CHAPTER ONE R ae Jacelon felt the frigate Ixis reel as a new blast from the smaller spacecraft's torpedoes hit it, making her and all the officers on her bridge hold on to their computer consoles so they wouldn't lose their balance. "Open comm channels! Unidentified space vessel, this is Commodore Rae Jacelon of the Gamma VI Space Station. By not responding to hails by an SC Fleet spacecraft and committing an act of blatant aggression, you are in clear violation of our space." "So you claim," a woman replied in Premoni, the intergalactic language of the Supreme Constellations sector. She sounded unimpressed. Her low alto voice revealed a faint accent, a soft slur of consonants that suggested she hadn't learned the language within the SC. "Take out their weapons array and propulsion system!" Rae seized the bar next to the captain's chair to keep her balance when the alien vessel fired a new round. "Shields down to seventy percent, ma'am." The honey-skinned ensign at tactical clenched one hand around her console and punched in new commands with the other. "Firing torpedoes one and two now!" The space between them and the alien ship lit up. "Report!" Rae ordered. "Their weapons are down. The vessel's dead in the water, ma'am." "Reestablish comm channels." Rae rose from her seat in the center of the bridge and tugged at her short black leather jacket, its tall collar adorned with rank insignia. She kept her anger in control as she spoke. "Unidentified vessel, examine your computer readings and look at the identification seal on our transfers. It confirms our identity and our capabilities. Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded." "We have video, Commodore," the ops ensign reported. The large screen on the far wall of the bridge flickered, and a woman's face came partially into view. "This is the private vessel Kithanya. We have no intention of surrendering. Our shields are fully operational..." Rae bristled and felt like kicking the wall with her tall black boot. She had suffered through an endless series of boring negotiations for the past two weeks and was in no mood to be diplomatic. If this woman was foolish enough to acquire outlaw status by firing her ship's full array of weapons after being hailed, she would be sorry. Impatient, she smoothed down her short red hair and said, "Yes, but you cannot win. Nothing in your arsenal can prevent me from tractoring you in. You are not above the law." "We have broken no laws." The woman's tone was dismissive, almost disdainful. Seething at this unexpected insolence, Rae replied brusquely, "As a matter of fact, I can think of several. This is your last chance. Lower your shields." "No." "Congratulations. You've won a free trip to the Gamma VI Space Station. Enjoy the ride." Rae bent down, straightened the knife-sharp crease in her blue trousers, and gave the next order to her tactical officer. "Reel them in. Let's go home." "You and the boy in your care, Armeo M'Aido, will remain in custody until?" Rae broke off as a transparent blue teardrop ran down Kellen O'Dal's cheek. So the blue tears really existed. She had heard of them, but never seen them firsthand. Crystal clear, reflecting the light in her office, the solitary tear left a damp trail on her prisoner's face. "I understand if you are upset, Ms. O'Dal, but?" "I am not upset," Kellen O'Dal hissed. "Do not mistake my tears for signs of fear. I am furious!" A security guard moved closer, but Rae motioned him back to his post by the door. She stared at the tall, proud Gantharian woman who stood before her in her office aboard Gamma VI. The expression in her prisoner's brilliant blue eyes was impossible to read. Rae had never seen anyone go from volatile to complete blankness so quickly. It was like putting a lid on a volcano. And although she knew this woman was physically stronger than she was?in fact, stronger than any human, due to a denser, more tractile muscle tissue?she merely shrugged and circled her desk. She had stared down taller, more physically imposing individuals than Kellen O'Dal. "I was trying to be civil," Rae said forcefully. "The boy is in custody, awaiting his relative. You are a prisoner, waiting to stand trial for kidnapping." Kellen apparently tried to stay calm by clasping her hands behind her back and standing at strict attention. She breathed deeply and with obvious forced consistency. "I am not a kidnapper. His parents are dead, and his mother entrusted him into my care. He has lived under my protection his entire life, and I have raised him since he was five, when his mother was killed." "The Gantharian ambassador sent files less than an hour ago, stating you've kept the boy from his father's relatives for seven years. It's your word against that of a diplomat." Rae folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the corner of her desk. She was curious to hear the other side of this story, having detected arrogance and a hint of threat in the ambassador's messages. "Commodore, you cannot trust Ambassador M'Ekar's version of the facts. He is not from Gantharat. He's an Onotharian." Kellen spat the last word as if it tasted foul. Rae scrutinized the impressive woman once more. Gantharians were blue-blooded in the truest sense of the word. Their blue-colored blood cells shimmered just beneath the skin, and the unusual tint enhanced the woman's statuesque appearance. According to her file, Kellen was thirty-two Earth years old, young for her race. Their life span was about thirty years longer than that of humans. A striking woman, she wore her blond hair in a long, severe braid down her back. A tight black leather suit accentuated her lean body. Rae thought she detected a faint tremor in Kellen's hands and wondered what caused it. Was it more of her impressive anger? Or is she afraid, or perhaps in pain? "Do you have proof of what you say?" she inquired. "Only her last words! When she was dying, she asked me to raise Armeo, and until a few lunar cycles ago, nobody cared either way. I won't give him up." The defiant retort seemed to mask other, underlying emotions. Rae rubbed her neck, where an all-too-familiar tension reminded her of countless negotiations with Onotharians wanting to cross the border into the SC. Situations like this one were always stressful. "Take a seat." She pointed at one of the alu-carbon visitors' chairs. Kellen looked as if she was about to refuse, but relented and sat down, flinching as she extended her left leg in front of her. "Are you injured?" Rae asked. "I'm fine." "Very well. As you know, I've spoken with the boy. He's obviously very fond of you and would be upset if you were apart. That's why I haven't confined you to the brig without him. Yet. Fact remains, by firing on my frigate and refusing to obey direct orders, you violated at least a dozen Supreme Constellations laws." "You were approaching me head-on. I had no way of knowing your intent." "We identified ourselves as an SC spacecraft." "You are not the first to present yourselves as representatives of the SC. I have come across several convoys of pirates with the exact same method of operation." Rae knew this was probably true. The Gamma outposts were eternally trying to stamp out the pesky space pirates who infested intergalactic space and made it dangerous for traders and other small spacecraft. "My people are searching your vessel right now. They'll find any such incidents on record in the ship's computer log, if they exist." "They will be there." Again, an expression of anguish flickered over Kellen's face. Rae scanned the lean body before her for clues as to where the pain originated. She could see no outward signs, but she wasn't going to take any chances. "Before we commit you to your quarters, I'll send you and young Armeo through sick bay." "Your scans will come out negative. We carry no disease." "Perhaps, and our biological filter should've picked up any foreign agents already. However, we're many light-years from the nearest medical facility. We can't take any chances. Besides, someone needs to look at your leg." Kellen rose without permission, glaring at her. "Have your doctors scan us, then. They can't be any worse than the bunglers the Onotharians allow to practice medicine on Gantharat." Acidic, aren't we? Rae nodded toward the guard. "Escort Ms. O'Dal to Dr. Meyer. Pick up the boy on the way." "Yes, ma'am." As she returned to her chair, Rae watched the proud woman leave. Her stoic appearance and the arrogance that bordered on hauteur were hardly the demeanor one would expect of a prisoner. And she showed no signs of gratitude for her decent treatment at Rae's hands. Puzzled, and somewhat concerned at the thought that Kellen O'Dal could be injured, Rae returned her focus to her work. She had no plans to allow her captive to prey on her mind; she had more important things to think about. Kellen gazed around sick bay, waiting for the chief medical officer to join her and Armeo where they sat next to each other on an elaborate-looking examination table. Two guards armed with laser-pulse rifles stood by the door. "What's going to happen now?" Armeo sounded more curious than afraid. "A doctor will make sure we're healthy and all right. It won't hurt." Armeo looked at her with an expression of disdain that reminded Kellen of his mother. "I'm not afraid of anything." "It's natural to fear the unknown." Kellen smiled fondly and let her gaze soften. "We don't know these people, but they won't harm you." "The commodore interrogated you," Armeo pointed out. "Yes, but she didn't hurt me." Kellen knew Armeo was worried by the rumors he'd heard about interrogations in the Gantharat System. "We only spoke together." He scooted closer. "Honestly?" His dark blue eyes, frame...
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