Xavier: An Omnes Videntes Novel Read online

  Seeing a bright star, she watched it as it got bigger. Hope sprang to life within her. Was it a planet? As it came closer, her hope died and was replaced with an emotion which she better understood, fear. It was a ship. It was Bishop or one of the AIs. They had estimated her speed and trajectory and were sweeping for her. Once caught, she would never again get another chance to escape. She would never understand freedom. Her only chance now was her cloaking system.

  Xavier had been on edge for hours. He scanned again. His ship’s sensors detected nothing, but they were wrong. He took the vessel off of autopilot and changed his course heading to investigate. There it was. He sensed another mind. Disgusted with his sensor readings, he trusted his own abilities and flew his vessel toward the feelings of fear and dread.

  Then, he heard the thoughts, “Don’t see me. Don’t see me,” being repeated over and over again.

  When he felt the mind grow weaker, he turned his vessel around and began using only his thrusters in short bursts. Ship’s sensors finally detected the pod when it hit the vessel. Xavier caught the pod with magnetic grapplers and pulled it into his cargo hold. He armed himself and re-pressurized the hold before taking the lift down to the lower deck.

  “Well, well, well. What do we have here? A spy?” He asked as he activated ship’s scanners to record and analyze the pod. It was the size of a small shower unit.

  She closed her eyes hoping that doing so would make her invisible. It didn’t work. The vessel made another pass and another. When it struck her pod, she feared exploding, but instead its impact sped up her trajectory. Maybe, they wouldn’t be able to find the pod again since it had moved. Wrong. Dual thuds of sound hit the shell of her pod and pulled it backwards. She watched through the viewport as the cargo bay doors closed and hid the stars from view. There was nothing more she could do. She could move her arms but doubted her ability to stand. Sitting for so many days in the same position had been torture. She waited for the glowing yellow eyes to shine into her pod. She began to wonder if she could hack into its system and override its command functions, but she didn’t know how to operate a ship.

  “I can figure it out,” she began repeating to herself.

  When a person stood in front of her, looking down at her through the hatch’s viewport, her thoughts scattered like a handful of nanites dropped to the lab floor. Rather than glowing yellow robotic eyes, she looked into real eyes. Fascinated, she stared into his eye of solid white and eye of solid black. Then, she stared into the blaster opening a few inches below his eyes. She heard the hatch mechanism opening. Then, there was a puff of sound when it opened, and she breathed deeply of the fresh air.

  He said, “Keep your hands where I can see them.”

  She looked down at her hands where they clutched the silver emergency blanket. He reached down and pulled it from her, tossing it out onto the deck. It fell into a messy crumple.

  “Are you armed?” he asked.

  Confused, she said, “Yes.”

  “Toss it out,” he ordered.

  “But they’re attached.” How did he expect her to remove her arms? She risked another look up at his face but not his eyes. That seemed far too personal.

  Xavier realized that he wasn’t dealing with a smartass. The woman didn’t understand his order. She was unarmed, confused, and helpless. He holstered his blaster. “Why are you out here alone in an escape pod?” he asked as he unfastened her harness.

  “I am trying to escape. I thought they had found me.”

  Her senses seemed to stutter as he slid one hand under her thighs and the other behind her back. He lifted her from the seat. He smelled clean and felt so warm. She was overwhelmed. The last person who had touched her had been Tory. He had accidentally touched her finger while reaching for a molecular soldering tool. This male carried her into a lift. Discretely, she inhaled drawing his clean masculine scent into her lungs. She looked at her pod as the lift doors closed.

  “My reflective cloaking system continues to be operational. How did you find me?” She was interested in his answer, but at the same time wanted to document her work and results. However, being held in his arms against his big, strong chest distracted her again.

  Xavier sifted through the female’s thoughts as he carried her to the vessel’s emergency medical unit and placed her inside. It scanned her before a clamp secured her right arm. He took her left hand in his to prevent her interference and watched her brown eyes as she followed the unit’s robotic arms. After it sterilized her pale skin, an IV began replenishing her severely dehydrated system.

  “How long were you in the escape pod?” Xavier asked.

  “It had eight nutrition bars. I ate one every twenty-four hours until they ran out.”

  Xavier watched her memories unfold in his mind as someone else might watch a movie. The female was a tech slave and had escaped. The names Bishop and Tory were the only ones she knew, other than her own. He asked her for it to test her. “What is your name?”

  The little female looked up at his mismatched eyes before shifting her gaze to his mouth to answer. “Sparrow,” she said.

  “Is that because of your brown hair?” he asked.

  Sparrow’s long brown hair was tangled and dirty.

  “No,” she answered. Bishop had named her.

  “Why then?” the man asked.

  She tried to remember. Her memories took her back to her desk. She had been sitting there while her AI taught her lessons. It fed her each day, helped her bathe, dress, wake, and sleep. When Bishop had entered, her robot had stood straight with its hands behind its back and its yellow eyes staring forward. She had turned her attention to the human.

  “Now, look at you. Here, you are clean and fed. Isn’t that better?” Bishop asked.

  Before, she had been sitting on a curb on a dark, dirty street, and making her toes move up and down in the puddle. She had been hungry. She had nodded to the man.

  “Good, girl. I’m naming you Sparrow, because you will be content with the tiny crumbs I give you. Won’t you?”

  She had nodded again. His shoes had been shiny, and he had been right. She had been content until she had heard Tory’s words.

  “What does Bishop look like?” the man asked.

  “He wears shiny shoes, pants and jackets that match, and has short black hair,” Sparrow answered.

  Xavier sifted through her thoughts. She had been the man’s slave for at least two decades but had never looked the man in the eyes.

  Hesitantly, Sparrow asked, “What’s your name?” Sparrow was nervous and unsure of herself. It was a question that she had never before asked. The handsome man smiled at her, and it made her stomach nervous and fluttery.

  “My name is Xavier.”

  Sparrow glanced back up at his eyes. They didn’t frighten her. Sparrow feared the glowing yellow eyes of the AIs that she was certain hunted her.

  “Don’t be afraid, Sparrow,” Xavier said.

  Sparrow dared another look at his face. He was beautiful. His nose was straight, and below it he had a set of full lips. From his lips, she noticed his strong jaw and then his dark-brown eyebrows. Rather than his mismatched eyes upsetting her, she found them to be mesmerizing. They were different but functionally efficient, and they were organic, not the robotic eyes to which she was accustomed.

  “You like my eyes,” Xavier said.

  Sparrow wasn’t sure how to respond. “How far are we from the nearest planet?”

  “We are within range of Amphictyon.”

  “Will you take me there?” Sparrow needed to disappear before Bishop or the AIs found her and took her back.

  “What is it that you want, Sparrow?”

  The stranger’s question sent tingles through her chest. He had asked the question as though he were prepared to grant her deepest wish. Sparrow remembered Tory’s last words before Bishop had turned his head into red splatters. Should she tell the stranger her deepest desire? Why did it matter to him? Through her doubts, she felt compelle
d to answer. “I want to know what freedom feels like. I want to understand why losing it made the woman cry.”

  Xavier still held her hand. His hand was warm and solid. It was the most pleasant sensation for such a useless activity. Sparrow wanted to continue holding his hand so she could contemplate why she liked it. Holding Xavier’s hand gave her a feeling similar to what she felt when she was hungry and got to eat. She risked another look up at him.

  “Your wish is my command, Lady Sparrow.”

  Xavier hadn’t expected his prey to bounce against the hull of his ship, nor had he expected the empathic bond of the Enyo to snap into place at the first moment when her dark-brown eyes had met his. His frightened little bird had flown into her nest without even realizing it. Like a gentle breath of air, Xavier passed through her memories before sending her to sleep. He stood and watched as her eyelids fluttered closed. Then, he checked the readouts on the medical unit. His needs warred with his sense of duty. He should begin researching Bishop and Tory. However, all he wanted to do was stare at Sparrow, examine all of her thoughts and memories, and see to her needs and desires.

  Reaching out, he took her fingers into his hands and kissed them. Xavier had never imagined that he would find his own mate. Realistically, he had accepted that he would enjoy those bonds vicariously through Zared.

  A voice whispered in his mind. “Explain,” Izaac said from across the galaxy.

  Xavier concentrated on Sparrow’s thin dirty face and her fingers in his much larger hands. He sent to his brother his feelings of elation, incredulity, and protectiveness that were swirling through him for his female. “The bond was not forced. It simply came to be,” Xavier told his brother.

  Surprise reached Xavier through the telepathic bond he shared with his brothers along with joy. Xavier was the oldest of the hybrid Laconian brothers. When Teagan had bound Zared to herself and through him the rest of them, they had been able to achieve a mental and emotional balance for the first time. They were no longer shunned by society and had found acceptance within the Parvac Empire. It had been enough for Xavier. Sparrow was a gift from the universe, and he intended to cherish her.

  “Brother, rejoice in your mate. I will investigate Bishop and Tory,” Izaac said.

  “I will take Sparrow to Amphictyon. Bishop will come for his weapons expert.”

  Silently, Izaac agreed. “Losing her will make him furious,” his brother warned.

  A deadly purpose suffused Xavier’s existence. “He will be forced to get through me to get to Sparrow. I will never let her go.”

  Xavier felt Izaac pull away from his thoughts. Now, his main concern was protecting Sparrow and preventing her from falling back under Bishop’s control. If he assumed correctly, without Sparrow, Bishop would be unable to produce thermo-resonator missiles. That would mean the loss of billions of credits. Bishop would come after Sparrow with everything he had, but instead of finding a defenseless little bird, he would find a warship.

  Chapter Four

  Sparrow began to wake. She noticed that the cramps in her legs were gone. The relief was immense as were the effects of the pain relievers the medical unit had dispensed. The IV was no longer in her vein. Sparrow felt an unfamiliar lightness within her. It almost made her smile. Turning her head, her eyes widened at the gorgeous and mysterious man with mismatched eyes who had saved her. Xavier. He smiled at her, and the odd fluttery sensation returned to her stomach.

  “Lady Sparrow, allow me to help you up.” He extended his large hand down to her.

  Sparrow looked at Xavier’s hand. It was a real hand. It wasn’t covered in a sterilized glove, nor was it the robotic hand of an AI. Sparrow savored placing her hand in his. It was luxurious. His fingers were warm, and his palm felt calloused from whatever work he did. She never wanted to release his hand. Sparrow’s feelings confused her. She risked a quick glance up at his face. The corners of his mouth were raised in a smile. She wanted to touch his lips with her fingers and feel if they were as soft and warm as his hands. Her cheeks grew warm, and she lifted her other hand to her face to feel them.

  Xavier’s smile grew larger showing strong white teeth. “Would you like some time alone in the shower?”

  “Yes, my scalp itches.”

  Xavier helped Sparrow to stand and then walked with her across the small cabin. Opposite the emergency medical unit was a couch and table. He walked with her, keeping a grip on her elbow, past a lift to a separate area in the back. A large floor to ceiling cabinet to the left created some privacy for the berth behind it. To the right was a kitchenette. The room behind it contained a small bathroom.

  Xavier said, “Just leave your clothes on the floor. I’ll get you something clean to wear.”

  Sparrow entered the bathroom and secured the door. The waste unit was a relief after the dreadful suction device she had been forced to use in the pod. Sparrow entered the shower and scrubbed. The planetoid’s dirt and grime had been on her for over a week. She scrubbed under her arms before washing the rest of herself.

  While Sparrow bathed, Xavier returned to the cargo bay. He jettisoned the escape pod, secured, and re-pressurized the hold. Then, he returned to the bridge, increased speed, and fired upon the escape pod. His course was set for Amphictyon. He wanted to take Sparrow to Teagan at the Palace on Parvac where she would be safe, but first he had to eliminate Bishop. The weapons dealer was a threat to his female.

  Sparrow didn’t fear his eyes. She didn’t even know what he was. By the time she learned, he had to make certain that she was so tightly bound to him that she wouldn’t care. He watched through her brown eyes as she stood under the shower and used her thumbs and index fingers to clean dirt from under her fingernails. Her nails were torn and jagged from digging out the escape pod.

  She had spent her life as Bishop’s slave. From now on, his little female would have everything that she wanted. Xavier left the small bridge of his stealth vessel and walked to the back of the deck to the bathroom. She waited with uncertainty on the other side of the door. Without the AI bot assigned to her, Sparrow was lost.

  Xavier opened the door and found his female wrapped in towels. Smiling, he held out his hand to her. Sparrow was fascinated by holding hands. Xavier wanted to hold her to his chest, but he would be patient. Emotion overwhelmed her. Sparrow took Xavier’s hand.

  “There are additional toiletries located in this drawer,” he said as he pointed under the sink.

  He reached inside for a brush. While Sparrow took great enjoyment from brushing her teeth, Xavier propped up the pillows on his bunk and unfolded an additional blanket. She had been cold for several days. Sparrow stepped out of the bathroom and looked at him from across the small space.

  Xavier had short brown hair, broad shoulders, large muscular arms, and a deep indent down his back that she could see beneath the tight shirt he wore. Muscles rippled beneath his shirt as he unfolded the blanket. She had never seen a more beautiful man. The slaves who had been brought to the lab over the years were angry and bitter. They completed their tasks but had wanted nothing to do with her. Xavier was different.

  When he turned, she saw his solid black eye and looked down at her feet. Looking at his eyes was too intimate. When their eyes met, it was as if they peered in at each other’s souls.

  “Sparrow, come here,” Xavier said. He extended his hand to her.

  Walking across the tan carpeting, she took it. Touching Xavier’s hand was the most satisfying thing she had ever experienced. Xavier’s hand must be what freedom was. Once Bishop or his robotic soldiers found her, she would never again hold his hand. The thought of it made her cry.

  “Sparrow, no one will take you from me, not Bishop or anyone else. Sit right here.” Xavier sat on the bunk with his back to the pillows. His right leg was spread out before him, and his left foot remained on the carpet. He had removed his boots. Sparrow stared at his toes before sitting where he indicated. Xavier wrapped her in the blanket after she sat. “Now, let’s get these tangles out.�
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  Xavier took the towel from Sparrow’s hair and tossed it over toward the kitchenette and small cleaning unit. Sparrow had taken the pins and ragged braid from her hair to wash it.

  “Have you ever cut your hair?” Xavier asked as he began brushing through the ends.

  “Cut it?” Sparrow asked. She worried that such a thing might hurt.

  Xavier smiled at the back of her head. “I’ll take that as a no.”

  Patiently, he brushed and dried Sparrow’s hair. Then, unable to resist, he wrapped his arms around her and savored the feeling of her bundled form against his chest. Gruff with emotion, he said, “I’ll get you something to eat.” Carefully, he moved out from behind her and went over to the kitchen. From her mind, he learned that her favorite dish was pasta. He found in the cold storage unit a penne pasta in a white alfredo sauce with chicken, heated it up, and returned to her. “Sit back against the pillows.”

  Sparrow scooted back. Xavier sat on the bunk in front of her, speared pasta with the fork, and fed her.

  “I can feed myself,” she said while looking at his chin.

  “Yes, but my little bird is tired.”

  Relenting, Xavier handed her the entrée but only so he could get her a beverage. He returned to sit at her feet and offer her sips of water. Sparrow ate every bite. Xavier knew she wanted more but feared it might make her sick. He took her dishes to the cleaning unit.

  “How did you know?” she asked from behind him. Xavier had felt her approach. He wasn’t going to waste her time by pretending to be dumb either. “How did you know that I was afraid of Bishop? I never told you his name.”

  Xavier turned and looked her in the eyes. She tried to lower her eyes to the floor. “Look at me.” He needed to see her eyes as well as feel her response when he told her. Xavier debated wiping her memory after his confession. He didn’t want her fear. He wanted her love. “Sparrow, I’m a Laconian hybrid.” His words had no effect on her. “I am Eriopis and Enyo. I can read your thoughts and emotions.”