"You know, you're a lot like Staffa," Kaylla added softly. "You're worthy of him. Capable, intelligent, and spirited."
Skyla smiled coolly. "Aren't you being a bit presumptuous?"
"Not at all. You're all I heard about in that damn desert." Kaylla bent forward to cradle her chin in her palm. "I think you're the reason he stayed alive out there in the collar… in the heat and sand."
Skyla leaned against the paneling, grip white-knuckled on
the glass. "What do you want, Kaylla Dawn? Why are you here?"
Kaylla stood, walking forward to stare into Skyla's eyes, unflinching tan meeting icy blue. "I want peace, and, like Staff, I think I want a chance to take a crack at the Forbid den Borders. In the meantime, a lot has to be done in Free Space or we're all in trouble. Magister Bruen is an old man. It ooks like I have to assume a lot of his responsibilities, and it looks like we're going to have to work out of Itreata for a while."
And how is it going to be between us? Skyla finished the unspoken question. The woman had guts and grit. No wonder Staffa dragged her out of the desert. He'd always had an eye for quality people — when he was thinking straight.
Skyla poured a second glass of whiskey and handed it to the woman, clinking rims in a toast. "Welcome aboard, Kaylla Dawn. If you need anything, give me a holler."
Kaylla's hard glint relaxed and she sipped the amber liquid.
"A day of surprises," Ben's raucous voice invaded Skyla's thoughts. "For everyone!"
"Yes," Skyla whispered. "A day of surprises."
Bruen leaned back on the couch and dabbed at his bruised head. "Kaylla told you the truth. She'll be running things for the Seddi. I'm too old for what is to come."
Skyla laced her fingers together. "Nyklos told me quite a bit under the drug. You seem to have a most effective covert network on Etaria. Are you capable of fighting for those things Nyklos said the Seddi believe?"
Bruen's lips pursed. "Our covert people can make all the difference. And, for better or worse, we're out from under the machine's menace. Perhaps we enslaved ourselves to it. Perhaps we made a bargain with evil. Look what it's brought us to."
Kaylla joined in. Then you understand the problems Free Space faces? That our continued insanity means detruction for the species?"
Skyla studied her suspiciously. "Perhaps. The future looks bleak for the momet. I've had that slobbering Myles Roma, Sassa's Legate, tripping me up the whole time I was trying to organize the fleet. He tells me Rega is poised to strike."
Skyla lifted an eyebrow. "And how do you propose to stop it? Rega and Sassa are crying for each other's blood."
"It may be too late," Kaylla said somberly. "We must prepare ourselves for that eventuality, too."
The hatch slipped back in a whisper. Staffa stood there, filling the lock, battle-grimed and haggard from lack of sleep, but his gray eyes gleaming with power and assurance. A shy smile — crept across his bearded face.
"Hello, Skyla." "Staffa.11 They seemed pinned in place, each equally dumbfounded. "A-hem!" Bruen cleared his throat, breaking the spell.
"Ark said I was to have a room down the hall. Kaylla, if you would be so kind?" He got to his feet, wincing as he moved one hip. Kaylla took his hand, leading him to the hatch. Bruen looked up and winked. "We can talk later. On the way to Itreata. Meanwhile, I'll call my spy, Nyklos, and see what secrets he's learned about the Companions."
Staffa nodded and helped them out, then he slapped the hatch shut, sighed, and rubbed his brow.
Skyla turned, concerned by the weary lines in his face, the slight slump to his posture. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"I found more than I was looking for." "Your son?"
"On Rega. Bruen and I will sort that out later." "And the other, the…. 11
"What it is to be human? Yes." He lifted a gemmed goblet from the restraint barrier and slowly rotated it. "I'm not the man I was when I left-or ever thought I was for that matter."
"I expected that. It's rough out there."
He nodded, replacing the goblet, the action that of a man who didn't know what to do with himself. "I know. I learned that on Etaria. Thanks for covering for my stupidity. "
He seemed as confused as she.
He looked at her, eyes going soft. "Skyla. I had a lot of time to think. About the Companions, about… us. She steeled herself while blood rushed in her veins. "Kaylla said you talked about me in the desert."
He swallowed hard, facing her, searching her face. "This is difficult. I know I can't expect you to-"
"Staffa, I don't run off across war-torn space for just any man." She smiled
at him, seeing relief in his hard expression.
"I regret all those years I wasted grieving over Chrysla. I'll probably always love her, but she'd become a myth to me." He shook his head, fingers tightening on air as he made a fist. "All those years… and all that time you were there." He reached for her and she buried herself in his arms.
"Chief?" The comm came to life. Tap Amurka's face formed. His eyes widened and a red flush started to creep up his throat. "Sorry, Lord Commander. But we've got a subspace message coming in. We got a fix-it's from Rega. The thing's in code, but we're working on it. Might take some time to crack. You might want to, uh, come up to the bridge. "
Staffa nodded, turning Skyla loose. "We're both on the way.
Stepping onto Chrysla's bridge felt strange to Staffa, as if somehow nothing had changed. Heads bent to the comms, everyone busy. Helmut reclined with the worry-cap on her head. Amurka monitored his systems in the revolving chair. The overhead panels gleamed brightly and the monitors showed all systems at maximum. Skyla relieved the duty officer at the tactical weapons comm and slid into the control chair, placing the headset on her pale hair.
Staffa slipped into the command chair, instrument pods folding down around him like the metallic petals of a grotesque flower. "Open a line to Gyton."
The Regan Comm First's pale face formed. "Yes, Lord Commander?" She sounded distraught.
"You have just received a transmission from Rega. You will not power up to answer. Is that understood?"
She nodded, clearly distressed. "Understood, sir. We are offering no resistance."
"Get me your commanding officer." Staffa settled back in the chair.
"In a moment, sir. He's on his way. " The Comm First looked even more unsettled.
"He? Where's Rysta?"
"Informing the new commanding officer of our condition."
Staffa waited, watching the reaction of the Comm First. She looked like her whole world had fallen apart.
Staffa switched channels and called into his fleet commu nications comm. "On deck everyone. Something's happen ing to the Regans. Let's go to Alert 2."
Lights flashed in combat readiness. Systems checks auto matically initiated while klaxons wailed throughout the Companion fleet.
"Outside of the message," Tap called, "a single shuttle crossed from one of the transports. Looked like it was traveling light."
At that moment a commotion occurred on Gytons bridge beyond the scope of the comm. The Comm First looked up, puzzled, eyes going wide. She nodded grimly and slid out of her seat. A young man, black-skinned and raw-boned, slid into the seat.
He studied the comm and opened a channel, looking up at Staffa. "Lord Commander? I'm Division First Shiksta. One moment, please, for Lord Sinklar Fist."
Lord? What the hell was happening?
"So we finally get to meet Fit face-to-face."
"Who?" Skyla asked.
"My opponent on Targa. A brilliant man — a deadly man. We'll have to watch him in the future. he's got talent."
He flipped the audio on again as the image flickered, leaving him staring right at Fist. Staffa straightened in he command chair. The two-toned stare transfixed him— gleaming, challenging. The mop of dark hair looked mussed. The line of the nose, the fullness of the jaw— everything about Fist spoke to him.