by JC Cassels
If she were being honest with herself, she really didn’t mind.
“I’ve missed you,” she said.
He lifted an eyebrow in silent question.
“I never realized how much I counted on you to have my back.” She smiled.
“Nor, I, Barron.” He grinned. “You bring out the best in me. You always have.”
He nodded toward the docking ring. “There’s Sundance.”
Closing her eyes, Bo declined to look with a shake of her head. “I’ll take your word for it.”
He chuckled.
There was scarcely any sensation of motion as he shifted position and changed their heading. Acceleration imperceptibly increased gee-forces.
“I’ve got this, love,” he said. “I promise. You can look.”
“I believe you,” she said.
“Open your eyes, Bo. This isn’t like that time we bailed from the starliner.”
Her eyes flew open. “How did you…?”
She broke off at his gentle smile.
“Because you play it off like it was nothing, but I know you still dream about it,” he said. “Go ahead and look. It’ll make you feel better.”
Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head. Sundance loomed larger as they rapidly closed the distance, coming in fast toward the topside airlock. With a skill she admired and could likely never duplicate, Blade slowed their approach until they gently settled onto the top of her ship’s hull.
“See? Easy.”
Bo grabbed hold of the hand rail beside the top hatch. He released her and massaged his right hand through his gauntlet. As she reached for the hatch controls, the outer hatch irised open.
“What…?”
Blade unhooked his duffel from the tether on his waist and shoved it through the hatch. The artificial gravity caught it and pulled it gently inside. He politely gestured her to go first, then followed her into the airlock. The hatch irised shut above them. The airlock pressurized, and a light flashed indicating the life support equalization. Blade unhooked the umbilical connection. Bo tapped the inner hatch control and it slid open with a hiss. Stepping over his duffel, she swung out onto the ladder and slid down to the deck. Once her feet hit the deck plates, she removed the hated helmet and tossed it aside, gulping deep breaths of her ship’s sweet air.
“Holy Maker! The last person to use this suit had some serious B.O.,” she said, clawing at the connections sealing the suit on her. “I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of that smell.”
“Commander, I am glad to see you have returned,” Sundance said.
Blade and his duffel dropped lightly to the deck beside her.
“Start preflight, Sundance.” She peeled the hated garment off and kicked it aside. “We may not have proper clearance when we get underway.”
“It is fortunate you boarded through the top hatch. Station security has impounded me and locked the docking clamps. The docking tube has been sealed on Chiron’s end. Given our current status, we will be unable to depart the station.”
She looked to Blade. He reached into a locker at the bottom of the ladder and pulled out a com-set. He hooked it over his ear and powered it up.
“Go ahead and start preflight,” he said. “I’ll take care of the docking clamps.” He donned the helmet once more. “At least I’m already dressed for the occasion.”
“How’s your atmo?” she asked.
The helmet seals clicked and hissed.
“Good enough.” His voice came over the comm grille. “Just don’t forget I’m out there.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
There are only so many steps a pilot can take in running through a pre-flight checklist before the intent to depart becomes obvious to the stationmaster, and station security.
“Blade, are you there?”
“I’m in position now,” his voice came over the comm. “Looking for the manual release.”
“Let me know when I can power up sublights,” she said.
“Will do. Stand by.”
With one eye on the status of the docking clamps, Bo brought systems online out of her regular order. She keyed the control to send power into maneuvering thrusters, gambling it wouldn’t show on the station’s sensors.
“Don’t let me forget anything, Sundance,” she said.
“Understood.”
Calling up a low-level diagnostic, she looped the power grid through her sublight engines, sending just enough energy flow into them to begin warming them without registering her intentions with any techs in the stationmaster’s office. It was an old pirate’s trick her father had taught her.
“Sundance, is there any sign they’re wise to what we’re doing out here?”
“Negative, Commander.”
“Give me eyes on the station.”
Her sensor array flared to life. A holographic representation of the station hovered in one corner of the control panel. The array flickered, darkening in spots and flashing in others.
Bo’s brow furrowed. “That’s odd. What’s going on?”
“There appears to be a cascade of station-wide systems failures.”
“Any idea what’s causing it?”
“Unknown.”
“Son of a…”
The docking clamps released the ship with a hollow thud. The ship groaned. Something scraped across the hull.
“Blade? What’s wrong?”
“Open the airlock. We’re loose.”
As soon as the outer hatch sealed shut once more and the airlock began to repressurize, Bo brought the sublight engines to life.
“Blade, tell me you’re aboard.”
“I’m in. Let’s go.”
Needing no further urging, Bo hit maneuvering thrusters and keyed the sublight engines. “I need shields,” she said. “Power up the weapons banks.”
“Commander, we are receiving a transmission from the communications hub. It bears both Inner Circle and diplomatic coding. It is tagged urgent.”
She frowned. “From Royce?”
“Negative. It is from an Agent Ian Kendall and it contains a large amount of encrypted data.”
“Accept the download,” Blade’s voice came over the comm and drifted through the stairwell from the main deck.
“It requires your personal authorization code, Sir.”
Blade’s heavy boots clattered on the steps as he hauled himself onto the flight deck. Wasting no time, he dropped into the co-pilot’s seat and stripped off his right glove. He tapped the palm of his hand and a light flashed under his skin. Immediately the communication’s station lit up with the data stream.
“Hold on, Bo,” He buckled into his g-locks. “We can’t go anywhere until this download is complete.”
Chafing against the delay, she throttled back. “Nothing ever really changes with you, does it?”
“I grew a beard,” he said off-handedly.
Her jaw clenched in annoyance and she glanced over the readouts from the station. Her eyes narrowed.
“You’ve always been scruffy when you weren’t working. I’m talking about this…you…” She waved a hand at the lights flashing across the communications console. “Everything has to stop to accommodate you. Never mind the fact that the stationmaster is going to figure out we’re making a break and start shooting at us any second now. No. We’ve got to wait for your porn and bad jokes to download first. And why are you getting your correspondence sent to my ship?”
“Because when I boarded…” he ignored her snort and continued, “when I boarded, I didn’t have a com-set of my own to route it through and I need to stay in touch with my team, especially when I’m working and I am always working.”
She shook her head. He always had an answer for everything.
“Meanwhile, I sit here with a target on my back waiting for somebody to open fire.”
“Hey, I’m sitting right beside you. They’ll be shooting at me too,” he said. He nodded toward the sensor readouts. “Right now it looks like Chiron’s got bigger problems wi
th that system cascade. If I were a gambler, I’d bet that’s Edge’s work.”
She huffed. “You are a gambler.”
He grinned.
“Transmission complete, Sir.”
Leaning forward, Blade called up the message. “Acknowledge message received.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He tapped in a series of commands. “Begin decryption.”
“If you made me hold position for porn or stupid jokes I’m taking it out of your hide,” she muttered.
“Then here’s hoping Ian sent me good porn.”
Despite Blade’s assurances that their departure was still unremarked, Bo breathed easier with every second Chiron station receded in her aft view screen. The hyperdrive was still not ready to engage. It showed just shy of eighty percent power. It should read full by the time they reached the jump corridor.
“What course shall I lay in, Commander?”
Her lips twisted. “We’re running out of safe ports. What do we have left?”
Her display lit up with a short list of possible destinations – too short a list for comfort.
“What’s the status of my warrant on Whitehaven?”
“Still active. Madame Parsifal died from her injuries.”
“I told her to duck.”
“Her family swore a blood feud.”
Bo sighed. “Well then, cross Whitehaven off the list permanently. What else have we got?”
“Trisdos,” Blade said.
“You’re joking, right?” Bo lifted an eyebrow. “I have no intention of going to Trisdos now or ever. You can forget about that.”
“Bo…”
She cut him off with a wave of her hand. “No, you listen to me, Blade Devon. I am not going to fly my ship into a hostile port, especially one where everybody thinks I tried to kill their Sovran. Hell no! If they don’t blow me out of the sky as soon as I enter their airspace, they’ll execute me groundside on my own ramp!” She shook her head. “Now I’ll be happy to drop you someplace neutral where you can meet up with your team, but I am not risking my neck flying into Trisdos, not for you or anybody else.”
He sighed and keyed in a command. The display screen filled with an image of Chase holding a little boy.
It hit her with all the force of a sudden decompression. Unable to breathe, her chest ached. Her hands stilled on the controls.
Her son.
Their son.
Breathe!
Willing herself to take in air once more, her chest heaved as she inhaled deeply and slowly released it.
Feeling his attention on her, she swallowed and slowly met his stare.
“What’s this?” She croaked.
“The reason we’re going to Trisdos,” he said. “If we don’t, they’re going to kill them both.”
Her blood chilled. “Is this some kind of trick?”
He nodded. “It’s a trap, but it’s laid for me, not you. Ian copied me on a set of orders sent through the IC and the Janizary to bring Daavin Marin and his son to Trisdos.”
Bo shook her head. “But…Chase…”
He handed her his data reader. “These orders identify Chase as Daavin Marin.”
Her fingers closed over the device and she read for herself the dispatch calling for Daavin Marin, a.k.a. Chase Fossey, and his son to be transported to Trisdos under armed escort.
Her bile rose. Holy Maker…what had she done? By seeking to keep her child out of danger, had she placed him directly in the crosshairs of every assassin in the Commonwealth?
She swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in her throat. “Is he? The missing Heir?”
Silently, she begged him to deny it.
Blade shook his head. “No, he’s not, but these orders paint a target on him by claiming he is.”
“Are you sure?” Her hand shook as she held out his data reader. “I mean – there were rumors that Marin’s son was alive. It’s possible, right?”
He glanced down at the device, taking it from her and setting it aside. With infinite care, he tenderly took her hand in his own. His mouth tightened, and a muscle jumped in his jaw.
“Oh, Daavin Marin is alive.” Blade searched her face. “But Chase isn’t him.”
He said it with such certainty that the knot in her chest loosened enough for her to breathe. Bo pressed her other hand hard against her breastbone and drew in a deep breath, and then another.
“Then why are they saying he is? They have to know he’s not, right? Why would they do that?”
Staring deep into his bluestone colored eyes, the maelstrom of her emotions calmed around her. With sudden clarity, she understood.
“They’re bait,” she said. “They’re trying to draw you out. The House of Marin is under attack and they want you. Why?”
Her breath caught. “Holy Maker, you’re lying to me again,” she said. “Chase is Daavin Marin and you’re his bodyguard!”
“No, my love. No more lies. I’m Daavin Marin.”
Bo’s world slipped sideways as the ground fell away beneath her. She gripped his hand tightly as the only fixed point in her universe. It all revolved around him – everything!
“Commander, we are at the jump coordinates. What course shall I set?”
Ignoring her ship’s AI, she shook her head. “You are not Daavin Marin. You can’t be.”
“Sundance, lay in a course for Trisdos,” he said.
“Belay that order,” she snapped. “We’re not going anywhere until you tell me you’re not Daavin Marin!”
“Oh my love, you don’t know how much I wish I could. But what the hell else would give me back door access to your ship?” Tapping his palm again, he met her stare. “Sundance, lay in a course for Trisdos, Sovran Overrides, authorization Daavin Marin. Confirm.”
“Authorization confirmed. Course plotted and set.”
Bo set her jaw. “I’m countermanding that order, Sundance!”
“Command not recognized.”
“The hell it’s not!”
“Sir, we are at the jump coordinates.”
“Take us to hyperspace, Sundance.”
“Belay that! Command overrides, Barron…”
“Command overrides not recognized.”
“You are not…”
She broke off as her own ship betrayed her.
The ship jerked as the hyperdrive engines engaged. Space folded ahead of them, stretching out and falling in on itself.
Her stomach lurched and her chest ached. She felt like she’d been turned inside out and fed through a sublight core.
“…Daavin Marin,” she finished in a whisper.
The inertial dampers kicked in.
Slowly, she realized that she still gripped his hand tightly. She pulled her hand free.
Of course he was arrogant. Of course he took over every situation. No wonder everything had to revolve around him. He wasn’t just Blade Freakin’ Devon! That was bad enough! He was Daavin Freakin’ Marin!
Bo popped her g-locks and vaulted to her feet.
He was only a half a beat behind her doing the same.
“Bo, I tried to tell you…” He reached for her hand once more.
Without thought, she jerked her hand away and balled it into a fist. She punched him in the jaw, snapping his head around.
Off-balance, he caught himself on the back of his seat.
“I probably had that coming,” he said. He straightened and met her glare. “I’ll give you that one.”
Bo swung again.
He caught her fist and quickly seized her other hand, holding tightly against her efforts to free herself.
“Stop it, Bo! You can’t punch your way out of this!”
“You’re right!” Bo leaned back and kicked him in the solar plexus.
The air woofed from his lungs with a satisfying grunt.
Breaking his hold, she threw him over her hip down the stairwell. He landed hard, skidding down the treads on his back. She followed. Bracing one knee on his chest, her fist balled i
n the EVA suit at his throat.
Groaning, he lifted his head. “Bo…”
“Bastard!” She punched him again. “Motherless son of a kretch!”
A growl boiled up from somewhere deep inside him. He rolled, trapping her beneath him. “I am not going to fight you!” he roared. Catching her wrists in his hands, he pinned her to the deck plates.
Bo writhed against him, trying to free her legs and gain some leverage to unseat him.
“Calm your ass down!” He shifted his weight, trapping her beneath him.
Cool air drifted across her hip, bared when her dress had ridden up as she wriggled to free herself. A spark of sexual awareness lit up her nerve endings. Their faces, so close, their bodies pressed full length against each other.
She stopped struggling against him.
Maker, help her. Her body didn’t care whether he was a liar, a gambler, a Sovran, or a threat to her safety.
“I’m calm.” Chest heaving, she met his stare, seeing her own hunger reflected there.
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I didn’t ask for this,” he said. He shook his head. “I never wanted any part of Marin.”
“Could have fooled me.”
He released her wrists and levered himself off her. “No matter what I’ve done, or where I’ve gone, Daavin Marin has followed me, haunted me, and ruined my life.”
Rubbing her wrists, she sat up and drew her legs under her.
“So that’s it then?” She pointed to his hand. “That’s the big, complicated State Secret of yours? All the lies, the prevarications, all the things you couldn’t tell me, it all goes back to you being Marin’s son?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
All the fight seemed to have left him.
“I wanted to tell you. Hell, I tried to tell you that first night on Kah Lahtrec, but you talked about starting a war by joining with the wrong man… and I lost my nerve. So…I kept my State Secrets and my lies, and I lost you anyway.”
He leaned against the bulkhead and dabbed at his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced at the blood, then met her stare.
“Did I knock any teeth loose?”
He shook his head. “I bit my lip.”
“Sorry.”
He arched an eyebrow. “For hitting me, or that I bit my lip?”
She lifted her chin. “That you bit your lip,” she said. “You should know better than to take control of my ship.”