“They’ll be refunded to your account.” Dare looked away. “Tasha, contact the next ships in line and have them close the gap.”
“Phoenix! You can’t kick us off this fucking convoy before we even get going.”
“We got going twenty minutes ago when theSky Nomadstarted her engines. If one ship disobeys convoy orders while out there in uncharted space, it could mean we all die. I told you when we went over the convoy agreement, you follow my orders without question, without hesitation, or you’re off.”
TheGalactic Pride’scaptain kept spluttering, but Dare chopped a hand through the air and the screen showing thePrideclicked off.
“Not the forgiving type, is he?” Nissa said.
“No.” Dare didn’t have a forgiving bone in his body. Born out of the bleak, horrible things of their childhood. A bad taste filled Justyn’s mouth, but he wrestled the dark memories away.
“How long to Hydrae?”
Nissa’s smoky voice brought Justyn back with a start. “A week at convoy speed.”
“We won’t be at interstellar speed?”
“For some parts of the route, but not all of it. Some people out there like to set ambushes for ships at interstellar speed. They can attack before you know they’re there. Where Aurina tells us it’s safe, we’ll use interstellar.”
“We could go ahead in your runnership.”
She’d watched him dock theMercuryin one of the Nomad’s bays. “Not a good idea.”
“Why?”
“Because—” a voice from behind them said “—you’ll set yourself up as pirate bait.” Aurina’s red-gold hair swung in a high ponytail. She was wearing olive-green cargo trousers and a tight white tank. “For now, it’s safer with the convoy.”
Nissa raised a brow. “But you go ahead.”
Aurina shrugged. “I’m a trained, experienced scout. My scoutship has exceptional cloaking. And I do a hell of a lot of research before I take off into the black.”
“You aren’t heading out yet?”
“Nope.” His sister sank onto a chair and crossed her long legs. “This part of the route is well known. I’ll head out after Hydrae.”
Nissa sighed. “I just want to get to Hydrae as quickly as possible.”
Justyn’s mouth tightened. That call with her father had crushed the shimmer of excitement Justyn had seen in her yesterday.
And dammit, he wanted it back.
“Come on now,” he said. “Treasure hunters don’t want the hunt over too quickly.”
“I’m not a treasure hunter. I’m an officer of the GSS in the pursuit of an artifact of galactic importance.”
He raised his brows. “I thought you were a GSS officer on a leave of absence pursuing a treasure of galactic importance so I don’t steal it.”
She stared resolutely ahead and wandered away.
Okay. Teasing wasn’t working. He followed her. “So, your father isn’t happy you’re doing this.”
She shot him a quick look before once again focusing on the viewscreen. “Understatement, Phoenix.”
“You two close?’
“Yes.”
“Yet he upset you.”
