The Naked Truth (8 page)

“Commander Davies, we have codes, just as you do, about the treatment of anyone in our care,” Asler explained to the distraught man. “Captain Branscombe has not been harmed. She has been completely healed from the harm inflicted upon her by the terrorists. She has cooperated with us fully. We have already begun to learn some things about her captors.”

“Hrumph. I’ll reserve my opinions on all that until I see her.”

A movement at the edge of Asler’s vision caught his attention. Susan had stepped out of the lavatory. She met his eyes and hesitated before joining the conversation.

“Commander Davies.” She approached the group, her spine stiffly erect as she stopped and gave a quick salute.

“Captain Branscombe. Where is your uniform?” The commander’s voice sounded clipped to Asler’s ears, and a flush stained Susan’s cheeks into high spots of red.

It’s a good thing I had the pet-horin for her to wear and that she had them on for this little visit.

“Indeed it is.” The Inarrii commander interjected into his mind. Asler immediately clamped down on his mental control, shocked that he had leaked so much of his private thoughts for anyone to hear.

He looked at Jannii and caught the ghost of a wry smile on the corner of his mouth.

“I’m sorry, sir—” Susan began to apologize.

“None were available immediately upon her healing, Commander,” Asler interjected, bringing the human’s attention back to him. “She has only been out of the MedTech care for the last thirty-six of your hours. There has been little time to request one.”

“That will be immediately rectified, Examiner,” the base commander told him coldly. He looked back at Susan, his gaze raking her from head to toe.

“I thought you said she had been healed completely? Why does she have a bruise on her face? And her knuckles are scraped.”

Susan glanced down at her hands and then looked at Asler. “Should I tell him about the attack?”

Asler’s heart thudded hard. She’d actively sent him a thought. He glanced at Jannii and saw the shock in his face. He’d caught the message, as well. Susan had almost no shielding yet, something Asler would have to correct soon.

“Well?” Commander Davies was clearly unimpressed by the silence, his concern and suspicion evident as he glared at each of them in turn.

“Commander Davies—” Jannii took the lead, “—I must ask that what you hear now is held in the strictest of confidence. Very few of your people are aware that we have been attacked since the initial strike by the terrorist group Terran Purity. We have kept it quiet for several security reasons. Captain Branscombe was onboard and involved in the latest attack, risking herself to aid us in the case of a shipboard fire.”

“What the hell? Who attacked you? The terrorists again?” Davies paced to the end of the room, his fists clenched tight. He looked ready for a fight, and Asler was struck again by the assertive nature of the man. This is what Susan respects in him.

“That is one of the largest security concerns. We are attempting to discern the identity of the attackers, but it does appear as though someone of nonhuman origin may be involved. Captain Branscombe’s memories will hopefully be able to give us some evidence in that matter.”

Asler took Susan’s hand in his, examining the scrapes on her knuckles. He hadn’t noticed them, or the bruise on her cheek, in the soft red light of his private chambers. For that alone he was sorry. “We will have this fixed immediately.”

She pulled away from him, her cheeks flaming. “It’s nothing.” She looked at her base commander, mustered a small smile for him. “I’m fine. I was close to the damaged area when the attack hit. It was a serious assault. People were badly injured.”

“What progress have you made in recovering any information from your memories?” Davies’s voice, while demanding, contained a hint of the emotion Asler could sense surging inside him. Concern and pride for his officer leaked out to reach Asler’s mind. He warmed to the older man, recognizing the emotions as those of a father.

Susan, still somewhat stiff in her bearing, replied, “Examiner Kiis and I have managed what they call m’ittar, a kind of mind contact. We are reviewing my…time in captivity.” She paused, grimaced. “The terrorists had accents, tones of the Soviets. The ship was a junker, which I am sure you already know if you have been looking at what is left of it. There were even bits salvaged from old Starforce ships. You might be able to track part of that—I saw a door plate with markings from the SS Alure. The leader, or at least the chief torturer, went by the name Gerish. That’s all I have for now.”

Commander Davies nodded. “That’s more than I expected. We’ll get started with that from our end.” He turned to Asler. “Has enough been discovered to clear her?”

“Captain Branscombe cannot be released until the investigation is complete and a report is made to the Confederacy board for judgment,” the Inarrii commander answered before Asler could comment.

“Very well. I would like a few minutes with my officer alone.”

“We cannot leave her with you, but we can offer you some privacy.” Asler gestured to the side of the office, where the wall curved over the low couch. He and Jannii stepped aside to the desk, leaving as much space between them and the humans as possible without leaving the room.

He watched as the humans sat close together on the couch. Davies leaned in to Susan, whispered something in her ear. Susan nodded, whispered back and then shook her head vehemently at something the commander whispered to her. Davies stood, clasped her on the shoulder and made a final hushed comment. Susan’s lips pressed together tightly, but she nodded.

“I will return now to make my report to Admiral Jeffers. I am sure you will understand, but I must report everything I heard here, although I will explain the need for discretion.” Davies addressed both of the Inarrii, but his eyes were focused on Asler. “I will expect a further report soon, both on any information retrieved, and on Captain Branscombe’s condition.”

“Thank you, Base Commander Davies,” Asler replied smoothly. “I would ask that in return you forward any information you discover on the junker ship’s manufacture. Susan herself will vidcon a report to you after our next session.” The suspicion had returned to Davies’s eyes, and he wished he could reduce the man’s tension. If nothing else, the tension had passed to Susan, and between the two humans, Asler was getting a headache.

Sue remained seated as she watched her commander exit the office. He hadn’t looked back at her. The meeting had left her shaken, and tiny tremors ran down her back. She could care less what most people thought of her, but Base Commander Davies’s reminder about a Starforce Marine’s actions on duty cut her to the quick, and his concern for her physical safety after the pain she’d been put through had almost reduced her to tears.

She looked at Asler, still staring at the doorway. She expected he was still in mind contact with his own commander. She made a mild effort to listen for their conversation but quickly gave it up as useless. She shook her head at the ridiculousness of the situation. Asler might believe she had powers, but in the light of day she had a hard time imagining that was true. She rolled her shoulders, trying to reduce the tension in her body.

Davies’s whispered words still rang in her ears. “Are you really okay? I’ve heard things…Has anyone tried to…do anything?” She’d seen the implication in his eyes, and the worry. Dear God, how could he know that she’d slept with an alien? The naughty side of her interjected, Could he possibly have imagined how very much you liked it or wanted it to continue?

Sue looked up to find Asler’s eyes on her. No wonder her commander had speculated about their involvement. Asler had left his hair hanging loose in a blond cascade down his back. Although he had hastily donned his official robes, they were poorly tied, and she caught a glimpse of his bronzed skin just below the neckline. She smoldered just looking at him, her skin heating as she imagined what lay beneath his robes. How could anyone miss her reaction to him?

Her commander’s parting words hissed through her memory. “Get through this. Find out what you can, and then we’ll get you back where you belong, with Starforce.”

But she’d hesitated before agreeing with him, her body rebelling before it finally nodded acceptance. With shock she realized that a part of her did not want to go back.

Asler approached her, reached out a hand to touch her hair, but she shied away.

“We need to get through those memories,” she told him, quietly. “No more delays.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, just looked at her with those startling green eyes. Then he held out his hand to her. “Don’t pull away, Susan. It will make our m’ittar more difficult. And…I would miss you.”

She took his hand, let him pull her up against him. Why fight it? Her inner self whispered. You have so little time left with him. Enjoy it. She gave in, leaned against him and pressed her lips to the patch of skin she’d glimpsed earlier.

He held her. Since she had woken from the nightmare of torture and found herself healed, this had been what he offered her. Safety, trust, caring. She’d felt secure in the Starforce after her parents died, respected and liked, and even treated like family. But never like this. It was no wonder she couldn’t resist when he kissed her. That she gave in to her desire. What Davies had implied—improper conduct, at the least—wasn’t important. Was it?

“You have to relax.” Asler’s deep voice rumbled in her ears. “I can sense conflict in you.” He lowered her back to the couch and pulled the pet-horin from her shoulders and over her head. “Lie down.”

“We don’t have time, really,” she murmured. But she lay down on the padded couch, enjoying the heat that immediately rose from its cushions to cradle her back.

“Just relax. And roll over.” He smiled at her, laughter smothered by the deep tone of his rich voice.

She rolled to her stomach. He swept aside her hair and began to rub her back in circular motions, the warmth of his hands easily outdoing that of the cushions beneath her. She moaned as he worked the stress from her muscles. “My God, that feels good.”

“Someday we will have to talk about your god,” Asler commented. “But now it is time to step back into your memories. Relax and step back. Do not be afraid, I am here with you. We are together seeing what happened, not what is happening. This is the past. See it, hear it, smell it, taste it, we are together in what has already happened.”

The tension eased from her. When Asler’s mind reached for hers it was akin to clasping hands. She felt the contact, the joining.

And then they were back. Sue looked at her body as it had been, her face reddened and bruised from Gerish’s slap.

“You’re awake. Listen carefully. You will tell me the answer to anything I ask. If you do not answer truthfully and immediately, I will hurt you. Do you understand?”

Sue stared at the terrorist, her eyes wide as she took in where she was and what was being said. When she didn’t answer immediately, Gerish casually picked up her left hand and snapped the bone in her smallest finger. She cried out.

“Don’t forget, Susan, that this is the past.”

Sue flinched as Asler reminded her. She looked away from the pain in her own eyes.

“Look around, do you see anything more here that can tell us anything?”

“No. Wait. I hear something. I hear…a voice in the corridor.”

She stepped toward the door, and Asler moved with her. “I can’t see—the door is half-shut and it is dark out there.”

“Someone was watching you.”

“Yes. Gerish is not the one in charge, although he might think he is.”

A scream cut the air. They turned back to see Susan’s index finger snap in Gerish’s cruel grasp. “Take her back to the cell,” he told the watching guards. “Give her a reminder about why she had best answer my questions soon. I want the location of those alien pigs.”

Susan was picked up roughly and thrown over the shoulder of the larger of the two men. They stomped through the door and into the corridor with Susan’s and Asler’s astral beings close on their heels.

“Damn, I couldn’t see who was here. But they were really tall. Taller than you.” Sue directed her thoughts at Asler.

“Not many humans are this size, are they?”

Sue didn’t bother to answer. They couldn’t see things when her body hadn’t been there to experience it in some minor way, so they followed the guards to the holding cell. Quietly they watched Sue sob as she took repeated blows to her ribs and legs from the guard’s crushing boots.

“Look away,” Asler pleaded with her.

“No.” Sue straightened her shoulders. Her voice sounded cold to her ears, and she hoped that Asler wouldn’t take her actions the wrong way, but she had to know. “This is what happened to me. I remember it all. Those bastards loved to kick.”

The memory faded to black. Before Sue could comment, the light returned, and she found herself again watching Gerish as her body sat helplessly before him, force bindings holding her to the same rough metal chair.

“There is no way to know how many memories you have like this, Susan. We may learn nothing at all other than the extent of their brutality. I am sorry.” Asler’s heart ached as he watched Susan clench her jaw. Her determination to watch events unfold with him illuminated her strength but also her pride. How much could she take in one session?

“Today, you little bitch, you will tell us everything you know. We will attack those filthy alien Inarrii and wipe out this sacrilegious agreement before it ever comes to pass. We will attack their ships, Starforce whore, or we will attack the Starforce training camp. We will prevent Earth’s children from ever coming into contact with those foul creatures.” Gerish raved fanatically at his prisoner, constantly pacing in front of Susan and frantically scratching the back of his neck as he did so.

“There. Look at my face, now, while no one else can see. This is the moment I decided to tell them.” Susan’s face mirrored the anguish on the face of her memory.

“You told them our location.”

“I had to, or they would have attached the Starforce schools. There were children there. He meant it, Asler.” Susan faced him, her mouth grim. “See the way he keeps scratching? He’s using a drug called Slam. It increases strength, stamina, even the speed of thought, but it has some pretty bad side effects. It’ll make him itch ’til he scratches his skin off in places. It also ensures that you say everything that you mean. He would kill anyone to make his point.”

Gerish pulled a laser torch from his greasy shipsuit pant pocket. He smiled as he fired it up, waving the microbeam dangerously close to Susan’s face. “Tell me! Where is the ship? Where are they meeting?”

Susan’s screams tore through the air as Gerish pointed the beam against the fabric of the dirty uniform stretching across her leg. Burning flesh produced an odor Asler had hoped to never smell again.

“Stop! Stop! I’ll tell you, please, please stop!” The figure of Susan’s memory begged.

“This is it. This is where I turned a traitor.”

“No. Look at your eye, remember your face earlier. You had to wait to tell them, until it became so unbelievably painful that they would have to believe. You waited on purpose. Why?”

Asler pulled Susan close and looked into her eyes. He already believed her innocence; now she needed to believe in herself.

“I…I waited so they would believe and go for it—attack the meeting. I knew there would be at least three of our ships there, as well as yours. I couldn’t believe men like these could have enough resources to succeed in doing much damage to that kind of a meeting… But if they attacked the Starforce school…There are children there, and not much in the way of defense. I grew up there.”

Asler saw the acceptance in her eyes. “You did what you had to, to save as many as you could.”

“Yes.”

Susan turned back to watch herself sobbing the coordinates of the meeting out to her torturer. Smoke curled up from the wound on her thigh. The injured woman barely looked up as another presence entered the room, but Asler caught Susan stiffen beside him, heard her soft gasp of surprise.

A tall, lanky man, the newcomer wasn’t someone Asler recognized, but what he saw around his neck was as clear as crystal. If he could have ripped it from the grinning man’s neck he would have in a heartbeat.

“Flight Lieutenant Cohen! I can’t believe he’s a part of this!”

“I don’t believe he is, Susan. Take this moment, this memory, and with me, stop it. Hold it still, Susan.” Movement ceased around them, the image of the memory warping for a moment as Susan struggled to work with Asler’s mental commands.

Asler walked closer to the newcomer terrorist. A glowing band of metal circled tight to his throat. He pointed it out to Susan. “This is a Gathan invention, a kind of portable disguise. It projects an image tightly to the body of the wearer, nearly undetectable except for the unit itself.”

“You mean that’s not Cohen?”

“I’d have to say no. Considering the height, I’d say that probably isn’t even a human. Likely a Gathan—a blue-skinned race that the Confederacy rejected not long ago. They don’t share their technology easily. The terrorists probably didn’t even know it, but they have been working with the Ravagers. And now we have proof.”

The memory began to flow around them again, and together they watched as Susan was forced to repeat her information again and again. The Gathan watched everything carefully but never said a word. Finally Susan was dragged back to her cell. This time there was no beating, just a sharp push into a wall, and then she was left to collapse onto the floor and sob her grief out.

“Susan, the door isn’t quite shut.” Asler pointed it out to her, but he could feel her flow of emotion. She had known it was open, even when she had been held captive.

“I know. I saw it then. I might have escaped. But…”

“Yes? What stopped you? Why didn’t you run?”

“Does it really matter?”

“You know it does.” He reached out to clasp her hand with his.

“I thought that if I were here, I might be able to stop them, to do something from inside.” Susan paced inside the cell, so near the image of her memory self.

“There is more.” Asler led her as his training dictated—to the truth.

“No, I’d told them the truth and they would die from it, attacking a target they couldn’t hope to win against. I would sabotage them.”

“More,” Asler insisted.

“I was hurt…and I knew if I were caught they would hurt me more. I was…afraid.”

“You couldn’t move for the fear, could you?”

“No,” she choked out. “It was everywhere, and I was drowning in it.” Her thoughts were ragged, the sensation of them raw to Asler’s senses. He opened himself to her, wrapped her trembling psyche into his arms. Facing the truth about herself, this was the ultimate form of bravery. In that moment he held her, he faced his own truth. The emotion he had been avoiding in himself radiated over them both.

He loved her.

Sue opened her eyes to the bland color and curving shape of Asler’s office ceiling. She glanced around, but the room stood empty, save her and the simple low couches. Even his desk had disappeared into the wall. Asler’s discarded robe covered her, its gentle warmth scented with Asler’s unique aroma. She pressed her face to it, reveled in the moment. They had found what they needed to prove the Ravager involvement in the terrorist attacks. Success gave her back some of the pride she’d lost, and the truth freed her, at least from her personal guilt over not trying to escape.

Sue sat up, shivering slightly as she left the warmth of the heated couch. The unpleasant sensation traveled to her stomach. They had proved the outside involvement, but had they proved her innocence?

She stood and walked to the lavatory. It too stood empty. The lack of noise, something she hadn’t noticed before, seemed to reverberate in her ears. She opened the cupboard that had housed the clothing she had borrowed earlier, but could only find more pettan coverings. She pulled on a fresh set and, uncertain what to do with her old one, left it on the floor near the ultrasonic cleanser.

She walked back through the office and to the bedroom, hesitating at the doorway. A tingle of desire swept through her, and her lips curved as thoughts of the satisfaction she had achieved here slipped through her mind. Her smile faded. She’d almost gone too far here, as well. Almost.

She wandered back to the office and nearly sat down on the couch again, then stood uncertainly. Her stomach growled. At least that was something she could do. Years onboard ships had taught her to remember each step, and she was fairly certain she could find the dining room again. She’d almost reached the door when she hesitated again. Do I really want to go back there alone? She could feel the heat rising in her face. Do single people even go there?

She pressed her lips together. This wasn’t like her. She was hungry, she would go and get something to eat. God knew she had no idea how to work Asler’s desk, and that was where he had ordered food in the room.

She stepped up to the door and waited for the scanner to recognize her as it had when she had gone out with Asler. When nothing happened, she waved her hand in front of the scanner. The equipment stayed silent.

Sue’s throat constricted. She was still considered a prisoner. With a sigh, she retuned to the couch and wrapped herself again in Asler’s robe, cuddling into it like a blanket for its warmth, and she admitted to herself, for the comfort his scent offered to her.

“Asler,” she called out to him telepathically. She waited but there was no answer, not even the warm presence of his mind.

She shook her head. Who was she kidding? The only contact she’d achieved with him was when she was right there in his gentle arms.

Sue slumped down on the couch, held her head in her hands. She didn’t move when the door slid open, didn’t even look up until she heard the crack of her commander’s voice.

“Captain Branscombe! Attention, officer on deck.”

Sue leapt to attention, her head snapping forward as she peripherally took in the appearance of Base Commander Davies, Asler and his commander Jannii Finar at the door. Her heart beat a rapid tattoo as she realized belatedly that she had dropped the robe and now stood in only her pettan.

Immediately she flushed from the roots of her hair to the tips of her breasts.

“This! This is exactly what I was afraid of.” Her commander growled as he paced forward and picked up the robe to cover her exposed body.

“Captain Branscombe has not been mistreated in any way,” Finar stated calmly.

“Perhaps not in your understanding, but going around half-dressed in public goes against our moral codes,” Davies ranted. “Besides, you can’t tell me that there is nothing going on between Captain Branscombe and Kiis. It’s written all over them. That is not allowed in the Starforce Marines. Branscombe has been trained to obey all commands by her superiors—it’s the chain of command. If she’s been coerced by your Examiner acting as her superior, Starforce considers that a form of rape.”

“Susan has not been coerced!” Asler crowded the base commander, the two men facing off in the confines of the office and nearly knocking Sue over. “She has been physically healed, and we have been investigating her memories for the truth, as well as healing the damage done to her psyche.”

“I think she’s had quite enough of your kind of healing.” Davies leaned in toward the enraged Inarrii, his fisted hands like loaded weapons ready at his sides.

Sue’s stomach dropped. Nausea washed over her. The most important men in her life were going to kill each other, right in front of her. Not only would the Treaty come to a screeching halt, Sue thought her heart would, as well.

“Sir,” she began, her voice shaky.

“Not a word, Branscombe, until we get you to our own people. This interrogation is over.” Davies grabbed her arm, nearly dragging her from the room.

Commander Finar stood aside and let them leave, staring pointedly at Asler’s fuming face. Sue hoped he was mentally commanding the man to stand down before things went too far.

“It will be okay,” she sent to Asler as she stepped into the corridor.

“What just happened?” Asler demanded. “Why are we letting him take her? After all I just told you?” He paced the office, wishing for once that it were bigger. His briefing with Finar had been interrupted by the arrival of the suspicious human base commander, but there had been enough time to describe the involvement of the Gathan and the likely involvement of the Ravagers in the recent terrorist attacks. “I thought the Confederacy was in complete control of the investigation.”

Finar watched him pace, his features calm. “We have what we need in regard to the Ravager involvement. And I believe you have enough memories to present Captain Branscombe’s state of mind during her captivity and the reasoning behind her disclosure of information.”

“She barely had time to admit her own fear. There is no way for her to heal like this. We must get her back.”

“You care for her. I am sorry, but the negotiations are at a very delicate stage, really just the beginning of the most important agreements. We must let her return to her Starforce.”

“They won’t understand.”

Finar laid a hand on his shoulder. “A formal trial will be held later this week, and your findings will be presented in written format. We will be able to observe. Her people will surely take care of her, Asler.”

Finar left the office. Asler resisted an uncharacteristic urge to rip the place apart as he continued to pace. Susan might be physically safe with her people, but she would not heal. She’d barely admitted her fear, and she had yet to truly deal with the torture she’d experienced. Now she faced the human’s questions and would no longer have a complete set of memories—those that they had observed would no longer be the same. How would she explain that? How could she answer without him beside her?

A soft chime rang at the office door. Asler ignored it. The only person he longed to see would already be on her way to the Starforce Base on Earth.

The chime rang again.

With a snarl, Asler opened the door, only to face a concerned friend, Co-Examiner Salis. Asler turned his back on the concert, marching once again the length of his office.

“You must calm down, Asler. We can hear you all over the ship.” Salis stepped inside the room and shut the door.

Asler stopped midstep. He looked over his shoulder at Salis. He is telling the truth. I must stop. He sat slowly on the low couch and took a deep breath. “This is intolerable,” Asler complained aloud. “They have taken Susan back to Earth to answer questions about memories she may no longer even have.”

“You initiated m’ittar densah?” Salis sat as well, facing him from the second couch. “Was it truly necessary?”

“Her pain was too great, and we needed to see clearly any clue that the Ravagers might be involved in the attacks.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you. I have been attending the Treaty talks.”

Asler grimaced. “Better you than me.”

“All this vocality is tiring. Has your human charge convinced you to live so orally? Or is that just a benefit of such a beautiful woman?” Salis leered at him, clearly trying to lighten Asler’s spirits with his version of humor.