The front door opened and closed, and he straightened. “Let’s get you fed. You’ll have to come back here, or there’s a screening room upstairs if you want to watch a vid. A library, too, if I remember correctly. I’m to be debriefed, which, as you’ve pointed out, is top secret.”
“Are you laughing at me?” She grinned and opened the door.
“Yes.”
“Good.” She looked at him over her shoulder as she walked ahead of him. “You need to laugh more.”
Piper tried not to gape when she nearly ran into a man the size of a tree trunk. She looked up and then up some more and into the startlingly handsome face of the man who had to be the boss Andrei had just mentioned.
He smiled down at her, taking her hands.
“Welcome. You must be Piper Roundtree. I’m Wilhelm Ellis, and I wanted to extend my appreciation, and that of Roman Lyons, for all the help you’ve rendered Andrei.”
“Thank you, though you need not thank me. Andrei is like my family; I’d do anything for him.”
Ellis’s left eyebrow rose over intelligent eyes. “Lucky Andrei.”
“Come on into the work room. I’ve got the food out, and we can get started.” Julian waved them all toward the room they’d been in earlier.
“Sit, Piper. You must be tired.” Vincenz poured her a mug of kava, still steaming. She took it gratefully, adding a few drops of sweetener. The table held several platters of meat, cheeses and vegetables. A lot like home, and she felt better for that bit of familiarity.
No doubt about it, though she tried to act nonchalant, she was overwhelmed and way out of her element. Still, she wanted to be with Andrei as long as she could in any way possible, and there was no denying how amazing it was to watch him in his many varied guises.
“Eating and talking.” Ellis nodded at Andrei. “Good job on the sample.”
“Thank you, sir.” Andrei handed over several tubes, packets and a data chip. “The samples are from the mine. We went to survey it all.” He tossed another chip to Vincenz. “Video footage of the mine and what distribution and processing system I could see.”
“We went to survey it?” Ellis turned to Piper, who raised her chin and stared back. Of course she had to pretend she was dealing with Taryn, who was scary but nowhere in the same league as Wilhelm.
“Yes, sir. Piper rendered much-needed assistance to me. Has done since I first arrived. She monitored the situation from high ground with a weapon as I was down at the mine site. Her superior piloting skills have been integral as I was able to infiltrate the merc community in Asphodel on the weight of her reputation.”
“Sounds like we should offer her a job.” Julian said it, and he didn’t much sound as if he was joking.
Vincenz tucked the chip from the destroyed transport into a data receiver and began to unlock the coding. The samples were similarly loaded into test trays for analysis.
“The mine is well staffed?” Ellis asked.
“Was.”
The smile Ellis gave Andrei chilled Piper down to her toes. Andrei ran his foot along the back of her calf to comfort her, and it worked.
“We need to debrief. Piper, will you excuse my terrible rudeness?”
She stood, holding a roll in one hand and the kava in the other. “Andrei told me you have a vid screening room upstairs?”
“Top of the stairs, second door on the left. Please help yourself to whatever you find to watch. The kitchen is down here. The pantry is fully stocked, and there are juices and some ales in the cold case.”
All four men stood when she moved to the door. She wanted to say something flip and silly to Andrei but knew it wasn’t the time for it.
She settled on one of the large, overstuffed chairs in the room, tucking her legs beneath her. Choosing an action vid from the screen menu, she tried not to think about anything but enjoying the show.
Instead, the sound of explosions and weapon fire was her music as she thought.
She’d spent her life surviving. There had been times when she’d truly wanted things, and she’d worked hard to attain them. But somehow, new blast doors for the house and a better engine for the zipper did not really equal what she felt right then.
Being with Andrei had brought her need for more to the surface. Not more things. Not more credits. But a life with a man at her side. A life with Andrei in it.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew he wasn’t the kind of man who would be home each night by the time the glow lamps went on. She knew there’d always be his job, and sometimes it wouldn’t include her.
And she was all right with that. She accepted who he was, and more than that, it was part of what she loved so much about him. His dedication to something more than himself.
It made him into what she considered to be a real-life hero. In his quiet way, he was larger than life. Much like the way she loved him.
Somehow, she’d always imagined falling in love with the man she’d consider her mate would be miraculous and startling. It was, indeed, miraculous, but as she’d already loved him eleven years before, she wasn’t so much startled by it or by him. No, she was startled by how easily she simply accepted it right then. Accepted how much she loved him.
There were things she’d been undecided on, things she wasn’t quite sure how to feel about. Not so this thing between her and Andrei.
She was old enough to know what it felt to love someone. Old enough to know the difference between a fleeting infatuation and the depth of love. And she believed, quite strongly in fate.
Oh, she knew others would laugh and think her silly, but there were things in the world that could not be explained. Things a body just knew or did. Her future wasn’t one path but limitless possibilities, branches and connections.
She’d lived her life making choices. Not always the ones she wanted to make, but she’d made them and dealt with the consequences. She’d existed and survived, and on the continuum of joy and sorrow, she’d had much more of the former. Her life was filled with love. Love she’d made the deliberate choice to open her life to.
And now, this was one of those branches in the road. Her path was Andrei; she saw that clearly. She walked exactly where she knew she was supposed to be and would choose him with everything she had.
She smiled, leaning back in the seat, wiping away the tears, knowing her future would only be one with her life twined with his.
“
T
hanks to the information you’ve gathered, I believe we’ve stemmed the flow of Liberiam into Imperialist territory.” Wilhelm paused as he looked through the data before him on the table. “As of this morning, we learned what Parron was being used for. A substance used in super-machines to keep them from overheating. A gel used in the firing mechanism. It’s more complicated than that, of course, but the details aren’t relevant. Only that the material’s flow from the Federation Universes has been cut off.”
“Processing plants.” Vincenz looked up from his work between five different screens of data. “It has to be. The part Mirage plays. The other two ’Verses had raw materials. They’ve got to be processing it somehow. They can’t possibly smuggle that sort of mass and not be detected.”
Ellis leaned back. “Get Daniel on the comm. Andrei, I want you here looking for these processing plants.”
He’d have to leave her, send her back to Asphodel.
“Yes, sir.”
“Go talk to her while we wait to get Daniel on line. Roman should be involved as well.”
Heart breaking, he ascended the stairs and headed toward the screening room. That broken heart stuttered when he saw her there, tears on her face. Never had he needed to fix something more in his entire life.
He moved quickly and ended up on his knees, pulling her into his arms. Over and over he’d done it. He’d tried to hold back, tried to erect defenses against her, but there weren’t any where she was concerned. He needed her.
“What is it? Are you ill?”
She hummed her pleasure, nuzzling his neck. “No. Not that I’m complaining about this lovely cuddle you’re giving me. Why do you ask?”
“You’ve been crying. Are you unhappy? Do you miss your brothers?”
“Oh that. I’m the opposite of unhappy. I’m overjoyed. Because I’ve chosen you.” She said it as if it made sense. She had a way of doing that.
“What are you talking about, Piper, and why are you crying over it?”
“Women cry when they’re happy, too. You cannot tell me you’ve no experience with the emotional wiles of females. They moon after you everywhere we go.”
At his confused expression, she laughed, kissing him quickly before she went on. “I’ve chosen you to be my man. To be very old-fashioned, which I am in some ways, you know, my mate. I already loved you of course, but this is different, a deliberate choice to love you and be with you.”
“Piper, we can’t be together. Especially right now. There’s a war starting. I have to stay here, and you have to go back to Asphodel.” He paused at her silence, wary. And he didn’t want to hurt her. “When this is over, I’ll come to you. I don’t know if I have anything to offer you. But I’ll come to you.”
Her brows rose and she cocked her head to the side. He was still on his knees, so they were eye to eye. “I’m not going back to Asphodel if you’ll be here.”
“You’ll be safer there. Or, you, Kenner and Taryn all go to Ravena. Stay in my house while I’m gone. It’s the Center, no place better protected.” He nodded, making his mind up, and still she had that face. “What? Woman, why are you looking at me that way?” he thundered, and she jumped up.
Instead of fear or sadness, she jumped up and down, clapping her hands, grinning.
“There it is. Now I know for sure you love me, too. You have a lot of fire inside you. But you keep yourself so controlled. You lost that control for me. Oh, stop looking at me like that. You and I both know you love me, and that is that. What kind of woman would not know a man loved her when he shielded her from dead bodies and jumped in the line of fire for her? And you nearly broke someone’s hand because he was snotty to me.”
Still wearing that grin, she crossed her arms over her chest. Like a lunatic.
“You love meeee. You love meeee.” She sang it, dancing around the room as he watched, shaking his head.
“You may never say it, being the stoic body you are.” She shrugged. “But I know it and you know that I know it. You show me you love me, which is better than telling me. Now, are you going to tell Ellis that I’m staying to be your backup, or shall I?”
She headed down the stairs at a very high rate of speed as he made it to his feet, yelling her name.
By that point, everyone had gathered at the base of the stairs.
“Mr. Ellis, I do like you, and you’ve been very nice to me so far, but I have to tell you I have no intention of going back to Asphodel while Andrei stays here.”
Andrei moved to take her hand and yank her backward, but Wilhelm stopped him.
“And why is that, young woman? Are you under the impression that an operative’s lady friend should be allowed to accompany him around like a camp follower?”
Andrei would kick her ass if she picked a fight and Andrei had to jump in to protect her. Of course, Ellis could fell him in one hard punch, but he’d go down protecting Piper.
“Camp follower! What an interesting example. But you see, I don’t intend to sit around and wash Andrei’s clothes and make his meals, though I do like to cook. No, he needs backup, and I’m it.”
“I think we’ve got plenty experienced operatives to handle that. You’re a civilian.”
Andrei took a step forward, expecting Piper to leap on Wilhelm’s leg and bite him for being so condescending.
“I am a civilian. But I have military training, which you have to know because you had me looked at like I would if I were in your shoes. I’m also a damned fine pilot. I know the land here. I know how to fly in canyons and over deserts. I know stealth. Probably as well as many of your operatives.” She looked to Andrei and smiled, patting the hand on her arm. “Not this one, of course, but I doubt you have anyone better either.”
Ellis stood there, frozen in shocked silence.
“I love him and we work well together. All his silence doesn’t bother me one bit, and he’s a good navigator. I can shoot well, and I will when I need to. You can ask him about that.”
Ellis’s gaze shifted to Andrei. “What is your perspective on this?”
“Sir, I’d apologize, but, to be honest, I always find myself amazed when she’s this way.” Everyone gaped at him. “It is my preference that she go to a safe place in the Center. But it is my understanding and my belief that she will not allow herself to be sent away.
Tenacious
is a nicer word than
stubborn
.”
“Andrei, you made a joke.” She winked, and he sighed.
Ellis laughed and shrugged. “Fine. Don’t get killed, or he’ll be useless to me. Come on in, we’re about to brief on the escalation we’ve seen recently and Vincenz’s very astute answer to a question we’d been pondering.”