“You want me to offer them refugee status on Pavlovan?”
“Could you do that?”
“Of course. I’ve grown a lot more powerful within the assembly since my triad was completed. Soreya gave me a new source of telepathic power that no one else has.” He hesitated. “As long as your family is okay with it. Have you spoken to your mother recently?”
“I don’t talk to her, she talks to me—you know that. She has no concept of an actual conversation.”
“Do you want me to go and see her?”
“Would you?”
“I wanted to speak to her anyway.” His smile tightened. “Soreya is concerned about her inability to have a child.”
“Then you should definitely speak to her.” Neeve leaned in closer. “Could you make it soon? I’m worried about what’s going to happen to these telepaths.”
“I’ll confirm as soon as I can.” He raised his eyebrows. “It’s really that important to you?”
“It might be. By the way, these are all military personnel. I’ll be asking the authorities here if I can use them as security for the trip home. If it all works as planned, I’ll need you to back me up on this.”
“I’ll do that.” He smiled. “It will be good to have you home, Neeve.”
She sighed. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“What do you think?”
“You can’t run away from your destiny, forever.”
She signed off and spoke into the silence. “Yes, I bloody well can.”
“This is most unusual, Dr. Neeve, most unusual.”
Neeve smiled sympathetically at the Commander-in-Chief of Earth’s military. “My family
is
rather protective of me, General Schaeffer. There isn’t much I can do about that. I’m sorry for all the inconvenience. It’s just that once they realized there were a few telepaths on Earth who could help secure my return to Pavlovan, they wouldn’t settle for anyone else bringing me home.”
“One wonders how they found out about them in the first place.”
She opened her eyes wide. “I didn’t realize it was a secret. When my family asked if my mating needs were being met, I was happy to share that you had exceeded my expectations by providing me with telepaths. My planet is very grateful, and
very
amenable to continuing to share our telepathic skills with your emerging youth.”
Of course, all he cared about was the military applications of telepathy, like the Etruscans. But she wanted to give him the opportunity to at least pretend to respond positively to the Pavlovan assembly’s demands.
“I’ve been instructed by my government to release the required personnel to you for this mission. They will meet you at the space port when you depart tomorrow morning.”
Neeve smiled. “Thank you, General. I appreciate your support.” She shook his hand and waited for him to leave, accompanied by his large entourage. She could only hope he’d take the obnoxious Professor Dean with him.
“Well?”
Neeve smiled at Mac who was sitting on her bed, his hands clasped between his knees. He wore his usual black military uniform and had just had his hair cut so short it looked like bristles.
“Well what?”
“Are we leaving or not?”
She leaned back against the door and considered him. “Yes, we are. Ash has arranged it all just as I asked him.”
“Who’s Ash?”
“He’s the head of the Pavlovan Assembly.”
“A useful man to know.”
She debated mentioning her mother but decided it was far too early in their relationship to dump that on him. “He is. I’m also very fond of him.” She noted the slight tensing of his shoulders. “He’s one of the most powerful telepaths I’ve ever known. He’s gorgeous to look at too, long silver hair and a body to die for.”
He looked up at her. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
She moved closer until she was standing between his knees.
“He can’t wait to meet you either.”
“Did you tell him we were lovers?”
She cupped his chin. “No. I’d rather wait and share that in person.”
“Will he object?”
“It depends whether he likes you or not.” His jaw flexed beneath her fingers and she fought a smile. “He is a very powerful man. His good will is important to cultivate.”
“Understood,” he murmured, and turned his face until his mouth brushed her thumb. He kissed her knuckle and then licked it. “When are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“And the other telepaths?”
“Are definitely coming with us.”
He let out his breath. “I still can’t believe this is going to happen the way we planned. Are you sure Professor Dean can’t interfere?”
“Mac, I just spoke to General Schaeffer himself. He’s okayed all the details. Between him, Ash and my mother, I don’t think the prof stands a chance.” She bent to kiss him. “Are you still okay about this?”
“About accompanying you to Pavlovan?” He met her gaze head on. “If it means I can save the other telepaths from becoming Professor Dean’s lab rats, then yes.”
She took a step backward. “So it’s purely a business decision.”
“You know it’s more than that.” He stood up. “I want to hear what this Oracle of yours has to say.”
“And depending on what you hear, and how you interpret it, you’ll decide whether to stay or go?”
“It’s the best I can offer you at this point.”
“For a telepath you are so damn unemotional.” She turned on her heel, her heart a tight fist in her chest.
“Neeve—“
“What?” She wouldn’t turn around.
“Give me a chance here, will you? I’m trying, I really am.”
“Understood. Good night, Mac, see you at the spaceport at 0500 hours.” She held the door open until he came toward her.
“Would you rather I lied to you?”
“Of course not.”
He stopped in front of her and it took every centimeter of her control not to reach out and touch him. “I’m not trying to fuck you around, but—“
“I
know
. Just fucking’s fine without all the other stuff. Go away.”
She stepped around him, pushed him hard in the chest and shut the door in his face. The fact that he could enter her mind at will meant her action was pointless, but it was, at least, symbolic. It hurt her to realize he didn’t understand her world as much as it hurt him to consider sharing her with anyone else.
Neeve sat down on the bed still warm from Mac’s presence. Whatever the Oracle said, there were still a lot of issues to decide. Getting Mac to Pavlovan was only the first step of a potentially long battle. Would they ever see eye to eye?
Waking up from stasis and reuniting with the other six members of the super soldier project who’d agreed to leave Earth was a surprisingly emotional experience for Mac. He hadn’t expected to feel so in tune with them so fast. Apart from Neeve, the rest of the crew were unable to communicate telepathically which meant the telepaths could exchange information quickly and easily without having to worry about Professor Dean and her colleagues analyzing every thought anymore.
Some of the men were stronger telepaths than others, but the ease with which they slipped back into the same command structure was both surprising and reassuring. Kaiden was a natural leader and all the men automatically deferred to him. It was good to sit down and explain the situation in more detail, outlining the potential to stay in Pavlovan if they wished, and the likelihood of Professor Dean reclaiming them as research subjects if they did choose to return to Earth.
Mac sat back and watched everyone’s faces as Kaiden outlined the mission ahead. Everyone except Declan O’Hara seemed enthusiastic about meeting other telepaths and exploring the possibilities of a new world. Mac knew that it wasn’t because Declan didn’t want to be there. It was more that he was always the last of the bunch to commit to anything. His caution had saved more than one of the super soldiers’ lives, and his opinion, when given, was always respected.
“Do we have to remain in the military?” Declan finally asked.
Kaiden looked at Mac. “I don’t think so, Dec, but we can confirm that with the Assembly leader when we arrive.”
“Good.”
That was all Declan had to say at this point. He nodded his auburn head and studied his clasped hands.
Kaiden stood up. “I think it’s time you all met Dr. Neeve. She’s the Pavlovan female who arranged for us to leave Earth. We’ll be protecting her on the last stage of this journey to Pavlovan through potentially hostile space.”
There was a knock on the door and Neeve came through. She seemed unfazed as all the males shot to their feet and saluted her. Having not seen her for several weeks himself, Mac drank in the sight of her braided auburn hair and the tight blue uniform that emphasized her tall curvaceous shape.
“
Put your tongue back in your mouth, Mac.”
Luckily, Kaiden sent the thought privately and Mac snapped back to attention.
“Commander Kaiden, Captain McNeil.” She nodded at the rest of them. “I appreciate the escort back to Pavlovan. As I’m sure Kaiden has told you, we are approaching hostile space. I’m not expecting any trouble, but you never know with the Etruscans. They aren’t even officially at war with our planet, but they do have a nasty habit of stopping our ships and exterminating telepaths. So we’ll be taking a circuitous route to circumvent the more obvious trade routes and hopefully avoid any trouble.”
Declan O’Hara saluted. “Excuse me, Dr. Neeve. Are you a telepath?”
“Yes.” Neeve looked over at Declan and Mac found himself moving to stand between them.
“I thought so.” His smile was very sweet. “Just checking, doc.”
Neeve smiled at him. “All Pavlovans are born with some strain of telepathy. Some families tend to produce stronger telepaths than others and have accumulated power and wealth over the years. Developing your telepathic abilities is considered the most important thing a citizen can do to improve his or her life.”
“
Apart from mating
.”
Neeve’s gaze flew to Mac’s. “
I’m not going to get into that when I’m the only female aboard, okay?
”
“
You’re my female
.”
That possessive comment got him blocked so hard he almost winced.
Despite that, he went to stand beside her. “If any of you have any questions about what awaits us on Pavlovan, I’m sure Dr Neeve will be more than willing to answer them during the week ahead. But for now, let’s pretend we’re a unit again and concentrate on drawing up a strategic plan to secure this ship from the Etruscans.”
“This doesn’t look good.” Kaiden muttered as he studied the view from beside the captain’s chair. “Three Etruscan vessels are converging on us. Have they attempted to contact you?”
“Nothing yet.” Captain Wertz scanned the navcom screen in front of him.
“Is it worth trying to communicate with them first?” Mac asked.
“I’d rather not draw any more attention to us. What do you think, Wertz?”
“To be honest, I’ve never been hailed or chased by an Etruscan ship before. I’ve heard they are relentless.”
“Are there any Pavlovan ships in this sector?” Neeve sounded a lot calmer than the ship’s captain, which was a blessing. “It might be worth trying to find some back up just in case.”
“But if we start contacting Pavlovan ships, the Etruscans might see that as an act of aggression.” Captain Wertz said. “Planet Earth has worked very hard to maintain our neutral stance in all these intergalactic squabbles.”
“
Squabbles
?” Mac glared at the man. “You do realize that if we’re boarded, we’ll all be dead?”
“I thought they only took the telepaths.”
“Captain, all the military personnel on this ship are telepaths. If you expect them to defend you and your crew, then you have to cooperate with us.”
Neeve leaned forward and tapped the navcom. “There’s a Pavlovan ship right here not too far to the left of us.”
“I can’t see it.” Mac glanced down at the screen. “How can you tell?”
“It’s shielded, but I can sense the telepaths on board. We’re all using these routes to avoid the Etruscans at the moment. It stands to reason that someone would be out here.”
“Can you communicate with them without using the ship’s systems?”
“I’ll have to.” Neeve grimaced. “This ship doesn’t have the capability. It also doesn’t have great shielding, but that we can fix.”
“Sir.” Captain Wertz spoke in an undertone to Kaiden. “I am not authorized to allow modifications to this ship.”
Kaiden clapped him hard on the shoulder. “That’s okay because I am, and I have the approval of both governments to do whatever is necessary to get Dr, Neeve safely home to Pavlovan.” He raised his voice. “Lieutenant O’Hara? Get up here.” He smiled at Captain Wertz. “I’m officially relieving you of command of this vessel.”
“But—”
“O’Hara, take the helm. Roberts take over at weapons.”
The captain was politely but firmly escorted off the bridge. His protesting voice could still be heard as the doors shut behind him.
Neeve turned to Mac and Kaiden. “Can you two help me boost my signal?”
“Can we?” Mac asked.
“Tell your men to raise their shields first.” Neeve added.
“Done.” Kaiden moved closer. “Should we hold hands or something?”
“It’s not necessary. Just attempt to blend your power with mine as I project this message.”
Despite himself, Mac ended up holding her hand as he allowed his telepathic power to blend with hers and Kaiden’s. The information shot from them at such high speed and volume that he felt the other telepaths shields start to buckle.
“
Damn
.” Kaiden groaned. “
That fucking hurt
.”
“It would be better if we had a complete triad. But they got the message loud and clear and are altering course to escort us.”
Her smile grew as the Pavlovan military vessel drew closer and let down its shields. “We hit the jackpot. This is a class one military ship with a full complement of military personnel on board.”
The main screen flickered and two faces appeared.
“Dr. Neeve, how good to see you again.”
Mac found himself leaning closer to Neeve as she grinned at the two males. One of them was dark haired and huge, and the other was blond and sat in the captain’s chair.