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  A shaft of excitement sparked, and she smiled, knowing that what she did now was real. This is what I’m meant to do. The thought shocked her for just an instant before she found her equilibrium, and her fingers started moving over the desk screen with conviction.

  “Jemma, I think we have a problem. From what I can tell, there is an intercept in place, with the order to forcibly board us.” The words stuck in her throat as she rechecked her work, fingers now flying over the screen.

  “Fuck! Are you sure?” Jemma spun her seat back to peer over her shoulder. “Of course you are. Okay, let’s make sure everyone is buckled up. Raven, can you get everyone organized?”

  Meredith took a moment to look over her shoulder, surprised to see the cold, hard look in Jemma’s eyes. This Jemma, the warrior woman, was one she’d never encountered before.

  “Meredith, I need you to see if you can make your way through their jammers to find out what they are saying to each other, because I’d be damned surprised if there isn’t another one out there. Can you manage that?” The violet eyes zeroed onto her face, and Meredith felt a smile forming. She quickly turned back to the screen.

  “I can do better than that. I’m already seeking their secure bands and...hang on...there! I’m in.” She turned back to look at Chowd. His face mirrored hers with a private smile of shared triumph.

  “Damn. You’re good, aren’t you?” His voice rang with admiration, and she blushed.

  “Yeah, but it’s no good being good at something if you can’t use it in a practical application.” She turned back to her screen. “Lots of my classmates were quick and efficient but unsuited to field work, which is the reason they continue to work for the Admiralty on station or planets. I was categorized as suitable for fieldwork, but because of my intelligence quotient was kept sequestered at the Admiralty. Each time I requested reassignment, they used the argument that I was too important to the Admiralty to be placed in a potential combat zone.” The words trailed away to silence as Raven looked at her, amazed.

  Ugh, too much information. Meredith rolled her eyes at herself before Raven rose and made his way between the rows of seating, requesting everyone prepare for any possible eventualities.

  Meredith watched from the corner of her eye. The security officers betrayed nothing, their faces calm, but the ambassador blanched. She felt pity for the man who was now a fish out of proverbial water. This should have been a straightforward mission. Now they just had to survive long enough to finalize the treaty between the two species. She turned her mind back to the job at hand.

  The flashing light on the screen alerted her as she shoved the earpieces in, flicking on the comm system. “Incoming transmission,” she muttered as she worked furiously to patch through a dual band system with the original Ru’Edan dialect and herself translating.

  “This is the Ru’Edan ship Fiemanskar. Pull to and prepare to be boarded.” The tinny words broadcast from behind the moon, interference making it harder to understand.

  “Shit! No way. Preparing for evasive maneuvers.” Jemma’s voice chimed through the cold silence. “Tell them we carry the Earth Ambassador Vierghent, en route for the Ru’Edan mothership. Tell them we will not allow a boarding party.”

  Meredith nodded and sent the message in the native tongue of the Ru’Edan ruling class. She could hear muttering and a quick conversation, the guttural tones telling her which of the lesser dialects to try, but no matter how she recalibrated, she couldn’t make out the discussion. So she placed a command to patch Chowd in.

  “Chowd? Can you tell me what they’re saying?” She imagined his eyes closing as he concentrated.

  “No. It’s a lesser dialect and one I don’t know.”

  She exhaled heavily, knowing that put them at a distinct tactical disadvantage. She mentally filed away the knowledge of this new language for future investigation.

  The whine of the engines grew as Jemma started talking again. “Tell them we’re about to send a distress call, should they decide to push the issue. Tell them that we will also be taking this up directly with the senators on our arrival. See if we can’t bluff our way through.”

  In the time Meredith spent preparing and sending the information, Jemma reprogrammed their heading for departure in case they needed to make a swift exit. The engines thrummed beneath their feet.

  Meredith relayed the terse words and once more waited. Her leg started jiggling again, the up and down motion quick and tense.

  “We’ll wait for the mothership to arrive.” Chowd’s answer left Meredith feeling shaky, and she still felt concern at their unprotected position.

  Meredith shared the information and received a short nod from Jemma while Chowd looked coldly remote, one hand firmly resting on the laser pistol he wore.

  “Raven? Check the scanners again and see if there is any sign of that goddamn mothership. I’d feel a whole heap better knowing it is on the way to give us some cover.” Jemma’s voice echoed in the enclosed cabin.

  Meredith’s stomach clenched for just a moment before she forced herself to relax. First fingers, then arms. Methodically, she worked on each section, aware, though, that she might need to work at any second.

  “Here they come.” Jemma chewed out the words, her gaze firmly on the ship ahead of them. They watched on the radar as the ship moved from its position hidden by the shadows of the moon, then ceased its trajectory. “Chowd? Start scanning that ship. We need to know exactly what they have. And keep an eye out for incoming. That mothership can’t be too far away.”

  In the back of Meredith’s mind, the sight of this ship—the fact it wasn’t the one they were to meet—concerned her. They hadn’t left, just stopped their motors. It was more than a little unnerving.

  Meanwhile, Jemma maneuvered the ship to a more defensible position, cursing under her breath while Meredith continued listening on all channels. Some chatter here and there. She waited and watched.

  After an interminable period, a large blip appeared on their scanners, heading in their direction.

  “Fiemanskar? Stand down. Mothership Elvmandar here.” A brief but garbled message acknowledged the direction. “Crew of the Elector? We apologize for the delay. We were held up briefly attending to an incident on one of our moon bases. However, we are here now. We will open the dock for your imminent arrival. Captain Vied’an out.”

  Meredith quickly translated the statement. Chowd nodded quietly, though his face was shadowed.

  “Fine then, we go in. Chowd? Prepare your security team, because they aren’t getting on this shuttle. We’ll keep Meredith up here.”

  Chowd rose as Raven’s voice died away, moving along the corridor once more, squatting to talk to his team in quiet tones. They nodded and prepared their weapons before standing and moving to the back of the shuttle. Chowd moved in next to the ambassador, and a lightning quick exchange took place.

  No further information was communicated through the comm though, and Meredith’s skill as a translator was no longer required. At least, not at this point in the mission.

  She breathed a silent sigh and kept an eye on the massive hull looming on the screen, almost from nowhere. Jemma moved the shuttle into position when she saw the opening and moved within the large gray walls. The Ru’Edan ships lined up in the bay as they entered, and Meredith wondered at the skill with which Jemma hovered the craft for just an instant before letting it land with a whisper-like kiss upon the floor.

  They had arrived.

  Chapter 9

  Chowd positioned himself in front of his men and the ambassador as the door of the craft opened. Most of all, he made sure he remained in front of Meredith.

  The atmosphere on the ship certainly felt warmer than the shuttle, and a gassy steam invaded the small shuttle as it stabilized the temperature. He kept one hand on his pistol as he waited.

  A Ru’Edan official moved toward him, looking as cautious as he felt. Chowd and the official moved together, bowing once in the traditional manner, then the offi
cial extended his hand. “Jod Svan’Er, head of guardian services. Welcome aboard the Elvmandar.”

  “Chowd Sur Banden. Chief of security on the UEE Elector.” He stopped and indicated first to Jemma. “Jemma Cardnew, our pilot. Raven Fraser, her partner. Meredith Gentry, attached to the Elector as translator. Ambassador Vierghent, and my security officers.” His mouth tightened. I refuse to make the positions of either Raven or Meredith clear at this time. They were too important to the Empire, with Raven’s knowledge of the Elector and Meredith’s code-breaking skills. It would be unwise to provide too much information to anyone who didn’t need to know.

  Each person stepped out of the shuttle as Chowd named them, so they lined up along the obsidian-black floor. Some looked around in interest and not a little concern, others waiting in calm silence. He understood their tension, but they had a job to do.

  His chest felt tight, and he expected someone—anyone—to come out and call him a traitor. To name his father and want to take him out for the crimes he had committed. He hadn’t ever considered himself Ru’Edan, but neither did he consider himself human, although they might see it differently.

  The man Chowd guessed was the captain, given his official decorations, moved forward. “Welcome, Ambassador, to our humble ship. I am Captain Vied’an. We will attempt to make your time aboard as comfortable as we can. We have arranged cabins as per the agreement for you and your personal entourage.”

  He gestured for the ambassador to move forward, and Chowd nodded to his people. They moved into position, flanking the man as directed before landing, their muscles and larger bodies notable among the fine-figured Ru’Edanians.

  Chowd needed a level of freedom to look around and plan, so he had taken this unusual step of splitting the party up and moving closer to Jod Svan’Er. He hoped it wasn’t a mistake. He trusted his people to know how to keep the ambassador safe.

  The captain was tall for their kind at nearly six feet. Being of the high-class, his body had been better nurtured and he filled his ornate uniform, one he seemed to wear with great pride. His gray skin stretched over his sinewy frame, which was covered by a resplendent red-and-black-leathered jacket. As Chowd watched, the captain turned, and the ambassador followed him, walking quickly through an automatic doorway and out of sight, the two guards trailing him.

  Chowd turned swiftly. “Jemma and Raven? I need you to supervise unloading and securing the shuttle. Meredith, come with me. I may need your skills.” He nodded to Jod, knowing that he would need to follow him and find out exactly what security measures they had set in place and acquire any other intelligence he could glean.

  Information was power, and his role required him to obtain as much as possible so he could ensure the safety of the people in his guardianship, and the ambassador particularly. He also refused to allow Meredith out of his sight. At least the rest of the crew stayed in pairs, and they’d remain so until he was assured of their safety.

  Meredith moved close to him, and he battled the need to take her hand and offer the support he knew she needed but wouldn’t ask for. He couldn’t do that though. On the Ru’Edan homeworlds, and even their ships, the genders remained unequal, and he refused to put her in an even more precarious position than she was already in. No, he would play it by ear. For now, anyway.

  “What provisions are there for cabins?” He kept his voice terse.

  “We have allocated five as per our agreement,” Jod Svan’Er answered, ushering them into a long, gray corridor. Their steps clanged on the floor, the lighting sufficient to see their way but no more.

  Chowd nodded before saying, “We will only require four. Our teams are paired, and only the ambassador is currently unpaired.”

  The guardian stopped, looking at him with surprise. “Paired? As in...to stay together?”

  Chowd nodded, understanding they had reached a pivotal moment for his team. Chowd waited for the reaction from this Ru’Edan guardian, which could affect the balance of their mission.

  “As in the women together, and the males similarly so?” Suspicion colored Jod’s voice.

  “No. As in my pilot and her assistant are a pair, my two guards are paired, and I am paired with this female.”

  “That might cause some issues. We do not allow that in our own ranks.” His eyes narrowed. “Yet I had heard it was quite common for your males and females to cohabitate, and even to carry the same rank and position. That seems rather unwise, doesn’t it?”

  “Not at all,” Chowd replied.

  The guardian didn’t speak again as he turned to walk quietly down the corridor, but Chowd sensed his unease.

  “We are placed near the ambassador, I take it?”

  The guardian nodded. “Yes, two cabins to one side and two to the other. We were instructed to do so, as the ambassador was bringing a full security detail and his assistant with him.”

  “His assistant is indisposed.” No need to go into all the details right now, in case they had something to do with it. He felt Meredith’s unease but remained thankful for her silence at this time. I will find an opportunity to take on her thoughts about the situation later.

  He breathed deeply, holding on to his emotions as they entered a large room. The overwhelming feeling of being trapped remained though.

  “This is where the captain will hold a formal meal tonight. We have ensured that there are some of your local foodstuffs available as well.”

  Chowd looked around quickly. The room was sparse and gray with a single long table and hard seating fastened to the floor. The room looked just like the rest of the ship they had already seen—spartan.

  They moved through the decks quickly, and Chowd memorized the layout of the ship, the security systems, and life-support pod locations. A prickle at the back of his neck continued to irk him, but he ignored it, knowing that he couldn’t investigate the way he would on the Elector. His stomach churned while he filed away everything to reconsider later, leaving him unsatisfied, even while he continued the cursory inspection.

  Ru’Edanian pilots, officers, and even conscripts passed by them, inspecting him closely, as if they knew his background, then they glanced at Meredith, their gazes shocked. A female clearly escorted by a male! He could read the horror and disbelief in their eyes before they quickly averted their faces. With each action he felt himself growing colder and more tightly wound as anger invaded his entire body.

  Their steps echoed throughout the silence, and he heaved a great sigh of relief when they came to the final door.

  “This is your cabin.” The guardian indicated that they should both enter, and the door slid shut behind them, the palm pad glowing for just an instant as it locked. “If I may be so bold, it might be wise to keep personal behaviors to a minimum while here. The crew...” He stopped, obviously searching for the right words to complete his warning. “They do not have an easy understanding of...well, cross-gender relationships. They are not the norm on our homeworlds. We have very few female technicians, and they tend to remain in their sectors. It would be wise to ensure that the females remain with their male escort at all times. We do have some on board who adhere to the traditional view of women aboard being servicers only.”

  “Servicers?” Meredith’s voice was high.

  He remembered what the term meant, and pure, white-hot anger that any of the Ru’Edan males would treat Meredith like that zinged through his body. A primitive need to protect her raised its head as his muscles clenched, ready to defend.

  “Servicers are female sexual companions. They are usually of the lower class and sterilized, as they are considered inappropriate or unsuitable breeders.”

  Chowd winced.

  Meredith stepped forward, anger clear on her face. He grabbed Meredith’s hand and squeezed. He hoped she understood that this wasn’t the time for her to throw an anger fit about gender and sexual equality.

  “We will, of course, adhere to your suggestion and pass the information along to the others,” Chowd said. Now I just want Jo
d to leave so I can settle Meredith down, pass along the information, and find out how the others fared with their work.

  Jod must have seen something in his face, since he bowed formally to them both then retreated from the cabin.

  “Servicers? Sterilized sexual companions? What kind of animals are they?” she raged between clenched teeth as she stalked around the cabin.

  “Meredith? You really shouldn’t—” He stopped as she turned on him, her face thunderous.

  “What shouldn’t I say or do? That they’re backward? That their culture demeans women in a way ours doesn’t? That it’s wrong to make them little more than sexual slaves?” Her eyes flashed.

  He felt enchanted at the beauty of her heightened cheek color and the turbulence in her eyes. Then the importance of her words hit him. In a way ours doesn’t? Does that include me? Exclude me? Even as the thoughts assailed him, he backed away. Now certainly wasn’t the time.

  He caught her hard against his body, bent, and whispered quietly in her ear, “Meredith, we don’t know if they are listening to us at the moment. I need to check before we can talk freely.”

  Meredith nodded jerkily without another word.

  Chowd pulled a small device from his pocket, tapped in a command, and waited. Two green lights flashed, then a red. He put a finger to his lips and walked to the wall, following it to a corner, turning and following the wall again. Nothing. The next wall showed no response either, yet the red light continued to glow.

  A small unit sat on the desk, and when he approached it, the light glowed more deeply. There. He picked the item up to inspect it. Nothing that he could see. He breathed deeply, frustrated, looked at her, then held it up and dropped it. The unit fell apart, and the red indicator light on the device in his hand dimmed then spluttered once before finally winking out.

  “Okay, the cabin should be safe, but never say anything until we get a chance to check the room out first.”