He didn’t want her to hate him.
Resting his elbows on his knees, Damon dropped his head into his hands and groaned. He made sure to keep the noise low so he wouldn’t wake Ravyn, but he had to give voice to his frustration. If he thought it would help any, he’d walk out into the pouring rain, but he knew nothing was going to cool his hormones.
Pulling his eyes away from the woman sleeping next to him was a lot harder than he wanted it to be. He stared out at the darkening sky. If this storm didn’t let up soon, they might not be leaving tomorrow morning. The ground needed time to dry out before they could travel on it. After another hour or two of rain, it would be too dangerous to hike through the woods for at least one more day.
Being confined in this minuscule space for an extended period of time with a woman he wanted more than his next breath might be more than his good intentions could stand.
Damon felt considerable relief when he heard the rain ease and then stop about fifteen minutes later. He’d check in the morning, but he thought they could continue to the Old City.
He’d been fascinated by that place since the first time he’d heard of it. His biggest disappointment about the training mission on Jarved Nine had been that he and his team wouldn’t be going anywhere near the city. Even then part of him had itched to reach it, to wander the paths that had been laid down more than three thousand years ago. Now he was concerned about how strongly he felt drawn to a place he’d never been to before.
It was almost spooky.
A sound caught his attention, stopped his thoughts in their tracks. Damon cocked his head, trying to hear it better. It almost sounded like an old supply train drawing closer. He hadn’t heard one of those since the early days of the Third War.
Standing, he drew his pistol and stepped to the mouth of the cave. He didn’t see anything moving out there, but the noise came closer and he didn’t like not being able to identify it.
He shifted back and crouched beside Ravyn. He hated to disturb her, but if they needed to move fast she had to be ready. “Ravyn, wake up.”
Her eyes opened, but he could see she was groggy. Damon hoped they didn’t have to make a run for it or he might be carrying her. As tired as she looked right now, she’d probably walk into a tree or over a cliff.
“What?”
Even though he was worried, Damon couldn’t help the small smile at her querulousness. “I hear something,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Be ready to go if I give the signal.”
“What is it?”
She instantly became more alert, but even so he doubted she’d be able to move very fast He shrugged his shoulders at her question. He still couldn’t identify it.
Ravyn sat up and rubbed her eyes. He stood, and with only the smallest of hesitations, held his hand out to help pull her to her feet. His body reacted to her nearness, uncaring of any danger outside the cave. Damon squelched his desire, forcing his attraction aside. He was a professional and he’d be damned if he would endanger either one of them because he couldn’t keep his mind off sex.
He moved back to the entrance, watching for heaven only knew what. He didn’t have much time left to make a decision. They either were going to have to outrun whatever it was or stay here and take their chances in the cave.
Ravyn stood beside him and he glanced down at her. “What do you hear?” she asked again.
How could she miss it? “You don’t hear it? It sounds like a train.”
He hadn’t realized how tense Ravyn was until she relaxed beside him. She smothered a chuckle, but not before he heard it. Damon narrowed his eyes and demanded, “Okay, what is it?”
“What you’re hearing is a huge swarm of contilla. The closest thing we have to them on Earth would be the common housefly. The contilla migrate after heavy rain storms like this in groups that can number in the millions.”
“They’re not dangerous then?” he asked, trying to remember the facts he’d studied.
“No. Even if we ended up in the middle of the swarm, we’d just be irritated by their landing on us. They don’t bite or sting or anything.”
Damon tucked his pistol away and put some distance between them again. Contilla he could handle.
Ravyn was another story.
CHAPTER SIX
Alex had been worried about Ravyn.
Twice a week the Jarved Nine crew sent encrypted messages to their families on Earth. His sister hadn’t missed an opportunity in the entire eight months she’d been off planet. That two chances had gone by without her making contact, concerned him.
Now he was flat out terrified.
From the time Ravyn had been small, he’d always known when she was in trouble. That sense had been lost when she had gone off planet, and he cursed the distance preventing the connection. He needed to know she was okay. He needed to do more than sit here cooling his heels.
He studied General Bouchard with well-disguised dislike. As a career soldier, Alex knew how to keep his thoughts to himself. Blowhard, as he was not-so-lovingly known, was pompous, concerned only with his own image, and he homed in on the press like a heat-seeking missile after its target. What the man lacked in military aptitude, he made up for in ego. Alex eyed the two stars on the general’s shoulders. The man had to have incriminating pictures. That was the only possible way he could have moved so high in the ranks.
When the summons had arrived, Alex hadn’t been able to imagine why the general wanted to see him. The man had nothing to do with Spec Ops. Then he’d remembered Bouchard played military liaison to CAT Command. That had prompted Alex to move faster. How he’d managed to keep his face impassive as Blowhard had informed him the emergency beacon on Jarved Nine had been activated, he would never know. He’d barely recovered when Bouchard gave him his orders.
It had been a blessing when the call had come through for the general. It had given Alex a chance to compose himself. He needed the time to grasp that he was leading the rescue team. It had surprised the hell out of him until he realized Bouchard hadn’t gathered even basic information. One cross check of the records between the J Nine team and his personnel file would have shown he had family there. Ravyn was his next of kin. It seemed Blowhard’s only considerations had been rank and availability.
His patience began to wane as the general’s consultation with his tailor continued. It had already been a half hour of minutiae. The lack of consideration was part and parcel of Blowhard’s personality, but Alex was about ready to go over the desk and end the conversation himself. The idiot didn’t think the problem on J Nine was critical.
Alex knew different. He could feel it in his gut.
It took all his training to sit as if he didn’t want to put his fist through the wall. Or into Blowhard’s soft mid-section. He reminded himself the beacon had been triggered four days ago. That it would be another two days before they’d be ready for launch. A half hour cooling his heels in the general’s office wasn’t going to make or break the mission. All the logic in the world didn’t mean a damn thing, though.
Ravyn was in trouble.
Alex didn’t need to close his eyes to remember the big-eyed little moppet who had become his stepsister. He’d resented the hell out of her when he’d learned of her existence. She was one more person to take up his father’s time and attention, but he hadn’t been able to hold out against her long. She had looked up at him with adoring eyes, smiled and said, “I love you, Alex.”
That had been it.
When his dad had been too busy for him, Ravyn had dogged his heels, begging to be included. When his mother had cancelled visit after visit, Ravyn had been there telling him she was a big dummy. He had ten years on her and she had still tried to keep up with him. And had done a good job of it for such a pipsqueak.
Alex barely kept the fond smile off his face. It would be as inappropriate for him to grin as it would be to show his disdain for a superior officer. He continued to sit stiffly in the chair and waited for the conversation to wrap up.
The plush office offended Alex. There were so many things the troops needed far more than the general needed an office better suited to a big business robber baron. The desk alone must have cost more than an enlisted soldier made in a year. The highly polished surface held nothing work related except two short stacks of file folders.
They fought with the same weapons his father had fought with because the military claimed it didn’t have enough funds to develop new, advanced rifles and other systems. The only saving grace was the other side spent the same pitiful amount to arm their troops. It galled Alex that money could be brazenly wasted on such unnecessary extravagance.
He bit back a sigh. The fault didn’t lie solely with the military. The government shared a big part of the blame. Career politicians unwilling to shift necessary funding to the Defense Department. Citizens unwilling to sacrifice even one luxury item so resources could be diverted to weapons production. He gave a nearly imperceptible shake of his head and refocused his attention on his surroundings. With the American flag behind the general’s left shoulder and the Western Alliance flag behind his right, even Alex was forced to admit it made a splashy backdrop. He just couldn’t figure out who needed to be impressed that much.
“Now where were we?” Bouchard asked, finally finished.
“We were about to discuss personnel for the Jarved Nine rescue mission, sir.”
“It’s not a rescue mission, Colonel, and you will not refer to it as such. Officially, it is a fact-finding mission.”
“Yes, sir,” Alex said impassively. He would call it a pleasure cruise as long as he received orders to go to J Nine.
“Good. You’ll have a full-sized K-110 transport ship for this mission. Two crews of military pilots will be flying. CAT Command wanted to send one of their own ships, but I convinced them we could get there faster.”
Alex nodded and tried to look appreciative of the general’s supposed brilliance. Evidently the performance was good enough.
“You’re in charge,” Bouchard continued. “Pick five men. I imagine you’ll choose from Spec Ops since you are most familiar with personnel in that group. CAT Command will supply the communications specialist and the team doctor.”
“General, I believe this mission will run more smoothly with all military personnel.”
The general’s expression of a pleased and benevolent leader disappeared. “Colonel, the emergency call came from a CAT base, not military. You’re lucky you’re not shipping out on a Colonization Assessment Team transport.”
“Yes, sir.” Alex hid his frustration. Of course, CAT Command wanted to handle this themselves. Unfortunately for them, the charter of the organization threw this set of circumstances squarely in the military’s lap. Grudgingly, he had to concede the general had done a good job limiting the CAT personnel to two.
“I have one more piece of information before you’re dismissed. A Spec Ops team was on a training mission to Jarved Nine. They were scheduled to land on the planet mere hours before the beacon was triggered. Not only has CAT Command been unable to raise their team, we have been unable to raise ours.”
Alex stiffened. His heart had stopped when he’d heard the CAT team had not responded, but for a Spec Ops team to be unreachable at the same time meant trouble greater than he’d imagined. “Who was in command of the team, General?”
Blowhard pulled a folder from one of his stacks, opened it and flipped through several pages. “Brody, Captain Damon Alan, Team Two Spec Ops. Do you know him?”
“Yes, sir. Team Two is one of our finest. They would have responded to the CAT base as soon as they heard the emergency beacon. I’m concerned that we have not been able to establish contact with them. We need to send in several Spec Ops teams.”
“Colonel, there will be no additions to your team. You have your orders.”
“With all due respect, General, I believe the situation on J Nine is more serious than you believe.”
“What are you basing this insight on, Colonel? The fact that a Spec Ops team is late reporting in?”
Outwardly, Alex remained cool, but his frustration started to rise. Blowhard didn’t work with Spec Ops enough to know, but the only way a team wouldn’t have made contact in a situation like this was if they were incapable of it or it would endanger them to do so. On a personal level, Alex didn’t like Brody, he never had, but professionally, the man had become one of the best officers they had and he led a top-notch team.
“Yes, General, that is what has me concerned.”
“It’s probably a communications glitch. There’s never been a serious problem at a CAT base in the history of the program.” Bouchard leaned back in his chair, clearly unconcerned.
“Jarved Nine is only the third planet to have a CAT team assigned. Just because nothing happened on Cymara or Rotesen, doesn’t mean the situation isn’t critical on J Nine, General,” Alex persisted.
Blowhard straightened in his chair, his face mottling in anger. “Colonel Sullivan,” he said, his tone brooking no further argument, “this is a low-level assignment. The only reason Spec Ops personnel are being allowed on this mission at all is because amateur comm operators picked up the distress signal and the press is about to run with the story. You have your orders. Your only options are to follow them or think about the penalty for disobeying a direct order. Am I making myself clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you have anything else you want to add?”
“No, sir.”
“You’re dismissed.”
Alex stood, snapped off the required salute, and when it was returned, headed for the door.
“Colonel, see my assistant on your way out. She has a file of compiled information for you.”
*** *** ***
Alex didn’t rely solely on the general’s information. He gathered his own. Both flight crews assigned to this mission pleased him. Their selection probably had more to do with the media coverage than any concern Blowhard had about the success of the rescue, but Alex would take them any way he could get them.
The five men he’d personally chosen for the mission came from Spec Ops as the general had predicted they would. But not for the reason the general had thought. No, Alex had chosen them because he knew beyond doubt the situation on J Nine was bad and Special Operations had the best warriors in the military. He’d worked with all five men before, assuring that they could function well as a team.