by E. R. Paskey
Their proximity finally seemed to register in his mind. Colin blinked once, twice, and then dropped his hand, before taking a step away from her and raising that same hand to the back of his neck. “For the moment.”
The farther he moved away from her, the more breathing room Anna seemed to have around her. She took a deep breath and tried to arrange her scattered thoughts.
Colin’s voice broke the strange stillness that had fallen over the corridor.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, per se.”
“What?” Anna looked at him sharply, to find him frowning thoughtfully.
“I showed you Scarlet’s list, didn’t I?”
“You didn’t have much choice there,” she said tartly.
He swept that aside with a flick of his fingers. “You have to know that at one point the thought did cross my mind that you might be a plant.”
Anna’s jaw dropped; she gaped at him incredulously. “What? After Lobai had me unceremoniously tossed into that lake?”
“Stranger things have happened.”
Incensed and more than a little insulted, Anna folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “What changed your mind?”
“You did.”
Anna waited for him to elaborate, but when Colin said nothing further, she raised her eyebrows. “You’re going to have to give me more than that.”
Colin just raised one shoulder in an insouciant shrug. “Your story is real.”
For a moment, Anna just stared at him. Then she laughed shortly and raised her hands to her temples. “Oh, galaxies. I hope you’re not this gullible all the time.”
She snorted, feeling the irrational urge to play devil’s advocate. “How do you know the entire thing wasn’t a setup? I could be lying about Bear betraying me—I could be working with Lobai—God knows why—and we could have made the entire city believe they’d had a pirate ship in their midst. How do you know?”
“You didn’t try to seduce me, for starters.”
Anna hadn’t quite been expecting that, but it did not surprise her. She rolled her eyes, snorting again. “Right. Because obviously the first thing a plant is going to do is get into your pants.”
Colin did not rise to her bait. Instead, he propped a shoulder up against the bulkhead by the door and shrugged. “It’s common knowledge I was once a married man. And—unfortunately, I might add—it’s a ploy that has worked well for centuries. You, however, did not attempt anything—you didn’t even make a grudging offer to share the bed.”
It was Anna’s turn to shrug, albeit uncomfortably. “I might have, if it had been bigger.”
His gaze filled with amusement. “Somehow, I think not. Maybe for someone you knew — ” he deliberately skirted around Bear’s name, “ — but not a veritable stranger.”
“Even if said veritable stranger helped me out of a jam?” Anna challenged.
Colin’s expression did not change. “Even so, lass.”
And we’re back to the ‘lass’, Anna thought, pressing her lips together.
“Let me guess—you never wondered if I was anything more than what I seemed.”
Anna snorted again and finally moved, turning and crossing the cabin to sink down on the edge of her bunk. Reluctantly, she waved Colin inside after her. “I wondered if you were an ax-murdering rapist serial killer when I first realized I had company, but after that?” She shook her head. “It’s pretty obvious you are who you say you are.” She smiled thinly. “Whatever he thinks, Deek has a terrible poker face.”
“I know.” Colin sounded pained. “That’s why he’s staying with the ship tomorrow as well.”
Anna’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Then why’d you drag him in to see Scarlet? Or down to see Mal?”
“Because I trust him and we needed him watching our back.”
Anna dropped her gaze to the metal deck, considering that. After a few seconds, she looked up again. “Who are you going to see tomorrow?”
“A couple of people I’ve met over the years who have interests in several fields overlapping our list, along with several job brokers.” He arched a dark eyebrow at her. “Really, lass, there was no need to get bent out of shape over it. I planned to tell you myself when I could be assured we were in no danger of being overheard.”
Anna slanted a suspicious look at him, and he flattened a hand over his heart in a solemn show of truthfulness.
He took a step toward her. “I meant what I said earlier—as long as you’re aboard this ship, you’re part of my crew.”
Not trusting herself to speak, Anna just nodded.
Colin stepped back toward the open door. “Good night, lass,” he said over his shoulder.
She did not reply—at that second, Deek had appeared in the corridor beyond her door and she froze in shock, staring at his bemused—and suspicious—face.
“Deek,” Colin said in surprise, halfway out of her doorway.
“Captain.” A tangled mass of expressions chased themselves over the first mate’s face, but whatever he said next was lost as Colin stepped out and shut her cabin door behind him.
Anna’s face felt like it was on fire. He thinks…he thinks we’re… She couldn’t finish the thought. Instead, she flopped back onto her bunk and pulled a pillow over her flaming face. Maybe she could just quietly smother herself…
A vision of Colin’s face filled her mind, his blue eyes impossibly dark as he stared at her. She let out a little groan and pressed the pillow down harder.
~oOo~
Despite her best efforts, Anna did not succeed in smothering herself. The urge to blush every two seconds whenever the incident crossed her mind eventually faded, and she drifted off to sleep. She did not sleep well, however. She kept waking up every hour on the hour, anticipating their landing on Opaline.
At four AM, she finally gave up altogether and headed out to the galley for a much-needed cup of tea.
Anna settled down at the table, tucking her feet above the bottom rung of her chair to keep them off the cold deck, and blew gently on her tea to cool it. She didn’t need to burn her tongue on top of everything else. Allowing her thoughts to drift, she traced invisible patterns on the surface of the table with a fingertip.
If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine she was back aboard the Iliana. True, their freighter was bigger than the Galaxy’s Way, but in the middle of the sleep cycle, with the usual hustle and bustle muted, the sounds were the same. The faint, ever-present hum of the engine, vibrating the decks and the air, mixed with the barely audible hiss of the life-support system.
I hope you’re okay, Vik. I hope you’ve figured out that Bear betrayed us. I hope you’re not worried sick over me. She trusted Mal to relay her message, but if Viktor was delayed for any reason…
The Galaxy’s Way was quiet enough that Anna heard the footsteps approaching the galley long before the person to whom they belonged appeared in the doorway. She looked up in time to see Tatiana enter, clad in a sapphire-blue silk kimono and boots, which by the look of it she had apparently just shoved her feet into.
The older woman paused at the sight of her sitting alone at the table, but did not let it stop her. “Can’t sleep either, huh?”
Anna shook her head.
“Me neither.” Tatiana rummaged in the refrigerator and came up with a package of something Anna couldn’t immediately identity. “Of course, I’ve got a man to distract me, so it won’t matter — ” she smiled and Anna knew exactly what she would be doing when she got back to her husband, “ — but tea’s probably a good bet for you.” She raised a black eyebrow. “Unless…?”
Anna’s spine turned into a ramrod. “Absolutely not. It’s not like that.”
Tatiana’s knowing expression morphed into something cool and collected. “Good. You and the Captain both got dragged into this mess by accident, and you don’t need to go turning it into something you can’t get out o
f.” Her mouth firmed. “And the Captain doesn’t need to have his heart broken again.”
Anna was too tired to do anything but let out an exasperated sigh. “I just want to get back to my brother.”
“I know that, and you know that, but Colin’s gotten used to having you around mighty quick.” Tatiana leveled a finger at her, the package dangling, forgotten, from her other hand. “Don’t get too close.”
“Trust me, I’m trying,” Anna mumbled. She ducked her head to scowl at her tea. “It’d be a heck of a lot easier if he’d quit looking at me so much.”
Tatiana pursed her full lips. “I noticed that too,” she said gravely. “That’s why I’m telling you to be careful.”
“Is he like that with everybody?” Anna demanded, suddenly looking up. “All flirty and—and — ” she waved a hand helplessly. “He’s got to stop looking at me like that!” She thumped her flesh-and-blood fist on the table, rattling a spoon.
“Mostly you learn to ignore it,” Tatiana said bluntly.
Before Anna could ask what in the galaxy that was supposed to mean, a voice drawled from behind them, “Learn to ignore what?”
Both women jumped and twisted around to see Colin framed in the doorway behind them, looking tired and sleep-rumpled.
“Captain.” Tatiana propped her free hand on one hip, heedless of the way her kimono gapped slightly, and fixed him with a stern, motherly expression. “Not to be nosy, but what are you doing up this early?”
“I could ask you two the same thing.” Colin eyed Tatiana and smiled wryly. “Not that I’m going to. I don’t think I want to know.”
Anna had to suppress a snort at that. I could have done without knowing too.
“This course takes us by the Carthage asteroid, so I thought we’d make a quick message check.” Colin’s eyes flicked to Anna as he said this. “See if we’ve got anything helpful.”
She perked up with interest despite herself, feeling suddenly hopeful. “Can I come?”
Tatiana glanced sharply between them, before shaking her head. “I’m going back to bed.” She exited the galley, sliding past Colin, and disappeared down the corridor, leaving Anna and Colin alone.
Anna cleared her throat, casting about for a way to break the odd silence that had fallen over them. It felt like Tatiana had swept half the air out of the galley in her wake. “Does Deek know to stop there?”
“Oh, aye. We usually do.” Colin zeroed in on her tea. “Any more of that?”
He looked so hopeful that Anna felt something inside her melt. “I’ll make you some,” she offered, sliding out of her seat. The look of gratitude he shot her created a warm glow inside her chest—and brought butterflies flittering around in the pit of her stomach. It’s just tea, she scolded herself soundly, as she set about brewing him a cup. No need to get all atwitter, Anna. Get a grip.
She felt eyes on her, but managed to pretend she didn’t notice until she carefully handed the steaming mug to him. Blue met brown, and held.
“Thank you, lass,” Colin said softly.
Anna inclined her head in a gracious nod. “May I come with you while you check messages?”
A lopsided smile tugged at one corner of his mouth as he nodded. “I suppose. Since you were kind enough to supply me with tea.” He left the galley and Anna followed.
“Why are you up this early, anyway?” The question slipped out before she could stop herself.
Colin did not answer for a moment; he seemed intent on reaching the cockpit without spilling a drop of his tea. “I’ve an uneasy feeling about this,” he said at last. “You know the one—when things start going a little too smoothly and you’re left wondering — ”
“ — when the other engine will cut out,” Anna finished. She shrugged slightly when he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “At least, that’s how I’ve always heard it.”
“Aye.” Colin shook his head. “I’ve no idea what’s wrong, but I can’t shake this feeling that we’re headed into something bad.”
Anna frowned. “Technically speaking, we’ve been headed into something bad since the minute we decided to hunt Lobai down.” She held up her free hand when he shot her a look and added hastily, “But I know what you mean.”
They found Deek sprawled in the captain’s chair in the cockpit, one cheek propped up on his fist. He looked half-asleep, but he jolted upright when they entered, his booted feet hitting the deck with a thud. “Cap’n!” he said in surprise. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing yet, I hope.” Colin took the copilot’s seat, while Anna came up to stand beside him. “We’re about to reach the Carthage asteroid, are we not?”
“Aye.” Interest chased the sleepiness out of the older man’s eyes.
“Couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d check messages myself.” Colin sipped his tea, his eyelids fluttering with pleasure as the hot liquid warmed his insides.
Deek craned his neck to shoot Anna a questioning, faintly disapproving look.
She only shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep either.”
“Well, we’re almost there.” Deek jerked a thumb toward the console display. “We’ll be dropping out of hyperspace in a couple of minutes.”
“Good.” Colin took another swallow of tea.
Deek gave him a funny look. “Is that what I think it is?”
“If by ‘that’ you mean tea, then, yes, it is.”
“Blech.” Shuddering, Deek pulled a face. “Still don’t see how anybody drinks that stuff. It’s just hot water with dead plants drug through it.”
That startled a laugh out of Anna, prompting both men to look at her. “I think that’s the most creative way I’ve ever heard anybody describe tea.”
“You can keep it,” Deek said stoutly. “Give me coffee any day of the week.”
“Yes,” Colin said with a straight face, “because ground-up beans taste so much better in hot water than dead plants.”
Anna had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from guffawing.
Deek just waved a hand. “Laugh all you want, Cap’n.”
“Don’t worry, Deek, I will.” Colin shared a cheeky grin with Anna over his shoulder.
Comfortable silence settled over the cockpit for a few moments, until a proximity alarm began beeping. Leaning forward, Deek hit a switch and the Galaxy’s Way gave a delicate shudder as the freighter dropped out of hyperspace back into realspace. “Here we go.”
“Excellent.” Colin drained the last of his tea and handed the mug over his shoulder to Anna. “If you wouldn’t mind holding this a moment, lass?”
Bemused, she took it and watched him and Deek exchange seats.
The Carthage asteroid was a massive piece of rock on the edge of an asteroid belt formed when a planet imploded on itself. Because of its size, someone—probably a smuggler, but possibly Federation—had had the brilliant idea to deposit a hypernet receptor on it, enabling it to function as a receiver and transmitter waypoint in a system otherwise too far removed from everything. It was one of many such communication points scattered across the outer edges of the galaxy.
“Keep a sharp eye on the radar,” Colin instructed his first mate. “Just because it looks like we’re alone out here doesn’t mean we actually are. The last thing we need today is to run afoul of pirates.” He shot Anna another cheeky grin. “No offense, darling.”
“None taken,” she replied airily. “We’re not that kind of pirate.”
Deek muttered something under his breath, too low for either of them to catch.
Colin masterfully brought the Galaxy’s Way close enough to the asteroid field that they could, at first glance, look like another piece of oddly-shaped detritus floating among everything else, and then began flipping switches on the console. The ship’s computer synced with the receiver, connecting to the hypernet and downloading all incoming messages.
“Curious,” he muttered, frowning.
“What?” Anna took a step closer, bracing a hand on the b
ack of his chair and leaning down to peer over his shoulder.
Colin glanced sideways at her. “There’s a message here for you.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Really?”
“Aye. Presumably from your friend Mal—he’s the only person who’d be able to leave you a message with my ship, is he not?”
Catching the odd note in his voice, Anna looked at him, but his expression was clear and unreadable. “Will you play it?”
“It’s text-only.”
“Okay.” Anna waited, but Colin made no move to bring the message up.
After a couple of awkward seconds, Deek shifted to stare at him. “Cap’n? All right there?”
Colin blinked and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “Dandy.” He hit a button, displaying the message on the console read-out, and pointedly looked away.
Anna read it eagerly, but by the end of the first sentence, the bottom dropped out of her stomach. She nearly lost her grip on the coffee mug, but held on for dear life. “Oh, galaxies.”
The message was indeed from Mal—although he had left nothing to identify himself, which the more she read, she understood completely—and it was short and to the point.
Scarlet Rhyn and assistant found murdered. Authorities want Colin Dupree and the Galaxy’s Way for questioning.
Chapter 15
THE BLOOD DRAINED FROM HER face; her knees wobbled alarmingly. Anna couldn’t breathe.
“Anna?” Colin straightened in his seat as he caught sight of her face. “Lass, are you all right?”
She shook her head and lifted a trembling hand to point at the message. “We’ve…got a problem.”
Colin read the line of text once, and then again for good measure, before he slumped back in his seat and let out a long, slow breath. “Well, this does complicate things.”
“What’s wrong?” Deek demanded.
Colin ran a hand over his bearded face. “Scarlet and Lacy are dead and I’m a wanted man.”
Deek’s reaction would have been comical, had the situation been any less dire. His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged slightly. “What? She was alive when we left!”