Starfire Page 14

  Chapter 11

  Raven lay back, listening to Jemma sleep. The rhythmic sounds reminded him of her spirit; strong and steady despite everything she’d experienced. He hoped that sleeping with her was the right decision.

  He flung an arm over his eyes. He had never been so ready or turned on in his life. He’d wanted her from the moment he had first met her. When he’d kept a watch over her while she attended the academy, staying away from her had been one of the hardest thing he’d ever done.

  Now the Admiral had decided she should remain a member of the Elector crew, even if just for a short time. What would she do when that was over? The Admiralty frowned on relationships within the same ship, or more correctly, on battleships and the like, but in their instance, he was concerned that she might get deployed to the opposite end of the known galaxies. He huffed out a breath as the thoughts churned in his mind.

  She moved in her sleep, and he spooned in behind her. He put his arm around her sleeping form, knowing they would need to get up in the next couple of hours. There would be no rest once this mission began, but for now he would take the lull to make this amazingly beautiful creature see her value to him and the other members of the Elector. Failure is no longer an option, he thought, closing his eyes.

  * * * *

  Something rubbed along the back of Jemma’s head. “Go away,” she grumbled, trying to pull the covers over her cold shoulders.

  It rubbed again, and this time she batted it, her eyes still closed as she fought to recapture the erotic dream that fizzled away. The covers seemed to be slipping off, and the chill touched her skin. She tugged, but instead of covers, she found a hand.

  “What...” She sat up quickly, opening her eyes. There in his glory was Raven, naked and grinning at her, hair rumpled and sleepy-eyed. “Oh my God! My dream has come to life...or I’m still asleep.” The mumbles escaped from surprised lips.

  Raven leaned forward, and she realized she too was naked. The events of last night filtered into her brain. He dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. “Good morning, my sleeping princess. I think we slept in a little and now we have a grand total of ten minutes to be dressed and, if not fed, then at least coffee’d before we have to meet Chowd at the shuttle.” He smiled. “But before we do, you’re beautiful, and I really hope we can recreate the magic of last night again later. Put on your thinking cap, because I’m leaning toward dinner in my office then maybe a nightcap in my cabin?”

  She watched speechless as he stood up. Tonight? Recreate last night? The cataclysmic passion that had zinged between them was a one-time deal, wasn’t it? Was what he suggested even possible?

  “Now I’ll use the sanitary unit before you and get out of here, because I need to change back into my flight suit and I didn’t bring it with me.” One last lingering kiss and he turned, disappearing into the small room beyond.

  She lay back for a moment, listening to the sound of him showering then dressing. As soon as the sanitary unit door opened, she was out of bed, and she saw his gaze roam over her naked form hungrily, making her burn once more.

  Jemma chuckled. “Tonight.”

  She knew there was a smile on her face as she dashed into the sanitary unit and closed the door behind her, his rumble of laughter filling the cabin.

  She might want to think about the amazing night just gone and even follow through on it, but she knew they would likely be late, so she pushed the thought aside. She slid into the shower, scrubbing her hair, then dashed back out, hastily drying, and dressed in another flight suit. She quickly arranged her hair in a messy ponytail and spied the steaming coffee beside the bed. His thoughtfulness touched her as she grabbed it up, palmed the door open, and headed to the shuttle bay.

  Jemma arrived out of breath to see Chowd waiting for her, smiling. “Glad to see you made it, pilot. I don’t know where Raven is. Do you?” He waited, a ghost of a smile on his face, which seemed almost at odds with his usual somber demeanor. His eyes were usually serious, and he rarely smiled. She’d noted a sadness about him too, a loneliness that she could read and understand because she too had a similar empty space inside her.

  She was uncomfortably aware that now, though, he was teasing her. Jemma blushed, ducking her head. “Um, I think he can’t be too far away.” She moved forward. “What do you want to start on today?” She thought perhaps changing the subject might deflect any further discussion, and the sooner they got started, the better anyway. “It looks like you took a bit of damage in the firefight. How about I run over her to see if I can find any issues with her integrity?”

  “That sounds like a wise idea. I’ll start looking at the removal of the extra armaments, and when Raven arrives, I’d like to consider how we can increase the shielding without causing any inefficiencies or glitches in other areas.”

  They moved to the tool racks, each snatching up the items they’d need. “Yeah, that sounds good,” Jemma agreed. “We’ll also need some other tools, which we can probably get from engineering.”

  She climbed into a pair of grubby coveralls and started to pull them over her flight suit, her mind whirring into the day-to-day tasks of a fighter pilot, then started checking the hull integrity. Schematics of the shuttle were not her strong area of knowledge, so she pulled the palm screen from her pocket, bringing up the information she would need. Jemma had started running her hand over the front cone of the shuttle when Raven arrived.

  Coffee in hand, he looked fresh and ready to work. He raised a hand to Chowd. “I know I’m late, but I’ve ordered extra tools and equipment to be transferred down here, and I also ran an update on the schematics we needed to look at.” He walked toward the shuttle. “I had engineering run a break-down with a range of options factored in. I’ve come up with some interesting ideas I want to run past you both.”

  He motioned to the table that had been set up and laid the hard prints on it. They grabbed chairs, and within minutes, the three of them were deep in discussion about the best way to amend the harmonics.

  * * * *

  Jemma had stretched out under the shuttle when the sound of another body slipping under surprised her. She tilted her head to see Raven. “What are you—”

  He cut off her words as he zoomed in for a brief, burning kiss. “I just needed to kiss you before I head back to engineering to check on what’s happening down there. Remember we’re supposed to be meeting with Duvall and the senior staff in his office in about thirty minutes. You should go grab a shower, and I’ll meet you at your cabin in say fifteen minutes. We can walk over together.” He smiled wickedly, swooping in for another quick kiss, then he was gone.

  She lay on her back for a minute longer. With a sigh, she shimmied her way out from under the shuttle.

  “You know, kissing under shuttles isn’t exactly the safest activity.” Chowd delivered this comment with a dry tone.

  She blushed. “Chowd? I know, I shouldn’t, but I just...” She shrugged. How could she explain to him she was lost and trying to find her way through a path when she had no idea where it would take her? That she didn’t even have a clue where to start with the whole relationship gig? She shook her head.

  “Jem, when I first met you, you were brash and loud. But it hid something that was broken inside you. I can understand that, because I’ve been there too. If this is what you want, then take the step with him. If you need a friend, know that I am here.” He smiled and laid a surprisingly soft hand on her arm.

  Chowd puzzled her. She knew he was the senior security officer. At the academy, students spoke of him in hushed tones for his amazing skills in combat and as a security officer—not that he ever visited the academy, but his name was raised in stories of conflicts used as teaching exercises. She didn’t know why he never visited, but it was something that had been hinted at a few times.

  He looked normal, yet there was something about him, something she couldn’t put her finger on. Could it be in his eyes? Was it the slant of his cheeks and his almost feminine features, or som
ething less visible? It could be the quiet way he held himself apart from others, except for those few moments when he broke his shell to offer humor or comfort. Though he was accepted here on the Elector, she always felt there was more to his story than anyone knew.

  “Thanks, Chowd. I’ll definitely remember that.” She gave him a quick hug then stepped back. “I’m heading back to my cabin to grab a shower and change for this meeting. Maybe you should do the same. I won’t be back in here tonight. Will you secure the bay or will I?”

  “You go. I’ll arrange the security. See you in Duvall’s office.”

  It felt like a kind of dismissal, and she took it at face value, slipping out of the bay and making her way back to her cabin. She palmed the door and hurried inside. “Lock. Access allowed, Fraser, Raven.”

  She quickly stripped out of her soiled clothing. She caught sight of oil smears on her face in the mirror in the sanitary unit. Grimacing, she let herself into the shower, turned it on hot, and began to wash. Her hands were in her hair when she heard him.

  “What a beautiful sight I spy right now.” She turned her head to see Raven watching her. She reached for the taps, and when she turned back, he was holding a towel open for her. She stepped into the embrace, and he wrapped the towel around her.

  “Raven, there’s no time...” Her body began heating even as she told herself there was no time for sex.

  “I know, but I can wish. Come on, get dressed and we’ll go to the briefing together.”

  She made her way into the cabin, pulled the spare flight suit out of the cupboard, and noticed, with dismay, no underwear anywhere. Her cheeks heated.

  He noticed the blush and saw her dilemma. Then he winked. “Less to get off you later.”

  She rolled her eyes, but they were out of time, so she pulled on the flight suit over her nude body, bent down to pull on socks and the flight boots she’d worn earlier, and then rose.

  Raven extended his hand. She grabbed it, and together they set off for Duvall’s office.

  When they arrived at Duvall’s office they found the other members of the senior crew already there, ready for the briefing. Jemma grimaced, knowing that they’d been noticed entering together. She was going to have to talk to Duvall about this and wasn’t looking forward to it. For the moment though, she focused on the job at hand—getting to Alpha Star Colony and completing the mission.

  A younger woman, dark-haired and slight, sat next to Duvall. Jemma had a vague recollection of this woman aboard the Elector over eighteen months ago. Jemma felt uncomfortable—Meredith no doubt had heard about her tantrums and pity party on the way to the future, and she hoped it wouldn’t color any association they might have. Jemma sighed inwardly.

  “Raven and Jemma, now that you’re here, let’s get started. You all remember Meredith Gentry? Meredith will be our cryptologist on this mission. She has vast experience with the variant strains of encryption that the Ru’Edan, and in particular, Crick Sur Banden, uses. Meredith, you have the floor.”

  “Thanks, Duvall. Okay, getting right to the bottom of the job at hand, we’ve been intercepting messages between the Phobos pirates and the rogues of Crick Sur Banden. We believe there is a splinter group but don’t know too much right now about their role. Anyway, we believe Crick Sur Banden has been using the pirates to create havoc in and around space in this area.”

  A map displayed on the viewscreen showed where they had come to a dead stop.

  “We hadn’t broadcast the information that they were there, so when the Elector came to a dead stop, no one here or on the Star of Ishtar had that information—that was a dangerous oversight on the part of the Admiralty and nearly resulted in the loss of both Pilot Cardnew and the Elector.” Meredith sighed heavily, frustration evident on her face. “Now, it’s somehow leaked out that the pirates are in this vicinity, and freighters have become aware that anyone getting supplies and assistance to the Alpha Star Colony must first run the gauntlet. To date, they’ve attempted to intercept freighters, hospital ships, and even lone private craft. The Admiralty are now offering fleet assistance to ensure that the lanes remain open. We’ve sent the Vengeance into that area with a squadron of fighter pilots, hoping to clear out the pirates nest.”

  Meredith paused and looked around the room.

  “We have also had incursions in several different locations, including in and around the Alpha Star Colony. We believe they’ve been receiving donations, help, and even training, from Crick Sur Banden, which is how they’ve acquired the fleet of spooks. They’ve effectively starved the Alpha Star Colony, which has ultimately endangered the mining planet. We need the mining to continue, as we are reliant on the Duschem mineral for the matrix of the stealth ships. The Ru’Edan, we understand, have also managed to find their own uses for the mineral in the shield structure of their current generation destroyers, or so our intelligence leads us to believe.”

  Meredith stopped and waited, allowing the group gathered at the table to absorb the details.

  “The Diplomatic Corps had a high-ranking security officer disappear just as we began receiving credible intelligence that Crick Sur Banden is starting to ramp up his campaign to overthrow the ruling Senate. If that’s true, then the treaty’s in danger of collapsing and we will be back to a full-scale war.”

  Jemma got the impression the next statement would be important, as Meredith’s face tightened.

  “Neither the Senate nor the Empire wishes that outcome.” Meredith’s face and voice were hard as she delivered the information. “Our diplomats have agreed to a joint task force at the end of this particular mission. The Elector is to become a central player, but this mission must succeed. To this end, I will be continuing my work on the Elector for some extended period in order to intercept and decrypt transmissions in and out of the Alpha Star Colony and Ru’Edan space initially, and at a later point as translator as required. I’ve delivered extensive information to Duvall on behalf of Elphin and the Admirals Conclave. He’ll be apprising you of the contents in due course. Each of you here has an integral place in this continuing mission.”

  With a nod to the members at the table, Meredith resumed her seat, her face now a mask of serenity, and Jemma wondered what was going through the woman’s head.

  “Thank you, Meredith. Grayson has informed me this morning that the final course settings are now in place. Grayson?”

  “As you’re aware, we’ve been previously unable to use the beta hyperspace technology due to issues with the communications arrays being compromised. With some effort, the engineering department has been in contact with the designers, and we believe we’ve managed to rework them in order to utilize the hyperspace corridors. We must remain in the central trajectory, which raises some concerns, as we have a minimal ability to maneuver in the case of anomalies.”

  Grayson brought up schematics of the corridors.

  “We’ve also tested bouncing the signals off planetary systems since the last briefing. I believe that we can minimize the risks to the Elector by using sonic return technology to accurately find the center of the corridors. So far our records indicate no anomalies that would cause deviations, but use of this technology will give us time to make course corrections as required. The course has therefore been plotted and we should be getting underway within the hour, with your permission, Captain.” Grayson looked to Duvall, who nodded firmly.

  “Good.” Duvall stood and wandered around to Raven. For a moment he was silent then looked directly at Jemma. She started in her chair. “How are things coming along with the shuttle?”

  “So far we’ve removed the majority of the retrofitting. There are some issues with the outer plating of the shuttle from that, but within the next day or two, plating sections can be removed and replaced as required. Some of those sections also sustained damage in the encounter with the pirates. I should be able to finalize repairs to those areas, if not tomorrow, then the next day. Chowd has been working on the harmonics, and I believe he has a workable solu
tion underway.”

  “What about plotting the course once we reach the colony?” Duvall’s words cut through the air.

  “Well, it will depend on where we make entry, as to the particular route I’ll take. I intend to sit down with the new terrain mapping as soon as the shuttle is ready to go. It means I’ll need that information within, say, two to three days so I can go over the maps allowing for the necessary calculations.” Jemma waited for a further information request, but there was silence in the room. All eyes were on her.

  “Grayson?” Duvall looked to Grayson for some sort of confirmation of their plans. Grayson nodded his agreement. “Right, as soon as the shuttle is ready, you’ll meet with Grayson to undertake that area of plotting. Raven, have you looked at the schematics we were sent?”

  “I did, and I believe that the transmitter frequencies can be blocked without difficulty. I already have my crew working on creating a blocker. We can then fit a larger version within the shuttle and will create a number of handheld versions to be manufactured for the ground mission members.” Raven’s voice was decisive, and his report sparse. She felt his hand seek hers under the table.

  “Fine, I believe at this stage everything is going to plan. Remember, though, any information that impacts this mission slows down our ability to shut down Crick Sur Banden. Anything I need to know, alert me immediately. Within the time available to us, I am sure we can make arrangements. Jemma and Raven, can you please stay back? The rest of you are dismissed.”

  “Damn, we are so dead,” Jemma whispered, then hoped like hell Raven didn’t hear her words, or anyone else for the matter. She closed her eyes, listening to everyone else filing out of the room. Raven let go of her hand, and she opened her eyes.