Sadie's Mate Read online

  Feeling more than a little feral, he dropped in a little message that he knew she’d find soon enough. Especially since she’d been in his system no less than forty times in the last two days they’d been in port. “Come out, come out wherever you are, doc.” Bracken had known who it was the moment he saw the coding. He knew it was the woman, Sadie, that had always been kicking her heels in a run to get away from him. Yes, he knew who Sadie Monterey was and she was damn well going to come out and play. No more running.

  ****

  Sadie looked at the message and frowned. No, this was not good. She took a deep breath and tapped her short nails to the desk in her home. She was on forced vacation right now, but it didn’t stop her from protecting Bracken and his crew. And now he’d found her backdoor. Damn.

  Swiping her hand over the desk top, she pulled up the holo image screen and altered her appearance as she always did when talking to Bracken and put in the call. She never let him know who she truly was, or anyone for that matter. He still didn’t know what she truly looked like and she was fine with that. To him she was simply Dr. Monterey. No first name, no initials, just her position and last name.

  She didn’t start with a greeting when his face appeared on the screen. Instead, she ordered, “You need to let my inspectors on board. That’s an order. You know that each time you port you have to allow my inspectors on board. Just do it, Colonel Kauller. It will make life much easier.”

  “Actually, I don’t,” he said with a bored expression on his face. “Besides, you’ve been mucking about in my systems for the last two days so I’m pretty sure you know exactly what’s going on there. I also don’t trust a single one of the inspectors the marshal’s offices sent out here. They are not among those I’ve personally vetted to be allowed on my ship. If you can get those I do trust to come out, then I might consider letting them on under armed guard. But otherwise, no.”

  “And who exactly would you suggest, Colonel?” she asked with a frown and shifted slightly. “I have only done what I’ve needed to do.” She tapped her finger on the desk once more, a nervous habit she’d had since childhood.

  His cognac-colored eyes with the black outer ring narrowed on her image. “You, and only you. Or we leave without the inspection, which I can override at any time as you well know. So you come do the inspection, or I leave without it and you can attempt to write me up.”

  “That’s not something that will happen. They won’t allow you out of our space and you know it. There’s only so much I can do in order to protect you,” she muttered. “I don’t make visits to the ships. You know that.” She did, actually. She just didn’t visit his ship. She never visited his ship because it was too much and far too close to him.

  “Actually, you do, yet you’ve never once set foot on mine. Strange, don’t you think? The person in charge of ensuring our systems are the latest, greatest, and completely impenetrable and yet you’ve never once gotten near my destroyer. You come out here, or I’ll let the marshal’s offices know you refused despite my concerns about the seriously bumbling antics of the lackeys you attempted to foist on me after I voiced a very real concern that needed someone of a top level to address it. I’m sure they’ll let me go toddling off to one of the moon bases to attend to things, right about the time they hand you your walking papers. Get your ass on my ship by midday tomorrow, Doctor Monterey, or start looking for another job.” He shot her a feral snarl before he ended the communication.

  God he’s an ass. Taking a deep breath, she sighed and tapped her fingers in a faster rhythm. She didn’t know if she could face him. Crap. Standing, she moved to her closet and pulled out the suit that she needed to help alter her appearance. With that done she pulled her hair down from its bun and headed to the docks. She was at least content with the fact that he only knew her as Dr. Monterey and with four Dr. Montereys in the Ministries she knew she was safe. After all, he never would have known that she had accomplished all she had in the years since he had last seen her.

  She pulled the facial film into place, then queued up the alterations process and was soon headed toward the ship of the man that should have been the other part of her soul, a man that would never acknowledge it because of how badly he had been harmed by her. A woman that Sadie herself would pay good money to kill.

  ****

  “Dr. Monterey reporting as Colonel Kauller demanded,” she said when she placed her hand onto the communications screen. Her disguise was in place and she was comfortable in knowing that he would never recognize her. Ever.

  There was a long moment of silence before she was given permission to board. The first officer was there to greet her. He asked her to follow him, then turned to lead her through the ship. He took her down to the server room where Bracken sat waiting. The man didn’t even bother to get to his feet. Hell, he didn’t even greet her, just thanked his officer and sat staring at her.

  “Now, I need to look over your ship. I will be in and out before you know it.” She didn’t move, didn’t shift from foot to foot. Instead she simply watched him. “Without my approval you won’t leave this port and you damn well know it. Now the question is, why me?”

  “Curiosity mostly,” he said. “I was curious about the woman who had such control over our destroyers. And I was curious as to how you’d look when you got here. Not quite the face I’d have picked, given your bone structure, but it’s passable. You really should have thought about the nose, though. It doesn’t suit very well.” Reaching out, he hit a button and up popped a candid image of her true face. “I know it’s from several years ago, but I prefer it over this facade. It took me some time to figure out, but now that I have it makes things so much clearer.”

  “How did you get that?” she demanded. “You shouldn’t have that.” It was a carefree moment, one where she’d been watching him playing some sort of game with his crew and his best friend’s crew. She had been happy in that moment, until she had seen him grab and kiss the woman that he had been interested in. “I have control over the destroyers because I’m the best.” She didn’t waffle in her tones. She simply told it like it was. She was the best. Period. She had also gone through great lengths to ensure that the real her never made it out there to the public and now Bracken knew who she really was.

  “It’s not the only one I have, Sadie. I have about three dozen others as well. Some from earlier days but none beyond this point. You started to avoid coming around after this. I could speculate as to why, but that would be pointless.” He surged to his feet then, a hand moving to erase the image before he walked toward her. “You have two hours before I’m leaving. With or without your sign-off. Orders from the marshal’s office came in prior to your arrival. We have no choice. Oh, and they’ll be sending a bag along to ensure you’re comfortable for the trip.” Bracken headed for the door, leaving her standing there trying to comprehend his words.

  Her mouth opened and closed several times. With a frown she keyed up the communications device and demanded, “What the hell is going on? What does Colonel Kauller mean that a bag is being sent to me for the trip. What’s happening?”

  “The marshal’s office sent through the orders to your device. They’ve pulled you from vacation, and you are temporarily assigned to his destroyer for the duration of his current mission. They believe something is going on, and they need you to discover the truth of the matter. Full confidential orders are in the packet. Read it, and then destroy it,” came through to her.

  As if she would ever give Bracken up. She let out a breath and nodded. “Acknowledged,” she agreed, then killed the connection, turned off and completely blocked any communications from command. If they thought Bracken and his friends were up to something it was going to be up to her to make sure they were protected, all without them knowing that it was her doing it. Fucking great.

  She felt the cool air hit her skin as she peeled the film from her face. Great. Just fucking great.

  For the next two hours Sadie encrypted every single packet of data she could find on Bracken’s whereabouts and hid them where no one would ever find them. She felt it then, the ship moving from port.

  “This is going to suck,” she muttered. Facial film back in place, she left the room and headed toward command so that she could get her room assignments and try to figure out the best way to avoid Bracken for as long as she possibly could.

  The first officer met her at the command deck doors. She could see Bracken at a terminal, leaning in talking to one of the junior officers. “Doctor, if you’re ready I will show you to the quarters you’ll have during your stay with us.” The officer waved her back up the corridor, never letting her onto the command deck. Once she was moving he followed her to the lifts and inside. He took them down a couple of levels to the command crew level and led her to a door. After keying in a code he looked to her. “If you’ll put your hand on the scanner. This will allow you entrance into the room at any time. The head of security and the colonel are the only other two with access to these rooms at any moment. But only in a time of emergency. Your bags have already been put inside, as well as a package that the courier told us was for your eyes only from the marshal’s offices. If you require anything, there is a directory next to the communications vid screen to get you through to the various members of the crew.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that,” she told him and looked at the package. She had no idea what was in it but knew whatever it was, it wasn’t good for Bracken or his crew. Once she was alone she removed the facial film and the suit that altered her image. Grabbing clean and fresh comfortable clothing from her bag, she sat down at the desk and opened the package.

  Her hands were shaking when she finished listening to the instructions on the recording device. She took a deep breath and made a verbal-o
nly call to Bracken. “You have far more issues than you realize. I need to meet with you.” Which meant getting back into the uncomfortable suit and facial film, but both were necessary. He might say that he knew what she looked like, but he didn’t, not really. He didn’t know about the long scar that ran from forehead to chin on her face. He didn’t know about the markings because she tried to keep it private, her shame. No, there was much about her that he didn’t know—and never would, if she could survive this trip with him.

  “I can meet you in my offices in twenty. I’m dealing with a crisis already and can’t manage any sooner. Do you need directions to it?” he asked. A voice called out to him, and she heard him let out a growl. “Damn it,” he muttered. “Make it thirty minutes at the earliest. The console has a map of the ship. It’s right off the command deck, though, with access from the corridor. I’ll see you there, doc.”

  She heard him cut the connection and sighed. Great. Just. Great.

  Chapter Three

  Sadie sat in Bracken’s office with the packet that was for her eyes only in her lap and waited, not so patiently. She looked once more at the timepiece and saw that it was now forty-five minutes since she spoke to him last. She needed him to hurry. The power supply for the facial film wasn’t one that was everlasting and it was also bloody damn well hot. Five more minutes, that was all she was giving him until she left and let him come to find her.

  The door from the command deck slid open to reveal utter chaos, then slid shut to silence the noise. “Apologies for the delay,” he said. He moved to the desk and practically fell into the chair behind it. Rubbing his hands over his face, he leaned forward to prop his arms on the desktop. “What’s going on, Sadie?”

  “You and your friend Fintan have been playing loose with the rules. Since he wed the Imarian woman, the marshal’s office have placed spies on his ship.” She passed the package over to him. “They want to bring you all down. They’re trying to find who all is with you. I never once thought to ensure that his destroyer was protected as well. Sure I’ve hidden the telemetry on his ship when I could, but I didn’t think about scouring it clean the way that I did yours.”

  Bracken waved off her concern as he looked over the pieces of the package she’d been left. Reaching out, he pressed a button. “Draven, get Fintan for me, please,” he said, then released the button. “They really are starting to get desperate,” he muttered, shaking his head slowly.

  She shrugged and leaned back once more. If he wasn’t concerned, why should she be? It was likely time she stopped protecting him as much as she did. “If you have nothing else to say, I should go back to my quarters. It’s been a very long and trying day.” Especially since she had been shoved onto the one ship in the universe she didn’t want to be. Not because she hated Bracken, but because she cared far too much for him.

  “Don’t move,” he said sharply. A beep sounded, and the screen to her left lit up.

  “Bracken, what’s going…oh, hello.”

  “Fintan, meet Doctor Sadie Monterey, friend of the family. Mainly the sisters but we’re forgiving her for her horrid taste in friends. Sadie, meet General Fintan Daykin. The marshal’s office is stepping things up, Fintan. They’re into planting evidence now, and moles.”

  “I know. I caught two just this morning who are now crammed into an escape pod with three others that will be jettisoned sometime in the next hour. I’m sweeping through the crew, looking for the others they thought they could slip past me.”

  “Good. I already have Draven looking into our crew as well. They actually think we don’t know each and every member by name and face.”

  “Well the offices are being run by an egotistical ass who wants to make a mark by wiping out the Imarians once and for all.”

  Bracken shot her a look and snorted. “They’re not above getting rid of those that could discover their plans, either. Where are you at?”

  Fintan leaned to the side with a frown. “About a day out from your position. Why?”

  “Because we’ve been sabotaged and I’m pretty damn sure they have a plan to ignite this war, and we’re the fucking suckers about to be splattered across the galaxy.”

  “I’ll get Markus to encourage the engine room to run in the red for a while. Keep me apprised of the situation. And Bracken.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t get dead.”

  “Copy that, General. See you soon.” The screen went black as Bracken turned his chair to face her once more.

  “So you’ve known what’s been happening for a while now I take it?” she asked as she leaned back, tapping her finger to the arm of the chair in her telltale nervous fashion. “What I don’t get, though, is why assure that I’m on board? I’m the one who designed the AI’s and without me they will all go dormant. There’s a kill switch that’s encoded with my DNA, so making me dead is a good way to kill all of the Craegin destroyers, so why?”

  He lifted a brow and stared at her. “Come on, Sadie. Think about it. They have a whole new line of destroyers that are ready to be put into place if not for the fact we’re not at war and don’t need that many out here. All with a different AI system to run them. Kill all of us off with a fake Imarian fleet, and they can roll out their new ships with commanders in place who do as they are told and don’t bother to think for themselves.”

  She shook her head and leaned forward. “You really don’t know me as well as you think you do.” Everyone was certain that the new, top-of-the-line destroyers were all clearly based upon a new design, but she was a chameleon. She could change her looks at whim and did so often so that she could ensure Bracken was safe. She hid the true self that she was, the scarred woman that men only wanted for a title and money. No, Sadie was no one’s fool. Not now, not ever. “Why do you think you know me as well as you do? Yes, I’ve been friends with your sisters for as long as I can recall but you don’t really know me. No one does.” No one had ever truly tried to know her. Sure she had been sought after, but they didn’t want her just the prestige of being her husband.

  “You may have put in the initial systems, but they were all changed out on the sly a year ago,” he said quietly. Digging into his desk, he tossed a file onto the top near her. “We’ve been suspicious for a couple of years now, but the instant they did that we all started to cover our asses. We have enough dirt on several politicians to bury them for centuries. But we don’t yet have the one key piece. The why of it all. You’re as expendable as the rest of us, Sadie. Why do you think you were forced onto this ship with us? Especially if we’re such threats to the current government. You could have kept watch from Craegin remotely. You have access to everything here. Why put you on this ship now?”

  “Don’t know.” Oh she knew all right but she wasn’t saying. “Well since you have absolutely everything figured out you really don’t need me now, do you? You can assign one of the tramps to take me back or drop me at one of the moon bases.” It pissed her off that someone was putting her shit out there. It bothered her even more that Bracken felt he knew more about her and what was happening in her life than she did. A lot.

  “And leave you unprotected? Hardly,” he said, adding on a snort for good measure, she was sure. Bloody irritating was what it actually was. He looked ready to say something else to her when another beep sounded. Snarling a heap of swear words under his breath, he hit the button. “Yeah? What? When?” he asked. Then he let loose with another string of curses, some used in a rather creative manner. “Get us there as quick as you can. Alert Fintan that we’re diverting. Son of a bitch,” he complained as he got to his feet. When he reached her side he tugged on the shoulder of her shirt lightly. “Come on, doc. You’re going to want to see the evidence for yourself.”

  “If you say so,” Sadie said as she rose to her feet and adjusted her suit. It was clear by the rigidness of her stance that she hated being led around on a string, but what was worse was she would do anything for this man. She was Craegin through and through; she was passionate, but she was also submissive if the right man ever came along. He never had, however, not since the right man stood before her and never once looked at her as if he wanted anything to do with her at all.