Felicity Shannara Jones, Captain Jones to most who knew her, Felix to her friends, Jay to Manx Carlisle who followed her up the steps from the car.

  “You could drop the uniform, you know,” he said. “After all, you don’t wear one anymore.”

  “Can it, Carlisle.”

  “And I know you’re pissed when you go formal on me.”

  “You have no idea.”

  Carlisle placed a hand on her forearm. It was just a touch, firm, a warning. Felix stopped half way up the stairs, let him partially block her path and catch her eye.

  “Take a breath, Jay. They are the dumbest damned civilians we’ve yet come across, but they are holding all the cards.”

  It took an effort, but Felix managed to halt the epithet before it crossed her tongue. This was what they paid him for. This was why she had kept him around, long after she had given most of her other PAs the can. Carlisle knew the playing field, and knew her well enough to warn her when she was letting too much of her inner self show—and, tonight, she had to present a cool, collected fa?ade. The institute they were visiting was holding someone she dearly wanted to meet. If they caught a whiff of who she really was and what she was doing here, she’d be out on her ear before she could see him.

  She laid a hand over the top of Carlisle’s fingers, acknowledging his assistance. Turning her head so she could meet his gaze, she took two deep breaths, careful to stay aware of her surroundings even as she lost herself in the color of his eyes. Blue and green swirled together to remind her of the oceans of Aquapearl.

  Aquapearl. Not all of her memories of that distant world were so peaceful. In fact, most of them were highly disturbing. She had been a killer, then, worn a uniform, led a squad against one of the most cunning and adept enemies humanity had ever had the misfortune of irritating. Attempting to claim someone else’s planet tended to have that effect on the inhabitants. The oceans, though.

  She had been given time to heal beside one, and had learned to associate the uniquely colored water with security—and then they had whisked her out of the war zone and slotted her with an advisory position. It was too dangerous to send her back to fight; she’d draw too much attention to any unit to which she was attached.

  Felix had learned a lot about the politics behind the conflict, since then, was active in trying to find a way to peace that would let both sides retire with grace. Or, at least, with their economies intact. The lizardine warrior being held was probably the emissary they had been waiting for, and that was going to put a big hole in their hopes for an equitable ending.

  “You right, ma’am?” Carlisle’s quietly voiced question brought her quickly back to the present, and he removed his hand from her arm. “I think our hosts are waiting.”

  Damn. Felix hadn’t wanted to draw attention to herself, but she had needed the quiet in her assistant’s eyes in order to pull her emotions under control. Why had Command insisted it be her? They knew what had happened on Aquapearl, and had insisted in spite of it. For them to take the risk of her revealing herself, meant the situation was dire indeed, but it would be worth the risk if they could get the emissary back.

  Again, it was Carlisle’s hand on her arm that brought her back to the present. They had reached the top of the stairs, but she didn’t recall getting there.

  “I’m sorry, Carlisle,” she said. “I—”

  “Never mind, ma’am,” he said, and guided her through the door and past the watchful eyes of the guards. When they were inside and had been directed to join the group of people invited to see the ‘exhibit,’ he drew her to one side.

  “Are you up for this, ma’am?”

  Felix had been taking stock of their surrounds, filing away faces and name badges for later, noting the surveillance cameras, sprinkler system, and motion detectors. Interesting for a benign research organization that claimed humanitarian interests only, but then, so was taking out a top-of-the-line enemy shuttle and incarcerating its inhabitant.

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  The institute claimed it had rescued the reptiloid from the shuttle’s wreckage. To the world at large, they claimed it was borderline non-sentient. To the invited guests of this evening’s little soiree, they had revealed it was quite intelligent, possibly some kind of soldier from the war humanity was waging in an attempt to take control of Aquapearl and its minerally-endowed beauty spots. Command knew better, and they’d sent Felix to see what could be done.

  Speak to him if you can. Assure him of our intent. Bid for him if you must. Get him out of there if you can swing it without causing a politically embarrassing row.

  “I can manage, thank you, Carlisle,” Felix said, keeping her voice low and firm.

  He looked taken aback for a moment, but then noted a couple, each wearing the distinctive uniform belonging to their hosts. Once the man and woman had passed out of easy earshot, Felix caught her assistant’s eye.

  “Thank you,” she said, and knew by the small nod and brief smile, that he understood. “Stay close.”

  Carlisle’s “Of course, ma’am,” was interrupted when their hosts opened the double doors leading into the exhibition area.

  “Step this way, ladies and gentlemen. Please gather around at the foot of the platform. No closer. We don’t want you to alarm him. He’s feeling quite vulnerable.”

  ‘Quite vulnerable’ was probably an understatement. Any creature would feel vulnerable if it was held in a cube of electrified force bars. Twitch an inch too far to the right or left and it would not only meet an unyielding surface, but suffer a nasty shock to boot. The glare of the field and electricity combined to blur the figure within. Fortunately, one of the other guests asked the question that had crossed Felix’s mind.

  “If he’s so harmless, how come he’s being held like that?”

  “And why not cuffed to an operating table?” muttered someone else, one of the expensively suited ‘gentlemen’ Felix recognized from her syndicate files.

  For a humanitarian organization, these guys were running with an interesting crowd. In addition to several she recognized from organized crime families, Felix saw at least one foreign diplomat, two interplanetary allies, and one other government department masquerading as someone else. She let her eyes slide over the latter, and noticed them give her the same courtesy. Who knew what name they were using tonight? Better to wait for introductions than put her foot in it…again.

  Carlisle’s discreet nudge in the ribs, and chin tilt toward the dais alerted Felix to the fact their hosts had closed the doors and were preparing to address them. The first words spoken brought their audience to an abrupt unsettled quiet.

  “Greetings, honored guests, my name is John Saunders, and this is my assistant Kylie Harpington. Thank you for coming this evening. However, I’m afraid we have not been very honest with you,” said the tall young man, scanning them with a bright brown-eyed gaze. “You see, we don’t believe this creature is merely intelligent, or even a soldier. We believe he’s quite high cast, well-trained, highly intelligent and observant. And we think he’s here for a purpose other than invasion.”

  Well, whatever gives you that impression? Felix wanted to ask. The fact he was in an unarmed luxury shuttle with diplomatic markings?

  In most civilian audiences, John Saunders’ words would have created a buzz of questions: What other purpose? Is he a spy? What shuttle? More importantly, where’s the shuttle now? Was there really a crash? That sort of thing.

  This audience gave something of its backers away by remaining silent, attentively waiting for the next reveal. The spokesman waited a few heartbeats longer than he should have, before realizing the buzz was never going to come.

  “He’s said very little since we brought him in, save to ask for a government representative, which, of course, we’ve promised to provide him.”

  This last brought a ripple of laughter. The young man smiled.

  “But first we thought he’d rather meet you.”

  More laughter, quickly silenced as Saunders cut the power to the electrical node of the reptiloid’s prison, and expanded the force cage so that the creature within could move without risk of electrification. Felix found her polite chuckle dying in her throat, and felt her face go pale. Ducking her head, she raised her folder and turned to Carlisle. He took one look at her expression and wrapped an arm around her waist.

  “Nerves,” he quipped, in reply to the curious gazes that reached them. “Never seen an alien in her life.”

  Felix could have cheerfully killed him, except that his response enabled him to steer her to one side of the room and settle her on a square seat by the wall, and any who had noticed quickly lost interest. Touching a point just behind his jaw, Carlisle went sub-vocal.

  “You kn—”

  “You could say that,” Felix gritted, going sub-vocal and cutting him off before he could say she knew the lizardine warrior on the platform. She wagged her index finger once left and once right to indicate listening devices. Even though she couldn’t be sure the institute had gone as high tech as something that could pick up sub vocalization. It wasn’t something she could risk.