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  “Your fathers were Rodyte,” she mused. “Were your mothers from a different country, or from a completely different planet?”

  “The planet is called Bilarri. Our mothers were, or are, Bilarrian.”

  “What does this have to do with Raylon and General Nox?”

  They continued down the concourse side by side, their pace leisurely. “To understand the current situation, you need at least a rudimentary understanding of the history.”

  She nodded. “Makes sense.”

  He really didn’t want to bore her with hours of details, so he ordered his thoughts into concise events. “Quinton Keire, the man in the detention cell, was the last in a long line of tyrannical rulers. They not only allowed the capture of war brides, they encouraged it.”

  “War brides? That’s what they called your mothers?”

  “Yes. War brides were forced to bear battle born children in the hopes that the offspring would inherit Bilarrian magic.”

  “It only worked partway?” she guessed. “You have your mother’s magic inside you, but it’s dormant.”

  “Yes.” He clasped his hand behind his back to keep from touching her. “Please let me explain the events in order or you’ll never understand everything.”

  “Sorry. Go ahead.”

  “Before anything could change for the battle born, the power structure that subjugated us had to be changed.” When she only nodded, he went on. “We were about to storm Quinton’s palace when Apex General Paytor learned or guessed what we had planned. He took Quinton into protective custody, but it only slowed us down. We were still able to capture Quinton and end his miserable reign. Unfortunately, Apex General Paytor is much more of a threat to the battle born than Quinton ever was.”

  “That’s often the case,” she said. “The true power stays behind the scenes.”

  “Quinton has been replaced with a three-person panel we call the Triad, but Paytor is still on the loose.”

  “So Garin is hunting down Paytor while Raylon moves ahead with…what exactly?”

  “The transformation program.”

  Just inside the main entrance to the outpost, security stopped Lexie. Ident-chips were mandatory for all military personnel, so automated scanners verified the identity of most everyone who came off the ships. First-time visitors, however, were required to register with security. Kaden told the guards Lexie was his guest, but the stubborn team leader insisted on contacting Raylon.

  After Raylon gave his approval, her backpack was scanned and her image entered into the security system, only then were they allowed onto the commerce tiers.

  “Well, that was almost as much fun as airport security,” she muttered. “At least I didn’t have to take off my shoes.”

  “Sorry, love. It’s necessary.”

  She didn’t comment on the endearment, but she looked at him with curiosity and confusion in her gaze. He wasn’t trying to keep her off balance, at least not intentionally. Still, he seemed to be having that effect on her.

  Compact shops and vendor stalls lined the doughnut-shaped levels. The spaces were filling up fast now that word had spread that Lunar Nine was operational. A massive staircase ascended through the center, joining the tiers, but Kaden led Lexie to the express elevator.

  “If you’d like to look around, we can do so after our meeting, but Raylon is waiting for us.”

  “I understand,” she assured him.

  Not wanting to tie down any of the ships, Garin had established a no-frills headquarters on the top level of the commerce tiers. There was a large meeting room that could be arranged in several ways, depending on the sort of gathering. With Garin gone, Raylon had moved into the main office, which was flanked by a large communal workroom and three smaller offices.

  The door to Raylon’s office was open, so Kaden paused in the opening. Raylon stood with his back to them, looking at a holo-diagram of a city Kaden didn’t recognize. “Are you ready for us, sir?”

  Raylon glanced over his shoulder, then motioned him forward. “Have a seat. I’ll be just a minute.” He manipulated the display, expanding one section as he spoke in rapid Rodyte to whomever was on the other end of his comlink.

  Kaden ushered Lexie to the chairs arranged in front of Raylon’s desk. She looked relaxed, almost disinterested, but he suspected it was a façade. She loved her sister enough to endanger her own life in the hopes of rescuing her, so Lexie had to be tied in knots by now.

  Reaching over, he touched her arm. “Are you all right?” She nodded, but her lips began to tremble. “Do you want me to take this meeting? Raylon can be intense.”

  She looked him in the eyes and squared her shoulders. “So can I.”

  As if on cue, Raylon let out a string of Rodyte curses that would have made a dockworker blush. “Com me once you’ve pulled your head out of your ass.” He was still speaking Rodyte, but nothing disguised the snarl in his tone.

  “That didn’t sound happy,” Lexie whispered, but she looked amused not concerned.

  Raylon turned around before Kaden could respond.

  “This day’s not going well,” Raylon warned. “Don’t add to my aggravation.”

  “Would you rather we reschedule?”

  “That’s not necessary. What’s this about?” He slipped onto the chair behind his desk and his gaze shifted toward Lexie. “Has she been given translator nanites?”

  “Not yet.”

  Raylon nodded and switched to English. “I’m Raylon Lasenger. Welcome to Lunar Nine.”

  Lexie offered him a tight smile. “Lexie Ward. Thanks.”

  He looked at Kaden again. “How’s Vox?”

  “I’m still waiting for an update from medical, but I ordered him quarantined until we know what made him so sick.”

  “A wise precaution.” Again his assessing gaze settled on Lexie, and Kaden tensed. Raylon was happily mated to an extraordinary female harbinger, so his interest wasn’t personal. Still, Kaden felt the urge to punch him in the face every time he looked at Lexie. “Zilor told me how you stowed away aboard his shuttle. Zilor is harmless, but some of the males in this star system are not.”

  “Like Fyran and his crew?” She was clearly trying to focus his attention on the danger rather than her misbehavior.

  Raylon didn’t react to the slight provocation. Instead, he looked at Kaden and asked, “What can I do for you?”

  “Before we get into that, there’s something you need to know. Lexie disregarded Garin’s messages as a hacker’s bid for attention.”

  “Really?” Raylon narrowed his gaze and turned back to Lexie. “Why did you dismiss the information? Was General Nox not believable?”

  Her spine straightened and her shoulders squared, not the usual reaction to Raylon’s attention. Generally, people shied away from his domineering prescience. “There was nothing wrong with the messages per se. I just found the general’s claims improbable.”

  “Why?” Raylon rested his forearms on the desktop and leaned slightly forward. “We allowed several of our ships to be seen. Was that not sufficient evidence to support Garin’s claims?”

  Kaden heaved Lexie’s zippered bag onto his lap. “Show him the images you showed me.”

  She unzipped the bag and dug out her datapad, then quickly located the image file. “These are the sorts of people who are willing to believe in aliens without tangible proof.” After activating the file, she set the datapad on Raylon’s desk and turned it toward him.

  Raylon watched the file in silence.

  Lexie crossed her legs and met Raylon’s gaze when he finally looked up from the small, flat screen. Apparently, she wasn’t intimidated by his penetrating stare or the ragged scar marring his cheek. That was really unusual. Most females found Raylon frightening. Her confidence fueled Kaden’s interest. Strength in any form appealed to Rodyte males.

  “This is not simple enthusiasm. They seem almost hysterical.” He shook his head as he slid the datapad back toward Lexie. “And even more of your people disregarded
the messages entirely?”

  “I can’t speak for the entire human race, but UFO sightings are nothing new,” she told him. “People have been claiming to see aliens, even that they’ve been abducted by aliens, for decades. The vast majority of those claims have been debunked, which makes most rational people suspicious of anything involving aliens.”

  “Then how do we overcome this skepticism?”

  After a thoughtful pause, she said, “If you’d arrange for a news crew to document one of the ship sightings so it can be broadcast by a legitimate news organization that would be much more convincing than just posting it online. Using the internet gives you access to the largest audience, but it lacks credibility. Anyone with a cell phone can post anything they like online.”

  Raylon considered the suggestion for a moment, then sighed. “We intend to do a full-scale press conference once the program is officially ready to launch, but we’re not quite there yet.”

  “What do you mean by ‘officially ready to launch’? Have there been unofficial transformations?”

  She’s a persistent little thing. Isn’t she? Raylon kept his gaze fixed on Lexie, but sent the semi-amused thought to Kaden over their internal comlink. Out loud, Raylon said, “The first three transformations were not planned. Each female was recruited for a specific skill and just happened to be compatible with one of our officers.”

  “That’s convenient.” When Raylon didn’t respond to her remark, she asked, “And the others? You said the first three, so I presume there were others.”

  “Not yet.” Raylon looked at Kaden as he continued. “We’ve had some volunteers among human females already interacting with Rodytes. A few from here, but most from Outpost LA. Garin wants them fast-tracked so we’ll have a larger case study to reference during the official launch. Three successful transformations really isn’t a very large trial.”

  Kaden nodded. “Makes sense. Has Dr. Mintell agreed?”

  “Mintell collected the females’ DNA this morning. The matches should be notified by day’s end.”

  “How many transformed couples do you hope to have by the grand opening?” Lexie asked, her expression tense, almost wary.

  “Between twenty and twenty-five,” Raylon told her.

  She shook her head, lush lips pressed into a disapproving line. “That’s still a really small sample. The FDA will never approve—”

  “We don’t intend to apply for governmental approval.” Challenge lifted Raylon’s chin and made his eyes look even colder. “We attempted to work with your government, but it was obvious they were only interested in controlling the study and keeping the general population in the dark. All of the procedures will be performed on the Intrepid by nonhuman personnel. The only permission we need is that of the couples who volunteer for the program.”

  “I’m not sure human governments will see it that way.”

  “They’ve left us no other choice.” Raylon sounded utterly unrepentant. “We don’t have time to jump through endless bureaucratic hoops. We have a good bit of momentum going right now. We will not compromise that progress.”

  Lexie nodded, still looking a bit dubious. “So what’s the next step?”

  “I’m not sure.” The admission sounded almost painful. “Not foreseeing the reaction you’ve brought to our attention proves that we still have work to do. Our interaction with human females has been limited.”

  The statement created the perfect opening for Kaden. “With your permission, sir, I’d like to take Lexie through the program step-by-step and see how she reacts to each stage.”

  Raylon’s brows arched and a wry smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “Is Lexie willing to mate with a Rodyte male?”

  “I’d take her through the program verbally, not literally.” Kaden kept his tone casual. He didn’t think Raylon had picked up on the attraction smoldering between him and Lexie, and he preferred to keep it that way for now. “She can offer an objective opinion of the process.”

  “I won’t offer anything until Libby is safe,” Lexie stressed.

  “Zilor mentioned a missing sister,” Raylon said. “What makes you think we had anything to do with it?”

  “She was kidnapped by two large men with long dark hair. And both her roommates swear that the men vanished right before their eyes.”

  “Are you thinking Fyran’s crew?” Raylon asked Kaden.

  He nodded. “That seems likely, but the roommates also reported two sets of men.”

  “Two sets of men?” Raylon’s brow furrowed and he looked at Lexie expectantly.

  She swallowed before she answered. The next part made an already unusual story downright bizarre. “The first set grabbed her in a large parking lot, but before they could get away, the second set showed up and took her away from the first. There was a short struggle and then all four men just disappeared.”

  Raylon looked openly skeptical. “How reliable are these roommates.”

  Anger ignited in Lexie’s eyes. She scooted to the edge of her chair and spoke in emphatic phrases. “Very reliable. Neither has any reason to lie. Besides, if they’re lying, then Libby is in on it too and there is no way in hell Libby would do that to me, or our other sister.”

  Raylon paused as he considered the new information. “Even with the odd anomaly, Fyran and his crew are the most likely suspects.”

  “Unless we have another renegade ship on our hands,” Kaden pointed out. “Where was the Marauder eleven days ago?”

  Raylon turned slightly and activated his workstation. The control matrix rose from the desktop and he quickly navigated to the application he needed. “According to Dravon’s logs, he was on Ontariese eleven days ago.”

  “Logs can be falsified,” Kaden objected.

  “I’ll verify the information. Do you have a reason to suspect Rex Dravon? His interest in our cause seems legitimate to me.”

  Kaden shrugged, not sure why he was so suspicious of the newcomer. “He’s a deserter. I have a hard time trusting anyone who abandons his post and his fellow soldiers. Have any of our ships failed to report?”

  Raylon shook his head. “All of our ships are accounted for. It sounds more like rival hunting parties.”

  “Hunting parties?” Lexie sounded horrified. “As in hunting human females?”

  “We suspected that Fyran was allowing his crew to hunt. Our interrogation of Milanni confirmed it.” Raylon’s brutal honesty never wavered. Man, woman, or child, each was treated with the same directness. Some found it abrasive. Kaden had always appreciated the candor, but he wasn’t sure Lexie would feel the same.

  “Milanni is finally ready to cooperate,” Kaden told Raylon. “She admitted that she can find the Relentless, but she wants certain things before she’ll tell us how.”

  “Imagine that,” Raylon scoffed. “The self-serving madam has demands.”

  Lexie’s curious gaze shot to Kaden. “Milanni is a madam?”

  “Among other things,” Raylon answered for him. “What does she want and how do we ensure that she’s not leading us into a trap?”

  “She wants Rex Dravon to take her to a destination she’ll only disclose to him as well as enough money to start a new life once she gets there.”

  Raylon rubbed his chin as he stared past Kaden. “It would be well worth it, if her information leads us to the Relentless. But that’s a massive if.” His focus returned as he asked, “What’s her fixation with Dravon?”

  “They’re both criminals.” Kaden shrugged. “She must trust him more than she trusts us.”

  “That’s not surprising. You threw her in a detention cell as soon as she arrived.”

  Kaden refused to apologize for the decision. It was more than she’d deserved. “She rushed the main entrance. You would have blasted her to bits.”

  “You’re right. I would have. Still might.” Raylon pressed back into his chair and narrowed his eyes. “We have to verify her information before we set her free. Can we trust Dravon to cooperate?”

  “H
e’ll demand payment, but Milanni seemed sure he’d deliver her to wherever she wants to go.”

  Raylon nodded thoughtfully. “I sent him on an errand this morning that will make him hard to reach, but he’ll return tomorrow afternoon. Do you have time to find out if he’s as anxious to help Milanni as she believes?”

  “I can make time. I’m sure you need to know what he’ll charge before you make the final decision.”

  “True.” Kaden had pushed to his feet when Raylon spoke again. “If Lexie is staying, even for a few days, she needs to be inoculated. A translator chip is optional, but I’d recommend it.”

  “Of course. I’ll see to it.” Kaden looked at Lexie. She’d clearly heard every word. Remarkably, she remained quiet.

  After a tense pause, Raylon added, “You should probably mark her and run her DNA through the database as well, but I’ll leave those details to you. How’s the other female doing?”

  Kaden cringed at the question. He’d intentionally avoided the subject, not wanting to upset Lexie needlessly. “Her physical injuries have been regenerated, but she’s still nonresponsive.”

  “Damn.” After another thoughtful pause, he looked at Lexie. “We’ll do everything in our power to rescue your sister and the other human captives. Fyran and his crew have eluded justice for much too long already.”

  Chapter Three

  “Who was Raylon talking about? Who is this ‘other female’?” Lexie hurried along the railed walkway circling the highest level of the commerce tiers. Raylon had rattled off other terms too, inoculations, translator chip, and being “marked”. She decided to tackle one issue at a time. Kaden strolled at her side, his long legs easily matching her pace. She was closer than she’d ever been to finding her sister, yet the next clue was at least a day away. The sudden rush of progress made the wait seem unbearable.