Cape Storm

Chapter Four

It wasn’t heaven, but it was damn close. For the next couple of hours I slept, curled in David’s protective arms, feeling safe for the first time I could remember. The motion of the ship was rhythmic and soothing, and for a little while the world did go away, after all.

I could almost— almost—believe it was a honeymoon cruise.

Right up until Cherise threw open the bedroom door and stood there, panting, staring at us with eyes that didn’t really see us at all.

“You’d better get out here,” she said, as David sat up. I did too, swiping hair back from my face and grabbing at the thousand-thread-count sheets as they threatened to slide away. Cherise, shockingly, didn’t seem to notice any of that—not even David’s exposed chest, which frankly should have at least gotten a double take, or a stare, or a patented Cherise come-on.

She just delivered her message and dashed away.

“That’s not like her,” David said, swinging his legs out of bed. “Is it?”

“Nope. Clothes?”

“Closet.” He was already heading there. He pulled open the door and inside was a rainbow of choices, some for him, some for me.

“Underwear?” I asked.

He raised eyebrows. “Is it absolutely necessary?”

“Right now? Yes.”

“Top drawer.” He nodded toward a delicate-looking dresser, something that would have made Antiques Roadshowstars buzz with excitement. In it, I found new bras, panties, stockings—pretty much anything I might need, or crave. Or David might crave. I picked out something plain and put it on. As I turned, David threw me a shirt and pants. Jeans, and a navy blue shirt that clung in all the right places.

He was dressing too, the old-fashioned way. As a Dji

Even with mutual appreciation, it took us only about a minute to dress, and then we headed down the stairs.

Cherise was there. So was Lewis. He was self-contained again, only the shadow of trauma left in his dark eyes.

“I need you,” he said bluntly. He turned and walked out of the cabin, moving fast. David and I exchanged a look and followed.

There was a dead body in the hallway. I stopped when I saw her, shock slamming through me. She looked like she’d been turned to crumbling clay, or ash—lifeless, a mockery of something that had once been real and vital.

“God,” I whispered, and slowly crouched without touching the corpse. Lewis knelt on the other side of it. “Who—?”

“That’s the problem,” Lewis said. “I don’t know. I think she’s one of the Dji

I looked up at David, who was staring down at the two of us with a frown. He focused on the body on the floor.

“That isn’t a Dji

He realized, then, what he was saying. Dji

The only way he couldn’t know who this person was, was if this was a Dji

Antimatter. It was deadly to the Dji

The next thought came to me with sickening speed and impact. He had access to the ship.

I snapped a lightning-fast glance at Lewis, and saw that this was not news to him. He’d already come to the same conclusion, presumably well before he’d come to summon us. David’s reaction was just his confirmation. “Fuck,” I said. “He’s been here, on board, or at least he’s gotten one of his minions through our defenses. We should have known. Our early warning system—”

“Clearly isn’t working,” Lewis finished. “Which means he, or any of his people, could be here. This place is big enough to hide an army if they didn’t want to be found.”

“But if hiding was the point, why leave this poor lady right here in the open?” I asked. “They could have hidden her anywhere. Her Conduit wouldn’t even know she was missing.” Which was the awful part of it. David, as Conduit for the Dji

My nightmare was that it might be David lying here, with another Dji

There was something so chilling in it that I had a hard time wrapping my head around it.

“That’s not a Dji

“Count your people,” Lewis said. He said it quietly, a little regretfully, as if he didn’t really want to know, either. David continued to stare at the corpse.

“Counting myself,” he said, “fifteen Dji

I exchanged a baffled stare with Lewis. “You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. Ten of my people, myself, and four of Ashan’s. Fifteen.”

“Then where did this one come from?”

He couldn’t answer that. It was like his brain locked up and refused to produce an answer. Instead, he shook his head, stubbornly unable to get past the paradox.

“Maybe Ashan sent another Dji

“You’re sure this isn’t one of his four?” Lewis asked.

“I’m sure.” I’d seen the four of them, and Ve

David’s attention went elsewhere, but only for a moment, and then he shook his head in the negative. “Ve

“What’s this?” she asked, staring down at the dead Dji

“We were hoping you could tell us,” Lewis said. “Anything?”

She studied the body intently, then shook her head. “No. I don’t know what it is.”

I cleared my throat. “Radiation?”

“Nothing dangerous left on the body,” Lewis said. “It looks as if she died the same way the other Dji

There wasn’t any way to resolve this, not through the Dji

She didn’t give it a second thought. She skipped off down the corridor as if stepping around dead, dust-and-ash bodies was an everyday occurrence.

“I’ll be back,” David said abruptly, and misted out before Lewis or I could protest. He was deeply bothered; I could see that, but there was no way I could help him. He’d have to come to terms with this, or not, in his own time.

“So what do we do?” Cherise asked. I’d almost forgotten about her. She was standing a few feet away, arms wrapped around her chest as if she was fighting off a chill. “We can’t just leave the poor thing out here. God. I can’t believe this is happening. This is just awful.”