The Chalice (30 page)

ram ifications. W ithout Kara’s approval, judgment would cause anim osity among the two factions. Nonetheless, it was his responsibility to ensure the traitor was found and punished. But which of his breeders would be best suited to such a duty? He gave the m atter brief consideration, discarding first one and then another. Shagal! He would be the perfect choice.

“Have Shagal join us. He will be my eyes in the females’ quarters.”

Mordaq snorted, baring his white teeth in a sneer. “I’ll not question yourdecision, but why Shagal? He’s an artisan. Too soft for his own good. Would not Ior another Warrior be the better choice?”

Tegan frowned, disturbed by the unwelcom e comment. “You forget he wastrained as a Warrior. He’ll not disregard his duty nor allow his personal feelings tointrude. He moves in and out of the com munal chambers with apparent ease. Thefemales accept his presence and he lends his assistance in helping them  to adjust. Another m ight be viewed as suspect. Shagal is the one.”

Branos tapped his sy-com . “Shagal to Lord Tegan’s chambers.”

“W hat about the hybrid?”

Yes, what about Siri? His gut told him  not to trust her—that she was thetraitor. Though Vaux was implicit in his belief she was not the one, Siri warranteda closer scrutiny.

His gaze penetrated the big Warrior. A sm ile brushed his lips. “Mordaq, myfriend. I charge you to keep watch on the hybrid whenever she’s outside thefemales’ quarters. I want her followed at all times. Every section of the ship shevisits, what she does, who she talks to. Everything. You’ll report to me.”

Vaux gasped, hands fisting in anger. “I should be the one,” he snarled.

“You have your duties on the bridge,” Tegan reminded him . “Keep your focus

on the one who follows.”

The tech bowed stiffly and stormed out the door. Vaux’s fury was a matter ofgrave concern. He valued the senior tech, both as a friend and by his outstandingtalents. If Siri was the traitor, would Vaux be able to accept her guilt and do what

must be done?

The huge bodyguard relaxed, m ollified by what he perceived as the more

im portant duty of guarding the hybrid. “I won’t fail you.”

He turned to follow Vaux.

Tegan held up a hand. “Keep our confidences to yourself. I don’t doubt Hanna’sdevotion, but the less said of this, the better opportunity we have of discoveringthe traitor.”

Mordaq nodded, lips spreading in a self-satisfied grin. “I keep Hanna too busyto worry about the workings of the ship.” He paused for a m oment, his faceflushing. “She thinks she may be breeding.”

“So soon!” Tegan gasped, staggered by the news. He made quick count of the

revolutions.

“The rest period of our joining was not our first encounter,” Mordaq adm itted, flushing even deeper as he explained. “There’s been more than enough time for my seed to take root in Hanna’s wom b.”

Tegan nodded, sm iling as he recalled the females’ earlier escape tactics. “I

envy you.”

He wrapped his arms around his friend. “I’m  happy for you. You deserve this

and so m uch more.”

“We deserve so m uch more,” Mordaq amended, sadness etched on his face. “All of us. Those who live and those who died. I do not decry my blessings. I praise the Gods who’ve sanctified this union by their gift of a child.”

“Many more.” Tegan slapped his shoulder, shoving him  towards the exit. “Go

now and don’t let Hanna sway you from  your duties.”

“My duties are my life,” he laughed, placing a hand on his chest. “Hanna is my

heart.”

He stum bled, brushing against Shagal as he strode out the door. The artisan

banged against the doorframe, glaring at the larger m ale.

He huffed, readjusting his purple shoulder drape. “Clumsy oaf,” he grumbled,rubbing his arm . “He gives small care for those around him . Always stampedingaround with little thought to the consequences.”

Tegan grinned, positive Mordaq had seen Shagal, and equally positive he’d

slammed into the artisan deliberately. He was too agile to make such a blunder.

Branos coughed, drawing his attention. “I’m  needed on the bridge.”

Kelos concurred. “I’ve been away too long myself.”

“Go then.”

Shagal threw him self on a low lounger, leaned back and laced his hands behind

his head. “Why did you sum m on me?”

He seated him self across from  Shagal, studying the younger breeder. Therelaxed exterior hid a myriad of strengths and abilities, most of which he veiledfrom  the casual onlooker. “Where did you find the Sheratz?”

A sly grin creased the artisan’s face. “You know I escaped when most werecaptured. I hid in the ruins, finding things, some with real value. I even found afew broken pieces of the consorts’ jewelry in the royal apartm ents before theywere burned down. Most of what I found was too badly dam aged to be useable,but if I thought it had any value at all, I kept it. It took som e doing but I secretedwhat I could until the Deg’Nara left. W hen they were gone, I retrieved all that Icould and stored the objects for a later time.”

“W here is everything now?”

“In the storage com partm ents. I had it brought on board before we departed. A

good portion can be used as trade goods when the time is right.”

“You surprise me with your resourcefulness. W hy didn’t you m ention this

before now?”

Shagal’s shoulders rose in a shrug. “Didn’t seem  im portant.” He laughed. “Thematerials the Chalices confiscated for Mordaq’s joining ceremony came from  thosesame stores. I’ve moved them  since so the fem ales wouldn’t deplete the pile anyfurther.”

He stretched, wiggling for a more comfortable position. W hen he was satisfied,

he yawned, eyes closing. “W hy did you call m e?”

“I’ve need of your services.”

One silvery blue orb popped open. “Me? You need me?” He sounded surprised,

pleased. “What can I do?”

“W hat I’m  about to tell you is confidential—for your ears alone. Can I trust

your discretion?” He paused, giving the artisan tim e to think.

Alarm  flashed on Shagal’s face, but he nodded. “You can.”

Tegan rubbed his forehead, breathing a sigh. The ache was back, slicing hisbrain with a thousand stinging shards of pain. The constant pressure of leadershipwas tearing at his mental defenses. Only the prospect of a future home and fam ilykept the pain at bay.

“You spend a great deal of time with the Chalices, m ore so than any others.”

Shagal had the temerity to look unabashed. “I like the females— m ost of themanyway.” His face grew stormy. “The dark one they call Dread annoys me with herpestering and aggressive behavior. Always demanding. Never happy.” He grewsilent, thoughtful. “She is the Chalice Kormak chose for m e.”

“I remem ber,” Tegan said. “A poor one it seems.”

“She’s not unattractive,” Shagal was quick to add. “To the contrary, she’s quite

good to look at, but she’s too forceful for me. I’d hoped for a gentler mate.”

“I don’t think any of the human Chalices could be considered gentler m ates.” He chuckled, envisioning his Chalice’s fits of tem per. “They’re not as controlled as our females.”

Shagal nodded, grinning. “We’ve established that, now what do you require of

me?”

He cleared his throat before blurting out the words. “I need a spy in the

females’ quarters.”

“A…a spy?”

“Someone to infiltrate their confidences, watch their every move.”

Confusion flickered across his open features. “But why?”

“We’ve a traitor on board.”

****

Excited   squeals   punctuated   with   shouts   of   congratulations   flooded   thecommunal chambers. Hanna was pregnant rabbit’d died/-what?] and they were allgoing to be aunts.

Kara hugged the big Swede, emotion clogging her throat. “I can’t believe it.”

“W hy not?” Dread sm irked, adding her own bear hug. “Told you they’ve been

screwing like rabbits. Only a m atter of tim e.”

A shy smile lit Hanna’s round face. “Ve do screw like rabbits,” she confessed. “But ve do it vith love.” She rubbed a swirling motion on her stom ach. “Dis babyvill be so special.”

“I just can’t believe it,” Kara said again, laughing. “A baby! W ho would’ve

guessed.”

“Babies do happen,” Anne patted Hanna’s stomach. “It’s a biological fact.”

“Hey everyone,” Kara shouted at the top of her lungs. “W e’re having a baby.”

Across the room , Siri stood up, glaring at the assem blage. She threw out her

arm, sweeping food containers from  a nearby table as she ground out a stream  of angry sounding blabber. W ith an arrogant huff, she stormed from  the room, snapping and snarling at those blocking her dramatic exit.

Silent as a wraith, Um e slipped from  her chair and fell in behind the hybrid,

watching and following.

“W hat’s up her ass?” Dread glared in the direction of the departing Siri.

“She made som e pretty nasty comments,” Leah said. “Ones I don’t plan on

repeating.”

Hanna looked shocked. “Vy vould she be angry?”

“We’re scum  according to her,” Anne scowled, her patrician features flushed

with heat. “Or haven’t you noticed?”

“Yeah? Well, I’ll show her who’s scum .” Dread’s hands came up in fists,

shadow-boxing the em pty space in front of her. “Give her one of these.”

“She won’t get my vote for Miss Congeniality,” Kara muttered. “Has Ume come

up with anything?”

Worry about the small Oriental caused her light mood to deflate. Ume m ight betrained in a variety of marshal arts, but Siri had the distinct edge on size andclear viciousness. In a standup fight, if the hybrid decided Ume was an obstacle,the tiny woman would m ost likely lose. One only had to look at the height andbreadth of the alien to deduce that. Ume’d better be careful!

“I think we’d all better pay m ore attention to Siri.”

“You nuckin futz?” Dread pivoted, punching with short jabs. “I see enough of

that bitch without paying her more attention.”

Kara gazed at the exit where the hybrid disappeared, dark thoughts ram pagingthrough her brain. “She’s up to something. I know it. Ume told m e she goes downto that ship of hers and hangs out, pushing buttons and fiddling with stuff.”

Dread’s pugilistic dance abruptly halted. “What’s she looking for?”

“Ve should follow too.” Hanna drew herself up to her full im pressive height,

glowering with fury. “I vill kill her if she hurts my Mordaq.”

“Ain’t nobody gonna hurt that big boy,” Dread laughed. “Bet he has balls of

steel.”

Shagal entered the com munal cham ber, head swiveling as he perused the

room . When he caught sight of their group, he bowed. “Hello, Queen Kara and

mate of Mordaq,” he said formally.

Kara and Hanna bowed, returning the greeting in Chiagan-Se.

He scurried over, scrutinizing the small group with curious eyes. “I seek the

female Siri.”

“She left,” Kara answered, waving towards the entrance. “We don’t know

where.”

Though somewhat shorter than Tegan, he nonetheless towered over every

woman there except Hanna. But even Hanna had to look up. W hen com pared to Mordaq, he appeared m ore refined, less aggressive. Tegan was somewhere between the two, but more handsome to her way of thinking. But once again, she was captivated by the m asculine beauty displayed by each breeder. A whole shipload of m an candy!

His head tilted, the glittering eyes narrowed. “For what purpose?”

“Probably castrating a lucky breeder,” Dread snickered.

His   brows  furrowed.   Confusion   raced   across   his   features.   Quite   likely,

castrating wasn’t a word he recognized.

“We don’t know.” Anne’s arms crossed her breast. “But we’d like to.”

****

Ume kept to the shadows, slipping into the docking port and dropping to acrouch behind a stack of storage containers. As she’d done numerous times in thelast few days, the hybrid meandered through the ship without obvious directionbut eventually finding her way to the small Deg’Nara craft. These forays werelargely ignored by the breeders, unwittingly sanctioning the hybrid’s solitaryexcursions. But Ume wasn’t so nonchalant about the female’s clandestineactivities. Her instincts told her to keep diligent watch. To her m ind, Siri’s actionsbordered on the suspect.

The hybrid’s head swiveled, large dark eyes searching the dim  recesses of thegloomy interior. Ume ducked lower, chest constricted with tension. Holding herbreath, she peeked through a small aperture, careful to keep her movem ents to a