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  Someone spoke some garbled words. Alerik stroked her palm, which sent odd tingles racing straight to her nipples.

  "Maegan, stay awake."

  Her nipples felt like balloons. Were they poking through the thin sheet? Was everyone looking at them? She wanted to check but it was too much effort. She decided she didn't care. The sensation against her palm was...arousing. She wanted to just enjoy it. The garbled sounds continued.

  Movement drew her attention.

  Pretty sapphire light. The same color as Alerik's beautiful eyes.

  Her entire hand exploded.

  Chapter 6

  Margaine Confluence:/Third Rising

  Pallas Five

  Maegan awoke in a room filled with natural light. She lay on a normal sleeping platform, but the panels, monitors and equipment on the wall behind her head were a good indication she was still at the med clinic. She shifted one arm experimentally, then the other, then her legs.

  Still naked, but she wasn't confined in any way. Her mind was clear. Her body felt more rested than it had in a long time. She sat up. No aches. No pains.

  Time to go home. She hadn't a clue how long she'd been at the clinic. She didn't even know where the clinic was.

  First, she needed clothes. The walls around her were opaque with the exception of one that had a clear top panel designed to let in the light. That didn't mean they weren't transparent from the other side.

  She reached to pull up the thin covering to wrap it around herself and froze. On her outstretched hand a deep blue light glittered--a thin band of sapphire wrapped around and embedded in the flesh of her three middle fingers.

  A confused rush of memories assaulted her. A foul stench. Stinging pain. Alerik bending over her. The hated ride through the tunnel. Inability to move. Alerik again with dimples in his chin. And Alerik again, this time surrounded by a large group of men.

  "What have you done?" she whispered. She rubbed at the bright band in her flesh. The feel of it was no different than her skin. It was her skin.

  A slight sound penetrated the gathering panic. A panel in one of the opaque walls slid open and a woman she had never seen before stepped through.

  "Counselor Shale," she said brightly. "Awake finally. I'm Medtech Sumnuer. How are you feeling?"

  Maegan gathered herself together, and shoved her hand under the cover. "Fabulous," she responded equally brightly. "Just fabulous. I'd like to go home."

  "That's always a good sign." Medtech Sumnuer studied the panel of monitors behind her patient's head. "Lie back, please."

  Maegan complied with reluctance. She saw Sumnuer frown and shake her head.

  "Not recommended. You still have residual poison in your body. You need to continue the anti-toxin regimen and have complete rest for at least another cycle or two."

  "I can rest at home," Maegan shot back. "I'll do whatever you want me to do. Just let me go home. Where am I anyway?"

  The corners of Sumnuer's mouth twitched. "I will never understand why our patients are always so desperate to leave our fine hospitality. You're at the med clinic on Pallas Five. We were better prepared to deal with your, ah, condition than Pallas Four was."

  Alerik's image popped into Maegan's head. Pallas Four had a fine clinic. She suspected her transfer had more to do with someone's interference than Pallas Four's medical capability. Which made it somehow more imperative she return to her own territory and get out of his.

  She tossed aside the thin cover, sat up and slid her legs over the side of the sleeping platform. "Sorry, I really can't stay. If you would just point me to my clothes."

  For a moment, the medtech looked like she was going to argue. Then she gave a slight shrug, bent and opened up a lower cabinet.

  Forty nans later, Maegan sat on a shuttle, clutching a pouch with medication and instructions. The medtech had not only given her back her repaired clothing, but found her a ride on a med shuttle to Pallas Four. Too easy. It had all been too easy.

  What was Alerik Mariltar up to? She studied the bright slash of blue across her fingers and dug in her memory for fragments of a conversation. Her stomach churned. His mark of ownership, no doubt. He'd made good on his threat. But why? What was he up to?

  * * * *

  The answer was no more apparent when, two cycles later, Maegan stood in her office and tried to focus on the holographic image of the Grogon Asteroid Belt. She had to devise a new route away from Pallas Four. With increased surveillance on air traffic, her missions had become exponentially more difficult.

  Her gaze drifted to the spiraling Alawind Tunnel. Never been done before. But there was no reason why it couldn't. It was clean. No obstacles. The strong wind pressure would take a vessel and push it through to the other side. The problem could be the barren quaoars lurking at the exit if she went through too fast.

  "Planning a getaway?" The deep voice was right at her shoulder.

  She yelped and whirled. Alerik, dressed more casually in tan matfiber breeches and a pale blue tunic than she had yet seen him, stood with legs braced apart, arms folded, his intent gaze focused on the image. Her finger fumbled frantically to push the right button on the control in her hand. She heard the hiss as the image evaporated.

  Alerik's gaze shifted to her.

  Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. She sucked in a great gulp of air. "How did you get in here?"

  His brow lifted. "Coryon understands that a husband doesn't need to be announced to his wife."

  Stinking starpits and damn, damn, damn. The truth that had been so easy to ignore raised a rash of heat prickles all over her body. She decided supreme indifference had to be the way to go. "What can I do for you, Governor?"

  One dimple appeared in his chin and a corner of his mouth kicked up. The sapphire gaze simmered.

  "Well, now. That question does raise an interesting range of options. For instance, I could say, talk to me about the batriel attack. Or, I could ask you to disclose where you're hiding your space vessel. Or, even better, tell me about your activities when you're in it." He paused and lifted an eyebrow again. "But, on the other hand, maybe we should just discuss our...marriage."

  Supreme indifference became a sad casualty. "Which has to be illegal," she snapped, as another rush of heat prickles attacked her body. "I'll go to the Coalition Council if I have to."

  "Ah." Alerik unfolded his arms. "A smart move. Unfortunately, they've already ratified the union, which you'd know if you'd picked up your comm messages."

  He took a step toward her. "Make no mistake, Maegan," he said with a quiet firmness, "there is nothing--nothing--illegal about this partnership."

  She held her ground although she badly wanted to move. He sucked up more than his fair share of space and his proximity did odd things to her body. The room was cool, but a trickle of perspiration worked its way down her side as his sapphire gaze bored into her and dried up any vestige of intelligent response.

  "Tell me about your star vessel, Maegan."

  Huh? The man had an attention span of a womat pup. Her brain was still trying to find a suitably scathing, definitive denouncement of the marriage and he had hyper-jumped back to the other dangerous subject, which she wanted to talk about even less than the marriage. Except she didn't want to avoid talking about the marriage anymore. She wanted to attack it, beat it and kill it once and for all. That pleasure would have to wait because, unbelievably, she had a bigger problem to deal with.

  She got her tongue moistened enough to stutter, "I don't know what you're talking about. I use public transporters. Haven't flown since the academy."

  They couldn't have tagged her. She hadn't been that careless or dysfunctional from the batriel attack. At least, not until she'd passed out.

  He nodded. "You do. We're going to find it. Pallas Four isn't that big. It would be better if the information came from you."

  "Don't you think your resources have better uses than chasing imaginary star vessels?"

  "With five dead bodi
es on Pallas Seven? I'd say so. But it's one imaginary star vessel, Maegan. One is all I'm interested in. And I'm even more interested in where that vessel has traveled. Tell me there's no connection with Pallas Seven. Tell me you're not trafficking in humanoids."

  What in Cor's name was happening on Pallas Seven? She'd heard nothing about dead bodies or humanoid trafficking. Rumors, yes, there were always the rumors, but nothing confirmed. Her mind bounced to her other problem as, with a kind of morbid fascination, she watched the sapphire of Alerik's eyes and his temple mark darken to almost black. It was possible they could locate the Lady Melia. Question was, had she erased the last log? She still couldn't remember some things from the night of the attack, and she couldn't remember doing that at all. Nor had she yet been able to summon the energy to make the tunnel trip for only that purpose.

  Alerik's body language had taken on an air of menace. He looked like he was barely holding himself in check from reaching out and wrapping those large hands around her throat.

  She maintained her ground. She could hold her own despite his size. "You have such a high opinion of me, husband. And I'm really curious why a Mariltar heir would choose a flesh trader as a life partner?"

  "Mmph." Black sapphire became blue again and the rigidity left his large body. It was like she'd passed some kind of test. She couldn't fathom what.

  "One of these days, Green Eyes, you're going to shock me by actually providing an honest answer to a question. Our respective parents send their blessings, by the way."

  There it was again, that womat attention span. The man had a problem. She'd seen the entries in her communicator log but had put off opening them. Another way of denying reality as long as possible. A parent's acknowledgement of the marriage would legitimize it more effectively than anything else.

  She didn't react and he didn't seem to expect a response, but turned and strolled to the curved plexiwall of her office. Large as he was, he moved with a fluid, powerful grace. At his side, his hand flexed. Then it reached out and smoothed over the rounded top of a waist-high support pylon at the plexiwall. Sapphire gleamed at the base of his middle fingers.

  An odd little shudder rippled through her body.

  "Pallas Four's reputation is not exaggerated," he said in a conversational tone. "It is beautiful and very peaceful. I shed a layer or two of stress every time I come here."

  Maegan tensed. This did not bode well. Unless womat syndrome kicked in quickly.

  "We emphasize the scenic attractions in our marketing," she said lightly. "We'd have a lot less business if people knew about the batriels and gadserp bugs."

  "Gadserp bugs?" He sounded amused.

  "Tiny little things that burrow under the skin and gnaw holes in you." They were only a problem for unprepared hikers in the jungle undergrowth, but he didn't need to know that.

  "I'll be sure to avoid them. You answered that question very nicely. It's not so hard, is it?"

  He glanced at her. The sapphire eyes gleamed. A dimple flashed briefly in his chin.

  Another shudder made its way through her body.

  He turned back to the view. "You met the deadline to turn in your corporate records. Impressive under the circumstances. I would have extended it."

  "My staff did most of the work." On the standard financial records for Janas Corporation, her statement was true. But only she, Morgon and a close friend of Morgon's, who happened to be a financial wizard and wasn't associated with Janas Corporation, knew about the second set of records. Which was what had been turned in to Governor Mariltar's audit committee.

  "And all that remains now are the economic reports for Pallas Four."

  "You'll have those by your deadline as well." Maegan was growing a little desperate. This felt like some bizarre dance where they advanced and retreated and circled in a complex pattern of words, yet never joined to reveal the true purpose. She didn't really want to hear what that was. It was sort of obvious anyway.

  What wasn't clear was what her response would be. Because it had to be convincing.

  "I have no doubt."

  His hand continued to stroke the pylon. Her body alternated between little shudders and hot and cold prickles. She wasn't as well recovered as she had thought. How much more time would he suck from her jammed schedule? Patience, especially these days, and especially around him, it seemed, was not her strength. She stopped herself just in time from blurting an irritated, "What do you really want?"

  She might as well have spoken the words out loud because he turned at that moment to face her.

  "I think the solution is clear. We both have busy schedules and obligations. But we also have a marriage partnership. We'll split our time equally between Pallas Four and Pallas Five."

  He could read her as clearly as a vid screen. Maegan was not that good at hiding her feelings. What part of his solution had shocked her? That he acknowledged the importance of her work by giving her equal time on Pallas Four? Or that he expected the marriage to function normally?

  He ignored the irritation that surged through his veins. She'd had much less time to get used to the idea than he'd had.

  "We can duplicate your facilities on Pallas Five," he said. "You'll be fully connected to Janas Corporation. You won't be the first corporate head to work remotely."

  Her mouth worked. Her face pinkened. "I know that," she snapped. "And I'm the communications expert, remember? It just won't work. I have to be here on site. I meet with my research team at a nan's notice. I--"

  "Vid conference."

  She glared at him. "The products are sensitive and highly proprietary. We simply can't run the risk of pirates infiltrating communications."

  "You're the communications expert, remember?" He kept his tone mild. "Even I know that unbreachable technology exists for these purposes."

  "Nothing is ever completely secure. It won't work."

  He rested his hand on the pylon again. Her eyes flickered. The pink across the top of her cheeks deepened. Interesting.

  "Let's not put up barriers where there are none. You can't tell me that Janas Corporation is a failure. I've seen the numbers, Maegan. You have clients across the galaxy paying for technology you're trying to tell me doesn't work. I'm willing to move the governor's office to Pallas Four for part of the time. It's not without inconvenience, but I believe it will work, just as I believe you can make your side work."

  Experimentally, he stroked the top of the pylon. An almost imperceptible shiver seized his wife's body. "Let's talk about the real reason for your reluctance."

  Her hands clenched at her side. Her lids lowered part way over her green eyes.

  "You can't ignore this marriage partnership. It may not have been your choice, but it's done. We have to begin somewhere, and we cannot build even a foundation by being separated. Besides, I'm looking forward to the benefit of your knowledge of the Grogon Asteroid Belt and your leadership skills. You've done an excellent job with Janas."

  He'd surprised her again. The green eyes widened, but then she turned away.

  "That's what advisors are for," she said dismissively.

  Behind her back, Alerik shook his head. Blood of Cor, she was an obstinate little female. And why wouldn't she be? Her genes predisposed her. From adolescence on, when he'd begun to pay attention to the dynamics in adult relationships, he'd observed the occasional battles Maegan's mother and his own had fought with their husbands over sometimes trivial issues. It had interested him how often the men had conceded simply to reestablish harmony, because the women had taken a position and refused to budge. It was also interesting how the concessions produced certain responses that even a child couldn't misinterpret. Alerik suspected manipulation on both sides. He just couldn't figure out which side was cleverer.

  "My team is setting up my office in the Jalo Complex and securing it. It will be at least two cycles before it's ready." In profile to him, she stiffened, but remained silent.

  "They'll assist you with whatever you need on Pallas Five as wel
l. You'll stay with me, of course, in the governor's habitat and I will expect to share your habitat here. We've made some external scans and find the security of the building to be...adequate, despite its isolation."

  He paused for a reaction, but she stood gazing out onto the ordered, colorful beds of flowering shrubs and plants as if she hadn't heard him. Her illness hadn't done her any favors. If anything, she appeared more gaunt. The circles under her eyes were bigger and darker. One thing he was going to do, he vowed to himself, was teach her how to eat real food and get more rest.

  The console behind them chimed.

  "Maegan, are you there?" It was a male voice filled with excitement.

  She stirred and turned. Her gaze flickered over him as if he were inconsequential. "Yes, Makiee."

  "Celeeebration time." The male voice was filled with glee. "The prototype of ComXFive came through the test without a burp or hiccup. We'll meet you down at Gloriana's."

  "Well done, Makiee. I'll be there." None of the liveliness in her voice was evident in the cool expression she turned to him. "Business calls."

  "Of course, and I must get back to Pallas Five. I'll see you in two cycles."

  Chapter 7

  Margaine Confluence:/Fifth Rising

  Pallas Four

  Gloriana's was jammed with bodies and it was still early in the evening. The real action wouldn't happen for some time yet.

  The Janas group had arrived early enough to stake out a corner with padded stools and a table. Most people stood in intimate, closed groups. Some prowled through the brightly lit room, trolling for interest in an age-old mating ritual, or posed on one of the many balconies that overlooked the main floor to see and be seen.

  Gloriana's made that easy enough. From floor to wall to ceiling, the entire club was mirrored. There were few locals in the crowd, which was interesting. When had the shift occurred from favored local hangout to tourist hangout?

  Maegan had had too much to drink and the Janas celebration was still going strong. Her group had even pulled in Brown-hair and Black-hair, who had followed her to the club. The two weren't participating in the drink of choice though. Grogon limale was usually a mild alcoholic beverage, but tonight it seemed to be spiked with something. She would bet that whatever it was her two bodyguards were imbibing didn't contain a trace of alcohol.