CHAPTER 12
Nicholen was furious, but he kept his breathing even and counted the heartbeats pounding in his ears, using the technique he’d practiced to slow down his racing pulse. He stared at the empty doorway where his men and Gloria had disappeared. Anthony, the navigation officer, and Samantha, the communication officer, had their heads down and noses in their consoles. Xaviara was standing against a wall as though she wanted to blend into the grey and yellow background.
The only person he could trust anymore was her. “Come here.”
Even her startled movement toward him was graceful. The surprised look that had taken over her gorgeous features was melting away with every step she took.
Damn, but she was poised, even under the most stressful of situations.
Tearing his eyes from her curvy form, he addressed the two human officers. “Will there be a problem following my orders?”
“No, sir,” said Samantha first, followed quickly by Anthony’s, “Absolutely not.”
“Good.” The two might find it odd he was addressing a diplomatic aide, but with the treachery he’d discovered, he didn’t give a fuck. To Xaviara, he said, “Do you see what happened there?”
She nodded. “She should have found the transmission in the commdump.”
“Yes, but it was also buried with a high level security code.”
Xaviara’s breathy gasp nearly made his desire spike, but his pounding heart rate had nearly slowed to its normal pace, and he was able to keep his body under control. Forebears, but she made all the discipline he’d practiced for years fly out the window with her mere presence.
“I’ve decrypted the rest of the message with your security clearance,” said Samantha.
Nicholen kept himself from shifting uncomfortably again for another reason—he did not like that Camlan had insisted on updating their voice clearance to match the masquerade they were perpetuating. There may come a time when you need to act on the trincaar’s authority, Camlan had insisted. Nicholen regretted that it had finally come to this. “Play it.”
Manda Aurellia’s clear voice rang out over the speakers, all traces of static gone. “Begin. Anchor ship KH-159, this is lead ship KH-159. We have crashed-landed on alien planet UTP-8907. Engine failure. We require pick-up at the following coordinates.” An artificial voice followed with the location. “Repeat.”
Relief flooded him. With the coordinates confirmed from what the computer had displayed during the crash, it was a simple matter to fly into geosynchronous orbit and activate the matter transmitter. “Take us into the mesosphere, and prepare to mattrans them out of there.”
“Sir,” Anthony spoke up, “that will be impossible. We already tried to follow them on their crash route, but the planet’s magnetic field is interfering with our navigation equipment that close to the surface.”
Nicholen blinked. “What if—”
“Further,” he continued, “even if I were to manually fly us into the correct orbit—and yes, I probably would be able to, given enough time—a field that dense would make it impossible unable to initiate safe mattrans.”
Of course. If Nicholen wasn’t so worked up over recent events, he would have put those two things together. “Are you saying we can’t get them off the planet?”
“Not from where they’re at now. I don’t know about elsewhere.”
“What do you mean you don’t know about elsewhere? Isn’t it your job to know about elsewhere?”
“I’ll need more time, sir.”
“Fine. Initiate a mapping of the region. I want to know if there’s any location within a fifty kilometer radius that’s safe to mattrans them. We’ll worry about getting ourselves there later.”
“Initiating. This will take some time.”
“How much time?” The words came out sharper than he’d intended, but forebears, his trincaar’s life was on the line.
“For almost eight thousand square kilometers, eight hours.”
Nicholen held in a sigh. “Do a life sign scan of one square kilometer as well. I want to know what they’re dealing with down there.”
“I’ll need another hour for that.”
It was already late, and nearly time for him—and probably Xaviara—to sleep. With Gloria off the bridge, Nicholen made another decision. “Go ahead. I’ll be back in the morning to hear the results.” He turned on his heel. “Oh, and Samantha?”
“Sir?” said the communication officer.
“Send a message down to tell them what we’re doing. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what to say, but don’t mention the sabotage or arrest.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
Out in the hallway, Xaviara lifted her eyebrows and tried what she hoped came across as a coy smile. “So… Bedtime…”
The pained expression that had overtaken Nicholen’s handsome features the moment he stepped onto the bridge melted into the lustful grin she’d seen after pleasuring him earlier. “Oh, sweet viaar, I would like nothing more than to fall into bed with you, but—”
He clamped his mouth shut as the kadyyza security guards who had dragged Gloria off toward the brig rounded the corner. The taller said, “We’ve secured your guest in the location you requested.”
Euphemisms everywhere. At times, Xaviara found it laughable how much diplomats would dance around the real meaning behind words. Even a man who didn’t believe himself diplomatic used them.
“Did she say anything?” Nicholen’s pained expression was back.
“She insists she’s not the saboteur.”
“Of course she does.”
“We questioned her but she gave us no information.”
Nicholen nodded crisply. “I’ll try in the morning. I believe the two of you are on duty for the next,” his eyes flicked upward to check the time in his link, “ten hours?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Don’t speak to her. Wait and see if she reveals anything. I’ll ask for a full report in the morning.”
Both saluted simultaneously and disappeared around the corner.
Xaviara jumped at her chance to try convincing Nicholen to drop whatever excuse he’d been about to formulate. She stepped forward and put her arms around his waist. When she tipped up her head to kiss him, his lips were soon on hers, his manhood stirring against her pelvis. Wetness pooled in her core as his tongue danced around her mouth.
But then he pulled back. “The first thing I learned in the military is how important sleep is for clear and rational decision-making.”
Xaviara let out a small moan.
His erection stirred again. “Don’t tempt me, viaar.” With a deft move, he extricated himself from her arms. “I would love to repay you for what you did earlier, but we need to get through this crisis first. I’ll breathe much easier once we know your Manda and my Camlan are on their way to safety.”
“All right.” What more was there to do but agree? “You have an excellent point.” Besides, they needed to stop canoodling in the hallway. All the excitement was making her take risks.
“We’ll pick this up soon. I promise.” He gave her a tiny push in the direction of her bunk. “Sleep well. And no trying to sneak into my room at night. I sleep naked.”
His wink sent shivers of desire through her body. Sadly, she headed down the corridor in the opposite direction he was going.