Page 27 of Alien Knight Teddy Bear Troubles

“Ah, an intelligence operative.” Taeger finally released Smith, who rubbed his neck.

“Exactly. And I’m not telling you what’s in the case.”

Taeger looked at the case and grinned. “I do not need you to tell me.” He took the case from Smith’s hand and laid it flat on the ground. He knelt in front of the case, inspecting the locking mechanism. “Someone has already had a look. The lock is broken.”

“What the fuck?” Smith stepped forward to shove Taeger away from the case but Taeger’s men were there, weapons drawn. Smith backed up angrily, hands up, palms out. “Okay. Okay. Still, that is government property. You do not have the authority or clearance to open it.”

Ignoring Smith’s angry protests, Taeger glanced knowingly at Cassie, then popped the lid open and lifted a long cylinder of alien metal and crystals from the case.

Taeger ran his hands along the device as Cassie leaned over his shoulder, fascinated. She refused to feel bad about breaking that lock. She’d been ordered to protect the package at any cost. That’s what she’d done, dammit.Or tried, at least.A wave of fresh guilt passed through her at the thought of the missing data chip, still presumably where she’d stashed it on the Dark One’s ship when she and Ion had been swept up.

The first time she’d seen the “package” she’d been injured. Half out of her mind. While Smith was tending to Charlie, she’d broken the lock, felt around for anything removable, discovered the data chip and recklessly removed it in case the enemy found it. She’d reasoned that with the missing data chip an enemy who discovered the weapon wouldn’t be able to make it work. She’d only assumed the “package” was a weapon, but how could something so beautiful be a weapon? “Do you know what it is? Have you ever seen one before?”

“I have not seen one in cen--a very long time.” Taeger placed the device reverently back in the case and lowered the lid, locking it safely away. “It’s a relic from a people long gone from my world. Like our swords, we can use some of the technology they left behind, but we do not fully understand them. We always suspected this device was a weapon, but to my knowledge, no one was ever able to make it work.”

“What is it?” She asked again.

“We call it the Black Star.”

“And? What does that mean?” Cassie asked, her brow creased in confusion. Frustration. Worry.

Taeger looked up at her with a grim expression. “I do not know. Who supplied you with this weapon?”

Dumbstruck, Cassandra opened her mouth to reply. Closed it. Her shoulders lifted in question. “I have no idea. I’m the pilot. Our orders were to transport,” she hesitated, not knowing what name to give Smith, then jerked her head in his direction, “himto Mora Five. He came back from his meeting with it. I never saw who he was meeting. We were on our way back to Earth when we were attacked.”

In unison, their heads turned to Smith.

The air fairly crackled with tension as Taeger locked eyes with Smith. He’d give the man credit, he stayed cool under pressure. Confident. Defiant. He watched with growing admiration as Smith crossed his arms. A clear sign he wasn’t going to give them the answers they needed. He doubted the “spook” even knew the real truth about who he met on Mora Five, but he’d try. He growled low, “How were you contacted? Who gave you the relic?”

With a twitch of his lips Smith replied, “Superman.”

Before Taeger could respond, Cassie’s friend and co-pilot, Char-Lee, coughed and wheezed weakly, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Let’s get back to base.” Taeger gave the order and everyone moved. Seemed they were all tired of being outside, vulnerable and exposed. The reckoning could wait until the were safe underground.

Chapter Ten

Mora Five, Lumerian Base

The base wasalive with activity. Cassie recognized the familiar buzz and paced, feeling helpless and at the end of her rope.

Charlie was in medical. The alien doctors had stabilized him and planned to put him on an evac ship along with Ion, Marcano and some of the others.

Taeger had locked Smith up with Charlie, which she thought was smart. Smith would have no sympathy for their plight, or the alien’s chain of command. Most likely, he’d do something stupid, like try to steal the package, the Black Star weapon built by an ancient alien race so advanced that even the Caldorians didn’t know how to use it.

How the hell had General MacGregor made that kind of contact in space? Who had given them the weapon? And what were they going to do with it now that she’d lost the data chip needed to activate the damn thing?

She’d lost control of this mission the moment the Vilitos had shot her out of the sky above this wreck of a planet and there would be no getting it back. Unless she stole a ship herself, made her way to the prison ship where she and Ion had been held captive, and found the chip.

She was staring at one of the smaller ships, considering the supreme idiocy and suicidal nature of her idea, when Taeger stepped into her line of sight.

“Don’t even think about it, Cassie.” He moved closer and placed his palm on her cheek. She hated herself for it, but she welcomed his touch, leaned into his heat. His strength. This situation was horrifying on so many levels, she didn’t even know what to think anymore. But she knew one thing, she needed that data chip. Or she would have to track down whoever Smith had met with to acquire the weapon and find out if she or Smith could get their hands on another chip.

Assuming whomever he had met with wasn’t rotting in a prison cell on another level of that prison ship.

Shit.

“Cassie? I can’t help you if you keep secrets.”

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