“What do you mean?”
Jonathan shook his head. “AeroSaqii also intends to sell our experiment, once they’ve perfected it. But to a private consortium that hopes to turn it into a weapon instead of a propulsion agent.”
Grace felt the blood drain from her face. “How do you know this?” she whispered.
“I’ve had a mole planted in AeroSaqii for several months now,” he told her. “And he told me that when the transmission came back garbled, people at AeroSaqii became very upset. Paul—that’s my mole—
thought their reaction was way out of proportion to the problem, and he started digging deeper. It seems that several of the men there were from this consortium and not really AeroSaqii scientists.”
“A weapon?” Grace whispered, shrinking away from Jonathan. “They plan to use my experiment to build a weapon?”
His grip tightened. “Of mass proportions,” he confirmed. “Can you imagine what an ion-based weapon would be capable of? It would make a nuclear detonation look like a firecracker going off in comparison.”
“Jonathan,” Grace hissed on an indrawn breath, reversing their positions and grabbing his arms. “We’ve got to stop it. You need to give AeroSaqii their money back, and we’ve got to block the transmission they’re receiving, garbled or not. Now, before they find a way to unscramble it.”
“I tried to reason with them, Grace. I told them the deal was off, but they’re having none of it. It’s too late. And now I’m afraid they have sent someone here to make sure they get what they paid for.”
Grace pushed away from Jonathan and moved to the opposite side of the room, alarmed by what he was implying. Hugging herself against the sudden chill in the room, she turned back to face Jonathan.
“What do you mean, they’ll make sure they get what they paid for?”
“Just that, Grace. According to Paul, they’ve sent men to bring you back to their lab to straighten out the transmission and process the data.”
“That’s kidnapping, Jonathan.”
He nodded. “Yes, it is. But to the devils AeroSaqii crawled into bed with, it’s worth the risk. And that’s why you’ve got to come back with me, Grace. Today, before they get here. We have the security in Virginia to protect you.”
Hugging herself again, Grace looked at the cradle where Baby was sleeping. “I…I can’t just up and leave, Jonathan,” she said softly. “I’m right in the middle of my own obligations.”
Baby started fussing, and Jonathan snapped his head around in surprise. He turned back to her and frowned. “You’ve still got that kid?”
“Yes. And his name’s Baby.”
Jonathan snorted. “That’s not a name, either. Why haven’t you given him to his father?”
“I haven’t decided if he deserves him yet,” she said, picking Baby up and sticking his pacifier back in his mouth. She headed for the kitchen.
Jonathan followed her.
“Who is he, Grace? Have you even met him?”
“I’m not saying.” She reached into the cupboard and took down a bottle of formula. She turned to Jonathan, only to discover that he hadn’t liked her answer. He looked…well, he looked stunned that she wouldn’t confide in him.
His eyes suddenly narrowed. “You have no intention of giving him up, do you? Dammit, Grace, you’re in no position to raise a kid on your own. You’re a scientist, not a woman who spends her days changing diapers and wiping up baby spit.”
“I can do both.”
“No, you can’t. Your work is too demanding.”
“No, Jonathan. Your work is too demanding. I hear there’s a semiconductor company in California looking for a person with my degrees, and they let their mothers bring their babies to work.”
Jonathan snapped his mouth shut so hard Grace heard his teeth click. He didn’t even want to entertain the idea that she might leave StarShip Spaceline.
She returned to sit by the fire in the living room and feed Baby. Her boss stayed in the kitchen. Grace knew he was silenced but not defeated. Jonathan was not a man easily thwarted; no five-week-old child, stubborn employee, or angry competition was going to get in the way of his company putting private citizens into space.
Jonathan Stanhope was a survivor.
He would simply change tack to get what he wanted.
While Grace fed Baby, she thought again about Jonathan’s startling confession and the problem it created for her. She shook her head, unable to believe that men might be on their way here now with the intention of kidnapping her.
Her first thought was not to run back to Virginia as Jonathan wanted but to run instead to the safety of Gu Bràth and Grey’s strong arms.
Would she be welcome at Gu Bràth after that memorable scene in the living room? Grey wouldn’t turn his back on her if he knew she was in trouble, but would Callum and Ian and Morgan?
And what about Michael? Could she, in good conscience, ask for help from a man she now had every intention of deceiving?
But then again, could she simply run away from her problems here and hide from her promise to Mary by cowering in Jonathan’s lab?
The one answer to all of her questions was no. And Grace’s scientist mind finally kicked in. She’d start with Podly and AeroSaqii’s threat. She had a computer, a satellite link, and the ability to make her problem with Jonathan simply go away. Then she would deal with the MacKeages. She would fix their damn ski lift without demanding they help Michael, and then she would save Michael’s trees if she had to shake the ice off every damn seedling in the twelve-acre field.
And then she would sit Greylen MacKeage down and have a little talk with him about commitment and belonging and neighborly obligations and explain to him exactly how this…this…thing between them was going to proceed.
Grace tucked a full-bellied and sleeping Baby back into his crib and headed into the kitchen to solve problem number one. She ignored Jonathan standing by the wall talking in a low voice on the phone and took her computer off the counter. She set it on the kitchen table and turned it on. While it booted up, she went into her bedroom, grabbed the suitcase that held the satellite link, and headed out onto the porch.
“What are you doing?” Jonathan asked, standing in the door, watching her.
“I want to see for myself what’s happening with Podly’s transmission,” she said, climbing on a bench and hanging the antenna over a hook sticking out of the icy eave of the porch. Satisfied that it would work this time since there weren’t any mountains or trees to block the signal, she climbed down, rubbing her cold hands together, and faced Jonathan.
“I might be able simply to make this entire problem go away.” She gave her boss a good glare. “I’m dumping the data, Jonathan. Instead of unscrambling the transmission, I’m going to erase the entire experiment. And you can contact AeroSaqii and tell them to call off their men.” She pointed her finger at him. “Then you can go back to Virginia—alone—and build your damn shuttles,” she finished, sweeping past him into the kitchen.
“Grace,” he said, following her to the table. “I didn’t know what they were planning. I did what I had to in order for us to survive.”
Grace sat down in front of her computer and clicked open the program she needed to receive Podly’s data, then attached the link antenna to the back of the laptop. Jonathan leaned over her shoulder to watch and continued his plea that she understand his actions.
“I know how you feel about this pod, Grace,” he said, his voice subdued and beseeching. “And I know I had no right to sell your experiment without telling you. But you have to understand my position. We couldn’t have launched Podly without AeroSaqii’s help.”
Grace tapped several keys and started her program running, then waited for the data to begin downloading. “You could have told me, Jonathan,” she said, looking up at him and glaring again. “And you damn well could have looked into the deal more closely before you made it. But what I don’t understand, if you truly thought everything was above-board, why the secrecy? You could have come to me and told me about your financial problem. I would have understood.”