by Layla Nash
He shook himself and straightened from his lean. No, it wasn’t possible. If the Alliance wanted to use her as a plant within the rebels, they wouldn’t have poisoned her or tried to out her at the spaceport. Sending her on another mission, while she was on a mission, also didn’t follow protocol from the training he’d been through. None of it made sense. As unpalatable as the thought was, there had to be someone else betraying them from within the group.
Trazzak tossed the rest of the food into a basket to give to Frrar and left the mess. He needed to reason his way through all the possibilities and figure out what kind of sandstorm they faced. More chaos and disorder. Even if they got the technology and Jessalyn passed it off to Nathan, they still had to worry about another spy in their midst. He growled and stalked down the corridor, irritated with the prospect of hunting down a traitor. Maybe Jessalyn could help suss out the perpetrator, since she would know what to look for.
He pushed that problem aside for later. They needed to focus on Dablon Seven, the technology, and Nathan. Once they dealt with the issue of the bounties, Trazzak felt confident he and Jessalyn could figure out the inside threat in short order. Maybe her unorthodox method of working problems would come in handy when coupled with Trazzak’s knowledge of the rules. And it would give them an excuse to work closely together again. Very closely. A smile crept across his mouth at the thought. He’d have to talk to Vaant about making he and Jessalyn a permanent team.
Jess
Jess showered and paced through her quarters, debating what to wear. She didn’t want to send the wrong message to Trazzak. If she wore the Xarav robes he bought, he might think she was signing up for more than just the mission on Dablon Seven. She couldn’t let him distract her. There was too much work to do, and Nathan would find a way to use the Xaravian against her if the information officer found out Jess had even a shred of feelings for Trazzak.
She opted instead for another bulky unmarked uniform, preferring the safety of the unflattering fabric. The robes reminded her too much of Trazzak ripping them off her. She hadn’t expected the feral dominance and grunting, demanding way he took her. Not from calm, reasonable Trazzak. Jess shivered as she remembered the look in his eyes when she placed his hand on her breast and asked him to feel her heart — like he was going to drag her away to a cave somewhere and never let her leave.
Jess groaned and covered her eyes. It wasn’t supposed to be a long-term thing. It wasn’t even supposed to be a short-term thing. She needed to get him out of her head before he distracted her into being captured by the Alliance. Spending any amount of time mooning over him would just dull her instincts and lead her into making poor decisions. Or not making a decision at all. Jess couldn’t take him into account in those decisions. She had to retain that professional aloofness. It was the only way to survive.
She didn’t leave her quarters until her stomach growled loudly enough to probably alert the whole ship she was hungry, and took a roundabout way to the small cafe attached to the mess. Jess didn’t want to run into Trazzak just yet, at least until she had more time to sort through her thoughts on what happened and where it would go. Not that she wanted it to go anywhere.
If she kept telling herself that, maybe it would eventually sound true.
Jess shook her head and slid into the cafe, tapping in a request to the robot to send her the pre-made snacks and coffee that could get her through the morning. Part of her wanted the safety of Trazzak’s arms, and the structured order of his world. Everything was very clear for the Xaravian; there were rules even for pirates, apparently. Even if there weren’t, she was pretty sure Trazzak would write the rulebook and start imposing order on the rest of them.
She flipped through her tablet and the information on the technology, trying to figure out whether Nathan would be satisfied with just schematics and final test data, or if he’d actually want the prototype. Knowing the Minister, they wanted the full prototype, regardless of how large and unwieldy it turned out to be. Sneaking out of a research facility with a weapons system the size of an elephant would be a challenge, to say the least.
Jess frowned and studied the information more closely. Maybe it wasn’t that large. The Dablonians designed it to be portable and usable on fighters as well as battleships, so maybe there was a scalable model they could take instead.
Plans for sneaking in and sneaking out, or maybe just buying the damn thing, distracted her enough that she didn’t see Maisy until the doctor sat down across the table from her. Jess jumped and dropped the tablet; she’d expected the robot to bring food back, but not for Maisy to show up. “Hey.”
Maisy arched her eyebrows. “So you’re feeling better?”
“A little.” Jess rubbed her shoulder as she turned the question over in her head. Did she feel better? Her lungs worked and her heart wasn’t racing, so that was an objective improvement from the panic attack the previous day. Something still felt off, and she waited for her body to betray her — either in another swell of anxiety or in a rampant desire for Trazzak that she couldn’t control, either.
“Sleep okay?”
From the look on Maisy’s face, Jess knew something was up. Jess played dumb, unloading the food and coffee from the robot after it rolled up, and picked at the oatmeal and snacks. “Well enough. Did you find anything out about the poison? Anything that might explain why it’s still affecting me?”
Maisy sighed and helped herself to some of the coffee. “It’s not clear. The toxin was a mix of different poisons, so each one is affecting a different system in your body. I think we defeated the neurotoxins, and I know we dealt with the ones that affected your respiratory system. But I haven’t been able to identify three other chemicals in the mix. It’s hard to say what’s doing the most damage, and if that’s permanent.”
“So I’m going to keep having those panic attack things?” Jess lost her appetite completely. How could she possibly function as an information officer or anything else on a ship when those debilitating attacks nearly killed her? “Or will it just kill me?”
“That’s also on the list of things we don’t know.” The doctor helped herself to more of Jess’s breakfast. “It might regulate itself out, you might adapt to the chemicals, they may eventually kill you... We need to get you to a better lab so they can do more sophisticated tests. There’s a clinic near Xarav, apparently, that could do a full workup. It’s definitely an engineered poison, so whoever developed it may have created the antidote along with it, for safety purposes. Getting our hands on a real antidote is the best option, of course.”
“Well, obviously.” Jess drank more coffee. She needed the caffeine to stay awake, although she hesitated as she stared into the dark, calm liquid. Maybe caffeine would set her heart racing again and lead to another panic attack. She hated not being able to trust her own body and the things she’d enjoyed so much just a week before. “I don’t think we’re likely to get the antidote, if it was an Alliance attack. Or a Xerxh attack, for that matter. Anyone willing to use this kind of shit isn’t going to release control of the treatment, not when they can charge a planetary ransom to save anyone afflicted. And I don’t have the money to buy it.”
For the first time in her life, Jess felt like there wasn’t much hope at the end of the road. Even in the darkest times on the most dangerous missions, she knew there was a way to survive, a way to escape. She trusted her brain and her training, and the right opportunity always presented itself. With the poison, though... No training in the world would defeat biology.
She sank lower in her chair, and Maisy’s expression softened. “We’ll figure it out, Jess. Griggs is already looking for planets to raid to find the answer, and the Heisenberg is chasing down some Xerxh bounty hunters to try and get some information out of them.”
“I don’t think there’s enough time,” Jess said. She felt the truth of it like a bolt of lightning in her chest. Without knowing what the toxins were actually doing inside her, she couldn’t plan a future or hope for anythi
ng but a quick death. “Whatever it is, it’s getting worse.”
“It didn’t seem to slow you down last night,” Maisy said, and winked.
Jess froze, then cleared her throat and placed her hands on the table. “I beg your pardon?”
The doctor practically giggled, then retrieved her food from the robot on its return trip. Maisy arched an eyebrow, attention on her breakfast. “It turns out, in the vacuum of space, some people can hear you scream.” And she slanted a look at Jess.
Heat surged to her cheeks. Shit. Not that Maisy was the judgmental type, but Jess just didn’t want to deal with gleeful girl talk and discussing every last detail. Jess pinched the bridge of her nose and concentrated on breathing. “It was just this once, Maisy, it’s not going —”
“Sounded like three or four times to me.” Maisy started to grin, shaking her spoon at Jess. “So well done to Trazzak.”
“Does everyone know?” Jess wanted to crawl under the table or flee back to her quarters immediately. How the hell had Maisy heard? She didn’t think she and Trazzak were that loud.
“Not yet, but they’re gonna.” Maisy snorted. She eyed Jess’s omelet and stole a few pieces. “Bet your ass I’m going to rat you out. This is the best gossip I’ve ever heard.”
“Please don’t,” Jess said. “Maisy, please. It’s not going to be anything. It was just one night so I could get him out of my system. That’s it. It meant nothing.”
“That’s good to know,” a rough voice said behind her, and Jess froze. Trazzak.
Maisy cleared her throat and grabbed her dishes. “I’ll be on my way.”
Jess couldn’t breathe as she looked at the tall Xaravian and his stony expression. No emotion other than anger showed, but it was enough to chill her blood and send guilt wrapping around her lungs. She wondered if it was possible to fake a panic attack to get out of awkward conversations. It might take some practice, but that seemed like the only bright side of the whole debacle — even though it wouldn’t help her with Trazzak’s fury-painted red scales.
Trazzak
She might as well have stabbed him with his own knife. Trazzak’s hearts sank even as anger rolled through him. Whatever he’d told himself to believe that Jessalyn couldn’t be the traitor seemed like callous lies. He’d trusted her, but that evaporated with the calm, disinterested way she told Maisy that she just needed to get him out of her system. Like he was one of those toxins slowly killing her.
Jessalyn floundered, her cheeks flushing red — though nowhere near as red as his scales. “Trazzak, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean —”
“Yes you did.” He refused to be moved, to sympathize with the wide blue eyes and the fearful light in them. He didn’t believe her for a second. After the night they’d spent together... If she could claim she felt nothing for him after that, then Jessalyn was one hell of an actress. “Give me the relay and your tablet.”
“The relay?” She rose slowly, holding onto her chair for balance. “Why? What’s wrong?”
He didn’t owe her an explanation. Trazzak tilted his head at the corridor that led to her quarters. “Now.”
Jessalyn’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and maybe fear; he couldn’t tell anymore. He couldn’t look at her long enough to tell. She just cleared her throat and made her way slowly back to her quarters, Trazzak on her heels, and retrieved the relay from a small cupboard. He waited in the doorway the whole time, keeping his eyes on her to make sure she didn’t try to delete anything, and took the relay from her when she offered it.
He didn’t blink. “Show me how to open it.”
Jessalyn cleared her throat. “What’s going on? I’m sorry about what I said, I just need time to —”
“We don’t have time. Open the relay.” Trazzak watched as her shaking fingers manipulated the device until it opened and revealed all the screens and messages he remembered. It felt like months ago that she’d shown him the information inside, and yet it had only been a few days.
He nodded briefly, confident he could re-open the thing if anything happened, and turned on his heel. Frrar would be interested in seeing the relay, once Trazzak made it to the bridge to take his place. And it would give Trazzak something to think about other than Jessalyn’s betrayal.
She followed him down the corridor, though, and tried to catch the sleeve of his robe. “Trazzak, please. Let me explain.”
He wasn’t feeling charitable. But Trazzak stopped and faced her, some of his anger getting the better of his iron control. “Was this your plan all along? Get us to take you to your handlers, then seduce me so I’d look the other way as you betrayed everyone? Is your friend Nathan waiting on Dablon Seven with the antidote for you, or do you have it on you already? What haven’t you lied about, Barnes?”
She stepped back as if he’d slapped her, and her face lost all of its color until she looked like a shadow of herself. “What are you talking about?”
“How does the Fleet keep finding the Heisenberg? Who else would send the new beacon data to the Fleet?” Trazzak’s fist clenched around the relay until it dug into his palm, and he didn’t even care if he crushed it. Destroying the relay would make his life easier. “You keep dragging us into ambushes. There have been too many coincidences, and all of it boils down to you. You and the Information Ministry. What’s your endgame, Barnes?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, and her breath came faster. “I swear, Trazzak, I’m not sending information to the Ministry or the Fleet. I don’t know how they’re getting the information, but we can find out. I don’t know anything about the rest of that, Trazzak. I swear. I didn’t mean to —”
“Enough.” Trazzak stared past her at the end of the corridor, knowing Frrar would be wondering where he was, and shook his head. “Stay in your quarters. I’ll decide what to do with you later.”
Jessalyn’s jaw dropped as she stared at him, but Trazzak ignored her as he turned on his heel to go. He had bigger problems at that moment than worrying about hurting her feelings. He gripped the relay and stormed to the bridge. He ignored that Maisy whispered to Frrar and they both looked at him with comical expressions. Trazzak didn’t have time for that, either.
He barely glanced at the doctor. “Barnes is confined to her quarters. Do not allow her out.”
Maisy looked from him to Frrar and back. “Look, just because she said...”
“It’s not because of that. The Galaxos sent a message. They suspect a spy is giving the Heisenberg’s data to the Alliance. The only officer in contact with the Fleet is Barnes.” Trazzak tossed the relay to Frrar, who looked suddenly wide awake, and took the captain’s chair. “Get the information on the weapons system from this before you go to bed. There’s coffee in the mess.”
Frrar blinked as he caught the relay and stared at the multiple projected screens and running tickers of information. “What the hell is this?”
“That’s what information officers use to communicate with the Information Ministry.” Trazzak didn’t care if he outed Jessalyn’s history as a spy. She’d earned it by betraying his trust. Turnabout was fair play, after all, and even more so among information officers. “And it’s what Barnes has been using to message her handlers.”
Maisy shook her head, lurching forward a few steps as if she’d either hit Trazzak or steal the relay from Frrar. “You’re out of your mind. Jess isn’t… she’s not doing any of that. She’s not one of them. She’s not.”
“Ask her,” Trazzak said. The volume of his voice knocked her back a few steps, and for the first time that he could remember, the small Earther cowered in front of him. He hated feeling like a brute, particularly when women were around. His sisters would be furious with his behavior, but they would never understand the depth of his anger, the bitterness of Jessalyn’s betrayal. But he softened his tone when he spoke to Maisy. “Ask her yourself. See the truth in her eyes, whether she’s lying to you or not.”
The doctor’s chin trembled as she stared at him, eyes widening
, and after what felt like forever, she stomped her foot. “I get why she’d be over you in a day. You’re an asshole.”
She turned and fled as Trazzak stared at her, speechless. He’d only been nice to her. Those Earthers were out of their damn minds. Trazzak scowled and flung himself into the captain’s chair, glaring at the viewing screens.
Frrar stood slowly, the relay glowing in his hands, and paused next to Trazzak. He didn’t look up as the engineer cleared his throat. “There might be something else going on. I find it hard to believe you’ve got all the facts. Do they know there were transmissions? What times were they sent? Was Jessalyn even awake when these things happened? Don’t let your ego blind you to the requirements of the mission. Captain.”
Trazzak ground his teeth as the engineer’s use of the title hit too close to home. He wanted to do well on his first mission, and yet he got stuck with Barnes and her shady past. He refused to consider Frrar’s points about the transmissions, or the ridiculous assertion about Trazzak’s ego playing a part. Barnes’s rejection had nothing to do with his anger or his decision to confine her to quarters. That was for the safety of the crew and the ship, and to protect what was left of their mission.
He told himself that again and again as the anger faded and Dablon Seven grew closer, and still Trazzak couldn’t come up with a plan to get the technology quickly and without any significant risk. Hopefully Yurik had some good ideas, and maybe a brig where he could lock Barnes up.
His ego. Trazzak bared his teeth at the viewing screen. His ego had nothing to do with it. He’d broken the rules with Barnes, and look where it got them. Trazzak would never make that mistake again.
Jess
Jess couldn’t keep up with Trazzak as he stormed through the halls and accused her of things she knew nothing about. Her brain clicked along too slowly as he ordered her to surrender the relay and then said something about staying in her quarters. Something about transmissions to the Fleet and the Heisenberg being ambushed and a spy in their midst.