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She pulled up a stool and sat beside his bed, her mind whirling. Did he not remember their kiss? Or the stories they’d exchanged?
She didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
Some emotion must have flitted across her face because Finn raised his eyebrow. “Did I do something embarrassing?”
“No, not at all. We managed to subdue our guards, find the security room, and escape the facility. It was all very exciting.”
“I get bits and pieces of memories, but it’s all kind of blurry. Hopefully it’ll come back soon.” He sighed and gingerly touched his swollen face. “We do not have time for me to be laid up like this.”
“You’ll be better soon. I’m working on a few leads right now myself, so hopefully by the time you’re back on the Athena, we’ll have a plan.”
“I think I remember robots,” he said with a frown. “Was that real?”
She nodded. “And we discovered they were making some sort of drug there. I have a contact analyzing it now. Hopefully it’ll help us figure out who owns the place and what it is they’re doing.”
“Thank you.” Though Finn was still slightly groggy from the drugs, she’d swear there was something else there behind his eyes. Friendship perhaps? “Seems I owe you another apology—and my life.”
“You don’t owe me anything.” Renna got to her feet. “You need to get some rest. I already contacted the MYTH office on this planet like you said, but we still haven’t heard back from them. Hopefully they’ll find us soon.”
“We’ve already found you.” A thin man with gray hair strode into the room. Even though he wore brown pants and a button-down shirt, he carried himself like a soldier. Like Dallas had.
Finn struggled to sit up. “Major Larson.”
“At ease, Captain.” Larson shut the door behind him, then approached Finn’s bed. “We received the Athena’s transmission several hours ago but had to verify the electronic signature. I’m sorry it took so long. With the destruction of the Hesperia branch, we’ve been cut off from a lot of our operatives.”
“I understand, sir. I wasn’t in a position to question the delay.”
“I see that. Miss Carrizal will fill me in on the latest mission report. I think you should focus on getting some rest.”
Her gaze snapped to the major’s, and he gave her a ghost of a smile. She wasn’t military, and she certainly wasn’t MYTH. Why wouldn’t he ask for a debrief from Keva?
Finn shook his head. “I’d like to be present, sir. It was my mission after all.”
“Permission denied. I’ve already lost too many good men this month. You need to focus on getting better. Miss Carrizal will be fine with me, I promise.”
Finn frowned at both of them, but didn’t say anything.
Major Larson nodded. “We’ll debrief tomorrow. Goodnight, Captain.” He turned to Renna. “Shall we?”
She followed him from the room, glancing back at Finn at the last moment. He was gritting his teeth so hard she could almost hear it from the door.
“I took the liberty of requesting a conference room here, Miss Carrizal,” the major said, opening a door down the hall. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t trust you with the location of our headquarters yet.”
“Why should you? I just saved the lives of your entire team.” Her tone was unexpectedly bitter as she took a seat at the small conference table. Damn Finn and damn her stupid feelings for him.
“I am very aware of your contributions, Miss Carrizal. I am also very aware of the company you keep.”
Of course. They’d seen her with Viktis. She’d been so busy following him she hadn’t even given a thought someone might be following her.
“Viktis has agreed to help us track down the boy. Since he was the last to see Myka, I thought it was a good idea to use him.”
“Very resourceful. I just want to make sure you don’t decide to join him once the boy is found.” The major sat across the table from her and regarded her with a cool expression. “I’m familiar with your work, Renna. I must say you’ve had some very impressive jobs in your past. MYTH can definitely use someone of your skill level.”
“That’s what Major Dallas said when he…convinced me to join this mission.”
“Erik was a smart man. I’m glad to see you took his conversation seriously. Now, tell me what happened at the facility. We’ve had three surveillance teams on that place for months, and no one has been able to crack it.”
Renna gave him the bare bones of what had happened, leaving out the kiss with Finn. She figured the robot army was bad enough.
“So what are your next steps?” Larson asked.
“I was hoping you could tell us,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “Do you have any intel on the boy? Or who the facility might belong to? It feels like we’ve reached a dead end.”
She could play this game as well as he could.
Larson shook his head. “Not at this time. We have reports of an attack on Chasa Nine and have sent a team to investigate.”
She frowned. Chasa was close. She’d assumed the attacks were related to the kid, but if they had Myka already, what else were they looking for? “Why that planet?”
“Right now we have nothing besides a small clay manufacturing facility. It’s barely a blip on the black market radar.”
“So what do you want me to do?” Renna shrugged. “I’m not MYTH. I don’t have any resources.”
“I want you to keep digging for who created the robots you found at the facility and how those drugs are connected. And because you’re not MYTH, you can do it without anyone the wiser. We need your skills, Renna. And when your friend uncovers whatever it is you sent him to find, we’ll let you do what you need to. Just keep Captain Finn out of it. He’s one of our best. I need him to stay that way.”
“You think I’m going to corrupt him? Or recruit him to be a pirate like Viktis?” She shook her head with a chuckle. “I promise you’re safe there. Finn’s one hundred percent military. He’d never do that. But thanks for suggesting I’m that talented.”
“I don’t think it—I know it. You forget we’ve been following you.”
She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “Right. Then let me ask you a question. Dallas offered me a deal if I did this job. Are you going to make good on it when this is all over?”
