Wyt and Wild Read online
Page 3
Allie straightened and looked over at her companion of necessity. “Dr. Nywyn, thank you for bringing me to the Guard Base. I believe that they will assist you with refuelling and whatever else you deem necessary.”
“Just like that, I am dismissed?” His eyebrows rose over his golden eyes.
“Well, no. But I am not really good at goodbyes.” She looked away from him and unbuckled her harness.
“Well then, I believe that as your attending physician and your link, I have the right to insist on viewing the facility that will now be responsible for your health.” Abruptly, he unbuckled, stood and grabbed her waist. Before she could squeak a protest, he had her over his shoulder and was out the door and they were crossing the grounds to the hangar.
Well, they were going in the direction of the hangar. She couldn’t really see anything but his ass from her vantage point.
“Alessandra Wyt? Are you injured?”
“No. She is merely weak and in need of medical supervision. Doctor Effin Nywyn of the Wyoran Medical Service.”
“I am upside down, not deaf. I am Alessandra Wyt, Relay, here to accept the position with the Sector Guard.” She had no dignity while dangling, but she did what she meant to do. Assert that she wanted to be here.
The bark of masculine laughter narrowed the field of persons that could be looking at her ass. “I am Hyder Mihal, Commander and Chief Medical Officer for Guard Base Morganti.”
Based on the jostling, the two doctors were shaking hands. Men. They carried on their conversation as if she wasn’t there.
“So, Dr. Nywyn, how did you come to be caretaker to Relay Wyt?”
Hyder was walking and Effin paced him.
“I was on vacation and she fell from the sky. It was serendipity.”
They laughed as they walked out of the sun and into the halls of the base. Allie relaxed and concentrated on breathing. The position she was in was rather confining for her lungs and her breathing was laboured in a matter of minutes.
“Oh dear. Sorry, Beauty, I forgot.”
A dizzying swing and she was cradled in his arms, gasping like a landed fish. With an aching head and throbbing arms, she made a fist and punched him in the chest, hard.
His flinch was far from satisfying.
“That was the most humiliating thing you could have done.”
Hyder chuckled and she glared at the Azon that she might be replacing. “It was not. He could have stripped you naked before he made his point.”
She almost bared her teeth at him. “What point could that have been?” He led them into Medical, making room for Effin to place her on the exam table.
“That we are linked, Beauty. It was crass, but your goodbye in the ship ticked my temper.”
Hyder was chortling as he prepped his equipment.
With her on the table, Effin was free to roam. “You have a regenerator? They were only theoretical the last time I was at a seminar.”
“The Sector Guard has the best of equipment and personnel. Fixer has helped advance our development as well, but she is currently on limited exertion.”
They were ignoring her, a light was banding over her body from head to toe in a soothing rhythm and no one was watching her. She was positive of it as they nattered on about the equipment and the specific needs of the Guards until she felt a tingling in her extremities.
It grew stronger until she felt it in all parts of her body—her hair even felt the tingles. “What is going on?”
“You are feeling it?” Hyder was checking a few instruments and adjusting settings.
“It is a protein bonder designed by Fixer. She created it to assist in her husband’s recovery after injury. It won’t heal a large wound, but it will reinforce bone and tissue that has been damaged or weakened.”
Hyder glanced at her, a grin on his face. “We received a communique from Echo 9 which indicated you were in a delicate state. That you are up and conscious after your ordeal speaks to your determination and the care you received.”
Effin brushed away the compliment. “So, Chief Mihal, can you tell me why Alessandra is here?”
The Azon’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Certainly. She is my replacement as logistical head of the Sector Guard. It will allow me to spend more time with my mate and assisting the other outposts with their team building.”
“Really, the head of the Sector Guard? What is her qualification? I was given to understand that all members of the Guard had developments over and above their species’ norms.”
Both men were staring at her, watching the light play over her in that slow, steady movement. Allie almost squirmed on the table.
“She didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“That she is a Relay with the singular ability to make connections between data and call streams to pick up on the slightest of information to find the most direct path to the solution. She has been feeding me information and possible scenarios for two years. She has been the one selecting the events that the Guards attend and she has been making sure that they return home.”
“I thought that the relays had no real memories of the data they shunted.”
“Normal ones don’t, but Alessandra’s memory recalculates thousands of times a minute. She creates her own memory and process the data from there.”
“I am right here, you know?” Allie may have been talking to the walls—they kept going without her.
“Will you place her in a tank? Her body is on the fine edge of disaster as it is.” Effin didn’t take her hand, but a warm and protective pulse fired through her emotional core.
“No. We have arranged a sensory net and a chair that will feed her the data streams.” Hyder shut the light off and the medical table folded up so that she was sitting.
“Fixer has been looking forward to having another female on permanent assignment here. As her pregnancy progresses, she is getting a little frustrated by the lack of communication opportunities.”
Hyder made several notes and took a close look at all of her data jacks one by one. “They all seem in good condition and if you like, Fixer can take a look to see if she can make them more comfortable and less obvious.”
“That would be nice.” The neutered-unicorn effect might be a thing of the past. “But if Fixer is pregnant, should she be using her talent?”
“She can use it sparingly until her baby cuts the power. Her body won’t let the little one be at risk.”
“Well, that’s a good thing.” He was scanning the ports on her neck near the back of her skull.
“Dr. Nywyn, I have a proposition for you.”
“I am listening.”
“As I am soon to be travelling a great deal more, we will need a steady base physician. Would you consider the position?”
“Hmm. The chance to act as physician to some of the most unique creatures in the galaxy? Can I think about it?”
“Of course. If I don’t miss my guess, you are acting as Alessandra’s link. You may have until you extricate your emotions to make up your mind.” He smiled and helped her off the bed. “I will show you to your guest quarters. It isn’t convenient to the guard rooms, but it is much closer to medical and the meeting rooms.”
“Next to your quarters, I presume?” She grinned. No commander liked to be away from the flow of things.
“Right next door.” He smiled and extended his arm, but was curtailed by Effin stepping between them and lifting her in his arms.
Hyder ignored it but smirked a little as he led them down the hall to the guest quarters.
He wished them good night and walked away.
Allie was struck with nerves. “Well, I guess we are sharing a room. I get the left side.”
His chuckle eased things as he entered their rooms.
Chapter Five
Sharing the small shuttle with Effin was nothing like sharing a bedroom. He was close, warm and she was no longer feeling quite as feeble. If she was a little stronger, she would have been more nervo
us, wanting to act on the attraction between them.
The rooms were quite nice—a large bathroom, a wide sitting room with couches and a very large bed. The pillows and shams were probably a woman’s touch, but to Allie, they looked like home. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at the first bed she would be able to lie in in years.
It reminded her of Earth, each and every touch was a Terran touch and it was then that she started to probe her files on the Sector Guard. Helen—Pilot. Hyder’s wife. She was one of the two Terrans that were here on the Base. To have three of them together in such a small area was unprecedented. Star Breaker was the other Terran, but she had lived through so much, she was out of touch with her roots. Perhaps that was why Allie had been chosen from the other candidates.
“Effin, you can put me down now. I think I can make it to the bathroom and then to bed.”
He sighed. “If you are sure. But I do enjoy carrying you, Beauty. You weigh almost nothing.”
“I am sure. And if I gain enough muscle mass, that will change.” She walked slowly but with more comfort than she had felt in ages. It didn’t take long for her to get ready for bed, so she stood next to it, stripped and climbed between soft white sheets.
“You are naked.”
“So are you. I always sleep this way when given a chance. It lets my skin get a break.” She turned toward Effin and wasn’t surprised to see him standing next to his side of the bed. “You are my physician—you have seen it all by now.”
He looked at her for a while in silence, then stomped to the bathroom where she listen to the water run and a series of curses. When he emerged, his skin was paler, his hair was wet but wrapped in a towel and it looked darker than usual with the addition of moisture. The towel around his waist made her throat dry, so she looked at her side of the room while he flicked the towels away and climbed in next to her.
It was a damned-good thing that the bed was huge. They each had plenty of room to move, but Allie was almost disheartened by the amount of space. She wanted his arms around her, but there was no way she was going to ask. With her skin still sensitive, there was no way that she would be able to sleep if even part of her was touching him.
“Whoa.” It was a soft exhalation, but it summed up the feeling of being well rested and completely surrounded by naked male. Inching away from him was out of the question. He was still asleep, but she was sure that he would start waking the instant she moved.
Part of him started waking before she moved. With his pelvis pressed against her buttocks, there was no mistaking the reaction of his body and for Allie, it was all she needed to get her out of bed, waking him or not.
Tangled in him, she took up the most direct method of getting free. She rolled out of the bedding and onto the floor. Her body was sore, but she was able to make it to her feet in a few seconds and made a grab for her bodysuit. When she whirled to confront him, he was sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.
He fixed his gaze on her and smiled. “Morning, Beauty.”
“Uh, morning, Effin. I am just going to back into the bathroom now. I will see you again when I am dressed.”
Her shower was quick—a rinse and a light scrubbing of her hair. The stuff was so thin it flattened against her scalp with no provocation. She needed to wash the roots once a day or she felt gross.
She muttered to herself as she pulled the bodysuit on, a shopping trip was in her future. She needed more than the one item of clothing to wear. She had never bothered sending Effin back to her crashed ship for her bag.
Dry and in control of her body for the first time in years, she moved slowly into the bedroom, looking carefully at the bed. It was empty.
Effin leaned in the doorway, watching her with a grin. “Morning, Beauty. Ready to meet the Guards?”
“You are really quick.” Her thoughts took her down the path that had started when he woke and she blushed. “I mean to be alert and dressed already.”
Their connection swelled slightly. He was trying to find out what caused her to blush, she was sure of it. “That reminds me, I think I may be able to release you from our odd connection shortly.”
His face went dark at that. If she didn’t know better, she would think he was angry that she mentioned severing the connection. Come to think of it, it was the same conversation that had triggered his caveman behaviour the day before.
“I will discuss it with Hyder.”
“Not before I do.” Effin came away from the wall and held his hand out to her. “We have been summoned to a meeting. They are waiting for you.”
The moment of truth. If she was going to take on this crew, they would have to accept her as their commander. It was now or never. She took his hand and let him pull her out of the guestroom and down the hall.
He kept his stride slow so she could keep up with him. The meeting room was full of strangers, with Hyder sitting at the head of a very long table. Allie took stock of the Guardsmen who were present. Fixer and Shade, Star Breaker and Kale-Gant, Isaro and Alomar, Pilot sat next to her husband, which left the last couple being Fury and Beast. Allie had all of their dossiers in her mind, each picture and history complete along with those of the missing Guardsmen.
“Good morning, Alessandra. Although we attempted to get everyone here today, a few of the Guardsmen had to go on assignment.” Hyder stood and smiled, gesturing for her to take the chair he had been sitting in.
She stood next to it instead. She smiled and nodded. “Seer, Order, Morph and Thinker will receive transcripts of this.”
Fixer drummed her fingers on the table. “What is all this? You interrupted my morning sickness for this and I am on the fine edge of control here. And how does she know who is missing?” Mala’s rainbow hair was drawn back in a tight braid and her features looked pale. Her husband looked worried and held her hand tightly to stop the drumming of her nails.
“Alessandra Wyt is my replacement.”
The uproar that arose lasted less than a minute—until Hyder was able to quiet the group. The only one who wasn’t shouting in surprise was Helen. Pilot had known that Allie was coming in. She had been part of the start of this Sector Guard outpost from the beginning. It was why she allowed Hyder to be on Morganti while she shuttled through space.
Allie waited as Hyder waved the group to silence. “I am not leaving the Sector Guard. I am merely becoming a travelling operative, much as most of you are.”
“You are our commander, what else would you be doing?” Mala was looking tense.
“My talent has always been in putting the right people together in the right capacity. With Helen’s help, I will go to the outlying Sector Guard posts and assist them in compiling their complements. Station 13 is my first stop, but this is my home base. I will always return to Morganti and venture out when necessary.”
Allie stepped in. “He is also assigning himself to large staff events where he will organize the situation.” Her legs wobbled, but this was not the time to collapse in the chair. At this point, the chair represented their team leader. They didn’t know her—she shouldn’t take it before they were ready.
Across the room, Effin straightened and looked like he would rush to her aid. She quickly sent a negative pulse through their link and he frowned but stayed put.
“So, who are you and why are you qualified to lead this team?” Vasu, Beast, asked that question.
“I am Alessandra Wyt of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra, Relay and Commander of the Sector Guard Morganti.” Deep breathing was keeping her upright, but that was all. The rest of her calm had to come from within and it was in short supply.
Helen smiled. “So, Relays aren’t rumour after all. Good to know.”
“No more so than Pilots. We are just wired a little more extensively, more cognitive processing.” She smiled at the other Terran. Star Breaker was looking a little confused and slightly irritated—a dangerous state of affairs.
Allie reached out and touched the chair. “Hyder, if you could explain how I am qualifi
ed for this position?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present you with the mind behind your assignments with the exception of you meeting your partners. That was all me. Relay Wyt processed each situation, drew extrapolations and created teams based on your skills and most recent assignments.”
“How exactly do Relays operate?”
“Well, similar to a Pilot, we plug into a data stream and usually just pass the information to the next relay. A secure transmission system. I, however, have the ability to use any and all information in the data streams to find solutions and select the right people to enact them.”
She leaned a hand on the table and kept the other on the chair. “I have been sending scenarios to all the Guard bases since the inception. Assessing the risks that Guards will face when they go out and doing my best to make sure they make it home in the same shape they left in.”
“So, you have been the tactical mind all along?” Isabi looked at her with a charming grin and she twitched her lips in response.
“Of course. The only problem now faced is that there is no Chief Medical Officer when Hyder goes on his first mission.”
Hyder grinned at her, his dark bronze face lighting with glee. “Oh, that is no longer a problem, Relay Wyt.”
That was news to her. “I seem to have missed a meeting.”
“Well, you were in the shower when I spoke to Dr. Nywyn this morning and he agreed to take on the position of Medical Officer to this outpost.”
Allie felt her skin flush nine shades of red as Effin’s grin took hold. She wasn’t going to get rid of him and their link was going to grow. “You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you, Hyder?”
“Think of it as my last act as commander of this facility.” His smug smirk finally got through to the others in the room. They looked from Effin to Allie and then they started laughing. She had been caught the same way they were.
“Dr. Nywyn, I would like to thank you for taking on the responsibilities of base physician.”
“Thank you, Relay Wyt. As base physician, I order you to sit your ass down before you fall down.” Effin was still grinning evilly.