And it will help appease that fiendal's^ry. Starla's mind reasoned.
"Medical products and drugs sell for high prices in secluded ports," Auken continued. "She should be a simple challenge with little risk."
"What if she's a trap?" Sach wondered. "Been put between us and the boundary to tempt us to take her to avoid going back emptyhanded?"
"What do you think, Starla?" the team leader questioned.
"Sach could be right; it would be a cunning tactic." She pretended to concur, in case the medical goods were in desperate need somewhere.
"What do you think, Dagan?" Auken queried the last member.
"I say we slip into our Seki uniforms and lay claim to her haul," the Kalfan agent answered; he would explain his clever reason to Starla later.
Auken grinned and said, " Dagan's right; we take her load."
After everyone was deceptively attired as space rangers, the raid was carried out without a problem, and a valuable cargo was taken aboard the Adika.
When the group reached Noy, it was late at night, so they did not meet with their leader or unload their cargo. Instead, Sach, Dagan, and Starla took a shuttle to the landing grid while Auken remained aboard his "injured" ship to sleep there. A fatigued Sach bid the couple farewell and headed for a nightspot to enjoy several drinks before retiring to his abode.
Starla decided, much as she loved and craved Dagan, she leeded to concentrate on her mission and duty tonight, not 3n him. "I don't think you should come to my ship and I shouldn't go to your chamber tonight," she said, then searched her mind for a plausible excuse. "I'm certain To-jhar is furious about our failure and will be looking for somebody to blame for our recent trouble. We not only didn't get those crystals he wanted, but we almost fell into a lethal trap. I suspect his Kalfan contact failed him; since we were assaulted, he might have been exposed and captured; if that's the reason, Tochar will be reality-impaired and furious. It could look suspicious for two of his newest team members to be so close so fast, despite our admissions during those Thorin tests. I know we haven't been alone for wegs, Dagan, but we don't want to take any risks of displeasing him. I doubt that medical haul will assuage him when it's moonbeams he wants badly. We should let him settle down tomorrow, then get together the following deega. Do you concur?"
Dagan, who needed to send and receive a report from Phaedrig, was compelled to respond, "Yes, I think that's wise. For all we know, he could be watching us this very moment and wondering if we're plotting against him. We should hug and kiss and go our separate ways tonight."
Starla decided to ask him tomorrow why he agreed with, actually coaxed Auken, to raid that medical ship, as she did not want to get into that offensive matter at this late horn. She smiled, shared an embrace and kiss with him, whispered she loved him, and headed for her shuttle. She heard Dagan leave in a landrover which had been left there by someone.
After reaching her ship, Starla found Cypher ready to pass along a message from Supreme Commander Thaine Sanger. She listened with relief and interest as the android
told her that Syrkin had exposed himself while attaching a signaling device to the crystal shipment and had been arrested. "That explains why the evil traitor couldn't give the cue to Auken," Starla reasoned. "He was placing his world and many others in terrible jeopardy for selfish reasons. I wouldn't have been surprised if Tochar had destroyed him after Syrkin was no longer useful to him. Tochar wouldn't allow an equal to work with him later; those are the kinds of men who eventually become rivals and threats and assassinators. Wouldn't it be marvelous, my friend, if we could create a breach between Tochar and his Serian contact, make them believe they can't trust each other? But that's impossible without knowiag the man's identity, and I don't know how we can obtain it, not yet anyway. Somehow, I must get closer to Tochar, Sach, and Auken; then, perhaps one of them will let that crucial name slip."
"Do not increase your mission velocity; haste or impatience evokes dangerous mistakes," Cypher advised. "We are making steady progress; our accomplishments are many and important. I understand your desires to defeat Tochar and to return home as quickly as possible, but do not rush your task and imperil it. The feat you performed in the asteroid belt will elicit praise and admiration in the villites. It is possible that episode will achieve a bonding goal and the rewards which accompany one." Cypher explained how he analyzed she was in no danger from the Kalfans when he saw their vessel depart in the opposite direction to continue to their destination. "I assessed the damage to the Adika and concluded it was not beyond the capabilities of Dagan Latu and Sach to repair or bypass them. Our instruments detected the signal Auken sent to the other vessel, the one Moig revealed to us. I recorded the frequency and incident as evidence. Following my return to Noy, I had our water system flushed and refilled; it has been decontaminated and sterilized for your consumption."
"Have you filed a report to Thaine?" Starla asked.
"Negative. In the event he made a verbal response, I did not think it was intelUgent for him to learn I left you behind in possible peril. The disk is ready for you to complete the data; then I will send it to our superior."
"You're the best teammate I could have, Cypher. I'll add my news in a preon. Anything else happen during our separation?"
"On the preceding deega, I used a holographic image of Yana to dupe Radu and others with him into believing Yana was in the settlement while Starla was absent. All illusions were carried out at a distance to which the aliens could not approach her image and discover my tricks."
"You're so clever, my friend," Starla complimented the android. "No one should suspect Yana and Starla are the same person. We need to keep her around until we're certain we won't have a special use for her." She took a deep breath and said, "I'll finish that report so you can send it to Thaine. By the time I finish my cleansing and having a refreshment, if he intends to respond, he can do so before I take to my sleeper. I'm exhausted."
On the planet's surface, Dagan awaited a reply from Dauld Phaedrig concerning the communication he had sent out earlier. While he sipped a drink and lazed on the seata, he let his troubled mind drift to Starla. He wished he could be with the ravishing spaceki tonight, but realized he must put duty and this pivotal assignment above his personal desires for one deega. He had to discover what was going on; if mission matters were heating up and perils were increasing, Starla could be in danger and time with her could be shortening faster than he knew. He could not surmise why Phaedrig had allowed shots to be fired on them with him aboard, and he was angry and alarmed because Starla could have been injured or killed.
When the encrypted message came through from his superior in a code only I-GAF members knew, the skilled agent learned about Syrian's fate. It was clear to him that the unknown factor's lead had been accurate again; yet, Phaedrig still had no idea who or where that source was. In regard to why an attack had occurred against the Adika with him aboarct the answer was that the Seki superior from the capital planet in Kalfa had put several of his rangers aboard after Syrian's exposure and arrest.
Phaedrig's symbols deciphered to explain how he couldn't order the Sekis to cancel counterstrike plans because doing so would reveal there was an I-GAF agent in Tochar's band. Their orders were to disable and capture but not kill, so the spacekis could be interrogated before punishment: if an assault was hazardous, the rangers were to break off their pursuit and safeguard the crystals to their destination. "No more clues received from anonymous informant. No ftirther data located on Starla Verdris."
Dagan wished he could recall his rash comments about Starla's piloting skills and prowess; that she would make a good agent; that she didn't believe in life-taking and resisted doing excess damage; that from how he saw it, she was into something over her head and didn't know how to get out; that he was certain Tocher wouldn't let her go alive; and how she had endured a hard life and made mistakes, but was a good person inside.
Phaedrig had cautioned if he was "getting too involved with one of your targets, Curran, don't forget she's a wanted villite, one of Tochar's band."
Dagan sent a short reply. "I haven't forgotten and I won't."
The following morning, Auken took Starla to a site where they were to place the cargo they had collected earlier from his ship. They had been assigned to unload and store their
recent haul while Dagan and Sach worked on Auken*s craft using parts stolen during the raid on the Sion space station. While aboard the Adika, the band leader had related to Starla and Dagan he had told Tochar how they had saved the team and his ship during the ill-fated trek. Auken had grinned and hinted they shouldn't be surprised if Tochar rewarded them for their courage and prowess. Starla and Dagan hadn't been given an opportunity to speak privately, but each was cognizant they had plans to meet that night in his abode.
At the cavern's entrance, too narrow for a landrover to drive through, Auken stood beside two vehicles and recorded the items and drugs before Starla carried them into a storage cave. The natural corridor used to reach the correct chamber was long and twisted. It was illuminated by hanging lanterns, a light source which was predated long before her parents' births, but a necessary one in this primitive location. It prevented her from taking a wrong passageway along the winding course, since there were many paths and recesses in the dark red grotto's interior.
As she worked, Starla wondered why Tochar had not commanded some of his Enforcers to assist them in order to lessen their time and labor. These weren't, she reasoned, the type of products the leader needed to keep a secret; and the site—one of several—was always under guard. Perhaps, she mused, there were items amassed in other cavities that the fiendal didn't want his hirelings to see. While alone, she whispered for Cypher to take a coordinates reading so she could return later to investigate that idea.
As she approached the cavern's opening to get another load, Starla heard Tochar's voice and halted before rounding the last bend, hoping to learn something vital. She signaled Cypher to go on alert and to record the conversation. She kept out of sight and eavesdropped as the villite leader told someone—perhaps Auken, but she didn't think so from his
tone—about Syrkin's loss in Kalfa. When Tochar spoke about the thwarted moonbeam raid and boasted of how his special team had eluded Kalfan rangers, she knew his companion was not the other Icarian. She heard him brag about his loyal spaceki team which cunningly had substituted a raid for medical supplies so they wouldn't return to him empty-handed.
"Our accomplice on Ulux contacted me to relate the ill-timed news that Sedan mines and shipments have been put under heavy guard by Raz Yakir's order," Tochar said, "so no crystal raids are possible any time soon. Unless, his thrall on Kian finds a way around that precaution. In the event that does not occur, my friend, I am considering a plan to mount the smallest Destructoid from atop my dwelling to my ship so my team can strike at will. That would leave me with my two largest ones for protection. If Dagan Latu—one of my recent hirelings and best men—cannot do that kind of work, I will get my special team to abduct a scientist from Seri who can."
Starla was horrified by that news and prayed her beloved would not be an accessory to such evil. She wished she knew who was with Tochar, but she dared not peek around the rocky comer and risk being seen. The other person hadn't spoken, but no one ever interrupted Tochar and the fiendal was still speaking.
"I cannot wait any longer for a big white crystal to be found and another Destructoid to be built so I can recover my losses," Tochar continued. "If we are going to get control of Trilabs and make use of its products, we must have one of those weapons to penetrate Darkar's force shield and complex structures. With Trilabs and the moonbeams in our possession, we will have great wealth and power, more than we can imagine or ever use. These are serious and pressing matters, my friend, but we will discuss them later. Go and look over the items stored inside to see if there is anything you want or need. I will join you soon in the lighted cham-
ber. Starla Vedris is inside and will guide you around. Do not allow certain lust for her to show, my friend, she must not be offended; she is my best pilot and an elite member of my special team."
Before the man could respond or react to Tochar's suggestion, Starla hurried down the winding passageway to the chamber she had just left to pretend she was stacking containers. She did not want to be caught near the entrance and be suspected of spying, and she was eager to discover the identity of the stranger. As she made those preparations, she whispered them to the ever-vigilant android aboard her orbiting ship, then awaited a new adversary's arrival and exposure.
"Starla Vedris, Tochar sent me to—"
As she turned from her faked task, her startled gaze widened as much as the Mafifeian's did as his shock sliced off the remainder of his sentence. Starla felt as if the blood drained from her face, her entire body, as she confronted Acharius, son of Avatar Faeroe, son of the planetary leader of Caguas in her Galaxy, a man near her age who knew and desired her.
"What in Gehenna are you doing here, Bree-Kayah?*' he exclaimed.
Starla mutely cursed the traitor before her who was jeopardizing her mission, who surreptitiously had aligned himself with the forces of evil and darkness. As he gaped at her in shock, it gave her time to think rapidly about what to do. She wondered if she should slay him and try to bluff it out with Tochar; or let the nefariant live, escape fast, and admit defeat. In order to safeguard her mission, could she, Starla mused, kill the son of a Maffeian Avatar, a man whose father was a respected leader and a close friend of her parents? If she didn't eliminate him, sparing Acharius's life could cost innumerable ones on the planets in the United Federation of Galaxies, and her own after he exposed her to Tochar.