Close Contact Read online

  Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten she was an empath, not to mention that overdrive thing she had going on.

  “My apologies,” Dr. Daniels interjected rather hurriedly. “Kiera, this is Echo Adams, our newest agent.”

  “The one you were telling me about from the Department of Protocol?”

  “Yes, unfortunately.” He sighed. “She certainly wouldn’t have been my first choice for this assignment. According to her psych reports, she harbors a deep resentment toward you and the Bureau.”

  “Hey.” I waved one hand. “Still in the room, here. And you’re damn right I have a lot of resentment. I lost my job, my very way of life because of you two. Did you even once consider the ramifications for the rest of us Gertz GEPs when you released that journal?”

  “She does have a point,” the blonde goddess commented.

  “Maybe.” Dr. Daniels shrugged. “But it would have become common knowledge as soon as the scientists combed through Max’s Orpheus archives, anyway. At least with your journal available, any wild speculations were squelched before they gained traction. And we did make provisions for any GEP affected.”

  In my peripheral vision, I caught a flash of movement and looked up just as a small iridescent purple creature zipped right at me.

  “Eek!” I threw up one arm to protect myself, stumbled, and sent the display case behind me crashing to the floor.

  “Peri, no!” Smith’s voice snapped above the din of dozens of crystals skittering across the floor.

  I peeked through my fingers in time to see the creature settle to another case in front of me, all four of its tiny feet gripping the metal rim.

  “Sorry about that,” Smith said. “Periwinkle is the only one we have left of Gem and Rayda’s latest clutch. She hasn’t decided on a companion yet. Her mother is the same color as your suit.”

  Okay, it was official. The suit, in flames, first chance I got. The thing was obviously cursed. Maybe I could get a refund.

  Gingerly I lowered my arm, the better to keep an eye on what could only be a dragon bird. It was strutting along the edge of the case, moving ever closer to me, head cocked to one side as it looked me up and down. An oddly musical chuckling sound issued almost continuously from its small body.

  “Shoo.” I waved my hands at it, but it paid about as much attention to me as everyone else in this place did.

  “Just ignore her,” Smith said.

  Yeah, easy for her to say. The woman had a giant rock cat for a pet.

  And why didn’t they turn that dratted machine off? It was driving me to distraction. If they weren’t going to do it, I’d simply have to take matters into my own hands.

  Warily, I edged around the dragon bird and marched to the box, stepping over the crystals that littered my path. “Where’s the off button on this thing?” I asked, running my hands over its smooth surface. “I can’t think while it’s making that horrible noise.”

  “See what I mean?” Dr. Daniels commented.

  “Yes, as usual, you were absolutely right,” Smith replied.

  She moved over next to me and did something I missed to the box. There was a whirring sound and a pedestal rose from the top. On it rested a teardrop-shaped black crystal twice the size of my thumb, attached to a silver chain.

  My reaction was instantaneous and gut level. Moving so fast that even Smith blinked in surprise, I grabbed the stone and clutched it to my breast. The noise stopped and a warm, contented feeling flowed over me.

  Until I saw the way they were watching me. “It’s mine,” I said fiercely, “and you’re not taking it away. So just back off.”

  “No need to scream.” Smith held up both hands, palms out. “Wouldn’t dream of taking it from you. It was created for someone here at the training center, we just didn’t know who. Looks like you’re the one.”

  Still grasping the stone, I turned to Dr. Daniels. “Does this tell you what my supposed psi talent is?”

  “Regrettably, no. It only tells me what your first assignment will be.”

  “What will it be? And before you answer let me make one thing clear. I don’t do swamps.”

  “Why don’t we go into my quarters and get comfortable,” Smith interrupted. “This is going to require some explanation.”

  While they moved toward the still open door, I paused long enough to fasten the chain around my neck and tuck the stone out of sight under my top. It took on the warmth of my skin, and seemed to pulse slightly in time with my heartbeat.

  I’d just stepped over the threshold when it dawned on me that I was entering a room containing a toddler, a rock cat, and the dragon bird, which seemed bent on following me.

  I came to a screeching halt, staring intently at the rock cat. When he ignored me, I crept along the edge of the room on tiptoes in order to give him as much space as possible.

  Smith’s quarters looked even more comfortable than Dr. Daniels’s office, except all the furniture was oversized. I chose a chair as far from the cat as possible and sat down.

  “Anyone want a drink before we start?” Smith asked.

  “Cafftea for me, my dear,” Dr. Daniels told her, taking the chair angled near mine.

  “I’ll have wine. White, please. Maybe a Sirius ’45?”

  She arched a brow at my exotic choice, but then moved to the food prep unit. “Coming right up.”

  I turned to check on the cat and came eyeball to eyeball with the dark-haired toddler. We ogled each other in silence, then she reached out and touched my scarlet clad knee.

  “Pittie,” she said.

  “You like it? It’s yours. I’ll have it sent over as soon as I get back to my quarters. It’ll save a lot of smoke damage.”

  “I don’t think it would fit her,” Smith chuckled. “But thanks for the offer. Echo, meet Teeah, my daughter.”

  “Let me guess,” sarcasm dripped from my voice. “She’s a super GEP, too.”

  “Not exactly.” She scooped the child up and deposited her at a table with a plate of snacks on the surface. “Since she was conceived and birthed the old-fashioned way, she’s a Natural. On the other hand, Gertz ensured that our talents would be passed on to the next generation, so she has all my abilities.”

  “Wonderful. We really need a hundred or so like you around to mess up our lives.”

  “I think I like you, Agent Adams.” She smiled as she handed over the drinks and then took a seat. “You say exactly what you feel, and it’s rather refreshing.”

  “I live for your approval,” I told her, taking a small sip of wine. Excellent. “Now, can we get this over with?”

  “You know what the Limantti is?” She stretched out those mile-long legs and propped her feet on the cat’s back. The animal turned his intense amber gaze on me and my palms broke out in a nervous sweat.

  “Large black quartz crystal infested with an alien life form that has enormous psi abilities,” I said, trying hard to ignore the cat. “Everyone in the Federation read your journal.”

  I almost spilled my wine as the dragon bird jumped to the arm of my chair and started making that weird chuckling noise again.

  “Well, I discovered after I wrote the journal that the Limantti reproduces through a process called mitosis.”

  “Cell division,” I commented, trying to keep one eye on her and the other on the dragon bird and the rock cat. “It produces a perfect replica of the parent cell.”

  “Exactly.” She beamed approval. “A few weeks after I finished my journal, the Limantti began the process of dividing. It started with a small bump on her surface. When the division was complete, the Sumantti, or Daughter Stone, was totally separate from the Limantti.”

  “Great. So it gave birth.” I lifted a finger and pointed at the dragon bird. “Not to interrupt or anything, but what is this creature doing?”

  It had stealthily moved up the chair arm until it was level with my head. Now its wings were half unfurled and it was sticking its chest out, ruffling its feathers proudly while bobbing its head.

>   “She’s displaying. That means she likes you.”

  “Well, tell it to stop,” I snapped. “It’s making me nervous.”

  “Sorry.” Smith grinned. “Apparently she’s decided you’re her kind of people. I’m afraid you’re stuck with her now.”

  “Oh, no.” I scooted to the far edge of the chair. “I don’t even like animals. She can just go find someone else.”

  “I’ve never known one to change its mind once it’s picked a partner. Have you, my dear?” Dr. Daniels questioned Smith.

  “No. They’re very persistent. And I should tell you, they have rudimentary telepathy skills. After a week or so of bonding, she’ll know what you’re thinking, and broadcast her feelings to you.”

  “Nope, not happening.” I turned sideways on the seat so my back was to the dragon bird. “Now, you were saying?”

  She hid her grin by taking a drink from her cup before answering. “Yes, the Sumantti is currently smaller than the Mother Stone, and still very immature. Under normal circumstances, it would be cast into space to search until it found a quartz-rich world with a species advanced enough that it could choose one member to form a symbiosis with. The search would give it the time and experience needed to mature.”

  Putting the cup down, she straightened, her expression serious. “However, it took the Limantti so long to find a suitable world that she nearly despaired. She didn’t want her daughter to go through what she’d suffered. Instead, knowing how vast our resources are, she asked us to study the problem and find the perfect place for her daughter. Once there, the Sumantti would do the rest. So the Daughter Stone was placed on a ship heading here, to Centaurius, so we could do as the Limantti wished.”

  “Unfortunately, the Daughter Stone never arrived,” Dr. Daniels inserted. “At this point, we don’t know if the stone was stolen or if it took matters into its own hands and fled. Normally, the Limantti could find her daughter by herself, but she says the crystal simply vanished from her awareness in the space of a single instant. Now, it’s imperative that we locate the Sumantti before its power falls into the wrong hands.”

  “So how do I fit into this plan?” I was doing my damnedest to ignore the dragon bird. No mean feat, since it had moved to the back of my chair and was now crooning in my ear.

  “After the Sumantti vanished,” Smith said, “the Mother Stone created that black quartz you’re wearing. It’s kind of a cross between the Rellanti, the stone used to form the mind bond for the Buri, and the Limantti. She says that once it’s activated, it will help the wearer find her daughter. And she insisted that the person designated to wear it would be found here at the training center. Since today was the first time it’s reacted to anyone, you’re nominated.”

  My hand went protectively to the crystal lying under my silk top. “But I don’t have any idea how to activate it. Or use it, for that matter.”

  “Honestly, neither do we. The Limantti has never made anything like it before. Auntie Em, the Buri elder, thinks it may be rather like this.” She held up her hand so I could see the black lines etched on the palm. “The Limantti gave me this so I could communicate with her no matter where I am.”

  I gripped the stone a little harder, my mind reeling. “So, I’m supposed to be—what? A priestess to this Sumantti? I’ve read your journal. Isn’t that what a Shushanna really is?”

  “No, we don’t believe that’s the case. A priestess implies there’s a religion involved, and there’s not. A Shushanna is more of an interpreter and power focus. But that’s not what you’re going to be. I need you to understand this, Echo. If you try to form a symbiosis with the Sumantti without first being prepared by the crystals, you’ll die. That’s part of what your black stone is for. It should allow you to communicate with the Sumantti without actually forming the symbiosis. In other words, it will act as a buffer to protect your mind.”

  “And you know this because…?” I waved one hand in the air.

  “The Limantti told me. Just think of yours as a mini-Mother Stone.”

  “Does it have a name?”

  She nodded. “The Buri call it Imadei, or ‘Little Sister.’”

  “This should help get you started on your search.” Dr. Daniels reached into his pocket and pulled out another sheet of electronic data. “It’s a list of all the quartz-bearing planets that were in the vicinity of where the stone went missing. There are six of them, and we hope that when you get close, the crystal you’re wearing will let you know if the Sumantti is there.”

  I stared at the sheet a second before taking it. “You knew it would be me. Why else would you bring this with you?”

  “Let’s just say that after seeing your psi tests, I suspected you might be the one. I also watched several of your classes. You did amazingly well for someone of your—shall we say—background?”

  Before I could decide whether or not I was insulted, Smith picked up the conversational ball.

  “How old are you?”

  “Thirty cycles. Why?”

  “Because I’m thirty-four. That means Gertz created you after me, and I don’t believe for a second that he wouldn’t have used what he’d learned from my process and even made improvements on it. Do you heal fast?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never been hurt.”

  She arched a brow. “Never? Not even cuts, bruises?”

  “No.” I was frowning now. “It’s not like I indulge in bar fights, you know. Where would I have gotten cut? Until recently the most strenuous thing I ever did was dance.”

  “How about during your combat training? Those instructors can be pretty heavy-handed, and they aren’t prone to cutting the students any slack.”

  I stuck my nose in the air. “They’re also so slow I could have run rings around them. It looks to me like the government would hire a better quality of instructors for this place.”

  Smith’s lips turned up in a smile as she glanced at Dr. Daniels. “She’s like me, all right. No doubt about it. At the very least, a normal GEP would take a healthy share of bruises during training. I suspect if one of the instructors did manage to get a hit in, she healed so fast no one noticed she’d been injured.”

  He put his cup down on the small table between our chairs and stood. “I’d better go order a ship prepared for her.”

  Was it my imagination, or did Smith’s smile turn a bit nasty? “Give her to Lillith. I have a feeling they were made for each other. Plus, it will get the ship out of Max’s hair. She has a horrible case of hero worship and is driving him to distraction.”

  “Excellent idea,” Dr. Daniels said. “Agent Adams, you might want to return to your quarters now and pack. You’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”

  I finished off my wine and set the glass aside. “Who, exactly, is Lillith?”

  “She’s an artificial intelligence Surge Zephyr, just like my ship,” Smith said. “Oh, and when you’re packing? You might want to lose the designer clothes and pack a good supply of jumpsuits. They’ll last longer.”

  Right, I was going to take fashion advice from someone who stuck a strip of material between her legs and called it good.

  Without further adieu, I took my leave. I was all the way back in my quarters before I realized the dratted dragon bird had followed me.

  Ignoring the creature, I sank down on the end of the bed, my entire body shaking. Yeah, I put on a good show, but the truth was, I’d never been so scared in my whole life. I wasn’t created to be an agent. I was created to excel at management and organization. Even with all my retraining I was doomed to fail, because I didn’t have a clue how to go about this agent business. I was only biding my time, pretending to go along with the status quo. GEPs are long-lived, especially with rejuv treatments, and I figured sooner or later the furor over Gertz’s creations would die down and I could go back to doing what I’d been designed to do.

  I could go back to doing what I’d been designed to do as long as I didn’t have any psi abilities. One whiff of talent and my old
bosses wouldn’t let me come back under any circumstances. Which gave me a huge problem if Dr. Daniels was right about those psi tests, a problem I was going to do my best to deny existed.

  Faking my way through life wasn’t helping my state of mind, though. For the first time ever, there was nothing for me to organize, nothing to manage. And I’d never felt so lost, so inadequate, so alone. Let’s face it. I’m no Kiera Smith and never will be.

  I desperately wanted my old life back. Instead, I was setting out for who knew where, to do who knows what, with an unknown psi ability waiting to ambush me and ruin all my chances at normalcy. The uncertainty was making me crazy.

  Yes, Kiera Smith should eat worms and die. And take her damn dragon bird with her.

  CHAPTER 2

  It was amazing how many colors jumpsuits came in, I decided, admiring my reflection in the plate-glass window at the front of Alien Affairs docking station. Not only did the bright pink make me look good, it was a nice contrast to Peri’s iridescent purple feathers. I’d even found boots and a holster for my blaster in the same shade of amethyst.

  Yeah, yeah, I know. I don’t like animals. But the silly thing made such a racket when I tried to leave without her that everyone was staring. I had to let her sit on my shoulder just to shut her up.

  And at least we were color coordinated.

  Now, to find my ship. Checking the orders in my hand, I compared the docking slip location to the numbers lit up along the back wall of the station. Looked like my ride was at the far end.

  Good thing I didn’t have a lot of luggage to tow along with me. I’d sent most of my clothes to storage and had all the jumpsuits I’d ordered delivered straight to the ship, except for the one I was wearing. My carry-on held a few fancy dresses and accessories I couldn’t bring myself to part with. After all, a girl never knows when she’ll have to dress for a party at a moment’s notice, and it’s best to be prepared.

  I strutted down the aisle, aware of all the admiring glances I was getting from the males working around the docking station. But there was no time for fun and games right now. I was scheduled to undock in fifteen minutes and I’d never been late in my entire life.