“Yes, it’s wonderful the way she accepted us, isn’t it?” Deep raised an eyebrow at her.
“It’s amazing.” L forced a smile. “In fact, I’m going to go tell the girls all about it right now.” She was almost out the door when Deep caught her by the arm.
“Wait a minute,” he rumbled. “You can’t just leave us like this. We should celebrate.” He pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair. “If you know what I mean…”
L went rigid in his arms. “Later,” she said, trying to push him away. “We can celebrate later.”
“What’s your hurry?” Deep pulled back from her, a frown on his face. “Did you use some kind of scent spray back at your grandmother’s house? You smell…different.”
L’s heart started hammering in her chest. Her scent was what had given her away the first time, when she’d been sent to exchange places with her original. She couldn’t let herself be caught out again! “Um…” she said frantically. “Yes—a scent spray. I mean, a perfume. I used some new perfume. Sorry if you don’t like it.”
“It smells familiar—almost like something Lauren wears,” Lock said, coming up behind her.
L’s heart really began to pound. They were smelling her original’s scent! She had to get out of here—had to leave now before they found out her secret.
“Lauren loaned it to me,” she improvised rapidly. “Look, boys, I really have to go now. But I’ll see you back at the suite later—okay?”
Deep was still frowning but at least he had released his hold on her. “Sure, all right. But don’t be too late.”
“It’s my turn to cook dinner and I’m planning something special,” Lock added. “to celebrate.”
“Yummy, I can’t wait,” L gabbled, slipping out from between them and almost running through the shuttle door. “I’ll see you later.”
“Goodbye, little Kat.”
“Goodbye, my lady.”
The masculine voices faded behind her as she walked briskly down the long row of parked shuttles and headed for the exit.
It wasn’t until she finally made her escape from the echoing docking bay and lost herself in the hustle and bustle of the busy ship that she allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief. They really weren’t following her—she had pulled off the deception and was now inside the Mother Ship with no one the wiser.
Once she was certain she was alone, she ducked behind a support pillar and shifted quickly to another form. Then, remembering her promise to Draven, she turned on the small listening/recording device he’d given her and affixed the sparkling crystal stud to her earlobe. Let him watch as she wreaked his destruction on the hapless, unsuspecting Kindred—L didn’t mind that. But when she went to seek her own personal vengeance she intended to shut the device back off. There were some things that ought to be kept private.
She plunged back into the fast moving crowd and headed for the center of the ship.
It was time to get to the sacred grove.
* * * * *
“Did Kat seem like she was acting funny to you?” Deep asked his twin as they left the shuttle.
“A little.” Lock frowned. “And I can’t say I care for that new perfume she was wearing. She doesn’t smell like herself at all.”
Deep laughed. “I have to agree but you can be the one to tell her that, Brother. I’m not touching it with a ten mile pole.”
“A ten foot pole,” Lock corrected absently. “The Earth saying is, ‘I’m not touching that with a ten foot pole.’ A mile is a considerably larger unit of measurement.”
Deep shrugged. “Either way, I’m not touching it. I—”
“Hello? Hello? Is this thing on? Can anyone hear me?”
Deep jumped as the strange voice invaded his head. “What in the seven hells?” he growled. Who would dare bespeak him in such a familiar fashion? It went past rude and straight into downright insulting.
“Who is this?” he thought back fiercely. “And what do you want?”
“Deep, honey, is that you? I’m so sorry, I barely know how to work this thinky-think contraption. Kat was trying to show me but I still don’t have the hang of it.”
“Grandma?” he said aloud, raising his eyebrows. “That’s all right, the think-me does take some getting used to. But…may I ask why you’re bespeaking me?”
“I’m calling to tell you that you might be in danger, honey. Something isn’t right.”
“What?” Deep looked at Lock who was frowning and making ‘what the hell is going on?’ gestures in the air. “What are you talking about?”
“What I’m talking about is that whoever you got up there with you, it’s not Kat.” Grandma’s mental voice sounded grim.
“What? How can that be?” Deep demanded. “If we don’t have Kat, who do we have? And where’s the real Kat? Where is our bride?”
“Don’t get upset, the real Kat is here with me. I found her upstairs babbling about a syringe full of green poison. She was trying to crawl down the stairs to warn me—would’ve fallen if I hadn’t chosen that exact moment to go to the bathroom.”
“Goddess!” Deep ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “Are you certain she’s all right?”
“I called 911 and they sent out a crew to check her. She’s already doing better than when I found her but we’re on the way to the hospital anyway. Kat wouldn’t relax until I called you. She would have done it herself but she’s got an awful headache—says she can’t stand to concentrate hard enough to use this thinky-thought thing yet.”
“Of course, I understand.” Deep nodded although he knew she couldn’t see him. “We’ll be back to check on her as soon as we find out what’s going on.”
“Just you be careful!” Grandma warned. “Kat says this person or thing, whatever it is, attacked her. Says it looked just like her—like Kat, I mean.”
Deep felt a cold finger of dread skate down his spine. “So we have to assume that she—or it—could look like Kat or possibly anyone else.”
“Exactly. So be careful! And Kat says to tell you she loves you—both of you.”
“We love her too. We’ll be back with her as soon as we can. Bespeak me again if anything changes,” Deep said.
“I will. Oh, we’re at Tampa General now. Have to go.”
The connection was severed abruptly, leaving him with an ache right behind his eyes. But Deep wasn’t worried about his headache. He looked at Lock. “How much of that did you get?”
“Only a little—something to do with Kat. Is she all right?”
“She’s going to be fine,” Deep said, hoping it was true. “But she’s not here—she’s still back on Earth with her grandmother.”
Lock’s face went pale. “Then who or what have we just brought aboard the Mother Ship?”
Deep shook his head. “I don’t know. But we’ve got to find her and stop her before it’s too late!”
* * * * *
It was already too late.
L had finished hiding the small silver device in the branches of one of the holy green and purple trees and was already leaving the sacred grove when she heard the alert sounding. A picture of Kat flashed on the massive viewscreen, which was normally camouflaged by the clouds in the “sky” of the park-like area that surrounded the grove. A stern, disembodied voice asked that all Kindred and their brides be on the lookout for her.
L, of course, had long since assumed another form. She walked quietly out of the area and boarded a tram that would take her back to the outermost edge of the ship. She intended to be right by an exit before she detonated the device. Then she would wait. If the effects were lethal, she would leave, knowing her revenge was assured. But if they turned out to be less than completely deadly, she had decided to stay aboard and take matters into her own hands. There was no chance she’d ever get aboard the Kindred Mother Ship again—she had to see this to the end while she could.
After reaching the edge of the ship, L found a small corridor behind the docking bay that appeared to be deserte
d. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out the detonator and pressed the button.
Then she waited.
Chapter Twenty-two
“Are you almost ready, my dear? Lady Pope’nose doesn’t like to be kept waiting, you know.” Lady Sha’rak’s voice drilled through the thick door of Lissa’s bedroom as though it wasn’t there.
“In a moment. I’m just waiting for my slave to come back from running his errand,” Lissa called back, trying to make her voice light and easy. “He should be back any moment.”
“Well, he’d better be.” Lady Sha’rak sounded peevish. “Lady Pope’nose—”
“Doesn’t like to be kept waiting. Yes, I know.”
Lady Sha’rak made a dissatisfied hmmph. “Fine. Just let me know the moment he arrives.”
“I will, I promise,” Lissa called back.
She waited until click-clacking of Lady Sha’rak’s high heeled shoes faded down the corridor and then began pacing again, which was what she’d been doing from the minute Saber left their suite.
The morning had started well enough with Lady Sha’rak informing Lissa at first meal that she was to be the primary guest for a small get-together at Lady Pope’nose’s dwelling. Apparently she was being honored for owning the slave who had saved the entire assemblage the night before from the rampaging Beast.
Lissa had wanted to point out that it was Saber who should be honored, but of course she couldn’t. And Saber didn’t mind—he was just happy that they were getting into Lady Pope’nose’s house without any trouble. In fact, both of them were happier now—Lissa had never felt so free and so light since she’d admitted her feelings for Saber and he had reciprocated them. She had slept in his arms all night without a shred of guilt and woke feeling wonderful.
She had been feeling wonderful, anyway, until the little white stone in the delicate silver wire bracelet Kat had given her turned brilliant, blood red.
It had caught Lissa by surprise, mainly because she had never really expected it to happen. She had stared at it in consternation through the rest of the meal, wondering what awful thing was happening back at the Mother Ship.
Saber had noticed the stone changing color too. The moment they were alone, he had suggested that he “run an errand” for Lissa, going back to their ship to find something she had forgotten. There he would be able to access the viewscreen and find out what was happening so many light years away.
He had gone right after first meal, expecting to be back soon but now it was almost time for the dinner party. Lissa paced nervously, chewing on a thumbnail. What was taking him so long? And what was going on? What—?
Just at that moment, Saber let himself quietly into the room.
“Saber!” Lissa pounced on him and hugged him. “I was so worried! What happened?”
He frowned. “It took me more time than I’d thought to work my way back to the ship. As for the Mother Ship, to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what’s happened there. There was some interference from the Earth’s sun and the transmission had to be brief.”
“Well, who did you talk to?” Lissa asked. “Was it Sylvan?”
“Actually it was Sophia.” Saber looked puzzled. “She didn’t seem like herself at all.”
Lissa bit her lip. “Something awful must have happened. What did she say?”
“First, they’re under some kind of attack by the Hoard. Sophia didn’t give me specifics but it sounds like the whole Mother Ship is in chaos.”
“Oh no!” Lissa put a hand to her chest. “Are they all right? Has anyone…died?”
“She didn’t tell me. She did, however, ask if we had the lost scrolls yet.” Saber shook his head. “I had to tell her no but that we were hoping to get them tonight. She said the sooner we got them the better—the Council wants to bring the war to Hrakaz, the Hoard’s home world. To do that, they need to know how they were defeated before. Counselor Rast is standing by too, in case they decide to launch the attack from First World.”
“Goddess!” Lissa started pacing again. “We have to get them tonight! We can’t wait a single minute longer.”
“Don’t worry,” Saber said soothingly. When she ignored him and kept pacing, he stood in her path to make her stop. “Lissa,” he said gently, taking her by the shoulders. “I mean it—don’t worry. We’ll find the other scroll at Lady Pope’nose’s and get it tonight—I’m sure of it.”
“But how?” Lissa demanded. “How will we search her house without her knowing?”
“I’ve already thought of a way—we’re going to split up. Just before dinner I’ll do something to annoy you and you’ll ask Lady Pope’nose if you can borrow one of her slaves to feed you and send me away. Supposedly I’ll go back to the ship while you and the other ladies eat. But actually—”
“You’ll be searching her private library. Of course!” Lissa threw her arms around his neck and stretched up onto her tiptoes to kiss him. “Saber, you’re a genius.”
“I know.” He smiled modestly. “And the minute we get out of Lady Pope’nose’s, we’ll make an excuse and head for our ship. We’ll be out of here and back to the Mother Ship before the night is out.”
Lissa felt some of her excitement leak away. “So we can find out what it is the Hoard has done to them. Oh Goddess…”
“Whatever it is, they’re strong enough to get through it,” Saber said comfortingly. He kissed her on the forehead. “We all are.”
Lissa tried to feel more hopeful. “I know. You’re right.”
“The main thing is that we have to get that second scroll.” A look of fierce determination crossed Saber’s face. “And we will. No matter what it takes.”
“Of course we will. And then you and I will start our life together and never look back.” Lissa tried to smile as she said it but somehow her mouth wouldn’t bend that way. She couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t going to go quite as smoothly as she and Saber could wish.
The sense of uneasy foreboding shadowed her heart as she and Saber finished getting ready. It hung over her head like a dark cloud as they rode with Lady Sha’rak and Llewelyn over to Lady Pope’nose’s home, a building on the far side of Opulex where the sadistic mistress owned a floor and a half.
Lissa tried to shake off her unease and think about her future with Saber. She had so much to be happy about—no matter what else happened, she was going to spend the rest of her life with the man she loved. But the ominous apprehension just wouldn’t go and with it came a multitude of questions. What had the Hoard done to the people she loved? Would they be the same or had something happened that would alter them permanently?
The questions bothered her until she walked across the richly carpeted threshold of Lady Pope’nose’s dwelling and Lissa realized she needed to concentrate on playing her part. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her chin and decided to push everything else out of her mind.
One of the strong smelling nenarches, encased in a silver metallic mechanoid, met them at the door. It escorted them down a long hallway, hung with expensive looking 3D art and into a receiving room decorated in pink and pale green stripes. There, Lady Pope’nose was sitting on a faintly vibrating scrolled leather couch. She was sipping something that smelled even stronger and more unpleasant than the nenarch from a cup with a thin, elaborately scrolled golden handle.
“The ladies R’awr and Sha’rak,” the nenarch said. It waited a moment for Llewelyn and Saber to bend and kiss their respective mistress’s feet before waving a limp jelly tentacle and causing its mechanoid casing to clank out of the room.
“Oh my dear Lady R’awr!” Lady Pope’nose put down her drink and came forward to greet Lissa with a smile on her thin lips which almost reached her eyes. “I hope you don’t mind that it’s just the three of us for dinner. After the heroics of last night I’m afraid I wanted to keep you all to myself.”
“That’s fine.” Lissa smiled back, trying to sound natural. “And last night was nothing, really—just Saber showing his training.”
“Well, all I can say is if he’s half as well trained in the bedroom as he is when he’s fighting then he’s a real treasure.” Lady Pope’nose leaned forward as though to speak confidentially. “Speaking of that, would you care to sell him?”
“What? No!” Lissa exclaimed before she thought about it. “That is, I mean, uh, you wouldn’t want him.”
“Wouldn’t want him?” Lady Pope’nose laughed. “I doubt that could be true. Why, put a pain collar on him and he’d be my dream male.”
Lady Sha’rak laughed. “Oh, naughty! You’re so bad, my dear, Nola.”
“I know.” Lady Pope’nose smirked and said to Lissa. “Just think about it, my dear. I like to collect valuable things and your slave proved his worth last night.”
“Yes, well, if only he’d stop proving his more irritating qualities, I’d be happy," Lissa grumbled. “Maybe he’s not yet recovered from the fight but he’s just been so—”
Just at that moment, Saber stepped on the trailing back of her gown, exactly as they had planned. Lissa lurched forward and the elaborate bustle at the back of her dress ripped.
“Saber!” she stormed, rounding on him. “What’s wrong with you today?”
Saber hung his head. “Forgive me, my lady. My clumsiness is inexcusable.”
“You're absolutely right—it is.” Lissa turned to their hostess. “My dear Lady Pope’nose, do you think you could possibly loan me one of your body-slaves for dinner tonight. I think I’d better send Saber here back to the hovercoach.”
Lady Pope’nose’s eyes gleamed. “Certainly I can loan you a slave but why not just borrow a pain collar instead? I always keep extra—they’re so useful.”
Lissa recoiled inwardly at the suggestion but she had expected nothing less from the bloodthirsty Lady Pope’nose. Somehow she managed to keep her disgust from showing on her face—she hoped, anyway.
“I thank you for your kind offer, Lady Pope’nose,” she said, smiling. “But I simply can’t risk doing anything to my slave that might compromise his reflexes or damage his nervous system. He is my only source of protection on the trip back to Zetta Prime and as a well-traveled woman of the universe, I’m sure you know what an awful threat space pirates are these days.”