Girl Gone Nova by Pauline Baird Jones Page A

of her narrow, elegant feet, the nails a shimmering pink, made his body heat.
    “There’s no reason you can’t get up. In fact, we’re going to have you take a couple of short walks, one this morning and another after lunch. If it goes well, you can stroll as much as you feel like within the infirmary area.”
    She didn’t say it, but they both knew it was a security issue. His people would not be pleased their Leader was on the Earth ship. If he remained cut off…
    “Also, the General has made arrangements for some of your people to come aboard, once they’ve cleared security.”
    “That’s very helpful.” And most unlike the good General. Hel wasn’t sure he wanted the accommodation until he’d isolated and eliminated the threat to his life. His well-honed instincts told him there was a link between whoever was after him among the Gadi and someone in this expedition. The General would top the list of suspects if he hadn’t been wounded in the explosion—though it didn’t totally clear him in Hel’s mind. With some reluctance he had to include Delilah on his list of suspects, despite the bomb she’d defused. It would not be the first time someone saved his life to gain his trust. He would have preferred communication by radio, but his people would be concerned he was being coerced. If the Council believed the Leader was being controlled, they’d move to replace him.
    “You are a head of state. There are diplomatic protocols already worked out. Just a matter of implementing them.”
    Her tone was pragmatic, but her eyes weren’t. The purple would start to fade, their gazes would meet and it flared again. The effect, against her matte white skin, would have made his head spin if he were the kind of man to let a woman make his head spin. It was something of a relief when she glanced down at the tablet she’d brought in with her.
    “And your children want to see you. Arrangements are being worked out. They should be here in time for your first stroll.”
    Hel frowned. His children? Did they want to see him? They didn’t act like they did.
    As if she sensed his unease, she added, “Your mother says they’re upset. That they needed to see you were all right for themselves.” She hesitated, then added without looking at him, “It’s probably a natural reaction, considering they’ve already lost their mother.”
    “Is my mother coming with them?” Hel tried not to flinch at the thought of his mother visiting here. There were so many things about this ship she would dislike. And she would blame him for the bombing, or worse, she might think his condition would make him more open to taking a new bond mate. It seemed everyone around him had a woman for him. A pity that, since the death of his mate, he’d seen only two women he wanted. Was it coincidence they were both from Earth?
    “She didn’t want to try out the transport system. Sorry.” Amusement tugged at the edges of her mouth. “My mum was a bit intimidating, too.”
    Rather than address the issue of intimidation, which he most certainly was not, Hel made a conversational side step. “Your mother is no longer living?”
    Her eyes turned dark blue, as if a cloud had darkened her horizon. “She died when I was fourteen. Stan died a few months later.”
    “Stan?”
    “My dad.”
    Hel frowned. “You called your father Stan?”
    “And he called me Ollie.” Her face softened, memory chasing away the shadow. “It’s a bad Earth joke about some comedians. And it made him feel old to be called dad. He was quite a bit older than my mum and it bothered him. If I didn’t call him dad, he could pretend I was one of his students.”
    “He was a teacher?” Hel was fascinated by this look inside her head. He had a feeling it was not typical for her to share this much of her past, or herself.
    “They both were. They taught at university—that’s an advanced kind of school—and they wanted me and my brother to follow in their footsteps and