Dare was in his usual position, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “Nice to see you in one piece.”
Justyn started to peel the hydroponic mandarin he’d nabbed. “Nice to be in one piece.” He popped a sliver of the juicy fruit in his mouth and savored the tart taste. Much better than nutribars. Not as good as the taste of Nissa. “Surprised to see you left the convoy, bro.”
“We’d already made it to Hydrae. And I left Aurina in charge.”
Aurina had a streak of bossy in her and Justyn had no doubt his sister would keep the convoy members in line. “I’m sure glad you picked up the e-beacon signal.”
Ry nodded. “We were already looking for you. When theNomadarrived at the caravanserai and there’d been no sign ofyour guys, we figured something was up. That’s when we ran into the Firebrands.”
Nissa strode in wearing fresh clothes. “What did I miss?”
“We were just about to get started.” Justyn grabbed her and tugged her down into the seat beside his. He ignored his brothers’ smiles.
“So what the hell happened?” Dare asked.
Between the two of them, Justyn and Nissa told the story of the attack, the crash landing, and their adventures on the jungle planet.
“Carnivorous plants.” Rynan gave a small scowl of distaste.
Nissa took a deep breath. “There’s something else…”
Justyn gave her arm a squeeze.
“I’ve been reporting back to the GSS. I suspect the mole’s been hacking my transmissions.”
Justyn watched his brothers. Their faces were unreadable.
She hurried on to fill the silence. “I’m sorry. I never meant to endanger you, your ship, or the convoy.”
He shot his brothers a look. “A bitch of an admiral blackmailed her into it.”
“I take it you won’t be making any more reports?” Dare’s voice was smooth but held the whip of command.
She shifted. “No.”
“Good.” Rynan swiveled back to his computer. “I’ve been running checks on all the passengers to search for the mole. No flags, yet. Obviously getting information out here takes a bit more time, but so far, they’re clean.”
“And the crew?” Justyn asked.
Rynan gave an unhappy nod. “I’m checking them, too. I don’t want to believe it, but I’m searching for any changes in their routines, their bank accounts, or transmissions.”
“We need to all stay alert.” Dare pushed away from the wall. “Trust no one but the four of us in here with anything to do about the Constitution.”
They all nodded.
Nissa perked up. “Oh, I forgot to mention. We found a book on the planet.”
“A book?” Rynan frowned.
Justyn leaned forward. “It was in the wreck of an escape pod…from theNero.”
Dare’s brows rose and Rynan whistled.
“I need to authenticate it, and it’ll have to be treated to preserve the pages,” Nissa said.
“We have everything you need in the science lab,” Rynan said. “One level down.”
“Thanks.”
