Invasion Earth (14 page)

There were snipers in front of them and on
one flank of the shuttle. The other side was a low earthen wall
that provided no cover and what was now a vast barren valley. But
the rocky incline behind them appeared to be uncovered. None of the
shooting came from that direction, at least. She couldn’t know for
sure until she tried to climb it. It was a gamble, but with their
comm down, enemies on two sides, and unable to risk the exposure of
the valley where they’d be little more than moving targets, it was
the only viable option.

They all agreed the clearing was where they
should draw the enemy fire and the best place for the Delroi to
attack from, since it provided the only maneuvering room. Plus
Laney would have a better chance at climbing up the tricky slope at
the rear of the shuttle if they were able to force the unknown
snipers to concentrate on one area.

The plan was simple and they put it into
action. Two of the warriors and Laney lay down and low crawled into
position near the center of the shuttle, one at her side and one up
under the belly of the ship. They were there to cover her, an order
she’d protested but not too much. She knew Alrik wouldn’t budge on
that small safety measure. The remaining warrior moved into
position with Daggar and Alrik at the front of the ship. At
Daggar’s signal, everyone fired. Automatic and unrelenting
shots.

She heard movement above them as the enemy
warriors rushed to defend their position on the front of the
clearing. When she was reasonably sure the way was clear, she broke
cover, crouching down as low as she could and still run. She
exhaled a pent-up, relieved breath when she reached the stony wall
and no one shot at her. Behind her she heard screaming and knew
Alrik and his men had managed a few lucky shots, but she didn’t
have time to spare for rejoicing as she hurried to climb free.
Alrik was in her mind the whole way—alternately encouraging and
scolding whenever she slowed down and tried to see the action below
her.

She was almost to the top when a hand reached
down and grabbed her wrist. Surprised, she lost the mental
connection with Alrik and jerked her gaze up—she’d been too focused
on the events below her—and looked into the piercing blue gaze and
tattooed face of Barak Trace. He hauled her up and when her knees
landed on the packed dirt she rolled, springing to her feet and
drawing her weapon as she moved. He faced her a few feet away, his
feet braced apart in a fighting stance and his own gun raised.

“Are you here to help?” Laney asked. “Or
deter?”

“Depends on who I’m helping.”

She smiled, slight and cold, knowing he
wouldn’t get her reference even as it came to her. “You’re either
with us or against us.”

He shrugged. “Again. It depends on who
us
is.”

He was calm and sure, and she couldn’t read
anything on his face. Alrik trusted him
.
She decided to
gamble.

“I stand on the side of the Torfa heir.”

She said it as calmly as she could, back
rigid and waiting for a possible attack. She should be nervous, but
the truth was she was calm. She’d reached certain understandings
about herself and her shifting world in the last hour. If she
survived this day she would no longer simply be Sergeant Major
Laney Bradford, though a part of her would remain so. She would
also be Lady Laney Torfa, one of the most powerful women on Delroi.
She couldn’t say for sure yet, but she thought such a position
meant she should face life
and
death with dignity.

Thankfully, death didn’t appear to be on the
agenda.

Barak lowered his weapon in slow, smooth
increments. She was almost distracted enough by this small victory
to miss the flash of movement behind him.

“Roll right,” she said harshly keeping her
tone low so as not to alert the approaching enemy. Barak moved just
in time and she fired at the man who sprang up behind his
retreating form. He fell dead at her feet. Barak was at her side in
a heartbeat.

“What’s going on here? I couldn’t reach
anyone by comm.”

“Did you know about the demonstration?”

He nodded.

“Well, after the first phase, the ship was
fired at. It exploded. Then we came under fire. We created a
diversion so I could get up here.” She reached for the small
communicator Alrik had given her and keyed it. “Still dead.”

Barak frowned. “They’re using a
dampener.”

She looked at him, taking note of how his
expression barely changed, the laugh lines around his eyes just
deepening, the blue in his eyes turning a little darker. So this
was the Spymaster distressed.

“So it’s up to us,” she murmured. She raised
her voice, used her commander’s tone and demanded a situation
report. “Sit rep.”

He turned to fully face her, his back
straightening. His eyes flashed and she recognized his indecision.
He was unaccustomed to answering to women but he wasn’t sure if she
should be the exception. She only cocked an eyebrow while she
waited him out. Ninety percent of getting people to follow your
lead, she’d found, lay in acting as if they had no choice. Bravado.
Pure and simple. She wasn’t sure if it worked or if he was humoring
her.

“Five down. At least seven left.”

She hadn’t noticed when they flew in, but
they stood on top of a small crescent-shaped mesa. It seemed
obvious that they should split up, one taking each side. None of
the enemy shared the top with her and Barak. They were lower down
the sides hidden behind the huge boulders that dotted the
hillside.

“We split up then. Pick a side, Barak Trace.”
She grinned, the anticipation of a sniper’s hunt coming over her.
He stilled and his eyes grew colder.

“You seem much too light-hearted about this
situation.”

She chuckled, but was careful to keep the
sound low despite the sounds of continued covering gunfire from
below. Which reminded her. She approached the edge and sent her
thoughts out to Alrik. She felt Alrik reaching his awareness out to
her. She knew he was still angry over her involvement, but he kept
most of that from her, wrapping her in warmth and relief. He
admonished her for taking so long to reach safety and she shivered
at the image he shared with her, spanking her and then fucking her.
Pressing her lips together, she hissed her frustration. Not the
time. Not the place. She needed to concentrate to get this done. He
responded with a laughing caress that made her nipples pebble and
her pussy throb. Promising to fulfill every carnal fantasy later,
he quit teasing her. She showed him his friend was on the ledge
with her and felt his quickly hidden relief. She wasn’t sure if
that meant he thought she couldn’t get the job done or if he
trusted Barak with the task more than her. Both thoughts
rankled.

Barak was eying her suspiciously. He still
hadn’t decided if he could trust her or not, and he must have noted
her distraction, realized she was communicating telepathically.
Cilia had explained to her it was a skill that developed to some
extent in all mated pairs. “A signal?”

She grinned. “For Alrik.” Then she sobered,
all trace of humor gone from her. Trust went two ways. Testing the
spymaster now, she spoke, “I let him know you’re here. He’s
expecting us now.”

“Good.” He nodded. She stepped away having
decided she’d take the right side of the mesa. “One thing, Sergeant
Major.”

Ah. So he hadn’t decided he accepted her yet.
She turned back around to face him. “Yes?”

“You spoke of a Torfa heir,” he said
hesitantly and she understood.

He knew that pregnancy would put her firmly
in his camp.

“I did. A boy or girl, do you think? I
imagine there will be a betting pool soon enough.”

She grinned. She understood fighting men well
enough. Where a birth was due, there was always wagering as to sex.
Days ago, hours ago, she would have prayed to every god and goddess
of Earth to not bear a girl. Now she was less sure. The men of
Delroi obviously needed shaking up and who better to do that than
she and her daughter?

Barak shook his head and muttered. “May the
Gods help us all if it’s a girl.”

She laughed. “Y’all could use the shaking
up.”

“I think we’ll get enough of that with you,
my lady,” he answered tartly.

“Maybe,” she answered, but she was smiling,
the excitement of battle beginning to rush through her veins and
not thinking about how difficult the men of Delroi might consider
their coming transition. She turned her back to him, tracing the
curve of the mesa with a practiced eye. “Let’s get this over with,
Trace. There’s a shower waiting for me at home.”

And when had that space ship become home? No
matter. No time to think about it. Now there were men, the enemy,
who needed to be eliminated. She moved along the edge, searching
them out below her and snorted quietly. Eliminated. Soldier speak
for killed. Civilian speak for murdered. Semantics. What did it
matter really? She could kill them or they could kill her.

She saw the first of her prey directly below
her and pointed her weapon. Her finger still on the trigger as she
contacted Alrik, let him know in that weird way of theirs that she
needed covering sound. Within seconds there was a spattering of
fire from the floor of the gulley and one single shot from above.
She didn’t hear anything from the direction Barak had gone in and
had to assume he had a silencer, or was killing on a more up close
and personal basis than she. Neither would surprise her. They’d
agreed one of the attackers must be kept alive to question, but
outside of that, all bets were off.

She moved on.

She killed three more along her way to the
edge of the mesa and began her climb down, mentally warning Alrik
of her approach. She’d hate to get shot by accident. She laughed at
herself. Hell, she’d hate to get shot on purpose. The climb was
tricky and she lost her grip a couple of times, slipped with
dangerous swiftness before clinging fast again. When her feet
finally touched solid ground, she sank to her knees and
acknowledged her fear, if only to herself. She looked up the
almost-sheer face of the cliff. She should have doubled back to an
easier place to climb down. Next time she would.

“The hell with that,” Alrik growled and
pulled her up into his arms. She hadn’t realized she’d shared the
thought. “There will be no next time.”

She laughed weakly and accepted his embrace.
His warmth. His strength. She was shaking from the climb. And maybe
from the killing. The aftermath was always hard to deal with. She
lifted her head from where it rested against his chest. He captured
her lips before she could speak. Before she could ask, beg for his
kiss. There was something desperate in it, in her, a clinging to
life. She wanted to be alone, wanted there to be no clothes between
them, but knowing that wouldn’t happen for quite some time to come,
she broke away. The memory of his lips would have to be enough to
assuage the need in her. For just a little longer. Panting, she
took a step away, forcing her mind back to the game at hand.

“Barak?”

Alrik stared her, silent, and she wasn’t sure
if he was going to answer. She felt the heat in him, both angry and
erotic, and knew he too struggled for control. Finally, he took her
hand and after a brief hesitation responded to her question.

“On his way down.”

“Did he take a prisoner?”

Experiencing her first doubt in the plan, she
bit her bottom lip as she waited for Alrik’s answer. They’d agreed
he would. She was willing to accept the limitations of strength her
size and sex imposed on her, but someone to question was vital.
That didn’t guarantee Barak would be any more successful in the
task than she would have been.

“He did. Unconscious. We’ll question him back
on the ship.”

He slid his hand up to her elbow and she
sucked in a breath. So much promise in that slow smooth caress. He
smirked, knowing the knots were again tied in her belly, the need
riding her hard, and led her back to the others, into the clearing
and out of the shelter of the shuttle where she was forced again to
ignore the lust and concentrate on the danger.

His warriors had gathered the dead who’d
fallen and were examining them. Daggar stood with a hand shielding
his eyes against the sun and watched as Barak descended the slope
with one of the attackers slung over his shoulder. He turned to
face them as they approached and bowed deeply at the waist.

“Sister.” She blinked in surprise at the
naming. “On Delroi, there are old stories, legends really, of
warrior women graced by the gods. You do them, and us, great honor
in your skill and service to the Torfa Clan.”

She shook her head sharply once. “I do what
is necessary. It is important you understand that about me,
Daggar.”

He smiled. “Even when it is at your peril and
against the wishes of your mate?”

She sucked in a harsh breath, aware of many
implications, many tricky holes here. “Even so.”

“Such honor in an enemy.”

His smile took the insult from his words and
she understood he meant them to be evidence of his growing respect.
That wasn’t where she chose to go with them however. She
shrugged.

“As long as I am the mother of Alrik’s child,
I will not be your enemy.” Her smile was fierce. “And God help the
man who tries to separate me from my child.”

She stepped back and crossed her arms over
her chest. Forced her smile to gentle. “And there is more at stake
here. More at issue. In a generation or two, maybe as much as three
or four, women will have a different role on Delroi. I will be that
beginning. My daughters will follow me. You should all accustom
yourselves very quickly to the idea of women warriors because you
might live to see it in your lifetime. I’d hazard to guess there
are already women on Delroi who would wish such a role.”