"You're going to be an actual Dad soon enough, Phe. Relax, we'll come to you if we need help."
"What else have I missed?"
"Nothing, I promise."
"Do the others know?"
"Yeah, Mars figured it out, and I had to tell Kade, because I needed his help."
"With what?"
Color blossomed in Bastien's face.
"Research. I'm new to the whole dating scene. I wanted to get it right."
Phelan choked back laughter. To go from feeling nothing to being in the throes of The Wanting had to be difficult.
"Is there anything I can do now?"
"Nope, now I'm trying to dig myself out of the ginormous hole I made over the years."
"What's the Star Maiden like?"
"Riv? She's nothing like what you'd expect. She has a wicked sense of humor, a lot of attitude—I mean that in a good way."
"Really?" he asked, shocked.
"I promise, she's a take charge kind of woman … I like it."
"The General and the Star Maiden, it has a ring to it. Will she be moving in now?"
"Nowhere near asking that question yet, bro. She's barely letting me take her on dates."
"Ouch. How do you handle it?" He knew all too well what it felt like to hold yourself back from your mate.
"One day at a time."
"Best way to go at it."
"Any news on Tavel?" Bastien asked.
"Nothing, it's like the man disappeared off the planet. Mars said his contact wanted to meet up with him. So I'm hoping we'll get something there. Zash wants to bring a special geneticist onto the team to help fill in some of the gaps we may have in our theories. I've okayed it. At this point I'm half desperate."
"His quiet is making me antsy too. Is he trying to think up a new plan or succeed in his old one? It's like searching for a bomb that's ticking down." Bastien scowled.
"My other question is what happens to him once he's caught? There's no way I trust humans to contain him indefinitely. He's crafty, powerful, and patient."
"We also don't know who he's working with," Bastien added.
"Yeah, that's been bothering me. Are they walking among us, collecting info that keeps him one step ahead of us?"
"You think we have a leak?" Bastien sat up and leaned over the desk. "Have you seen anything that would indicate a security breach?"
Phelan shook his head at his ability to go into General mode in less than sixty seconds. "No, I'm grasping at straws."
"He's been hiding for years. Most of the trails we're exploring are dead-ins. It's only a matter of time until we stumble on one that's a valid lead."
"Yes, but who knows what he'll be doing by then."