Part 17 (1/2)
Madeline was reminded of the Dacerian slave women who frequently appeared on the intergalactic market. She thought of it with distaste.
”What do we do now?” she asked.
Dtimun moved away, pacing. ”I have a map of the area where he is being held. It will take a little time to make arrangements.”
”I'll start on them immediately,” Sfilla promised.
”I will take Sfilla and go to Dacerius, first thing in the morning, to free him...”
”Not without me, you won't,” Madeline said at once.
Dtimun whirled. ”You will not go,” he said firmly. ”The child makes you too vulnerable.”
”Yes, well, the child and I are the only protection you're likely to have,” she returned stubbornly. ”A lone Cehn-Tahr male in that thieves' den would be immediately suspect.”
”She is right,” Lyceria commented.
” Bataashe! ” Dtimun shot at her, with no regard whatsoever for her position.
Madeline was surprised that the princess allowed him to speak to her in such a way. She glared at her commander. ”You shouldn't speak to her that way. She's a princess,” she reminded him.
Lyceria's eyes, unaccountably, flashed green at the human female's defense, but she didn't say a word.
”I do not need protection,” Dtimun continued, unabashed.
Madeline gave him a droll look. ”It will be easier for us to retrieve you if you don't end up in a Rojok prison camp.”
”I will remind you that I have lived successfully for two hundred and fifty years without your intervention,” he reminded her curtly.
”Lucky you!” she shot back. ”I'm going with you.”
He moved toward her. ”The child will inhibit your ability to protect yourself. The distraction of protecting you could cost us both our lives, to say nothing of the child you carry.”
She stared at him. ”The child is temporary,” she reminded him, ”and I won't remember any of this in about two weeks' time.”
His eyes made an odd combination of colors and there was a stifled sound from Lyceria.
Madeline glanced at her and frowned. ”Are the two of you keeping something from me?” she wondered aloud.
”You and Lyceria will return to Memcache,” Dtimun began.
”Like b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l I will,” Madeline said, standing taller. ”You are not going to Dacerius without me!”
”Madam...!”
”Try it,” she replied hotly. ”You can lock me up, but I'll just escape and find an alternate route to Dacerius and go anyway.”
Lyceria's eyes were mirthful. Sfilla was struggling not to laugh. The commander looked like every male since the beginning of time who was trying to reason with an unreasonable female.
”The child should not go into such danger,” he groaned.
She moved right up to him. ”Yes, well, unfortunately he and I are a matched set. It isn't possible to leave him behind.” Her eyes searched his. ”I'm not letting you commit suicide, sir. I put too much work into saving you at Ahkmau. ”
He actually groaned aloud. ”Madeline, I do not need the constant reminder...”
”Apparently you do!” She glared at him stubbornly. ”I'm going with you!”
Sfilla placed a gentle hand on his arm. ”She is correct. If you and I go alone, suspicion will be immediate and possibly fatal.”
”Yes, and her son would agree with her,” Lyceria said.
”Her son?” Madeline asked, curious.
”My son is captain of the kehmatemer,” Sfilla replied, smiling at Madeline's surprise.
”Captain Rhemun?” Madeline said aloud. She laughed. ”Well, now I know who he gets it from.”
Sfilla frowned. ”Gets it from?”
”His audacity,” Madeline said, and grinned.
. ”I see,” responded with a laugh.
Dtimun did not like Madeline's reference to the captain, of whom he had still some small jealousy. He growled softly.
She arched her eyebrows. ”Sir!” she admonished.
He averted his gaze.
”We're still dancing around the issue,” Madeline said. ”You have to let me go with you.”
He didn't like the idea, but he was persuaded that she was correct. He sighed. ”Perhaps I do.” His eyes twinkled. ”Hazheen Kamon will permit us to stay in his camp while we search for Chacon. He will provide any additional security that we require.”
Madeline was recalling that it had been in that camp where Dtimun had become involved with the Dacerian woman with whom he bonded so long ago. Jealousy rose in her throat like bile. She didn't dare oppose him, because he knew Dacerius far better than she did. But he would be enmeshed in the past there, in his memories of the beautiful Dacerian woman whom he had loved. Madeline would fade into the background, perhaps even be resented by him. She turned away, sick at heart.
He read those thoughts in her mind with surprise. He hadn't thought of the Dacerian woman in some time; certainly not since Madeline had become pregnant and he had realized that his old paramour never was.
He started to speak to her, when a flash came over his comm unit.
It was Patch. ”I have more information,” he said, and related it.
Madeline was restless. She shouldn't have been. Everything was in place. They knew where Chacon was.
Very early in the morning, when their covert transport was ready, they'd go to Dacerius and with the help of Sfilla's operatives, rescue him and secure the future.
And it sounded good. But she, like most military vets, knew that any battle plan, regardless of its genius, was written in water. So many factors could influence its success.
She laid a hand on her swollen belly, on her child. It was incredible how much she'd changed in the past few weeks. All her life, she'd been a neuter, neither male nor female, only with the appearance of a female, conditioned to see males as comrades, not potential mates. Now, everything had changed.