Desert Heat [An Ike Payne Adventure 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Melodee Aaron

Author:Melodee Aaron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Published: 2012-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Discussions

Claire wanted to see Ike and Devon at noon, but the Emperor wanted to see them, along with Miranda and Jack, at 0900. The four told their story of the crash and their rescue by the Pholli.

The Emperor leaned back in his chair, putting his feet on the desk. "I'm glad you're all safe." Claire obviously hadn't talked to her father. "Little one, you're the diplomat, so you get to go first. Do you think what these people told you is true?"

"I don't know. They seemed sincere to me, but I may be seeing things. Sort of a Stockholm Effect. I need to see the other side of the political coin before I can really answer that."

The Emperor smiled a little. "Jack, what do you think?"

Jack shrugged. "I think in the big picture, they told us the truth, or at least what they see as the truth. I don't have the feeling they're just permanent malcontents. There may be some details skewed by their views, but overall, I think they were straight with us."

"When you were still prisoners, how was their treatment of you?"

"Good, actually." Jack thought for a moment. "The team that captured us didn't know who we were, and they don't use radios, so they couldn't have been given information. They were firm, but not abusive. When we reached the base and Devon was out of it, three people carried him. What impressed me was when they put him on the bunk in the cell, they laid him down carefully and didn't just drop him."

"That's good." The Emperor looked at Devon. "You had enough problems without being dropped. What did you think about them?"

"I'm going to pass for a minute and let Ikira answer. I'm trying to tease a thought out of my poor excuse for a brain."

"All right. Looks like you're on, Ike."

"Looks that way." Ike thought for a minute. She had things on her mind that were far more important to her than the political situation on Nerumie. Neither she nor Devon slept well last night, and she felt tired and fuzzy. "I'm with Miranda. We need to know more. If nothing else, our contact with the Pholli gave us more questions we need answered." She paused again. "Maybe I'm seeing things, too. In some ways, the Pholli seemed too good to be true."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing that. Like Miranda said, maybe there is a Stockholm Effect happening here. Given the conditions, that's not only possible but understandable." He glanced at Devon again. "Time's up."

"All right. It is too good to be true, but I'm not sure it's all that bad, either. We need to keep in mind that as soon as Moito knew Boone was here, she wanted us to get back." Devon paused and looked around the table. "We need to ask ourselves about her motivation, though. Did she want us back on Boone because she feels concerned about us? Maybe she wanted us here to spread the gospel of the Pholli.

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