lengthen in his already aching jaws.  "Mixa told him what you could do," he said harshly, the words barely making it past those clenched teeth.

"I get that," Jax said, flipping her hand in dismissal.  "And I know you said he doesn't like to be thwarted so eventually he would come looking." She stressed the word eventually, sounding perturbed.  "But why would I be enough priority with everything happening to offer platinum for information now?  It makes no sense.  If his ship was that badly damaged, he could use that platinum in any number of ways to solve the problem."

Danika suddenly sucked in a breath and looked at Lucan.  Some knowledge passed between them that made Tolan's shoulders tense for a blow.

"A beautiful Dainaree of royal blood with a gift far beyond the norm, and of childbearing years," Lucan said low and harsh, then he raised his eyes from his lady and looked at Jax, his eyes as cold and grim as his words.  "I do not think he has only a mech in mind anymore.  Though I'm sure that is a nice bonus."

Tolan watched the color drain from Jax's face when she realized the implications.

Yes, it was safe to say his mate was not going anywhere near Cor Warrung as long as there was life left in his body.

Jax knew she had to look as shocked as she felt, but the thought of being forced to work for a man like Cor Warrung was bad enough; having a baby with any man for the express purpose of supplying him with children to experiment on, just …no.

Just at that moment, the children returned in almost the same burst of sound that they had entered the now-destroyed conference room. 

The child Dara, with her deep violet eyes and golden curls, could have passed for a Dainaree but for the pale whiteness to her skin, rather than the golden hue of Jax's own.  But it would not have mattered if she had fangs and two heads, she was a child and it was their duty as adults to see to her protection.  Jax understood why her mate was reacting the way he did.  They were mated now, and beyond the magic connection that was formed between them, she would not see him in danger if she could help it either, but some things were more important.  He of all people should understand that.

This time the Baralians sauntered in behind the quick children with a caution that spoke not of fear, but intelligence.  They wanted no crazy humanoids to jump out at them and attack again.  But they need not have bothered, all eyes were on the children.

"Lara," the young Avian started in a disgusted tone, flying above the young violet-eyed girl, "she won't listen, not even to Baen and Rala."

Lara smiled at the winged child.  "Thaos, come and meet Jax and Tolan Lark, and you can tell us what Dara is not listening about."

"Everything," the boy said in a dramatic way that made Jax want to smile.  "She keeps trying to go to the beach when it's not time to play.  She wants to swim when she doesn't know how, and we all told her she had to wait to see Danika, but she won't listen.  She keeps whining about horses and lights."  He had to be six or seven, though different cultures grew at different rates. He had the gangly arms and legs that suggested he had just entered boyhood not that long ago, leaving the nursery behind.  What in the world was he doing here, of all places?  Avian were like the Dainaree, rarely seen outside their home system.  Children, rarer still.  He looked at Lara with curious eyes that could not hide a brief flare of excitement at some thought.  "Are there horses here?"

Lara opened her mouth and then looked to Barnos.  "Horses?"

He shook his head. "Not that I have ever seen."

Thaos' face fell in nearly comic disappointment.  "That's what the Baralians said, that they caught no scent of such creatures, but she had to see Danika about horses."

Danika picked up the girl child and held her high in her arms so she could meet earnest violet eyes.  "What is it you wish to tell me, Dara?  Did you see horses?"

"And lights," Dara said, taking a moment to glare at Thaos before turning those big baby eyes back to Danika.  "We have to warn the horses to stay away from the lights."

Danika didn't so much as blink but continued in her serious way.  "Where are the horses you saw?  And what happened to them?"

"The horses in the water.  They want me to ride them but they can't get through the invisible net."

Lucan shifted enough to draw everyone’s attention. His eyes were on the little girl in Danika's arms.  "Are you talking about the seahorses beyond the force field?"

She turned big violet eyes his way, the look in them so solemn.  "They want to come see me, but the net stops them.  None of them can come close enough."

"How do you know they want to come?" Danika asked carefully.  "Can you hear them speaking from here?"

The little girl shook her head.  "Only when I'm in the water.  I can't hear them unless I'm in the water."

"But you know the horses are in danger today, even without going to the water?"

She scrunched her little face in an adorably confused look.  "They aren't in danger today.  But I'm going to forget if I don't tell them right away.  I always forget."

Danika and Lucan shared a look.  "Do you know when they will be in danger, Dara, if not today?"

"When the bad man comes, the horses will see the lights where there should be none, and go to see. I have to tell them not to go."

"The bad man?"  Lucan asked carefully, but the cold edge in his eyes went hard.  "He wants to hurt the seahorses?"

She shook her head, looking worried.  "He doesn't care about the horses. He wants to hurt all of us, but the horses get in his way.  I have to tell them not to go."

"Do you know when the bad man comes, if it's not today?" Danika asked carefully, her own eyes worried now.

Dara scrunched up her eyes and thought hard. Finally, she looked pleased with herself and spoke excitedly. "He comes when the babies are all here."  She used her little finger to tap Danika and then turned and pointed at Lara and then, even more terrifying, at Jax, and then, with a confused look between Lore and Tyber, her little finger following her thoughts, she finally said, "Their babies are here before the bad man comes with the lights."  She turned her so-serious eyes back to Lucan, who looked like he was reeling from the news as much as the rest of them. "But we have to warn the horses now, before I forget."

Danika cleared her throat and tried not to look as shell-shocked as everyone else.  "Will the horses understand you if you warn them?"

She nodded vigorously.

Danika pursed her lips and then asked.  "Do all animals understand you?"

Dara shook her head.  "Just the ones who live in the water.  But the Baralians won't let me go talk to them unless it's play time."  She looked disgusted for a moment, her eyes shooting baby daggers at Thaos.  "I'm not a baby.  I can too swim."

He snorted.  But with a warning look from Barnos he stopped before whatever he had planned to say came out.

"You can talk to the creatures in the ocean?"

"And the pond fish," Dara said.  "But they are kind of dumb.  They will do what I tell them, but they don't talk back to me."

Lucan raised a brow at her innocent words.  "The water creatures do what you tell them?"

"When I get bigger they will," she said airily.  "Only the small fish listen right now."

"But you know you will ride the horses and that there will be babies and bad men here someday?  How do you know that?"

She was back to looking confused.  "I saw it.  In my dreams."

"You dream of what will happen while you sleep?" Danika asked. 

The little girl nodded but added, "And sometimes I dream when I'm awake too.  Those dreams scare me, but I forget them.  Mostly."  She looked imploringly into Danika's eyes.  "Will you tell them to let me go to the water so I can warn the horses?  I'll forget if I don't tell them."

"Yes," Danika finally said after a long silence.  "They will take you to warn the horses, but will you tell me or Lucan when you dream so we will know if you forget?"

The worry cleared from the girl’s face.  She gave Thaos a taunting grin and hurried to agree with a frantic nod of her head.  Then she pushed herself out of Danika's arms until her feet hit the floor.  She was already heading for the beach.  "Come on Baen, Rala, I have to tell the horses."

"No swimming for now, Dara.  Wait until Lucan or I can be with you."

She looked disgruntled, but finally nodded and was gone, Thaos flying after her, with the Baralians, after one look shared with Lara, following close behind.  The silence left in their wake was pointed.

"I'm going to wait and see if she has true seeing before I panic about having a baby," Lara said resolutely, her eyes on Barnos, who was looking at her flat belly with suspicion.

"Since neither Lore nor I have plans to get pregnant, I think that might be a good plan," Tyber said wryly.

That caused Barnos to snort with humor, but he did not take his eyes off Lara.  She seemed to read something either in his eyes or his emotions because she snorted herself.  "Why do I have the feeling your pirate nature has been awakened.  This is not a challenge, Captain; we are not going to make babies right now, if that is what you are thinking."

He gave her a big smile that Jax thought would look just right on a marauder.  Lara just shook her head and turned back to the room.  She blinked a little at something she was sensing and then she colored even more, her eyes going from Lucan to Tolan Lark and back again.  Finally, they hit on Danika and widened.

"I know," Danika said, without a word passing Lara's lips.  She had to clear the huskiness from her throat before she could continue.  "Believe me I know that Barnos is not the only one thinking about it.  But whatever is or is not going to happen in the future, Dara needs help now."

That was enough to focus some thoughts, though Jax was being very careful not to look back at her new mate, when she could feel the heat and attention he was giving her.  He had liked the idea of her with baby; she saw that from one glance at his face.  He liked that idea a lot. 

He was not the only one. To go from having absolutely no one, to having a mate, and possibly a child?  She could not say she was not liking the idea a great deal.  But she was just as confused about her reaction as his, and truthfully, she did not have time to think about it right now.  Not when a child’s life was at stake and she had become the target of a megalomaniac with baby-making delusions of his own.

"We know where Cor Warrung is now, and that might not be true in even a day’s time," Jax said, looking at the rest of them.  "Unless I am wrong, that means we should have left already."

"It's already old information," Lucan said grimly.  "He will have moved on, and he has the backing of the Gorson Raiders to cover his trail.  There is a reason none of us has managed to kill him yet."

"Then Tyber is right, a trap is the only way we will get what you need for the child in time enough for it to make a difference."

She felt Tolan tense at her back, even as Lucan's eyes went over her shoulder to him.  "Yes, but until now we had nothing to use as bait he would not see coming."

"No," Tolan growled.  His hands went to her upper arms and clasped, as if he could physically restrain her from doing what he did not want her to do.

She looked over her shoulder and met lavender Shakien eyes.  "Do you have a better idea?"  She let him see the stubborn resolve in hers.  "Because if you don't, I'm doing this.  With or without your help."

"Try it and I will lock you down."

"You think there is such a thing as a lock that can hold me?"

He cursed in several languages.

She took a deep breath and turned her whole body to fully face him.  "She's a child, Tolan."

"He will hurt you in ways you cannot begin to imagine."  The rough edge of his voice was very nearly feral again.

"On his ship?" she asked pointedly.  "Do you really think I’m in danger on a ship?  Any ship?"

"When Danika was taken, he used a gas on her that knocked her out and limited her power for a time," Lucan said before Tolan could do more than growl at her again.  "It could do the same to you.  You could quickly find yourself helpless before him, and that is not a place you want to be.  Ever."

She laughed at that, and it was as unexpected as it was bitter.  "I am a Dainaree of the royal line, fourth in line to the throne," she said and that same bitterness coated her unexpected revelation. "I came into my power over mech nearly before I could walk.  My father made it his mission in life to destroy my very unnatural abilities.  He went to great lengths and spared no expense to see that come about.  Trust me, if there was anything that could limit my powers, I am long since immune to its affects."

"And if Warrung has new tricks you haven't seen?"  Tyber asked quietly. That voice with the smooth cadence and rough edges sounded even better when he talked low and concerned like that.  Jax shivered with the rest of them.

"It's been many years since you left home."  Lore added, one of the few times he had spoken since their talk.

"I am not so dependent on my magic as that," she reassured them, her eyes meeting Tolan’s to see he did not look reassured.  At all.  "I have been on my own a very long time.  I can handle myself."

He growled at her, tipping his head down until their noses almost touched.  "You are not alone anymore."

She understood what his tone and words meant to her, that she no longer had just herself to think of.  She appreciated the sentiment, and she didn't.  Jax took a deep breath and pulled in the scent of her mate along with much-needed oxygen.  She tipped her head just a bit so that their lips just barely touched. 

"Prove it," she said, making her own point.  "Don't make me do this alone, because we both know I will do this, with you or without you."