Stardust Dreams (10 page)

Gallant kept part of his
attention fixed on Mar and Cherry. Her curiosity could be perfectly innocent,
he told himself—an antidote to boredom. But he'd already discovered how bright
she was, and how determined she was to get back home. He had a feeling her
interest in navigation had a deeper basis than simple curiosity.

If he put a stop to her
education though, she would probably go back to nervously pacing the bridge,
circling the panel again and again, until he was driven to do something
drastic, like locking her in his room for the duration.

The problem with that line
of thinking was that it made him imagine being locked in there with her, and
the last hour had already stretched his control to its limit.

He wanted her to put the
peasant costume back on. At least with that he hadn't been forced to notice
every feminine curve and swell, or the swaying movement of her slim hips. But
he knew the costume alone wouldn't be enough, because it wasn't her appearance
that was pushing him to the edge.
That
just made a bad situation
worse.

It was the sparkling
energy, her zest for life, that radiated from every cell in her body. He had
sensed it the first time he saw her because it called to that part of him he
tried so hard to deny. Being near her stirred the sleeping barbarian within
him, dared the wild animal to escape its civilized cage, and generally made him
want to grab hold of her until all that energy belonged to him.

She frightened the hell out
of him.

She was probably the
greatest danger he had ever faced.

And he hungered for her
more than any female he'd ever encountered. For the first time in his life, he
was not free to run away from something that provoked the appetites he was born
with.

He had hoped to ignore her
completely, pretending she was an inanimate object. That had been a foolish
plan from the start. Then he had hoped to gain her sympathy and understanding,
perhaps even her friendship, to insure her cooperation. The problem was, she
didn't trust him enough to be his friend. The fact that her attitude toward him
was his own fault didn't alter the situation.

Before they reached Zoenid,
they both needed to be able to trust the other. Not only his mission, but their
lives, would depend on it.

His desire for her was
prodding him to tie her to him with the one sure method of bonding. But could
he do that and not let the wildness out?

He'd already had her in his
arms twice: when he dragged her off the Fantasy World set, and when he carried
her on board. He had known instantly that touching her put him at risk, but
gambling was one of his favorite pastimes, and the higher the stakes, the more
exhilarating the game. What higher stakes could there be than his own life?

And revealing exactly what
he was could indeed spell the end for him.

No, he told himself firmly,
the only bond he could afford to form with Cherry was friendship.

Sitting there, so close to
her, he could feel the air vibrating between them. If she was aware of the
charged atmosphere, she wasn't giving any more indication of it than he was. Then
again, she still had reason to be angry with him, so that might be enough for
her to ignore any attraction she might feel toward him. Obviously, he was going
to have to find a way past her anger to form any kind of bond with her… even
friendship.

For a while there, back in
his cabin, he had been sure he was making progress. She had been interested in
his story and said she believed him, more or less. She had offered intelligent
suggestions as if they were actually working together on the problem, and yet,
she didn't promise to cooperate when the time came. Perhaps if he had shared a
greater confidence, told her why this mission was so important to him
personally—

NO
. He could never
trust her with that knowledge.

Out of the corner of his
eye he saw Cherry shift positions on the narrow bench for the umpteenth time.
Drek!
Didn't she ever just sit still? Unable to stop himself from noticing her every
movement, he left the bridge with the excuse of getting something to eat.

As soon as he was out of
sight, Dot spun around toward Cherry. "Whew! We thought he would never
leave."

Cherry raised her eyebrows
in surprise. "I had the impression you adored your captain."

"Oh, we do. But he is
so tense right now that it is making it extremely difficult for us to think
straight."

Cherry again recalled her
friend, Falcon, and his ability to absorb others' emotions. "Are you
em-pathic?"

"No, no. It does not
require an empath to know what is wrong with the captain… only a woman."

Cocking her head, Cherry
waited for an elaboration.

"Surely, you have
noticed," Dot said in a secretive manner. "Even Mar, a mere,
insensitive male, picked up on it." Mar made a snorting sound, and Cherry
tried to get a glimpse of Dot's other half. "Do not worry about him. He is
the soul of discretion. You can be assured that anything you say will stay
between us girls."

Cherry laughed lightly. "What
sort of secrets are you expecting me to spill?"

"I thought perhaps you
might have some questions regarding our captain." A brief twisting
struggle between Mar and Dot ended with Dot maintaining the forward position. "Mar
has agreed not to interrupt again, but he does not believe that I should tell
you anything more than the captain wants you to know."

"Then why would
you?"

"The captain needs
you. I do not fully agree with his plan, but he is decided. I can tell that his
explanations did not satisfy you."

"His explanations were
fine… if they were the truth."

Dot frowned. "I see. Since
he lied to you before, you do not trust him now. I am afraid that the nature of
the captain's business makes it necessary for him to prevaricate on occasion. Our
lives have often depended on it. Like any male, he has his flaws, but he is one
of the finest men we have ever known."

Cherry's look of utter
disbelief surprised Dot. "You do not believe us either? How can that be? We
touched your mind. Did you not sense that you could trust us?"

Cherry thought about that
for a moment. "Well, I suppose I did."

"Go with your
intuition, Cherry. It is quite strong and, I would venture to say, very
accurate."

"You'll tell me the
truth?"

Dot nodded. "Or
nothing at all, but we will not lie to you."

"Are we following a
beastly assassin named Frezlo to a planet called Zoenid?"

"That is
correct."

"Is Voyager a good guy
or a bad guy?"

"Few people can be
categorized so simply. Perhaps a satisfactory answer would be that compared to
Frezlo, the captain is… a good guy."

"Uh-huh." Noting
Dot's hesitation, Cherry got up and started wandering around the cockpit again.

"Okay. Will he take me
home after we get to Zoenid?"

Dot pursed her lips and
seemed to search the blackness beyond the ship for an answer. "We do not
know."

"That's what I
thought. He lied again."

"Not necessarily. We
believe he has every intention of returning you, if at all possible. But since
we cannot foresee the future, we do not know what might happen on Zoenid to
delay your return."

"All right. How about
something easier. Why does he wear that eye patch?"

Dot lowered her eyes for a
moment, giving Cherry the distinct impression that she was conferring with Mar.
"We are not at liberty to explain. If the captain wants you to know, he
will have to tell you. I would like to tell you a story about him, however. It
may help you to see him in a different light."

Cherry shrugged, doubting
that there was anything the he-she could tell her to change her mind about
Voyagers character.

"I told you that we
were sold to a traveling circus as a baby. The owner was a horrid creature
named Phlylox, whose only concern was profit. We were one of twenty-five
strange beings he had bought or captured over the years. We were all featured
as oddities of the universe. For most of our life, our home was a cage, smaller
than our cabin on this ship. When we were on display, we were kept in chains. It
was not uncommon for us to go for days between shows without sufficient food,
or to be brutally beaten for any display of insolence."

"How horrible,"
Cherry said sincerely. "It's a wonder you remained sane."

Dot gave her a sad smile. "Because
we had each other, Mar and I were luckier than some. And remember, we never
knew any other life. At any rate, about eight years ago, the captain was on an
assignment that took him to the remote colony where the circus had stopped. When
Phlylox wasn't looking, the captain spoke to us and promised to help if he
could. We didn't think much of his promise because we were transported later
that day. But he didn't forget us. When he completed the assignment he was on,
he tracked down the circus and freed us all. He spent the next several months
returning every being to his or her home planet."

"Except you."

"Yes, except us. Since
we had no idea where we had come from, and we discovered that we had a natural
talent for navigation, the captain agreed to take us on as a member of his
crew."

Cherry sat down again. "Gallant
said he was an orphan also. He must have felt an affinity for you."

"We believe that is
so. The captain understood what it is like to be an oddity."

"An oddity? How
so?" Dot said nothing. "Does it have to do with the eye patch he
wears?" Again, no answer. Cherry sighed. "I see. So, what happened to
the circus owner?"

"The captain killed
him." As Cherry's mouth dropped open, Dot quickly amended, "It was
justified. The captain wanted to take Phlylox before the Consociation for
judgment, but he had other ideas.

They fought. The captain
was severely injured, but Phlylox and his evil circus was destroyed."

Cherry felt a slight shiver
run through her. It didn't surprise her that Gallant was capable of murder, but
that he would risk his life to save a group of abused freaks altered her
totally negative opinion of him. She was about to admit that to Dot, when the
he-she blurted out the last thing she expected to hear.

"You will be the first
female to share the captain's bunk for quite some time."