The Covenant (8 page)

how she could be both fragile and strong at the same time. “Unless that is

what is going on now. Can you feel me? It’s like I didn’t just come.”

“I feel you.” Her lashes drifted shut and it was hard to tell if his

comment pleased her or not. “Sex isn’t the same thing as love, Larik.”

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Annabel Wolfe

She was probably right, but he could hardly philosophize over it when

his throbbing cock held his complete attention. He began to move again,

sliding backwards and thrusting deep, each pumping motion of his lower

body making pleasure soar through his nerve-endings, flood his brain, and

center lower and lower until he felt his testicles tighten, signaling the

imminent rush of orgasmic release. This time, however, at least he was able

to wait for her to climax first, and if the bruising grip of her hands on his

shoulders and her low scream as it happened were any indication, it was

both intense and satisfying. He followed, filling her with a river of sperm,

his head dropping forward and a low groan coming up from deep in his

chest as he ejaculated.

Afterwards he lay sprawled in relaxed satisfaction next to her, trying to

still his erratic breathing. Aspen didn’t seem inclined to speak either, nude

and lax, the veil of her dropped lashes concealing her eyes.

He wanted to know what she was thinking.

Now that truly
was
unique in his experience.

* * * *

Trey dashed wine into his glass, mindful they had a limited supply. He

glanced up as Larik wandered out of the sleeping quarters, his hair a bit

disheveled. An aura of male satisfaction surrounded him like a cloak.

The engineer went and got a glass, poured the rest of the bottle of wine

into it, and sat down. “She’s sleeping.”

“Again?” Trey felt a little surprised, but maybe he shouldn’t be. In such

close quarters it was impossible not hear them, and it certainly sounded like

Larik might have worn her out. Aspen had taken to napping in the

afternoons, but then again, they kept her in bed half the day anyway, and

besides, there really wasn’t much to do. She was used to activity on a

constant basis, so the enforced sedentary lifestyle probably bothered her as

much as it bothered him. There was a running machine, but it wasn’t as

effective as being able to do the same thing, and though he wasn’t surprised

the quarantine berth was less than luxurious, he chafed to get out.

“She fell asleep a while ago.” Larik shrugged and picked up his glass to

take a drink.

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47

Trey knew that for it had gotten very quiet. What was interesting was

that his companion had stayed and simply watched her sleep. He’d done that

too before. Just admired her beauty in repose.

“At least if we can’t really exercise any other way, we have sex.” After

the lighthearted joke Trey studied the liquid in his cup for a moment in

abstraction. He glanced up. “Do you think Governor Kartel got your

message?”

Neither one of them had mentioned to Aspen it had even been sent.

They both knew she’d been ordered along to make sure military rules were

followed and contacting Kartel using the Rapt One government

communication system did not qualify as regulation. It did qualify as a

crime, though.

“I’m sure he got it.” Larik looked noncommittal. “Let’s see if he does

anything about it. It’ll be a moral dilemma for him because he does take his

responsibility seriously. If he does buy into the idea that maybe the infected

visitors might have been a ploy to keep me away from the energy station, he

may just use some muscle to get us out. But it’s optimistic to think he’ll do

it without more proof. Aspen is right. It’s also a stretch to think something

that drastic would be done just to keep me from looking at it.”

Trey agreed. He said slowly, “I’ve been sitting here thinking.”

“Are pilots supposed to do that?”

“Very funny. Shut up, Armada and listen.” Trey took a sip of wine,

waited a moment, and then said, “Answer me this, why
did
they call for

you?”

“What do you mean?”

He quirked a brow. “To look at the station. It seems like heavy hitting to

me. You’re a pretty expensive commodity and you’re being sent with a

military liaison. My orders were to sit on my ass here and wait until you’d

figured out the problem, no matter how long it took. It was very clear.

Normally I drop off transport passengers and then go pick up others. There

are always transports coming and going, so the official orders to wait

puzzled me at the time. It ties me up, and ties up my craft.”

“It all comes back to the station, doesn’t it?”

“That’s my guess.”

Larik surged to his feet and paced across the room. “I keep thinking that

maybe we do need to talk to the Governor of Rapt One again.”

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Annabel Wolfe

“The only problem is that tricky little part about you breaking into the

system. He’s going to be pissed. If he finds out you used his name and code

specifically to contact Minoa, he’ll be even more fucking irate, I’m going to

guess. If he wanted, he could have you dragged out of here in about five

minutes flat, charge you with espionage, and you could even be euthanized.”

Trey wasn’t exaggerating. It bad enough to hack into the system,

because he knew if anyone could do it and go undetected it was Larik. It

was something else to admit it to a government official who had a state of

emergency on his hands and a lot of power. Aspen had gone positively pale

when she’d seen Armada had accessed the system on what was supposed to

be a simple communication device to access galactic news and transmit

generic messages.

“Kartel would never allow that.”

“He isn’t governor of this colony,” Trey pointed out flatly. “Yes, he has

influence and could probably help you, but the truth is, it could all be over

before he even heard about it. Prisoners of war don’t get much leniency, at a

guess, even if they are someone like you. What worries me more is that if

they wanted to implicate Aspen, they could charge her with dereliction of

duty. She’s supposed to keep you in line.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.” It was a mutter.

Trey cocked a brow in amusement at the defensive look on his friend’s

face. “I think it’s well known enough you view military policy as a bunch of

suggestions, not rules.”

“I’m a civilian.” He paused by the table and picked up his glass but still

stood.

“Well, she isn’t and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out her career is

important to her. She’s not only a female, but half-bred, besides being young

for her rank. It’s clear she’s worked hard to get where she is. I think you’d

better come up with an alternative plan.”

“Well, shit, maybe you’re right.” Long fingers ruffled blond hair even

further into a state of disarray in a frustrated gesture. Larik gave him a direct

look, his sapphire eyes glimmering. “We’re both starting to get attached to

her, aren’t we?”

Trey was afraid it might be true. The fascination he felt for their

beautiful companion wasn’t just sexual any longer. Half the time they were

in bed now he spent talking to her, coaxing out details of her childhood, just

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49

touching her, sometimes even holding her hand. He liked to listen to her

breathe, for God’s sakes, and the way he felt a complication he didn’t

expect. “Yes,” he admitted.

“When we get out of here it might be a bit of a problem.”

“I know,” Trey agreed and drank the rest of his wine in a single gulp.

“In the meantime, let’s worry about getting out.”

“Fine. I’m open to any ideas.”

“Hack back in. Let’s read all the governor’s communications and look at

the energy station again. If you think that’s the key, Armada, I’m with you.”

50

Annabel Wolfe

Chapter 5

The speculative look on the faces of the rest of the council did not

escape him. Ran took his seat at the table and folded his hands in front of

him. Very rarely did he not know precisely what to say when addressing the

most powerful body in interstellar politics, but at this moment, he wasn’t

sure.

Damn Armada and his cryptic messages.

He cleared his throat and began. “Recently I have received some

information that might be pertinent to our current alarm over the possible

attack on Rapt One. Security measures have been drastically tightened as

you all know, and there is a possibility that the procedures now in place

might be just exactly what the enemy wanted.”

One of the elders, a statesman who had sat on the council since before

Ran was born, lifted a bushy brow. “Do you mind telling me, Governor, just

how
increased
security would aid whoever tried to infect the colony?”

“Well, for one, it would detain anyone coming in. The current

quarantine time is two months. The question we need to ask ourselves is

whether or not the virus—which was caught quickly and contained the first

time because it is so virulent the victims sickened and died within a day—is

the real threat.”

“It depends on the incubation period. As I understand it we have

scientists on almost all allied planets studying it.”

“I agree the virus isn’t to be dismissed lightly, but shouldn’t we make

sure we aren’t doing exactly the expected and thereby causing a greater

danger to not only Rapt One but all the colonies?”

One of the other members spoke up, a frown on his face. “Who

specifically would it detain, Governor Kartel?”

“The engineer sent to repair their failing energy station, Larik Armada.

He’s there now, trapped in seclusion for at least four more weeks. If it is

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51

necessary to rebuild the facility, the hope is, of course, he can design it

faster than anyone else. I’m sure you all know his name.”

Several of the Council nodded, but none of them looked particularly

convinced. Ran continued, even as he articulated the words becoming more

and more certain maybe Larik was right, and his confinement deliberate. He

looked around the room. “We all know terrorists often do not hesitate to

sacrifice their own. It’s not a covenant I understand, but it exists. How easy

would it be to infect several of their members, or even innocent civilians and

send them into Rapt One, knowing there would be a panic and a shut down?

It’s a simple plan, really. It buys time, costs almost nothing, and distracts us

from the real objective.”

“What’s the real objective, Governor?” one of the members asked.

He’d pondered almost nothing else for the past week once he’d finally

figured out what Larik really said through his infuriating code, and come to

an interesting hypothesis. The Latin message roughly translated to “It’s

about you” and Larik had modified it in the next sentence by saying ‘or in

this case me.”. If his old friend thought this was all about him, there had to

be an important reason.

Close investigation had revealed a chilling possibility.

“The energy grid provided by the station includes several government

buildings,” he said slowly. “At first I wondered if they had been targeted in

some way. One of them is a museum full of artifacts from when the colony

was first settled. There is an entire set of administrative offices, and even a

colony banking headquarters, but they all have reserve power back ups and

no one has reported any suspicious activity during the series of power

outages. However, I did notice something interesting when studying the map

of the grid area. There’s the original mantonium site in the grid. And no, it

does not have a working reserve power source.”

The silence following his disclosure told him they processed the

implications. Finally the elder said, “I thought the mine was sealed.”

“So did I,” Ran agreed. “But I spent considerable time talking to every

official I could locate on Rapt One who might know something about it.

Since it is abandoned and the material considered useless because of its

instability, they have it safeguarded by a security perimeter, but that’s all.

With the project such a dismal failure, the private company that ran the mine

itself simply pulled out.”

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Annabel Wolfe

“You’re telling us every time the power goes out anyone could have

access to
mantonium
?”

Ran nodded, his face grim. “I’m saying more than that. I have evidence

that the power station was designed deliberately to give opportunity for

catastrophic failure at the flip of a switch. I’d guess the reason for the

frequent failures and the mysterious sudden restorations is that the substance

is so highly toxic and unstable if someone is secretly taking it out of the

mine, they have to do so in very small amounts at a time.”

One of the members, a seasoned retired soldier named Tercel with the

highest rank possible ever awarded a commander, gave him a

straightforward look. His mouth set in a thin, tight line. “The weapons we