HeartStorm (HeartFast Series Book 3) (26 page)

            "Bruiser's right," Seeker agreed. "There's still the off chance Porith is covering his tracks. Wouldn't you?"

            "Unless he can detect me when I'm within my field, he won't know I'm there," Hunter assured them. "Once I get Callie back, I'll let you guys have all the fun of kicking his butt." He winked at Star. "And you get to have the first swing."

            Releasing her hand, he vanished. Star sighed and reached up to touch the HeartCrystal. "Tell me when he has her, Emma. Let me know when she's safe." The tiny gem didn't reply, but it grew warm against her throat to let her know it had heard.

            As per Deceiver's standing directive, everyone climbed inside their spacesuits, with the one exception being Star, who refused to comply. Knowing that no amount of coaxing or threats would convince her otherwise, they didn't argue the issue.

            They were less than a parsec from the space hub when Hunter reappeared at the back of the transport. Seeker gave a little
eep!
of surprise, nearly running into him on her way back to her seat with a cold drink.

            "Challenger, divert to the Brodis nebula," Hunter ordered.

            "Diverting to the Brodis nebula," the Guardian repeated, punching in the coordinates as he spoke.

            "What's at the Brodis nebula?" Star asked.

            "A very tiny star cluster," her husband answered. "In fact, it's an artificial star placed in a temporary orbit. One planet, two moons."

            "Why would..." Seeker began, when Provoker cut her off.

            "He created his own paradise," the man remarked. "Son of a bitch."

            "One planet with two moons?" Bruiser repeated. "That sounds like Synaria."

            "Want to bet it looks exactly like Synaria?" Provoker agreed.

            "Did you see her?" Star asked, grabbing Hunter's arm. "Did you see Callie?"

            His disappointment clouded his eyes, answering her question. "No, but she's there. I tracked her to that system, then came right back to divert you away from landing on Bena Tabular."

            "Are you leaving again to fetch her this time?" Provoker asked.

            To everyone's surprise, Hunter shook his head. "No. From what I can tell, Callie's not in any immediate danger. I get the sense she's being well taken care of. Let's wait until we get closer."

            Star stared at her husband. She was getting the feeling something wasn't quite right. There was something Hunter wasn't telling them, but she couldn't pinpoint what was bothering her. She caught his eye for a moment, but he quickly looked away. That one split-second confirmed her suspicions.

            "Might not be a good idea, Hunter," Challenger noted. "What if he has a security grid around the place? Man with that kind of cred, who can order up his own solar system, is bound to have a few mines lying in wait."

            "Has anyone read the manual to this aircraft?"

            Destiny's unexpected question silenced them for a moment. Star watched as the woman turned her silvery gray eyes to Hunter. "Have you?" Destiny inquired him directly.

            "Not yet," Hunter admitted, and waited. However, the psychic leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, dismissing them. Knowing the woman wouldn't have brought up the idea unless it was pertinent, Hunter took the co-pilot seat from Bruiser and went to the onboard computer. He had her answer within minutes.

            "Hey, guys. Looks like we've been given a state-of-the-art star ship," he announced. "Listen to this. The outer skin has an invisi-shield. Once it's activated, the craft can't be detected by any known security safeguards."

            "How do you activate it?" Provoker asked.

            In lieu of answering, Hunter's hands flew over the comm board. An instant later, several people gasped in shock as the entire hull of the craft appeared to disappear, yet their seats and the floor of the ship remained visible.

            "That...can be a bit unsettling," Bruiser murmured as a small rogue meteorite tumbled past them overhead.

            Star tentatively reached out to touch the wall. Her fingers met with resistance, and she smiled. "I take it we can't be seen from the outside?" she asked.

            Hunter chuckled. "This is just getting good. Hold on." A few more manipulations at the panel, and a pale blue glow enveloped them from the outside, encasing the ship within the light.

            "Let me guess," Provoker drawled. "Those are the shields."

            "Nope. Already have the shields up," Challenger noted.

            "The manual calls it a negator," Hunter explained. "If we come across any man-made defense mechanisms, it will briefly negate our presence and allow us to pass undetected."

            "Oooh! That's warp hot!" Seeker cooed. "We have our own little invisible bubble like you do."

            "Only not as agile," Hunter corrected. "From what I'm reading, this baby can do much more. It also has a full complement of weaponry, in the event we'd ever need the firepower."

            "All that, but it can't invisibly penetrate walls," Star pointed out.

            Hunter shook his head. "Nope. Guess that means once we reach Porith's place, we'll have to invade it the old fashioned way. We personally assault it."

            Bruiser slammed a fist into his palm. "Now you're talking my language!"

            "Heads up, everyone!" Challenger called out. "Brodis nebula ahead. Coming out of hyperlight in four...three...two...one."

            Their re-entry into normal space was smoother than a sip of water. Immediately, an amber light began to flash on the main board.

            "One warning buoy already negated," Hunter announced, and looked up just as Seeker's awe-hushed voice whispered what they all were thinking.

            "Wow. Would you look at that."

            The nebula was a thick, scarlet-tinged cloud of gas and dirt. Bands of blue and green ringed its outer edges, making it resemble an enormous chunk of brodi mineral from the Plutari system. Hence the label, Brodis nebula. From their angle of entry, bright diamonds of pure white stars made a picturesque formation in its upper left quadrant. This close to the cloud, its hues filtered into the transport's interior, until everyone appeared to be part of the phenomenon of translucent color.

            "No wonder Porith hide his home away from home in there," Provoker commented. "Most trawlers and cruise ships avoid nebulae. He could lie inside one for forever and never be discovered or found."

            "Unless he has a homing beacon to bring someone in," Hunter responded.

            "A homing beacon like our daughter?" Star came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. In answer, she was sent a warm rush of hope.

            "Speaking of beacon, Hunter," Challenger commented.

            "Laying in coordinates now," he answered.

            The amber light flashed again, along with a muffled thump to the ship's underbelly. Hunter checked the readout. "That was an explosive mine."

            "What happened to it?" Seeker asked. "Did it go off?"

            "We bumped it," Challenger admitted. "Kind of hard to spot the damn things in time to avoid them."

            Bruiser looked confused. "If we bumped it, why didn't it explode?"

            "Because our negator shut it down before we hit," Hunter answered. "Damn. We need to get Wooly onto this thing. Have him outfit the other transports with a similar device."

            They continued to flow through the semi-transparent cloud, completely blind to everything other than the kaleidoscope of colors enveloping the ship. If it weren't for their controls, Star knew they would be hopelessly lost, and commented as such.

            "Like I said," Provoker replied. "It's the perfect hiding place. I've even heard of pirates and mercenary runners using them for concealment."

            "All right, guys. We have a lock on the location." Challenger's hands danced over the board. "Take your seats and hold on. Hunter, do we go into orbit? Or try to land this thing?"

            "I have a landing area already scouted out. Feeding in coordinates now."

            Within moments, the ship left the nebula and entered the upper atmosphere surrounding the tiny planetoid. This close in, Star noted how the artificial moons were ovoid in shape, rather than spherical. Further proof the smaller orbs had only been circling their slightly larger sister for a brief time, since eons had not yet had the chance to wear them down.

            Challenger approached from the dark side, although Hunter assured him the ship would remain invisible and undetectable in the light. Upon closer inspection, they noticed the world only vaguely resembled Synaria. This planet had one small body of water, and two main land masses, all entirely uninhabited with the exception of one tiny blip on their screens.

            "There." Hunter pointed to it.

            They landed in a remote area behind a short range of cliffs, near but out of sight of the complex where Porith was located. Challenger powered down the engines but didn't shut them off completely, in the event they needed to make a fast getaway. Turning to face his copilot, he asked, "What's our next plan of action?"

            "First off, our primary focus is to rescue my daughter. Once we have her safe, we shift our attention to capturing Porith and returning him to face the tribunal."

            Bruiser broke in. "What if we manage to get your daughter back, but Porith eludes us?"

            "Not a problem. If he's handled Callie at all, his DNA will be on her. Once I have that, I'll eventually catch up with him. He won't be free much longer."

            "That's how you managed to track down those three bastards who sicced the Ombitra on us," Challenger commented, as it finally dawned on him. "They'd handled that container with the Nimbus cloud, and you got their imprint off of it."

            Provoker motioned toward the horizon. "Think we can ditch the suits since this place has an atmosphere?"

            Hunter checked the readouts. "I don't see why not."

            "All right! We got a plan. So what's holding us back?" Bruiser asked, already unlatching the fasteners on his gear. The man was impatient to get going.

            Hunter took a deep breath before letting it out between clenched teeth. He glanced up at Star with that worried look on his face she'd detected earlier.
            "Porith has Callie underground. Somewhere."

            "What do you mean, underground somewhere?" Provoker challenged. "You brought us this far. Do you or don't you know where she is?"

            "That's just the point," Hunter admitted. "There's something blocking me. I don't know what it is, or how Porith managed to do it, or what he's using, but when I got within a hundred meters of his compound, I lost my bubble. I couldn't raise it until I was well clear of the area. And if I can't use it—"

            "You can't sneak in undetected," Seeker finished for him.

            "That's why you had us land here," Challenger remarked. "We're going to have to go in together and infiltrate in a bum rush."

            "Do you know how dangerous that is?" Star questioned. "When Porith discovers we're out here, he'll know why we came, and he could escape with Callie before we reach him!"

            Hunter slowly nodded. "Yes. You're right. He could." He raised his eyes up to her. "Which is why you're going to go in first. Take that compound apart if you have to, my love. Find her. Once she's safe, you can have your moment with him. Afterwards, he's mine."

            They were interrupted by the low, buzzing sound of a weapon being primed. A glance to the rear of the ship revealed Destiny standing near the airlock. The woman had ditched her pressure suit and was attaching a pistol to her belt. She held out four more pistols to them.

            "Enough talk," she announced. "Let's get moving."

Chapter Thirty-Three

Ruminations

            "She's finally asleep. Do you want to look in on her?"

            Omand Porith glanced up from his monitor to give his wife a shallow smile. "That would be nice...for a change."

            Getting up from his chair, he followed her down the narrow corridor to a sealed doorway. There, Julan swiped her hand over the DNA scanner, and the panel slid to the side.

            He had to give her credit for trying to make the nursery appear bright and cheery. Somehow, she'd managed to tack bolts of yellow Veltasic silk to the walls, draping the material across the ceiling and over the glassine structures like curtains. A manufactured breeze blew into the room, smelling of sweet mint and caro flowers. The two faux windows gave the impression of a tree-filled yard when the enhanced lighting was on. At this moment, however, he saw representations of the two moons shining into the room. The bunker was in night mode, mimicking what was happening on the planet's surface.

            The crystalline baby bed hovered in the center of the room where two monitors watched over the crib. Walking over to it, he spotted the tiny infant lying on her back, asleep. One fisted hand was pressed to her cheek. The other lay by her side. Julan had dressed her in the leg of one of his old sleeping pant, cut and wrapped around the baby for comfort. Even in the semi-dark, he could see the faint rise and fall of the baby's chest. As well as the puffy eyes and swollen face.

            Motioning to his wife, he moved closer to the wall so as not to disturb the infant's sleep. "How is she doing?"

            Julan's face fell. "She's so thin. So tiny. She's asleep finally, thank the stars. I'm worried, Omie. She hardly eats. I know she's becoming dehydrated. When did you say that man was coming back to get her?"

            Porith took his wife in his embrace and patted her back. "Soon, hopefully. He said he'd only be gone a week or so, until his wife was released from the hospital. Then he'd return to get her."