Chapter 1

“I still say the young sir could be in on it, Protector. The woman is his sister, after all.”

“And you think he would betray me like that, Hssa?” The man known as Protector glanced impatiently at the scaled, gray-green Brachi who strode at his side. At one time Brach had been a race of warrior/scientists and had seeded huge portions of the galaxy with their offspring, but that time was long past, and now the scientific aspect of their nature had been winnowed out. They were still brilliant, but mostly when it came to battle.

“And you think he would not?” He snorted, much to Protector’s amusement. The sound was at odds with the muzzle from which it issued. “While you were whiling away the days in his bed, I did a little snooping around. It was the talk of the court, you know.”

“Why? Being bedded by a Protector is considered an honor on many worlds.”

“True. But Treyson Jax never before showed any inclination toward his own sex. In fact, he is known for his voracious appetite—”

Yes, he is quite insatiable.Protector’s lips curled in a grin of sexual satisfaction.

Hssa snorted again. “When it comes to the ladies of his father’s court,” he finished. He growled when Protector just shrugged and continued to the spaceport’s infirmary. “Why not just look into his mind and see what’s there?”

“Shouldn’t I offer him a measure of trust?”

“Not when The Protector’s fate rests on it.”

“You’re right. Personal feelings can’t enter into it.” He rested his hand on his friend’s shoulder and looked up into the saurian face. “Have you so little faith in me, Hssa? I did, that very first night. I had to wait until he was asleep—he has an extraordinarily strong shield—and as I suspected, he was sent to distract me.”

“As you suspected?” The vertical pupils of Hssa’s eyes expanded until the yellow iris was just a thin ring around them.

“Come now, did you think I’d let a pretty face distract me?”

“It would have distracted me, had it belonged to a female of my race,” Hssa grumbled. “Will you keep him once you’ve found The Protector?”

“You know I work best alone.” Protector shrugged, shielding his thoughts, and as he’d hoped, his friend was too well-mannered to pry.

The two reached the infirmary and stood watching the sole occupant through one-way glass.

The captain of the Loolah was recovering from the gas that had flooded his compartment and killed his first mate. He sat on his cot with his head in his hands.

“He could have been in on it as well, Protector,” Hssa murmured, not wanting to divert Protector’s attention from the task at hand.

“Perhaps.” Protector’s golden eyes went vague as he sent delicate probes into the captain’s mind. After a few moments, he shook his head. “No. His grief is too real. And besides—” He raised a hand to forestall the Brachi’s next suggestion. “He does not have the mind control to project such emotion. We’ll question him and see what he has to say.”

The captain looked up as they entered and gave a sour laugh. “That’s great. That’s fracking great. Nowthey send a Protector?”

“For one who may well have cost Ymper The Protector, you’re either very brave, or very stupid.” Protector was pleased to note the mental flinch.

“D’you think I don’t know why they picked me and my ship? It sure as scrag wasn’t because I’m the best and she’s the fastest. She’s a good ship, but she’s small, and something as important as this—transporting the bride of a Thresian princeling? Who would suspect the Loolah would be chosen for such a task?”

“Tell me what happened.”

“Run-of-the-mill run. Nothing to note. The woman seemed tense, but then, aren’t all brides? And then we hit deep space, and I was unconscious for the rest of it. The gas that knocked me out—” His voice broke, and he scrubbed his hands over his face. “—killed my first mate. When I get my hands on whoever was behind this…” His fingers flexed.

“It was your cargo mate who betrayed you.”

“Aul? Why? He’s been with me for more than a dozen years.”

“There are always those who don’t want peace among the planets.”

“But Aul isn’t political. He’s one of the stupidest—”

“Wasone of the stupidest.” They’d found his body outside the cargo bay. His head had been a few yards away, the smooth edges of the slice indicative of The Protector’s blade, something she would use when silence was a necessity. “He’d given your ship’s codes to the mercenaries who would have taken the H’asean woman.”

“The Protector stopped them?”

“Of course.”

“But how? One woman—”

“She’s The Protector. And now they’ve taken her.”

Ymper produced many men called Protectors, who, from the moment of birth, were raised to guard and protect, linked together by a mental bond. Of each generation, however, there was only one destined to be The Protector. The sole female, nothing deterred her. She was more deadly and more relentless than any of her comrades, and would stop at nothing to shield whoever had been deemed worthy to be put into her safekeeping.