The Guardian's Wildchild (32 page)

Sidney prepared for bed, but as flustered as she was, she wasn’t the least bit tired. She decided to put a blanket on the floor and simply focused on her breathing. In time, she reached for Danik and barely got a wink and a grin. He was busy, or so it appeared. She reached for Greystone. He sleepily conveyed that he was pleased she’d finally followed his advice. She reached for Seamus. He was there. Surprisingly, he was seated on the floor not far from her with a rather smug look on his face.

“Got yourself in a pickle, haven’t you?” he said.

Tired of the male perspective, she waved him away. The sole remaining guide available to her was Celeste. Celeste acknowledged her without passing judgment, or any comment whatsoever. Sidney simply felt Celeste’s huge wings wrap around her shoulders and lift her above their valley. Gracefully, they floated as one out toward the ocean with the sailboats rocking in the waves.

18. The Missing Prisoner

Thursday Morning, July 11, En Route to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

In the early dawn Sam quietly entered Sidney’s cell. He opened the door just wide enough to enter and let the light from the hallway sift into her room. She was asleep on her bed, lying naked on her left side facing the wall. A sheet loosely covered her legs up to her hips. She hugged the pillow underneath her shoulders. The light from the hallway delicately traced the contours of her body revealing only her back, shapely and long.

Carefully, he placed the blue lace bra and panties, rolled up tightly in his hand, onto the chair beside her bed. He inched closer to see her face. She was indeed asleep and making the soft noises one does when in the depths of slumber. Her arm and pillow hid the remaining secret parts of her body. The warm glow of her skin and the softness of her curves begged to be touched. He breathed a sigh and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

Sidney entered Sam’s office for the routine breakfast interrogation. “Good morning, Captain. Thanks for returning my undies.”

“Morning, Sidney. Don’t mention it.” He barely looked in her direction, preoccupied with reports on his computer. “We have a celebration today.”

“Really?”

Glancing at her, he said with just a trace of a smile, “It’s our anniversary.”

He returned to some documents on his desk and placed them in a neat order. Sidney decided to play the game with him.

“Anniversary? Oh, I’m so embarrassed! Here I am with no gift to mark the occasion. Golly, how time flies when you’re having fun. Let’s see, this must be our what?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Very amusing. The fact is it’s been one week to the day since you arrived on my ship. You haven’t escaped, you’re still alive, and the admiral hasn’t called for my arrest for delaying your execution — yet.”

“Uh huh. And are you planning to celebrate all by yourself, or will there be invitations to this grand occasion?”

Sam smiled briefly. “Go have your breakfast, and we’ll talk when you’re done.”

Sidney quickly ate and returned to his office. He asked her to sit down while he finished up with something at his computer, after which he turned to her.

“Enjoy breakfast?”

Sidney wanted to believe Sam’s jovial mood was real and not a performance. The tone of his voice was deep and mellow. His face had softened. She noted the way he allowed his body to relax into the contours of the chair rather than fighting its comforts.

Yesterday’s picnic had created a wave of confusion within her. Her emotions were doing a dance, shifting from being rigidly focused on her assignment and Danik, to seeing Captain Waterhouse in a new light — as a waking Guardian, and as someone with whom she was hopelessly, deeply, breathlessly in love.

“Yes, thank you. Breakfast was great. What’s up?” She sat down.

“Why, Sidney,” he teased. “You of all people know the value of not revealing all your secrets at once. Some should remain, ah
under cover
until the right time,”

She maintained a straight face as if his remark meant nothing more than a reference to her stonewalling of his questions. Still she felt her face become warm and rosy at the thought of him watching her sleep in her nakedness when he’d returned her underwear.

Sam stood up and went to his credenza to pick up the photo of his family. “You’re a lot like Joy, headstrong and with high ideals.” He placed the photo back on the credenza. “You picked up where Joy left off. Do you deny getting the file from the admiral’s computer?”

Sidney could no longer evade telling the truth. “Yes, I did copy that file, but the copy’s still on the base and will probably never be found.”

“Can you be certain that copy won’t fall into the wrong hands?”

“No.”

“Then tell me where it is.”

“Captain, as powerful as the Guardians are, there are others who fall equally on the Dark side of power, lethal beyond description. If you become involved, you’ll be killed. Anyone who has had anything to do with the crystal’s file has died or disappeared. I’d regret it for the rest of my life if you died as a result of that file. I just couldn’t live with that.”

“Sidney, I’ve been involved for the last year with that file.”

“But not directly. You’ve been kept in the dark about the meaning of the contents.”

“If you have friends planning an attempt to retrieve that copy, they’ll fail. The admiral is ready and willing to hang anybody who threatens his security. I can get in and out of the Naval Base as easy as a bird. Perhaps Badger did have a reasonable concern. Perhaps people with wiser council need to know what the admiral is planning. Can you not see that?”

“Sam, if you’re caught with that copy, you’re as good as dead.”

Sam placed a chair beside Sidney and sat down. He took hold of one of her hands. “Without any doubt, I’d rather regret the things I did, than the things I didn’t.”

Sidney swallowed. She looked away from his tender, dark eyes. The hand she’d normally bring to her chest to seek guidance was tucked snugly in Sam’s.

“Sam, please understand that if I reveal everything to you, others who are involved — especially someone I care deeply about — may get hurt. If you go charging in, they may get caught in the crossfire.”

Sam quickly withdrew his hand and stood up. Her reference to this someone, obviously a lover, pierced through his chest unexpectedly.

“I want you to think about regrets for the rest of the day, regrets about things you should have done,” he said. “You have the rest of the day to yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Dismissed.”

Sidney was escorted back to her cell. She found the darkness soothing. It wrapped her in its calming shell and allowed her to be quiet. The clarity of her mind elevated her awareness to see with more than her eyes. In her meditation, she was shaken by a revelation. Sam had hinted that he was conspiring to deliver a fatal blow to his imprisonment, and now she saw the blow could destroy his path to returning to his Guardian nature.

As Sam made his plans, Dark forces were rising within him. Sidney had to divert them. She raised her consciousness to a higher realm and called upon Sam’s higher self. Drumming sounds throbbed in the distance in tune with her heartbeat. She asked the Light to guide her words.

“Sam, you have the wisdom to choose your Guardian path, and the courage to see it through. You have clarity of your life purpose. You’re aware of the infinite source of knowledge that guides you to seek the higher good. The universe showers you with an abundance of well-being and strength. You’re an eternal being, loved unconditionally. You’re a child of the one most high, Sam Waterhouse. You’re a perfect being. And so it is.”

In the late evening, sirens shattered the silence. Moon had been notified by the New Seattle Naval Base that the
Nonnah
’s primary source of defense, the submarine, was being relocated to higher priority operations. The risk of attack on the
Nonnah
was suddenly high. Though no enemy vessels had been spotted, Moon knew pirates wouldn’t hesitate to attack a naval merchant ship carrying a supply of weapons and ammo at any opportunity. With minimal defenses, the
Nonnah
could be easily overtaken if the crew wasn’t prepared.

“Red Alert! All hands report to your station!” screamed the ship’s communication system.

Armed seamen scurried about while Sam and Lieutenant Commander Moon assessed the situation.

“Where do you think we’re the most vulnerable, Rhett?”

“Well, they wouldn’t sink the
Nonnah
. It’s our cargo they’d be after. So they’d have to get on board, kill the crew. Their armed speedboats would keep most of crew busy on the gun turrets. Casualties would be heavy.”

Sam had learned that in battle, rules were replaced with one’s keen sense of ingenuity, anticipating moves and countermoves, studying the opponent’s character, evaluating their desperation or courage, and accurately measuring their resources and capabilities. Most battles, Sam believed, weren’t won by the might of the machinery, but by the courage and cunning of the one who wielded the sword.

“Rhett, you’re in charge. There’s nothing to indicate the
Nonnah
is under any immediate threat. But if the little devils start climbing aboard my ship, wake me. Until then, I’m getting some sleep. Any questions?”

“No, sir.”

Friday, July 12, 0300 hours

“It’s oh-three-hundred hours,” remarked Carla. “Something would’ve happened by now if they were going to attack, don’t you think, Rhett?”

Carla had her eyes fixed to her navigation equipment. Looking up to see if Commander Moon had heard her, she saw that he was engrossed in the radar unit. He and the radar operator frowned and stared into the green glare of the radar’s screen.

“Commander?” she called.

“There’s the bastards!” he growled. “Eight attack vessels. Carla, steady as she goes. Don’t so much as make a twitch in our heading. They’re moving directly toward our bow, still out of their firing range.”

The commander switched the port and starboard lights off. Surveying the deck below, he saw the crew ready their firearms and heard the whine of the chopper’s motor start up. Five minutes later, Buzz had the chopper airborne and out of sight. The ship’s lights flicked on again. When the attack vessels were within visual range, the
Nonnah
appeared quietly en route to Honolulu. The boats slowly circled, creating a wide arc around the ship, like a wolf pack sizing up its victim. The commander waited. He could barely hear their engines.