Prime Imperative (The Prime Chronicles Book 3) (5 page)

“Thank you.” Bria blushed. It was nice to hear her hard work had made people happy. It was why she’d gone into medical research rather than direct patient care. She could help more people that way.

In a companionable silence, she cleaned and examined each of V’niko’s gouges and scratches thoroughly. She hummed with satisfaction when she found no cell death. His body was healing itself. She didn’t even need to use the medi-laser on the gash in his thigh. Amazing.

“How did you know I was in trouble?” She looked up and frowned. “Were you following me?”

His expression went from calmly blank to grim. “I called ahead to the laboratory and discovered M’tali had not come into work. I feared he might have managed to track you down. I got off the train at the next stop and circled back to make sure you were okay. I picked up your scent and his and followed them. I thank the One I made it in time.”

“Amen,” she muttered.

“I arrived as you made your move. You have the makings of a good warrior. Just need some hand-to-hand training and a nice battle-blade.”

Bria mentally sighed. Her battle-mate side both thrilled and frightened her. She’d like to believe she couldn’t ever kill a sentient being, but was honest enough to acknowledge she would’ve tried to kill Jotak to keep him from hurting the little girl on the platform.

Thus, V’niko’s assessment concurred with her own—she needed to train. So, until she had some fight training, obtaining a battle-blade and some other nicely sharp throwing knives were a priority. Her knife throwing ability was her best offensive tool for now. But even after physical training, she’d make it her life’s goal never to find herself in any position where she’d have to use lethal force.

“Just added sharp weapons and fight training to my to-do list as soon as I get to Cejuru Prime.” She shuddered once more at how close Jotak had been to taking her away. “And thanks for the compliment, but I was really scared. I was very lucky.”

“Scared is good. It keeps you sharp as long as you don’t let the fear paralyze you. And, Bria, you didn’t.” He shook his head, a glimmer of respect gleamed in his silver-blue eyes. “You made your move, got away, and then you ran like the wind.”

“Yes, I did.” She preened, pleased by V’niko’s words of praise. “So? What do I do now? My presence
is
obviously a danger to others. I’m worried about my team. Jotak could use them to force me out of hiding.”

“A’nan and I will protect you and your team until the
Galanti
arrives.”

“V’niko—” Bria placed a hand on his arm. “Jotak will not stop. He’s obsessed. He threatened a little girl on the platform to make me go with him.”

V’niko’s face turned grim. “Ahh, he has escalated. He is operating on territorial instincts now. If you are not on Oz, his primary urge will be to leave the others alone and pursue you. You need to get off-planet. You will need military protection. You must leave today. I will make the arrangements.”

Bria nodded. “I agree. But I’ll make the arrangements. I have connections you don’t.”

She would contact the Alliance—and the Prime—Military Commands. She would reveal her Prime heritage, show them her marking as proof, and then ask them to find her
gemat
. More importantly, she’d ask for even more protection for her team and a place off-planet for her to hide from Jotak.

This wasn’t how she’d wanted to reveal her Prime heritage—or announce her existence to her
gemat
—but it was the smarter move.

“Good. Have Command send your personal protection team to the orbiting Oz space port. Jotak can’t get onto the orbiting station without being captured. I will accompany you and wait until your protection arrives.” He took her hand and squeezed. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know.” Bria squeezed back. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do for the woman who indirectly gave me my children.”

Bria laughed. “Um, I know what you mean, but that sounds sort of illicit. How old are the children and what are their names?”

V’niko grinned. “We have three-standard-year-old fraternal twins. My daughter is called Br’anna.” Bria gasped and tears wet her cheeks. “And my son’s name is M’atin. Those were the closest equivalents in my language to your given names.”

Bria smiled at the suddenly very blurred image of her champion and savior. “I’m honored.”

Chapter 4

Hours later, the orbiting Oz Space Port

Bria woke suddenly, her heart pounding. Eyes widened from the rude awakening, she scanned every corner of the sleeping cubicle travelers often rented while waiting for their flights. The space, smaller than her apartment’s galley kitchen, was empty. What had awakened her?

Thud, thud, thud
.

“Bria! Bria!” V’niko’s voice filtered through the locked metal door. He sounded anxious. He must’ve been trying to awaken her for a while. “Are you all right? Answer me.”

“I fell asleep. I’m fine.”

Leaving the narrow bed, she walked a mere four steps to the door and used the security monitor. V’niko’s worried face stared into the camera. She unlocked the door, let it slide into the wall, and stepped back so the large Volusian could enter the room.

His presence made the place seem even more claustrophobic than before. She forced herself to remember there was more than enough air. Her adoptive parents had told her she’d been trapped in the escape pod that crash-landed on Gliese 581C. Small spaces tended to trigger panic attacks.

“What’s wrong?” she asked after several deep, calming breaths. Her panic didn’t ease. Something still caused her gut to churn and her lungs to seize. Opening her shields wider, she inhaled sharply. Something evil was very near, and it was fixated on her. “Tell me.” She grabbed V’niko’s forearm and squeezed. “Is it my team? Cheri? Has Jotak hurt them? Is he…here?”

“No, no, be calm, Bria.” V’niko rubbed a hand up and down her arm. “Jotak has vanished. A’nan has checked in and assured me your team is fine and all is quiet in the lab.”

“Then why do I feel as if impending doom is just around the corner?” She let go of his arm and stepped away from his touch. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t “right.” No man’s touch had ever been the “right” one. Her discovery she was bond-mated to a Prime had finally clarified that particular peculiarity.

“Ah,
doom
.” He closed his eyes as if searching for a memory. “An impending terrible fate. An apt description.” His eyes darkened to the deepest blue of an Oz winter night. “The Alliance Military security detail is here. Two men. Proper uniforms. Proper identification.” He shook his head. “I do not like their looks. Your feelings have underlined my fear that they are not who or what they seem. I cannot allow you to leave with these men.”

Bria had to laugh. V’niko acted like a father vetting a daughter’s new boyfriend. She appreciated his protective nature. Their guts were working in tandem. She would know what was in the men’s hearts merely by
looking
at them. But she couldn’t explain how to V’niko without revealing her Prime heritage, and she was reluctant to do so, unless it was a true emergency. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him—she did—but she wanted to make the public announcement with her mate by her side.

“Will you stay with me while I speak with them?”

“Try and keep me away,” he muttered. “What is our backup plan? You can’t stay on Oz or the space port, neither location is secure enough while Jotak is at large.”

She thought for a second. “How about we do this? If, after speaking with the men, I feel it isn’t safe for me to go with them, I’ll ask you to escort me to this cubicle to get my things”—of which there were none besides the tote bag she’d packed for her stay in the hotel, and she’d be carrying that—“but instead you’ll take me to the departure area where I’ll make a com call to make other arrangements to get me out of the Tau Ceti system. I’ll give you my com unit, and you can place it on a shuttle going to Earth to leave a false trail. Does that sound like a good plan?”

V’niko looked even grimmer if that were possible. “You would be alone.”

“Yes. But anyone trying to track me will most likely follow my com unit.”

He thought a second and then nodded. “And your destination? Is it safe?”

“Oh yeah.” She chuckled. “No one would ever think of it. I’d tell you, but there are species with truth sense. I want anyone asking you questions to sense you’re telling the truth when you tell them you don’t know.”

He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “You’ll let me know when you are safe?”

“Yes, I’ll get you a message. At that point, I dare anyone to try to get to me.” She leaned into his body and gave him a quick hug. “I’ll thank you in advance for all you’ve done and will do. Please take care of Cheri and my team.”

“I will.” He bowed his head and placed his hand over his heart. A Volusian warrior’s gesture of fealty. “A’nan and I have requested to be permanently assigned as security for your team. You will see us again.”

“That’s wonderful.” She winked at him. “I want to meet my namesakes.”

“That will happen. Let us hope sooner, rather than later.”

Bria picked up her bag. “Okay, let’s go meet my
security
detail.” But she already knew she’d be leaving the space port soon…and alone. Her empathic abilities wide open, she could taste the bitterness of the men’s deceit even through the titanium steel walls.

“V’niko?” She paused at the still-closed door to her sleeping cubicle.

He looked down at her, an eyebrow arched. “Yes, Bria?”

“Should we even do this? The danger…um, what if—”

“I can protect us both.” His lips twisted into a grin of anticipation. “Plus, we might learn who has sent them and why.”

“There is that.” She blew out a breath. “Let’s do this.”

V’niko palmed the door control. She followed him out and then walked beside him to the waiting area.

The two alleged Alliance soldiers were large. One was Terran. The other was a hybrid species. Her trained eye detected Terran, Obam, and a hint of Cetan. They wore the uniform of the Alliance Military Police, but their demeanor—all smugness and barely restrained violence—was all wrong. They were wrong.

She’d been told during her call with Captain Linnea Sinclair of the Alliance Military Command that one of her security team would be Prime. The Prime Military Command had insisted upon that detail after her Prime heritage had been confirmed.

Even now the search for her
gemat
was underway. There was no way she’d let these imposters take her away. She had a mate to meet.

The Terran stepped forward. He looked her up and down. “You are Dr. Brianna Martin?”

“Yes.”

“We are your escort. I am Sergeant Holtsclaw, and this is Sergeant Joelo.” He gestured to the hybrid male. “We’ve been instructed to take you to Command headquarters on Tooh 10. We must leave now.”

Bria stepped closer to V’niko, who growled subvocally and moved his hand to rest on his laser sidearm. “I was told I’d be taken to the Alliance Military space station orbiting Oz’s largest moon.”

Tooh 10 was the location of the Galactic Alliance Military Command headquarters. But Tooh 10 was nowhere near the Tau Ceti system where Oz was located. Captain Sinclair had clearly stated the Alliance and Prime wanted Bria near Oz when the
Galanti
arrived.

“Alliance Command…um…changed our orders.” Holtsclaw stumbled over the words. He acted shocked she hadn’t instantly agreed with his instructions. “We must leave now. It isn’t safe here.”

And that last statement was the only one she found truthful since she’d entered the lobby.

They had to be mercenaries working for an as-yet unknown enemy.

Jotak would never have hired strangers to kidnap her. His race was nomadic and trusted no one other than another of their particular family unit. For Dornians as a whole, every other species was either a mark or prey. While Jotak had broken away from his family unit to work for the Alliance, which made him an anomaly, his nature and nurture still wouldn’t allow him to trust anyone else to retrieve her. He’d claimed her; she was his—and his alone.

“Okay, sure.” It was time for Bria’s exit strategy. “Could you gentlemen give me a moment to get my other bag?” She moved toward the hallway where her sleeping cubicle was located. V’niko covered her retreat.

Holtsclaw hurried to cut off their exit. “I will get the bag. Give me the room code.”

She stopped, turned, and pasted what she hoped was a coy smile on her face when all she wanted to do was scream. “Please, wait here. V’niko will help me.” She lowered her eyes as if she were embarrassed. “We’d like to say our good-byes…in private.”

V’niko picked up his cue and placed his arm around her waist, then kissed the top of her head. She forced herself to stay within his protective embrace. And, blessed One, she hated to admit she needed it. The imposters’ need to hurt her made her sick to her stomach and her knees weak.

“Go, but do not tarry,” Holtsclaw said. He and his friend obviously didn’t want to create a scene. “Our ship is ready and waiting.”

Bria nodded and allowed V’niko to hurry her out of the lobby.

“Definitely bad guys. Tooh 10 clinched it even if they hadn’t been throwing off evil vibes like a solar flare,” Bria whispered as they moved swiftly past her former cubicle and exited at the other end of the hallway into a cavernous mall-like area of the space port. “I need to make my calls.”

“Of course. I will shield you.” V’niko ushered her into a small, dark corner and behind some exotic plantings, out of the way of foot traffic. Facing outward, he placed his body between her and any danger that might approach. His hand was on his weapon. His body, alert. He’d hear her calls, hear words that would reveal her true heritage, but it was now an emergency and she trusted V’niko to keep her secrets. He’d proven his honor time and time again over the last twenty-four standard hours.

Her first call was to her ultimate destination. To her black sheep brother Damon, the only other of her adoptive family who’d left the commune. Anyone in her family would’ve protected her, but she refused to take this kind of trouble to a planet of pacifists.