Page 21 of Logic Broken

Shoving all that aside, I focused on the here and now, on basking in that after-sex glow. Soon, I was asleep again.

Vagabond

Tori

Holding a tiny bundle of shimmering anthracite baby in my arms was a bit like flashing back to that day I’d given birth to my beautiful Novalee. “He’s gorgeous,” I said to Noa, who was lying in her own bed in the quarters she shared with Luka. She looked exhausted after the long hours of labor, but she was beaming with happiness.

Luka was perched on the edge of the bed, his hand holding his mate. He wore a peaceful expression as he gazed at his son in my arms, though his appearance was anything but his normal, slick, put-together look. His long black hair was in complete disarray, his doctor’s coat was buttoned askew, and I was pretty sure he already had at least two baby spew stains on one shoulder.

“He is,” Eoin agreed from over my shoulder, peering down into the tiny sleeping face of the little boy. “And Teralyn is a beautiful name.” A name made to fit the conventional naming scheme the Aderians adhered to, but it was a nod to Earth and Noa’s roots, too, because it was going to be Terry for short.

I really hoped this wasn’t making Eoin think I was ready for another baby; Nova was just starting to walk and was such a handful right now. I hadn’t realized how many dangerous places there were on this ship for her to get in trouble. He could wait until I was good and ready. Not that he’d even hinted at wanting another kid; he adored Nova and treated her as if she was his own flesh and blood.

“Thank you,” Noa said. Terry started making faces and fussing and I knew what that meant. Leaning over, I handed the tiny infant to his mom so she could feed him. That did give me a little pang of envy. Novalee still took a feeding in the morning and evening, but she was otherwise almost entirely eating solids. I missed that very intimate moment with my baby where it was just me and her sitting quietly; nowadays, she couldn’t sit still unless she was sleeping.

“We’ll leave you guys to get some rest,” Eoin said, patting Luka on the shoulder. “And if you need someone to watch him for a couple of hours, we’re only a few doors down the hall!” I loved how eagerly he offered his assistance, even if that meant sacrificing a little of his own sleep. I was also certain that the entire ship had given them the same offer during each of the carefully scheduled visits. Luka was taking no chances with Noa’s current need for peace and quiet.

“Thank you,” he said as he led us to the door. There were baby things all over the place, from the small crib to a changing table and diaper cleanser. A table was covered with all the gifts our friends had brought them so far, including our set of silver charms for above the crib, which Eoin had crafted himself.

Once we were out the door, Jakar nearly ran over us in his rush. “There’s a lead! There’s a lead on Akri again!” he exclaimed, waving his upper set of hands around and pointing at the bridge with the lower pair. Meena was behind him, a wriggling Novalee in her arms since the pair had been watching her while we visited little Terry.

I shared a bemused look with the beautiful woman while I took my daughter from her arms. Jakar was adorably excited about everything, but when it came to the well-being of his friends, he took things to a whole new level. Eoin shared the excitement; he clapped Jakar on the shoulder, “What is it? Tell me!”

They stuck their heads together as they spoke in excited tones; Jakar a mop of black curls, and Eoin gleaming silver and copper bristles. “Drameil went down to the surface in a shuttle. He’s been spotted talking to some government official. Sunder says it’s got to do with a secret research facility! He might have the coordinates for us.”

So, not a direct lead on Akri, but by following Drameil’s movements… That was clever, and I hoped we could get to them before the terrifying Crimelord could get his hands on our friend. The sound of Sunder’s voice over the intercom made us all pause in our tracks and lift our heads.

“We just received a huge data transmission. I believe it’s from Akri. Meet in the ready room, everyone.”

Chapter 13

Akri

I hated leaving Jenny alone in that cell, especially after what we’d just shared together. My mind was still playing catch up, trying to process all the feelings surging through me. A mating instinct explained so much of what I felt for her, but it was more than that; Jenny was amazing. She was brave and cheerful, and she never seemed all that bothered by the many curve balls life was throwing at her.

I admired that, and I wished that I could do the same. That I could just shrug and take all the things that I felt, that I did, or went through in stride with the same grace she did it with. But I couldn’t let it go; I needed my answers. Without them, I knew I would never trust myself completely.

When my internal clock had warned me that Scientist Lekri was going to have me fetched from the cells soon, I had Jenny get dressed. Then I made sure she had my datapad, water, and food tucked under the cot’s mattress while we placed our bags back outside the cells.

To avoid arousing any kind of suspicion, we had to make it look like we’d been locked up all day in separate cells. But I couldn’t let Jenny be locked in there the whole day without the things she needed; locking her up was wrong. So balanced on my toes, I hooked myself up to the base’s network via the camera on the ceiling. It was a little difficult to get the access I needed through so simple a connection, but I managed to give Jenny full permissions again.

“Stay here. I will be back,” I warned her when I was done. “In case of emergency, you have the ability to leave this place. I made sure of it. But please, stay here and wait for me. I will be back as soon as I have the answers I need.” She nodded with an unhappy expression on her face and her hands gently stroking my right Liades, the one the scientist had abused with his crude biopsies.

I pressed my mouth to hers, my Liades coiling around the back of her head to hold her to me. “Stay safe for me, Jenny.” There was a little rumble in my chest at the thought of her in danger. It didn’t startle me anymore to hear that kind of sound coming from me. It was starting to feel right, fitting.

“I will, but Akri, promise me you will take care of yourself. Answers might be important, but make sure the cost for them isn’t too great.” She touched my injured Liades again as if to remind me that maybe that kind of damage wasn’t worth it. I had to disagree, to discover what I needed; any price was worth paying. Any price but her.

My chest felt tight when we parted and each returned to our separate cells. I’d managed to get our timing right, so we didn’t have to wait long before two guards showed up to take me to the lab. This time, only one of them was an Ovt; the other was a Rummicaron male with one of the coldest expressions I’d ever seen. That one was not going to have any sympathy for either of us; he was just here to do his job, even if it involved torture.

The sight of his presence opened up a pit of worry in my stomach. When the others previously talked about gut feelings, it always baffled me. Guts didn’t have thoughts or feelings. I got it now. His presence was sparking all kinds of alarms. Was Jenny right? Was I taking too big a risk?

They cuffed my hands at my back before they moved me from the cell and urged me down the hallway at a brisk pace. I had a final look over my shoulder at Jenny, at my mate. She was at the glass, her hands pressed against it and an expression on her normally so cheerful face that I could only interpret as pained, anguished. My chest ached in response; I felt like I was doing something wrong. I didn’t want her to hurt because of the choice I was making.

“Keep walking,” the Rummicaron grunted, and he wrenched the arm he was holding, making me lurch forward. Right, I had to focus on what I could control right now, and I could control a lot of things; they just didn’t know that I could. I had the upper hand.

The lab was cooler than the floors above it and I shivered without my shirt, which I hadn’t bothered to put back on, considering how torn it was. My coat had been tossed in a corner in the lab yesterday and it was still there when they urged me through the door. We were on the same floor as the supercomputer, but this was a medical room with a metal table kitted out with straps and a tray of medical instruments prepped and waiting beside it.

Yesterday I’d resigned myself to losing a bit of skin, a bit of blood. I figured it would take me a couple of hours to get what I needed from Lekri, but he was more tight-lipped than I wanted, and he hadn’t kept his personal notes stored on the supercomputer, he hadn’t let me have access to any other machine until the very end. I hadn’t had enough time yesterday during that short window of opportunity to do much more than mess with the cameras and guard schedules.