Diva (Jit'Suku Chronicles) (12 page)

He took out a small device and switched it on between them before proceeding. Maggie knew it would shield their conversation from any eavesdroppers. Such devices were effective, but they also left telltales. The absence of any sound was a good indicator that such a device was being used, and it would give away the fact that they had something to hide if anyone cared enough to try to listen in, which is why they used such things only in emergency situations. If Binki was using such a device in the open, the news had to be dire indeed.

“What is it?”

“I’m sorry. There’s no other way to say this than flat out.” He took her hands in his and squeezed. “John Starbridge was captured by the jit’suku and taken to Solaris Prime for questioning.”

Maggie felt her heart drop into her stomach as her insides went numb.

“Why? Why would they take him all the way there?”

“Intel wasn’t sure, but they suggested they might be subjecting John to some kind of testing. Mags, they think the emperor is trying to learn more about human Enhancement. John isn’t the first Enhanced soldier to be transported directly to the emperor’s seat of power.”

The implications were not good. While many were aware of the practice of voluntarily Enhancing soldiers who worked on the front line, there were precious few who knew which soldiers were Enhanced or what the process entailed. Fewer still had access to such men after they’d been Enhanced. They were treated at special medical facilities by a small cadre of specially cleared doctors. Humanity did all they could to keep the full abilities of the Enhanced soldiers a secret—especially from the enemy.

“Binki, send a message. We’re finally going to take the jit emperor up on his invitation.”

*

A few weeks later, Diva and her entourage arrived on Solaris Prime to somewhat subdued fanfare. The emperor’s guard met them and checked over all personnel and equipment in fine detail. The inter-galactic trip was accomplished relatively quickly with the use of established jumpsites. Diva’s ship had been cleared on both sides for safe passage, which was something usually only given to diplomats on state business.

Maggie had only her wits and her native skills on this mission—and Binki, of course. He didn’t look it, but he came in very handy in a fight, thanks to his Enhanced genetics. He was even faster and deadlier than Maggie herself, which was saying something.

She was nervous. She’d been out of communications contact with her usual sources while in transit through the jit’suku galaxy and didn’t know exactly what she was walking into. Things could have changed drastically since she started out on her rescue mission. John might even be dead by now, though she didn’t think so. She felt like…somehow…she would know if he was gone.

She clung to the hope that he’d be there, waiting for her to come, though he had no idea she was heading his way. If only she could confirm John’s location, she would do all in her power to free him. She’d even trade her life for his, though she didn’t think the emperor would go for it. He could just as easily decide to keep them both—or kill them both.

The jit emperor wasn’t a known quantity. Try as they might, information about the leader of their greatest enemy wasn’t all that forthcoming.

That was about to change, though, now that she was here. Maggie would be watching everything, making mental notes for a formal report she was going to file at the highest levels of human military intelligence when, and if, she returned to the Milky Way.

Every part of her ship, its personnel, all their luggage, and her person was scanned and searched thoroughly before she was escorted—alone—before the jit emperor. The palace itself was magnificent. More austere than ornate, it was a very masculine structure with hard angles and soaring towers.

She liked it, which surprised her. She’d been fully prepared to pretend to admire everything in sight if it would get her the information she needed about John, but she found she didn’t have to fake interest in her surroundings. She let her natural curiosity show as she was led through the halls toward what had to be a grand audience chamber.

There were surprisingly few people in sight. The halls were mostly empty except for a man in a robe that she took for a priest of some kind and a scattering of servants. The audience chamber was also sparsely populated, with only a few guards standing around the perimeter and a handsome man in good quality but simply cut clothing standing near a table with a one-way view screen facing toward him.

He looked up when the doors opened and stepped away from the screen, walking toward her. His expression was cautious but friendly as they met near the center of the big room.

“Diva, I’m so glad you finally accepted my invitation to perform. I trust your trip here was comfortable?”

The emperor was much younger than she’d thought he’d be. In fact, he was much more handsome than she’d thought as well. The holos didn’t do him justice at all. And his voice was rich and warm, deep with a resonance that she admired.

He stood well over six feet, with strong features, flashing dark eyes, and long deep brown hair that just begged for a woman’s fingers to comb through it. His eyes lit as he noted her perusal, and he moved closer.

“Your Highness.” Maggie sank into the required deep curtsey as the emperor moved to stand only inches from her—too close. Her head was on level with his crotch, and what she saw, lightly outlined beneath his expensive clothes, was impressive indeed.

The Emperor Tren reached out with one hand to raise her, and his eyes dared hers as he looked down from his superior height. Caught, she could do nothing when his head lowered, but accept his kiss.

His mouth was hot and hard, but also somehow sweet and gentle as well. The paradox spoke much of the man himself. Who was this emperor? Was he truly the enemy she’d been raised to fear and even hate? Somehow, she didn’t think the answer was quite so simple anymore.

Tren drew back from the kiss, disappointed. Diva was beautiful and desirable, but she was not the one he’d been seeking. He’d been so sure when he first saw her holo and heard her melodious voice, but the truth was standing before him. The truth was in her kiss.

This was not his woman, though she was as close as close could be.

“Forgive me.” Tren didn’t release her hand, but stepped back. “You do not know our ways, and I’ve subjected you to the
nij’ta
without your knowledge.” Honor demanded he explain just a bit of his actions. He led her by the hand toward a grouping of chairs on the far side of the large room, nodding to his guards to withdraw. He knew they wouldn’t go far. They’d keep him in their sight at all times, but they’d be a bit less obvious about it.

“What is a
nij’ta
?” Her melodic voice danced along his nerve endings. She really was the most lovely creature, but alas, not the one for him.

“It is an ancient trial. For each jit’suku male, there is one perfect woman. We spend most of our lives searching for her. When we meet a woman we think might be the one we seek, we subject her to the
nij’ta
—the ritual kiss. If she is ours, we know immediately. If not, well, who does not enjoy kissing a desirable woman?”

Her laugh tinkled over his spine like bubbles of wine. She really was an amazing creature, but sadly, not his.

“So Your Majesty thought I might be...”

He stopped before a long couch, raising her hand to his lips and holding her gaze.

“The moment I saw your vid image and heard your beautiful voice, I thought perhaps there might be something there. It’s why I have invited you here, to me, repeatedly.” He kissed her hand gently, then let go. “But you are not the woman for me. You’ll never know how sorry I am.” He sat so she could and leaned back, sighing deeply. “I would have liked children, you see, and a female to share my life, my triumphs...and my burdens.”

Tren was surprised when the small woman reached out to touch his hand. His eyes opened into hers, and the compassion he read there nearly overwhelmed him. She understood all too well, his desire for a mate. Perhaps...

But no. The mate bond could not be forced.

“Your Majesty,” Maggie began carefully. The man seemed so open, so vulnerable, but she knew it had to be only one facet of this complex ruler. She saw an opening and took it. She might never have this opportunity again. “I accepted your invitation with an ulterior motive of my own, I’m sorry to admit. There’s a man—a soldier—who was captured by your forces. I’ve heard he was taken here to Solaris Prime, and I’ve come to see if you won’t release him to me. Or at least let me see him.” She dropped gracefully off the couch, coming to rest on her knees before the enemy emperor. If begging was what it took to see John, that’s what she’d do, and more. Whatever it took. “Please, Your Majesty.” Tears came to her eyes. “Please let me see him.”

The emperor watched her for long moments. She could feel his eyes on her like laser sights, but she kept her head down in supplication.

“What is the man’s name?” he asked a long last.

Maggie dared a look up at the emperor, hope in her eyes. “Captain John Starbridge.” She saw recognition flare just briefly in the emperor’s eyes. He was so open to her now, when she imagined such a powerful man was rarely vulnerable to anyone.

“I’ll let you see him, but I cannot release him.”

Maggie kissed the emperor’s hand. She just needed to know where John was being kept. The rest, she and Binki could accomplish on their own.

“Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you.”

Chapter Nine

Diva performed that night for the emperor and a group of his closest friends and associates. It was a large gathering, in the grand audience chamber of Tren’s palace. Maggie was duly impressed by the room, the acoustics, the security and the emperor himself. He really did seem to enjoy her music. His eyes lit as she sang to him, and while she hadn’t planned it, she decided to play
Warrior’s Lament
for him. It had just been recorded and was due for release in her home galaxy soon, but as John had suggested, all the proceeds from this particular song would go to military widows and orphans charities.

The emperor struck her as a warrior—or at least a man who had gone through the training and knew what it meant when he gave the order to invade or fall back. One had only to look at the way he carried himself, the way he moved, to realize he could probably be quite deadly when he chose to be. Having grown up with a warrior father, Maggie respected that in a man, and she found herself respecting, albeit grudgingly, the enemy emperor more than she ever thought she would.

She played her special song for him, and his eyes narrowed a bit at her, though he was too well trained to display any more emotion that that in public. After the concert though, when the guests had gone and it was just them alone, he brought up the subject of her song and complimented it.

“Ours is a warrior race,” he said contemplatively. “Your
Lament
would touch a great many hearts among my people, I am certain. As it touched mine.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” She accepted the glass of sparkling wine he gave her and toasted the man as he did in return. “I wrote that song as a tribute to my father. Originally, I had no plans to ever release it. I didn’t want to profit by my father’s death. But John Starbridge suggested I donate the proceeds to those who’ve lost loved ones in the wars, and I’ve arranged for it to be done. The recording should be available shortly in my home galaxy.”

“A worthy cause…” he saluted her with his wineglass, “…and an intelligent man to suggest such a solution.”

“John is simply the best, Your Majesty.” She feared her heart was in her eyes, but perhaps showing a bit of vulnerability to this man would aid her cause.

The emperor put down his wineglass. “Please call me Tren when we are alone. So few people do.”

Maggie looked away. She’d never thought to be on a first-name basis with the emperor of the jit’suku. Would wonders never cease?

“Tren.” She turned back to him, gauging his reaction. Would he try to seduce her now? Or was he truly a man of honor, as she suspected? “When can I see John?”

The emperor raised his hand and stroked her cheek. Could she have been wrong about him? Was this the prelude to a forced seduction?

The emperor sighed heavily. “Do you love him so much?”

Maggie closed her eyes tight. How could she reveal so much to this man, her people’s sworn enemy?

But she had no choice. She would do anything to save John. Deliberately, she nodded and opened her eyes.

“I will never love another as truly as I love him.”

Tren looked deep into her eyes, seeking something there, but what he looked for, she didn’t know. After a moment, he rose to his feet, and she followed suit.

“Follow me. I’ll take you to him.”

Tren led her through the palace to a lower level that had to be several stories below ground. This area of the huge castle looked ancient, and, indeed, he told her this part of the palace dated back thousands of years to the first emperors of Solaris Prime—the planet from which all jit’suku originated.

The stone was heavy and damp in places, but the lighting and furnishings were modern. As were the cells.

When they came to one in particular, the emperor and his guards stood back. One went forward to unlock the door.

And there he was.

“John!” Maggie couldn’t help but gasp his name when she saw him.

As the cell creaked open, Maggie ran through the doorway and into John Starbridge’s surprised embrace. He staggered a bit under the force of her loving assault. Maggie pulled back in alarm, but John’s strong arms tightened around her, holding her close.

“Maggie, my love, you shouldn’t have come.”

“How could I not?” Tears fell freely down her face. “Are you all right? How bad have they hurt you?”

“Not bad.” He looked down at her. Wide thumbs reached up to stroke the tears from her cheeks. “I’m fine. But are you okay? Did they guarantee you safe passage? The emperor is a man of honor, if nothing else.”

“I’m glad you would say so, considering.” Tren Savedra’s voice cut through the gloom of the dungeon as he appeared in the doorway. No fewer than six guards stood between the emperor and the couple in the cell.