Unchained (23 page)

When his room comm chimed softly, he reached
over and activated the link. “Yes, Decker.”

“
Sir, I have a subspace
communication for you from Rourke Jaccar. It’s coming through on a
secured link.” Decker sounded concerned.

Grey frowned and prepared to give the
ensuing conversation his full attention. Rourke rarely took those
kinds of precautions. “Send it through.”

Rourke’s voice boomed through the comm.
“Hey, Stone. How are you feeling these days? Still in good
hands?”

“
You have no idea.” Grey
grinned.

Rourke laughed on the other end. “I can just
imagine. I’ll bet it’s been really tough.”

“
Why the secured link,
Rourke?”

“
I’ve got some information
for you,” Rourke began. “You may not even want your crew to hear
this, especially Cidra.”

“
What kind of information?”
Grey already had a pretty good idea.

“
Word on the street is that
the d’Hont are looking for Cidra. There’s no explanation going
around other than they want her badly—dead or alive.”

Grey didn’t reply.

“
What is going on?” Rourke
prodded. “Why would the d’Hont be looking for Cidra? From what I
can tell, the woman is a saint.”

Grey ran a hand through his hair. “She is,
but you’re still better off not knowing what’s going on.”

“
Then you knew about this?”
Rourke asked in disbelief. “They know who you are, Grey. They know
she’s with you. Do you have any idea what the d’Hont will do when
they find her and you?”

“
I’m afraid I do,” Grey
said grimly.

“
Maybe you should hide her
for a while until this blows over,” Rourke offered.

Grey shook his head, even though he knew
Rourke couldn’t see him. “Not a chance. She’s staying with me.
She’s my mate.”

A long, low whistle came through the
comm.

“
I never thought I’d see
the day.” Rourke chuckled. “You couldn’t have picked a nice, quiet
Vaasa girl, huh? Leave it to you to find the most wanted woman in
the galaxy.”

Grey couldn’t let that one go. “Sleeping
alone, by any chance?”

Rourke laughed outright.
“Yeah I’m sleeping alone, but I’m alive. Can’t say the same for you
if the d’Hont find you. Is there any place you can hide
Calíbre
?”

“
Can’t do that either,”
Grey came back. “But this does move up my timetable a little. I
appreciate the warning.”

Rourke waited on the other end and finally
asked, “Stone, what have you gotten yourself into?”

“
You wouldn’t believe it if
I told you,” Grey mumbled. “Don’t worry. We’ll be all
right.”

Rourke grunted. “I have my doubts about you,
but I know Cidra can take care of herself. She took out one of
Wex’s giants with two kicks. If I were you, I wouldn’t make her
mad.”

“
That’s the plan,” Grey
agreed. “Thanks for the update, Rourke.”

“
I’ll keep my ears open for
you. If you need any help or somewhere to hide, you know how to
find me. And give Cidra my best. I want to stay on her good side.”
Rourke laughed.

“
Got it.” Grey cut the
communication and closed his eyes. It wasn’t a surprise, but he
hadn’t expected the d’Hont to close on them so soon. He hit the
comm unit and hailed the bridge.

“
Decker here.”

Grey lowered his voice. “I want you to make
the hyperspace jump to Courf as soon as possible.”

There was a pause.

“
Trouble?” Decker asked in
an equally low voice.

“
The worst kind,” Grey
admitted. “If we don’t get out of here now, we’re going to have
company. The d’Hont are breathing down our necks.”

Decker swore on the other end. “Sorry about
that. They must have tracked my break into the Dakru computer
systems.”

“
Could be. But somehow I
doubt it. Just get us into hyperspace. Then we need to make some
contingency plans for the rest of this mission.” Grey paused. “One
more thing. Lock out the K12 so no one can use it.”

Decker balked. “Why? Who would steal
it?”

Grey stared at the door to his quarters
thoughtfully. “Just a hunch. Humor me.”

“
Yes, sir.” Decker signed
off.

Grey leaned back in his chair and rubbed his
face roughly with both hands. He wasn’t looking forward to telling
Cidra about this latest obstacle. He already knew what her reaction
would be.

They were so close he could feel it. Courf
was the right place, he was sure of it. He felt the pull of the
hyperspace jump just as Cidra appeared at the door.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Cidra stood motionless holding the dinner
tray and staring at his somber expression. “We weren’t supposed to
jump until tomorrow.”

Slowly he rose, walked to her, and took the
tray. After placing it on a table, he wrapped both of her hands in
his. Cidra watched with growing dread.

“
We have a problem.” His
mouth was set in a hard line. “The d’Hont know about you. They were
looking for you on Vaasa.”

Her mind frantically worked
over the implications. She drew in a deep breath and nodded once in
acceptance. “Then they know about you, too. And
Calíbre
.”

“
Probably. I have a feeling
they’re close. That’s why I moved up the jump.”

Cidra gazed into the beautiful face of the
man she loved, memorizing every feature. His hands squeezed hers.
She closed her eyes, remembering what wondrous pleasure those hands
could reign over her body. She would miss him. Her life would be
empty without him. Her heart shattered but there was no other
choice. She had to leave or they would all die. Grim resolution
replaced sadness. She opened her eyes and tried to pull away from
him.

As if he had expected it, his grip
tightened, and he pulled her against his body. “You’re not going
anywhere, Cidra.”

Her anger flashed. “Don’t you realize what
this means? How can you put your crew in danger for my sake, Grey?
Don’t you care what happens to them? You know if the d’Hont find
us, they’ll kill you all because of me.” She tried again to yank
her hands free. “I won’t allow it.”

“
You have no choice. I’m
not letting you go,” he said as she struggled in earnest. The
battle was waged. He couldn’t help but smile. She’d give him a
fight.

She wrestled a hand free and shoved him with
it.

Grey fended her off. There was no way she
was leaving him now. They were too close and he needed her too
much. He spun her around and trapped her in his arms from behind,
careful not to hurt her.

Cidra had no such reservations as she
growled in frustration, fighting for freedom.

He spoke into her ear. “There’s no way off
the ship. The K12 is locked out.”

“
I don’t believe you.” She
jammed her heel onto his foot and with a grunt Grey released her.
Cidra lunged for the door, but he tackled her to the floor. She
squirmed and wiggled under him as he positioned himself over her,
face to face. He pressed down on her with his full weight, throwing
his legs across hers. Then he snagged both her wrists and pinned
them on either side on her head. Kin-sha or not, he could conquer
her by sheer weight, muscle, and bulk alone. They were both
breathing hard, eyes locked, neither willing to give in.

“
I said, you’re not going
anywhere, and I meant it.”

After a few more futile attempts, Cidra
dropped her head back on the floor and closed her eyes in defeat.
Her words came out in a series of shudders. “Grey, please. Don’t do
this to your crew. Don’t do this to me. I can’t bear it.”

Grey gave silent thanks, knowing he’d won
this one. He shifted to lighten his weight on her. “I’ll keep the
crew safe. I give you my word that I will take every
precaution.”

“
And who’s going to protect
you?” She opened her eyes, her voice breaking.

“
You will.” He smiled down
on her. “You took out Wex’s hired help. I couldn’t ask for better
protection than that.”

Cidra rolled her head from side to side
wearily. “Wex’s hired killer isn’t the same as facing the d’Hont,
and you know it. You’ve never seen them in action.” Her voice
caught. “They are ruthless and cruel. And more than that, they are
very, very good at what they do. Two Kin-sha aren’t going to be any
match for a ship full of d’Hont.”

While she spoke, Grey rained gentle kisses
over her face and down her throat. He’d heard what she said and
knew she was right. But there was no way he was going to let her
face the d’Hont alone. He raised his head and looked into her eyes.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. All we have to do is find that
shipment and get back to Avion. Then it will be over. You’ll be
free. The Faulkner name will be cleared.”

Tears spilled down the sides of her face. “I
don’t want you to die because of me, Grey.”

The tears caught him off-guard, ripping at
him, clawing at his throat. He closed his eyes and pressed his
forehead to hers. He could barely get the words out. “I won’t. And
neither will you. I promise.”

“
Commander, they’ve jumped
to hyperspace.” The Lieutenant’s report rang out moments
after
Calíbre
disappeared in a streak from
Expunger
’s main viewport. Plass
smiled. The chase was on thanks to the tracking device attached to
their K12 jet.

“
Track and follow them,
Lieutenant. Stay back a discreet distance.” Plass noted the
confused faces of his deck crew. They didn’t understand his
reluctance to seize Cidra Faulkner. He sighed and headed off the
bridge.
Expunger
launched into hyperspace in a spectacular matrix of starlines
that lit up the viewport behind him.

He would not offer them any explanation
until he had Cidra Faulkner, until he possessed the irrefutable
evidence he needed to bring down Tausek. For now, he was the
Commander of the ship. The crew would obey his orders. He
acknowledged there could come a point where that might not be
enough.

If he couldn’t convince the crew of Tausek’s
guilt, his life would be worth no more than hers. Over time, Tausek
and the d’Hont had virtually become one entity, linked by blood and
death and revenge. Plass saw clearly that the alliance was Tausek’s
absolute manipulation, giving him the force he needed to achieve
his goal. They had been used. He had been used.

It was his responsibility and duty to expose
Tausek for what he was. He only hoped he could do that without
destroying the d’Hont as well.

Decker groaned to no one in particular.
“That’s one mean, cold rock.”

Accessed from the archives, a
three-dimensional, miniature scale projection of Courf occupied the
holo deck in front of him. Underneath, the slowly rotating planet
scrolled its environmental, physical, and chemical properties.

“
No wonder it’s
uninhabited. Not exactly paradise,” Grey agreed. The statistics
were not encouraging. He glanced at Cidra to see if she grasped the
situation.

“
According to the galactic
chart records it has a minimal atmosphere. Oxygen is nil. Mainly
gaseous carbon dioxide in the form of ice fog,” Decker muttered. “I
hate ice fog. Forget a visual search.”

Cidra remained silent, studying the
statistics somberly.

Grey kept his eyes on her. “They probably
died on impact or shortly thereafter. It wouldn’t have taken
long.”

She nodded in understanding, but the blue
eyes that met his were brimming with unshed tears and the shadows
of more death. A reminder that this entire affair had taken far too
many lives.

Decker rattled along, totally oblivious.
“It’s going to be a challenge to find a crashed transport under all
that fog, even for Coon. This planet is rough. Rilles, mountains,
caverns, fissures.” He shook his head. “It’ll be a miracle if we
find it at all. The only good thing is that it should be preserved
exactly the way it was ten years ago. In cold storage.”

Cidra paled. Grey changed the subject. “Can
we get by with the survival suits?”

Decker nodded. “I think so. You’re not going
to be able to move real fast and whatever you do, don’t puncture a
hole in it. You won’t last a second on that hunk of ice. Not even
long enough to make it back to the K12.” He did look at Cidra and
immediately amended his blunt warning. “But the suits are pretty
tough.”

When she didn’t respond, he cast Grey an
apologetic look. Grey hitched his head toward the door. Decker
nodded and stood up. “If you need me, I’ll be on the bridge.” He
walked out.

Cidra nodded automatically, her thoughts
well beyond the current discussion. The transport crew was dead.
Until now, she had held out a glimmer of hope that they had found a
planet that could support life. That they had found a way to
survive until someone could rescue them. One look at Courf and
those hopes were dashed.

Grey didn’t like the look on her face.

“
It’s going to be cold down
there.” He smiled at her. “We could share a suit.”

Cidra’s eyes focused on him with a start.
Then she smiled as if she’d just seen him. “Let me guess. They were
designed by a man?”

“
How’d you know?” His smile
grew. She was back and she was his.

She laughed. “I’m beginning to detect a
pattern here.”

“
Actually, I think it’s a
matter of imagination and variety.”