Mission: Guardian Angel (Veslor Mates Book 2) Read online

  Abby looked around her at the beauty of the planet, and suddenly, it lost its appeal. Drak’s words came back to her. The better the beauty, the more dangerous the inhabitants are. “Fantastic.”

  The Veslors drew her attention. They were spread out, helmets removed, going near each of the holes and crouching. “What are they doing?”

  “Sniffing to see which ones have recently been used. Those are the ones we’ll blow up today before leaving. It’s the best chance of killing more of them if they’re close to the surface. From past explosions we’ve set off, a lot of these holes lead to nowhere since they collapsed underground.”

  “Thanks.” She was grateful that Peters was being decent enough to answer her questions.

  The Veslors wrote big “X” marks in the dirt near some of the holes, moving systematically to check each one. Abby took a seat on a rock. The suit didn’t have a cooling system and the two suns were making her hot. There was also no shade in the large open space. Her babysitters stayed close until Rogers whistled loudly.

  “Let’s drop the charges. I think we’ve got enough targets.”

  “Stay here,” Milts ordered.

  “Sure.” Abby wouldn’t be any help with that kind of work.

  They left her alone. She watched them open their backpacks and remove grenade-like devices. The team tossed them down the marked holes.

  One of the team members approached her after a good ten minutes. It was Tellis.

  “What’s up?”

  “I’m out of bombs. I gave most of mine to the Veslors for the caves.” He stopped about five feet away and gave her his back, watching the two teams. “Be careful, Miss Thomas.”

  She stiffened. No one else was near them. “Why?”

  “You’ve pissed off Rogers big time.” He paused. “He’s going to cause trouble for you.”

  “I’m not surprised. Thanks for the warning, though.”

  He remained quiet for a full minute. “Older men like the commander have a lot of pride. They don’t take kindly when they feel someone has made a fool out of them.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Just spit out what you really mean.”

  “I don’t want you blindsided. Jealousy can be an ugly thing. Rogers ordered us to complain in our reports that you were hitting on us today. He figures the old man will send you packing for embarrassing him by letting it be known he isn’t keeping you happy in bed. You know what I mean?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It won’t work. I’m not sleeping with the commander. He was one of the groomsmen when my parents got married, for God’s sake. Howard is like an uncle to me. I’ve known him my entire life.”

  He glanced back at her. “For real?”

  “For real.”

  He faced away again. “Shit. Rogers is determined to get you sent packing.”

  Abby just laughed.

  Tellis turned his body her way. “You think it’s funny that we’ve been ordered to say that shit?”

  “I do. So will Howard. He’s been to tons of social functions with my family over the years.”

  “I don’t understand…”

  She stood from the rock. “My family is worth billions. Everyone on Earth knows that. I hate social events because it’s like open season on me. Every guy with a love for money, or who thinks he can use my family connections to advance himself in some way, hits on me. My family, including Howard, enjoys the hell out of watching me dodge them. I don’t even date anymore, and I haven’t for years. My last boyfriend tried to take me for a few million. I learned it’s not worth the hassle to waste my time on anyone. The commander knows all of that.”

  Now Tellis gawked at her.

  “So, Rogers saying I hit on all the members of your team? Funny as shit. Remember the lead male star in Galaxy War? Everyone has seen that vid.”

  He nodded.

  “My last ex. No offense to you or your team, but Tony is hot as hell. He spent a fortune on plastic surgeons and had two personal trainers living with him around the clock. He’s also a douchebag who thought he deserved two million for the four months we were together. If anyone should have been paid, it would have been me for putting up with his shitty personality and his rotten bedroom skills. That’s what being lonely enough to try a relationship again got me. Lesson learned.”

  Tellis continued to stare at her with his mouth partially open.

  “Let Rogers say whatever he wants. Write your report to accuse me of sexual harassment. You’re cute, Tellis. You can even quote me on that. But you’re not my type. That part you can leave out to avoid getting into trouble with Rogers and your team. And like I said…thanks for the warning, though.”

  He nodded and gave her his back once again. “They’re almost done.”

  “Good. I’m going to need a shower, and I’m hungry. Don’t you guys take meal breaks down here or was that another Rogers stunt by making me starve?”

  “We don’t carry food. It attracts the Cadia.”

  She swiftly touched her suit. “Shit. Not sealed stuff though, right?”

  He turned, frowning. “Why?”

  “I kind of packed some energy bars and water packs. I never leave home without a snack. Life motto. Not to mention, I wasn’t sure if anyone would remember to bring a meal for me.”

  “You have food?”

  She startled, turning to see that Rogers had approached without her hearing him. He moved super quiet on the crunchy ground. “Sealed packs. Not many.”

  “Goddamn civilians. This is why you shouldn’t be here, Thomas.”

  “Well, I’m still alive, and the Cadia are sleeping.”

  “Fucking women,” Rogers spat. He pulled out the pad and glanced around. “Time to blow these tunnels. Hadder? Signal for a pickup!”

  One of the men in the distance pulled out a portable communications device. “Yes, sir. On it.”

  “Let’s get past this area to the other side,” Rogers shouted, walking off.

  The teams began to move farther away from the settlement. Tellis stayed close but Milts and Peters flanked her. They all had to dodge holes in the ground.

  “Why aren’t we returning to the hilly area where we came from?” It made more sense to her than walking deeper into the vast flat area with hundreds of holes.

  “Always fucking questions,” Milts muttered. “She never shuts up.”

  “The wind,” Tellis answered. “When we blow the holes, it’s going to cause a large dust cloud. We’re going upwind to make certain the shuttle has an easier time of spotting us once the initial dust settles. They’ll be here in about ten minutes. We’ll need to walk for at least five of that to get out of the area. There’s also a risk that when the explosions happen, the entire ground area around them might cave in. It’s happened once before. The shuttle will hover feet from the ground since it’s too heavy to risk landing this close to all those tunnels, and we’ll climb aboard.”

  “Got it. Thank you.” She’d forgotten that there were mazes of tunnels under her feet. Her respect for what the tactical teams did rose. Just not for Rogers. He made the Veslors do his team’s dirty work.

  She turned her head, spotting each of the Veslor grouping. Drak was about twenty feet behind her. Their gazes met but she faced forward fast, not wanting to trip or fall into a hole.

  She mentally went over everything she planned to talk to Howard about at dinner. Things needed to change. The Veslors would be safer without another human team. That left other problems, though. Like if the pilot “accidently” didn’t get their pickup signal, and they were stranded on the surface overnight. Then again, she’d make damn sure that wouldn’t happen. She’d just follow their shifts, make certain they returned on time, or there’d be hell to pay.

  “That’s far enough,” Rogers yelled. He stopped walking and turned. “The shuttle should be breaking orbit by now. Stand your ground.”

  She didn’t know what that meant but a quick glance at the three men nearest her, Tellis, Milts, and Peters,