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that turned it on. I heard the ticking. Following the sound, I found the bomb. You know what happened then.”
    “Someone tried to kill me.”
    “Yes, that is clear.”
     

Chapter 4
     
    Nathalie had a sinking feeling of dread in her stomach as she looked at the hole that was torn into the side of the station. Not only had they been willing to destroy part of an expensive station that she had heard was owned by organized crime, but they had also been willing to sacrifice over five hundred people that were in the room with her. Some of those people represented governments, huge inter-world companies, and wealthy groups. Her situation had gotten beyond real.
    “Where are Moore and Heloise? Shouldn’t they be here by now?”
    “You are correct. You’re fellow scientist, Dumont, has captured them and is willing to trade them for you.” Norvir turned up his com.
    Nat could hear Dumont ranting about how the Mazlans had interfered with his plans to claim her. “We need to find a way to get them away from him. Do you think he’s insane?”
    “From what I’ve heard, he works for the company that is after you. He has been keeping you away from the people that would get your message out. They told him if he can shut you up, he can keep you and the money they are paying him. Killing you was not their preferred plan. He convinced them it would make a martyr out of you.”
    “That makes sense. He always had a friend with money willing to help out or a buddy with information that saved us. It makes me heartsick that he is behind all this. I looked at him as a brother.”
    “You might have, but his feelings for you are anything but brotherly.”
    “I thought we’d worked that out. He said he understood I didn’t have those kinds of feelings for him.”
    “Oh, he understands alright. The man just doesn’t care. His plans have always been to force you into a relationship so you’ll stay with him.”
    “How can you possibly know that?”
    “He’s been ranting and raving since we’ve been on the ship. Dumont told Heloise she was a stupid bitch and he should have killed her as soon as he saw his master plan being derailed. She’s a bad influence, according to him. In his mind, he almost had you where he wanted you until she convinced you to go with us.”
    “There might be some truth in that. I’ve never been the type to take chances. He’s always steered me in the direction he wanted me to go. I thought he cared and was looking out for me. It never entered my mind that he was using me, making money off my situation. Oh, God. James knows hundreds of my supporters.”
    “I’m sure that’s true, but his focus is on you. He thinks he’s in love with you. The man plans to change you to suit his needs.”
    “He thinks he’s in love with me? Why do you think he isn’t?”
    “If he truly loved you, he wouldn’t be planning on changing you. It would be his honor to help you further your plans, not betray you to your enemies. Love isn’t about what works for you, it’s about unconditional acceptance for the one you love. No one can control it, not when it’s true love.”
    “That’s beautiful.”
    “It’s what my people believe, what I know to be true. Stopping him, may mean the end of him.”
    “You’d kill him?”
    “Only if he attacks us, but that wasn’t what I meant. If he fails in his purpose, those he works for won’t hesitate to destroy him. That man, can’t be allowed around you or on our planet. He will continue to attempt to fulfill his mission. There is no way to redeem him.”
    “And therefore he will have no protection.”
    “I don’t think he will hurt anyone. I sense his threats are just an attempt to call you out.”
    “Please don’t kill him. Leave him to his fate, but don’t kill him if you can avoid it.”
    “I will do as you wish.”
    Several of his men joined him and they had guns. Nat recognized the tranquilizer guns since she had sedated animals before, when she was tagging