GALLANT (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 3) (4 page)

The fact that he didn't want her to hear whatever Dot was going to say automatically made Cherry more curious. But first there was the matter of her abduction. "I'm all ears. Why don't you start by telling me what the hell gives you the right to knock me out and kidnap me? Then work your way up to how you got me on this ship and out of Innerworld without a travel visa."

"I'm an agent for hire, currently on assignment for the Consociation of Planets, of which Norona is a primary member. My mission grants me... certain privileges."

Cherry narrowed her eyes at him. She still couldn't decide if he was the good guy or the bad guy in this scenario and she was determined not to let his swashbuckling appearance influence her one way or the other. "I've lived among Noronians for ten years and there is no way they would condone what you've done to me for any reason. When Aster and Romulus hear about this, they'll cart you off for reprogramming so fast you won't know what hit you."

"I've already sent them a message. Romulus knew of my presence in Innerworld and by now he knows I've taken you into my protective custody."

Chapter 2

"Your
what?"
Cherry demanded, taking a threatening step toward him again.

Gallant stood his ground, but looked prepared to move out of her way in a heartbeat. "Protective custody. That's when—"

"I
know
what it means. I also know the only thing I've needed protection from lately is you."

"Wrong," he answered. "The moment the Weebort spoke to you, he put your life in danger."

"That's ridiculous. I don't even know what he said."

Gallant shook his head. "Irrelevant. If Frezlo got wind of it, he'd be back for you. And believe me, he wouldn't settle for tuning into your subconscious—which is all I asked of you—he'd simply incinerate you on sight. His goal was to make sure the Weebort didn't pass on something he knew, not to find out what that was."

Cherry frowned, trying to come up with a way to debate what he was telling her. "But you were the only one who saw the Weebort say anything to me."

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Would you be willing to risk your life on that?"

"All right, let's say there's a slim possibility my life could be in danger. There are plenty of ways I could have been
protected
in Innerworld. I could have hired a tracker to watch over me." Immediately Cherry thought of her friend, Falcon, the empathic man whose unusual psychic abilities had helped Aster and Romulus out of several crises in the past. Although Falcon now lived in Outerworld, she was certain another similarly talented detective could be found in Innerworld to help her.

Before Gallant could refute her logic, she pushed further. "And another thing, if you were so anxious to tap into my subconscious, why didn't you just do it yourself then take off?"

"I don't have any telepathic ability. Mar-Dot does. I told you I couldn't afford to waste the time. It was imperative I pick up Frezlo's trail before it dissipated. If you had cooperated with me to begin with, none of this would have been necessary. I would have left you in Innerworld after I found out what the Weebort said, if that had been your wish, but Mar-Dot had a problem with your untrained Terran mind." He shot them a glance that suggested he held them accountable.

Dot raised her chin defensively. "If you had not stunned the poor woman into oblivion, there would not have been a problem."

The he-she revolved a quick half-circle and Mar countered, "Your action was entirely justified, Captain."

"At any rate," Gallant continued, without responding to either comment. "Mar-Dot couldn't find out what I needed to know without your conscious participation. There was no way of telling how long it would take for you to come around, so we had to take off with you still on board."

"And just how long ago was that?" Cherry asked warily.

When Gallant didn't answer right away, Dot did. "About twenty-four hours. The paralyzer was set—"

"A whole day?
Holy stars!" Cherry walked quickly back and forth in the confined area, her hands gesturing wildly as she spoke. "This is even worse than I thought. You've got to understand. Aster's having her first baby and she'll be frantic with worry about me. A message from you about protective custody is only going to make her more nervous."

She stopped her pacing and took a deep breath. Nothing she'd been told so far changed the fact that she had been kidnapped and couldn't get home without Captain Voyager's assistance. "Let me see if I've got this straight. You need my conscious participation to get the information you want, which I assume means I have to agree to let Mar-Dot touch my mind. Right?"

Gallant nodded slowly.

"Fine. You take me back to Innerworld and I'll let them have a free tour through my feeble Terran brain."

"Not good enough. You could refuse again once I got you there and, in the meantime, I would have lost Frezlo also. He's the only lead I have left now. I'm not at liberty to give you details of my mission but it is of universal importance. I had been on the Weebort's trail for months before I found him in Innerworld. The information he had was vital. Unfortunately, Frezlo was on to him also."

Cherry had more or less figured that much out. "You and that Frezlo creature are both
agents for hire?"

Gallant nodded slowly. "Working on opposite sides at the moment, however. And, I might add, with distinctly different methods of operation."

"So why didn't you stop Frezlo before he escaped?"

"Any attempt I might have made to intervene would have increased the chances of others being hurt. Frezlo has no conscience when it comes to eliminating anything or anyone in his way. Besides, I knew I could pick up his ion trail if I just got off-planet fast enough."

"His what?"

"Ion trail—charged particles emitted by the drive unit of his ship."

"Oh. Like a car's exhaust system. But I'd still like to know how you got me on board without anyone stopping you." Gallant hesitated long enough for her to grow suspicious again.

"I hid you in a trunk," he said with a warning glance at Mar-Dot.

Cherry had a strong feeling that he was lying but she let it pass. She also came to the conclusion that they were at a standoff and he was not going to budge an inch. However, she was more or less convinced that, between him and Frezlo, Voyager was the lesser of the two evils. "Okay. If you'll promise to take me right back to Innerworld afterward, I'll cooperate with Mar-Dot."

"Granted," he said, then nodding at his navigator, stepped out of the way.

Dot held a manicured hand out to Cherry and led her to the Captain's chair. "Please try to relax," she said after Cherry was seated. "I will try not to invade your privacy any more than absolutely necessary. I need you to help me by concentrating on the moment when the Weebort spoke to you." Gently she pressed the first two fingers of each of her hands against Cherry's temples. "Now, close your eyes and picture the Weebort in front of you. His mouth opens and he says..."

Cherry recalled the narrow forked tongue flicking in and out like that of a snake but she was still quite certain she had heard no words.

Without removing her fingers, Dot said, "Computer, record and translate the following sounds from the Weebort language." Dot did her best to imitate the garbled noises stored in Cherry's memory but without a forked tongue, the pronunciation could not be duplicated precisely. After she analyzed the problem, Dot said, "Apparently, there was too much external noise for her universal translator to pick up the Weebort's speech, so she was never given a translation. Thus, she has no memory of such."

She tried again and this time the computer offered an interpretation for one of the sounds—
counterfeit
.

"Counterfeit?" Gallant asked. "What the drek
is counterfeit?" When neither the computer nor Mar-Dot answered him, he ordered, "Try it again. There has to be more than one word out of all that babble."

Mar-Dot made two more attempts to obtain a further translation, to no avail. "Sorry, Captain," Mar said with a grimace. "That is the best we can do. Perhaps he was referring to—"

A slight movement of Gallant's hand instantly silenced Mar. "Why don't you show Cherry the facilities? I'm sure she'd like to freshen up."

"It would be my pleasure," Mar said, offering his arm to escort her.

Cherry thought she noted a decidedly male gleam in his eyes a second before he whipped around. Dot's eyes held an entirely different message. "I will take her." She waved Cherry back into the narrow corridor. "This is a small craft, built for speed and maneuverability rather than luxury or carrying large shipments of cargo."

As they passed the first door on the left, Dot noted, "The exterior door operates only when we are on the ground. There are three rooms, Gallant's"—she pointed to the door on the right where Cherry had awakened. "Ours"—she motioned to the left—"and the facility chamber."

She touched the door at the end of the hallway and it slid open to reveal a gray-carpeted lounge about twice the size of Gallant's cabin, furnished with a royal blue sofa, two stuffed chairs and a low table.

On one wall of the room were two square metal panels and a monitor, which Cherry recognized as a supply station, but it was much smaller than the one she had in her residence.

Dot explained, "The computer will supply your verbal requests for food or clothing if at all possible but I must warn you, this compact version undoubtedly has a more limited capacity than the supply station you are accustomed to. I would suggest you keep your orders fairly simple."

Cherry shrugged. "Since I'm only going to be on board for another twenty-four hours, it really doesn't matter. However, I have one need that isn't going to wait that long."

Dot smiled and directed her to the partition in the corner. "The commode functions in the normal way but, because of the minimal storage space on board, there is no water for bathing." Cherry investigated the cubicle as Dot continued. "The red button on the wall activates the sanitizing beam in the ceiling. You just remove your clothes and stand beneath it for one minute. You will be as clean afterward as if you had taken a hot shower. You simply will not feel as refreshed."

"Nonsense," Mar countered, turning toward Cherry. "It is only a matter of getting used to it. Perhaps you would like to try it now. I will be glad to assist you."

Though the words were spoken sincerely, the look on his face was downright lecherous. Before Cherry could tell if he was kidding, Dot was back in control.

"Pay no attention to him, Cherry. He is only a man and therefore cannot stop himself from behaving foolishly. We will give you your privacy now."

Cherry laughed out loud as Mar-Dot exited the chamber in a series of rotations during which Dot waved good-bye and Mar blew her a kiss. Now that she knew she was on her way home, she could start enjoying her unexpected adventure. She might have liked getting better acquainted with Voyager as well, if he wasn't such a prig. His superior attitude and general unfriendliness completely negated how wickedly attractive he was.

A few minutes later she discovered just how limited her selection of fresh clothing really was. The choice of styles was between a pair of slacks and a vest, both black leather, in a large man's size; or a one-size-fits-all jumpsuit like Mar-Dot's, with or without an extra pair of sleeves. No shoes or underclothing were available. At least the second selection was offered in either olive green or white.

Since she wouldn't be caught dead in either black leather or olive green, she opted for a white jumpsuit and got ready to try out the sanitizing beam. Even if it wasn't a real shower, she felt certain freshening up would greatly improve her present condition and disposition.

* * *

"Shall I plot a return to Earth, Captain?" Mar asked after he returned to his place behind the control panel.

"No. Keep following Frezlo's trail," Gallant replied without looking up from what he was reading on the monitor before him.

"But, Captain," Dot said, "you promised Cherry you would return her to Innerworld."

"And I will, right after I deal with Frezlo."

Dot started to say something else but Mar took over. "My guess is he will head for Zoenid."