“Have you had surgery on your neck before?” I asked. “Have you had a cut?”
“No.” His voice rose in alarm. “Is there a cut on my neck?”
“I’d say it’s certainly the source of his headaches,” I told Wrexxon as we exchanged a knowing look, “but I suspect this might be the spy in our midst.”
Brielle sucked in a breath. “He’s a spy?”
“I’m no spy,” the man spluttered, his face reddening.
“Not knowingly,” I said, convinced by his reaction that he hadn’t known about the scar.
“Someone did this to him?” Kaya asked.
I locked eyes with the Raas. “That’s why he was so easy torescue. The Zagrath put a tracker inside him. They wanted you to save him.”
“What?” The governor’s voice now verged on hysterical. “What’s inside me? What’s going on?”
Wrexxon closed his eyes and growled. “It was another Zagrath ploy. They used my desire to save rebels against me.”
“At least now we know,” I said. “The healer can surgically remove it, destroy it, and they won’t be able to track us.”
“Surgically remove what?” Aldric shrieked before he swayed on the spot. Wrexxon caught him by one arm before he fainted on top of Brielle.
“Or we let them think it’s still active.” Wrexxon held the limp form with one hand as one of the Vandar attendants rushed to help.
I grinned at this and rubbed my hands together. “And lead them on a merry chase? Now we’re talking.”
Chapter
Forty-Seven
Skye
Iglanced up as Kolt returned from escorting the Zagrath admiral to the back of the ship. “The Imperial fighters aren’t tailing us, but we’re also about to run on fumes.”
He’d shed the cloak he’d worn on the planet, and it was nice to see him in just his battle kilt and boots again. He looked more like himself. I’d also shrugged off my cloak, not wanting to be bothered with the extra fabric.
He stood behind me and frowned, leaning his hands on the back of my seat as his tail lashed behind him. “We are too far to return to Gollun Prime, but there are no inhabitable planets within range, are there?”
I scanned the star charts, even though I knew the answer to hisquestion. “No. I guess we have to hope the Vandar got our message.”
And understood it, I thought.
“The message we sent them was pretty cryptic,” I said hesitantly. “Are you sure they’ll understand it?”
Various emotions flittered across his face, and it finally settled on certainty. “The Raas will know what it means.”
I took a breath and asked the question that had been teasing the back of my brain. “Does this mean your memory is returning?”
“In bits and pieces.” He took a seat next to me. “I am feeling more like myself, although I still couldn’t tell you exactly who that is. I did have a very strong urge to shoot that Zagrath instead of reason with him.”
I couldn’t stop the laugh that spilled from my lips. “That sounds very Vandar.”
His smile was warm and a bit mischievous. “Being away from that alien world helps.” He ran a hand gently over the console. “Being on a ship helps.”
“I’m sure being back on a Vandar ship will help even more.” I tried to keep my tone light, but there was worry beneath it.
He grunted and gazed out the front of the transport. “If they find us.”
