Uttering an impatient sound, he scooped her up despite her protest. “I told them that you would speak to them in the next thirty minutes,” he said tightly. “It will take you far longer than that to hop down to communications. In any case, I need to take you to see Powell so that you can accurately report his condition.”

    Sybil set her chin at him, but she was far more hurt than angry and looked away almost at once. She would’ve almost preferred being drawn and quartered, though, to being lugged around by a man that acted like she’d… betrayed him! Or taken his virginity! She didn’t know why he was behaving like a complete asshole!

    It occurred to her after a few minutes to wonder if he was angry about the virginity thing. She didn’t know why he would be. Although she supposed he might’ve been disappointed in her performance, his behavior seemed a little excessive. He’d still gotten off, damn it! She’d washed the evidence off and she wasn’t ignorant just because she’d never actually had sex! Maybe it hadn’t been all that great from his point of view, but it wasn’t as if she’d left him hanging!

    Their arrival at the room where she’d been taken upon her arrival effectively distracted her from her personal problems. Powell looked awful. Anka set her on her feet-correction foot-and she used the side of the gurney Powell was lying on to help her balance as she hopped closer to look at him. “Major Powell?”

    “Sybil?”

    He didn’t open his eyes and he’d barely moved his lips, but at least he was conscious and he recognized her voice.

    “You look like hell, Sir.”

    “I feel like hell. The son-of-a-bitch cracked my damned skull.”

    “Ank… Commander L’Kartay told me they were going to get you home so you could get the treatment you need there. I’m going to speak to the base commander now.”

    He opened his eyes a slit. “Watch yourself, Lieutenant.”

    She studied his face for a long moment. “He’s going to demand to know what happened.”

    “I know.”

    “I’m not going to tell him a lie, Sir.”

    Anger flickered across his face. “I didn’t suggest that you should. I’m just saying… watch it.”

    “Understood, Sir.”

    “Do you?”

    “I believe so.”

    “I’m depending on your discretion, Lieutenant.”

    “I’ll do my best, Sir.”

    She debated with her urges for a moment and finally reached to squeeze his hand reassuringly. “You’re going to be alright.”

    Anka was studying their hands when she turned, his expression unreadable. As soon as she started toward him, however, he met her and lifted her against his chest again. She looped an arm around his shoulders that time. It was too uncomfortable to do otherwise, even though she disliked the sense of intimacy. She was sorry she had when they reached the communications center. All eyes turned to the door when they entered and there was no doubt in her mind that nobody missed a thing.

    With every appearance of being completely oblivious, Anka crossed the room and set her down on a chair. He turned to look at the man seated before the console as soon as he’d straightened away from her. “Is the channel open?”

    “Yes, Sir.”

    “Put it on speaker.”

    Meaning she wasn’t to have a private conversation-not that she’d expected to! She wouldn’t have minded being monitored. She just didn’t appreciate the fact that everyone in the room would be listening.

    “We have Lieutenant Hunter,” the communications officer announced.

    “Lieutenant?”

    “Yes, Sir. I’m here.”

    “What’s this about Powell?”

    Sybil’s belly clenched. “I didn’t witness the entire episode, Sir. I was in my quarters when I heard the argument. When I came out to try to prevent it from escalating, Cpl. Spencer exploded and attacked the major.”

    “Cpl. Spencer?”

    “Yes, Sir.”

    There was a prolonged silence. “You’re being monitored.”

    It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. The hair on the back of Sybil’s neck prickled. She chewed her lower lip, refusing to look at any of the Sumpturians around her. “Not that I know of, Sir,” she lied.

    “Never mind. We’ll get to the bottom of this once you’re all back. We’ve arranged with the Sumptrians to transport you all back to base.”

    Dismay filled her. It should’ve been a relief. “All of us?”

    “Yes. They’ve agreed to release all hostages.”

    Shock travelled through her at that. She supposed, after a moment, that that was exactly what they were but it was certainly not an attitude that was going to make it easy on either side to come to any kind of peaceful agreement. “We’re not hostages, Sir. We’re guests of the Sumptrians.”

    There was another prolonged silence. “We’ll debrief you when we have you safely back at base.”

    Joy! That was something wonderful to look forward to! “Yes, Sir.”

    “When will we be leaving?” she asked Anka when the communications officer closed the com unit.

    “Drs. Rains and Kushbu are already aboard the craft. They’re transporting Cpl. Spencer and Major Powell now.”

    Sybil nodded. Sighing, she got to her feet. Anka slipped an arm around her. “I think I can walk,” she said tightly.

    “I think you won’t,” Anka retorted grimly, lifting her up and carrying her from the communications room.

    Sybil warred with her pride and her hurt as he strode down the corridor with her. Finally, the hurt won out. “Won’t you at least tell me why you’re angry with me?”

    His lips tightened. He seemed to wrestle with himself. “I’m not angry.”

    Sybil sighed. “Fine! Don’t tell me. I don’t suppose it matters anyway.”

    Anka muttered something under his breath, but he needn’t have bothered. He spoke in his language. “What happened last night between us shouldn’t have.”

    Sybil felt her chin wobble threateningly. “I don’t see why not!”

    “It shouldn’t have because I’m trying to prevent a war here, Sybil.”

    She sniffed. “It was a beautiful thing…”

    “Don’t!” he said harshly. “Don’t romanticize it. It was sex, Sybil. It was never going anywhere and we both knew it-at least I thought you understood.”

    As if she was some starry eyed kid! “I’m not romanticizing! It was great sex.”

    “Thank you,” he said tightly.

    She noticed he didn’t say it was great sex for him, damn his hide! “Well, if it was just sex, then I certainly don’t see the problem. People do that all the time.”

    “It isn’t going to be a problem for you when you get back? The fight between the other two officers had nothing to do with the festival?”

    Put that way, he had a point. “Well, it’s our problem, damn it!”

    “It’s our problem! Do you think your people won’t use it as an excuse to start a war with us when we return you and more than half the crew is injured? All of the military personnel who took part in the mission.”

    “You think we’re going to try to blame this on you to save our asses?” Sybil demanded angrily.

    He sent her a look that made her long to punch him in the nose.

    “It amazes the hell out of me that you even wanted to make love to me if you thought I was that kind of person!” she said angrily.

    “Sex.”

    She narrowed her eyes at him. “Fine! Have it your way! But let’s not get too nicey nasty about it! Fuck me!”

    She thought she saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes. It made her angrier and she subsided into silence, glaring at the space in front of them until she saw that they were approaching a ramp. That distracted her, particularly once she realized that it was actually the ramp into the ship-docked directly into the corridor.

    The bottom seemed to fall out of her stomach. He’d said they were going now, but she hadn’t really registered it, she realized in dismay. She swallowed several times convulsively and managed to keep from yielding to her emotions, but she was relieved beyond measure when he carried her into a small compartment and set her down. When he’d steadied her, he reached down and grasped the bunk that she’d thought was attached to the wall. With no more than a couple of pulls, he’d transformed it from a bunk to a chair. He helped her into it and pulled safety harnesses over her, fastening them.