Rebel Princess(32)

And he'd been celibate too damned long. All because of one small female who wouldn't accept her fate.

Fyd! They'd both contributed to this impasse, neither capable of  humbling themselves long enough to pierce the centuries of arrogant  supremacy that had made them what they were. Their planets' bravest and  best, forever separate like oil and water.

Later. He'd find a solution later. At the moment he was too tired to fight.

"Thanks for sitting with me, Kass." He spoke gently, all contention  swept away. "I'm glad you were here. Now go get some sleep. And, Kass,"  he added as she stood up, "if I forgot to mention it, that's a beautiful  gown."

She paused. "You didn't forget. You said all the right things. Last night."

And then she was gone, leaving him to damn the two assassins for a great deal more than the hole in his shoulder.

"Captain? Tal?"

Blasted girl had his head so mixed up he hadn't even noticed his First  Officer and best friend enter the room. For a few moments strength  flooded back. He was S'sorrokan, and there were other problems besides  one small scrap of a woman.

After a discussion that ranged from last night's attack to Captain  Tegge, Scorpio, and the revelation that Psyclid's Sorcerer Prime had  escaped the Regulon invasion, Tal closed his eyes and sank into his  pillows. Jaw clenched, he struggled in silence, juggling Kass's words  against Dorn's, ruthlessly shutting out Tal Rigel's emotions to deal  with the problems confronting S'sorrokan.

His eyes snapped open. "Commander Jorkan, inform Captain Tegge Scorpio  will rendezvous with Astarte off Tatarus a Reg month from now.  Meanwhile, she's to stay off the Empire's scanners best means available.  And, yes, I know she's not going to like it," he added at the suddenly  wary look on his First Officer's face, "but there's no point in taking  Scorpio with us on a sidetrip to nowhere. Nor do I want that bunch of  smugglers on Hell Nine to think we're mounting an invasion."

"Got it, Captain." Dorn Jorkan's face skewed into a grimace. "Guess this  is news I'd better deliver in person. That's one tough lady. Think  she'll hold me hostage?"

"Send the marines," Tal responded, straight-faced. "You have an hour,  Commander," he added briskly, "then set a course for Hell Nine, best  possible speed."

And Omnovah save them all if his little Psyclid had been led astray by that fat pink Pybbite on Tat.





Chapter 20


"Best possible speed" turned out to be seventeen days and three zigzag  jumps through obscure gates into the darkest regions of the Nebulon  Sector. But for Kass, life aboard Astarte improved. She no longer worked  an eighteen-hour day. Tal, evidently satisfied with her tactical and  navigation skills, assigned her to a standard duty schedule that cut her  hours on the bridge in half. And K'kadi was showing signs of developing  discipline at last, though they'd never gotten those moments off-ship  that would have let her test his talents more fully. Kass could now sit  with K'kadi at meals and simply enjoy his company, or stand beside him  at a viewport, awed by the near-emptiness of this portion of the  quadrant. K'kadi. Brother. Her own kind.         

     



 

But over everything loomed two even greater changes in her life. At the  other end of this long, dark run through space was Jagan  Mondragon-official fiancé, intended consort of the Princess Royal,  intended father of psychically superior children. She had run from him  once, certain that time and compassion of the goddess would spare her.  Yet here she was, running straight toward him. At her own request.

Tal would save her. Kass smiled. K'kadi was not always her dinner  companion. In a shift of routine that sent ripples of gossip throughout  the ship, Captain Tal Rigel frequently shared his evening meal with his  most junior officer. Kass made a face. Not that they'd progressed past  exploring each other's lives prior to becoming rebels-in Kass's case,  facts carefully edited-but the dinners were helping. The Tal Rigel from  her days in the Archives was beginning to fade, gradually merging into  the vital, determined rebel leader sitting across the table from her.  Into the would-be lover who finally admitted he had his own problems  separating her from the cadet he called his little Psyclid, the girl he  had talked to in his dreams, the phantom female he had taken to his bed  on many a lonely night.

Not an easy admission for a proud, hard-headed man like Tal Rigel.

Kass, lying fully clothed on top of her bed, heaved a sigh. Psyclids  didn't have a monopoly on weird. That Tal had dreamed of her as she had  dreamed of him was too, too strange. Not Fleet Captain Tal Rigel. Not  the hard-headed S'sorrokan. Men didn't do that. Fantasies were for  females. Weren't they?

Maybe not. Which would explain why they were still circling warily  around each other, trying to separate truth from fiction. Separate  living, breathing, often contentious reality from the sexy, always  amenable "other" each had created in their heads.

Zee-Zee looked up from her viewscreen, where she'd been studying the  latest fashions back on Regula Prime. "Women who are getting laid as  often as you are," she announced, "shouldn't be frowning."

"Women with my opportunities who are still virgins have every reason to frown."

"Omni have mercy! Tell me you're joking."

"Uh-uh."

Zee-Zee whooshed out a long breath. "So what are you saving it for? If  it's a lifetime contract you want, I have to tell you spacers don't do  that much. Maybe that's how things are done on Psyclid, but-" Zee-Zee  broke off, adding after a moment, "Sorry. It's absolutely none of my  business, but the captain's such a great guy . . . uh, sorry."

Kass sat up, facing her roommate squarely. "You are Zandra Foxx, my  roommate. I can't even imagine you not saying what you think. I wish I  could explain about the captain and me, but I can't, because I don't  really understand it myself."

Zee-Zee kept her mouth shut, but her puzzled face said it all. Kass  could only hope K'kadi wasn't in his room next door, or his puzzled face  was going to appear, hovering next to Zee-Zee's. And this definitely  wasn't a matter she cared to discuss with her little brother.

"We have some issues to straighten out," Kass said at last, "not the  least of which is the reason we're going to Hell Nine. We expect to find  a man named Jagan Mondragon there, and even though I told him long ago  that I had no intention of marrying him, he is officially my betrothed."

"Your what?" Zee-Zee's screech undoubtedly penetrated both walls. They  would have both Dorn and K'kadi down on them at any minute.

"According to the laws of Psyclid, Jagan and I are betrothed."

"The captain's taking you to a rendezvous with your fiancé? No way, Kass. That's absurd."

"Tal sees Jagan as an asset, a weapon. Like me."

"You're the captain's woman. No way he's going to share."

Kass gasped. "No, no. Eight years ago, I told Jagan I wouldn't marry him, and I'll tell him again when I see him."

"Great. You're jilting him, then asking him to join the rebellion and  take orders from your new man? Are you out of your mind? He'll likely  turn the captain into a toad."

"Never!" Kass narrowed her eyes at her roommate. "Jagan doesn't practice  black magic . . . even if he does know how," she added more softly.

Zee-Zee curled her lips into a lopsided grimace. "So we're going to Hell Nine so you can get un-betrothed?"

"I told you-we're going because Jagan will be a major asset to the rebellion."

"Well, pok!" Zee-Zee huffed a breath. "You sure know how to pick 'em."         

     



 

"The problem, among other things," Kass responded stiffly, "is that  Jagan may be quite happy on Hell Nine. He's not exactly known as a  patriot." Kass studied her booted toes. "I'm not sure what I'll have to  promise to get him to join us."

"Fyd!"

"Right."

"And until then you and the captain . . . ?"

"I'm afraid that's only one of our problems, but, yeah,  our-uh-relationship is on semihold until we get the problem of Jagan  straightened out."

"You're beyond crazy, girl, but I'm rooting for you. You know that, right?"

"I know." Kass offered a wan smile. "And thanks. I'm glad you're my roommate."

"The trouble with getting this far off the space lanes," Dorn Jorkan  drawled, "is that there's too little to do and too much time to think.  There's talk, Tal. And escalating into something I don't like."

Tal frowned at the bottle of ripka in his hand. When both Dorn and Mical  appeared at the door to his quarters at the same time, he'd known why  they were here. The uneasiness sweeping his crew was palpable. Though  not one question, not one word of protest, had reached his ears, he'd  felt the unrest for several days now. Even K'kadi had lost his smile.