Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest Read online

  “You went inside a wormhole?”

  “Not physically. Only with my mind.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “My presence and that of others were necessary to stabilize the structure while we initiated an explosion.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “I was caught in the blast, which swept my mind into the Zin galaxy. My friends kept my body alive with machines. It took over eight years for me to get back.”

  “And now you plan to return?”

  “I need my body to destroy the Zin. In the astral state, I could only scout for weakness.”

  “Let me get this straight. You astral extended into another galaxy?”

  “I was caught by mistake in the blast.”

  She eyed him with skepticism. “If you can astral extend … Go down to engineering with your mind, leave your body here, and come back and tell me what color the main thruster is.”

  “I can no longer astral project.” He tried to keep the sorrow from his tone. Daily, he automatically reached to use his psi only to find it wasn’t there anymore. Since birth, his psi had set him apart, but to him, using his psi came as naturally as most humans used their eyes. Without his psi, he often felt … unbalanced. Vulnerable. Uncertain if he could rely on his judgment. “The doctors say the total reintegration of my body and mind will take time.”

  “You expect me to believe your wild story without one shred of proof?”

  Showing off a bit was one thing, bragging went against his moral upbringing. His father Etru had taught him that any man who used his skill to support his family should be proud—even if he did something simple, like digging ditches.

  Yet, Angel didn’t know him. He couldn’t expect a reasonable person to take his admittedly far-fetched tale on faith. “I can still do some things …”

  “Like?” She cocked her head to one side and folded her arms across her chest.

  “I have hunches—like when I believed the Kraj would return.”

  “What else?”

  “I seem to break down time into smaller pieces than you might do.”

  “Yeah, and you’re good at math. But there are lots of brainy people in the Federation—and lots of them are right on the edge of crazy.” Her tone suggested she was including him in that group. “Give me something concrete,” she said in challenge.

  “You can’t pick up my body on your sensor scans unless I want you to.”

  She nodded and moved to her console and ran several tests. Her eyes watched the readings, giving him an opportunity to study her. Her skin tone looked pale, and yet her cheeks flushed pink with excitement. “The first scan says I’m alone.”

  “Run another test. This time your sensors will see me.”

  Her nostrils flared. Her eyes widened. “Hide yourself again.”

  After he did as she asked, she ran a computer diagnostic. “Sensors are all functioning properly.”

  “So do you believe me?” he asked, knowing that she didn’t, not yet.

  “Who are you?”

  He grinned, hoping to lighten the moment. “I’m the man who’s come to make you rich.”

  “Get me killed by the Kraj sounds much more likely.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

  “Like you did from my cat?”

  He chuckled. “Aren’t you still safe?”

  “I was never in danger,” she protested, “but if I accept your crazy offer …”

  He shrugged as if her agreement didn’t matter, as if his heart weren’t pounding in his chest. He didn’t expect her to answer right away. After all, they barely knew one another. But he understood her better than she realized. They were both explorers, travelers, and he was betting she wouldn’t want to miss out on the fun.

  That he intended to have fun with her—he kept to himself.

  Chapter Four

  ANGEL STARED AT the Rystani who took up more than his share of available space in the central cabin the crew used for meetings. He was larger than any Terran she’d ever met, but his size and warrior abilities only served to remind her that he was suggesting she go on a dangerous mission. While the ultimate prize might be worth the risk, while every cell in her body vibrated at the excitement of the adventure, eight years as captain on the Raven had taught her that offers that appeared too good to be true often were exactly that—too good to be true.

  So she’d called her crew and Kirek to a meeting in the only cabin big enough to hold everyone. She’d explained the situation to Frie, Leval, and Petroy, and then Kirek answered their questions before departing for the dining area—leaving her alone with her crew in the lounge.

  Frie, an even-tempered engineer from a Terran colony, gazed at her husband, Leval, who served as copilot when she and Petroy slept. The husband-and-wife team had been with her since the beginning. Most captains were reluctant to take on a married couple, fearing that a marital spat could hurt ship efficiency. Angel had found the opposite to be true.

  The couple had been married for years and often seemed to read one another’s minds. Frie, tiny and chunky, with a round face and big brown eyes, seemed a perfect match for Leval. Leval wasn’t much taller than his wife, and he’d gone bald years ago and made up for the lack of hair on his head with a bushy mustache.

  Petroy, the Juvanian pessimist in her group, never spoke about his home world. Angel had yet to comprehend how one creature could be so full of contradictions. Although he always pointed out every problem, he was often the most gung-ho member of her crew, and he’d saved her life twice.

  “So, what do you think?” Angel asked Frie and Leval.

  Frie took her husband’s hand. “This could be the opportunity we’ve been waiting for.”

  “Or it could get us killed.” Petroy frowned. “Kirek intends to go after the Zin, the most dangerous foe known to the Federation—single-handedly. According to him, even the Perceptive Ones couldn’t defeat the Zin.”

  “Kirek has special powers, he’s proven that.” Frie spoke softly, her numerous rings sparkling, as she waved her hands enthusiastically in the air. “And he’s already scouted the territory during his astral journey.”

  “He wouldn’t risk his life,” Leval added as if completing his wife’s thought, “unless he believed he could accomplish his mission.” Whatever the couple decided, they always seemed to agree—even if they came at a solution from different vectors.

  “By his own words, Kirek claimed he almost died in that wormhole blast,” Petroy reminded them. “Perhaps the man has a death wish.”

  Angel shook her head. “There’s too much life in him for that.”

  “What do you mean?” Frie asked, her brown eyes curious.

  Angel thought carefully before she explained. Although on Earth people no longer went hungry and all received medical care, she’d grown up in one of the poorest and meanest areas of Jersey. Her mother had been sick for a long time before she’d died, and family and neighbors had been kind, sharing what they could. Yet, Angel recognized despair. She’d lived with the emotion too frequently not to recognize it in others.

  Angel spoke slowly. “I’ve seen the downtrodden and the hopeless. Some people sink into their misery, using booze and stims to get through their days. Others are workaholics. Some turn to crime or join the military, recklessly take any risk at all. But all of them have a defeated air about them. Kirek is full of optimism and hope.”

  Petroy rolled his eyes. “Maybe he’s hoping for death.”

  “Kirek’s brimming with exuberance and life,” Angel insisted.

  When Kirek had spoken about his mission, she’d seen undeniable sparks in his eyes as well as obvious heat, revealing his interest in her as a woman. It had been a long time since any man had caused her to be so aware of him on so many levels. Usually, she settled for good sex and moved on before complications had an opportunity to arise. But Kirek’s self-confidence made him as enticing as his marvelous body, and she actually found herself considering what it would be like to have a flin
g. He had a certain way about him that suggested experience around women. Her imagination had no difficulty envisioning hot kisses, a powerful embrace, a sexual joining that would last for an entire night and leave her totally reinvigorated.

  Petroy stared, his gray eyes locking with Angel’s. “How can you trust him when we know so little about him?”

  In truth, Angel didn’t have a trusting nature. As much as she wanted to see the good in others, in her short lifetime she’d noted that when people gave they expected to receive in return. Along with charity, she’d seen too much greed, disloyalty, and betrayal to blindly place her trust in a stranger.

  But she wasn’t so jaded that she wouldn’t consider that Kirek might be a rarity in the Federation—a good guy—out for the betterment of them all. While he could be martyr material and that scared her, he didn’t seem fanatical, but determined.

  She could put her personal interest on hold, taking a wait-and-see attitude. But whether or not to join Kirek on his quest required an immediate decision, and going with him appealed to her for financial reasons. Staying just ahead of the Raven’s next mechanical failure had grown tiresome. She could spend centuries hunting salvage and never again hear about a prize so rich. Yet, she couldn’t ignore the danger attached to the prize.

  Already, Kirek’s presence aboard her ship had caused the Kraj to attack. Because of Kirek, she and her crew were now hiding in a dust cloud, instead of selling the Vogan ship on Dakmar and rehauling her engines.

  The Zin were a complete unknown. Did Kirek really stand a chance of defeating them?

  If she wanted to play life safe, she should have stayed on Earth. But the opportunity he offered, an entire world of metal—the mother lode—would set her up for life. If they succeeded, she could buy the most expensive ship with the best technology, spend the rest of her days doing whatever she liked. She’d never have to worry about a repair or fuel bill again.

  “I haven’t seen you think this hard,” Petroy muttered, “since we fought off the Besali for that broken-down luxury liner off Kendor V.”

  Angel usually made decisions without hesitation. “Throwing in with Kirek is a big decision.”

  “An exciting decision,” Frie added. “It’s the opportunity of the century.”

  Leval gazed at his wife, his mustache emphasizing his knowing smile. “You want to salvage the Zin planet, don’t you?”

  Frie’s face had a dreamy expression. “Do you suppose the Andromeda Galaxy will look the same as this one?”

  “We might not make it out of this dust cloud, never mind all the way to Andromeda,” Petroy predicted with gloomy-eyed discouragement.

  “If Frie wants to go,” said Leval, squeezing his wife’s hand lovingly, “count me in.”

  “Frie?” Angel asked.

  “I came into space as much to explore as anything else. Going to the Andromeda Galaxy is an opportunity so extraordinary that if I said no, I’d regret it.”

  Petroy snorted. “You’d follow Angel anywhere.”

  “That I would,” Frie agreed and turned to Angel with a cheerful smile.

  “Petroy?” Angel prodded.

  The gray-skinned Juvanian shrugged. “Someone has to keep you out of trouble.”

  “Then it’s decided.” Angel spun around, her heart happy that her friends supported what she’d known in her heart all along. “I’ll tell Kirek.”

  “WE’RE ALL SET to join you.” Angel strode into the dining area to find Kirek on his hands and knees.

  “Great.” He held out a sweetmeat to her pet in an obvious attempt to bribe Lion into approaching. But her cat crouched, wary of his peace offering, refusing to come near him. At her announcement, Kirek disgustedly tossed Lion the sweetmeat. Lion pounced on it, daintily lifted the delicacy into his mouth, and carried it away to Angel’s quarters.

  Kirek stood and gestured to the table. “Are you hungry?”

  He’d prepared a meal from their supplies, and when she altered her filters and sniffed, the savory scents made her mouth water. He’d mixed a salad of leafy vegetables with an aromatic ginger dressing, cooked potatoes and topped them with a creamy cheese, and had added several other dishes she couldn’t name. “Were we talking that long?”

  “Not that long. My mom taught me how to whip together a meal. She insisted I learn to cook, saying no man should have to depend on a woman to eat well.”

  “You didn’t need to do this, but I’m glad you did.” She grinned and adjusted her suit to float her into a sitting position at the table. “Too bad your mom didn’t train my first husband.”

  Kirek paused in the middle of handing her a soft-grained roll. Although he did his best to cover up his surprise, she could tell she’d shocked him.

  He spoke carefully, removing all intonation and judgment from his expression and tone. “You have more than one husband?”

  “I’ve had two.” At her admission, he clearly lost the battle with his face. His lower jaw dropped, and she refrained from laughing. “Not both at the same time.”

  “I see.”

  “No, you don’t. After my mom died, I was eager to get away from Earth and her rules.”

  “What kind of rules?”

  “Mom didn’t want me to repeat all her mistakes and was strict. But all her rules simply caused me to become very good at rebellion. After she died, a relative took me in, but I was done listening to what others wanted for my life. I married the day I turned eighteen—when by law I no longer required an adult’s permission.”

  “Why not just leave home? Why marry?”

  “Because I was a dumb kid who thought I knew what I wanted.” She placed a napkin on her lap. “I really had no idea what I was letting myself in for.”

  He leaned forward, his eyes intense. “What do you mean?”

  “I confused lust for love.”

  “You had no mother to guide you.”

  “True. However, my aunts told me I was making a mistake. But I was eager to prove I was grown up and knew everything.” She took the proffered roll and split it in half. He’d actually gone to the trouble to warm the bread, and she used her knife to spread honey butter over the crust. “We didn’t last a year.”

  “And your second husband?”

  “I was determined not to make the same mistake.”

  “What happened?”

  “I married … a friend.”

  “Why didn’t this marriage work?”

  “There was no passion. We didn’t fight. We enjoyed one another’s company—but there was no spark. When I won the Raven, he wanted to remain on Earth. I left him behind.” She’d always have fond memories of Alan, but she had never been sorry she’d said goodbye.

  “Since then? Have you been lonely?”

  She shook her head. “I have friends, Frie and Leval and Petroy, and when the need arises, I take a lover. But never again will I marry.”

  “Why not?” His tone was casual, interested, yet his eyes burned, giving away his disapproval. She had to give Kirek credit. Her life probably sounded decadent and wild to a Rystani. His people chose once and mated for life. However, it seemed as if he wasn’t condemning her culture, her failure, or her morals, and that upped her estimation of him.

  “I like my freedom and my life too much to change.” She sipped her drink. “What of you? Are you married?”

  He shook his head and forked salad into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “You mentioned after your mother died that you wanted to move away from your relatives. What of your father?”

  Kirek was a good listener. Angel shrugged as if what she was about to say didn’t matter. But it still hurt. “Mom was never sure who my father was. After she was pregnant none of her lovers stayed around long enough to take a DNA test.”

  Although single motherhood was accepted on a social level, she’d always been jealous of the kids who’d had fathers. She and her mother hadn’t shared much in common—and then her mother had gotten sick. They’d lived mostly on government welfare and charity from
relatives. Her mother had expected Angel to be perfect, to not upset the delicate balance that was their life. She’d always felt guilty that she’d been more interested in sports and space and business than the handmade pottery her artistic mother had sold to help make ends meet.

  “I’m sorry.” Kirek’s warm gaze found hers, and she had the feeling he wanted to wrap her in a giant bear hug. “I was very lucky. On Rystan, we have family units. One wife to each husband, but couples live together and bring up children together. My parents are wonderful.”

  “Tell me about them.” She liked the way he spoke so freely about his family. She appreciated how much he obviously cared about them and didn’t mind letting her see his affection. Kirek was one self-assured man. But it was already quite clear to her that he wanted a marriage like the one his parents had for himself. Clearly, he was not “fling” material.

  “Dad taught me to hunt. Mom always fusses over me. Although they worry about my voyages, they never hold me back.”

  “What of the others in your family unit?” she asked, curious. One of the reasons she enjoyed her work was the interesting people she met.

  “We’re getting to be a very diverse group.”

  “Really?”

  “Tessa is from Earth.”

  Tessa? Surely there couldn’t be that many Tessas on his world from Earth.

  “Tessa Caymen?” Angel stopped chewing. Tessa had become a living legend ever since she’d won the Challenge and had been responsible for Earth joining the Federation. “You know her?”

  “She’s my aunt. Her husband, Kahn—”

  “Is your uncle,” she finished, more impressed than she could have imagined. Tessa and Kahn were famous for surviving a particularly difficult Challenge, and their love story had been made into holovids. It seemed strange that Kirek could be from such a famous family and that she hadn’t recognized him. Although Kirek was a common Rystani name, why hadn’t his face also been plastered on the holovids? “How do I know you aren’t lying to impress me?”