“Is Lors and Kedos locked up?”
“Yes,” Reese said.
“I will see them and then go to family.”
“Are you sure?” Nick checked. “You must be tired and they aren’t going anywhere.”
“I need...” She broke off. “I need way to be past this.”
“Fair enough,” Reese said softly. “We’ll be right beside you.”
They led her out to the elevator and Nick quickly phoned Poppy to say, “We’ve found Larsha. She’s unharmed and we’re taking her to the command centre.”
“I’ll meet you there,” she said and hung up.
The elevator doors opened and they saw the same woman who had been going down when they arrived. She stepped past them in a wary manner as they changed places with her, getting into the lift and turning to face forwards. She caught sight of Larsha and her eyes widened. “Aren’t you..?” The closing doors cut off her words but Nick was sure he heard the faint cry of, “Reward!” Everyone would be disappointed to learn that their chance of gaining credits was over.
The lift stopped on the second floor and they got out and headed to the command centre. Nick instinctively slowed his steps, a hand hovering in the air in case Larsha grew faint, thinking she must be feeling weak and shaky by now, but she marched along on her thick claw-like legs and he had to hurry to keep up. Poppy met them inside the command centre, standing beside Paul Ninety.
Larsha politely allowed them to be introduced to her and to express their pleasure that she was all right, showing impressive composure, before she asked to see the prisoners. The station owner looked uncertain but, when Nick nodded to him, he took them to the room beyond the computers and personnel. Larsha didn’t seem to notice the people who looked at her with curiosity from around the large centre.
Ninety unlocked the door and they all went inside. Korloff and Kedos had been sitting on the floor and Nick noted how far apart they were, but they jumped up as the door opened and then both froze when they saw Larsha.
Kedos took a tentative step towards her. “I am so happy you is safe.”
Larsha said, “I am happy to see you and Lors in prison. I hope you stay there always.”
“Neither one of us would have ever hurt you,” Korloff insisted. He had only been a prisoner for a couple of hours but he was in far more of a wrecked state than Larsha was.
“Liar,” Larsha told him. “I know at start what you plan for me.”
“No,” Korloff said. “We were allies. You have to help me.”
“I never work with you,” Larsha said. “I pretend to plan robbery with you so I stay alive and you get caught. You never wear mask – I know all along you want to kill me but I delay you long enough for father to find me.”
Nick’s respect for her increased as he listened to this.
“You said he didn’t care about you.” Korloff looked stunned to learn that he had been so thoroughly played by his prisoner.
Larsha leaned towards him. “Like you, I lie.”
Chapter Forty-Five
THEY HADN’T had a chance to tell Uxor and Yalfi in advance about finding Larsha so, when they walked in with her, there was a long moment when the three of them just stood and stared at each other. Their expressions might all be unreadable to the humans watching but there was a palpable lightening in the atmosphere.
Uxor took a step towards his daughter but it was her mother who spoke first.
“Larsha!” Yalfi scuttled across the room and lifted Larsha up off the floor before gently lowering her and rubbing a cheek against hers.
Uxor followed and hesitantly touched her shoulder. “I am glad you are safe.”
“I know.” With a claw-like arm still around her mother, Larsha leaned forward to rub her cheek against her father’s. “I am sorry to always making your life difficult.”
Uxor said, “I am not. You is daughter.”
Nick wiped a tear from his cheek and pulled Reese and Poppy away. Tanya could approach the family about any final details, including payment of their fee, but Larsha needed a bit of time alone with her parents first. They all had a lot to talk about and resolve between them, but he thought they would be all right now.
Concerned with freeing Larsha, he had pushed other thoughts to the back of his mind but he now remembered the kiss he and Reese had shared and everything Reese had said about his feelings. Nick looked round at him. Their eyes met and Reese grinned, looking happier than Nick had ever seen him. Why had he doubted this, given all the flirting and confiding conversations between them since they had met? They could be together and maybe even share a life together. He knew it was too soon to say anything like that aloud but he had never felt like this about someone before and, coupled with the joy at finding Larsha alive and reuniting her with her family, he couldn’t remember ever feeling this good.
Nick caught his sister’s sharp gaze on them as they began to walk back to the ship but he couldn’t worry about anything right now. She got out her hy-phone and had a short conversation that he gathered was with Paul Ninety, saying the reunion had gone well and asking about doctors on the station.
When the call ended she stopped walking and gestured to the left, where there was a yellow corridor with an orange carpet. “Doctor Gavaha is in room 72.”
He pulled a face that made his whole head hurt. “I don’t have the energy and you need to sleep even more than we do. Keith can patch up my nose.”
“Sycophant Two is a moron,” Poppy said and held a hand up, refusing to listen to any more protests.
Nick’s fate was sealed when Reese backed her up, saying, “You might have hidden injuries and your nose might be broken. It won’t take long and I want you fully recovered as soon as possible.”
His expression when he said this made Nick smile again. It hurt his nose and his face really was throbbing with pain, but he couldn’t seem to stop smiling at the moment. He let Poppy lead the way.
The doctor was an alien, almost translucent with a box-like shape that made him wider than the three detectives combined but barely any taller than them. “I have treated every species you can imagine,” it reassured them, “even you strange-looking humans.”
The doctor gave Nick an injection that made him start yawning. “Not broken,” it muttered as it gently wiped away the blood on his face. It got out a fearsome looking instrument and Nick began to object but was overcome by another long yawn. The doctor had finished its work before Nick had even stopped yawning, showing him in a mirror his freshly healed face that didn’t have even a lingering bruise left on it. Nick didn’t mention his sore elbow, which he could tell was only bruised, but the doctor swiftly treated his ankle and then gave him a full scan to make sure there were no other problems before pronouncing him fit.
“Thank you very much,” he said gratefully.
Poppy tried to pay the doctor but the alien waved off any fee as unnecessary and sent them on their way back to the ship.
“I’ll tell the captain that Larsha’s safe,” Poppy said, once they were aboard. “You two go and rest. I’ll crash in a minute and if anyone wakes me after less than ten hours, they’ll regret it.”
“We did well,” Reese reminded her.
“Uh-huh.”
Nick could see that it was only the strength of her will-power that was keeping her awake and on her feet at this point. They could celebrate later. He yawned again. Much later.
He leaned against Reese, who put an arm round him, and he lit up at the thought of all the happiness ahead of them as they headed to their room. Their room. It had a nice sound to it. He badly wanted to kiss Reese again but he just needed to sit down for a second first. He collapsed on the bed, his head hit the wonderfully soft raised surface of the comfie and that was all he knew.
Chapter Forty-Six
NICK WAS still asleep when Reese left the room nine hours later. He went to get some food in the canteen and found Aae, Bee, Cee and Dee there, eating as they mended a tiny maintenance robot that was nearly the
same size as them, replacing its head and one of its legs in a few motions. It seemed to have been designed to resemble the Cizayhops, with a single eye at the bottom of its face, a mouth on each cheek and four legs. Its two arms, though, ended in a nozzle from which a variety of tools could emerge and it was made of a silvery metal.
Reese got a drink and made himself a sandwich in the kitchen before joining them at their table.
“Should say Reese or John to you now?” Cee asked in its bubbly language, while its swirling eye watched him. Reese couldn’t tell if the aliens had a problem with him over the rumours they had heard and he chose to believe that they didn’t. There was no point in creating trouble for himself.
“John Fraser was just a name picked at random by people I wasn’t related to, who couldn’t care less about me. Reese is who I chose to become.”
“Reese is a good name,” Dee said and Reese smiled at the engineer.
“Mother,” said the robot and they all looked round at it. It seemed to be talking to Dee and the other engineers nudged their companion, who nudged back and fidgeted.
“I don’t think new head is working properly,” Bee said, jumping off the chair. “I get new one.”
“Mother, what am I?” the robot asked Dee, who looked back helplessly.
“You’re whoever you decide you want to be,” Reese told the little robot and patted its metal head. He finished his meal and went for a final walk round the station, guessing that they’d be on their way soon. The maintenance robot’s musings had put him in a philosophical mood and, remembering Nick’s insistence that he had done nothing wrong, Reese thought over his childhood with less guilt than usual. It had been a hellish life, organised by people who saw the children as nothing more than a way to make extra money, and he hoped that the other kids had got through it and made the best futures they could for themselves.
“Are you leaving again, John?”
Reese came to a stop in the corridor. He should have known that he wouldn’t get away from the station without seeing Iain once more, particularly given his currently thoughts. He turned to face him – the ginger hair and nasty expression the same as always – and remembered every time that Iain had made life even harder for everyone around him, tormenting them all. “Yes. My ship will go soon. I don’t know if I still have a job on it, thanks to you, but I’ll manage fine whatever happens. You can’t hurt me.”
“Perhaps I just haven’t told the right people,” Iain said and Reese wondered how anyone could be capable of so much pointless hatred. Iain could have found a life that made him happy, as Reese had, but instead he just wanted to make existence miserable for others, even working for the monsters who had destroyed their childhood. Perhaps Reese should pity him, since Iain’s job meant he would constantly be reminded of his past, but he felt too much anger at the thought of the new batch of orphans who were probably struggling to survive right now.
“You were right when you said that, once I got away from my old life, I never gave you a second thought,” he said. “You were a cruel, unlikeable child and, to have taken a job with Lord Lyrris, you obviously haven’t changed or grown at all. I bet everyone who’s ever met you was glad to walk away and not consider you again.”
He saw the barbs have their effect, Iain’s expression darkening. “It doesn’t seem as if you have a whole lot of friends either.”
Reese thought about Nick and Jolly and most of the crew from The Prince. “That’s because you don’t know me. You never did.”
He turned and left the other man behind, paying no attention to the stream of insults shouted after him. Iain had done his worst and everyone aboard The Prince knew about Reese’s past now, but his world hadn’t fallen apart and no one had denounced him as wicked or selfish. Iain could do nothing more to him and that knowledge – the thought that Reese had finally freed himself from the past – made his footsteps and his heart a little lighter.
Chapter Forty-Seven
NICK HAD only just woken and dressed – eleven hours after he had fallen into his bed – when Reese returned. “Did you see Larsha and her family?”
Reese nodded as he walked over to him and reached out to take one of Nick’s hands. “They seem fine. I think Kedos’s involvement in the kidnapping is what still bothers Larsha the most but she and her father seem to be making a real effort to be kinder to each other now that they’re reunited and I think Larsha will be able to put the trauma of it behind her. People can be pretty resilient and she’s a smart girl.”
“Yes, she is.” In the end, she had been far more intelligent than her kidnapper, telling him what he wanted to hear and – Nick guessed – deliberately pushing him into a robbery that would get him caught. “Has Tanya spoken to you at all?”
Reese’s smile faded away. “I haven’t seen her yet since the case ended. If I have to leave, we’ll keep in touch, won’t we?”
“If you go, I’ll go with you,” Nick promised. He didn’t know how he would convince Poppy to come with them – he would beg if he had to – but he couldn’t lose Reese now.
“I don’t want you messing up your life because of me.”
“I wouldn’t have much of a life left without you,” Nick said and it was the truth. As long as his sister joined them, there was nothing else he minded leaving behind. They could start their own detective agency or do something entirely different; he just wanted Reese by his side.
Reese’s eyes were bright as he moved closer and put his arms round Nick, who reciprocated, holding tightly onto him and letting the exotic aroma of Reese’s cologne wash over him. It felt almost impossible to believe that someone as exciting and vibrant as Reese could care about him just as much and Nick wouldn’t let Tanya or anyone else get in their way. It was a cliché but it really didn’t feel as if Nick’s life had started until he met Reese and he would do everything he possibly could to make this work.
He reluctantly pulled away but Reese didn’t let go, instead leaning closer and soft lips touched Nick’s. His eyes fell shut as the kiss flooded him with sensation, bringing his body and soul to life. He let his hands drift over warm skin, gliding over Reese’s neck and into the black wiry strands of hair at his nape. They finally drew apart and just stood there, smiling at each other, basking in this time alone.
There was so much that Nick still wanted to ask Reese about himself but he remembered with a jolt that Reese had hinted before that he still couldn’t be entirely honest with Nick. The idea was painful and he couldn’t imagine why Reese possibly needed to hide anything from him at this point, but he would trust Reese to explain when he could. That was the least he could do.
“We should go on a proper date,” Reese said. “If there’s time before we leave, we can have a romantic meal overlooking the stars.” Their ship, of course, didn’t have any windows, for safety reasons; assuming it would still be their ship after Tanya saw Reese. Perhaps she would be willing to give him a second chance; if not, they could remain on the station and decide what to do.
“I’d settle for a romantic breakfast with food that doesn’t taste rotten or bitter.” His stomach rumbled faintly at the prospect.
“It’s as good a start as any,” Reese agreed with a grin and they walked out of the room hand-in-hand.
They had to go past the control room on their way out and, through the open door, Nick saw his sister talking with Tanya. They glanced round before he and Reese could get out of the way and Tanya said, “Come in, both of you.”
Nick glanced at Reese, whose expression was slightly nervous, although he hid it with a wide smile. “One kidnapped girl, safely returned to her family as requested,” Reese said.
“And her family is extremely grateful,” Tanya responded. “Not only has Uxor paid our fee already but he’s included a generous bonus that you’ll all get a cut of and that will pay for the new translators.”
“Great,” Nick said with feeling. It would be good to finally understand the aliens he spoke to, if they stayed. “How long will we rema
in on the station.”
“We’ll be getting underway in a few minutes.”
So much for the romantic date he and Reese had planned.
“Will Reese be staying aboard this ship?” Poppy asked Tanya and Nick glared at her for giving the captain a chance to decide against him. He held on tightly to Reese as they waited for the captain’s response.
“Yes, of course,” she said and Nick smiled, filled with relief. “In fact, I’d like a quick word with Reese but the two of you can go and relax. I know what long days you’ve been working to find Larsha and I appreciate it.”
Dismissed, Nick had no choice but to go without Reese but Tanya had already said he was still part of the crew, so everything would be all right, wouldn’t it?
He and Poppy walked towards the door but he looked back before going through it and Reese gave him a wink and a quick grin. Reassured, Nick left them to talk.
Chapter Forty-Eight
REESE STOOD motionless and waited to find out what Tanya had to say to him. She was wearing another of the long floral dresses that made her look a threat to no one, but he wouldn’t be fooled by that again. She had said he could stay here but he couldn’t believe it. She must have heard the rumours Iain had planted amongst the crew; Iain had even said, if his words could be believed, that he had told Tanya everything about Reese. If she knew he had committed crimes, why would she possibly want to keep him here?
“You and the others have done well,” she said, sitting down in the captain’s chair. “You’ve become an excellent team in a short time.”
Reese let out his breath – it certainly didn’t sound as if she intended to fire him. “Thank you.”
“This isn’t the work I hired you to do, though.”
He stared at her blankly. “I don’t understand.”
“Baltid Athens,” she said, “or, to give him his real name, Stuart Chowdhry.”
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