Her Commanders - M.K. Eidem Page 0,46

only used Cali's name because they were alone, it was rising again.

"Nothing," he growled.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing, because I never talked to her." Taarig grabbed his towel and began drying off.

That had Jamis frowning. One of them always walked the female back to her quarters. Taarig usually, because he had the words that left the female smiling. "What the ruk do you mean?"

"I mean that after you snuck off… again… I used the cleansing unit. Cali was gone when I got out."

"She just left?" Jamis ran a frustrated hand through his hair. While the corridors and lifts were relatively empty at that time of the dark shift, there still would have been males around. Males that would have noticed Cali leaving the Command Level and who would most likely comment on it. Aloud, to Cali, and to whoever else would listen. It's why one of them always walked the female back to her quarters. "Ruk!"

"She overheard our conversation, obviously, and decided not to stick around, since you never do."

"I thought she was still resting."

"I'm beginning to think there's a lot more to Cali Baker than we know."

"You checked the lens feed to make sure she made it back to The Brink safely?"

"Not yet."

"Why not?!"

"Because, if you remember, as soon as I started my shift, there was another problem on the flight deck," Taarig snapped at him. "So, I haven't been back to my station. Not that I would check it there anyway."

"Why not?"

"Ruk, Jamis, are you that stupid? Do you want the whole base knowing she was able to slip out of your quarters without either of us realizing it?"

That had Jamis frowning because that was what had happened, and it shouldn't have been possible. Not with Apre males.

"I'll check the feeds when I get back to my quarters," Taarig told him.

Chapter Ten

Cali sank onto one of her couches. It had been a long, exhausting day, and unfortunately, it wasn't over yet. When Ujana came in, Cali turned the bar over to her. Cali showed Hamm the room she'd been talking about; he'd taken an instant liking to it, and together they'd cleared it out. She'd shown Hamm where the extra furniture from Triz’s and her old quarters was stored and told Hamm he could have anything he wanted.

Now she was finally back in her private quarters, and she needed to rest before she returned to take over for Ujana. After all, she was the one that had given Mae the shift off. But first, there was something she needed to do.

She hadn't thought about it until she was helping Hamm but interfering with the lens feed outside Jamis’s quarters was going to raise questions, especially if it was the only place it occurred. She needed to make it seem as if it had happened in other locations across the base.

Rising, she went into her private office, and after placing her hand on the control station and activating the unit, she went to work on altering the lens feed files. First, she added static moments throughout the base before she and Taarig had left The Brink. She then concentrated on the lifts. The one she and Taarig had used showed them getting in but with the static getting progressively worse, not getting off. The Command Level lens didn't either. All they showed was Taarig's back as he entered Jamis’s quarters. After that, she altered several feeds on multiple levels until well after she was back in The Brink. Including the same lift she and Taarig had used, so it would seem that she also returned on that one.

Finally done, she went into her resting chamber and, with a resigned sigh, opened the rejuvenation tank. Setting the alarm for half an hour, she stepped into the tank. But instead of allowing the shimmering tendrils to pull her beneath the surface as they wanted, she leaned back and rested her neck on the curved section of the tank she'd had specially designed for just that purpose. It allowed her to completely relax in the tank without its benefits being so noticeable.

Half an hour later, she rose from the tank and finished resting in her bed.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

"Well?" Jamis demanded, looking over Taarig's shoulder.

"Has anyone notified you about the lens feeds malfunctioning?" Taarig asked as he opened file after file.

"Malfunctioning? No."

"Well, something's going on." Taarig handed Jamis the tablet he'd been using, showing him what he'd found. Instead of going to his quarters, Taarig remembered he'd left his tablet in Jamis’s office before he'd