She blew out a breath, scattering cracker crumbs everywhere. Her fathers had finally reached out to her. This had to be good news.
She went through the verification process and started the download and decryption sequence. Then she got to her feet and paced around the engine room, too impatient to sit still.
“Come on!” she muttered as the progress bar slowly filled.
She opened the message the instant the button appeared on the screen. She hadn’t allowed herself to admit how much she missed her parents. Having no contact at all after a lifetime of closeness had left a hole in her heart.
She knew immediately which of them had written the letter. Javid would have opened with a greeting. Elias started by telling her that things had gone nova.
She sank to the floor, her knees buckling as the weight of her father’s warning crashed down on her head.
A bounty had been posted for her. Hamish had bragged about it, and they’d seen the posting themselves. It was higherthan anything her former owner could have scraped together, so someone else had to be involved.
They’d included a copy of the bounty posting. It had her name and photo, along with a number that didn’t make any sense. How much? There was no way she was worth that much.
The crackers she’d eaten were not enough to stave off a fresh wave of nausea. At the bottom of the post was a short list of potential locations. One of them was the Drift.
It had to be a guess. The Drift was a large collection of platforms and stations with a reputation as a good hiding place. Not that it mattered. Someone would come looking for her. They might be here already. The message had taken more than two weeks to arrive.
She dashed the tears from her eyes and read the rest of the message. There wasn’t much. They were safe. There had been an investigation, but they were cleared of any involvement in her escape. The precautions they’d taken—not taking anything of hers from their place, paying Thrash for a nonexistent delivery instead of transferring scrip to her directly, never meeting face-to-face. It all worked.
The message ended with admonishments to stay safe and be smart with one last line telling her they loved her and missed her every day.
She missed them too, but she didn’t have time for an emotional meltdown right now. She wanted to scream and curse and demand more time.
Instead, she got to her feet. She had been alive too long to believe that you could get what you wanted if you wished hard enough for it. These last few weeks had been a lovely vacation from reality, but it was over now.
“Livy, I’ve got something I need to do. Please continue with our planned tests and note any problems you find.”
“I’ll do that. Do you need any assistance? I’m detecting signs of physical distress.”
“I’m fine.” The lie came easily. She hated how quickly she’d learned to do that. Lies and half-truths were a normal part of her life now. Hamish had taken everything from her—her honor, her home, her family, even her name.
She’d been too busy surviving to even think about how to get back the things she’d lost. Today, that changed. Not because she was ready but because she had run out of time.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The amount they could accomplish when they had a set goal was surprising. It told Xaber that they’d been operating without one for far too long. They talked as they walked, working through ideas until they had a solid plan for convincing Tix to stay on board as part of the crew as well as part of their lives.
They had one more stop left, and then they’d head back to the ship to start putting the pieces in place. They couldn’t simply tell Tix what she meant to them. They had toshowher.
They walked into Flek’s Diner during a period that was usually quiet. The place had a few customers scattered around the tables, but everyone was busy talking with their friends, eating their meal, or both.
Good. That meant Flek would be free to talk for a few minutes.
The alien saw them immediately and waved them over. “You are here! Good. Good. No need to message now.”
“Is it my imagination, or are his thorns twitching?”Mace sent through their link.
“He is definitely agitated about something. Stay frosty.”
Xaber smiled and raised a hand in greeting. “Hey, Flek. You were going to call us? Everything okay?”
“All is fine for me. You here, so no need to call.” Flek pointed to an empty table near the back of the restaurant. “Sit with me. I have a job to discuss with you.”
“You do? That’s great. We came by to tell you that we’re ready to start taking on work in a day or so.”
“Good timing then,” Flek said. Then he picked up a datapad and made his way to the empty table.
