Page 59 of Black Star

“It was me, Nani.” Dr. Zabin scrubbed a hand over his face. He looked weary, grief-stricken. “I did the procedure. I did that awful thing…” He trailed off and dropped his head into his hand.

Nani sat in stunned silence for a long moment. She thought she might faint. Had she not been sitting, she probably would have. She’d focused her anger solely on her ex-husband. She’d never thought about the other men who’d had a part in it.

Instead of anger, fear overwhelmed her. This man was in charge of bringing Darian back to her. Would he sabotage Darian’s chance at life?

She stood and backed away. She needed to get out of here. She needed to find Damon and be with someone she’d known in her previous life. She needed advice.

She needed Darian. Desperately. For a woman so used to being in control of everything, knowing everything, being so cut off from the technologies she’d grown to rely on was maddening.

Nani turned and fled out of the med bay and down the corridor to the mess hall. She was almost sure to find Phoebe there, and Phoebe would know where Damon was.

She ran.

Her arms pumped and her legs churned, hurling her down the corridor as fast as she could go. When she reached the mess, she ducked inside, only to be met by a dozen or so smiling faces. The crew, enjoying Phoebe’s wonderful food and some relaxation, were oblivious to her plight. Some gave her a friendly smile and a wave, while others seemed to wonder who she was, but no one seemed overly concerned.

Nani was about to turn and run back to her quarters -- or perhaps back to the med bay to guard Darian -- until she could figure out what to do. Thankfully, Phoebe came up behind her, pulled her back into the kitchen without a word, and wrapped her arms around Nani.

Nani was the cast iron bitch. She always had the answers -- at least more answers than everyone else -- and she had a sarcastic wit that made everyone cringe. Now, she felt helpless and completely out of touch with her true personality. She was strong. She never leaned on others. Others always relied on her to be strong, and now she felt weaker than she ever had.

She totally lost her hard-won control. Tears of anger, grief, and betrayal poured out of her. She only knew Mahat Zabin from his time aboard the ship, but it was like the ultimate betrayal. She had accepted him as part of her extended family -- the crew of theBlack Star. Now this.

“What’s happened? Dr. Zabin said you were distressed.”

“With good reason,” Nani sniffed. “I need to see Damon.”

As if on cue, the klaxon sounded and everyone scrambled from the mess. The clatter was almost as loud as the alarm reverberating throughout the ship. Nani’s head snapped up. Automatically, she reached for the ship’s sensors, only to find nothing.

Dammit! As glad as she was to be in her own body, not knowing was simply terrifying. For more than twenty years, she’d been in control of almost every aspect of this ship. Now, she was blind and deaf.

When she whipped around to run out the door, Phoebe grabbed her arm. “You should stay here, or at the very least stay with me.”

“This is my ship, Phoebe,” Nani snapped harder than she intended. She took a breath and tried again. “If there’s something wrong, I need to know.”

Phoebe said something else, but Nani didn’t pay attention. She knew the woman was just trying to help, but she couldn’t stay here while the whole world went to hell.

It took her less than a minute to reach command, but she might as well have stayed with Phoebe. The captain and crew were using the internal comm system technology Mikiel had given them, and she didn’t know any more than when she left the mess.

Not wanting to break anyone’s concentration, she tried to peek at the display screens to get a sense of what was happening. Three Hand vessels to port. TheBlack Starwas very likely not within their sensor range, so they had the element of surprise.

Nani had never been able to form a strong bond with her daughter, but she knew as sure as she was standing there Nadira was on one of those ships. She wished she could narrow it down.

“Damon,” she whispered. The captain tilted his head in her direction but did not take his eyes off his console. “Nadira…” She trailed off as she felt her daughter find her telepathic link and grasp on tightly. Nani sucked in a breath.

Damon whipped his head around to her sound of distress. “What?” His eyes blazed, and he looked fiercer than she’d ever witnessed during her time as part of theBlack Star.

“She’s on one of those ships, and she’s in trouble.” Nani fumbled with her telepathic link and swore to herself when she lost it altogether. She knew the environment the crew was used to and knew not to disrupt it with needless noise.

She closed her eyes and took a breath, trying to calm herself and concentrate. It had always been difficult to touch Nadira in this way, more so now because of both their anxiety.

I have her, Nani. Darian’s calm, sure voice whispered in her head.She is on the smallest vessel of the three and frightened, but unharmed.

Nani let all her feelings of gratitude and relief flow from her to Darian, though she had no doubt he already knew. He had always been adept at reading her, even when he was unable to communicate with her because of distance. He knew her feelings.

“Darian says the smallest vessel carries her. She’s unharmed but terribly frightened.” Again, she kept her voice quiet and for Damon only.

He acknowledged her with a slight nod of his head and punched several buttons on his console. Immediately, theBlack Starbanked to starboard and took up a new position off to the extreme left of the smallest Hand ship. They had still been a good way out of sensor range, but the drastic movement must have alerted the trio to their presence.

As expected, the other two ships took up defensive positions, protecting the ship that held Nadira. Nani saw Damon’s lips twitch slightly and knew he’d been expecting such a move on their part.

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