by Lily Thomas
“Hey, if you don’t want, then I’ll take it.”
“No, you’re right,” Zoe said. “We have to keep our strength up.” She tapped her ration bar, or whatever it was, against Susan’s in a sarcastic toast.
“Then stop complaining about it.”
Zoe shoved the bar into her mouth and took a bite. It was just as bad as it looked and smelled, but she choked it down anyway.
The door to the brig opened. Zrirc walked in, followed by two of his Daen’su crewmen.
“Time to go, ambassador.”
“Wait.” Zoe put down her bar. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll give you money, if that’s what you want.”
“You have twelve million credits?”
Zoe paused. “No.”
“Then stop talking.”
The force field fell, and the crewmen stepped forward, each of them grabbing a woman.
“What are you doing with Zoe?” Susan’s green eyes went wide.
“We have no use for a human woman on this ship.” Zrirc shrugged indifferently. “She will be placed inside your escape pod and put back into space.”
“To float around and die?” Susan glanced over at her. She shook her head frantically, sending her frizzy red hair bouncing. “She could come with me. Give the buyer a two for one deal.”
Zrirc shook his head. “My buyer doesn’t like surprises.” He gestured to the Daen’su holding Susan. “You can help me escort the ambassador to our buyer.” He turned away, waving over his shoulder to the Daen’su holding Zoe. “Take the other woman to the pod and release her.”
Zoe watched through the window of her pod as a small shuttle docked against the Daen’su ship carefully disengaged.
There went the ambassador. Zoe wished her luck and hoped she’d survive. As for herself, she was doomed.
Her pod was already drifting loose in space. Wherever Zrirc had taken them, she couldn’t pick up anything habitable nearby. No one was going to find her floating around out here, and there was nowhere to go.
The pod’s engines had about a quarter of their fuel reserves left. Since they wouldn’t get her anywhere, Zoe had decided to use them to keep the shuttle warm for as long as possible and keep the radio in the pod active.
Zoe watched out the window as the shuttle and the Daen’su ship jumped into hyperspace, and then she was officially left alone.
Zoe sighed. She wondered if oxygen deprivation or hyperthermia would kill her first. She didn’t know enough about life support systems to know exactly what would happen when the power went out. Either way, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant end.
Zoe punched the padding of the seat next to her. It was all Je’lak’s fault she was here. Him and his stupid plan to kidnap a doctor to heal the other woman he’d abducted.
Zoe frowned.
Actually, this was all her fault. She’d been the one to take a shortcut home back on Guit’re. Zoe closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest.
She had to admit that this experience had gotten her out of a rut. She’d been too involved at the hospital, needing the rush from the emergency ward, but also stuck in some way she hadn’t been able to put her finger on. These last few days, although dangerous, had made her feel more alive than she had in years, like waking up from a dream. She supposed she had Je’lak to thank for that.
Zoe snorted. He had awakened a lot of things. She grew warm as she remembered their time together in his cabin. Susan had been right about one thing – Je’lak really was good at what he did. Too bad she’d never get the chance to enjoy his skills again.
“I’ve found our missing escape pod.”
“And?” Je’lak raised his head eagerly.
“I can pull it into the shuttle bay.”
“Do that.” Je’lak left the bridge and raced down the corridor.
When he got down to the shuttle bay, he found the escape pod already inside and waiting for him. Je’lak hurried over to the escape pod. He had to find out if Zoe was inside.
The door to the pod wouldn’t open, and Je’lak couldn’t hear anything coming from inside. His heart racing, he grabbed a crowbar and forced open the pod’s door.
Zoe’s pale and unconscious face greeted him through the narrow opening. Her lips had taken on a bluish color, and for a moment, Je’lak was afraid she might be dead. Quickly, he felt for a pulse at her neck. Relief washed through him when he felt it.
Gathering her into his arms, he took her out of the escape pod and cradled her in his arms on the floor of the cargo bay. She was freezing cold. The pod must have run out of fuel, causing life support to shut down.
He rubbed her arms vigorously.
“Zoe, wake up.” He gave her cheek a small pat.
Her head just rolled limply to the side.
“How is she?”
Je’lak found Kynt standing above him.
“She isn’t responding.”
“Take her to the medical bay. You can get her warmed up there, and if she wakes up, maybe she can tell you what else you can do for her.”
Je’lak nodded, unable to speak. What if Zoe didn’t wake up?
“Go. Ji’hun and I will do our best to find Zrirc’s ship.”
Je’lak bundled Zoe into his arms and ran. He had to save her.
Je’lak rushed into the medical bay and placed her on a medical bed. He brought up the medical scanner, but all it told him were her vitals – she was extremely cold and had a faint heartbeat. Je’lak growled in frustration. He already knew that! In desperation, he grabbed a medical pad and tried searching for information on humans and extreme cold. He got back zero results.
Je’lak threw the pad across the room. If Zoe lived through this, he was going to update this damn medical bay.
Je’lak stripped off Zoe’s clothing and removed his clothing as well. He might not work in the medical field, but he thought he remembered something about skin-to-skin contact helping to warm up another person.
Je’lak tossed every blanket in the bay over Zoe and then climbed up beside her, squeezing in close on the narrow bed and drawing her into his arms.
“Wake up, Zoe,” he pleaded softly into her ear.
Zoe woke slowly. She was covered in blankets, and yet she still felt cold. Shivering, Zoe remembered falling asleep in the escape pod and accepting that she was going to die.
Zoe’s eyes popped open. She was tucked in securely on a medical bed in a medical bay. A very familiar medical bay…
“Je’lak?” Zoe called out hesitantly.
Je’lak’s head appeared from around the corner. “Zoe.” He rushed into the bay and set down a canister of steaming liquid and a cup, then squeezed her into a bear hug so tight she gasped for breath.
He relaxed his hold and leaned back to look into her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re awake. I would have stayed by your side, but when the medical devices said your heartbeat was normal again, I thought maybe you would wake up soon.” He gestured to the canister and the cup. “I made some tea to help warm you up.”
“I can’t believe you actually found me,” Zoe said. She gathered the blankets around her and sat up carefully. “I thought I would die in that escape pod.”
Je’lak poured some of the tea into the cup and handed it to Zoe. She tried to take it, but he held on until she looked up into his silver eyes. He looked unusually serious. “Zoe, no more running away. Please?”
Zoe’s throat constricted. Her fingers twitched where they met his hand on the cup.
“Je’lak…” she said reluctantly. She looked away, then back. “I can’t stay with someone who…sells people.”
Je’lak was quiet for a moment. He raised his other hand tentatively to cover hers. “There are many jobs on the black market,” he said.
Zoe eyed him dubiously. “Are you saying you won’t take any more jobs to kidnap people?”
Je’lak grasped her fingers in his. His beautiful silver eyes stared back directly at her. “No more kidnappings. Just no more escape attempts, Zoe.”
>
Zoe blinked. She didn’t know how to respond to that. She tugged on the cup, and Je’lak let it go. She took a sip and felt the warm liquid seep through her body. She felt better immediately, and she sighed in pleasure, then stiffened again almost as quickly.
“That doesn’t help Susan,” she said. Je’lak looked confused. “The ambassador,” she explained.
Zoe set down her cup and tried to get out of the bed. “We have to help her.”
Je’lak pushed her back gently. “We tracked Zrirc while you were unconscious. You were out for a couple of days,” he told her.
Zoe looked at him impatiently. “Well, have you found him? What about Susan?”
Je’lak looked uncomfortable. “We were able to find Zrirc, but he’d already sold the ambassador to the buyer.”
Zoe cried out. “Can’t we find her?”
“No. My client has a reputation for extreme secrecy. Zrirc never saw him. A shuttle met his ship, and Zrirc escorted the ambassador onto it. Zrirc took the payment, and then he left.”
“I’m afraid no one will be able to find her, because I had the same arrangement. I was supposed to meet a shuttle in a certain location within a certain window of time. No direct contact with the buyer.”
Zoe looked up at him. “So there’s nothing we can do?”
“I’m sorry, Zoe. I know you were hoping to get her back to Earth, but she’s vanished.”
Zoe stared at her lap. “And now the Earth Alliance thinks I helped abduct the ambassador.”
Je’lak wrinkled his nose. “Most likely,” he agreed.
Zoe groaned. Je’lak reached out to comfort her, but she shook her head. “It’s okay. I thought getting Susan back to Earth should be my only goal, but… while I was stuck in that pod I realized… That getting kidnapped by you was the best thing that could have happened to me,” she finished in a rush.
Je’lak blinked in surprise and gazed deep into Zoe’s eyes. After a moment, he smiled. His hand came up and caressed her cheek.
Uncomfortable, Zoe tried to keep the mood light. “So, it seems I’m a wanted woman, and currently unemployed. Permission to join the crew?”
Je’lak’s eye crinkled in amusement. “Of course,” he promised.
“I only ask one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“We try to find Susan Mallery – and no more kidnappings!”
Je’lak raised his hands defensively and inclined his head. “It’s agreed. No more kidnappings, and we will continue to search for the ambassador.”
“Good.” Zoe nodded firmly and then was wracked by a small shiver. Despite everything Je’lak had done, she still felt cold.
Je’lak reached out and rubbed her arms lightly. Goosebumps popped up on Zoe’s arms, not from the cold, but from desire. She looked up into Je’lak’s eyes, which were swirling intensely.
“You know,” he said, stepping closer. “There’s one method we haven’t tried yet to warm you up.”
Zoe was immediately aware that she wasn’t wearing anything under the blankets, and she felt her skin flush in excitement. Je’lak pressed his lips against hers and kissed her lightly, delicately.
Zoe pulled away slightly. “We’re still going to look for Susan,” she said.
“I know,” Je’lak answered. “We’ll find out what we can about the buyer at the next Daen’su outpost. We’re already on our way there,” he informed her. Then he began kissing down her neck, pulling the blankets slowly down along the way.
Zoe gasped. “That’s good,” she managed, and then she gave herself up to Je’lak and the moment.
Who would have known her life would take such a crazy turn just because she’d decided to take a shortcut. As she gazed into Je’lak’s eyes, though, she admitted she wouldn’t change it for anything.