The Healer's Passion Read online

  Time Raiders: The Warrior’s Touch

  Parker Blue

  “You want me to go back in time with who?”

  Captain Téa Callas, M.D., agreed to a risky time travel mission to get away from Special Forces Commander Rick Walters, not spend more time in close proximity to the irresistibly masculine soldier. They had shared a brief but passionate fling months ago…until Téa put an end to their affair.

  In medieval Italy, Téa’s traitorous body still remembers—and craves—his touch. His strong sense of honor entices her ever more, though he is haunted by nightmares of war. Can Téa heal his inner wounds with her paranormal gifts…and find her way back into his arms?

  Contents

  PREFACE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  PREFACE

  Fifty thousand years ago, after discovering that human females carried a nascent genetic potential that might one day develop into the ability to star navigate, the Pleiadian Council planted a dozen pieces of a bronze disk across the Earth, hidden in darkness until mankind advanced enough to travel through time to find them.

  And then, out of the ashes of the mystery-shrouded Roswell alien crash in 1947 arose a secret research project called Anasazi. Its improbable goal: learn to use the recovered alien technology for the purposes of time travel. General Beverly Ashton was the last to command this project before a dozen time travelers were inexplicably lost and the project disbanded.

  However, the recent discovery of an ancient journal, known as the Ad Astra, has given Professor Athena Carswell the information she needs to begin sending modern time travelers back through human history in search of the twelve pieces of the Pleiadian medallion, which, when fully reassembled, will send a signal to the Council, indicating mankind is ready to be introduced to the rest of the galactic community.

  Project Anasazi has secretly been reactivated, and General Ashton, now retired, and Professor Carswell are continuing the project’s work. They are carefully recruiting and training a team of military men and women to make the dangerous time jumps. But threats loom on the horizon, both from humans, who would see the project ended—or worse, steal its work and use it for nefarious ends—and from the Centauri Federation, which will do anything to stop humans from learning how to navigate the stars….

  CHAPTER ONE

  “You want me to go back in time with who?” Captain Téa Callas, M.D., couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She stared at the leader of the Anasazi Project in disbelief.

  “Captain Rick Walters,” retired general Beverly Ashton repeated, settling back in her chair in her office at the lab in Flagstaff, Arizona. “Oh, that’s right—you’re both stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. I take it you know him?”

  Unfortunately, Téa did. In fact, she knew the Special Forces A-Team Commander in the biblical sense…and every other sense she possessed. Or at least she had. They’d broken up over three months ago and she’d refused to talk to him since. Unfortunately, she kept running into him on post. She’d agreed to this mission not only to help locate a missing piece of the bronze disk—an amulet—but because the past was as far away as she could get from Rick Walters.

  “Yes, I know him,” Téa said curtly. “Why do I need a partner?”

  “Because the time period is dangerous. You’ll be arriving in Italy in 1077, after the siege of Salerno, when mercenary soldiers still roam the streets. And with the alien Centaurians now alerted to visits from the future, it isn’t safe for you alone.” When Téa compressed her lips in disgust, the former general raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’ve developed some warrior skills I’m not familiar with?”

  Téa was a healer, not a fighter. “No, but can’t you find someone else? He doesn’t have any paranormal abilities and won’t be able to help locate the object we need.”

  General Ashton regarded her thoughtfully. “Perhaps not, but he’s a military history buff, with detailed knowledge of the Norman Conquest. He thoroughly understands the period and will be able to help you avoid any pitfalls of the time. He’s the best option to help you find the next amulet and get back here without any problems.”

  Damn. Could Téa spend days or weeks in close proximity to the man she’d had a mad passionate fling with, the man she’d hoped to marry…the man she’d dumped when he did the unforgivable? He knew she specialized in post-traumatic stress disorder, knew that helping soldiers recover physically and mentally was her primary purpose in life. Yet when two of his team had killed themselves, he’d admitted to not seeing the signs. When he refused to even discuss the matter, it was obvious he didn’t even care. How could she stay with a man like that?

  “I understand why he’s the best one to go.” Taking a deep breath, Téa added, “But Captain Walters and I have…a history. A bad one. Maybe you should find someone else to take my place.”

  The general looked surprised. “I didn’t take you for a coward.”

  That stung. “I’m not. But you need two people working in concert to make this work. I’m not sure we can do that.”

  “You have to,” General Ashton insisted. “We need someone with paranormal abilities to sense the amulet. With your skill as a Reiki master, you’re the best choice to go to this place and time, when the School of Salerno’s medical school not only allows women entry, but actively encourages them to study.”

  Téa winced. She did want to see and experience the first medieval medical university ever established. But go with Rick? It was a disaster waiting to happen.

  The former general leaned forward, staring intently into Téa’s eyes. “I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it wasn’t the best scenario to retrieve the next piece of the medallion. You’ve completed your training and Captain Walters has been thoroughly briefed. With the Centaurians narrowing in on our project in the present, time is of the essence. We don’t have time to train anyone else. Can’t you and he find a way to work through your differences…for the sake of the project?”

  For the sake of the world, she meant, and the future of all mankind. Téa squeezed her eyes shut. Once they had all of the pieces, they’d be able to summon the Pleiadian Council and their starships to protect them from the Centaurians. Without the entire medallion, Earth was fated to devolve to a state of barbarism. What were her petty concerns in the face of that?

  “Okay,” Téa said reluctantly, and opened her eyes. “I’ll do it.” She was a professional, after all. She should be able to handle a single soldier.

  “Excellent.” Three short raps came at the door and the general looked apologetic. “That should be him now.” Standing up from behind her desk, she said, “Come in.”

  Téa suddenly felt as if a stone had lodged in her gut. No. I’m not ready!

  Rick Walters opened the door and, when he spotted Téa, he went as rigid as a statue.

  When would the sight of him stop hitting her so hard? Big and blond with a rough-hewn face that was surprisingly beautiful, he’d always reminded her of the Norman knights he studied. In uniform, he looked dangerous. But in the jeans he wore now with a navy T-shirt stretched across his broad chest, he oozed masculinity.

  After what she’d learned, he ought to inspire disgust, but even after months of separation, her traitorous body remembered his touch all too well. Her nervous system flooded with a barrage of sensory memories—of skin sliding against skin, their naked bodies entwined in passion, the world-bending heat of desire.

  Her body responded viscerally…tightening, warming, moistening.

  No, this couldn’t happen. Téa tensed to keep her reaction from betraying her. Much like Pavlov’s dogs, she was simply respondi
ng physically to a familiar stimulus, she rationalized. But she was an adult, much more evolved than the dogs in the experiment. She could change her response to that stimulus.

  She had to. She’d thought this man who espoused honor would be the one man she could trust, the man who was everything he seemed to be. She’d been wrong.

  Rick Walters stood stock-still. Téa Callas. He had no idea she was the operative he was supposed to safeguard on the trip to the past. After she’d damned near ripped his heart out of his chest and stomped on it, he’d vowed to never let her get close to him again. But the impact of her cloud of wavy dark hair, creamy olive complexion and stunning dark cat eyes was like a punch to the gut. Not to mention the way her curves filled out that red sweater….

  He still didn’t understand why she’d dropped him like a hot IED, but he shored up his defenses so the shrink couldn’t find any chinks in his carefully constructed armor. He pulled his gaze away from her and nodded at the older woman. “General Ashton.”

  She regarded him gravely. “Are you two going to be all right? This mission is critical. If there’s any chance of you two screwing it up because of misplaced emotions, I want to know it now.”

  Rick had never failed in a mission and he wasn’t about to start now. Standing at parade rest, he clenched his jaw and responded, “No problem, ma’am. Emotions have no place on a mission. I can handle it, though I can’t speak for Dr…. Captain Callas.”

  Téa’s eyes flashed and she surged to her feet. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She lifted her chin. “I can handle anything he can.”

  Rick hid a satisfied smile. He’d always been able to punch her buttons.

  Then, apparently realizing she was displaying the very emotions she’d claimed to be able to control, Téa said through gritted teeth, “I’m sure I’ll be able to count on Captain Walters’s physical help.”

  What was she trying to imply? Was she harping on Grant and Jameson again? Those two had been beyond help. Refusing to rise to her bait, he nodded at the retired general. “If she does her job, I’ll do mine. Ready when you are, ma’am.”

  The former commander looked doubtful, but must have been reassured by his stoic expression. “Good. Professor Carswell is waiting for you in the lab.” She gestured them toward the door. As she walked them down the hall, she glanced at Rick. “You understand how this works?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Professor Carswell will use the headpiece from the alien craft at Roswell to send us back in time, and it will equip us with the language, clothing and weapons of the time.”

  Not to be outdone, Téa added, “I should be able to sense the amulet. Once I find it and we have it in our hands, we use the emergency signal cuffs to bring us back home.”

  “That’s right,” General Ashton said. She pulled two armbands out of her pocket, wide beaten-silver cuffs with what looked like a cloudy white stone in the middle. “These are the ESCs. Press the stone in the middle when you’re ready to come home and Professor Carswell will bring you back.”

  In the lab, the petite Professor Athena Carswell ushered them into a glass room about the size of a telephone booth. At least, it seemed that way to Rick. Téa was so close, he could smell her heady perfume, feel her soft hair brush against his arm. He tensed. This had to be the worst part of the mission, to feel her so close without being able to touch.

  The professor settled comfortably into a chair and placed the crownlike device on her head. She gave Rick and Téa a thumbs-up, then closed her eyes and did her psi thing. Suddenly, he and Téa were swept up in a maelstrom and whipped back to the past.

  With the fog still clearing from his brain, Rick realized he was standing on hard-packed dirt on a city street in the Principality of Salerno in 1077. He was wearing the mail and helmet of a Norman knight, complete with sword and shield, with a small pile of baggage by his side. He grinned to himself. Instead of studying the Normans from the distance of a thousand years, he was actually going to be able to live their history up close and personal.

  Maybe too personal. The stench of unclean streets and unsanitary sewers assaulted his nose. Maybe I should have asked for nose plugs. The sound of dull thuds reached his ears and he turned toward it, the noseguard on the helmet limiting his vision.

  A man stood over the huddled form of a woman in a small courtyard. “Where are the sons you promised me?” he yelled, punching her in the face. “Paugh. You’re barren, useless.”

  Still a little woozy from the trip, Rick wasn’t sure the universal translator was working right. But Téa obviously had no doubt. Wearing a voluminous brown kirtle that didn’t slow her down a bit, she flew to the woman’s defense. When the man lifted his arm to hit the woman again, Téa grabbed hold of it and held on. As the man turned in outrage, she said, “How do you know you aren’t the one with the problem?”

  The man, with the dress and demeanor of a knight, scowled at her. “There is nothing wrong with my seed. Unhand me, woman.” He threw off her hold and Téa fell to the dirt. He raised a fist to strike her.

  Big mistake. Rage surged through Rick and he leaped into action. Whipping out his sword, he pointed it at the man’s throat. “Use those fists on a woman again, and I’ll gladly unhand you.”

  Only the worst kind of scum would hit a woman. He’d never used a sword to kill a man, but this just might be his first.

  CHAPTER TWO

  As a physician dedicated to healing, Téa had never been bloodthirsty, but when Rick drew his sword and backed the wife beater against a mud-daubed wall, she almost cheered and urged him to skewer the abuser. Seeing that Rick had the situation in hand, she scrambled to her feet and drew the woman away from the men and incipient bloodshed. Unfortunately, they were drawing an audience.

  The knight glanced down at Rick’s sword hand and scowled, his dark bristly beard making him look all the more sinister. “Dare you come between a man and his wife, stranger?”

  Rick, looking magnificent in the mail and surcoat of a Norman knight, scowled, holding his sword rock-steady at the throat of the other man. “I come between a cur and the defenseless. Have you never heard of chivalry?”

  Go, Rick! Despite herself, Téa felt a surge of pride. So that was why he was so enamored of this period. Rick had always been chivalrous, which was why she found his conduct toward his men so appalling.

  The knight glared. “She is my wife. It is my right to treat her as she deserves.” He glanced at the small crowd that had gathered, as if looking for support. No one dared say anything.

  “She deserves tender care,” Rick said sternly. “It is a knight’s duty to protect women, to defend all those weaker than he, not beat them into submission. Where is your honor?”

  “Where is yours?” the man spat. “Will you run me through without giving me the chance to defend myself?” He unfastened the brooch at the neck of his cloak and let both fall to the ground, freeing his sword arm.

  Don’t fall for it, Rick!

  But the Special Forces officer could never resist a challenge to his honor. Taking a step back, he lowered his sword. “I’ll let you live. But if I ever catch you—”

  Before he could finish his sentence, the cowardly knight pulled out his sword and thrust it at Rick. Rick dodged, but didn’t block it quickly enough and the knight stabbed him, then darted through an opening in the houses and ran off.

  As the crowd hissed at his retreating back, Téa asked Rick, “Are you all right?” Sure, he had chain mail on, but that blow had to hurt like a son of a gun.

  Rick tested his shoulder, wincing. “I’m fine. He didn’t break the skin. How is his wife?”

  Téa turned toward the poor woman, who huddled behind her, and realized she couldn’t be more than seventeen. But with the tear tracks, dirt, blood and bruises on her face, Téa couldn’t tell if she was pretty or homely. “How are you feeling?” she asked gently.

  The girl shook her head mutely, tears streaming down her face.

  “It’s all right, I’m a physician.” Téa wasn’t
sure if they’d actually used that word in this time period, but it didn’t matter. The translator would make it understandable. But when the girl was still mute, Téa decided to start with something simpler. “What’s your name?”

  Sobs were the only answer. A slender woman with beautiful red hair who had been standing at the edge of the crowd came forward. “She is Gemma, wife to Hugh de Barbes.” Shaking her head sadly at the girl’s condition, the woman added, “They came to the school for help with conceiving. I could find nothing amiss with her.”

  “The medical school at the School of Salerno?” Téa asked eagerly.

  “The very same,” the woman said with a smile. “I am Trotula, a professor there.”

  Trotula? The first documented female physician, the author of the first two books on gynecology and obstetrics in the medieval world? Wow. They were in the presence of real, live history.

  Though Rick gave her an odd stare, Téa didn’t seem to be able to respond.

  “This is Téa…Lady Theodora, my…wife,” he said, obviously trying to translate her modern name into something more acceptable in this time period.

  But since when had they agreed to play husband and wife?

  “I am Lord Richard…of Carson,” he added.

  Trotula smiled at Téa. “Pardon me, but I heard you say you are a physician, and you appear to be Greek. Followers of Hippocrates are always welcome here.”

  Gulping, Téa said, “I—I have come to learn. But first, we should see how Gemma and…my husband are doing.”

  “Of course. The school is just behind us.” She placed a hand under the girl’s elbow. “Can you walk, Gemma? We will see to your hurts.”

  The girl took one step and cried out in pain. Rick’s mouth firmed and he scooped her up in his arms. He winced once, but Mr. Macho wouldn’t admit to any pain from his own injury, of course. “Show me the way,” he told Trotula.