Chapter 29
“So what do we tell Earth?” Armando asked wearily.
Moira shook her head, at a loss. “I don’t know. They’ll suspect foul play and may even see it as a threat to Earth itself. We can’t handle any more unrest.”
“I say we wait. Tell them they’re still on vacation and handle any issues ourselves. Moira’s right. Earth is a powder keg right now. This would just set it off, and without Erik here to soften the blow, who knows what punishments we’d receive?”
Armando sighed, not liking this but not seeing any other options. “Alright, I’ll take point?” he looked to Moira for approval only to be met with her wry look. “What?”
“Agent Munoz or perhaps I should call you Captain’s Mate Summers? You outrank me now,” she chuckled at the blank incomprehension that flashed across his face.
Cassidy smiled and clapped him on the back, snapping him out of it. “Don’t worry man; we’re still here for you.”
“I’m not sure how comforting that is.” He said dryly. And though Moira knew he was joking, she couldn’t help but feel surge of guilt at how little help they’d been for Charles, even now lost to them in the depths of space.
She turned to look out into the stars and swallowed thickly, hoping against all odds that they’d see him again alive and well. The only hope she had was the devotion the Admiral showed the smaller man. They were either alive together or lost to them entirely.
~~
Genlen stepped aboard Admiral Lehnsherr’s craft. It had been found floating adrift in space with only one life form aboard that was too small to be either Erik or Charles. His crew was busy unlocking the ships records of the past several days while he searched the craft for specific clues.
His conversation with the young human had stuck with him in the few days since they’d met. He couldn’t help but wonder what the other man saw in Shaw’s mind that frightened him so.
Shaw himself was out and about in his personal craft once again. He claimed to be searching for the pair, but something about his words rang false. He had even name dropped the Ragus as potential kidnappers.
What an odd conclusion to jump to this deep in Federation Space.
Plus he had been uncharacteristically manic on their video call. He had been close to spitting mad when Genlen and his team had been given leave to lead the investigation of Lehnsherr’s private craft. Shaw had insisted his own team be given the lead, thankfully he had been overruled.
The Ragus were sworn enemies of the Federation and lived in the lawless wilds of deep space. They could also reproduce with their own kind and hatched from eggs in massive swarms hundreds strong.
Their numbers were truly daunting, even to one who intimately knew the size and scope of the Federation. If it ever came to all out war there would be staggering casualties on both sides and there was no guarantee the Federation would come out the victor.
For them to sneak into the heart of Federation Space and capture an admiral and his expectant mate would be as formal a declaration of war as there could be. But something didn’t add up. There had been no raids and few recent border skirmishes, nothing at all like a ramp up to open hostilities that the Ragus favored. They were missing something vital.
Genlen closed his eyes and slid one of his ever present gloves off before pressing his bare hand to the wall of the ship’s deck.
He felt the residual presence of the mated pair and the alternate insensate/manic activity that seemed to be the hallmark of the tiny creature now watching him malevolently from the captains’ chair.
Erik and Charles had been intimate several times then fallen into a sleep cycle. It had been nearing its end, at least for the admiral. Humans slept for mind boggling stretches of time. Then there had come a cloaked presence. Noticeable by its very absence. Then nothing but the creature left alone on the craft.
It was a very bad sign, and a point in the favor of Shaw’s theory that they’d been captured by the Ragus. Even Genoshian cloaking technology was based on Ragus physiology with some slight tweaks. He could only hope he was wrong.
Genlen stepped back from the wall, waiting for the report from the rest of his team who had fanned out to perform a physical search of the ship. He put his gloves back on and eyed the speckled creature who had growled at his assistant only moments ago.
He sighed and hoped those claws weren’t strong enough to slice through the fabric of his uniform.
~~
Erik was shaking as he tried to make sense of the star charts in front of him. His human adrenal and emotional response was still wracking his system.
He took a deep breath and tried to focus. It looked like Shaw had held them for just over two days. They had missed two scheduled jumps and hadn’t updated their logs which had surely immediately alerted the Federation to the fact that they were missing.
He called to mind all he knew of emergency star charting out of Federation space. It wasn’t a skill he’d ever needed, but he was more than capable of figuring out their location.
“I think we jumped more than once,” Charles said from his side, one hand placed protectively on his lower abdomen.
“Surely at least twice if he needed to recharge both drives,” Erik agreed tensely.
“At least three times, perhaps four. When we were out, he managed to recharge and use the drives again.”
Erik paled at the news. This was worse than he thought. He had rarely been outside of Federation Space and never would have brought his pregnant mate into the dangerous depths of unconquered space.
“Can’t we call for help?”
Erik shook his head briskly, “We aren’t the only power in the universe. Any number of our enemies would kill or die to capture an admiral, much less two.”
Charles’ eyes widened, “Then why would Shaw bring us this far out? Why would he risk it?”
Erik frowned, it made no sense. He shivered and grit his teeth, trying to push all thoughts but escaping their current situation out of his mind.
Charles stepped in close and looked up into his eyes, sending a quiver of awareness through his body. “I knew you weren’t all right! Erik!-Oh.” He finished softly with a blush.
Erik cleared his throat and stepped back from his alluring mate. “The drug should be out of my system within a few hours.”
Charles bit his ruby red lower lip and teased it between his teeth, “Or we could work it out of your system.”
Erik feared that stress had caused Charles to have a break with reality. “What.”
“I mean, you need to be able to concentrate. It’s kind of important,” Charles insisted breathily, pupils dilating at the very thought. Erik wondered if his mates’ adrenal system was also overloaded by the stress of their situation. It was the only logical explanation. Not that logic often seemed to enter into human decisions before intercourse, at least not according to his research.
The timing of his request was entirely inappropriate, but Erik couldn’t help his immediate physical reaction to his mates’ proposal. What the hell was wrong with humans that this situation could seem erotic?
Charles took umbrage with the unexpressed thought. “Nothing is wrong with us! You’re the one who wanted to try angry sex! This is a similar reaction! Why shouldn’t we celebrate surviving this far?” he slipped his arms around Erik’s waist and pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder.
True, but perhaps they should wait until they’d survived further still.
He wavered.
“We can celebrate then too,” Charles licked his lips and nuzzled the side of his neck, “this will just help take the edge off.”
Erik groaned as another surge of arousal flooded his body, either Charles was making very good points or he had become far more human than he’d ever thought. “I do suppose it would upset Shaw were we to befoul the deck of his personal craft.” He conceded with a small frown.
Charles smirked and stepped in close, “You have no idea.”