Smugger's Virtue (Lathos Galaxy Chronicles Book 2)
Page 7
“How am I supposed to do that?” asked Matt incredulously. “All of Lathos thinks I kidnapped Xandra. No one there is going to take my word over that of a decorated revolutionary hero.”
“Matt, I’ve worked with you enough to know that you are the most resourceful smuggler in the galaxy. That’s why I risked my neck to break you out. Besides, we have something else that just might help,” he said, pointing into the distance.
“That’s my ship!” said Matt.
“Technically it’s my ship now,” said Ilyea. “The government seized it when they arrested you. It’s too old and outdated to be of any use to them, even with the upgrades I made, so they put it up for auction. I paid a little more than I would have liked, but it’s worth it.”
“I don’t understand how my ship is going to help prove Ragen is a traitor.”
“Not the ship,” said Ilyea. “It’s what’s beside the ship. Or rather, who’s beside it.” He landed the transport and when Matt got out, Xandra stepped into view. “I ran into her as she was leaving the prison. I gave her the coordinates of where I had the ship docked and told her to meet us. She might be able to help the Lathonians believe you about Ragen.”
“Matt, this is perfect!” said Xandra with a huge grin. She seemed to be enjoying all of this. “Now we can both go back to Lathos. When my father sees the two of us together and hears what I have to say, he’ll have to believe that you’re innocent. Then I can make a public broadcast about Ragen.”
“Xandra, are you sure that you’ve recovered enough from everything that’s happened to be able to make it all the way back to Lathos?”
“You were right when you said the doctors here on Earth are the best in the galaxy,” she said, still smiling. “They checked me today and said I’m back to one hundred percent healthy. It’s as if nothing ever happened.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said and took out the particle weapon Ilyea stole from the guard at the prison and shot her. Her gray eyes went wide with surprise and confusion and then snapped shut. Matt caught her as she collapsed and laid her gently on the ground.
“I guess I had you pegged wrong after all,” said Ilyea as he looked at Xandra’s unmoving body. “I was sure you loved her.”
“It’s because I love her that I did what I did,” Matt explained.
“Then I’m happy to be alone.”
“To get out of here, I still need to navigate past the PDF and Ragen’s armada, and any of those ships will be all too happy to blow me apart, especially after your little prison break,” said Matt. “Even if I do get past all of that, every planet between here and Lathos knows who I am and will be looking for me. It’s also possible that Ragen has ships stationed further out to watch for me, just in case. I have given the man the slip a couple of times already.
“If Xandra leaves with us, then the PDF will assume she was in on the prison break and the GA will never offer her asylum after that. Now they’ll know she had nothing to do with it. Ilyea, I’ll do my best to get us back to Lathos and expose Ragen, but Xandra stays here, end of discussion.”
“Without her, how do you propose we get Maxall Torin or any other Lathonian citizen to trust us?”
“I guess we’ll just have to hope I’m as good as you think I am.”
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