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  Adamanta

  Sacrifice

  Season 3 - Episode 5

  Book 17 in the Adamanta Series

  T. Y. Carew & Jess Mountifield

  Episode Copyright © 2018 Jess Mountifield

  Series Copyright © 2018 Jess Mountifield

  Published by Red Feather Writing

  Cover Copyright © 2018 Elizabeth Mackey

  All rights reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, organisations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to any online ebook store and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Books by T.Y. Carew

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  A big thank you to my husband, Phil. He is my biggest supporter and was the first person to believe in me as a storyteller. His continued support through the birth of our children has enabled me to keep going.

  Also thank you to my friends and family who’ve helped in ways I never expected while I learn to juggle career life and mum life. All of Adamanta has happened during this space and to be near the end of season 3 with almost 18 stories in that time is something you all helped make possible.

  Especially a big thank you to Bear, Alex and Sophie for rescuing me that one week I really needed to write this episode and just happened to have no childcare in place! Not my smartest scheduling decision.

  To Ella, for always keeping on and keeping all us writers in check. As always you seem to know exactly what I meant to write even when I don’t. Couldn’t have seen Adamanta through this far without you.

  And of course, the other Adamanta writers, all of you. You make this adventure all the more fun.

  Elizabeth once again made the covers rock and despite moving thousands of miles managed to schedule the designs in we needed. You juggle these things like no one else I know.

  Finally to God, because I couldn’t do any of what I do without a rock to stand on.

  Dedication

  To Stephen. I’m going to miss you and you enthusiasm you had for everything Adamanta. The universe won’t be the same without you.

  Chapter 1

  Once more Matt pushed her Adamanta usage to her comfortable limit. Already a headache had developed, but she continued swirling the many swords in the air, using her cameras to look for the next targets. The Adamanta eyes were her only way of seeing what might come at her, and as each new foe appeared, ready to fire laser bolts and tackle her, it took all of her concentration to keep them at bay.

  The situation looked more dangerous than it was; at least that's what Drew had promised it would be. As a laser blast from the nearest drone narrowly missed her arm, Matt caught the faint tang of charred fabric and knew it had singed part of her uniform jacket on the way. The drone was in a heap on the ground only a second later, but that was another set of clothes in need of repair.

  As Matt sliced through the final drone's main power supply, it fell to the floor with a crackle. Cheering and clapping broke out from the small viewing area they'd hastily created to her left. Exhaling and calming herself, Matt pulled off the blindfold so she could see them better.

  With the exception of Tyra, who was flying Contessa to their next destination, the entire crew was there—Xander, Drew, Trey, the four extra Adamanta-trained soldiers Kelton had assigned them, and the people they were entertaining.

  Not all of the three men and two women they had as guests looked as impressed as she'd hoped. Three of them were still clapping and smiling, although one appeared to only be doing so out of politeness. Katrina was looking suitably disgusted, evidently old-fashioned enough not to approve of a woman fighting in such a way.

  And then there was Karl Granger. Not once had he smiled or done anything but look down his nose at the entire crew. For someone who'd professed to be interested in investing in the Adamanta project, he seemed to be the most bored and unengaged of the lot.

  Matt fought back sighs and derogatory comments at their lack of enthusiasm, instead making a display of twirling her swords and assorted Adamanta weaponry as she brought it back to her pack and put it away again.

  By the time she'd finished, Drew and several of the others had left the small raised platform off to the side and come to see the damage properly. Xander gave her a curt nod, his face grim. He'd been that way the entire time they'd had the guests on the Contessa. Only Tyra seemed to be unfazed by having their potential investors with them for so long.

  “Gonna take me a while to put these back together,” Drew said, giving Matt a scathing look. She gave him a small apologetic smile, but a part of her was relieved. She had had enough of being the lab rat on this journey. With any luck they'd be on Rokku-Sai before the drones were fixed and she could turn the party's attention to other things.

  “You really use these to see?” Adam Kepernick asked as he picked up one of the small discs containing a camera. She nodded, trying not to let her annoyance at someone else handling her Adamanta show on her face. This guy was the most enthusiastic of the potential investors, and she wasn't about to jeopardize that.

  “I use them in pairs most of them time,” she said, giving him information she'd already made available when they'd been on Corda-Mara over a week earlier. In between there and the current destination, the group had also been to Komar in the Gunger system, to see the research being conducted there on Matt's behalf. Atum had been stationed there recently. Somewhere to keep him out of the way and out of trouble for the time being.

  That had been the best part of the journey, with one exception. Her dojo on Corda-Mara. Despite the humans pulling back from their joint work and collaboration with the Cordaks, they'd kept her small underwater habitat the same in between her visits and she'd felt the same familiar warmth from the first time she'd trained others there. Two of them were now part of the team of Adamanta users assigned to Xander's command to help protect the delegation.

  So far, of course, having extras on board had merely meant there were more people to grow bored. They'd helped Matt demonstrate her training and the equipment near the beginning of the tour they'd put together, but in the last few days Matt had been the only one left able to keep impressing the investors.

  Despite the tediousness of the task, a small part of Matt took pride in what she was doing, knowing it was making both her and her parents' research more immune to the whims of men like Simon Dantos and reckless people like Dr. Cardew. This would be investment on her terms, for research and progress she knew her parents would approve of.

  “I still can't quite believe it, even though I've seen you do it several times now. Mind-control? It seems so magical.”

  Matt tried to chuckle good naturedly. To her it was anything but. It was just like concentrating on anything else. She just happened to be really good at this task.

  “It's taken year
s of practice,” she replied when the conversation wilted again. “And I've been very motivated in the last few years.”

  “Yes, I'm very sorry for your loss,” Margaret said, finally taking an interest in their conversation. She was a gray-haired woman, widowed, with a strong inheritance from her late husband. The Beltine had killed the man.

  Captain Pharo Johnson had died in one of Matt's earliest missions. One of several to die defending a planet with what had turned out to be one of the few good locations for an Adamanta mine. The planet the mine was on had been named after him.

  “Likewise,” Matt said, having already conveyed the sentiment the moment she'd met Margaret Johnson. The woman waved her hand, making it clear she didn't expect yet another apology.

  “My husband knew what he was doing when he accepted that mission. He helped save a great deal of lives, and I already know that, thanks to your talents and the skills of those around you, his death didn't go unrewarded.”

  “I did the best I could.” Not knowing what else to say or do, Matt used her mind to zip up her pack and lift the bag to place it back on her back.

  “I knew your parents, you know.” Margaret's eyes met Matt's as she dropped the bombshell. “They'd be proud of everything you've done and everything you've learned. Adamanta meant so much to them. You could hear the hope in their voices when they talked about it. But the Beltine have a habit of making things difficult for us. Hope is a hard thing to keep ignited in these times.”

  “Captain Adair does a good job of bringing us hope,” Xander said, coming to her side and rescuing her. Matt's voice didn't want to work anymore, her throat restricted and her eyes threatening to spill over with tears. “But I'm afraid I must remove her from your presence. As I'm sure you're all aware, she's our best asset, and after that display she's going to need some rest. We'll be arriving at Rokku-Sai in about eight hours.”

  “I'll return to my cabin as well,” Adam said, not quite getting the hint and deciding to glue himself to Matt's side as she moved to obey Xander's subtle command and well-timed relief offering. It wasn't the first time Adam seemed to have decided to go do something purely because that was the area of the ship Matt was in.

  Matt tried to smile as she walked off, grateful to see Paton and his team talking to the other investors for her, showing their equipment off again, letting it be prodded and poked. The men appeared to find it more natural to accept the interest and divert it in helpful ways. So far, Matt felt like she was either looked down upon for being female, or considered a possible romantic interest in the case of Adam. This wasn’t anything like the adoring school kids or military personnel who could look past her gender.

  This time she couldn't stifle the sigh she felt.

  “Are you on board the Contessa a lot?” Adam asked as they moved past the canteen, Trey already inside getting himself a coffee.

  “It depends on the mission. Our Lady isn't the fastest ship in the fleet by a long way, but it's rare for us to be sent out as far as Komar normally.”

  “So you're on Netera some of the time?” His brown eyes looked hopefully at her, making it clear he was trying to work out if he'd see her once this planned tour was over. She took a moment to think of a reply.

  “It all depends. I have my work cut out for me at the moment. Until we can get more of the military trained and I can step into more of an overseeing role I'm still invaluable in the field.” Matt hoped it wasn't a too subtle hint that funding would free up more of her time. A small part of her felt guilty for playing on his interest and implying she'd be around more if more money went into research, but by the grin he gave her she either hadn't been subtle enough or he liked the idea of having some sway.

  “Well then, I look forward to seeing your progress and some more of your training sessions. I must confess, I'm eager to learn how to use some Adamanta myself. From the rumors I've been hearing, you're not adverse to people like myself taking a try at controlling the stuff.

  “I'm not adverse, no,” she lied. She wasn't comfortable with just anyone learning to use Adamanta. Not entirely. But she didn't deny it had come in useful on one of her more recent missions. It wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, however. And thanks to Simon finding an Adamanta-rich planet of his own and deciding to pour his recently withdrawn investments into protecting it, she doubted it would really be down to her.

  Thoughts of Harry Cronell and how he'd murdered someone with Adamanta sprang to mind every time she thought about civilians having the metal to do with exactly as they pleased. They had enough trouble with the Beltine, without human nature taking their best weapon and twisting it into something that threatened them, too.

  As she finally reached her cabin, she stopped, making it clear she didn't expect Adam to come any farther with her, and instead say goodbye and stay true to his own declaration of heading to his allocated personal space on board.

  “Well, I'm sure we can talk some more about any training you do in the future. I have put aside funds purely for the purpose of learning, but I've always been a bit of an elitist. I like to learn from the best.”

  Matt smiled politely, wondering if this was where he'd actually been going all along. He didn't want to be romantically involved, merely to bribe her into breaking protocol and teaching a civilian in her spare time. The military currently forbade such things, ensuring any teaching she did benefited them first, and that arrangement had never bothered her.

  As she said goodbye and hurried into her cabin, the only small space on the ship she could be sure she'd be left alone, Matt found the thought worrying. Just how far was she willing to go to secure the funding she needed in the long term? It had been a question she'd asked herself a lot lately, and she didn't doubt, before this mission was over, she'd be asking it again.

  Chapter 2

  It took all Xander's composure to not get irritated as his guests took their time entering the shuttle. The Contessa was in orbit around Rokku-Sai, monitored by the ever faithful Tyra, but it felt like they were going nowhere.

  I'll be glad when we get this lot back to Netera, he thought as the last person, Adam Kepernick, strode on board. It didn't take a genius to work out what the rich heir was looking for, or more importantly who, when he hesitated by the hatch. The man had been following Matt around like a lovesick puppy since the very first demonstration of her Adamanta kit she'd done.

  This time, however, he was out of luck. Matt had sat herself down and strapped in between Margaret Johnson and a wealthy woman who'd made her money in manufacturing cosmetics for major film and TV companies, Katrina Dynaris. The three had been sitting there engaged in a conversation about it for several minutes. It had come with some relief on all their parts. Dynaris had spent the majority of the trip looking down her nose at everything and clearly not impressed with what another female was doing in the military.

  Somehow Matt had managed to mention using Katrina's products in one of the promotional videos she'd done for the military and the woman had delightedly talked about her company and work ever since, suddenly looking at Matt as if she was another person.

  “I've only done a few short clips,” Matt said, pulling out a small data pad to show both women on Margaret's request.

  “Oh, I'm so glad they used that color on you,” Katrina replied the second Matt came on screen. “It brings out your eyes properly. Of course that's one of the reasons my products are so effective. We've gone out of our way to make it easy for anyone to look good on camera.”

  Xander felt himself frowning on Matt's behalf at the subtle dig towards Matt's features.

  “They did a good job.” Matt glanced his way, a knowing look in her eyes as she continued to butter up the potential investor. “I asked if I could take the make-up they used home with me afterwards, but I wasn't allowed.”

  “I can see why you'd want to. I imagine they're a little above your pay grade to buy, as well.”

  This seemed to end the conversation, everyone else taking an interest in seeing the video
now that Matt had shown it to the two women. The pad was passed around, Adam taking his time over watching it, as Xander finally completed his safety check and let Paton take the shuttle out of Contessa's hangar.

  When someone asked how much of the demo was real, he heard Paton let out a small sigh. It seemed it wasn't just his team who were getting irritated by their guests. But they had one more planet to show them, and Matt had insisted this be left until last. The most recent and, in her opinion, most exciting discovery they'd made in the world of Adamanta.

  Thankfully, it only took about fifteen minutes for them to get close enough to the small settlement area, and the passengers' attention turned to their destination once more.

  “You can barely tell there's anyone even on the planet,” Adam said, his voice just a touch too high-pitched for a male's to sound comfortable.

  “That was sort of the point,” Drew replied, his usual humor and good mood having disappeared several days earlier when Kurt, Adam and Katrina had made derogatory remarks about the male ego and fantasies behind his latest engineering experiment, a set of strap-on Adamanta wings. If they'd been working already, Xander doubted they'd have dared to be so openly rude.

  Closing his eyes, Xander said a prayer to whatever God might be listening that this planet would hold the key to securing the funds they needed, as Matt hoped. Even Kelton was counting on them to pull at least one or two new wealthy parties to the investment table.

  Just before the shuttle touched down, on a small camouflaged platform that only became apparent when you were within a hundred feet, a submarine-like vessel appeared on the surface of the nearby lake.

  This also caught everyone's attention, but it wasn't an entirely new phenomenon. It was a Cordak transporter ready to take the delegation to the safe habitats constructed in the depths of the lake.

  As Xander and Trey led everyone off the shuttle, Darka and another slightly smaller and lighter colored Cordak he didn't recognize came to the shore. Immediately Darka stepped forward, his arms opening in a warm enthusiastic greeting.