Poison. A deadly and fast-acting one, with no antidote.

Taber felt sick to his stomach, his body growing numb with each pa.s.sing moment.

The last he'd spend in the company of his mate. He swallowed hard and somehow forced himself to look her in the eye.

"Why?" His voice came out little more than a breath.

Instead of telling him, she dropped the mental barrier that had kept them apart for the two years of their bonding. Pain, loneliness, despair hit him first, knocking him to 96 the ground. As he sat there, gasping, her feelings of disgust and revulsion, ending with relief, seeped into his mind.

"I'm sick, dying. I want to choose the method of my ending."

Stunned, he reached out for her hand, only to have her jerk it away. He'd known her mind had always been chaotic, but an illness explained so much.

"What is-?"

"Zardin's disease."

By the G.o.ddess...

He reached for her again, but she cried out and jerked her body away with what little strength she had left.

"Don't touch me! You always want to touch me."

"Calantha, please?"

"No! The things you wanted to do to me, Taber, have me under you in our bed, disgusted me. I would rather die than have you get close to me. I'm glad the end is here.

There will be no more pretending."

He knew it was the illness that was making her say these things, but it cut deep. He had no doubt there was a kernel of truth in what she said. Tears streamed down his face as her mind darkened, their connection fading to black. The poison worked fast, making what little time they had left precious but slipping quickly away.

"If I had known, I would have blocked those thoughts, hidden those feelings from you," he said, somehow his voice coming out steady. "I love you. I could have helped."

"No, you don't love me. Biology determined we would fit. Hormones and pheromones-not love."

Calantha's body swayed and she had to steady herself with her hand to keep from falling over. She blinked several times, and he could feel that she was fighting the inevitable.

"We could have found another way. I don't want you to die."

"This was about me, not you." For the first time since their bonding, Calantha reached out and touched him. Her fingers brushed the back of his hand, softly. "You'll be happier when I'm gone."

"I'll die."

"No, you're strong."

"Cala, I'll die."

In a rush, blackness threatened to overtake him. For a moment, he almost let it take him, let it suck him deep into the abyss with her. But Calantha pushed back, even in death refusing to have anything to do with him. It was the incentive he needed. Taber fought against it until finally he was able to open his eyes.

The grove where Calantha had killed herself was gone. Instead he stared up at the stark white of a starship's ceiling. He didn't move, his heart pounding in his chest and 97 his hands clenched into fists at his side. It took him a full ten minutes to convince his body to relax, that the dream and his mate were long gone.

When he was finally able to push his body from the bed, the first thing he noticed was his clothing folded in a neat pile on a chair next to him. Fallon had returned his pants and taken the care to make sure nothing was wrinkled. Taber reached out and caressed the material, trying to capture some of the kindness that had gone into such a simple act. Something Calantha had never done for him.

There was a low murmur of voices from the other room. One was Fallon-the other Taber didn't recognize. Dressing in record time, he paused only long enough to fasten his blaster to his side before walking out into the main living quarters.

Fallon was smiling at a man sitting in a chair, his back to Taber. But when she looked up and saw him standing there, her face lit up. There was something in that look that chased away some of the blackness of his dream.

"Hey, you're awake." She beckoned him over. "I ordered my bodyguard to have a nap. The poor guy was exhausted."

Commander Bruce stood up, turned and faced Taber. The smile on his lips looked sincere but was in stark contrast to the look of distrust in his eyes.

"h.e.l.lo, Chief Taber. I hope you are well rested."

The hair on the back of Taber's neck rose, but he managed to keep his reactions in check. Instead, he nodded to the commander once before making his way to Fallon, taking up his post behind her chair.

"I was telling the commander how helpful both you and Sean have been," Fallon said, looking up at Taber. "I know I feel a lot safer with you being on the ship."

"Thank you, Ms. Reist."

"I am thankful you convinced them to let me out of the brig. I was feeling rather useless."

"Well, I'm glad too," Fallon said, patting Bruce's hand. "I don't think poor Tony was able to keep up with everything."

"Tony will regret putting me in the brig in the first place."

There was no hiding the anger in his voice-the commander intended to make his subordinate pay for overstepping his bounds. The mood in the room changed and Fallon shifted repeatedly in her seat. He needed to get Bruce out of here and away from her.

"Fallon, did Sean contact you while I was resting?"

She stood up quickly and turned to face him. Her smile seemed to cover most of her face as she nodded. "Yes, he asked me to tell you he needed to talk to you. It was about the files you asked him to review. I believe he was using the communicator near the archives."

"It sounds like you two are busy." Commander Bruce stood, his body rigid. "I will leave you to your duties."

98.

"Please stop by again," Fallon reached out and rubbed his arm. "It's been too long since we've chatted."

Bruce looked at Fallon, and for the first time since Taber had arrived there, the other man gave a genuine smile. "I will indeed."

Once he was gone, Fallon walked over to Taber and cupped his cheeks with her hands. She pulled his face down so they were eye to eye.

"Well you look more rested. How do you feel?"

"How long was the commander here?"

"Not long, and you're changing the subject."

Taber pulled her body to within a few inches distance, immediately warmed by her heat and lulled by her scent-soft and fruity. Very much like the strawberries she grew in the hydroponics lab.

"I will feel better when I know you are safe."

Fallon took another step closer, bringing their bodies into contact. The temptation was there, and certainly harder to resist than it had been when they'd first met. But he had to fight it. Fallon didn't want a life with him-she'd made that clear in her reaction to his offer. And he was well aware of the potential consequences of what could happen if he pushed her too hard. He couldn't bear to be the cause of anything bad happening to her.

Not like Calantha.

"When is Sean expecting us?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." No. "If Sean found something, then I need to speak with him."

Fallon sighed, taking a step back. "I can take you to the archive room. I have some time before I need to start back at the bar."

She went to collect a few things and all Taber could do was watch. Her amber hair wasn't pulled back and it flowed over her shoulders in soft waves. It was in stark contrast to Calantha's straight black locks, and infinitely more beautiful. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked straight ahead-blocking all thoughts of his dead mate from his mind.

"I find it odd that a ship of this reputation has so few customers on board."

Fallon chuckled. "I think it's great. This place is usually crawling with crazies. Men hitting on anything that moves. Women jumping on the men as they walk by. It's usually a hedonistic wonderland. And I work here."

"I thought you enjoyed it." If she didn't, then why would she not accept a life with him on Eurus?

"Oh I do, don't get me wrong. But it gets a bit old after a while. I'll be happy when I'm able to get back to Earth and open my own bar. Ready?"

99.

Taber took a moment to really look at Fallon. She practically glowed, her pale white skin shimmering in the dull lights of the room. Her lips were pink, full, like she'd been kissed recently. A stab of jealous rage flashed through him until he realized it was probably a result of their lovemaking and not from Commander Bruce.

It had better not be, or there'd be a third murder on this ship.

As they walked through the halls, Taber noticed quite a few more people in the corridors. Young men, older men, all looking excited to be here and all freshly showered, were staring at Fallon as they walked by, grinning at her.

"Where the h.e.l.l did these guys come from?" She whispered the question that was circling around in his head.

"Let's find out. Sean will know."

The trip to the archives took longer than Taber expected, and even Fallon was cursing by the time they reached it.

"This means the bar is going to be a f.u.c.king insane asylum tonight."

He lightly placed a hand on the small of her back, bending his mouth to her ear.

"I'll be there to make sure nothing happens."

Fallon swayed into his body, brushing her hip against his thigh. "Thank you."

Without another word, they walked into the room. Sean was sitting at a desk, a hand pressed against his forehead as he leaned forward, reading a data pad. He didn't even look over his shoulder and Taber knew his friend recognized his footfall.

"You're not going to f.u.c.king believe this, Taber. They went and offered leave to three shifts of miners from Eurus."

"What?"

"Kamran had no idea the investigation was still ongoing. I was just speaking with him."

"The administrator should have checked with us before authorizing something like this."

This didn't make sense. Even distracted as he was by the birth of his daughter, Kamran wasn't a man who made mistakes and took risks like this. There was something very wrong.

"I need to speak with him," Taber said, moving beside Sean.

"I figured as much. He's expecting your call."

Fallon momentarily forgotten, Taber punched in his security clearance code for Eurus' communication network and waited for Kamran to acknowledge the signal.

When the administrator's face blinked onto the screen, Taber couldn't believe how tired he looked.

"Are you well?"

Kamran chuckled. "It's good to see you too, Taber. Yes, I'm well, though I haven't slept much the last few days."

100.

Pleasantries momentarily forgotten, Taber leaned forward, staring directly at his friend.

"Why did you grant leave to the miners? The last time we spoke, I told you I wanted to maintain restricted access."

"And as I told Sean, I received your clearance signal along with a message from Captain Zane explaining that the murderer had been caught. I was expecting your return."

Taber looked immediately at Sean, who shook his head. "I've spent the last ten minutes trying to locate the signal. I can't find a thing."

"Can Haylie help?" Taber asked, looking at Sean's progress.