by Susan Hayes
It was interesting to note that while he knew she was staying at the club, he didn’t appear to know about her relationship with Kit and Luke. How ever he was getting his information, his source didn’t know everything. At some point, she intended to find out who was ratting her out and make sure they paid for their part in all of this.
Instead of ripping into Vin or demanding answers she knew he wouldn’t give her, she took a slow breath and looked him squarely in the eye. “I’m here now. That’s all that should matter to you. I want Royan back, and I want him back alive and well and in one piece.”
Vin scoffed and waved his hand. “Your brother’s fine. Any damage we did to him was in self-defense. He didn’t come quietly. Some of my men got their asses handed to them trying to take him down.”
“Where is he?” she asked without letting him hear the relief she felt at hearing Royan was okay.
“Somewhere safe. You hand over the Sun Sprite and everything else your dad gave you and I’ll take you to him. Once I find what I’m looking for, I’ll cut you both loose.”
It was time to play the only cards she had left. “I’m not keen on the idea of being your guest for any length of time. In fact, I’d rather skip that part of your plan. If you’re after what I think you are, you don’t need my ship. I have everything you want right here.” She held out the chain with her father’s ring hanging from the end.
“What’s that piece of junk got to do with anything?” Vin’s tone was dubious, but his gaze never strayed from the ring around her neck.
“Turns out Dad’s ring is more than it appears. I recently discovered that the gem is a data crystal. He hid a video recording for me on it, along with a stash of cash. I assume the money is what you’re after. It’s all yours in exchange for Royan.”
His eyes were nearly glowing with greed as he held out his hand to her and snapped his fingers. “Hand it over.”
“Not a chance. This is my only bargaining chip. Did you really think I was going to hand it to you just like that?” She slipped the ring beneath her shirt again. She couldn’t let him get his hands on the crystal until Royan was safe.
Vin shrugged, an indulgent sneer on his lips. “It was worth a try.”
She lowered her gaze and softened her voice, trying to appear defeated. “You can have the money, Vin. Take the ring, too. Just give me my brother and it’s all yours.”
“What you lack in looks, you always did make up for in smarts,” Vin said.
“I’m smart enough to know this place is full of your men. I want to do the exchange somewhere else, somewhere I can see what’s coming at me.”
“Works for me.” He rattled off a set of coordinates for a location only a short hop from where they were currently located. “Take off as soon as you can and meet us there.”
Zura nodded, her thoughts racing almost as fast as her pulse. She had expected him to name a location here on the Drift, not out in space. She couldn’t decide if this was a good turn of events or not. “Will do.”
Ganzer cleared his throat. “Vin? The chief didn’t give the okay for us to bring anyone to the ship. You sure this is a good idea?”
Vin snarled and glared at Ganzer. “Of course I’m fraxxing sure. I don’t need to ask permission for every little thing I do. I’m not a spineless wimp like you, I know how to take the initiative and get things done. There’s nowhere around here that isn’t under surveillance. I’m taking this exchange somewhere quiet where we can do our business without interruption. You got a problem with that?”
The Jeskyran blanched, not a good look for someone with his yellowish coloring. “Whatever you say, boss.”
“That’s right. I am your boss. Don’t fraxxing forget it again or you’ll be sucking vacuum.”
Zura watched the drama play out without saying a word or even changing her expression, but it wasn’t easy. Seeing Vin lose his temper reminded her of the last time they’d been together. That had been the night she had confronted him about the thefts, the cheating, and his lies. That was the first, last, and only time he had beaten her. The second she was released from medical, she had taken the Sun Sprite and left. The moment Royan learned what had happened, he’d met up with her and hadn’t left her alone until they were both convinced she was safe. He’d been there for her, and now she was going to do the same for him.
“We done here? I believe we both have somewhere else to be soon, and I’d like to get going,” she asked.
Vin nodded. “One more thing, Zura. When I get to the rendezvous, if I see so much as a piece of space junk floating where it shouldn’t be, your brother is a dead man. You’ve been smart so far, following instructions and keeping things just between us. Keep it up and this will all be over soon.”
She shrugged and let her head sag forward a little. “You’re holding all the cards, Vin. I get that. You deliver Royan to me, and you’ll get what you want.”
“Good girl. I’ll see you soon.” Vin drained the rest of his drink and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Aware she had been summarily dismissed, Zura rose from the table in silence and made her way back to the same door she had come in. Once she was outside, she exhaled harshly and headed straight for the Sun Sprite.
“I’m coming back now. I’m okay,” she muttered just loudly enough for her comm device to pick up her words and broadcast them to Kit and Luke. She couldn’t risk anything more than a brief message. Vin would have men watching her, and she couldn’t give them any reason to think she wasn’t going along with his plan.
Back on the Sun Sprite, Luke sighed in relief as her message came through. “Thank fraxx she’s out of there. Killing that son of a bitch is going to be a pleasure.”
“Agreed.” Kit rolled his shoulders and then twisted in his seat to look at Luke. “I don’t like the fact the next rendezvous is going to be out there. It’s going to make it harder for Mack and Dash to avoid being spotted.”
Luke nodded. “I don’t like it either, but it’s not like we have a choice. Besides, when have you ever known a plan to survive contact with the enemy?”
His brother ran a hand through his hair and grunted in acknowledgment. “That’s the truth. I thought we’d left these days behind us when we left service. I was enjoying retirement.”
“Me, too. Hopefully, we can go back to busting heads back at the Nova after this. Maybe after we take Zura to bed and don’t come out of our quarters for a week.”
“Make it two weeks and you’ve got yourself a plan.”
Both of them lapsed into silence again as they tracked Zura’s progress across the station. The moment she was safely on board, they left the cockpit to join her. Luke knew he wouldn’t truly relax until he had her in his arms again.
She stomped down the main corridor toward them. “I hate that slimy jerk. What the hell did I ever see in him? Once we have Royan back, I hope you two tear him to pieces. Slowly. Tell me you heard everything and you’ve already sent a message to your friends telling them about the change in plans.”
“Damn. Has anyone told you that you are glorious when you’re pissed?” Luke asked as he intercepted her and drew her into his arms. She glowered at him for a moment, then broke into laughter as she burrowed into his arms.
“Only the two of you are crazy enough to think so. So, did you catch the coordinates for our next meeting?”
Kit nodded. “We heard. We sent out an encrypted message right away and got an acknowledgment back. They’re already on the move.”
“We need to be moving, too. Vin didn’t give me much time. I guess he thinks it will reduce the chances of me inviting anyone else to the party. He doesn’t know me as well as he thinks he does.”
“If he knew you at all, he would be on the fastest ship he could find and already be running to the far side of the cosmos,” Kit agreed.
Luke didn’t say a word. Instead, he dipped his head and kissed his beautiful, courageous love. He had no idea what the future held, but one thing he was certain
of was that it would never be boring.
“You’re getting ahead of yourself, Luke. First, we save my brother, then we celebrate.”
“Yes, captain,” he drawled, earning himself another grin.
“Veth, I love it when you two say that to me. Now, let go of me so I can start preparing for departure. Kit, do me a favor and run a check on all our defense systems. I have a feeling we’re going to need them.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kit checked the time again. They were waiting for an update from Mack and Dash, but so far there had been nothing but silence. He knew his friends were out there somewhere, but where? In a few short minutes, they would arrive at the coordinates Vin provided, and from what he could tell, it was an ideal place for an ambush. There was nothing out this way but empty space and asteroids, and plenty of places for a ship to hide.
The entire asteroid field was all that was left of two small planets that had once orbited the system’s sun. Somewhere in the distant past, the two planets had collided, spawning a huge expanse of debris-strewn space. Vin and his buddies could take cover near any one of the tens of thousands of massive rocks that were scattered across the sector. Some of those asteroids were big enough to hide a fraxxing space cruiser.
Please, don’t let them have anything that big or well-armed.
“I hate to be the first one to point out the obvious, but where the hell is everyone?” Luke said, gesturing to the monitors showing the empty asteroid belt outside.
“They’re probably still trying to get all the pieces in place. We were all expecting the exchange to take place somewhere on the Drift,” Zura said.
“Which is mostly likely why Vin opted to move it out here,” Kit agreed.
Zura’s comm device chimed. She scanned the incoming message, replied, and then blew out a harried breath. “Our backup is here, and they brought friends. There are three Corp-Sec ships in the vicinity. They’re staying out of scanning range until we give them the signal to move in. All we have to do is go in, get Royan, and get our asses out of the line of fire before all hell breaks loose. Speaking of scanning range, it’s time the two of you headed to the cargo bay.”
“You sure they won’t be able to detect our life signs if we’re in there?” Luke asked.
“I’m positive. Dad had some…interesting modifications done to that part of the ship over the years. It can be completely shielded as needed, which was very handy when he was running black market merchandise.”
“Your father wasn’t exactly trying to be nominated for parent of the year, was he? I can’t believe you were raised around all this and still managed to be a good, decent human being,” Luke said, throwing his hands out to encompass the ship.
She laughed. “I’m only half human. Dad always said I took after my mother. Wait until you meet, Royan. He’s just like our father.”
“Fraxx, I just realized that this rescue is also going to be our first introduction to your family. I hope we make a good first impression,” Kit said with a grin.
“You’re charging in to save his ass. As first impressions go, I’d say that has to be a ten out of ten.” Zura shooed them out of the cockpit and ordered the ship’s computer to take over navigating before joining them in the corridor. She squeezed by them to take the lead on the way to the cargo bay while Kit took a moment to enjoy the view of her sexy curves from behind. He still couldn’t believe she was all theirs. Beautiful. Brave. Full of life and fire.
Whatever it took to retrieve her brother and keep her safe, Kit would do it. He had spent his entire life as a soldier fighting in battles that had no meaning for him. This time was different. This time, he was fighting for his future and the future of the woman he loved.
* * * *
Zura was still seeing her vardo settled in the cargo bay when an alert sounded, letting her know the computer had detected another ship nearby.
“Go. We’re good here. You can fill us in on what’s going on over comms,” Kit said, pointing toward the door.
“We’ll see you soon. Don’t start the fun without us,” Luke added, blowing her a kiss.
“You’re both crazy, but I love you. Thank you for coming with me,” she told them before turning on her heel and jogging back to the cockpit.
The moment she could see the monitors, she uttered a curse and stopped dead in her tracks. “Holy hell. Who the fraxx are you working for these days, Vin?”
There was another ship out there all right, but it wasn’t a shuttle or a small freighter like the one she’d expected. It was much bigger. From what she could see, it had been a commercial vessel at some point in its life, but even at first glance, she could see it had been modified, and whoever had done it hadn’t cared about aesthetics. Its once streamlined form was now misshapen, and the formerly pristine white hull was marred with a patchwork of different paint jobs and parts. There were no identifying marks on it anywhere. Not even a name or a number.
The ship was large enough to dwarf the Sun Sprite. In fact, her entire ship could probably fit inside one of its hangars. The second the thought crossed her mind, she realized that was likely what was going to happen. She had expected a ship-to-ship docking to handle the exchange. Like most freighters, the Sun Sprite’s cargo bay had a sealed airlock that could be used to link up to another ship for the quick transfer of goods.
So much for Plan B. On to Plan C.
“Guys? I found our rendezvous point, and there is a huge fraxxing ship waiting for us already. I haven’t heard from them yet, but it’s big enough that I’m going to guess we’ll be landing in one of their hangars and making the trade there.”
“Veth. If we have to get out of there in a hurry, can you do it?” Luke asked over their comms.
“If we have to haul ass, Kit can blow the hangar door open, and I’ll get us out. You two stay put for now. You can still come out the cargo bay door when the time comes. I’m going to let the others know what they’ll be up against.”
She captured an image of the other ship and sent it over her encrypted link to the ships standing by. The more information they had going in, the better the odds that everything went their way.
She settled back into her seat and took over manual control while she waited for the other ship to make contact. In the meantime, she studied the other craft. It was carefully synchronized with one of the larger asteroids so that the two of them tumbled together, which explained why her ship hadn’t detected it until she was nearly on top of the damned thing. It was using the massive chunk of rock to mask its presence. If she hadn’t been given these specific coordinates, she would’ve flown right by without ever knowing it was there.
Two minutes later she was finally hailed, and her heart started to pound. This was it. Showtime.
“Attention incoming vessel. Identify yourself,” a cold voice demanded.
She flipped a switch on her console, activating the ship's communication system. “This is the cargo vessel Sun Sprite. I believe you’re expecting me.”
There was a brief pause, and then the chilly male voice was back. “Confirmed. You are instructed to dock in hangar two at the aft of the ship. Make your approach slowly and do not alter course or you will be fired upon.”
“Setting course now,” she answered tersely before deactivating the mic. “Real warm and fuzzy welcome there. I hope that hangar is clearly marked or this is going to be tricky.”
Once the course was set, she activated her comm device and spoke to her vardo. “I was right. We’re landing inside the other ship, which should tell you how big it is. There’s been no word from Vin yet, but they were expecting us, so he has to be close by. He’s probably on board already. I didn’t exactly tax the engines getting here. I hope Royan forgives me for that.”
“You gave our Corp-Sec buddies the time they needed to get everything in place. He’ll understand. You came for him. That’s all that matters,” Kit said.
His words soothed her nerves a little, and she smiled to herself. “Thanks. I’m going
to switch my comm device over to broadcast mode now. I’ll see you both after we land. I trust you to know when to make an appearance.”
“We wouldn’t miss this for anything, gorgeous. See you soon,” Luke added before both of them went silent again.
The rest of the flight passed quickly. A few simple maneuvers to line up with the only open hangar door, and then a straightforward landing. Less than three seconds after she cleared the hangar doors, they started to close behind her. By the time the Sun Sprite touched down, the doors were sealed, and atmosphere was already filling the hangar. She stayed seated, waiting for her next instructions. It didn’t take long before the voice was back.
“You will exit your ship via the main door. No weapons. Walk forward thirty paces and then halt. You will be met, and further instructions will be given.”
“Acknowledged,” she replied and then headed for the door, aware that her vardo had heard every word.
She waited at the door until the computer indicated that there was sufficient atmosphere for her to breathe normally. As the door slid open, a ramp extruded from the ship, providing her with an easy descent to the hangar floor. The hangar itself was empty apart from the Sun Sprite. The walls were bare, and the floor had only a few landing marks and lines that were so badly scratched and faded that she could barely recognize them for what they were. Whatever this ship was, it saw a lot of traffic.
She had only taken a couple of steps before a door opened on the far side of the space and a half-dozen grim-faced and well-armed men came through. She recognized Vin right away, but it was the sight of her brother being supported between two of the biggest guys that held her attention. Royan was on his feet, but just barely. His hands were bound in front of him, and he walked with an unsteady, halting gait that made her stomach twist.