The Star Prince (32 page)

She left them to their hasty preparations.

After using the shower, Tee'ah and Lara dressed in their borrowed clothes, straw hats and gauzy dresses decorated with Earth blossoms, loose-fitting enough to accommodate their varying shapes.

While Lara fastened her boots, Tee'ah stepped onto the veranda to view the ocean. Ilana's residence was on the second floor of a building separated from the beach by a busy road for ground cars. Until last night, she'd never personally seen an ocean that wasn't computer generated. The reality was staggeringly beautiful. In the early morning light, the sea was as smooth and deeply hued as a bolt of blue-gray Nandan silk.

The dress Ilana lent her was flimsy and low cut— likely by her own prim standards, though, and not by Ilana's or any other Earthwoman's. She raised her arms above her head and let the wind brush across the indecent garment, but the breeze was a poor substitute for Ian's caresses. The mere thought of his skillful hands and hot mouth on her body brought her pulse throbbing to life between her thighs.

But he had his duty, and she had her dreams. Those things would forever keep them apart.

"You're thinking about him again."

Tee'ah whirled around. Lara stood in the doorway, watching her with ancient eyes. "It hurts," she admitted to the pilot. "It will for some time, I think."

"I wouldn't know."

"Haven't you ever been in love?"

Lara glanced away. A muscle in her jaw jumped. "No," she said softly. "Never."

"I'm no expert," Tee'ah quickly told her. "There was only Ian, and no one else. But I know in my heart that someday the right man will treasure you and respect you. You are beautiful and precious, inside and out. Any man who does not see that does not deserve you."

Lara compressed her lips and stared at the sea. "That's what he told me… this man. He sees in me what I don't. Or didn't." Her face took on a look of innocence, or perhaps wonder, then the look was gone just as fast. She cracked a smile. "Perhaps he deserves me, yes?"

Tee'ah smiled back. "Find him and see."

Thoughtful, Lara considered. "Perhaps… "

Together they walked inside, where Ilana met them. "Tee'ah," Ian's sister said. "We have to talk." The Earth girl took her aside, leaving Lara to eat the morning meal with Linda Hurst, a perky, middle-aged red-haired "film-assistant" who had accompanied Ilana to the airport the evening before.

Ilana's comm device— ringing constantly, it seemed— trilled again. She glanced at the incoming call and switched it off. "My latest ex," she ex-plained. At Tee'ah's obvious bafflement, she tried again in careful Basic.

"A man-friend whom I no longer wish to see."

Awed, Tee'ah gazed at her. "You have many lovers then?"

At first, Ilana appeared startled. Then she laughed. "Always. And I make it a point to leave while the bed's still warm."

Tee'ah sensed pain behind that cheerful declaration. She wondered if Ilana's parade of lovers was a consequence of her father's infidelity, just as Ian's celibacy was.

Ilana's sky-blue eyes searched Tee'ah's face. "Now make sure you use that translator of yours. I'm going to speak in English because my Basic stinks and I have some things to say." When Tee'ah had complied, she said, "You're in love with my brother."

Tee'ah's pulse pounded in her throat. "Ian… is a man-friend I no longer wish to see."

"Ha!"

"I'll ruin his reputation."

"Promise?"

Tee'ah sighed. "Even if that did not matter, I can't return to that life."

"I understand. But Ian would never make you live in the traditional way. My mother doesn't."

"Rom B'kah is a hero, Ilana. He can live as he likes. Ian is being scrutinized— and challenged. It would be unfair to make him choose between me and what the Vash Nadah consider proper behavior. I won't do it. I won't jeopardize his bid for the throne."

"If Ian succeeds on Earth, he'll be a hero, too. Now that I've met you, I have even more reason to hope he does. Frankly, I think you're exactly what my geek of a brother needs. Okay, so he's a hunky geek. And a very honorable geek, too. Much, much better behaved than me, let me tell you. But then he's older than me by four minutes." Ilana laughed. "I'm getting ahead of myself here. Rewind."

Tee'ah's head spun from the string of untranslatable words.

"You've turned his perfectly ordered existence upside-down. This is good. The last thing I want to do is tell you how to run your life, but I'd love to see you unbutton his stuffy shirt and show him how to live."

A shiver ran down Tee'ah's spine. "Ian showed me how to live." Ilana's gaze warmed with affection. "Then I hope you two come to your senses." She used a hand mirror to apply black liquid to her long lashes. "Anyway, Ian knows you're here."

Tee'ah almost dropped the translator.

"Probably from Rom, who got my secured comm message that you were safe. He really wants to talk to you."

"Ian? He called? Here?"

"Three times."

"What did he sound like?" Tee'ah blurted without intending to.

Ilana grinned. "Angry. Desperate." Her tone softened a fraction. "Sorry."

"Did you speak to him?"

"Hell, no," Ilana answered breezily. "Let him worry some more. I want him to believe he's lost you."

"He has," Tee'ah whispered, her heart wrenching.

"Please, Tee'ah. You're such a terrible liar." She pushed the makeup wand back in its little tube and steered a befuddled Tee'ah back to the table where Lara was reading a palmtop under Linda's pleased gaze.

"The publishers are putting out novels in Basic now," Linda explained, peering over the primitive eye-magnifiers perched on her nose. "I'm a book reviewer on the side. Cach, Ragan, and Asaro, too— must-read classics. I recommend them highly."

"Talk books in the car, Linda, or we'll be late." Ilana gave Tee'ah a sealed mug and piece of bread shaped like a wheel. "Breakfast on the run," she explained and herded everyone out the front door.

Tee'ah hurried along beside her, envisioning Ian desperate and sorry, all the while struggling to stay afloat in the torrent of energy that was his sister.

The in-dash satellite navigation in the shiny black electric car Ian had rented guided him from LAX to his sister's place in Santa Monica. Gann sat next to him, Muffin was hunched over in the back seat, and the rest of the crew had stayed behind on the Sun Devil.

Ian parked behind Ilana's house. He glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror and ran a hand over his stubble. "Muffin, toss me my shaver." Looking like an escaped convict wasn't going to help his standing with Tee.

Muffin unzipped Ian's duffel bag. There was an ear-ripping shriek, and the big man's head bounced off the car's ceiling with a muffled thud.

Gann twisted around. "What in blazes is the ketta-cat doing here?"

Muffin rubbed his head. "Hell if I know!"

Ian killed the engine. "Whatever you do, don't let anyone see it. Animals are quarantined state to state. This one's from across the galaxy."

Gann reached around his seat and pushed Lara's pet into the duffel. It gave a muffled yowl in protest. "I miss her, too," he said under his breath, zipping the bag nine-tenths shut. "But you're a troublemaker, just like she is."

He hooked the bag over his shoulder and exited the vehicle, then followed Ian up an outside flight of stairs to the second floor. A piece of paper taped to Ilana's door fluttered in a strengthening breeze coming off the Pacific. Ian tore the note off the wood. "They're not here."

Muffin accepted the news with professional calm, but Gann didn't try to hide his concern. "Where are they?"

Ian struggled to make out his twin sister's scrawled handwriting. "Ilana's working… downtown LA… on the roof of the Court Tower. It's the tallest building in the city." He folded the note. "She's got both Tee'ah and Lara with her. Let's go."

They hustled back down the stairs and into the car. Ian merged into traffic on a street busy with summer visitors, then he accelerated onto a highspeed lane reserved for electric vehicles leading directly downtown.

Gann's hands flew to the dashboard. "Great Mother."

"What's wrong?"

"The other ground cars"— he swallowed— "they're too close."

Ian tried not to laugh. "They're supposed to be."

"I journeyed in a similar vehicle, years ago, with Rom. But we never reached this velocity."

"On an electric speedway it's perfectly legal; trust me." He pictured Tee, wondering what she thought of Earth, or driving on the highway. Or seeing the ocean for the first time. There were so many places he wanted to show her, so many things he wanted to experience with her, not the least of which was more incredible lovemaking.

She left you.

The gnawing worry that Tee wanted nothing more to do with him sharpened into impatience to make things right between them. Their futures were intertwined. He was prepared for every conceivable argument to the contrary; he wasn't about to let her go.

He flipped on the vehicle's digital entertainment system. The images of Vash representatives and Earth's statesmen clashing in public and private forums didn't lighten his mood. "The Senior Galactic Trade Minister is camped out outside the U.S. president's office," he muttered. His friends' command of English was weak, and Ian found himself translating the news as it unfolded. "I'd guess he's awaiting word from Rom on how to proceed."

Ian wondered what Rom would tell the minister now that he thought he'd recalled Ian. Earth would never cooperate as long as they believed there was little hope of a true partnership with the Federation.

Find Tee, his instincts told him. Everything else will fall into place.

Still, no matter what his instincts said, reuniting with Tee in the middle of LA. was going to be anything but simple.

From the top of the Court Tower, Tee'ah viewed the entire city of Los Angeles, glittering in the hazy, muted light of Earth's star. The wide rooftop was windswept and seemed to touch the sky. Her skirt whipped around her bare legs as she gazed all around her. Glassy buildings nearby rivaled the dizzying height of the one she was on; chaotic roads below were busy with ground cars; huge white runes glowed on a distant hill: Hollywood.

She turned her attention back to the Earth dwellers working on the rooftop. Ilana radiated pure pleasure as she used her Sony to capture images. It was a gift, being free to practice a vocation she so enjoyed; Tee'ah hoped Ian's sister understood her good fortune.

Perhaps succumbing to the urge to draw Lara out of her shell, Ilana had asked the woman for assistance. Now Lara stood among those who were filming, holding a "boom mike," pointing it up and outward to capture sound while Ilana's assistant, Linda, coordinated with the other Earth dwellers. Chaos reigned, yet there was a simmering energy given off by the Earthers which Tee'ah found fascinating. With such dash inherent in their culture, no wonder they were balking at the idea of being submerged in a galaxy-wide federation in which they played a minor role.

More Earth dwellers arrived: KCAL-TV news, their equipment stated. As a crisply dressed woman narrated, her companion filmed Ilana filming the Earth dwellers who were filming the actor, a man whom Tee'ah considered nowhere near as compelling as Ian, yet who was inexplicably the focus of so much interest.

Sudden movement dragged Tee'ah's attention to the onlookers milling behind a row of barriers set up around the activity.

Crat. Flanked by Muffin and Gann, Ian jostled his way through the crowd.

Ilana's assistant's eyes widened. "Who's that?"

"Buy new glasses, Linda," Ilana said. "It's Ian."

"No, the big blond hulk— I mean hunk."

"His name's Muffin. He's my stepfather's bodyguard."

"Muffin." Linda's mouth curved in a hungry smile. "Darn. There goes my diet."

Tee'ah had no tolerance for such lighthearted conversation. "What is Ian doing here? He's supposed to be in Washington." Her heart wrenched. His mission was critical to galactic peace. How dare he flirt with the controversy she would undoubtedly bring him?

Part of her hoped he was here to see his sister, but the instant his gray-green eyes found her, he left his escorts behind. His expression was resolute, his strides long. His glossy, windblown hair and black leather jacket were more suited to a rebel trader than a galactic crown prince, but he commanded no less respect for it.

The crowd parted, allowing him past. As he closed on her, the world seemed to fall away. Conversation grew distant, the people around her blurred. All she felt was the wind tossing her hair, her dress fluttering against her bare skin, and her love for Ian, giving her a sense of time standing still.

She forcibly looked away, breaking the spell. "Why did you come?" she demanded when he stopped in front of her. "We're over," she said in English— one of his sister's expressions. "You know that."

"I made a mistake, pixie."

"Yes, you did. By coming here. Look around you. Earth dwellers are taking pictures. You can't afford to be seen with me— "

He pulled her into a fierce and possessive kiss. Then he slowly moved her back. "How's that for being seen with me?"

Breathless, she touched her fingertips to her lips. "What are you doing?"

"Breaking the rules." He gripped her shoulders, moving her back. "Come to Washington. Then, after that, we'll work with the Great Council on the subject of you and me."

"No. The timing is wrong. You have to concentrate on your future."

"Our future," he reminded her. "We're a team, sweetheart, a great one. Haven't you figured that out yet?"

She hugged her arms to her ribcage. "Don't do this, Ian."

"Sorry, but I'm going to try my damnedest to win you back. We belong together." He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Tingles spread from where his thumb stroked her cheek. "I know you know it, too. You wear your heart on your sleeve, remember?"

She made a sound of anguished exasperation and twisted out of his grasp. Ian went after her.

Lara grabbed Ilana's hand and pointed after Tee'ah and Ian. She said in Basic, "You want to give Earth a reason to stay in the Federation? Film them."