Page 65 of Black Star

“Look, Darian always believed Nadira’s genetic make up would be enough to prove he had an heir, but I’m not convinced. I’m not sure he’d be accepted unless he actually presents himself.”

Nani narrowed her eyes. “How much do you know?”

“Everything. What Samair didn’t tell me, I made it my life’s work to discover. It’s taken the better part of twenty years, but I know why Samair had the two of you exiled in such a manner.”

“And, knowing this, you’re convinced the only way to unite our two peoples is with Darian actually being there?”

“I’m certain of it. It can’t be his daughter, or his mind inside a surrogate clone other than his own, and he can’t be in a cyborg body. It has to be him. The climate after he went missing changed dramatically against everyone in the Vok’nair Empire hierarchy. Especially you. I think most people truly believe you killed him.”

None of this mattered much to Nani, since she was determined to have Darian back in his own body, anyway. She’d love him no matter what form he took, but it was the principle of the matter.

“What do you need to make this easier for you?”

“You don’t understand.” He stood and paced to the other side of the room. “This is technology I’ve never encountered before. I need whoever designed this to explain to me how to extract the cellular material. Since I don’t have any idea who that is, I’m going to have to study it until I figure it out. I need time. And unless I miss my guess, time isn’t something we have a lot of.”

As if on cue, an explosion rocked the ship. Sirens blared once before the deadly silence she associated with battle aboard theBlack Starengulfed them. The entire place glowed eerily red, but no one made much noise at all. Sometimes, battle could get loud, but most everyone used their internal comm. Which reminded her. She needed that from the good doctor.

“I need an internal comm. You owe me at least that much.” She looked at him sternly.

He didn’t even bat an eyelash, just took a medigun from the shelf, loaded it with something and held it to her temple. “Hold still.” It was the only warning she got. He pulled the trigger, and her head exploded in agony for several seconds before the pain fell off. She saw stars for the second time that day, only this time it was from pain, not pleasure.

“Son of a bitch,” she breathed before sitting down hard in a nearby chair.

“Relax a moment. Once the transponder clears your skull, it will attach to your synaptic system and gradually feed you data. You should be fully receiving in five minutes, able to transmit in eight.”

She shook her head to clear it before standing up slowly and taking a few tentative steps away from the chair. When she was convinced she wouldn’t fall, she pulled herself together as much as she could, nodded once to Darian, and headed out the door.

She was still several minutes away from knowing everything going on, but she was being fed information from Darian as fast as he could glean it from Viktor. Her link with Viktor had been tenuous at best, but with so many things for her to deal with since her rebirth, she had only connected with him occasionally, and only then when he was reaching for her.

Reaching command, she quietly went to the same station she’d occupied before, again hacking into the comm channels to try to figure out what was going on until her internal unit kicked in. Viktor made brief eye contact with her before returning to his job, and she saw a note of approval on his face.

Vok’nair vessels starboard flank, Captain. Weapons hot and targeting.Viktor’s usually calm voice filtered through her comm, but since no one else’s did, she assumed he directed his statement toward her intentionally.

Is theSword Breakerin position?

Captain Anjoom is standing by, sir.

And the Vok’nair fleet?

On the outer border of the sector. There are at least thirty war ships, sir. All state-of-the-art. Most look as if they’ve barely made it out of dry dock.

Communication was spotty now, but coming through her comm unit easily enough.

Damon Singh chuckled.Thirty war ships to capture one Asalian Slaver and theBlack Star?

Shewasthe flagship, sir. Viktor’s dry tone came through loud and clear. He was neither surprised by the show of strength, nor impressed by it, judging by his tone.They’re obviously afraid she packs more of a punch than a mere man in command of a ship.

No. They expect theBlack Starherself, no doubt. He glanced toward Nani with a smile.Maybe we’ll have to give her to them. Just not the way they expect. Damon was clearly in control, but he stepped down from the command center and gestured for Nani to take his seat.

At first, she wasn’t sure she should. Her internal comm hadn’t started working properly yet, and the last thing she wanted to do was usurp Damon’s position, but she doubted he would have handed control of his ship over to her without good reason.

Do you know who leads this fleet?she asked.

Tyrelle Amos. And he’s demanding our surrender.

Nani’s heart sped up. Tyrelle had been her father’s best friend and advisor. It wasn’t surprising he headed the fleet. Samair would have been able to keep him away from the Vok’nair home world and out of the way without killing the admiral outright. With strategic moves like that to keep key sympathizers in the administration without them actually being able to do anything, he’d have been able to effectively take control without much change. If the people didn’t notice what was going on in their everyday lives, they’d be less likely to care who was in power as long as they weren’t inconvenienced. It was a brilliant move on his part, but one that would ultimately be his downfall.

Also, he had been there when they’d taken her from the hospital to meet her fate. He’d protested vehemently until his own family had been threatened. Even then, he’d argued with Samair, just in a more subdued manner. He was a good man in a bad situation.

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