Just about the time she reached the point of hysterical certainty that they’d gotten lost and were going to die in the damned tunnels, she discovered the tunnel was growing lighter.

And colder.

She wanted to ask Jules how much further he thought it was, but she thought they must be close and he’d said there was a guard.

Almost on the thought the child paused and turned to her, placing a finger on his lips in a gesture of silence. She nodded and moved closer when he moved up to a short rock wall and peered over the top. She mimicked him and after a few minutes spotted a man on the far side of the cavern—near the mouth.

Did that mean they didn’t know about the secret door or the tunnel?

She hoped so.

On the other hand, she’d barricaded the door. If they discovered that, they were going to be taking the room apart to figure out how she’d escaped it with the door barred and they’d probably discover the entrance.

She didn’t want to wait around and find out!

Jules pointed and she followed the direction, frowning when she didn’t see what he was pointing at. After a moment, when the guard got up and walked to the cave entrance to piss, Jules grabbed her hand and led her quickly in the direction he’d indicated. The gangplank, she discovered, was still extended.

Unfortunately, the hatch door was closed. They raced up the gangplank on tiptoes and then turned to look at one another.

She was supposed to know how to get in?

Thankfully, after staring at her a split second, the child moved to a small box, which had a keypad and keyed in the code. The door slid open silently.

Thank god!

As soon as they were inside, Jules used the keypad to close the door again and led her to the control room. “I don’t think the guard knows how to get in.”

“How did you know?”

He shrugged. “I watched them. They don’t pay me no attention.”

Having scanned the control console, Noelle grunted. “I don’t suppose you watched them fly the ship?”

Dismay flickered over the boy’s face. “You don’t know how?”

“How would I know how? This is alien technology!”

His dismay deepened. “It’s not going to be fun if we have to go back. We’re gonna be in trouble big time.”

“I didn’t say I couldn’t figure it out. I’m sure I can,” Noelle responded, more hopeful than convinced. “But it’ll take me a few minutes.”

Nodding, Jules found a seat and settled in it, fastening the safety harness.

Noelle glanced at him a couple of times and then dismissed him from her mind. It was nice that somebody had faith in her!

After studying the console for a good while, she finally identified—she thought—a communications device and turned it on. “Hello?”

The word echoed through the cavern loud enough to make Noelle nearly jump out of her skin. “OMG! I thought it was the damned computer!”

Unfortunately—not that it really mattered after the first screw up—that also echoed through the external broadcast speakers. Noelle twisted the knob frantically to switch channels.

“What did you do that for?” Jules yelped.

“Shits and giggles,” Noelle muttered.

“What?”

“It was an accident, ok?”

“It ain’t ok. That guard ain’t deaf!”

“I don’t suppose you know how to lock the damned door?”

“No.”

“Shit!” Noelle frantically checked the various channels on the communicator.

“I do not comprehend that order.”

“Oh thank god! Computer, lock down the outer hatch!”

They heard the guard reach the keypad and start punching keys. Jules bounded out of his seat and looked around a little desperately for a place to hide. Noelle held her breath, listening.

“Hatch locked.”

Noelle let out the breath she’d holding. Turning back to the console, she used the computer to help her familiarize herself with the working of the ship.

“Start engines. Retract the gangplank.” She moved to the nearest porthole and watched while the gangplank was retracted.

The guard landed on his ass on the stone floor but bounded up quickly enough she was sure he wasn’t injured.

“Ok. No unwelcome riders now. Let’s see if I can guide this bitch out of this hole without shaving off anything we need.”

Jules stared at her. “Who are you talking to?”

“It’s my fairy godmother. Never mind! We’re going home! That’s all that matters.” Unfortunately, she’d no sooner gotten that announcement out than it occurred to her that she hadn’t thought to get the computer to check all systems to make sure they had the fuel they needed and everything was operational!

Well, damn it! Like she could think of everything! She was no pilot! She’d figured the damned computer would fly the thing if she could get it activated. There would have to be a computer of some kind. A person couldn’t handle a space craft without one!

Chapter Fifteen

Drak damned near bloodied his nose on the fucking door when he grasped the handle and pushed and it didn’t budge. Pain shot through his nose and speared into his brain and anger erupted instantly. Convinced, at first, that he just hadn’t depressed the handle completely and disengaged the latch, he tried again.

It wouldn’t open.

Because it was latched.

He debated briefly whether he wanted to take a chance on everyone in the fucking fortress learning that his woman had locked him out of his suite and finally decided that was something he wanted to avoid if at all possible.

Simmering both because of the pain from ramming his nose into a door that didn’t open and because Noelle had locked him out, he turned and headed down to the vault to see what progress had been made on the mechanicals. All the while, he allowed himself to think of various ways he might enjoy punishing Noelle for defying him without actually harming her.

That went a long way toward soothing his temper and he was pleased enough to see the young men Noelle had been training hard at work on his treasure that he pushed his anger to the back of his mind. Strolling around the room, he paused at each work station and studied the thing the boy was working on, trying to guess what it might be, and then moving on.

He’d almost made the circuit when he realized Jules wasn’t there when he was usually to be found in the vault even when Noelle wasn’t there.

Mostly with Noelle, though, and clearly he was becoming attached to her.

That wasn’t a good thing.

He was trying to make a man out of the child! Women were always running around trying to nurture and that only weakened a man, made him dependent and unable to stand on his own!

Jules had so much potential! To his mind the child was a far better fit to rule even than his eldest son. Well, he showed potential. There was no telling at this point what sort of man he’d grow up to be—especially if Noelle was determined to baby him!

“Where is Jules?” he asked Kulle.

Kulle’s eyes widened. “I have not seen him since yester-eve.”

Uneasiness slithered through Drak. Turning abruptly, he followed the corridor to the teller’s suite, but there was no sign of the child there, either, and the teller claimed he also had not seen the boy since the previous evening.

Insensibly more alarmed, he moved more quickly when he left the teller and headed up the stairs to see if the boy was in the great hall.

He had covered maybe half the room in his search when one of his men burst through the outer doors. “The star woman is stealing the ship!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Terror shot through Drak, momentarily freezing him—mind, body and soul. The ship would never make it to the sister world at this time of the year if she managed to take off! Uttering a roar that was a mixture of sheer terror and fury, Drak vaulted over the nearest table and raced toward the door. Behind him, his stunned men struggled to gather themselves and follow. By the time the first had boiled out of the doors, however, Drak was already mounted and heading out of the gate at the best speed his beast could manage.