Page 52 of Star Prince

“It’s time you found out who they are. I—I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

He shifted his weight. “Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

“You don’t know who you’re up against.” Something in her tone struck him.

“Doyou?”he asked.

Her breath formed clouds in the chill air as she squeezed her hands together, a gesture he had come to associate with her tension. The entire crew gathered around them, listening intently. “There was a man at the market the day you and Muffin took me shopping. He was staring at me from across the street, so openly that the merchant noticed and called my attention to it. He was wearing a cloak and hood so I couldn’t see his face, but as he turned away I was able to see his eyes.” The flicker of true fear—was it for him? —that crossed her face vanished so fast that he wasn’t sure he had seen it. “Ian, he wasVash Nadah.”

“AVash?Here?” His blood surged. That truly wassuspicious. His stepfather’s people infrequently left the interior of the galaxy.

Tee continued, “Because I didn’t know who you were, then, I didn’t say anything. It doesn’t excuse my negligence, but I was so focused on self-preservation that I didn’t stop to think he might be a danger to you and the crew.”

“After the near-miss with those Dars on Blunder, I can see why,” he acknowledged.

“Then, on Barésh, when we got separated, I was followed. It was the cloaked Vash again, and this time we talked. He let it slip that he was on Donavan’s Blunder.”

Ian thought of the loony bartender and his warning.Watch your back.“Who was he, Tee? Did he say?”

“Klark Vedla.” A muscle jumped in her cheek, and her face gleamed with perspiration despite the frosty air. “You know him, yes?”

“Yes.” He was more familiar with the prince’s older brother. Ché had been first in line for the throne until Ian entered the picture.

“Klark was here, Ian. Tonight.Hedamaged your ship.”

Her statement hit him like a two-by-four between the eyes. A surge of fury rolled through him. “To heck with the ship; he almost killed you!” He had hoped his dedication to theVash,his participation in the Great Council, his work to become the perfectVashprince, would have reassured anyone whodisagreed with his selection as Rom’s heir. But now it was clear that any such optimism was premature. TheVash Nadahwere pacifists on a galactic scale, but what about on a more personal level? It wasn’t like them to resort to violence, but what if they saw him as a threat to their cherished age-old bloodlines? How far were they willing to go to keep one of their own on the throne? And now that he suspected foul play, how should he handle it? The execution would be as critical as the resolution.

Ian returned his attention to Tee. “Tell me exactly what happened in the arcade. What did thisVashdo? What did he say to you?”

“He made me sit with him and share a drink. I didn’t want to stay there, of course, so he got angry and began ranting. He blurted that he thought his older brother deserved more power than what the king was willing to give him.” She shifted from foot to foot uneasily, and Ian found himself thinking that either she was scared or she was holding something back. After a moment she added, “The entire episode was very odd. It seemed all he wanted me to do was have a drink.”

“How many did you have?”

“Only the barest taste of one,” she shot back defensively.

“One taste?” he repeated.

There was dead silence. Even the night creatures hushed as an almost eerie calm invaded him. “Youcould barely walk out of that bar. Didn’t you wonder about that?”

“I blamed it on my low tolerance to alcohol and the strength of what I drank...” Her eyes widened with understanding. “You think it’s more than that.”

“Vedla’s been poisoning our pilots.All along.”Ian let out a quick pained laugh and raised his hands. “And here I thought you were all alcoholics.”

Tee grimaced. “The pilot that came before me, he killed him?”

“Deliberately—or accidentally through overdose,” Muffin agreed. “If he wanted to slow us down and keep us from catching up with Randall, it worked. At first.”

The crew grumbled with more observations and suppositions.

Ian struggled to control his rage. “But I didn’t fire you for drunkenness like he hoped, so now he’s after the ship. We’ve had more than our share of maintenance problems, Quin. Do you see any connection to Klark?”

The mechanic shook his head. “The malfunctions are too random. Different systems break down each time, and they’re systems he couldn’t get to. I wish hewasthe answer, Captain, because I’m damned tired of trying to fix our rotten luck.”

“And I’m damned tired of being a fool.” With his hand on his holster, Ian walked toward a thicket of trees a dozen yards away. “Go on inside everyone. We’ve done all we can tonight. I recommend youget your sleep while you can. We’ll take care of Klark soon enough!” His proclamation worked; the crew left in higher spirits, mumbling about how theVashsaboteur was about to get his due.

“Hot damn!”Ian could hear his sister saying.“Ian Hamilton’s going to kick some ass.”Yeah, that was what Ilana would like—a good old-fashioned ass kicking—and Tee would too, by the sound of it earlier. But that was not how he operated. He had taken all those years of Tae Kwon do on Earth so that he wouldn’t ever have to fight—and it had worked. He had always been able to use his brains and his mouth to get out of every situation.

Vigilant for unusual sounds or movement in the woods, he tipped his head back and stared at the stars, but their stark beauty was lost on him tonight. If what the pixie said was true, Klark had been interfering with his mission from nearly the beginning.

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