Winter Fusion Read online

  “I’d be happy to discuss a trade.”

  Oh, she just bet he would. Was everything a deal to this man? “I’ll keep that in mind.” She gestured toward her transport. “I’m sure you’re eager to see the ice mines. I thought we’d head straight into the mountains, visit with the elders who own the mine and then see the crystals.”

  “Visit the elders?”

  His cool tone irritated her. “It’s expected. It shows respect, a concept I know is foreign to you Rendarians.”

  “Ah, I was wondering when your claws would show.” His face was expressionless. Like nothing she said bothered him.

  It just itched at her. He was colder than the Kjolen ice peaks. What did it take for this man to show some emotion?

  She huffed out a breath. “Don’t worry, I won’t waste your precious time. I’ll have you back at the spaceport by dinner.”

  “So eager to get rid of me?”

  Opening the door to the transport, she forced a smile. “Yes.”

  He shook his head. “I know you were denied trade and the comfort it brings for a few extra stellar years, but haven’t you held your grudge long enough?”

  Brinn choked. “You think this is because Perma couldn’t trade for Chanalian fine wine or pleasure syndroids? You supercilious, ignorant bastard.”

  She thought she saw a flash of something in his eyes. Good, she wanted a fight and she was happy to stir a reaction in the coldest man in the galaxy.

  But before he could respond, there was a loud bang behind them. They both frowned and started to turn.

  The world exploded in a flash of flames and bright white light.

  Chapter Two

  Savan reacted with instincts honed by the Galactic Wars. He tackled Brinn to the ground, rolling until he pressed her beneath him, shielding her from the blast.

  Heat washed over them. Seconds felt like minutes, flames licking. Hungry and searching for a target.

  For a horrible moment he was lost in the midst of a long-ago battle. The stench of burning flesh in his nose, the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, the screams of his dying men in his ears.

  Then it was gone.

  Cold air nipped at his skin. A smaller, feminine form pressed against him.

  He lifted his head, scanning for danger.

  All he saw were smoldering metal fuel tanks for refueling the ships. The worst of the explosion hadn’t reached them. He let his tense body relax.

  “Off. Please.” Brinn struggled under him, freeing an arm from his weight.

  He rolled and crouched beside her. “Are you hurt?”

  She sat up, one hand pressed to her head. Her black beret was askew, her pale hair spilling over her shoulders. “What in Odinn’s name happened?”

  She looked fine. Just a small scrape on her cheek. Her skin so translucent, he could see the delicate blue veins beneath. His fingers itched to touch her. For some reason, he hated that her smooth skin had been marred.

  “Bardan?”

  He blinked. “The refueling tanks exploded.”

  Sirens screamed across the tarmac. Fire transports raced toward them from the spaceport base.

  “If we’d been any closer...” She pressed a shaking hand to her mouth.

  Unable to stop himself, he lifted a hand to her cheek. He let one finger skirt the edge of her wound. Even through his glove, he knew her skin was soft. “I can heal this.”

  The full impact of her unique eyes hit him and made his lungs lock. Her eyes looked like cracked ice—blue in the middle, edging out to a frosted white at the rim of her irises.

  She pushed his hand away. “It’s just a scrape—”

  He grabbed his backpack and opened it. He found the small object he wanted. “It’ll only take a second.”

  She gripped his wrist. “That’s a medscope.”

  Brinn looked at the small metal cylinder like it was Tauvi gold. There was vital hunger in her blue eyes.

  What would it take to make her look at a man that way? Savan shook his head. What the hell was wrong with him? Maybe the blast had rattled his brain. “Yes. It can heal that scrape in seconds.”

  She turned his wrist, her gaze still on the scope. “We can’t afford medscopes yet. We’ve got medication now and that’s helped. If only we’d had these a few years ago...” She dropped her hand like the contact burned her, her head bowing.

  A strange feeling gripped Savan. All too often when new planets joined the Trade Guild, they went after weapons, spacecraft and tech that offered pleasure and wealth. But Brinn wanted medscopes?

  “After we make a deal for the fusion crystals, you can afford all the medscopes you want.”

  Her head snapped up. He saw so much emotion swirling in her ice eyes. A painful mix that hurt to look at.

  “If you hadn’t stopped us joining the Guild five years ago, we’d already have medscopes. We would have saved lives.”

  There was more to this than hurt pride. “Maybe. But you may have gained tech that would have damaged your world—”

  “Who made you king of the galaxy?” Her cheeks flushed with color. “Like Rendar’s a shining example of well-managed tech.”

  “You’re right. We’ve made mistakes.” And gods help him, he’d been responsible for a few of them. “We’d like to stop others from doing the same.”

  Her eyes were once again cool. “I don’t need you to heal me. Here on Perma, a scrape doesn’t warrant more than a salve.”

  She pushed to her feet, dusting off the heavy red coat covering her slender body. After combing a hand through her tangled hair, she straightened her beret. “I need to talk with the officials about this incident. Then we’ll head to the mines and get this deal done. I wouldn’t want to waste any more of your precious time.”

  So much for charming her. He watched her stalk over to emergency transports screeching to a stop beyond the ruined tanks. Her stride was quick, efficient, but there was a fluid grace beneath it.

  All his instincts told him there were depths to Brinn Fjord. Savan scraped a hand over his slightly singed hair. But he was the last person she’d let get close enough to discover them.

  A short while later Savan sat in the passenger seat of Brinn’s transport, watching the ice plains of Perma whiz past.

  It was so open.

  There was just white as far as he could see. Except for the forbidding mountain peaks to the north. The mountains that were home to the ice mines.

  Still, Perma was a clean, refreshing change from the crowded clutter of Rendar. It almost took his mind off the woman sitting beside him.

  “You don’t have aerial transports?” he asked.

  She shook her head, keeping her gaze on the road. “No. We thought we should at first, even had some preliminary trade talks, but we decided the environmental impact was too great. Our population is low enough that we can manage just fine with land transports.”

  He glanced at her profile. So Perma hadn’t rushed into any environmentally unstable trades. Delaying their membership had given them time to evaluate their planet’s needs. His hand clenched on his armrest. He’d made the right decision.

  The road twisted and turned, rising into the mountains. They passed an area where ice rose in massive natural sculptures warped and molded into amazing shapes.

  Something beeped. Brinn gave a quiet curse and pulled a clear, palm-sized Sync communicator from her coat pocket. “I have to take this call.” She shoved the Sync into a slot on the onboard computer.

  He nodded and turned back to study the landscape.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  Mom? He couldn’t help but eavesdrop, since they were in the tight confines of the transport. What surprised him was how interested he was to hear her conversation with her mother. He’d never known his.

  “Brinn, I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be late tomorrow.”

  “I told you I’ll be there. Just like I told you the last two times you called this morning.”

  There was exasperation in Brinn’s tone, but under it he heard something else. Affection.

  “Well, you know I’m not happy that you can’t make it for dinner tonight.”

  Brinn gave him a quick glance. “I told you, I have an important work deal.”

  “I know, I know. But it’s always work with you. You know your father would never have wanted you to live only for your work.”

  “I don’t want to talk about Dad.” She cut her mother off fast. “Mom, I have to go.”

  After the call, there was only icy silence in the transport. Savan stared out the window. Even though it was early afternoon, the sun had slipped beyond the horizon. He saw nothing but thick, impenetrable darkness.

  He found it disconcerting. Rendar had two suns and long days of sunlight muted by the pollution clouds.

  “Tell me about the fusion crystals?” he asked.

  “You read the e-memos.”

  Gods, that snotty tone grated on his nerves. “Yes, but I want to hear it from you.”

  “They were discovered ten stellar years ago. Our best scientists have spent years studying them, and over the last few years we started using them as a power source.”

  “And the energy is a fusion reaction.”

  “Yes.” Excitement leaked into her voice. “A true fusion reaction somehow contained within an ice matrix. Amazing that nature can create something so remarkable.”

  Savan didn’t care about nature, he cared about the crystals. He had to secure this deal. “I assumed you tried to replicate them in a lab.”

  She nodded, her fingers tapping the dash. “We haven’t been able to. That’s when we decided to trade them.”

  “Knowing that no one else would probably be able to replicate them either.” He watched her carefully. “Makes them very valuable.”

  “Yes. It does.” She met his gaze. “I want a good deal for them.”

  Translation: she was going to make him pay. For denying her world. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

  She looked back at the road. “We’ll reach Skeolan village soon. It’s only a few kilometers from here and the closest town to the mines.”

  Brinn gave a voice command to take manual control of the transport and set it into ice mode. There was the slightest thump, and on the onboard computer display he saw the tires change to rugged, chain-cloaked rubber.

  “This time of year the mountains can get a lot of snow. The roads turn very slick.”

  But no snow fell and Brinn handled the transport with practiced ease. The glow of lights appeared ahead.

  She glanced at him in the muted red light from the transport’s dash. “Welcome to Skeolan.”

  The transport slowed as they entered the small town. Savan leaned forward, his mouth dropping open at the buildings lining the streets. “It’s all made of ice.”

  “It’s a plentiful commodity.”

  Amazing. The buildings weren’t tall, two stories, some three, and all made of solid ice. The edifices were all intricately carved, and through the opaque walls he saw the glow of lights and the shadows of people moving. “How do you stop it melting?”

  “A special nanocoating.”

  “You trade it?

  Her mouth flattened into a line. “No. And we aren’t interested in selling it.”

  He couldn’t blame her for being touchy, but damn it, he needed things to be pleasant enough between them to get this deal done. What the hell could he do to melt this woman’s cold edges?

  Brinn squeezed the transport into a tiny parking space in the busy town center. He stepped out of the car.

  Winter wonderland.

  A web of twinkling white lights was strung above the square. Cheerful red, green and silver decorations hung from every surface. Evergreen trees in large pots lined the footpath, covered in glittering red baubles.

  Permans, rugged up in coats, hats and scarves, filled the streets. Some clutched cups that gave off tendrils of fragrant steam. Savan drew in a deep breath. He couldn’t identify the scent—something woody, spicy and mouthwatering. Other residents chased laughing children.

  Odd to see children. He watched with interest as a man swung a small boy onto his shoulders. What was it like to have people around you dedicated to your well-being and comfort? “Is it always this busy?”

  “It’s Yule.”

  The word wasn’t familiar. “Yule?”

  She huffed out a breath. “Our winter festival. It’s held on the winter solstice. To welcome back the light as the days start to get longer. Perman winters, especially this far north, are very dark.” She looked at him now, with a frown. “Don’t you celebrate Yule or some equivalent on Rendar?”

  “We don’t have holidays.”

  She stopped. “None?”

  He shook his head. “From my experience on other worlds, holidays appear to be time for families. We don’t have families on Rendar.”

  “No families?” She blinked. “I know Rendar went the scientific route for procreation centuries ago, but after your babies are made in the lab, aren’t they raised by their parents?”

  “Only the genes of the fittest, smartest and most talented on the planet are used to create children. Then they’re raised in special schools until adulthood.”

  “I couldn’t imagine a life like that.” Her voice was low. “You were raised like this?”

  He met her remarkable ice gaze. “Yes.”

  He saw something in those eyes, a small thaw. He frowned and looked away. He wanted her to warm to him but he didn’t need her feeling sorry for him.

  Savan liked his life just the way it was. The life he’d made for himself.

  * * *

  Damn it, she didn’t want to feel anything for this man but dislike.

  Brinn shouldered through the crowd, excruciatingly conscious of the big man beside her. But a part of her found it too easy to picture a dark-haired boy with no one to hug him, kiss him, love him.

  No families? How could a world do that to its people? Her family was central to her life—her mother’s gentle smile, her stepfather’s gruff laugh, her brothers always trying to run her life. Her cousin Elin always trying to drag her away for a girl’s night out. Even when they were driving Brinn nuts, she still loved them.

  As Brinn and Savan passed under an arch of Yuletide lights, she noticed a woman give Savan a long glance. Two more were huddled together, watching him with interested eyes.

  Brinn scowled at one short blonde, then caught herself. Why the hell should it bother her if these women liked too-tall, too-muscular Rendarians?

  They passed a row of food stalls, and when she glanced at him, she saw the way he looked at the brightly colored kiosks.

  His face still held that cold, hard look he was famous for...but there was something. Just a hint of reaction. Somehow she knew it was acute interest in those green eyes.

  Keep going, Brinn. The elders were waiting. And the quicker she got this deal over with, the quicker he’d be gone.

  But a part of her—the part that felt sympathy for a lonely little boy—urged her to let him experience a little bit of Yule.

  She released a long breath, hating being at war with herself. “I’m hungry. Do you want anything to eat?”

  “I could eat.”

  She ordered and shoved a cup of mulled wine into his hand. Then a buttery bread roll filled with Yule ham.

  He sipped at the cup, then stilled. A look passed over his face. So brief she almost missed it, but she thought it might be the first time she’d seen pleasure on Savan Bardan’s face.

  “This is amazing. You could get a fortune for this recipe at the trade table.”

  The man had a one-track mind. “It’s glogg. Mulled wine. The recipe was passed down from our ancestors who colonized Perma.”

  She watched him cautiously enjoy the ham. He wasn’t as handsome as the holo-com actors. His nose was a little too hawkish, his features too strong. But he had a presence that no woman could ignore.

  “This is good. So much better than our cloned food.” He tilted his head back, drinking the last of the wine. She caught herself watching his strong throat work and forced herself to look away.

  “So, Yule comes from the first colonists?”

  She nodded, letting her gaze drift over the hundreds of lights, the decorations and the happy crowd. “Most of their e-records were lost hundreds of years ago, but Yule was a tradition that lasted. They came from a planet out of the galaxy. From what’s been pieced together by the historians, they came from a world called Scandinavia.”

  “They must have been desperate, to settle an ice world.”

  She clenched her teeth. “We have a wonderful world. With plenty to offer.”

  He held up his hands. “I didn’t mean any offence. It’s just a challenging place to settle.”

  She forced herself to relax. She couldn’t let everything he said get to her. “They were used to the cold and ice. From what we can tell, their home world had a similar climate.”

  “When does Yule finish?”

  “Tomorrow. Tonight’s Yule’s Eve. That’s when the celebrations start. Then tomorrow, everyone will get together with family and friends. They’ll eat, drink, exchange gifts, celebrate the light returning.”

  She’d be spending hers with her family. Her gifts were wrapped and she’d be more than ready for some of her stepfather’s Yule ale once she escorted Bardan back to his tradeship. And if she was late, she was sure her mother would hunt her down.

  “You’re missing time with your family.”

  She couldn’t detect anything in his voice. It was just a statement of fact. “Yes.”

  “That’s why you tried to delay the tour.”

  “Yes. But I’m eager to get this deal done.” She turned away from him. “Come on. We’re due to meet the elders in the town square.”