She left the Mercedes in the garage and took the truck, her white and battered four-runner with nearly a hundred thousand faithful miles on red-rock scree. Traffic was light going into town, and nonexistent up the Schnably Hill Road to the outlook parking area. She parked there, waited in the truck a few minutes, then got out and strolled up the winding trail to the ridge overlooking town and buttes beyond. Someone had recently placed red rocks there in the pattern of a medicine wheel, and she sat down next to it. The air was crisp, and Nataly breathed deeply, feeling the energy of the place, the energy that had brought her father to it so many years ago.
A few minutes later there was a crunch of a step falls behind her. She turned and saw Vasyl’s smile. He was dressed in jeans and flannel shirt and wore a wide-brimmed straw hat to shield him from even the morning sun.
“Good morning, Natasha,” he said, and sat down beside her, put an arm around her, gave her shoulder a squeeze. There was an expression of deep caring in his light brown eyes. “I hope you’re sleeping better these days.”
“The pills help, but they’re not natural. I feel drugged half the day, and then worry the other half. When will this be over, Vasyl?”
“I wish I knew. Doctor Price has made the progress we hoped for, thanks to you. The Americans could have what they want within a month, if Dario Watt can’t find a way to stop it. The man has hidden himself away. We suspect he’s still here, along with agents under his control. We’re certain he’ll make a move before a flight test is made. We have teams watching Price and Davis, and we’re putting one on you.”
“Me? Why me?”
“You’re associated with Price. I’m sure Watt knows it. You could be used to intimidate Price if you were taken hostage. Even now you could be watched by someone who works under cloaking.”
“There have been no incidents at the house since the IR sensors were installed.”
“You can be followed anywhere, Natasha. We only want to protect you.”
“And Eric too.”
Vasyl put an arm around her again. “Yes. I hear softness in your voice when you say his name. We certainly didn’t plan for that.”
“I know. I suppose you think I’m foolish.”
“He’s a dangerous man, Natasha.”
“A part of him is worse than that, and frightens me. But when I look inside and see who he really is, the way he was before the wars, the training, the personal losses in his life, I cry for him. I cry for his heritage. Not out of pity, but sorrow over such a gentle, loving soul who has been dragged through circumstance into a terrible existence. The person inside, the real person, cries out for serenity and love.”
“I’ve never envied empaths, or any exceptionals like your father was. You have his soul, Natasha. I can’t feel what you feel, but I see you giving your heart to a man who is paid to kill, a man who has neglected important people in his life. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“The man I love will never hurt me, but he must be allowed to show himself. He is not who you see.”
“Oh, Natasha,” said Vasyl, and pulled his arm away from her. “You can be so frustrating.”
“It will be easier for you if you don’t try to run my life,” she said, and smiled.
“Very well, but we’re still going to watch you. It’ll be best if you see less of Price until the flight test is made. He needs to focus on that task. I want you to report anything that looks out of the ordinary, anything that makes you feel you’re being watched, even if it turns out to be our own people.”
“There is something,” said Nataly. “I’ve seen a man in my shop’s parking area several times, now. He never comes into the shop, just sits in his car a while and then drives away. Could be he’s been shopping next door, but then Eric was in my shop one day and stopped to talk to him on the way out. I’d nearly forgotten that.”
“What does he look like?”
“Broad shoulders, and his head goes nearly to the ceiling of his car. Dark hair and eyes, square face, basically a nice looking man.”
Vasyl’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll check on it. Don’t go anywhere with him if he ever approaches you.”
“Vasyl, I—”
“Please, Natasha, do as I say.”
Nataly sighed. “All right, but I will see Eric, and you can’t force me not to. I’ll make excuses about being busy until his flight test is over. I’ll do that for Eric’s sake. I’ve done a lot for you and the Council, Vasyl. You owe me.”
Vasyl smiled, and took her hand in his. “Yes, I do, and I owe your father even more. He was the first.”
Nataly squeezed his hand. “The first in this town, you mean. I think he would have liked to see people reach the stars. At first, it was only political with him. I’d better go. Maria can’t make change before she’s had two cups of coffee.”
They walked back down the trail to the parking area. Vasyl hugged her, pulled away in his black van, turned uphill and drove away from town in a cloud of red dust.
Nataly got into her truck, turned on the ignition, and thought, I just told my best friend that I love Eric Price.
And I do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
WARNINGS
Dario Watt held a strategy meeting with his deputies. Four men arrived with him at the conference room overlooking a portal bay bright with lights reflecting off titanium-strutted plas-steel walls. It was early, the bay just beginning to gear up for the day’s travel schedule, and only a few people walked the floor. As a minister, it had been ordinary for him to arrange a meeting before departure, and his deputies were familiar faces among portal staff. They were the last four men he could trust. All others had abandoned him, including his president, men who claimed to be visionaries but were willing to sacrifice the security of their world just to make a show of it.
The door was closed, and a deputy made an electronic sweep while the rest waited patiently. “It’s clean,” the man finally said, and sat down with the others.
Watt sat at the head of the table, and folded his hands together in front of him. “Thank you all for arriving promptly. I’ll keep this short, and we’ll continue our usual meeting schedule on the other side. Things are speeding up there. I wish I could bring you good news, but the facts are otherwise. The opposition has somehow become aware of all our plans, or is able to anticipate them. I’ve not been able to locate White since his arrest. He might have told them something, but plans we’ve made since then have also been uncovered.”
“Do you think we have a security breach on this side?” asked a deputy.
“No. I trust all of you completely. Our adversaries are skilled, and numerous. Our moves must be pre-planned and quick. It’s clear to me we must abandon any plan to return the star craft safely. It will have to be sacrificed. The fault is my own. I overestimated American greed for money, and forgot about pride. Every government operative I’ve tried to buy, even Davis, is now working against us. The fools can barely conceal lies from each other. The council is controlling Price, trying to use him to gain access to us, and feeding him information about the star craft. Price will have it flying in space within weeks unless we eliminate him. That will be difficult. We tried it once, and you all know what happened.”
“They were cloaked, and we didn’t expect them,” said another deputy. “Now they’ll be watching him all the time.”
“True, but we’ll have to try. My plan involves multiple diversions. The Council has a limited number of armed personnel, but in the event of failure we should be prepared to move to the next stage. If the star craft flies, it can be destroyed in space, but that is complex. It is better to destroy it on the ground. One of your people must go through and see to that. A simple explosive keyed to the startup sequence can do the job.”