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her arm over her eyes.
Her chest ached. She should take off the rest of her uniform. Later.
Gillaine?
Night, Simon.
Things will work out.
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it wouldn t go away.Thanks .
A pinging noise woke her. She opened her eyes, the glowing red numbers by her
bedside informing her she d slept for a little over five hours. She didn t
remember setting an alarm and fumbled in the darkness for the clockpad. Then
realized the clock wasn t pinging.
Her cabin door was.
She jerked upright, then chastised herself. No corridor alarms wailed, no
emergency lights flashed. This wasn t a red alert. This was someone, probably
that pair of Adler s bridge officers, a married couple, who d tried
unsuccessfully to get her to share dinner with them last night. When she d
begged off they said something about breakfast.
Well, unless they d brought a cargo hold full of coffee, she didn t want to
see them.
She fell back on the bed, squeezed her eyes shut.
The door pinged again.
Oh, hell. Oh, damn.She shoved herself to her feet and padded to the door.
Good thing she hadn t stripped out of her uniform. She slapped at the lock,
then raked her hand through her hair. She knew she looked a mess. Maybe they d
take pity on her and go away.
The door slid open. She blinked. The bright light cascading in from the
corridor outlined a tall, broad-shouldered form.
Mack? Her voice squeaked. Her heart, traitor that it was, skipped a beat.
May I come in? His face was shadowed, his voice equally as unreadable.
Of course. She stepped aside, remembering when their greeting was, Hi,
and, Hi, yourself, followed by a kiss. Is there a problem?
The door closed behind him. He took three steps into her cabin, then stopped,
his hands shoved in his pockets. He turned and she realized he d changed out
of his dress uniform into Khalaran Fleet black fatigues, though his admiral s
insignia blazed clearly on his chest. He looked impeccably neat, freshly
showered.
In contrast, she knew she looked like something that had crawled out of a
corner of a long-forgotten cargo hold.
Then she saw the dark shadows under his eyes. Something was wrong. She sought
her link with Simon. That was strong. It was something else. What s wrong?
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Everything.
Everything? Her mind raced. Something had happened to the prime hostess.
There was another Melandan mage on Cirrus One. No, Tynder s. No. Maybe one of
the inhabited worlds, a major city. Bexhalla. Maybe
We need to talk. There may not be time once we make meetpoint with Fourth at
the beacons.
Not Bexhalla. Not the prime hostess. She motioned to the couch along the back
wall. You want to sit?
I ll stand.
Oh, hell. Oh, damn.She didn t like the sound of this at all. I m going to
sit. She padded past him and plopped down.
He studied her for three, four heartbeats. Five. Seven. I think you know the
way I am. I don t play games.
But she had. She could still hear the derision in his voice when he d
recounted the deceptions Hebbs had tried to employ. He d referred to the
stationmaster as a master games player. She wondered if she now shared that
title as well. I didn t want to. Believe me, I
He held up one hand. I was nicknamed Make It Right years ago because
honesty and fairness is something I value highly. If there s an error, I want
to correct it. He hesitated. I ve made errors in judgment here.
No, you haven t. It s all my fault. Everything s my fault. I should ve left
Cirrus the next day, as soon as my ship s sublights were online.
Then who would ve stopped Blass?
This time Gillie stared at him for three, four heartbeats.
His plans were already in place, Mack continued. He would ve had the prime
hostess convince the chancellor to grant full, open access to the station. The
Fav lhir would probably already be in control of it.
And Mack, and all his people, would be dead. He didn t say that, but Gillie
knew it was true.
We haven t stopped them yet, she said softly, not yet ready to let go of
the guilt she d wrapped around herself.
But we have a chance. A damned good one. Because of you.
Your people would willingly follow you into the jaws of hell, Rynan
Makarian. It s not just me.
A compromise, then. It s us. He pushed his hands back into his pockets,
rocked back on his heels. Have you ever considered that your being on Cirrus
wasn t happenstance? That there may be a very real reason why you re at this
very place and point in time?
She recognized her own words, albeit in Mack s voice. And there had been only
one person around when she d said them. You ve been talking to Simon, haven t
you? She didn t bother to hide her suspicious tone.
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He shrugged. We had a chat.
She didn t know whether to laugh or cry. Hope soared, then just as quickly
crashed. Simon knew how she felt about Mack. But she didn t want Mack to be
here out of duty, or guilt. Or because Simon threatened to shove him out
theSerendipity s exhaust vents for breaking her heart. I take it the chat
was about me.
Considering I m facing an invasion by Fav lhir forces, I have the prime
hostess under guard on my station, the Fourth Fleet is still hours behind us,
and my own Fifth Fleet is bare bones at best . . . Considering all that, it
does sound somewhat surprising that all I ve been able to think about is one
Captain Gillaine Davré. But, yes, that s what our chat was about.
Simon had no right
Simon didn t initiate the conversation. I did. I couldn t sleep.
Because of me?
He nodded. You re a very complicated woman.
Not really. Her voice shook as she said the words that could save her or
damn her. Feed me, love me. Not necessarily in that order.
I thought, he said slowly, that Simon was already doing that job.
Simon? Her voice squeaked as she rose to her feet. Simon? You thought
Simon and I
You have this telepathic link with him. He s Raheiran.
Yes, but
A lifelong friend, you told me. You led me to believe . . . well, I d
pictured an elderly man. He s not elderly.
Two thousand or so years isn t young!
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