Protector of the Realm Read Free Page B

do you mean? I’m trying to stay objective despite the fact she almost blew us up. You know me. I don’t let personal feelings affect my actions.”
    “Kind of hard to stay objective when a child’s involved and it’s one woman against the entire Onotharian fleet.” Jeremiah’s face darkened. “From what I’ve heard, they aren’t exactly famous for being big on mercy. And I find another fact curious. The latest tactical report says long-range sensors picked up twelve vessels heading our way. I don’t like it.”
    “I know. Overkill, if their sole intention is to reclaim a little boy. They maintain they have the law on their side, so why send a whole flotilla? Speaking of laws, we’ll know soon enough if they’ll stick to the treaty they signed with the SC.” Rae doubted it, thinking of the obvious arrogance in the messages she had received. “They will need to downsize to two ships if they want permission to approach.”
    Gamma VI , one of ten space stations located in the outer perimeter of SC space, boasted an extensive firepower and a vast fleet of ships. Together with six Betas and three Alphas located in three rings around Earth and the thirty-four other Supreme Constellations home planets the installations protected Supreme Constellations space. However, as the final outposts between the SC homeworlds and intergalactic space, the Gamma stations were vulnerable. No more than two ships from any planet outside the SCwere allowed within a two-light-year radius of the space stations without the station commodore’s authorization.
    “And I take it there’ll be no exceptions to policy?”
    “Damn straight, there won’t.”
    “All right, then.” Jeremiah grinned, raising his beer. “Here’s to policy.”
    “To policy.” Rae lifted her glass and met his in a toast. She knew her strict adherence to regulations and protocol was renowned, and she guessed Jeremiah looked forward to rejecting the Onotharians if they insisted on approaching Gamma VI unlawfully.
    “By the way,” Jeremiah asked, “what kind of quarters did you give Ms. O’Dal and the boy? It’d be tough to keep security tight enough around our regular guest quarters.”
    “I thought of that, so I put them in one of the VIP suites. It’s fully monitored. Besides knocking out the around-the-clock security officer, she’d need a verified handprint and retina scan to leave the corridor.”
    “Do you expect her to try something? You have that cautious look on your face.”
    “I do?” Rae let her finger trace the rim of the glass as she thought about the mysterious alien. “You know what? She seems exhausted, despite her determination to keep the boy safe. As long as she believes we won’t merely hand the child over, she might just behave.”
    “And when she realizes she and the boy have become pawns in a diplomatic chess game?”
    Rae didn’t hesitate. “That’s when we’ll see the true nature of Kellen O’Dal.”

Chapter Two

    Kellen moved restlessly on the bed, tossing off the covers since they felt too heavy on her injury. The CMO had been to see her a few hours ago, but the pain relief had worn off and her leg felt worse than ever.
    Pressing her lips together, she tried to stay calm and quiet. Armeo was asleep in the next room, also used as the sitting room, and she didn’t want to disturb him. He had been through enough the last few weeks and needed to rest.
    She forced back a moan and tried to shift onto her uninjured side. The new position worked for a while, but eventually the throbbing ache became unbearable. As she sat up in bed, an unexpected movement in the doorway startled her.
    “Are you all right, Kellen?” Armeo asked.
    She knew the anguish was visible in her face. Had it been anyone other than Armeo, she would have made every effort to mask her pain. “Actually, I’m in agony. Maybe the doctor would give me something more for the pain if we paged her. I’m keeping both of us awake.”
    “Let me call her. I