Shy Talent (StarLords Book 3) (9 page)

She still wasn’t a fashion plate. That sort of thing wasn’t in her nature. But the clothing she’d had made was both functional and streamlined. For the first time, she had body confidence and didn’t mind showing her form a bit. Agnor had done that. Agnor and all the admiring thoughts she picked up on, from time to time, from the other men on board.

She wasn’t really interested in having sex with anyone other than Agnor. Outside of that one adventurous encounter, she hadn’t sought any new lovers. Agnor was quite enough for her. He was inventive and amazing in bed…and out of it. They’d made love in many, varied positions and in many, varied places all around the ship, including all over his suite of rooms, the lift, and even her cargo hold.

She blushed to think of that last encounter when he’d deliberately sought out the weapons crates he’d shown to her on that first day. He’d claimed their passion might just set off the fireworks, as he put it, and dared her to scream so loud her voice rang through the hold.

She’d been on the receiving end of a few speculative looks as she left the cargo area and had to pass medical on her way off shift. They’d heard her screaming Agnor’s name, and somehow, she found she really didn’t mind. Well. That was interesting.

She’d gone from hiding in the shadows to fucking the ship’s captain at her duty station and not caring who knew about it. Quite a journey from overzealous propriety to what she would have previously thought was shamelessness, in a very short time.

She couldn’t bring herself to regret it. Agnor was the reason for all the big changes in her life. She was growing dangerously attached to him, though she knew any sort of ongoing relationship with him was impossible. She seemed to have caught his attention for right now, but Agnor had always fully participated in the full sexual life of a Council Specitar, by all accounts.

Bet dreaded the day he went to one of the other women on board.

But she wouldn’t ruin today by worrying about tomorrow. That was her aunt’s gig. Bet had learned a lot about living in the short time she’d been aboard the
Calypso
. She intended to learn even more and put it all into action. She was changing, and she thought it was for the better.

No longer would she be held back by the strictures of her aunt. The loveless relationship with her only living relative had warped her perceptions, and it had taken Agnor to truly drive that message home.

Oh, how he had driven that message home. With every caress, every stroke into her sensitive body…

She flushed as she thought of the way he made love to her. He was a considerate lover. Inventive and sensitive. She couldn’t have asked for anything more from her first real relationship. She only hoped it lasted as long as it could, and that she wouldn’t be utterly destroyed when it was over.

Firmly, she told herself to stop worrying about tomorrow. It would take care of itself, sure enough.

Hells, they might not even be around tomorrow. Bet knew, as well as the rest of the crew, that they would be passing the border into enemy space during the next shift. The collective probably wouldn’t just let them waltz right up to their most secret planet with impunity.

Agnor had told the crew to expect resistance and to be prepared for anything.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Of everyone in the crew, only Agnor had been in territory belonging to the collective before. He had hoped this foray behind enemy lines would be similar to the last mission he’d flown aboard the
Circe
, when they’d used the ship’s stealth capabilities to orbit Mithrak for several days while Darak and Jana had gone down to the surface.

The
Circe
had been able to coast in and out of collective space with relative ease, but the
Claypso
was a markedly larger ship. It had more souls on board. More mass to have to hide.

It also had the very latest technology and stealth gear. Agnor had studied the specs himself before ever taking the ship out of the yard. He’d even had a chance to give input and make suggestions, more than a few of which had been incorporated into the design before the construction was finalized.

As a result, he probably knew this ship even better than he had the
Circe
. He thought it would be up to the task of inserting them behind enemy lines discreetly, but until they’d actually done it, everyone on board had been figuratively holding their breath.

Agnor sat in his command chair, monitoring the reports from each station. Comm was running silent. The stealth suite was up and running, functioning within optimal parameters. Nav was monitoring course and making slight corrections for outdated star maps, in conjunction with the pilot.

It was all hands on deck this shift while they accomplished the insertion into enemy territory. Later, once he was certain the stealth gear was working property, Agnor would let key personnel take sleep shifts, so most of his top people would be fresh if needed in an emergency situation.

“The new stealth tech is pretty amazing,” his XO, Lilith, offered as she stood next to him.

“Yes,” he agreed, turning from the screen he’d been reading. “I hoped it would be. It looked really good on paper, but this is the first time we’ve put it to real world conditions. So far, I’m pleased.”

“Pleased enough to let half the bridge crew get a quick rest period in?” One of Lilith’s main concerns as XO was the fitness of the crew, but she was also gifted with a strange form of foresight from time to time.

“Have you seen something?” Agnor asked quietly

“Not with my Talent,” she was quick to assure him. “It’s just mathematical probability at this point. The longer we keep everybody awake, the less sharp they’ll be. And the longer we’re behind enemy lines, the higher the probability that we’ll be discovered and confronted. It makes sense to start the half-shift sleep periods now, so that we’ll all get into a rhythm sooner.”

“All right. Issue the order. If you’re good to take the con, I’ll go down for first shift.”

“Sounds like a plan, Skipper,” Lilith said cheerfully.

They exchanged places as Agnor spent a few moments conferring with the navigator about their course. As he’d expected, his competent staff was handling things, and he felt confident in taking a quick sleep period now, before things got any more interesting.

He hoped they wouldn’t. Not until they reached Ipson, at least.

* * *

They skated through enemy space for several days, using their stealth suite to its fullest capacity. They were able to take advantage of three seldom-used and poorly guarded jump points that brought them closer to Ipson on a roundabout course.

The crew was holding up well under the strain of the shortened shifts and enforced rest periods. They were all professionals, and most had served aboard combat ships before.

As they made their final approach—fully stealthed—toward Ipson, everyone was back on station. Nobody knew what they would encounter, and the whole ship was on alert.

“Looks like there’s not much of a welcoming committee,” Lilith observed as they both pored over the reports from each station.

“I had a feeling that might be the case,” Agnor said. Lilith looked up at him sharply. “Well, if you had a top secret thing on which your entire power structure depended, would you make more of a target of it by placing obvious protections around its secret location, or would you try to keep that location secret as long as possible?”

“They took a risk, if they left this place completely unprotected,” Lilith observed.

“Possibly,” Agnor agreed. “But we don’t know that it’s completely unprotected. Just because there’s nothing obvious in the system—no orbital gun emplacements or early warning satellites, garrisons of troops or armada of protective ships that we can discern—doesn’t mean there’s nothing there. Or that there might not be something formidable down on the surface of the planet.”

He thought through his options. The safety of the ship had to come first, but they also had to take chances to complete this mission. He had to use every tool in his arsenal to further their cause, and he had a secret weapon nobody knew about but himself…and Bet.

“Brennin,” Agnor named the man on the comm panel. “Please ask Bet to come up to the bridge.”

He had deliberately made the request public. Agnor could have just as easily sent a telepathic message to his lover, asking her the same thing. But he wanted the bridge crew to realize Bet had more to offer as a member of the ship’s crew. More to offer as a truly gifted Talent.

Agnor wasn’t sure she could do what he was about to ask her to try, but there was no harm in making the effort. And if she did turn around and surprise them all, the outcome could be very beneficial to the successful completion of their mission.

Within a few minutes, Bet walked onto the bridge. Her gait held a bit of the hesitancy she must be feeling. Everyone knew they were making their approach to Ipson. Everyone was on high alert. Bet had been at her duty station in the cargo hold; though at the moment, there wasn’t a lot for her to do down there.

If the ship came under fire, she might be called upon to deploy those extra ammunition crates, but for right now, she was free to help him with his little test. He motioned her over, and she came to him, questions in her gaze. He could put some of those questions to rest, at least. She had to be comfortable in order for this to work.

“I want you to try something for me, Specitar,” he said formally for the benefit of the bridge crew, who were all watching from the corners of their eyes.

“What can I do for you, sir?” Bet answered immediately.

“I want you to the lower your shields and see what you can make of the planet below us.”

They had taken up a position in orbit around Ipson. It was a very high orbit, but the sensors were already picking up a great deal of information about the surface of the planet. It would be a few minutes before the scans would complete, building an image of the planet’s surface. Agnor wanted to use the time by trying something he had been thinking about since he discovered the true depth of Bet’s secondary Talent.

Bet’s eyes widened as she heard his request. “But—”

Agnor cut her off, though not unkindly. “I know you’ve never done anything like this before, but I think you might surprise yourself.” Agnor shrugged, trying to adopt a casual attitude. “I could be totally wrong, but we won’t know unless you are willing to try. Are you, Bet?” He met her gaze, trying to convey all the confidence he had in her abilities.

She didn’t look totally convinced, but she shrugged and tried to put on a brave face. “I’m willing to give it a go, if you really want me to.”

“I do,” Agnor confirmed.

He stood and motioned for her to sit in his chair. He knew eyebrows were raised all over the bridge by his actions, but he didn’t really care. Bet had to be comfortable if she was going to do this, and safe from falling to the deck if she got overwhelmed. His chair was the closest. It would do.

Bet looked at him uncertainly, but when he repeated the motion for her to sit, she complied. He stayed near to coach her through the experiment, but also because he just needed to be near her. This little woman had taken a big piece of his heart, and he didn’t think he’d ever get it back. Not that he wanted it back. It was hers, well and truly, forevermore.

“When you’re ready, Bet,” he said softly, holding her gaze. When he saw the fear in her eyes, he reached out and took her hand, holding it gently while her breathing calmed.

She was doing one of the exercises he had taught her. Relaxation would follow, and soon after, she would begin the process of dropping her shields. And then… Then, they would see what could be seen.

If anything.

Agnor followed her progress, watching her closely as she slipped into an almost trance-like state. She was focusing within, working as he had taught her. For a moment, he was struck by how far she had come in such a short time. She really was a Talent of incredible aptitude.

He marveled again at how she had managed to hide her amazing increase in ability. That, in itself, was surprising, especially when you considered that, until her assignment to the
Calypso
, she had worked for the Mage council. She’d been surrounded by superior Talents day in and day out. Not one of them had noticed what she had been trying so hard to hide.

Agnor was just grateful he had spotted her abilities. He was even more grateful that she had been willing to let him teach her how to utilize them. She had only just begun learning how to control her wild Talent, but already, she was showing amazing promise.

Her hand tightened on his, and he focused on her startled expression.

“What is it, Bet? Are you all right?” he asked in an urgent whisper.

“He’s waiting for you,” she whispered back, still in a semi-trance. “He is lighting the beacon and knows that you will come. Oh, God, he sees me!” Panic filled her voice, and her grip tightened again.

“Shields up, Bet,” he urged her. “Block it out. Come on, you can do it.”

“Wait,” she said, her grip easing the tiniest bit. “It’s all right. He’s not angry. He’s sending greetings. To me…and to you. He’s waiting for you, Agnor, though he doesn’t know your name. He is asking me if the tall man is with me. Should I affirm?”

Well, tall was certainly a descriptor Agnor was used to. His above average height marked him as different on almost every planet that was part of the Council or in the collective. He considered quickly what to reveal to the mysterious mind Bet was in contact with.

“Tell him I’m here, and I will come,” he decided. There was something about this contact that made him want to trust—at least this little bit.

“He says the way will be prepared. And he’s asking if I could accompany you. No one else. He had planned for only one visitor and was going to let only you on the planet, but he says my mind intrigues him, and he wants to meet me too.”

Agnor didn’t liked the sound of that, but he would discuss it with her once she had her shields back in place. Until then, she might be vulnerable from the obviously powerful mind she had encountered on the planet below.