“I wear their uniform and they put credits into my account, but I have never been loyal to the GCM.” Raiden’s eyes pleaded with Jo, desperate for her to understand, but Jo couldn’t coalesce his words with the image she had built of him. She did, however, notice that he didn’t answer her question.
“You follow their commands. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
“You saw me doing what was necessary to keep my intentions secret. Besides, you’ve witnessed my disobedience. Multiple times.”
Jo shook her head, unwilling to let his velvety voice entrap her, but her traitorous heart leapt as she remembered. Maybe a year or so after they first became involved, Jo had witnessed Raiden’s commander ordering him to leave the station and return to his ship, but instead Raiden followed Jo to her bed. Little digressions had happened plenty of times since that first encounter, but Jo always figured Raiden was just another horny soldier.
Then Raiden had lied to his commander about searching all the rooms in her ship. Jo saw the entire moment in a new light. How Raiden made her despise him in front of his command so he could manipulate his superior officer into believing it was his choice to command Raiden to stay behind. Jo’s panicked stare flitted to Raiden. He sat there nodding as if he knew the trail her thoughts followed.
“It was all your plan,” Jo spoke, her voice just above a whisper. The gentle snick of Sky withdrawing a pair of short, double-bladed swords from her spine sheath filled the silence of the cargo bay. “Why are you really here?”
“Remember the story I told you about my grandmother?” He waited for Jo to nod. “Everything I told you was true. Except I was approached by an older man not too long after she was taken. He introduced himself as Deviant. He explained that he was starting a resistance movement called the Common Citizens Insurgence in hopes to end the tyranny of the Consulate and the corruption in the Elitian system’s corporations. He spent days detailing his hopes for the future, and I found myself picturing a galaxy where we could live without fear of being taken in the night for experiments or forced to live in despicable conditions so the few could live in wealth.
“His vision convinced me, and I joined up with the CCI. It was Deviant who convinced me to join the military as an undercover agent. My entire military career is a front so I can pass along information to the insurgence.”
“If this true, then why are you telling us now?” Rana’s voice was iron as she questioned Raiden. Jo smiled, not hiding the pride she felt for the reserved dignitary.
“Because my hope lay on Jo accepting me.”
“Accepting you?” Jo scoffed.
“Yes,” Raiden nodded. “I was content until I met you. I had a purpose. The more time we spent together, the more I wanted to be with you. It was subtle, but my purpose began to shift. I pictured a free galaxy with you at my side. Soon after I realized the depth of my sentiment for you, I received word from Deviant that another operative reported inquiries into my day to day life at corporation HQ. Deviant became worried that if they looked too deep, they would discover my deception. He asked me to return to Carme, but I still had a quarter of a cycle left on my contract. I decided to wait it out. It would be best for everyone if I wasn’t classified as AWOL.
“Then I boarded this cargo ship and saw the perfect opportunity to escape. I didn’t expect such hostility from you, especially after I professed my love.” Sky snickered silently as she returned her blades to their home on her back. Rana avoided Jo’s gaze, but her upturned lips indicated that she found this story amusing as well. Jo, however, wasn’t finding the humor. “I hoped that you would return my affections and offer me a job on the Kismet.”
“Your arrival was poorly timed,” Jo grunted. Her gaze shifted to Rana.
“Jo, believe me, I had no idea that Rana was stowed away on your ship. I hope one day you’ll trust me enough to explain how she got here.”
“How would me offering you a job help you? You still have a contract with the military, and I absolutely will not harbor an AWOL soldier. That would bad for business.” Jo worried her lip as she wondered if his extended stay put another mark against her ship. Was he avoiding his duties to flirt with her in the corridors?
“My contract ends in four rotations, and I already put in the paperwork to resign. If you were to offer me a job, I’d have a valid employer on file—one not directly involved with the CCI—and I would have many chances to convince you to love me.”
She eyed him warily, completely unconvinced.
“If it helps, my superiors know I am here, and they have asked me to report any suspicious behavior to them,” Raiden answered her unasked question. “I haven’t, if you are wondering.”
She hadn’t been, and that bothered her. Was she beginning to believe him? Her heart wanted every word he spoke to be true, but she couldn’t believe him without proof.
“I cannot trust your words alone.”
“Can you trust that I won’t attack you or your guest?” He nodded toward Rana. “If you untie me, I’ll give you access to my UAB and you can pull up my contract with the military and all the communications I have sent while aboard the Kismet.” Jo looked to Sky, who had been studying Raiden. When she felt Jo’s gaze, she nodded in agreement and handed Jo the key fob before she un-holstered her blazer.
Jo knelt behind Raiden, his scent of soap and mint surrounding her. She closed her eyes for a moment as her stomach twisted with anticipation. Her body had always accepted Raiden while the rest of her resisted. While she fumbled with the key fob, trying to make the chip read the key hovering over the restraints, she peeked at the wound in his shoulder. It had been thoroughly cleaned, and although the skin was only partly knitted together, at least the bleeding had stopped. With such expeditious healing, Sky must have administered a nanobot injection.
Raiden stood and typed commands on his UAB. Jo’s organic knee groaned in protest as she rose from her crouched position, and she cursed at the ease with which Raiden stood. She could run fast with the help of her cybernetic leg, but she suffered for it long after. Her knee would be protesting for many rotations.
Head tilted forward, Jo read the documents as Raiden swiped at the display. With each report, knots unwound in her stomach. As far as the time he had spent on the Kismet, he’d been telling the truth. Still, a tiny voice inside Jo whispered that this was a sham—a way to get her to let her guard down. After all, it was a deception by a trusted family friend that resulted in Jo’s mother being stolen from their family, wrecking her father and twisting something vital inside Jo.
Alarms blared, drowning out all conversation.
“What’s going on?” Jo barked into her UAB.
Haedus replied, but she didn’t hear it as the ship shook violently, throwing Jo into Raiden. They fell in a tangle of limbs. Jo landed on top of Raiden, who had taken the brunt of the fall onto the edge of raised flooring. Silence fell heavily as the alarms shut off, but Raiden’s groan, echoed by a feminine moan from either Sky or Rana, broke the stillness. Jo couldn’t twist far enough to see if either of them were injured, as her cybernetic leg was somehow crushed underneath both of Raiden’s legs. The skin around her hip pulled painfully as they tried to disengage.
When Jo’s limbs were free, she immediately hailed the bridge. “What was that?”
“Captain,” Haedus groaned over the ships comm. Jo felt a small twinge of guilt for not asking about the condition of her crew, but she needed to focus on the more pressing matter. “An unidentified ship has locked on to us. We cannot break their hold.”
“I’m on my way,” Jo grumbled into the comm and then turned to the others with her. “Rana, please return to the vault in my room in case this is a GC ship. I’ll transfer access codes to your UAB. Someone will keep contact with you while you are hiding and will let you know when it’s clear to come out. Sky and Raiden, follow me to the bridge.”
Twenty-Four
The ship was massive, and as it pulled them closer, its size grew even more intimidating.
>
“How did you not see this monstrosity?” Jo demanded.
“Must have been hiding behind Eris,” Elek answered, pulling up a survey of the moon. “See here, Eris has veins of ore throughout its core. Our sensors wouldn’t be able to pick up anything hiding on the other side.”
“Do you want me to ready the cannons?” Ashe suggested.
“No, we’re already captured. Our cannons would hardly bleed their shields enough for a direct hit. The Kismet’s weapons were made to defend against other civilian ships, not military grade warships.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Jo bit her lip as she studied the vessel. “Have they hailed us yet?”
“No,” Haedus grunted. He had a pack of medigel pressed against a cut above his right ear. Rivulets of dried blood decorated the side of his neck and stained the collar of his dark blue shirt. “The ship is clean. No frequency codes or a GC ID.”
Jo nodded and opened a general comm, “Battlecruiser. This is Captain Jo Cygni. Why have you locked on to my freighter? We have nothing of value on board.”
Silence answered her. She decided to try a different tactic. “We are hosting an officer of the Galactic Consulate’s Military. If you continue, he will report to his superiors of a renegade battlecruiser in this vicinity.”
“That won’t work,” Raiden said as he walked over to stand next to her. His lips were raised in a cocky grin. “This is a CCI ship.”
“Yeah? How about you tell them to shove off and leave me out of their little rebellion?”
“If Deviant wants to have a conversation with you, he will do it. You just need to roll with it.” Standing before her was the confident Raiden who originally seduced her. Only now, she could see through the haze of her mistrust. With sudden clarity, she realized she respected this man. “Besides, now you will know everything I said is true and will have to let me stay.”
Jo sniffed. “I don’t have to let you do anything.”
“True, but you want to. I can tell by the flush on your cheeks when you look at me or when you press your knees together when your thoughts turn lascivious. I know because I want you as much as you want me.” Raiden was standing a respectable distance away from her, but his lips were close enough to whisper those teasing words without bringing notice to those around her. She placed a cold hand to her flaming cheek.
Damn him.
“They’re pulling us into their hangar,” Sky announced. “What’re your orders, Captain?”
“Raiden claims this is a CCI ship and they want to talk. Sky. Haedus. Raiden. Come with me to the bay. Elek, you have the bridge.” Jo opened a ship-wide comm. “We’re being forcefully docked. All nonessential crew, move to your quarters.”
Jo didn’t wait to see if her people followed; she knew they would. In the bay, Jo checked her sidearm, watching as Haedus and Sky did the same. Sky’s eyes were alight with anticipation as if she desired a fight. It unnerved Jo. Not that she shied away from violence, but Jo didn’t go looking for it. What in her past made Sky into this bellicose warrior?
The ship shuddered as it came to a stop, followed closely by the telltale grunt of clamps attaching to their hull. Resigned, Jo approached the panel next to the bay doors. She could be stubborn and make their people force their way onto the Kismet, but she couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t damage the hull. They’d just finished repairs and besides, Jo wanted to offer no resistance in hopes they could leave as soon as possible. If the CCI didn’t kill them all.
“Don’t engage them unless they attack first,” Jo cautioned as she waited for the atmosphere outside the ship to be pressurized. “I want to get out of here with my entire crew alive.”
“You will all be fine,” Raiden grumbled, exasperated at her quibbling.
Jo opened her mouth to reply, but the sarcastic remark died in her throat. As soon as the panel beeped that the atmosphere was breathable, the proximity alarms rang anew. Jo pulled up the outer cameras and flipped through the different feeds. An imposing man stood in front of about thirty armed people, waiting outside the hatch door.
It was time to greet the CCI.
As the door lowered, Sky and Haedus took their places next to her while Raiden followed closely behind. Jo wasn’t sure she wanted him behind her when these were supposedly his people, but then again, she didn’t want him to walk ahead of her as if he were in charge either.
They jogged down the ramp. Inside the cavernous hangar, rows of pristine striker class fighters were packed wing to wing, almost filling the entire space. Jo began to reconsider the wisdom of disembarking from her vessel, but the thought was erased when they stopped before a man not much older than she. He was at least a few inches taller than Raiden, and his skin was a rich ochre, much like the reddish-brown trees that filled the forests on Phrixus’ southern continent. His black hair was twisted into tight ropes that framed his chiseled face, but his most striking feature was his warm, golden eyes that twinkled with mirth. She tried to hide her confusion, but it must have shown because the man barked in laughter.
“Were you expecting someone else?”
“Yes.” Jo forced her voice to remain impassive even though her nerves twitched.
Ignoring her curt answer, he continued. “You wouldn’t be first to say so, and I suppose you won’t be the last. It’s hard for some to comprehend and accept a young leader of a growing rebellion, but I believe youth can bring a fresh perspective and exciting ideology to a stifling government. Don’t you think?”
“I don’t concern myself with politics.”
“Ah, but whether you like it or not, politics affect you.”
“Right now, you’re affecting me. I don’t appreciate being forced into another ship.” Jo crossed her arms and met his amiable gaze.
“Ah, yes. I am sorry for taking you aboard without permission, but trust me when I say that this was the best way for us to meet.”
“Why would I want to meet you?”
“You have someone on board that I…” Jo stiffened as the man’s eyes focused behind her. Did he know about Rana? Was he going to force his way onto her ship and take her? Her fingers inched toward her sidearm, but with the small army standing behind the man, she would be unable to fight her way back to the safety of her ship.
“Raiden!”
“Hello, Deviant,” Raiden stepped around Haedus and sauntered over to the man with arms outstretched. They slapped each other’s backs in an exuberant hung before turning back to Jo. Deviant’s arm wrapped across Raiden’s shoulder in a protective, brotherly gesture.
“Deviant?” The relief she felt was instantaneous, but was soon replaced by shock. Jo flitted her gaze between the two men. “As in the leader of this CCI and the one who convinced you to join the GCM? You told me he was already a man when you met him as a teen, but this man has to be the same age as you.”
Deviant’s face twisted in sorrow as Jo spoke. “My father was the original Deviant, but he passed into the next life two rotations ago.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jo replied with sincerity. Her own father’s passing was still a raw ache.
“Thank you.” Deviant smiled softly at Jo, and she felt the urge to smile back, but caught the action before it began. Deviant’s charismatic personality was infectious, and Jo understood why people followed him. She wondered if he had shared this trait with his father or if his leadership style differed.
“Now that you have found who you were looking for,” Jo tilted her head toward Raiden as she brought the conversation back around to the important matters. “What are your plans for my ship?”
“Nothing. You’re free to go.”
Raiden’s lips twisted into a frown as he studied Jo. He stepped out from under Deviant’s arm and turned to face his friend. “I want to stay aboard the Kismet.”
It was Deviant’s turn to frown as Raiden’s words sank in. “Why?”
Jo wanted to announce that she never invited him to stay, but the thought of him leaving the Kismet didn’t
settle right in her stomach. When did he ingrain himself so fully into her life that she couldn’t bear to part with him?
Raiden smiled at his friend. “Let me introduce you to Captain Jo Cygni.” There was an unspoken meaning when he said her name, and Deviant’s brows pinched in thought before smoothing in understanding. He beamed as he slapped Raiden on the back again.
“Ah, I see, my friend. It seems you have found her after all.”
“What? Found me?” It was Jo’s turn to be confused.
“Yes, I have been regaled with stories of the mysterious Jo who stole my friend’s heart,” Deviant laughed. “He decided long ago that you were the first desire of his heart. He even mentioned leaving the insurgence.”
“You did?” Jo whispered, shocked. He had spent the latter part of his adolescence until now devoting his life to the cause of the CCI. Warmth blossomed in her chest at the idea that he would leave it all behind for her.
“I’ve told you multiple times that I was on your side.”
“Hmmm.” Deviant rubbed his jaw as he studied Jo. “Your crew is welcome on the Deliverance. We will dine together and discuss the future.”
Jo was about to open her mouth to refuse his invitation. There was no way she was going to leave Rana unguarded. Raiden might have proven himself to be truthful, but she knew nothing of Deviant and his movement. Sky placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in. “I will stay aboard the Kismet if you want to hear him out. You may find a business partner in him if you’re feeling adventurous and he’s amenable.”
Jo nodded and glanced at Raiden as he talked softly with Deviant. His eyes widened as he turned to look at Jo with a renewed curiosity and respect. She had no clue what Raiden was telling him, but their scrutiny made her uncomfortable. A fleeting worry that he was telling the CCI about Rana crossed her mind before she dismissed it. If he had revealed Rana’s presence, she was sure Deviant would have ordered his soldiers to retrieve Rana.
“Do you think we should tell them about Rana?” Jo whispered to Sky and Haedus.
As We Rise: Rogue (As We Rise Saga Book 1) Page 15