Ever After (3 page)

Even if what he’d done revealed an entire nest of the vilest pirates, no one would ever trust him again. He’d broken the law and would have to take the consequences. As the code stated, it was up to each embassy
‘to impose their own security measures, taking such caution as to keep the peaceful population of this sector safe’
. It was not up to one person to encroach on any embassy’s domain or sovereignty. Not even the security chief for the entire planet had that right. As irony would have it, he’d suffer the same likely fate as any spies he’d oust. Indeed,
he
was just as much a conspirator if one read the rules verbatim.

He could have taken his suspicions to the king. But he’d made a choice and would live with the consequences.

As he got to the foyer, arched front doors swung inward, and his regal grandmother sauntered toward him beaming. She was in obvious harmony with the early morning’s business. In her arms, she held a dozen red roses. He only knew what they were because he’d seen the flowers in Earth Embassy’s compound. Because scientists had to be careful about introducing alien cultivars into Mythreal’s ecosystem, roses weren’t a variety of fauna currently planted on his planet’s surface. Indeed, the planting of such species was only allowed within the confines of Earth’s glassed-in greenhouses. However, while the plants could not yet be introduced into Mythrealian soil, their carefully inspected buds and stems could certainly be dispersed at will. Momentarily startled by the display of so many roses at once, he hesitated until the beloved older woman approached.

“Good morning, Dillon dear!”

“Good morning, Immy,” he replied, using one of many nicknames employed since childhood when, at the age of two, the grand moniker of Immeldeline was totally unpronounceable.

He soundly kissed her cheek before asking about the roses. “Where’d you get those? And at such an early hour?”

“Oh, they’re not for me, my darling. They’re for
you
. A delivery man was bringing them up the drive as I left my cottage. They were obviously sent from Earth’s embassy. I uh…
think
…they’re meant to be an early Valentine’s Day gift.”

“For
me
…
why
?” he blurted.

“Well, open the accompanying card and see,” she suggested as she simultaneously handed the card from the bunch to him. Then she passed the blood-red blossoms to an approaching servant. “Put those in a crystal vase, will you, Eldred? They’re far too lovely for anything less. After they’re arranged, put them in the library where everyone can enjoy them. Including
me
. I’ll be reading there all day.”

The servant known as Eldred, bowed slightly and walked away to do her bidding.

Dillon simply stared at the old-fashioned, cream-colored envelope bearing a golden, Earth planetary seal on the outside. There was no reason someone from Earth’s Embassy should send him flowers or a note.

Timing of the magnificent gift was suspect. The flowers apparently coincided with the upcoming holiday known as Valentine’s Day—a celebration still celebrated by humans wherever they happened to find themselves in the known galaxy.

He stood there looking down at the small envelope, instinctively feeling his day had just gone from terrible to catastrophically horrific.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Immy impatiently prompted. “Please tell me you’ve finally got around to courting someone sensible. A nice Earth girl has invited you to the annual Valentine’s Day ball this weekend, hasn’t she?” Immy questioned as she clasped her hands together in glee. “I do hope so. You need someone in your life besides those silly, royal debutantes your parents keep throwing at you.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head in disdain. “What a load of piffle-heads!”

On any other day, he’d have laughed at that very apt description. But
this
morning didn’t find his mood so jovial.

He opened the envelope and slowly scanned the message therein. The words were written in a very neat, lovely cursive. The style insinuated that the writer was feminine. In terms Earther’s would refer to as
busted
the note left him in no doubt as to the reason for the special delivery.

‘I found your thoughtful gift! The roses are meant to make this message appear genial though I can assure you the situation is anything but. We need to talk. NOW! Come alone.’ KF

The word ‘
but’
had been underlined several times. It didn’t take a psychic to sense the angry tone of the missive.

On the bottom of the card were a series of shuttle coordinates. They were unrecognizable; meaning the meeting
KF
desired was likely some remote spot.

“Dillon, do tell me who she is. Don’t keep me in suspense, my love. You
do
have a date to the Earth ball this weekend, don’t you? And it
is
an Earth girl, isn’t it?”

He slowly turned to his grandmother and forced a smile. “Um…it’s…somewhat of a surprise, Immy. I…I’ll tell you later,” he lied.

Immy let out a frustrated sigh. “All right, my dear. But don’t think for one moment I’ll forget the matter. I’ll stay on it the way a hill dragon sits on a clutch of eggs. I won’t be deterred. A woman doesn’t send flowers that’re so rare on this world. Not unless she’s deadly serious!” Immy lifted one hand to her hair while making a
tsking
sound. “So very sad that botanists on Mythreal won’t allow roses into the landscape…”

Whatever else she said fell on deaf ears. Dillon simply nodded as though he’d heard, then slowly walked away after Grandmother was finished talking.

Fifteen minutes later, after leaving a brief message in a personal journal located in his bedroom, he was aboard his private shuttle. Instead of heading toward the royal palace with news of treachery, however, he set the coordinates to match those in the note.

When the shuttle was well on its flight path and flying steadily, he reached into a secret compartment beneath the front floorboard and pulled out his sidearm. Once his particle disseminator was strapped to his hip, he felt marginally better. With it, he might be able to defend himself against a gang of cutthroats.

If this was a setup, the brief message he’d left in his journal would explain everything. Either he walked away from this clandestine meeting with an explanation, or he’d be found in the hinterlands as a victim of a pirate assault.

To keep his family’s name out of this business, he had to do this alone. The journal entry would explain. By pre-arranged agreement, any message ever left in such a clandestine manner would only be read by his cousin, and only on
his
demise.

His heart beat faster as the trip lengthened. Surroundings told him that he would, indeed, be in the middle of nowhere.

****

Keira paced angrily.

She’d found this isolated, lovely little glen by cruising out on her own one evening. The spectacular view of trees, much taller than any building within Earth’s compound, flowers with colors so bright they could boggle any mind, and grass so green and clean-smelling that it all filled the senses, would have been inspiring. But none of it mattered right now. Not after what she’d found last night. Even as strange, exotic birds flitted from bushes and vines, anger kept her from enjoying any part of Mythreal’s wonders.

How many people would kill to get here—to a landscaped garden world where immigration was strictly controlled to preserve this natural habitat? While Earth was far too over-crowded, and its only remaining wild areas were within national parks and botanical displays, Mythreal was natural perfection. But all the loveliness failed to capture her heart at this moment.

She’d counted herself lucky to be sent here, even if for a little while.
Until
she’d found that damned bug or its remnants.

“Idiot! Who the hell does he think he is?”

The
he
in question was none other than Dillon Greenleaf, Mythreal’s Chief of Security and veteran of over five pirate campaigns.

The responsibility for pulling off this travesty was his. She meant to make him own it, right before she took a huge chunk off his incredibly handsome ass. Oh, he’d remotely destroyed the bugging device so its highly classified inner workings couldn’t be studied and copied, but there’d still been enough white, powdery residue remaining for her to figure out exactly what the object had been. She’d been trained to look for such remnants.

What was so much worse—she’d assumed him to be of such high moral standards that the man wouldn’t have even
considered
such an illegal, disruptive, and treaty-ending act. Personally, she’d had him on a pedestal since arriving. That foolish hero-worship had obviously been misplaced.

A check of the visitors’ log, coupled with visual recordings of who’d been in that room the last few weeks, led her to a very clear identification of her spy. At nearly seven feet tall, built like a Greek god, and the target of every single unattached female on the entire planet, Dillon Greenleaf was certainly the culprit. Obviously, he thought himself invincible or he’d have never pulled such a dastardly stunt.

What the hell was he thinking?

After raiding Earth’s greenhouses for a way to get his undivided attention, she’d traveled to the remote local in the woodlands, two hours away from any civilization. Aside from this being what she’d romantically referred to as
her spot
,
she’d picked the location because it’d be free of any surveillance devices.

When the sound of a very fast, powerful shuttle sounded in the distance, she stood in the middle of the lovely glen. The time it’d taken him to arrive hadn’t diminished her anger one bit.

As he came closer, slowed the shuttle to a stop and hopped out of it, she didn’t miss the sidearm strapped to his side. Her own was handy on her left hip, being left-handed as she was.

If things went south, there was going to be an investigation that’d rock the whole planet to its core. She prayed he’d listen. But his treacherous act—his obvious sense of being above any laws—led her to believe he wouldn’t.

As he approached, with narrowed eyes and a warrior’s wary stance, she held onto the remaining threads of her temper. How dare he stare at her as though
she
was the one to be suspected?
Where does he get off?

Finally he stopped five feet away. Since she’d called this meeting, she meant to go first.

“I believe this is yours?” she remarked as she held up the small, silver burnt casing of his bugging device between her right thumb and index finger, leaving her gun hand ready. What was left of the device after being remotely fried—in such a way that it wouldn’t even produce a small puff of smoke or any odor—wasn’t much. But the casing had stayed attached to the underside of the embassy desk. No bugging device could be completely eliminated from a remote local, though she was sure he’d counted on her ignorance in even knowing what the remnants of the little round case were.

“The device you used was so highly advanced it heavily scrambled our security camera’s recorded images,” she claimed, “but I managed to piece enough of the video together to see who you were and the date. There was no mistaking a megalithic Mythrealian planting something beneath the general’s desk. All I had to do was check the damned guest list for the last time you were in our compound. The date you were there matched what was on the image!” She slowly shook her head. “Did you honestly think nobody would ever run a security scan? Do you think we’re that backward?”

He lifted his chin and came clean. “I’ll say this for you…your technical skills are beyond good. You managed to reveal my actions so let’s not tarry. Let’s get straight to the point.” He took a deep breath. “Yes…I’ve done exactly as you claim. I bugged your embassy. The act was mine and mine alone. I had no orders to execute this plan.”

She slowly shook her head. “
Why
? Why, in the name of God, would you
do
such a thing?”

“Because of you!”

She almost choked. “
What
? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I thought you
might
find the remains of that bug. Just not quite so soon or so effectively,” he said as he pointed to the tiny device in her hand. “I remotely destroyed it to keep the technology out of Earth’s hands. Earth might be our ally in every possible way, but we each have our scientific secrets, do we not?” He slowly shook his head as he looked her over. “Whether your skills, amazing as they are, mark me as a criminal or not…at least this bit of burnt hi-tech equipment won’t be yours to pass on to…whomever you’re working for!” he angrily relayed as he stared at the ruined bug still in her hand. Then he continued.

“If I suffer for having spied, it’s a small price to pay. Especially after what I’ve discovered. Oh, it’ll be bitter information I turn over to my cousin, the future king. He, in turn, will pass it on to my uncle, the current monarch. But it had to be done.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m saying that I don’t care about personal consequences,” he sternly told her. “I wouldn’t have put my reputation or my life on the line without sufficient cause. The reasons for what I did will be revealed. Everyone will know. What happens to me matters little in the face of such betrayal.”

“You’re crazy! Not only do you mean to instill such distrust among the allies as to make any law enforcement in this sector impossible…you intend to die for an act that was categorically unnecessary. What have I personally done to cause such suspicion?”