Chapter Forty-Five
Abbie stared up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of Arcanum’s breathing as she reflected on her life.
So much had happened in the past eighteen months, it was hard to process it all.
“What keeps you awake, my mate?”
The sound of Hauke’s deep voice brought her out of her silent contemplation.
“I’m just too tired to sleep.”
“I can feel your sadness, soul of my soul.”
Abbie turned on her side to face him. “I’m not sad. I was thinking about everything we’ve been through over the past year and a half. Our lives have changed so much. I really want to practice medicine again.”
“Then you shall,” Hauke assured her.
Abbie fought her emotions, unwilling to appear weak in front of her mate. “What’s going to happen to us? We can never return home to Aukrabah.”
“The human military will eventually retreat if they cannot find us.”
“And if they don’t give up?”
His eyes glittered in the moonlight. “Then we fight.”
Abbie’s heart skipped a beat. “But there are only a few hundred Bracadyte warriors, Hauke. The military outnumbers us by thousands. And they have weapons of mass destruction.”
“Their weapons mean nothing without a leader to guide them. Remove the leader…eliminate the threat.”
Her breath caught. “You’re talking about assassination?”
“I do not relish killing a man, sweet Abbie. But I will do what is necessary for the survival of the Bracadyte.”
“Let’s pray that it doesn’t come to that.”
He reached across their sleeping child and ran his fingers down the side of her face. “You and Arcanum are my world. When it comes to your protection, I would kill every man walking on two legs if it became necessary.”
Abbie blinked back the damnable tears that threatened. She’d been a bundle of emotions since the news of Henry’s passing. “We can go far away from this place, to an island where no one would ever find us.”
“We can do anything that you want, my mate. But this would take time. Shelters would need to be fashioned for the little ones.” He glanced down at his son’s sleeping face. “For you.”
Abbie nodded. “But it’s something to consider?”
“I would consider anything for you.”
“Thank you, Hauke. I only want a safe place for Arcanum to grow up, along with any other children we conceive.”
“That is all I want as well. Your happiness means everything to me.”
“I worry about Naura.” At his puzzled look, Abbie continued. “She will one day want children of her own, and I’m not sure Uncle Tony will be ready for that after losing his son.”
Hauke propped his head on his hand. “I sense a change in Anthony Vaughn. The darkness he once held has faded, and a light burns in his eyes when he is with Naura.”
“I see it too. Your sister is the best thing that’s happened to him in years.”
“You and our son are the best things to happen to me also. I could not live without either of you.”
“I love you, Hauke.”
“And I love you, soul of my soul.”
* * * *
Gerald Kerik picked up the Styrofoam cup he’d filled with coffee and took a hesitant sip, hissing as the hot liquid burned the tip of his tongue.
“The president’s on the phone, sir,” Private George Ludwig announced from the doorway.
Kerik nodded and strolled across the room to answer the call. “Mr. President,” he acknowledged, pressing the receiver to his ear.
As per usual, Rueben got right to the point. “Congress is pissed about the bombs. They’ve called a meeting for tomorrow to discuss the misuse of military force.”
“You gave the order, sir.”
Rueben’s sigh was loud enough for Private Ludwig to hear in the next room. “I’m aware of my orders. I’m asking you not to drop anymore bombs until this mess blows over.”
Kerik ground his teeth. “And the divers, sir?”
“Keep them out there. Finding Abbigail Sutherland is top priority.”
Gerald refrained from pointing out that bringing Miss. Sutherland in alive would be next to impossible. “Yes, sir.”
“Have you found any evidence of the creatures at all?”
“Nothing yet, sir. But the gulf is a big place, and we’re not sure we are looking in the right area. Anthony Vaughn is no dummy. Every bit of this could have been staged by him to send us on a wild goose chase.”
“I’d thought of that already. Keep searching, Gerald. If you don’t find anything within the next seven days, pull out.”
“Yes, sir.” Kerik hung up the phone and ran a hand down his face. He hated like hell taking orders from a man that didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. And Rueben Howell couldn’t find his own rear end if he sat on a box of thumbtacks.
With a growl of frustration, he strode from the room in search of Doug Jefferies. He’d been in and out of their temporary headquarters all day, avoiding Gerald like the plague.
Kerik despised being stationed in Florida for any length of time. The heat was sweltering, and the humidity made it hard to breathe.
He stopped outside Doug’s office and tapped on the door, entering without waiting on an invitation.
Jefferies sat behind his desk, peering over his glasses with a raised eyebrow. “Please, come in,” he murmured sarcastically.
Kerik closed the door behind him. “We need to talk.”
“About?” Doug removed his spectacles and leaned back in his chair.
“The president.” He waved his hand toward the chair in front of Jefferies’s desk. “May I?”
Doug blew out a breath. “Have a seat. What’s the problem?”
“Rueben is weak. I don’t know who’s pulling his strings, but his cowardice is going to cost all of our lives.”
“That is sedition, Kerik. You better have a damn good reason for your accusations.”
“He’s ordered me to pull out of the gulf mission.”
“What?” Doug quickly sat forward. “When?”
“In a week. And no more force is to be used.”
“Did he give a reason?”
Gerald shook his head. “Other than bringing the Sutherland woman in alive…no.”
“How does he expect you to bring her in without force? Does he think she will offer herself up as a sacrifice?”
“He believes she holds the key to the Incola virus,” Gerald offered. “Talk to him, Doug. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”
Jefferies narrowed his eyes. “She very well may be the key, Kerik. And if so, she’s our only hope against this epidemic.”
“Then what do you suggest I do? Sit on a ship and drop a lure in the water, on the off chance that she’s hungry?
“Abbigail Sutherland gave birth to an alien baby, Kerik. It’s not so much the woman they want, as the child.”
A thought struck Gerald. “If the child is our nation’s hope, why not impregnate someone else with the aliens’ spawn?”
Kerik could see the wheels turning in Jefferies’s eyes.
“You might be on to something there,” Doug slowly admitted. “But how are we going to get our hands on one of those abominations?”
“We blow them out of the water. Some of them will die, but not all of them.”
Doug quickly jumped to his feet. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard yet.”
Gerald stood also. “Where are you going?”
“To call a meeting with the president.”