The Star Thief

by Jamie Grey

  They grinned at each other for a long moment before Finn unbuttoned his uniform jacket and tugged up the bottom of his shirt. “Okay, one more. I think I might have you beat.”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  He exposed the flat ridge of his stomach, and the muscles rippling there made Renna’s mouth go dry. Wow. She forced her face to stay expressionless as he pulled the shirt up higher.

  “That scar, there?” He pointed at a thin white line high on his ribcage. “I grew up on Forever Station. When I was nine, my parents were killed while running patrols in the western traverse. There was a gang of us kids who ran together. Not much to do on the station, so we invented our own game. Vent diving.”

  She shook her head. “Do I even want to know?”

  “Probably not,” he said with a smirk, “but I’m going to tell you anyway. We would make up these elaborate races through the venting system on the station. Whoever could get from Point A to Point B in the shortest amount of time using the vents won.”

  She chuckled. “Sounds like my kind of game.”

  “I’d bet you’d be good at it. The thing was, you could only race through the vents not currently being used for air flow. And they switched those up at random times. When the hissing started, you had sixty seconds to find the nearest escape hatch or you’d find yourself sucked into the furnace area, or worse, vented into space.”

  Her eyes widened. “Did that ever actually happen?”

  He nodded. “Just once. A few months before I started playing the game. One of the older boys got stuck in a vent and couldn’t get out in time. A patrol found his body in space.”

  Renna shuddered. “That’s awful.”

  “Yeah, looking back on it now, we were idiots, but when you’re that age, you’re invincible. And I was the king of vent diving. I knew those things in and out. Good thing, too, because it saved my life. One time I got stuck in a vent that was turning on. Shirt snagged on something, and I couldn’t move. Longest twenty seconds of my life was trying to wiggle out of that damn thing. I made a mad dash to the hatch and, on the way out, sliced open my ribs here. I was lucky it wasn’t worse.” His voice dropped lower as he sobered. “I’d barely gotten into the main tunnel when the air was sucked out of the vent.”

  “Did you stop diving after that?”

  “Scared the shit out of me, but I was too stubborn to stop. Finally gave up a few months later when I got too big to fit.”

  She ran a finger along the thin scar, his skin searing beneath her fingertip. Their gazes locked, and something warm and tight coiled in her midsection. She licked her lips as his gaze darkened. Whatever they’d fought about before, whatever conflict they’d had was gone. In its place, a haze of desire hung between them, so strong it felt like a magnet.

  “Just a few more scars than the last time I knew you,” she said, her voice husky and low.

  Her fingers slid higher, her palm flattening against the ridged muscles of his chest. Beneath her hand, the thump of his heart was as staccato as hers. Every inch of her tingled with awareness. And by the stark need in his eyes, he felt the same way.

  Finn growled and cupped the back of her neck, crushing her mouth to his. His lips were hot and insistent as they tortured and teased her until she was gasping for air. His fingers tangled in her hair, pulling it from its ponytail so that it tumbled between them, creating the illusion of safety, of privacy.

  He tasted exactly how she thought Finn would, like warmth and sweetness and strength. And when his tongue touched her lips, she opened her mouth to let him delve deeper, to stroke and caress until she moaned against him. Her hands moved lower to trace the muscles of his stomach, the chiseled spot where his hips met his torso.

  Finn shifted so he could deepen their kiss, and Renna swung her leg over his to straddle him. His warmth soaked into her skin and made her shudder. Careful not to jar his ribs, she moved closer until there was only a breath between their bodies.

  Finn cupped her face with one hand, then traced gently down her jaw. When he stroked her collarbone with his fingers, a shot of pure lust spiked through her, and she stifled a moan. She wanted him to touch her, to feel his fingers everywhere, but there were too many clothes between them, too much space.

  His own desire pressed against her core through her clothes. Any rational thought she might have had flew from her mind, leaving her with only one mantra: Must. Remove. Clothes.

  Her hands found the waistband of his trousers, and she slowly unbuttoned them, sliding her fingers lower into the soft hair there. He moaned softly.

  And then the sound of the keypad beeping echoed through the room.

  TWENTY

  On pure instinct, Renna shot to her feet and threw herself against the wall near the door. She sucked in a shuddering breath. Her whole body still hummed and buzzed with desire, but she forced herself past it. Using that pent-up energy now was the only way they were getting out of here.

  “Okay, you two, boss wants you taken to the lab right now.” One of the mercs stepped into the room. “Come with—”

  Renna kicked out, catching him in the groin. He crumpled to the ground with a gasping scream, clutching his balls.

  The second merc darted into the room with gun drawn, and Renna lashed out again, this time with the side of her hand. A wet, crunching sound came from his throat as her hand connected. He clutched his broken windpipe and gasped for air, his gun clattering to the floor as he collapsed, writhing in pain.

  “By the gods.” Finn struggled to his feet and grabbed the gun. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

  “Good call.” Renna stooped to rifle through both men’s pockets. She found a keycard and datapad on the man who’d never have sex again. He writhed and moaned on the floor, but didn’t try to stop her.

  The other man wasn’t going to make it. She frowned down at his gurgling, gasping form. She hadn’t meant to kill him. But if that’s what it took…

  When he was silent, she patted through his pockets. Empty. “We need to find the destabilizer and my tools and then get the hell out of here.” She moved back to the living guard and nudged him with her foot.

  “Where did you take my things?”

  He shook his head, tears streaming down his face.

  She arched an eyebrow. “Do you want to end up like your friend?”

  “They’ll kill me,” he gasped.

  “So will I.”

  “D-d-down the hall. To the left. Last door on the right.”

  She took the gun from Finn and nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate the help.” She turned and pistol-whipped him in the temple with the butt of the gun. The merc sprawled unconscious on the floor, a trickle of blood seeping from his scalp.

  “Was that necessary?” Finn asked, limping toward the door.

  “Did you want him sounding the alarm?” She pressed the gun into his hand and helped him into the hallway, then used the keypad to lock the cell door. “Hopefully this buys us some time.”

  “Lead the way,” Finn said.

  They reached the end of the corridor and the door the merc had pointed out. She eased Finn against the wall, and he curled into himself, holding his side.

  Renna frowned at the metal door. She’d been more distracted by Finn than she’d thought. Why hadn’t she asked if there were guards inside?

  “Be careful,” he whispered.

  Her eyebrows rose, but she quickly schooled her features. “Always am.” She slid the merc’s keycard through the reader and took a deep breath. Time to earn her salary.

  She kicked open the door, then spun into the room, gun at the ready. She slumped, relaxing her stance when she saw that it was empty, except for a bank of holoscreens which were obviously tied to the security system.

  And the small safe in the corner.

  She’d bet her last credit that’s where her things were. “It’s clear. Come on.” She helped Finn into the hard seat at the desk.

  He grimaced as he lowered himself into the chair but waved her aw
ay. “Get your things. We need to get out of here before they find we’ve escaped.”

  “Work on seeing if you can call up the Athena.” Renna crouched in front of the safe and cracked her knuckles. It had been a long time since she’d done this manually, but a thief never forgot her skills. At least, a good thief didn’t.

  She rested the pads of her fingers lightly against the face of the safe. It wasn’t a Saltani safe, thank the gods. Even she couldn’t break into one of those without tools. This was an old-school laser lock, with tumblers and pins. She closed her eyes.

  It only took her one try.

  The safe whooshed open with a blast of air when the seals unlocked. She let out a breath as she spotted the familiar black bag and destabilizer inside. “Got it.” She also shoved a small metal box into her bag before slinging it over her shoulder. If the mercs had put it here, it had to be important.

  Finn shrugged. “I should stop being surprised. You were good back then. You’re even better now.”

  She smiled at him, pleased by the genuine compliment she heard in his words. “I really am.”

  “Looks like whoever built the facility spared no expense on this surveillance system.” Finn pointed to the screen of the large warehouse where they’d entered. “There are cameras in every room.”

  On the other screens were images of the smaller room where they’d found the robots. A third room on the ground level—which they’d missed—was filled with smaller cargo containers.

  Renna tapped on the console to change the camera view. “Dammit.” There was a brand on one of the containers. One that made her stomach clench. “That’s clay.” But were they shipping it out or bringing it in?

  “What do they need clay for?” Finn asked. His voice sounded far away, and she glanced down at him in concern.

  “Hey, you all right?”

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  Sure he would. If Finn went any paler, he’d be dead. Renna turned back to study the monitors. There had to be a way out of here that didn’t involve fighting. The destabilizer was spent; it needed a full twenty-four hours to recharge. It was going to be up to her to find them an exit.

  She scanned the room where the mercs had caught them. Most of them still seemed to be there, with their strange implants and even scarier leader. The last two monitors held very different views. One seemed to be watching an empty wall, but she spotted the keypad at the edge of the screen and her heart thumped. It had to be the way out. But where was that room?

  Based on the way the monitors lined up, it had to be on this level.

  Renna adjusted the camera view, pulling it back to see if she could get a better sense of the space. There. The edge of the door shone glossy and high–tech, like the ones they’d just passed. Okay. She could work with that.

  The image on the final screen was another long room full of machinery, but there seemed to be some sort of vat or mixing container tucked into the corner. As she watched, several of the mercs marched into the room, guns drawn on a trio of men dressed in white lab coats. The mercs took up posts along the wall, while the scientists moved to either end of the assembly line. One of them hunched over a keyboard, typing something into the machine’s computer, while the other two donned breather masks and moved toward the vat.

  She frowned. Did this have to do with the clay?

  “Renna,” Finn whispered. “We have to go.”

  Her gaze snapped to his ashen face. “What’s wrong?” His whole body trembled as he sat in the chair, and his eyes had a glassy sheen.

  “I don’t know,” he said through chattering teeth. “But…I don’t feel right.”

  “Hold on.” She slipped an arm beneath his shoulders and helped him to his feet. His skin felt cool and clammy as her fingers grazed his arm, but she forced her voice to stay light. “I think the exit door is in this corridor. We just have to find it. Did you get a hold of the Athena?”

  “No. That facility is still blocking all signals coming and going. We’re going to have to call for help once we get outside.”

  She risked another glance at Finn as he sucked in a wheezing breath. Maybe he had more than a broken rib. Internal bleeding? Punctured lung? Whatever it was, he needed medical help. Immediately.

  She opened the door and peeked out into the hall.

  Still empty.

  Letting Finn lean heavily on her, she led them down the hall. Her muscles screamed at her to hurry. Capture could be seconds away. But Finn could barely shuffle forward, his breath coming in labored gasps. He wasn’t going to make it much farther if she didn’t do something.

  “You turning into a pansy on me?” she growled. “I expected better from a Marine. What, are they letting anyone in now?”

  He grunted, then sucked in a sharp breath. “Get moving, Carrizal. I can keep up.”

  “I don’t believe you. Move your ass, soldier.” She forced herself to pick up the pace, dragging him along with her, even though Finn’s sallow face looked like he was about to pass out. She spotted the door at the end of the corridor. If she could get him through it and outside, the Athena could come for them.

  They reached the door, and she propped Finn against the wall. She swiped the dead merc’s keycard through the lock, but it didn’t so much as blink, let alone open. “Dammit,” she muttered. Maybe whoever owned this facility didn’t want their people coming or going either.

  A few frantic hacks later, the door finally slid open, and she pulled Finn into a small elevator. He swayed on his feet, and she shoved her shoulder more firmly under his. “Buck up, soldier. We’re almost there.”

  Her stomach lodged somewhere in her throat as the metal box shot upward.

  “Stay here,” she said when it stopped and the doors slid open. She slipped from under his arm and leaned him against the wall, but Finn didn’t answer. Renna’s heart jack-knifed. This was not good at all.

  She crept forward into another one of those strange little rooms that looked empty. But she knew better. There was a door here. She just had to find it.

  “Scan for imperfections,” she ordered. Her implant returned a faint rectangular outline glowing against the image of the wall. “Oh, thank the stars.”

  As she searched, another smaller outline appeared. The keypad.

  Renna glanced back at Finn, who was still propped against the elevator wall. His eyes were closed, and air whistled from his lungs with every breath. His skin had turned the color of a dead Ileth—gray and green. She swallowed, tasting the bitter acid coating the back of her throat, and turned back to the wall. How the hell did she get the keypad to appear?

  She ran a finger along the wall where her implant said the controls were. It felt perfectly smooth, but by the tingling in her fingertips, she knew something else was there. Her fingers traced it again, searching for anything that would give her a clue. Then her implant beeped softly in her ear.

  “Class C electronic device recognized.” Something whirred in the wall, and the keypad rose to the surface, the material sliding off of it like water. Whatever her implant had done, she could have kissed it. A moment later, she’d hacked the door open. The wall here reacted the same way as the material on the keypad, flowing back from the center of the space like a bathtub draining until there was a square door. And beyond it, the dun-colored sand of Banos Prime.

  She hurried back to Finn. “Let’s get you out of here,” she muttered, slipping her arms around his waist. He groaned but barely opened his eyes.

  His lack of response was like a nanospanner to the heart.

  Renna and Finn slipped out into the cold, dry air. “Contact the Athena,” she ordered. She had no idea how much time had passed while they were in the facility. Please let them still be on the planet.

  And then she froze. Two of the mechs she’d seen in the crates stood guard in front of them. The machines turned stiffly to face the escapees, their round eyes glowing red.

  “Warning. Intruders detected. Please hold whil
e you are scanned for compliance.”

  Oh shit. Renna whipped out her gun and shot the first one in the head. It erupted in a blaze of sparks and metal, a bloodcurdling scream ripping from its mouth as it went down.

  The second mech’s hands melted, then each hand reformed into a blaster rifle. It raised the gun at them, but Renna was faster. Her bullet hit directly between the mech’s eyes. The machine froze, then exploded, sending shrapnel flying.

  Renna’s skin crawled at the long, wavering, almost-human scream it gave before collapsing. She covered Finn’s body with hers and turned away from the blast. Shit. Shit. Shit. That noise would have alerted every merc on the planet.

  They needed to get out of there. Now.

  TWENTY-ONE

  “Athena, this is Renna Carrizal. Are you there? We need an extraction ASAP.”

  She forced Finn to start moving toward the rock out-cropping where they’d left Keva and Doyle earlier. She hauled his dead weight as best she could, her muscles quaking in protest. She slipped on a patch of sand, and Finn groaned.

  “Finn, you need to tell me what’s wrong. Where does it hurt?”

  He shook his head. “Everywhere. But it doesn’t matter. We need to find someplace to hide until the Athena comes.”

  She risked a glance at his pale skin. They weren’t going to get much farther with him in this shape. He was going into shock. She tried calling the ship again, her voice catching at the words. “Athena, this is Renna Carrizal. We need you at our location ASAP. Captain Finn is injured.”

  Static.

  Renna shifted Finn’s weight so she could help him up to the outcropping. By the time they’d made it, he was gasping and trembling in her arms.

  “Need rest,” he whispered haltingly, casting a glance back at the facility. They were still too close for her comfort, but they wouldn’t make it much farther if he didn’t take a break.

  She helped him down to the sand, letting him lean back against the rocks. Finn closed his eyes, and his head fell back as if the effort to keep it up was just too great.