She wondered what Dagon’s were, if he had any. “Are you married? Or bound to anyone?” she asked, trying to remember the correct term.
“No.”
The women on his planet must not be too bright, because he seemed like a nice guy. “Just thought I would ask. Wouldn’t want to upset anyone by giving you that hug.”
Again he chuckled. “What of you?” he asked, surprising her. “Who is Max?”
Surprise flitted through her. “How do you know about Max?”
“You thought I was Max when I called your name.”
“Oh. He’s just a friend.” Max was actually her Second, or human guard, who handled business for her and watched over her while she slept during the day.
“Are you bound to another? Or married?” he pressed.
She laughed, then clenched her teeth and fought the urge to curse when pain shot through her chest again. “No. I’m not married.”
“Why?”
Eliana couldn’t help but laugh again despite the agony it spawned. “Boy, I love how you say that. You sound baffled.”
“I am. You seem to be an honorable woman. Quite a likable one, too, if I may be honest.”
“Well, aren’t you a charmer?” she teased. “Maybe I’m just too ornery and butt-ugly to attract a man.”
Multiple masculine laughs met her ears, Dagon’s among them, reminding her that everyone on the bridge was listening to their conversation.
Enough flirting.
Wait. Had she been flirting?
Maybe.
Oh well. She’d needed the diversion.
“I guess I’d better go back to sleep,” she announced reluctantly. “Slow my heart rate, try to conserve oxygen.”
“Of course.” Was that disappointment she detected in his deep voice?
“You still planning to head my way?”
“We are speeding toward you even as we speak.”
“Thank you, Dagon.” She closed her eyes, slowed her breathing. “Don’t forget about me.”
“There is little chance of that,” he murmured just before darkness claimed her.
“Commander Dagon.”
Dagon jerked awake. “Yes?”
“Your presence is requested on the bridge,” Barus stated, his voice grim.
Rolling out of bed, he headed for the small connecting lav. “I’m on my way.”
A few minutes later, he strode onto the bridge. “Report.”
Barus vacated Dagon’s chair. “I believe we’re approaching some of the wreckage of the Kandovar.”
Dagon took his seat and stared through the clear crystal window. Dark space stretched before him, a sight he usually found calming. Today, however, large chunks of metal and other debris floated in the distance. “Reduce speed.”
“Reducing speed,” Galen, his navigations officer, confirmed.
Dagon scrutinized the flotsam. “Are any of the missing escape pods present?” An alarming number were still unaccounted for.
“I haven’t seen any yet,” Barus replied.
“None have appeared on radar,” Galen added.
Janek turned and met Dagon’s gaze. “And I’m not picking up anything on comms.”
“Any sign of the Gathendiens?”
“No, Commander.”
The fact that none of the Aldebarian Alliance members currently searching for survivors had come across the Gathendien ship that committed the vile attack troubled Dagon. The Yona stationed on Lasaran search vessels, soldiers to their core, had warned all allies to keep both their shields and their guard up, suggesting the Gathendiens might be lying in wait to attack any who came to the Lasarans’ aid, or worse, might be searching for survivors themselves and picking them off one by one.
Imagining a Gathendien warship coming upon Eliana before he could reach her had kept Dagon from finding much sleep since they had last spoken. He had insisted Janek keep the comm line to her open, though four days had passed since they had heard anything from her.
She had surprised them once. He held out hope she would do so again.
“Galen,” he ordered, “guide us through, nice and slow.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Dagon and the others carefully scrutinized every scrap of debris. They passed two large pieces of the ship’s hull that bore scorch marks. Pieces of furniture and personal items indicated this had been part of the living quarters. Living quarters Eliana had helped evacuate, according to Lasaran survivor accounts.
Barus pointed. “There.”
Dagon clenched his teeth. Three bodies floated amid the rubble. Two wore protective suits. One didn’t. None moved. He glanced at his tactical officer. “Rahmik, are you detecting the presence of any concealed ships?”
“No, Commander.”
He turned to Barus. “Send a crew out to bring the bodies aboard. We will return them to Lasara for burial.”
Barus touched his earpiece and began issuing orders.
“Remain vigilant,” Dagon warned both the bridge and the team readying for their space walk.
Somber silence fell as they watched the squad approach the bodies, aided by small propulsion jets strategically placed on their protective suits.
“All are male,” one stated grimly. He didn’t have to say they were dead. Their oxygen would have long since run out. The fact that Eliana had survived as long as she had continued to perplex them.
Janek caught Dagon’s eye. “Do you think any were from Earth?”
He shook his head. “Eliana said the Earthlings were all female.”
None, as yet, had been found.
The women should still have a goodly supply of rations. But Eliana believed they didn’t know how to pilot the pods and thus could not seek refuge on any moderately inhabitable planet they might locate. Nor could they prevent the pods from being caught up in the orbit of any uninhabitable planet they floated past and—should their orbit decay—crash to the planet’s surface. The pods were designed to provide optimal protection in a worst-case scenario, but even they could not withstand being subjected to the surface temperatures of some worlds.
As soon as his men were on board again, Dagon turned to Galen. “Return to full speed and resume course to Eliana.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Dagon left the bridge. It only took him a couple of minutes to reach the infirmary. Three corpses lay side by side on treatment beds. Two still wore their suits. The third bore only the ravages of his painful death in space.
Chief Medical Officer Adaos stood beside one of those in a suit.
Adaos glanced over at him. “Commander.”
Dagon motioned to the casualties. “Can you identify them?”
He nodded. “I just need a drop of their blood. Once I run a scan, I can match each man with a name on the crew list the Lasarans sent me.”
Moving to stand on the opposite side of the body from Adaos, Dagon crossed his arms and watched the healer cut the man’s suit open. The familiar scents of death arose.
Dagon ground his teeth together. Would he be standing here in three weeks, watching Adaos cut open Eliana’s suit? Would he see her face through her helmet’s shield, frozen in death?
“You are thinking of the Earthling,” Adaos murmured as he took the blood sample.