Chapter 29

Alja had prepared herself perfectly, like she had for every job she'd ever done. If Kaleb wanted a sociable companion he'd get one. It was part of the price she paid for protection from Ming.

Considering the whole thing as a part of her employment had helped to concentrate on her training and get her behavioral controls back in order. When she watched herself in the elevator mirror she thought for a moment she looked like she tried a little too hard to impress someone. Like anything else she'd hide that trace of insecurity behind the role she was playing tonight. When she exited the elevator, she spotted Kaleb at the entrance discussing something with the guard who had stopped her the other day.

Kaleb sensed the unknown Psy mind approach from the elevators and knew it was Alja. A part of his mind constantly traced her signature in the Net as well as in the physical world and he'd watched her mental appearance subtly and slowly change about two hours ago. "… and inform me if you encounter any other problems with the new rotations." Still talking to the guard he turned towards her to be almost left speechless. The woman who crossed the hall in an elegant, measured pace looked every inch like a human movie star. And she moved with all the ease and grace of one. She wore a long-sleeved, flowing gown, made of midnight blue satin. It brought out all her feminine curves perfectly, while it caressed her legs as if it was liquid. Her simple, swept-up hairdo emphasized the evenness of her features, while a few loose, curled strands gave her face an almost playful appearance. She had put on only light make-up that matched the contacts she wore to conceal her cardinal eyes. He ran his gaze down her body – and up again meeting her eyes.

Alja didn't fully understand why the way Kaleb looked at her suddenly made her very aware of her femininity, her skin stretching taut with sensations she hadn't thought herself capable of. "Is my appearance not adequate?" She gave her voice an undertone of provocation that was so faint only he would recognize it.

"No it is. I am actually surprised, that you look so… adequate." Beautiful. Ravishing. How could he ever have thought of her outer appearance as mediocre? And how was he going to keep his emotional response to her even moderate tonight? This was going to be a very painful evening – and very much worth it.

"Was there anything else Mr. Krychek?" the neglected guard asked slightly insecure of the attention of his superior.

"No that would be all." Kaleb didn't take his eyes off Alja when she came to stand beside him. When she turned to the side, he saw that only a single strap of the midnight blue fabric of her gown went around her nape. Otherwise the dress left her back bare all the way down to her waist.

Nothing about Alja ever was what it seemed to be at first glance. He should have learned that by now. Still his breath caught at the sight of her exposed skin and he knew he needed to touch her again no matter how much pain it cost him. Tearing his gaze away from Alja's back to meet her eyes again he said: "I think offering you my arm is in order."

Alja was glad for the few seconds Kaleb's conversation with the guard had given her to pull herself together. She hadn't thought this man could look anymore gorgeous than he usually did. She'd been wrong. He was wearing a classic black tuxedo complete with silk lapels and bow tie. His hair was so perfectly styled she had to fold her hands behind her back for a moment to stop herself from messing it up to make him look more like the wildness she'd sensed in him when he'd kissed her. Then she played along and slipped her hand through the bent arm he held out for her. Even through the shirt and jacket she felt coiled muscle and unexpected heat.

To her surprise Kaleb led her out the main entrance and instead of pushing for a teleport. She felt some of his power wrapping tightly around her shields. He was encasing her in an additional Tk shield to protect her from any non-psychic influence the moment they left the building.

"Are we not teleporting?" she asked.

"Popping up in the middle of a gathering tends to irritate people – even Psy. We'll drive." With that a sleek black sedan appeared out of thin air in front of them – just like that. Alja wondered if Kaleb even noticed the irony in this. She took a short glance back at the building to ensure no one else was watching. Then she shook her head at him with a crooked smile. "So are you going to hold the door for me now or do you teleport me inside?"

He gallantly went for the door, easing into his role just as well as her. Even worse was that he didn't look as inapproachable as usually. His expression was still cool but not as openly intimidating. Not that intimidation had ever really worked with Alja but now he just made her fall for him with that cool charm. He seemed almost harmless except for a latent tension she couldn't quite explain. And all of it was just fuelling desires in her that had no hope of ever being satisfied. Yeah, naturally he must look and act like fucking Prince Charming! He has to put on a big show for the other races tonight. She thought dryly while she struggled to let none of her reaction show. Kaleb was wearing a mask too, that was all there was to it.

Getting in the driver's seat Kaleb felt his body tense immediately. But it was not a reaction to a threat. He had done a security check on the car only minutes before he met Alja and the garage where he kept his rarely used vehicles was accessible only by teleport. But being in a confined space with Alja gave his subconscious and in extension his body all sorts of exciting ideas that were conflicting hard with his Silence.

His feelings had reached a level where the gruesome images he'd tied to his conditioning almost constantly flickered through his mind. It was getting harder and harder to think clear. But he hadn't practiced iron control over his mental functions for nothing. His mind was still working more efficiently that most others ever would. Regardless of that it was irresponsible to carry on like this. He'd never been like that – never tolerated anything but a hundred percent control.

But he couldn't stop. When he looked at Alja he just wanted. "We should use the time until we arrive efficiently. Can you show me the mimicry of the mind I charged you with?" With that he switched the car to autopilot, keeping one eye on the road nonetheless.

Alja was relieved. Yes work was good. It would distract her from his devastating presence, from the pure need he stoked in her. "Right away. I assume you can see my mind on the psychic plane?"

"I can, but I want you to do it on mine." Without further announcement he reached behind her and placed his hand on the naked skin right below her nape.

It hit Alja completely unprepared. The sensation shot down her spine right down to the lowest regions of her abdomen. When it turned into a liquid kind of heat at the juncture of her thighs, she discovered that she'd been wrong about knowing what she was missing when her senses were numbed. She'd had no idea! If a single touch could incite such a response in her, then how would it feel if he stroked down her back, over her hips, maybe her thighs… Focus Alja! Work! "Yes, of course." Forced coolness in her voice.

Kaleb found that in spite of the dissonance he could relax a little when she didn't evade his touch. That was a good sign – probably. He realized that he was absolutely clueless about how to read her reaction. And he was too occupied keeping his hand from exploring the exposed skin of her back to further think about it. He felt her shields flow around his mind like the gentlest embrace. Then she suddenly tensed.

"Something's wrong." she stated, the elite soldier instantly back in her tone. "That was vicious..."

"Break contact?" Alarmed he lowered the speed of the car to be able to pull more of his concentration on the psychic plane and see what she meant.

"No, I want to know what that is." Carefully she analyzed the object that had sucked on to her shields the moment she connected them with Kaleb's mind. "Do you have trackers laid out around your Net shields?" Almost invisible in the dark skies of the Net a dozen more of the insidious mental devices wavered in the empty space.

"No. And I'm sure those couldn't have touched them without my notice." The thing Alja had captured seemed to be constructed out of fine silvery threads of data, probably viruses – and it dissolved right before their eyes. When she touched one of the others to have a closer look, they all shot away into the darkness like a swarm of startled fish.

"They lingered just outside your usual radius. The one I got was designed to cling to my shields and then start to dissolve them. Strange that the others didn't react when I linked to you."

"Someone risked a shot in the dark. Most likely the others were designed differently and only one worked with your shields. Did it get through?"

"No of course not. It was so easy to remove it barely scratched my shields before they resealed completely." What she didn't say was that even a scratch was more than anyone ever achieved with her shields. It made a choking kind of fear uncurl in her stomach. She suppressed it the way she always suppressed emotions when she worked, risking a split from her dark part again. "But whoever did this knew that I'd link to you sooner or later."

"Did they get a glimpse on the mimicry?"

"No, I hadn't even started to apply it."

"Good. I think we'll need it even more now." Whoever did this would pay. No one would harm Alja. It was a pity he couldn't kill the ones he suspected at once. They were too important for the Net – yet. "You should relocate your mind, in case they're trying to track you down."

She hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" Well trained as she was she must know every second mattered.

Alja knew he was right: she needed to change her position in the Net. Found no excuse not to do as he advised. But…"I can't. My telepathy isn't strong enough. I can only change my position after I drop out." Apart from her cardinal skills her psychic powers were pitifully weak.

How could he have forgotten? He knew her file by heart: her Tp was only 2.7 but she always seemed so damn strong – so much like himself. But of course she wasn't. No one was like him. "Stay linked. I'll do it for you." The next moment they were in a different section of the Net. He had tugged her stationary mind along with no effort. She had only ever seen the NetMind do that to minds that were too isolated in the Net. "Do you want to return to the headquarters to rest?"

Are you fucking kidding me? Her fear was replaced by a sudden anger at being seen so weak by him. "That was nothing I am not used to or trained for. We proceed as planned," she almost snapped at him. No need to lock me up again for my protection. She bit back the defiant words for once.

Proud, strong, stubborn Alja. No, he wouldn't hurt that pride. "Very well. I admit I was surprised myself. I have never seen that kind of tracker before." Realizing she had retreated her shields from his, he reluctantly put his hand back on the steering wheel. Touch was no longer justified.

"Me neither, but I'm positive this time it was none of us."

She seemed so thoughtful, he wasn't sure she noticed that she'd spoken aloud. "Us?"

"You remember when the Arrows first contacted you?"

They had repeatedly and subtly tried to hack his shields, even slipped through his outer defenses and then deliberately triggered an alarm mechanism. It was how he knew it had to be the Arrows. No one else had the skills to do that.

He nodded.

"Who do you think advised them on how to get your attention?" She gave him one of those smiles – full of mischievous challenge. No, she wasn't weak. She was just so extraordinary it made her very hard to judge.