Free Winter in Paradise by T C Archer Page B

something she didn’t. Grayson was communications officer. Had he received and hidden the message that reported the time for the invasion? She scanned through the messages, searching for missing sequence numbers or gaps, back in time then forward to the present. She stopped. There. The code word had reached them—her pulse jumped—the code had reached them seconds before he left.
    He had known the invasion was about to begin. Kelly could see it. He had awoken to that weirdness he always laughed about and denied. Only this time he didn’t laugh and he hadn’t denied what he knew. Grayson had eased out of bed without waking her, disabled the audio alarm, took out the disruptor, donned his enviro-suit, then waited for confirmation. He had done all that in silence, knowing the message would come.
    The elders damn him—and every Diviner in the universe. How was she supposed to be equal to a man with precognitive abilities? She couldn’t best him—which made her inferior by nature. A decade ago, Diviners were a scant one per cent of the population. Now, they had tripled in numbers. Still a minority, but the sudden explosion had caused speculation that they were the next step in evolution. His kind frightened many…frightened her. She should have recognized the clues when they first met. He finished her sentences, showed up at her quarters when she needed him most, and knew when to stay away. At first, she taken that to mean they were compatible. Too late, she realized the truth. She was in love with him. Which meant she had to go after him.
    Kelly pulled on her enviro-suit, then wrapped the flaps around her wrists, ankles, neck and face. The suit automatically merged at the seams and hugged her like a second skin. The readouts on the suit’s cuff under her wrist came alive and showed a full charge and active navigation/location. The bio-station was already clicking down from 100% to 0%, based on telemetry. She glanced at Grayson’s display. Once a suit moved out of range, the computer extrapolated its location.
    She programmed his vector into her suit. Two seconds later, estimated coordinates scrolled across the screen. Just as she suspected, he had taken the disruptor to The Rock Pile, an acre of exposed rock spires three miles west by northwest.
    He meant to activate the disruptor far away from base so that she wouldn’t be destroyed when the Kirsovals fired on the signal. Grayson, however, would be killed instantly. Which meant he’d never planned on returning. The flashing red may have read 0%, but that didn’t mean with absolute certainty he was frozen solid out there. She intended to drag him back, then bring him up on charges of insubordination—after she’d fucked him beyond reason. She would ride him hard, punish him for disobeying and, most important, for scaring the life out of her.
    Kelly threw on her white fur coat, boots, goggles, and mittens, then stuffed his furs into her backpack. She left the cavern behind and jogged along the passageway to the exit. Once she left the cave, the going would be slow in the ice storm that raged outside. The floor gave a sudden quake. She halted and counted down the seconds. A low boom was followed by an explosion that she estimated to be about three miles away. The Rock Pile. She started forward again.
    I’m coming for you, Grayson, and I’m going to kick your ass.
    Byron was a fool and a patriot. The quantum disruptor was the best deceptive device the Provisional Army had developed. When energized, it simulated the subspace signature of a Battle Killer, the most fearsome and expensive weapon in the known galaxy. A real Battle Killer would fill the space of their cave and then some. How likely was it that the Kirsoval armada would believe that a Battle Killer was located on the surface, in the open? Grayson had decided to take the chance they would believe that. Gooseflesh raced down her arms. Maybe it wasn’t the chance she thought it was. Maybe he knew exactly how