My Fair Captain by J.L. Langley Read Free Book Online

Captain
    Flicking him a quick glance, Trouble waved at the televid. “Hi, back, Admiral Carl. How are Betty and your son?”
    “Trouble…” Nate gritted his teeth.
    “Bye, Admiral. Gotta go.” Jeremy took off, disappearing from sight.
    Smart kid. “Carl, I’m a naval destroyer captain, not a spy. Why in the universe would you want me to do undercover work?”
    “You better have a seat, Nate.”
    Great, just fucking great. It looked like the news was getting better and better. Nate went to his chair and turned the monitor back around.
    Leaning back in his own chair, Carl crossed his hands over his stomach. “I want you to use your title.”
    “You want me to go undercover as an IN officer?”
    The older man shook his graying head. “No, I want you to go as an Earl…the Earl of Deverell, heir to the Duke of Hawthorne.”
    Nate’s gut clenched like he’d taken a fist to the abdomen. He swore he could hear his blood pounding through his veins and his mouth felt like he’d eaten that bitter granular candy Trouble had a penchant for, but his composure never faltered on the outside. “I’m no longer the heir to Hawthorne. I’m sure the honor has long since passed to my younger brother.”
    “That is beside the point, Nate. No one will know that you haven’t been in contact with your family for nearly twenty years. I need you because you’ve lived in a regency society before. You know how to act as a lord, a gentleman.”
    “Are you commanding me to go or are you asking me?” He thought about it for a moment. “No. I won’t go back to Englor. Find someone else.”
    “No, no, not Englor, but a planet akin to it. It’s a planet called Regelence. They’ve similar customs. Their society is, like Englor’s, based on Earth’s Regency period. Like Englor, it’s also under the jurisdiction of the Aries Fleet.”
    -39-

    J.L. Langley
    Nate closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the headrest. He didn’t want to do this. It would bring back way too many memories.
    Memories he’d just as soon stayed gone. Well, if not gone, buried away in his past where they couldn’t bother him. “Why?” He opened his eyes, meeting Carl’s gaze.
    “Because that is where the guns you found on the vessel that attacked your ship were stolen from. We need to find out who is involved.
    It’s a weird coincidence I know, but it will be easier for you to fit in.
    Otherwise, we’ll have to train someone to their customs and that will take time. Time we don’t have. We cannot allow our weapons to be used against us if we are to maintain peace between the planetary systems, Nate.”
    Damn the man. He had to bring the cause into it. Carl knew damned well how Nate felt about his job and what the IN did to keep peace.
    “I need someone I can trust, Hawk.”
    “All right. I’m in.”
    Carl’s smile was radiant. “Good. You will need to report to the base on Regelence Space Dock. You will be outfitted with a wardrobe there.
    Take Trouble with you. You will need someone who can get in with the servants.”
    “Yes!” Trouble’s triumphant shout came from the other room.
    Nate barely managed not to laugh. The little shit.
    The Admiral did laugh. “Train him to act as your valet. You will be staying at the planetary royal palace in Pruluce, the capitol country of Regelence.”
    Nate’s eyebrows shot nearly to his hairline. Carl wasn’t kidding when he said they needed someone who knew how to act titled. “The royal palace?”
    Carl’s lips twitched. “Yes, you’ll be the guest of King Steven and his consort. Raleigh is employed by the IN. But since he is too close to the case he cannot officially be involved. I doubt you will be recognized, but if you are it will not be a big deal. And while we are on the subject, Steven and Raleigh are the only ones who will know the true reason you’re
    -40-

    My Fair Captain
    there. Off the record, I know both of these men personally. They are good men and they aren’t involved. You