“Is it safe?” Alisa whispered to Leonidas while pointing at Jelena.
“He assures me that there’s nothing deadly out,” Leonidas said, looking coolly into sickbay, presumably at Tiang.
Still in the corridor, Alisa couldn’t see him yet.
“There was never anything deadly,” came Tiang’s voice. “Who started this rumor?”
“The dead rat Mica found,” Alisa said.
“There are things that will kill rats that won’t kill humans. Besides, that one was the first. I didn’t know how much of the compound to deliver.”
“Compound for what?” Alisa asked, easing forward. She peered into sickbay and wasn’t that reassured by what she saw. Chemistry apparatuses were set up all over the counter, and Tiang wore that biohazard suit again.
“Technically, it’s a retrovirus that I purchased from a research laboratory back on Caravan Circle Station, but I’ve altered it significantly and embedded nanobots to produce EMPs,” Tiang said. “These will cause seizures, but no permanent damage. There may be some temporary brain trauma that will debilitate a man, perhaps knocking him unconscious, but the goal is to deny the Starseers access to their mental powers. A seizure will most certainly result in that.”
“Go to bed, Jelena,” Alisa said, waving for her to continue past Leonidas as she experienced terrifying thoughts of seizures and mutated viruses infecting her daughter. How much testing had Tiang done? Did he know there wouldn’t be permanent damage? Did he have any idea how his concoction might affect children?
“But—”
“No buts,” Alisa said. “Just do what I say for now. I’ll come check on you later.”
Jelena’s face grew sulky, and she glanced back, as if she might dart off into the cargo hold to hide, but the sound of boots clanging on the deck came from that direction. She slunk past Leonidas, who backed up so she could pass, and hurried away.
“Admiral,” Alisa said. “Please pack up everything you’ve been working on. Senator Hawk personally sent these men to collect you.”
Tiang blinked his watery eyes. “Hawk?”
“Yes, your soon-to-be son-in-law. He’s been worried about you, and your leave is up, so the military is worried about you too.”
“My leave is up? So soon?” Tiang sounded genuinely surprised.
Alisa wagered he had no idea how many days had passed since he boarded the Nomad.
“Do you have anything we might use that’s ready now?” Leonidas asked quietly as the clangs of boots grew louder. “Against Tymoteusz?”
“I have a prototype,” Tiang offered.
“Will you leave it?” Leonidas looked at Alisa, then nodded toward the walkway where the first soldiers had appeared at the top of the stairs. He ducked through the hatchway into sickbay.
Alisa headed toward the men, lifting her hands to delay them in case Leonidas needed a few minutes with Tiang. She cringed at the idea of keeping some kind of weapon on her ship that might hurt Jelena, but she had been the one who had originally been hoping for an advantage that would work against the chasadski.
“A moment, please,” she said, planting herself in the path of a burly sergeant who looked like he knocked things out of his path for a living. “We’re having Admiral Tiang get his belongings, but Senator Hawk said you’d also be able to take some of our other passengers to safety. Is that right?”
The sergeant glanced behind him at a lieutenant. The officer stepped forward.
“Yes, he gave that order. We have room for up to twenty. We’re going to Sherran Moon, no extra stops.”
“That sounds fine.” Alisa dug out her comm unit. “Abelardus, are you around?”
“Always around.”
“Let Westfall and the others know their ride is here, will you?”
“They already know,” Abelardus said.
The sergeant and the lieutenant eyed each other uneasily, and Alisa wondered if they knew their passengers would be Starseers.
“Is Jelena going with them?” Abelardus asked.
Alisa hesitated. She had wrestled with this question—multiple times—on the flight back to the Nomad, and she still doubted her final decision. She took a big breath and said, “No. She stays here.”
“Ah,” was all Abelardus said, then closed the comm.
The soldiers shuffled their feet, and a young man behind the officer fingered a rifle.
“Admiral?” Alisa called over her shoulder without giving any ground. “Are you ready for the soldiers? Do you want help carrying things?” She faced the lieutenant again. “He’s been doing some medical experiments, and there could be dangers in moving his belongings.”
“You’re not delaying us for some reason, are you, Captain?” the lieutenant asked.
“Only for a moment to make sure you don’t rush into sickbay, knock something over, and infect my ship with a disease.”
“We’re not gorillas, Captain,” the lieutenant said.
“Only Max,” someone in the back said with a snicker.
There were six soldiers lined up on the walkway now. Alisa suspected Hawk hadn’t trusted her fully and had informed his men that they were to take Tiang by force if necessary.
Leonidas stepped out of sickbay, and the soldiers murmured, trading more uneasy glances. He wasn’t wearing his fearsome red armor, but it didn’t seem to matter. They knew who and what he was.
But Leonidas had some kind of spray pump and tank in his arms, and all he did was nod at Alisa and back away from the group.
“Don’t put that in your cabin if you’re still having nightmares,” she murmured, hoping he’d hear her words and that the soldiers wouldn’t. She didn’t want that tank anywhere that it could be damaged.
He looked back over his shoulder, seemingly in acknowledgment, then disappeared into the mess hall. She trusted that he would find a safe place for it.
“Excuse us, Captain,” the sergeant said, lifting a hand.
He did not touch her, but it was clear that he would if she didn’t step out of the way. Alisa found herself reluctant to let Tiang go—he was an odd man, but he had helped Leonidas and had been far less of a burden on her ship than many of her other passengers—but she pressed her back to the bulkhead so the soldiers could pass.
The lieutenant and the sergeant entered sickbay, where Tiang said, “That goes. And that. No, that’s Alejandro’s. Get that trunk though.”
As the litany continued on and more soldiers went in to pick up cargo, Alisa went from thinking the six-man squad was overkill to wondering if they had brought enough people. Four soldiers walked out with their arms full before Tiang came out with the lieutenant.
“Goodbye, Captain,” Tiang said, stopping in front of her. “I did not realize how much time had passed. It’s been a lovely stay.”
Lovely? That was not the word Alisa would have used to describe the weeks since she had met Tiang.
“I’m glad you enjoyed your research time,” she said.
“I do hope you’ll be able to bring the staff to me for further research. I am most saddened that we did not reacquire it before my leave was up.”
Aware of the lieutenant narrowing his eyes at this suggestion, Alisa said, “I’m afraid the staff is out of my hands now. Senator Hawk has made it clear that his people will handle its retrieval.”
“Ah, Hawk is a good boy. And so is the colonel.” Tiang looked toward the mess hall. “I forgot to say goodbye to him. I do hope that he’ll reconsider joining the Alliance one day.”
Alisa thought that unlikely, but she did not say so.
“You two are, of course, invited to my daughter’s wedding,” Tiang added.
Alisa doubted Suyin would appreciate seeing either her or Leonidas at her wedding, but she kept that thought to herself too.
“As is Beck. Beck is most passionately invited.” Tiang’s eyes widened with a new thought. “Maybe he could cater it!”
“Uh, I’ll pass that suggestion on to him, but we may be temporarily retired from the cater
ing business. Since the last people who hired him tried to kill his entire team afterward.”
Tiang scratched his jaw. “I don’t think that’s allowed on Arkadius.”
The sergeant cleared his throat and tilted his head toward the cargo hold and his ship. Three of the research Starseers originally from Sepiron Station walked past them, their meager belongings in bags over their shoulders. The soldiers eyed their staffs and shuffled aside to make room.
“I guess you better get going, Admiral,” Alisa said.
“Hm, yes. I truly had no idea that my leave was already up. How did that happen?”
“Time flies when you’re inventing brain-damaging nerve agents.”
“Indeed.”
Alisa stepped forward to hug Tiang and kiss him on the cheek, hoping that he had decontaminated himself thoroughly before leaving sickbay. He returned the hug and surprised her by holding it.
“Keep me apprised of Leonidas’s penis status,” he said. “I should be most curious as to whether he’s able to produce offspring. You’ll be encouraged to know that the sperm samples I tested were fertile and showed motility.”
“I, uh, yes. I’ll be sure to send you a message.”
“Excellent.” Tiang released her and trundled off after the soldiers.
The lieutenant must have caught that last comment because he gaped back and forth from Tiang to Alisa.
“We’ve decided he’s not like other admirals,” she offered.
“Er, no.” That was all the lieutenant said before heading after Tiang, still looking slightly stunned.
Two more Starseers and three children walked past. Alisa followed the group. Someone would have to man the airlock controls and seal up once they had all their passengers boarded.
She had made it down the stairs and halfway across the cargo hold when a shriek echoed from the upper deck of the ship. Alisa stiffened in terror. Jelena.
She raced for the stairs. What was going on? Had Tiang’s contagion gotten out? Had one of the Starseers been hurt? Killed? Was someone trying to hurt Jelena?
Alisa pounded down the walkway and burst into the mess hall, almost crashing into the back of a black robe. Abelardus. She tried to shove him aside, but he caught her and held a finger to his lips.
She’s all right, he said silently.
“What in the hells is going on?” Alisa demanded, stepping past him until she could see up the corridor in the direction of NavCom, the direction Jelena’s scream had come from. Two more black-robed figures stood near the intersection, partially blocking her view, but thanks to Leonidas’s height, she could see his head over them. He stood in the middle of the intersection.
“You can’t make me go,” came Jelena’s fierce cry. Was she behind him?
“Step aside, Colonel,” one of the Starseers said—Lady Westfall.
“She doesn’t want to go with you,” Leonidas said.
“She’s eight. It doesn’t matter what she wants. It’s about what’s best for her.”
“I’m not going,” Jelena shrieked, reminding Alisa of some of the passionate tantrums she’d had when she was younger.
Even though she now realized that her daughter wasn’t in pain or danger, Alisa took a step, her instincts telling her to stop this.
But Abelardus kept hold of her arm. I promise you she’s not going to pick a fight with your cyborg, he thought dryly.
Alisa didn’t know why that mattered. Jelena needed her mother now, and Westfall needed to know that Alisa had already decided that her daughter would stay with her.
“I’m going to get Thor,” Jelena added. “He needs my help. I can help! Like with the dog!”
“Step aside, Colonel,” Westfall said again, her voice harder. “That shuttle won’t wait for us indefinitely. We’re not letting the captain take a child into a battle zone.”
“Alisa wants her daughter to stay with her,” Leonidas said.
Westfall snorted. “She doesn’t know what’s best for a Starseer child. Or any child, it sounds like.”
Alisa clenched a fist. That woman was about to get a punch in the back of the head.
“You’re not taking her,” Leonidas said, speaking slowly. His voice like ice.
“You think you can stop us?” the man next to Westfall asked.
“Yes.”
“We can knock you aside with our minds,” Westfall said.
“I can break your skull with my fist. Ask Abelardus. He’s never gotten the best of me.”
Abelardus sighed softly, but he didn’t call out to correct him.
Nobody in the corridor moved, but tension thickened the air. Alisa shook her arm free from Abelardus, walked closer, and peered past the Starseers, finally spotting Jelena. She crouched in the corridor behind Leonidas, using him as a shield. He stood with his legs spread, his chest puffed out, making an impressive shield.
“Jelena is staying,” Alisa said.
Westfall jumped. Apparently, she had been so intent on Leonidas that her super Starseer senses hadn’t told her that someone had come up behind her. Alisa propped her fists on her hips and glared at her when she turned around.
“And I can’t tell you how much I don’t appreciate you trying to take her off my ship without talking with me about it.”
“You just got here,” Westfall blurted, looking guilty. Had that woman truly intended to take Jelena without asking? To sneak her away before Alisa realized what was happening?
“I’ve been here longer than the shuttle you want to skulk away on has. You could have spoken to me.”
“We’re not skulking. You think I don’t know what’s happening? What that crazy doctor has been working on? What you plan to do with this clunky freighter? Heading into a war zone to fight a bunch of fools who want to take over the entire system is ludicrous. You almost got killed on that asteroid base. Surely, you of all people should realize how foolish it is to go after him.”
“Somebody has to,” Leonidas said.
“Not children.”
“That’s why I want you to take the others,” Alisa said. “But Jelena isn’t yours to make decisions for.”
“She should be,” Westfall said. “You’re being selfish and not doing what’s best for her.”
“I highly doubt you’re what’s best for her.”
“She needs a teacher.”
“She’ll have my father.” Alisa realized her fists were clenched so hard that they hurt, but she couldn’t unclench them. “As soon as he’s done with Tymoteusz, he’ll be back. He’ll teach her.”
Westfall opened and closed her mouth a few times. Alisa thought she read the words, “done with Tymoteusz,” on her soundless lips. She definitely read the disbelief on the woman’s face. Was she so sure Stanislav couldn’t defeat Tymoteusz?
Alisa stepped to the side and pointed toward the cargo hold. “Get the rest of your people and your students, and get off my ship.”
Westfall looked back at Jelena, as if contemplating taking her by force. Jelena had eased out from behind Leonidas to watch the argument, but she darted back quickly, disappearing behind his muscled bulk. Leonidas did not move, and his face was as cold as ever, his eyes stony as he stared at the Starseers.
“Go,” Alisa said.
“Very well. Don’t blame me when—”
“Are you still here?” Alisa demanded. “Leonidas, will you please escort our passengers to their shuttle?”
“Yes,” he said promptly and strode forward.
Westfall lifted a hand, as if to throw some mental attack at him.
He blurred into motion and, between one eye blink and the next, had his hand around the back of Westfall’s neck and his destroyer pressed against the second Starseer’s spine.
“Walk,” he said in an icy voice that matched his eyes. “Or I will carry you.”
“We’re leaving, everyone,” the man called, then sprinted for the walkway, bumping Abelardus in the shoulder and almost knocking him over as he ran.
Westfall glowered, and Alisa
thought she might test Leonidas further, but she started walking of her own accord. Leonidas let go of her. He hadn’t gripped her hard—there were no marks—but Alisa hoped the woman knew how easy it would have been for him to kill her.
Westfall paused in front of Alisa to say, “Do not think you or your daughter will be welcome among our people again, especially if you have some pariah teach her.”
Leonidas growled from behind her, and she flinched and scurried off.
After she was gone, Jelena wiped her eyes and approached Alisa and Leonidas. She looked at him warily again, as if she hadn’t just been hiding behind him. She concentrated for a second and did the trick where she made a noise sound behind Alisa and Leonidas. Even though Leonidas was wise to it this time—his eyebrow twitch gave that away—he obliged by turning to look. Jelena ran forward, hugged him, then sprinted away. A hatch soon clanged from the direction of her cabin.
Leonidas blinked. “Huh.”
“You’re welcome,” Abelardus said.
“For what?” Alisa asked. “Not interfering?”
“For not letting you interfere.” He winked and headed off to his own cabin.
Alisa let out a soft, “Huh,” of her own as she considered how he had deliberately stopped her. Because he’d seen this as a chance for Jelena to come to appreciate Leonidas? If so, she was impressed by his perceptiveness.
Leonidas still looked faintly stunned by that hug. Alisa stepped forward and gave him a hug of her own.
“Thank you.”
As his arms came around her, a rumble of pleasure emanated from his chest. Alisa wanted to drag him off to some hidden nook on the ship—if Mica wasn’t in engineering, perhaps it would do—and push him up against a wall and have her way with him, but she had to be responsible and go check on Jelena. Still, she couldn’t keep from sliding her hand up his back and kissing him on the side of the neck. One day, she promised herself. One day, he would be hers again.
He seemed to be thinking similar thoughts, because when she backed away, his eyes smoldered as they held hers.
“Goodnight, Leonidas,” she quietly.
“Goodnight, Alisa,” he said, his voice a touch raspy.
She forced herself to walk away, even though she did not want to.