DarkRevenge (17 page)

“Why do they think they come from Old Earth?” She gazed at
the other artifacts grouped around it. None of them seemed familiar.

“Genetics,” Tory answered her question and pointed to a gene
chart. Less specific than the one they’d seen earlier, it did show prominent
names, leaders, who were genetically connected to Old Earth DNA. “At some
point, the Ardasians began to trace their origins. Something led them to Old
Earth—a myth, a forgotten legend, something. They began to study Earthlings.”
He led her to another display. “Early Ardasian history mentions an alien race
that saved their early civilization from destruction. Interbreeding with them
began to produce Ardasians with mental gifts. They developed those talents,
honed them, bred for them. Then, they began to have visions. Too late to save
the Earth, but they did help to get the Teran planets colonized.”

She gazed at a prominent display of a tall, beautiful,
dark-haired woman. The years below her picture showed she’d been twenty-three
when she died. “Who is this?”

“Lyra. The great Seer. She told the Judges of Ardasia to
save Old Earth, to rescue Darina Stanton and her people.” Tory held Alex’s
hand. “If it wasn’t for her, you and I wouldn’t be here. She saw the
destruction coming. She was too late to save Earth, but she helped stop the
plague from spreading. She died trying to save us.”

Sacrifice. So much of the Ardasian history was sacrifice for
Old Earth, for their ancestors, for a people they didn’t know. Now they were
sacrificing again.

“Jezar signed up with you because of the vision,” she
blurted out. She didn’t know if she wanted to talk about what happened at
Kera’s home. The bridge, the merging of their minds, the discoveries in his
thoughts were so raw and emotional, she wasn’t sure she wanted to explore them.

“Yes, he did.” Tory stopped at a bench, sat down and gently
pulled her into his lap. “When you’re ready, Alexandra, we can discuss what we
saw.”

She knew he didn’t mean the vision. He meant the strands,
the tangled skein of thoughts she’d unwound to reveal the core of him. His love
for her. She wanted to share the joy she’d felt when she touched it, stroked
it. But she was terrified of what he’d found. Or rather, what he might not have
found.

“Would you like me to start?” he asked her softly.

“I don’t know.” She didn’t know what it all meant. He was
her mate. Would their revelations change that? No. She took a deep breath. “I
found the core, the love for me that stands in your center.”

“And it frightened you,” he said and she felt his
withdrawal.

She clasped his face in her hands. “No, not at all.
It…shamed me.”

He blinked. “Shamed you?”

She brushed the hair away from his face. “Not once, in five
years of agony, did you doubt the love you felt for me. But I—” She couldn’t
look at him, see the disappointment, the hurt on his face.

“Yes, let’s talk about what I saw,” he said and his fingers
gripped her chin and forced her to face him. “I said it was an ocean, a strong,
steady ocean, with waves of emotion crashing on a shore of shifting sand. But
there was rock there, Alex. Around it, a flood of fear and guilt, but the rock
was solid. That rock was your love for me. It was buried, battered but you held
onto it. In the face of overwhelming grief and pain, you kept it strong and
looming in your sea of fear.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “I let so many things come between
us.”

“We are together now, my
Saria
.”

Once she had thought that word was a shackle, an insult. But
she realized what it meant. It meant she belonged to him. And he to her. Mutual
nullification. He loved her. She brushed his lips with hers. “I am your
Saria
.
Until my death or yours.” The ancient words flowed from her and from the way
the color drained from his face and his hands shook as he pulled her closer,
they rocked Tory to the core.

“Get a room,” Tesia’s voice boomed in the corridor.

Rather than jump away from him, Alex kissed Tory gently. “We
will. Thanks.”

The engineer sighed noisily.

“We should get going,” Jezar announced. “Dink will be
expecting us back.”

Leaving the museum, Alex wondered what corridors would be
added. Perhaps humanity would be a lost and forgotten culture like Placido, the
deserted planet.

Chapter Thirteen

The trip back to the launch pad was uneventful and Tory
tried to relax in the moment instead of focusing on the future. It wasn’t going
to be easy. The issue had gone from one planetary civil war to a plan for
genocide. He ran through the prominent names on his list of possible suspects
on Teran One. Who would want power, not just on Teran One, but on the other
Teran planets as well? Even someone who wanted to rule all human planets would
balk at destroying a majority of the population to do it.

Wouldn’t they?

Tory shut out the noise around him as he and Alex negotiated
the huge shuttle bay. What had his father told him?
A truly great leader
plans not for his personal future but for his children. To ensure a bloodline
takes a generation or mor
e. He was looking for someone who had been
planning for a very long time and who had no hope of power for himself, just
for his bloodline.

The rival families had a stake, but none of them had been
prominent lately. At least, according to Tory’s sources. But Tory wasn’t sure
about his sources anymore.

He and Alex parted ways with Jezar and Tesia. Tory went
through the motions, checking through the systems of the shuttle to prepare for
takeoff. Alex hadn’t said much either. Granted, she’d had to absorb a lot of
information.

He’d been stunned when Kera revealed his bloodline, his
connection to Ardasian history. Once again, a select group of humans stood
against a faceless enemy. He could only hope the Ardasian scientists found a
cure for those who didn’t carry the gene.

The person behind all this had to be someone who not only
carried the gene, but knew about it. Damn. Why hadn’t he thought of this
before? Planning. A generation of planning.

He flicked on his com link. “Please connect me to Kera
Alstar.”

“Connecting,” a voice responded. He waited. They needed a
direction, a name,
something
before they headed back into Teran space.

“Tory? What do you need?” Kera’s warm voice filled the
cockpit.

“A name. It’s going to take a while. Can you access Teran
visitors for the last forty years?”

“What am I looking for?”

“Someone who accessed the bloodline charts about the plague
gene. The person we’re looking for has to know it exists. The only evidence of
that is on Ardasia.”

“You’re assuming this person didn’t read the data
somewhere.”

“This isn’t common data, Kera. Someone knows specifics, the
bloodlines with the gene and the ones without it.”

Alex spoke up. “And it has to be someone who also has the
gene. That means they’re on the charts.”

Tory shot a glance at his mate. She followed his line of
reasoning so quickly. He loved that. For a moment, he was distracted by the way
her fingers threaded through her hair as she braided the long strands. He
preferred it down, but something about when she restrained it turned him on.

She caught his eye and smiled. What was it about her that
made the blood drain from his brain to his dick? He shook his head. “We don’t
have time,” he muttered. They had to get back to his ship and make plans to
decoy the buyer.

“What was that?” Kera asked him.

“Nothing. Let me know what you find out. Thanks, Kera.”

A sigh came over the com. “Watch your back, Tory. I don’t
like the murky visions I’m getting.”

“Will do.”

Alex had flicked on the engines and run through most of the
checklist while he’d talked to Kera and they lifted off the launch pad.
“Where’s Jezar?” He searched the grid on the screen for the signature of the
other shuttle.

“They took off ahead of us.” Alex adjusted the engine speed.
Tory sat back and watched her. Behind the console of a ship, Alex was graceful
and confident, like when she made love. Her fingers flew over the buttons and
her focus reminded him of when she took his cock in her mouth—complete
concentration.

Great. Now, he had a monster hard-on. He’d probably get one
every time she flew a ship too. He turned his attention back to the grid screen
and his pulse leapt a little faster. Shit.

“We’ve got company.”

Alex’s gaze jerked to the grid. She swiveled in her chair
and increased their speed. Tory focused on getting the weapons hot. The shuttle
had great shielding but the weapons were not fighter material. They were more
defensive than offensive.

We could use a little help.
Jezar’s strained voice
reached Tory.

“Jezar and Tesia are taking fire,” he told Alex.

They worked silently, preparing the shuttle for a fight with
Teran One fighters. The first blast came from their port side and out of view
of their screen. It rocked the shuttle and alarms blared, piercing his
eardrums. Damn it. The shield held, but the fighters were using a resonator.
Which meant when they fired on the shields, the whole fucking ship vibrated.
They would be ripped apart.

He had to drop the damned shield.

“Alex—”

“I know. I’m on it. Let me adjust the shields. I can—”
Another shot rattled them so hard Alex was flung out of her seat. “Shit. I can
change the frequency of the shield’s resonance—”

“Don’t explain it to me, just
do
it.” He had his hands
full with the navigation, keeping the ship from plunging planetside.

Another shot slammed him forward into the console and sharp
pain in his lip was followed by the copper taste of his own blood. Pain came
next but he ignored it, his mind focused on keeping the ship on course.

“Got it.” Alex pressed a button just as another blast left
the Teran One fighter. The shield didn’t absorb the shot. It reflected it. The
fighter wasn’t prepared and the ship exploded.

“Brace yourself,” Tory ordered and he slammed the shields
back up. Some debris still hit the shuttle, the sound of metal on metal
screeching through the cabin. “We’ve got another one coming.”

“Engine two is down.”

“Adjusting.”

“That next fighter isn’t going to use a resonator.”

“I hope not. I’ve got the shields back up,” he told her. The
weapons light came on. Finally, they were up and running. “Weapons hot.”

“I can’t get a lock.”

“They’re firing.” He hoped Alex was right and they didn’t
fire a resonator again. If they did, the shuttle would sustain a lot of damage.
But he couldn’t leave them exposed in case the other ship had communicated with
the one they destroyed. He could only hope Jezar had gotten back to the ship.
There had been no mental connection since Jezar had gone to his own shuttle.

The blast slammed into the shields. They had used a
disintegrator.
Thank the stars.
“No damage to the shields. Got a lock?”

“Got it. Firing.”

Alex fired, the weapon flared against the dark and hit the
fighter. It dropped from view.

“Where is it?” Alex demanded.

The blip on the grid spiraled toward Ardasia’s orbit. “It’s
gone planetside.”

“You’d better warn them.”

“Ardasia, this is Shuttle One of
The Pinnacle.
There
is a disabled ship hitting your orbit.”

“Acknowledged. Planetary defenses have been activated.”

Tory watched the blip on the grid disappear. Just…disappear.
Whatever the Ardasians did, it worked.

We made it back to the ship
. Jezar’s voice caused a
flood of relief to wash over Tory.

Damage?

Minimal, though Tesia is quite upset.

Oh? What did you do?

For a few moments, Tory thought Jezar wasn’t going to answer
him. Clearly he and Tesia had…something going on between them.

Finally, Jezar answered him.
I created a mental
connection with her.

Something deeper than the one you have with me, I
presume.
There was nothing upsetting about the communication he had with
Jezar. It had to be something different. Though Tory was aware there were
several levels of connection for the Ardasians, he didn’t know the implications
of most of them.

She is…uncomfortable with my thoughts.

So lock them up.
What was wrong with him? They had
bigger things to worry about than his complicated relationship with the ship’s
engineer.

It’s…not that simple.

It never is. What do you want me to do?

I don’t know.

It was so rare to hear those three words from Jezar that,
for a moment, Tory was at a loss. He glanced at Alex, busy at the controls.
Hang
on, Jezar
. “I have a question for you, dear heart.”

“What’s that?”

“Say the bridge connection happened in a moment crisis.”

She frowned and shot him a glare. “You mean it didn’t?”

“Think of the fire fight we were just in.”

“Jezar bridged with Tesia?” She shook her head. “Idiot.”

“It’s done. What can he do to make her comfortable?”

Alex snorted. “Grovel.”

Tory grinned. “I don’t think so. You women say you want a
man to grovel, but you don’t respect a man who does.”

She laughed, her golden eyes dancing. “Okay, you’re right. I
don’t know about Tesia, but I’d need some reassurance that puts everything in
perspective. Being aware of another person’s thoughts can be overwhelming. And
it depends on what she found out too,” she said, the smile dropping from face.
“He’d better figure it out himself.”

Tory nodded. “So, he’s on his own.”

“I wouldn’t get in the middle of that tornado. Tesia doesn’t
strike me as someone who is going to appreciate any interference.” One side of
her mouth lifted in a smile. “I wouldn’t.”