by Vivian Arend
A puzzled expression crossed Sal’s face. “The slavers? We rescued their victims, and left the bastards floating without any engines.”
Melina nodded. “But you left them with their control beasts onboard. If the ship hadn’t been rescued in time the animals would have starved after eating the last slaver.”
Davis shuddered. “You’re a cruel woman, Melina.”
She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Don’t cross me, darling.”
Trev strolled onto the bridge. He raised a hand to hold off their questioning and sent out a shot from his station. They all watched on the monitor as the projectile stuck harmlessly to the side of the War Eagle’s shuttle.
Davis’ deep chuckle filled the room. “You planning on sharing with us?”
Trev stopped beside the command chair. “Just a little present for the admiral. I’ve been wondering why one of the flagships of the SIC would happen to show up exactly where they said they weren’t going to be. There was no plan for any official involvement—that’s why we took this job in the first place, right?”
Davis nodded. “It is strange they showed up, but it didn’t register with the surprise of rescuing Melina and dealing with the sharysa.”
Melina wrinkled her nose. “We changed course suddenly to arrive at Derryn. It was a last-minute decision as far as I know.”
Trev shook his head. “It’s been building for a long time. Remember you said your grandfather had been implicated in some illegal situations? While I can’t say for sure about the others, he wasn’t just an innocent victim in this case. He’s been financing the rebels. He tried to cause a run on the market and end up the only supplier of crystals in the galaxy.”
“No way.” Davis frowned at Trev. “How did you figure this out?”
Trev pointed at Sal. “Little Miss Hacker there slipped me a note when you were getting everything prepared to reenergize the engines. She figured out where the influx of money came from that brought the mining station into orbit around Derryn in the first place. Added to the information I had access to when I took over leadership of the rebels, it was easy to piece together.” Trev laughed. “I bet having me turn up as the leader of his forces was the last thing the admiral expected.”
Melina’s heart froze. “The bastard. That’s why he asked if I’d been raped. He’d told them to expect me and…” She closed her eyes in disgust. Warm arms surrounded her as Davis pulled her into a tight embrace.
“You’re a part of our family now. Remember that,” he whispered in her ear. He held her close for a moment before kissing her cheek and returning to his station. “So, the ass had an ulterior motive in coming to Derryn?” he asked Trev.
Trev nodded. “Admiral Davenport was looking to do a little expansion of his financial territory by not only panicking the rest of the producers, but by making sure he had the most extensive mines in known space under his control.”
“I’m going to hurt you if you don’t tell me what’s sticking to the side of the Eagle’s shuttle right now,” Conn snarled.
“There’s a data chip embedded in there with the exact location of the energy crystal mines on Derryn.”
Melina’s heart gave a sudden thump and Tucker swore violently. “Are you freaking nuts? That’s exactly what he wants.”
Trev shook his head and handed Conn a data stick. “Submit this to the SIC, please. We’re the only entity able to broadcast in this quadrant right now and we’re about to claim the mines on behalf of the Derrians. I’ve arranged it as a shared operation. We get a secret five percent deposited through our more legal channels, the people of Derryn get forty-five. The mining corporation will still jump at a fifty-percent share.”
Davis frowned. “It’ll all be worthless in the future once the sharysa scatter through the systems.”
“We know that, but they don’t. I’ll make sure Derrians discover the information in advance so they can plan for an alternative revenue source. In the meantime, we’ll have extra cash coming in to deal with our expenses and the admiral will be royally pissed when he discovers he’s too late to claim Derryn.”
Conn broke in. “I’ve got a time signature reply from SIC. It’ll take a couple days for the information to clear the books but this is enough for proof—they’re ours. The official statements will be on file at the Corporation.”
Melina drew a long contented breath as she looked up at Davis and Trev. It had been a long time coming, but she’d finally made it to where she longed to be. Surrounded by friends, with adventures to experience. The pain of betrayal from her grandfather would fade with the knowledge she was esteemed and loved for more than her name.
Davis held out his arms and asked the room, “Now where to? We’ve got permanently full tanks and a universe to explore. I’ve got a planet or two I’d like to stop at.”
Melina frowned for a moment. “There’s still something wrong within the SIC. Remember the message Tracey sent. This situation involving Derryn might not be the only thing rotten in the organization.”
He nodded. “I’m sure no matter where we decide to go, they’ll be following us shortly. We’ll keep an eye on them.” Trev leaned over Davis’ shoulder and Melina looked up at her two lovers, her heart filled to overflowing.
The sharysa on her shoulder chirped and Melina smiled. They had all claimed her and she wouldn’t want it any other way.
About the Author
Vivian Arend has hiked, biked, skied and paddled her way around most of North America and parts of Europe. Throughout all the wandering in the wilderness, stories have been planted and they are bursting out in vivid color. Paranormal, twisted fairytales, red-hot contemporaries—the genres are all over.
Between times of living with no running water, she home-schools her children and tries to keep up with her husband—the instigator of most of the wilderness adventures.
Vivian welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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