Gabie crossed here eyes at her.
“So what’s the problem?” Misha licked some chocolate off her thumb. “He loves you, you love him, and you live happily ever after.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is.”
“What about you?”
“Me?”
“You, Olin and Paz. I can’t just ditch you.”
Misha looked at her for several long seconds and when she next spoke her tone was softer than Gabie had ever heard it. “Oh, Gabie, is that what this is about?”
“Yes.” Gabie shrugged.
“We’ll be fine. Gabie we’ve always been family, that won’t change. But you need to follow your own path, and we need to follow our path.”
“Shamon said if you wanted to come and stay on Daamen he’d buy you all a house to live in, and you could get a job, and Olin could sleep and Paz could go to school.” At the expression on Misha’s face, Gabie gave a sheepish grin. “It sounded better last night.”
Misha shook her head.
“I told him we all had plenty of dinnos of our own and he didn’t need to provide for us.”
“He’s really sweet and all, but Gabie, I have my own plans.”
“You do?” Well, that was a surprise.
“Sure. I’m going to find Emet.”
Gabie’s mouth fell open. “Emet?”
“When this is over, I’m going to find him.” Misha met her gaze steadily. “I want to see if there’s anything between us, if anything could be between us.”
“Misha, are you sure? He’s wanted.”
“And if he’s wanted, and we find out we love each other, then we’ll settle in the Outlaw Sector somewhere.”
Just like that? Gabie blinked.
“And if you three want to come, you can.”
“What if we don’t?”
“I’ll see you all settled and go myself.”
“You’d leave us?”
Misha sighed. “Gabie, I love you all, honestly. But sometimes different paths beckon. Emet is my crossroad. I need to find out if we have a life together.”
“Cripes.” Gabie shook her head. “And here I was worried about leaving you.”
Misha smiled.
“You’re brave,” Gabie said bluntly. “Why did I never notice that before?”
“Because you’re arrogant.” Misha laughed when Gabie threw the chocolate wrapper at her. Catching it, she crumpled it in her hand and tossed it back to Gabie. “Because we’ve never had to think about each other that way. We grew up together, we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses without having to consciously grasp the concept.”
“Scary thought.”
“Yeah, it’s given me some nightmares, too.”
“I mean, you’re able to see the parting of the ways as just something that happens. I find it harder.”
A kind look crossed Misha’s face. “That’s because you’re such a family person, Gabie.”
“What? No.”
“Yes. You look after us, you care for us, you do all sorts of crazy things and drag us along with you—”
“Hey, I’ve followed you on some crazy jaunts.”
“Yes, but don’t you see, Gabie? You like having family around. Friends. You’re a born family person.”
“And you’re not? Crap.” Gabie wasn’t entirely too sure what she thought of this assessment.
“Sure, I like family, but like all families sometimes we have to go our own ways. You never thought about it because you never thought we would, never even considered the possibility because you didn’t want to.”
“Of course I thought we might, but one day. Not now.”
“Now is one day.”
Gabie stared at Misha. Bugger. She was right.
“But what about Paz? Olin? They’re our family.”
“Olin is old enough to choose whether he wants to come with me or stay on Daamen and sleep his days away. Paz is young, but he needs a say. And Gabie...” Misha hesitated. “He needs a stable home now.”
“Are you saying we neglected him?”
“No way. I’m saying that he has a chance at stability, and whether he gets that with you or me, he has a choice. He needs that to be content.”
“If we split up he won’t be happy.”
Misha smiled. “Paz is more intelligent than he lets on.”
Silently Gabie looked past Misha to the blackness of space beyond. Pin pricks of light, stars in velvet darkness, shone brightly. Like a million wishes and hopes and dreams of a future in an uncertain world.
“Wow,” she finally said. “I feel stupid.”
“Sure you do,” Misha said cheerfully. “But we lived for the moment, Gabie. Nothing wrong with that. It’s just now we all face a crossroads and paths have to be chosen.”
“We just have to choose the right ones,” Gabie murmured.
“And for the right reasons. And the first thing for you is to get it straight in your own head whether or not you love Shamon.” Misha pointed at her. “Let me make it easy for you. Will you leave him and come with me?”
“When do we return?”
“Maybe never.”
“Shit, no. Are you out of your mind?”
“There’s your answer.”
“Huh?”
“You chose Shamon over me.”
Appalled, Gabie shot upright from the chair. “Oh, Misha, I never meant—”
“God, girl, get a grip on reality!” Misha rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t come with me if you knew I was never coming back, if you couldn’t see Shamon again. If you didn’t love him, you could do it. You really need a good smack to the head to get your thoughts unscrambled.”
“I’ve had enough slaps, thank you.”
“Then it didn’t do any good.” Misha straightened up and walked across to the door. “Sometimes, Gabie, you shouldn’t think about things too hard. You can make mountains out of molehills.” At the door she turned and grinned. “See you later Mother Hen.”
Gabie sent her a rude gesture.
Once she was alone in the cabin again she resumed contemplating the space outside. Wow, things were getting weirder. Misha actually had plans. Olin and Paz had to make a decision. Gabie had to stop doubting herself and make a clear-cut decision.
“Cripes,” she said out loud. “I love Shamon.”
She waited. Nothing mocked her, nothing echoed back. In fact, it felt good to say the words aloud.
“I love Shamon.” She tested it out on her tongue again, and grinned. A little prick of delight slid through her. “I love Shamon. Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.”
Leaning back in her chair, she gazed out at space again.
“I’ll live on Daamen, be a working woman until I have lots of babies, and then I’ll rear them and make love almost every night to a big hunk.”
She waited for panic to set in, but a surprising feeling filled her instead. That actually sounded even better. She grinned wider.
Well, when said hunk was home. The saying was absence made the heart grow fonder. If that were true then with the fire that blazed between them, they’d burn up the sheets every time he came home.
With a smile on her face, she daydreamed the next hour away.
~ * ~
The Intergalactic Peace Ship—IPS for short—was massive. It was the main ship for meetings between fifty planet leaders, which included their advisors and families. People worked on the ship, and IPS soldiers guarded the ship and the leaders on it. IPS security operated from the ship as well, but it was whispered that this not-quite-understood arm of the IPS law had other places they met and worked. Secret places.
The docking bay at the bottom of the ship was heavily guarded, and security fell into step each side of Gabie, Misha, Olin and Paz as they stepped down into the bay.
Gabie wasn’t happy about being parted from the traders, but there wasn’t much she could do but give Shamon a cheery wave and put on relaxed face.
“Love makes you do
nice things for others,” Misha whispered from the corner of her mouth.
“I don’t like being amongst security. They give me the willies.” Gabie glanced sideways at the soldiers. “So do they.”
Olin just looked sleepy, but Paz was looking around in wide-eyed awe as they were herded down long corridors in the bowels of the ship. Eventually a big lift with open doors stood at the bottom, and they were guided onto it.
“You sure this doesn’t lead to prison cells?” Gabie asked suspiciously.
“I wish,” Des replied.
“You know, you really need a personality transplant.”
“I like me just the way I am.”
“So does Simon,” Freeman offered with a lazy grin.
Before Des could say anything, Sabra said, “We’re taking you to meet Uleah and Meekta. Uleah is the security chief. Meekta is the head of the planetary leaders. He knows we’re onto something, and has been waiting to hear the information as we’ve gathered it. We have enough to place before him now.”
“Hey, you know more than we do,” Misha pointed out. “I don’t think we need to meet the big cheeses.”
“They want to meet you, and it’s vital that security can recognize you on sight so you won’t be apprehended when you’re walking aboard ship.” Sabra looked them over. “Meekta likes to know what is happening.”
Personally, Meekta and Uleah scared the hell out of Gabie. Meekta was a tall, imposing figure in a long, black robe with a hard face and intense eyes that seemed to peer right into her soul. Not a good thing. Uleah watched them all with an intensity that made her want to squirm.
And not in a good way like Shamon made her squirm.
Hey, maybe she was in love after all. Was this the sign?
And maybe she’d better try not to divert her nervousness by thinking thoughts that shouldn’t be thought while being so closely scrutinized by two men who could squash her legally like a bug. A woman in private enterprise had to keep her wits about her.
Paz was too wide-eyed to be nervous. He was gawking at everything, his head swivelling around his neck as though he were demon possessed.
Olin didn’t appear too concerned.
Misha was as jittery as a bug on a lampshade, but she managed to hide it. Gabie only knew because her friend’s eyes were taking everything in with flitting glances.
God above, they all probably looked as guilty as sin.
Meekta sighed suddenly. “These are your witnesses?”
“So far,” Sabra replied calmly. “And the slaves and prisoners.”
“But nothing to tie them to the other?”
“We’ll get it, don’t worry. This is just rounding up those who might not be found when needed.”
Cripes, that was a veiled hint of Sabra’s belief that Gabie and her mob might entertain ideas about fleeing the area. Not without Shamon Gabie wouldn’t, and not after seeing those image photos, either. She frowned at Sabra. Who ignored her.
Story of her life. And one that had made her very successful as a small-time smuggler. Cripes, and look where that had got them. Now they were in the middle of big legal clout. Whoo hoo. Not.
Uleah looked up from the handtronic in his hand. “Gabie of Ceron, introduced to smuggling at an early age by her father, took over his business when he passed away, and continued being a small time smuggler with access to dubious methods enabling her to pass her illegal merchandise as legal when searched by peacekeepers.”
“We like to call it private enterprise,” Paz chirped up excitedly.
Cripes! Gabie didn’t dare look at him.
“Hmm,” Uleah said, then switched his gaze to Misha. “Misha of Ceron. Grew up with Gabie, joined her as part of her crew when Gabie took over smuggling.”
“Private enter—” began Paz.
“Not now, Paz,” Misha growled out of the side of her mouth.
“Usually acknowledged as Gabie’s second-in-command.” Uleah looked at Olin. “Olin, birth place unknown, believed to be a one-time outlaw who was never identified by the law. Part of Gabie’s crew since he hooked up with her father.” His gaze finally fell on Paz, who was still gawking at everything. “Paz, orphaned young and taken on by Gabie as the final person in her crew on a stopover on the outskirts of the Outlaw sector. Birth place unknown.” He flicked a switch on the handtronic. “That’s it.”
Gabie was surprised they didn’t know the colour of her panties as well.
“And now four prime witnesses in a very delicate case.” Meekta stared heavily at them.
Obviously he wasn’t impressed. Gabie felt the overpowering need to bow and scrape but managed to retain her dignity and stare back. Sort of. She looked at his nose instead of meeting that assessing, hard-eyed gaze.
“Take them to their appointed cabins,” Uleah told Sabra. “Make sure they are fitted with monitors and several security guards before turning them loose onboard. They are to remain on the main floors only.”
And that was that. The Larceny crew were herded out, down another long corridor, up another two floors and finally led to two cabins. Olin and Paz were escorted into one cabin, and Misha and Gabie into the one directly beside it.
As cabins went, these were luxurious. Big beds, velvet covers, graceful furniture, huge rooms. Gabie could get used to it. She wasn’t too happy when her sleeve was rolled up briskly by Des and a narrow metal cuff was snapped around her arm just above the elbow.
“Your monitors,” Des informed her, snapping an identical one around Misha’s arm. “It doesn’t matter if anyone sees them, they are only recognizable by security, but we prefer to keep them out of sight anyway.”
“Oh, another secret,” Gabie said to Misha.
“It doesn’t match my shirt. Do you have it in another colour?” Misha queried.
“Personally I’d like to put it around your neck,” Des replied. “But we can’t all have we want.”
She left the room and Gabie and Misha looked at each other.
“Wow,” Misha said. “Beats a cell any day.”
“This is true.” Gabie looked around. “And I haven’t had my hair pulled once today. Life is good.”
“We better check on Paz and Olin.” Misha started for the door. “Olin is probably asleep already and Paz will be having a heart attack.”
“You reckon?” Gabie followed her. “He’s too excited to think heart palpitations right now.”
“Yeah. Excitement from Paz is scary. Miserable suits him better.”
They laughed as Misha opened the door, only to come face to face with two security guards who watched them impassively.
“Oh, escorts,” Misha said. “How sweet.”
“I’m Merissa.” The woman’s features were totally expressionless. “This is Brion.”
Brion was just as impassive as his co-worker.
Gabie peered around. “What? Only two guards? I’m disappointed.”
The security guards just looked at them.
Misha eyed them from the corners of her eyes as she knocked on the cabin door of Paz and Olin.
Paz yanked the door open and peered out excitedly. “Misha! Gabie! Have you seen this room? Wow!”
“God above,” Misha said. “Get a grip, boy. This much excitement can’t be good for you.”
“He’s been like it since we arrived.” Olin grinned a little.
“Can we go for a walk?” Paz’s cheeks were actually flushed.
Misha and Gabie exchanged glances.
“Sounds like a good idea,” a deep voice rumbled from behind them.
And wouldn’t you know it, that familiar warmth went shooting straight through Gabie at just his voice. Turning to face Shamon, she grinned up in delighted relief, and yes, her heart did do a crazy somersault in her chest.
“Love,” Misha whispered.
Ignoring her, Gabie simply walked over and flung her arms around Shamon. Who the hell cared who watched? She’d just faced down the security chief and the highest planet leader and lived to tell the tale. If she cou
ld do that, she could hug Shamon in public.
He obviously had no worries about kissing her quite thoroughly in public. By the time he set her down she was flustered and more than a little warm. Hoo boy, that fire was just starting to spark along her veins.
“Misha and I are sharing a cabin,” she felt compelled to tell him.
Shamon laughed, amusement making his brown eyes dance merrily. “Don’t worry, lass, ’tis a lot of rooms on board this huge ship.”
“I’m being monitored.” She gestured to Merissa and Brion. “And guarded.”
“Oh?” He looked over her head, but his eyes still twinkled. “I’m sure I can work something out with Sabra.”
“We’re going for a walk,” Paz informed him, bright-eyed. “Coming?”
“Aye, I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” he replied.
“Nor would I,” Heddam added, falling in beside him.
It was the most interesting and best walk Gabie had ever been on. Best because Shamon’s arm was around her shoulders hugging her gently into his side, and interesting because there were so many different people on board from so many different planets. Each wore their planet clothes of prestige and amongst these obvious dignitaries, workers hurried. Neatly dressed, calm and correct, they moved with quiet, speedy efficiency through the crowds. IPS soldiers marched along the sides of the corridors in pairs, and Gabie caught sight of security guards here and there.
The place teemed with law.
How ironic that the Larceny crew walked the same halls, and were guarded by the law as well. It made her want to laugh uproarisly. Her father would have been so impressed.
An hour later and they were still walking and exploring. Gabie came to a stop as a delicious smell wafted through the air. Roasting meat. Her mouth watered and her eyes lit up.
“Hungry?” Shamon queried, sensitive as always to her moods. Or maybe he was just observant enough to see her sniffing the air with her tongue almost hanging out and drooling.
“Starving,” she agreed.
Merissa led them down the corridor, swung a right, and then a left into a huge dining room. Tables of people filled the floor space with wide areas between the tables left clear for the people to walk in-between on their way to and from the huge serving area at the back of the dining hall.
Heddam sat down at an empty table they came across in the middle of the hall. “I’ll guard this while you get the food,” he informed Shamon.
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