Shamara (9 page)

He hesitated, watching her. This close, she realized there were golden specks splashed against the deep brown of his eyes. She also saw regret and determination reflected there. "No," he said. "I can't. I need you too badly."

Her heart leaped into an irregular beat. How was she going to get free of this man? "What do you want from me?" she whispered.

"I want you to help me."

"How?"

"By using your natural powers. If you're an Enhancer, you might be able to help me save my people."

No.
She couldn't help him if, even if she wanted to. She couldn't help anyone. "I've already told you, I can't help you."

"Eirene—"

She turned away from him. "Leave me alone."

He didn't touch her, but she felt his words as if they were a laser blast. "I can't do that."

She rebelled at the implacable finality of his words, silently screaming her refusal to let him win. But right now, the only thing she could do was put a temporary distance between them. "I need to go to the lav." She struggled to push herself upright and to the edge of the bunk.

"Running from me won't change anything," he said quietly, but he helped her stand. Appalled at her weakness, she held on to him as he walked her to the panel and opened it. "Maybe I'd better go in with you."

Her eyes widened. "Absolutely not!"

He grinned at her shocked expression. "All right, little one. I'll give you some privacy. But I'll be here if you need me."

The tile floor of the lav felt blessedly cool beneath her bare feet. The closed panel gave her some badly needed space from Jarek, from the power he wielded, and her current helplessness. She was disappointed to discover there was no portal or window that might offer the possibility of escape. Not that she could get far in her condition.

She took care of necessities, then went to the sink and splashed cool water on her face. It felt so alien in here, so different from her simple facilities on Travan. Yet it was every bit as bad as Travan had been, perhaps worse.

On Travan, she had at least garnered some respect for her healing abilities. Here, she was nothing. Jarek had the upper hand, and she was utterly alone, in a foreign, hostile world. She was sick, tired, and badly shaken. Tears filled her eyes, scorching trails down her face. Distressed at her weakness, she batted at the evidence of her emotional frailty.

Jarek apparently decided she'd been in the lav long enough. He opened the panel and strode in behind her. She turned her head so he wouldn't see her tears or sense her despair. But it was futile to attempt any distance from this man. She was too vulnerable and, like any true predator, he sensed it.

He reached toward her, and she sidestepped away. She didn't want him touching her, physically or mentally. "Stay away from me."

He moved to her and lifted her into his arms with ridiculous ease. She struggled feebly and he tightened his grip around her. "Stop fighting me, Eirene. You can't win."

She ceased her battle, knowing she couldn't best him right now. But she had no intention of surrendering.

He carried her to the bunk and lowered her onto the mat, drawing the cover over her. Gently, he smoothed the tears from her cheeks, just as he'd done at the Pleasure Dome. "Sleep now, little one," he murmured. "You'll feel better tomorrow. We'll talk more then."

She turned her face away, shutting him out of her sight. But she couldn't shut him from her mind. Or stop the fears gnawing at her. She'd escaped from Travan and marriage to a Leor, only to become trapped in a new prison.

She didn't know if she could escape from this one.

Early the next cycle, Jarek slipped into Eirene's cabin. He steeled himself for the coming encounter, knowing she despised him, and with good reason. He had deceived her, leading her to believe she might be dying. He'd stolen her innocence—albeit unknowingly—and her freedom. He had every intention of taking her with him to Aldon, then to the twelfth sector, by force if necessary. His actions were ruthless, dishonorable, and against every Shielder principle of justice. And yet, he saw no other choice.

Still asleep, Eirene lay curled on her side, her hair forming a glossy curtain across her face. Her chest rose and fell with each soft breath, pushing her breasts against her robe. Jarek remembered clearly how perfectly those sweetly rounded breasts had filled his hands, how responsive they'd been to his touch. He forced back a rush of desire.

The events in the Pleasure Dome were just another piece of the puzzle Eirene presented, one he would eventually unravel. But he couldn't let physical attraction cloud his judgment, nor would he ever force his attentions on a reluctant female. He had no doubt Eirene wanted nothing to do with him. She'd been too weak to stand on her own last night, yet she had battled him and then withdrawn mentally and physically from him. It shouldn't have bothered him, but it did.

A longing for something that could never be stirred inside him, along with the familiar, bitter knowledge that his personal wants must be subjugated. Even if he had met this woman under different circumstances, they wouldn't have a future. His commitment lay with his people.

He sank into the chair by the bunk and reached out, taking her hand. Her skin was soft and cool, the fever apparently gone. "Eirene, wake up."

She stirred, shifting to her back, her hair falling free of her face. Her features were perfect, her skin as smooth as satin. "Hey," he said.

Her eyes opened, clear and brilliant, and he found himself falling into deep blue pools of tranquility. Spirit, she was lovely. Her dark hair and fair complexion fit the classic descriptions of Enhancers, according to his research. The serenity in her eyes gave way to loathing, as she realized where she was. She jerked her hand away.

Pushing herself up, she pressed against the wall. Her gaze remained on Jarek, distrustful, wary. "I had hoped you were a bad dream."

He'd far rather be her fantasy. "I'm not a dream. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better." Challenge sparked in her blue eyes. "Well enough to meet with Darya."

They both knew that meeting wouldn't be taking place. "You look better," he responded neutrally.

"Why are you keeping me here? I've told you I can't help you."

"How can you be so sure about that, until you hear everything I have to say?"

"Because your words won't make any difference. Nothing will. You seem to think I've got special powers. You're wrong."

She could be telling the truth, which would mean he was terribly wrong—or just plain crazy. In fact, he wondered if he had lost his mind; if his desperate search for a solution had thrown him totally off kilter. Hell of a foundation for a life-or-death strategy to save an entire race. But he had nowhere else to turn.

He couldn't discount the overwhelming evidence that Eirene had healed him; nor the unusual energy pattern he picked up only from her; nor his own instincts, which had never failed him. And every instinct screamed she was an Enhancer. "I know you're special, Eirene. You're an Enhancer."

Her eyes flared before she looked down. Her hands clenched the cover. "I have no idea what an Enhancer is."

The denial didn't affect his plans, but eventually, her cooperation would be crucial. He had decided to tell her the truth about the Shielders, in the hopes of stirring her sympathies. It would put him at greater risk, but now that the Controllers had issued a quadrant-wide warrant for his capture, he had little left to lose. "Just hear me out. Let me tell you why I—why
we
—need you to help us."

She looked away, clearly resistant to whatever he had to say.

"I'm a Shielder." He waited, but got no reaction from her. She didn't seem to comprehend the significance of that fact. "You don't know what a Shielder is?"

She kept her face averted, but at least she answered. "I've heard of Shielders, but I don't know anything about them."

"We have a genetic mental shield that allows us to resist the mind domination of the Controllers."

That seemed to catch her attention. She swung toward him, eyes wide. "You have mental powers?"

"Not exactly. Certainly not like those of your people. But we're not affected by psionic brain waves. The Controllers can't dominate us. We've fought them for many seasons, attacking and then retreating to hidden bases and colonies. They declared all-out war on Shielders about twenty seasons ago. Much like they did with the Enhancers, more than two hundred seasons back."

Jarek paused, giving her time to absorb this information. "The Enhancers are now extinct, with a few, very rare exceptions—random individuals born with Enhancer genetic makeup. The Shielders are coming very close to that same end."

Eirene stared at him, her hands clenching the cover even tighter. He felt a slight energy surge from her and pressed his case.

"The Controllers have created viruses to kill us; offered rewards for every Shielder captured, as well as for information on colony locations. Anteks routinely raze settlements, murdering all the men, women, children and animals. Any survivors are sold into slavery. Our resources are dwindling. We don't have enough food and medicine, or the weapons we need to fight back. To make matters worse, the Controllers have recently organized a major offensive to annihilate us once and for all. Antek troops are searching out Shielder colonies. I just got word this morning—."

He paused, his throat tight. Closing his eyes, he tried to force the grief and anger under control; tried to banish images of mutilated, charred bodies. Images that were burned into his soul. Resolutely, he opened his eyes. "Another Shielder colony was decimated yesterday—no survivors. They're coming at us from every direction, Eirene. There's nowhere for us to hide, no weapon powerful enough to defend us, and nowhere to run, or so it seems."

"How horrible," she said softly.

The compassion in her eyes shot a ray of hope through him. "I have a plan that might give us a chance at survival. We're pretty certain there's a black hole in the twelfth sector. Several ships have disappeared in that area, and one of my scouting ships picked up electromagnetic distortions near there."

He leaned forward, keeping his gaze locked with hers. "The stories about Enhancers claim that they traveled through a wormhole that was inside that black hole. A portal, if you will, to another part of our galaxy, or even to a new galaxy entirely. I want to locate that wormhole and find a way to navigate it. That's where you come in."

Apprehension chased away the sympathy in her eyes. He could feel her withdrawal. "I'm sorry about your people, but I don't see how I can help."

"You're an Enhancer. You might be able to help me operate the equipment on Aldon, to manipulate the energies of the black hole, so we can traverse it."

She stared at the mat, restlessly smoothing the cover. "So you've decided I'm an Enhancer, even though I've told you repeatedly I'm not. You're just going to kidnap me and force me to go with you."

No sense caroba-coating the truth. "Yes."

She looked up, myriad emotions swirling through those luminous eyes. "What about me? What about my life, my dreams? I may never get another opportunity to work with a great healer like Darya. "You'd sacrifice all that simply because you think I'm one of these Enhancer people?"

He knew about lost dreams, lost opportunities. However, he had chosen to make the sacrifices; Eirene had not. He pushed away the guilt and remorse, useless emotions that wouldn't save his people. "I know your dreams are important, but I'm asking you to set them aside, at least for now. The survival of thousands of people could depend on your cooperation."

She looked away, shutting him out yet again. He sighed. He had given it his best shot. Time to back off, to let her assimilate what he'd told her. He understood her resistance to exposing herself, despite her genuine empathy. He didn't blame her; he had a good idea what happened to known Enhancers. Admitting her powers made her vulnerable, left her a sitting echobird to the Controllers and other private factions. And she had absolutely no reason to trust him, given his actions thus far.

"Tell you what," he said, rising from the chair. "You'd probably like to get up and move around some. While you do that, I'll go prepare something for you to eat."

She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the wall.

"I'll be back in a little while" Jarek left and checked to be sure the hatch alarms were on, so she couldn't slip away.

Thoughtful, he retrieved the lanrax from his cabin, having resigned himself to the fact that the little creature had bonded with him and would probably perish if he ignored it. It perched on his shoulder, chattering and chewing on a piece of bread as he fixed a simple grain dish for the morning meal. Since Darya had warned him Eirene would be weak for a few cycles, he decided to take food to her cabin.

She was sitting on the edge of the bunk when he carried in the tray. Her face was pinched and pale, and he suspected just being up had tired her. Her attention focused on the ball of fur balanced on his shoulder. "What is that?"

He set the tray on the console beside the bunk. "It's a lanrax. They bond with the first person who leaves a scent on them. They're very possessive and dependent, but many people claim they make wonderful pets."

She stared at the lanrax in wonder. "It has four eyes!"

"Yes, it does. That's a lanrax trait. They can see extremely well in both daylight and darkness."

"We never had any pets on Tra—" Eirene stopped herself. "Any animals in my colony became food. At least the four-legged kind."

Jarek grinned, both at her apparent slur on men and the fate common to most edible creatures. He could relate to the scarcity of food. "It's that way on Liron, too."

"Liron?" she asked. "I've never heard of it."

"I've never heard of 'Tra', either."

She slid back on the bunk, settling upright against the wall. Her robe rode up with the movement, revealing shapely calves and dainty bare feet. Sighing, she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.