by Kelly Jensen
“Here.”
“We found Emma.”
“Holy shit.”
Felix gave Emma a quick wink. The gesture felt weird. The whole situation was damned weird. “We’re going to try accessing the docks through the research labs.”
“Got it.” Elias fiddled with something, the sound a susurrus of static. “We’ll follow behind. Just out of sight.”
“Sing out if you see anything.”
“Not gonna sing, man, but I will ping you.”
Felix checked the map one more time before deactivating the display. “Let’s move out.”
The back of his neck itched and crawled until they ascended to the level above. There, they joined the main concourse. Ironically, the crowd felt safer than the relative quiet of the lower levels. He tried to judge the time by the flow of traffic but couldn’t get a precise fix—the blackness of space outside the elevated windows offered no clue. Felix ignored the urge to check his bracelet. He didn’t need to know what time it was—how many hours had passed since they docked or since he’d found out the truth about Zed. He’d rather keep a hold of the feeling they were close to their goal, even if leaving Chloris with Emma on board presented yet another challenge.
Beside him, both Zed and Emma remained quiet and alert. He’d expected them both to vibrate with tension, but they had probably had that trained out of them five years before. Covert ops wasn’t for the nervy and the twitchy.
“AEF at nine o’clock,” Zed murmured, his lips barely moving. “Check the window to your right.”
Felix didn’t understand the instruction until he looked at the window and caught the reflection of the soldiers. A man and a woman, both in Ground Ops uniforms. He wasn’t surprised by the desert camo. Military was military, as far as most people knew. A uniform, a uniform. What they didn’t know was that these soldiers had probably been recently assigned because the AEF didn’t have enough personnel to field Station Ops teams in this region of space. It would be years before recruitment replenished the ranks, according to the latest he’d heard from Marnie. She liked to send him nuggets of info like that, subtle warnings to watch his ass.
The soldiers appeared wary but bored. Complacency hadn’t dulled their edge, though. Worn clothes, military bearing or sheer dumb luck had the female glancing their way.
“Fuck,” Zed murmured.
Would scanning a map for the nearest exit look suspicious?
A familiar dark head bobbed through the crowd, a tangle of red curls right beside. Elias and Nessa, trying for distraction. The female turned an annoyed expression toward the couple standing in front of her, but her companion looked over their heads to lock eyes with Felix.
Well, if that wasn’t uncomfortable...
“If I don’t see you in the research corridors, I’ll meet you on the ship.”
“What are you doing?”
“What I do best. Take care of Emma.”
Felix directed a quick smile at Zed and Emma and then ducked sideways, into the crowd. He moved roughly, deliberately knocking shoulders and stepping on feet. Issuing loud apologies, he stumbled again, catching himself on a guy wearing a shiny suit. Felix’s glove caught on his lapel. He jerked it free, taking a thread with it.
“Hey, watch it...”
The admonishment faded behind him as Felix ran, ducking and weaving. His contrived stumble had caused enough of a scene to gain the soldier’s attention, though, and he soon heard the steady thump of boot soles behind him. Dipping his head, Felix poured all his anxiety into his legs and ran harder. The soldier didn’t call out, but the sea of humanity parted for them anyway. If they’d been two levels down, Felix could have counted on the crowd to close into knots against the soldier, but up here, folks were all law-abiding and shit.
Something grazed his shoulder, leaving a sting behind. Not as effective as a touch stun, but it could still hurt enough to slow him, distract him, maybe knock his legs out from under him. He didn’t dare turn. Putting on a last burst of speed, he rounded a corner, pushed himself into a narrow lane and pelted toward the end. There, he turned left instead of right, doubling back on himself, and skidded to a halt by the closest door. The all-access code Zed had passed to every member of the team made quick work of the door.
Felix wished he’d had it on their first foray—not that he minded hacking locks. But he understood Zed’s desire to limit the use—Anatolius Security could track it. They’d know he’d been in this room. Zed would have to just use one of his megawatt smiles to explain it away. Man, it was sweet to have access to every corner of the station, though. Without a soldier on his heels, Felix could really take advantage of something like this—if he were so inclined to. Except he wasn’t, ’cause he wasn’t a thief. Not really. Just sort of nosy. And he liked shiny things.
Footsteps halted in the junction outside his door. After a quick pause, they took off to the right. While he waited for a second set of footsteps, Felix checked his shoulder. The fabric of his SFT showed a thin scorch mark and the skin beneath was numb. He’d been lucky. He waited another minute before easing back out into the hall. There, he retraced his steps to the main concourse and blended with the crowd. A short while later he used the code again to access the corridors that threaded behind the research sector.
He tapped his bracelet. “Eli?”
“There you are.” The immediate answer soothed a good number of his fears.
“Here I am. Where’s Zed?”
“Right next to me, charming the Anatolius lead scientist.”
Despite the blood still hammering through his veins, Felix found a smile for that. He’d bet the scientist had nicely proportioned assets, and that she was curled right around Zed’s little finger. Maybe he should have sent Zed to charm the AEF soldier instead of taking a run through the station.
A ping caused his bracelet to vibrate gently. Felix activated his map and checked the location. “I’m close. I’ll come meet you.”
The lead scientist was a man, and he was wrapped firmly around Zed’s little finger. Felix swallowed his immediate reaction. Now really wasn’t the time.
“Welcome back,” Nessa murmured as he joined the group.
He hovered at the rear, near Emma, who had her hair hanging loose around her face. Not the best disguise, but enough to ensure no one looked at her twice. All the scientists in the labs were probably too caught up in their work to bother with mundane shit like watching the news, anyway.
An anticlimactic seven minutes later, the scientist keyed open a door and ushered them out onto the docks. “Here you are, Mr. Anatolius.”
Zed rewarded the guy with a smile that affected Felix as much as the scientist. “Thank you, Dr. Macario. I’ll be sure to pass along your observations to my brother Maddox.”
Yeah, right. If Zed didn’t want to talk with Brennan, he wasn’t likely to call up his geeky middle brother to chat, either. But it was all a part of the illusion.
Emma bumped his shoulder. A sideways glance showed her lips quirked into something like a smile. Felix felt the flush of his cheeks deepen. Her laugh was dry and strained—it had obviously been a while. Felix bared his teeth at her. Emma returned a proper smile. The warmth beneath his cheeks flowed inward—that flash of a smile was so damned familiar and so damned sad. It reminded him of days past, well past. Of being young and so stupidly careless. It also made him feel like the selfish ass he knew he was.
How long had it been since Emma had found something to laugh at?
What about Zed?
Sadness, regret and love—for his friends, all of them—formed an uncomfortable knot in his chest. Nudging the mix of emotions aside, he scanned the dock and found they were standing right outside Alpha Two. He turned to Zed. “You didn’t even have to check your map once, did you?”
Zed’s smile had a tired edge to it. “Nope.” He leaned in, lips almost caressing Felix’s ear. “They’ll be changing the access code within the hour.”
“I didn’t steal anything.”
“I know
, but you thought about it, didn’t you?”
Felix elbowed him in the side. “Some things never change, do they?”
Zed shook his head slowly and Felix was glad he left his answer there.
Chapter Fifteen
Elias kind of figured that watching Fixer, Emma, and Zed laugh together around the dinner table was about as close as he’d ever get to time travel. The years fell off each of them, rewinding them back into their Academy days. Fix, especially, looked young—which was a weird fucking experience. For as long as Elias had known him, Fixer had been an old soul.
It was a gut-wrenching reminder that the age had been forced on him.
Still, the past was past. Now was the time to revel in a successful job, the influx of Anatolius credits threatening to burst the virtual seams of his bank account, and the fact that everyone on his ship was safe. They’d all fly another day.
“So then.” Emma paused to gasp for breath. “Shit, this is good. So then, Zed grabs the shovel and yells, ‘You want to see the damage this fucking thing can do?’ And he roared. Roared!”
Zed flushed and toyed with the neck of his beer bottle. “I was trying to intimidate him. Farting around on duty,” he muttered.
“I think the private wet his pants.” Emma giggled. “I’ll tell you, I never saw him play-fighting with a shovel again.”
Fix nodded slowly, his eyes twinkling. “The esteemed major knows all about the sort of damage a shovel can do, right, Zander?”
“Shut up, Flick.”
“Okay, this story I’ve got to hear.” Elias leaned forward, a wide grin stretching his lips. Something that brought Zander Anatolius down a peg? Hell yes.
“Zed’s first posting was on Outrock Colony. Edge of the galaxy, tiny little—”
Elias waved a hand. “Yeah, I’d been there once before...” Before the stin had wiped it out. It had been one of the first colonies to fall, if he remembered right, and the first indication that the stin weren’t necessarily interested in mass destruction of humans via advanced and distant weaponry—no, they preferred the up close and personal approach to war. Which fit with what Zed had told them about the stin’s cultural needs.
“So, anyway, Zed was posted out there for two years.”
“Two lonely years,” Emma added. The way her eyes glimmered, she obviously knew the story too.
“I hate you both,” Zed grumbled.
“He and I met up after his posting was done,” Fix continued, “and I notice he’s got a new scar on the back of his head. And how’d you get that scar, Zed?”
“Fuck you, Flick.”
Emma took up the story as Zed’s flush deepened. “Apparently our favorite by-the-books, straitlaced lieutenant had been having an affair with a married man.”
“Fuck you too, Emma.”
“And the wife finally caught them and beaned Zed with the shovel,” Fixer concluded.
A bark of laughter escaped Elias. “Oh, shit.”
“How hard did she hit you?” Ness demanded.
“Hard enough to send him back to Central.” Fixer’s expression sobered a bit. “Hard enough that you were still having concussion symptoms when we met up a few months later.”
“Yeah. Which you kissed all better.” Zed waggled his brows and it was Fixer’s turn to blush.
“You were lucky you didn’t get nailed with conduct unbecoming,” Elias pointed out.
“Yep.” Something in his expression told Elias it had been a close thing. Zed sipped his beer and shot a glare at both Fix and Emma. “Wow, I missed you guys. How the hell did I think I could ever survive without you airing all my dirty laundry for fun?”
Emma leaned toward him, brushing their shoulders together. “I missed you too.” Surprise colored her features, as though she hadn’t expected to voice that thought aloud—or at least not as solemnly as she had. Instead of denying it, though, she owned it. “I did. Both of you.”
Elias thought about pointing out that she’d only been separated from Zed for the past few months, but then he wondered if Zed had really been there through the war. Like he was right now, laughing and smiling and joking. Probably not. Elias knew he was lucky—he’d witnessed the atrocities of the war, but they’d never touched his family directly. His dad was still flying his ship, taking fewer jobs now that he was “retired,” but still active. Still alive. Fix had lost his family. Zed had lost Fix. And it seemed as if Emma had lost both of them, despite trying to hang on to the one she could.
Was that what had prompted her to follow Zed into the hell of Project Dreamweaver, just trying to hold on to him? Only to be abandoned herself, it sounded like. And how would that kind of unrewarded devotion affect someone?
Harshly, Elias decided. He didn’t consider himself an expert of the human condition—other than living it—but he figured there was a lot hiding under Emma’s smile and giggles that wouldn’t see the light of day. Just like the shadows that lived in Fix’s eyes or the unrelenting tension in the lines on Zed’s face. He hoped Fix and Zed would keep their minds open.
And maybe an eye on each other’s backs.
Unless he was being too cynical. It happened sometimes.
Emma was watching him, her expression blank, unreadable. She might as well have allowed the distrust to wash over her features—it was clear enough. Elias shot her a wide, unconcerned grin, which was just slightly less irreverent than a raised middle finger.
“I’m gonna go verify our departure slot.” He pushed up from the table. Qek had put them in the queue, but it didn’t hurt to confirm when they’d get through the AEF scans and out into space. Emma might be better off sticking with Agrius, since they seemed invested in keeping her out of AEF hands, but Zed and Flick wouldn’t consider that option. Not that he blamed them.
Surprisingly, distrust aside, Emma seemed happy to stay aboard the Chaos. Maybe the reunion with her friends trumped the darkness behind her smile.
Qek clicked, her wide, unblinking eyes surveying the mess. “I will accompany you to ensure that all is satisfactory.”
Ness chuckled and rose as well. “You know, I think they all realize we’re giving them some time to themselves. We probably don’t have to mask it.”
“No, no, go on pretending,” Fix said. “It’s so much less awkward that way.”
Elias’s hand snaked out to rub through Fix’s curls. “Ass.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Can’t argue that.” He grinned, letting the expression encompass all three of the ex-soldiers sitting before him. “Welcome aboard, Emma. I don’t think I said it earlier.”
He caught her gaze and held it, arching one of his brows as his smile fell away. If she was as good as Zed, she’d read what he wasn’t saying in his expression.
You fuck with my crew, you fuck with me.
“Thanks, Captain.” She gave him a wide smile...but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Message received.
Somehow it didn’t make Elias feel any better.
* * *
“Are you fucking serious?” Zed stared up at the open hatch and the scarred face smiling down at him. A giggle—Emma’s—drifted from somewhere out of view.
Flick gave an exasperated sigh. “It’s not that high up, Zed, I promise.”
“High enough!”
“Still scared of heights, Zander?” He couldn’t see Emma but the amusement in her voice was unmistakable. “C’mon, you wuss, the view is fantastic.”
“It’s safe, Zed. It’s an access platform.” Flick turned aside to jostle something Zed couldn’t see. “It’s got a retractable barrier and everything.”
“Why can’t we just sit in the fucking mess?”
“Because sometimes—” Tension ratcheted through Flick’s shoulders, then bled away. “Why sit in the ship when we don’t have to?”
Zed gripped the ladder and started upward, hand over hand, compelled by what Flick hadn’t said. The other man had grown up on a space station and had served on a number of ships—he was used to clo
se quarters, to seeing the same metal walls every day. But after one of their asshole classmates had sealed Flick in a footlocker for a full day shortly after they’d arrived at the Academy, sometimes those walls had a tendency to close in on him.
So if Flick needed to get out of the ship while they revisited the past, then fuck, yeah, Zed would sit on the hull. He’d just try really hard not to look down.
By the time he poked his head through the hatch, Flick and Emma had already perched themselves against the railing Flick had extracted from the ceramix plating. Thankfully, their asses were planted firmly on the hull. Zed didn’t think he’d be able to stand the sight of either of them balanced on a rail. He didn’t like heights, but even more, he hated the thought of anyone falling.
“There he is.” Emma grinned and patted the spot beside her, which was farther away from the edge of the ship. Thoughtful.
Staying low, even though there was no wind in the sheltered area of the docking bay that would steal his balance, Zed made his way to her side and sat down with a grunt. If his hands gripped the railing tight enough to whiten the knuckles, neither Flick nor Emma commented on it. He kept his eyes on the distant wall of the docking bay, studiously avoiding any glance or acknowledgment of how high up they were. High. That was enough.
Behind them, the force-shield that kept the dock pressurized glimmered, obscuring the sight of the stars in the distance. Only auxiliary lights illuminated the dock, a testament to the fact that they were deep into the station’s night cycle. Off in the distance, Zed spotted a pair of Anatolius Security guards on patrol, but otherwise, the docks were echoingly quiet.
“It’s peaceful,” Emma said, her voice pitched low, almost reverent.
“Reminds me of the nights we’d all sneak up to the roof.” Flick smiled over Emma’s head. “Remember?”
Zed leaned against the railing, watching his friends and seeing them as they’d been almost twenty years before. Young, fresh, so bloody eager to learn and take the galaxy by storm. Especially Emma, with her multitude of talents.
“I’m surprised no one found Marnie’s hack,” Zed murmured. “The one that kept the door open for her.”