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10
Phase 1
“Last fucking place!” Aidan was still fuming as he guidedDragoonin the direction of the Phase One rendezvous point. “I don’t believe this. First she steals from me, then she ruins my chances to take the lead.” They’d missed all the excitement at the start. After finally managing to leave the hangar, they’d crossed a graveyard of battered ships. Apparently there had been some gruesome action at the start.
“We’ll catch up,” Zeek encouraged in an upbeat tone.
Asher sent Aidan a tight-lipped grimace, clearly not convinced. “What do you suggest we do with our little interlopers?”
Flipping on the small screen to the left of his console, Aidan checked the mess hall surveillance feed, where Lear and Priya were guarding the prisoners. Unfortunately,Dragoonwasn’t fitted with a brig. He never thought he’d need one.
Sitting on the bench on one side of the large communal table, the girls clasped their hands together, looking frightened and worried. As they should.
“We’ll leave them on Nazzu.” The first planetary stop marked on their map. It was a planet he’d never heard of, and very little was known about it.
According to Zeek, even the Phase Nine logs were vague on what they’d find when they arrived. For all they knew, Nazzu could be a land of peace and tranquility. Or it might be a bog of never-ending stench populated by man-eating fig bushes—and wouldn’t that be a fitting punishment? One thing was certain. No matter what the conditions, Nazzu was about to gain two new inhabitants.
They’d been required to start the race will allregisteredcrewmembers, but leaving Onnika and Caryn behind at some later point wasn’t against the rules. Losing crew members was almost expected in Phase Nine.
The little thieves were immeasurably lucky that he wasn’t a cruel man. Who knew how many of the other racers would have been so lenient? Had the two of them tried to infiltrate another ship, they might have already been tossed into the cold vacuum of space by now.
He glanced back at the screen.
Onnika assessed Caryn’s neck for bruises and then affectionately tucked a lock of the girl’s hair behind her ear. Aidan took a steely breath. He would not let the tender action soften him. They could have targetedDragoonspecifically. Perhaps they were saboteurs, commissioned to destroy Aidan’s chances at a second win. They didn’t seem the type, but anyone was capable of anything. That was a hard lesson learned.
“They’re cute,” Zeek observed. “You sure we can’t keep them?”
Asher replied, “You are weak of mind, Z.”
“I’m weak ofbody,” Zeek corrected with a bawdy smile. “Not of mind.”
“They could be saboteurs,” Aidan reminded him.
“If so, they aren’t very good at it, are they?”
Zeek had a point. It made no sense for Onnika to first steal from him and then attempt to join his crew. She had to have known Aidan would recognize her instantly and that he’d be rightly pissed off.
Zeek mirrored his thoughts. “If they were here to sabotage us, why would they put themselves on our radar by stealing from Aidan? Seems like a dumb move to me.”
“Unless they thought her theft would have somehow kept us from taking off,” Asher reasoned. “It’s no secret we’ve been scrambling for parts, bartering and trading nearly up until the last moment.”
Zeek turned thoughtful. “So you think they realized their first attempt had failed and decided to changed tactics, trying to lie their way onto our crew? I don’t know. They would have had better success sneaking aboard unnoticed and damaging an integral part of the ship’s functions if sabotage was their goal. What do you think, Captain?”
Aidan checked the surveillance feed again. Onnika rubbed a spot on her elbow. It took him a moment to remember the angry bite of that elbow upon his temple. The girl was stronger than she looked. “Onnika had been genuinely surprised when I entered the mess hall. I was the last person she expected to see.” He could still picture the blood draining from her face and the shock in her wide, luminous eyes.
Zeek nodded. “Right. If they’d meant to target us, it stands to reason they’d have done some research on the crew beforehand.”
Asher remained silent, conceding the point.
Movement drew Aidan’s attention to the surveillance feed once more. Onnika was up and pacing the room. That filmy dress of hers fluttered with each sway of her hips, hugging her shapely legs. If they weren’t saboteurs, perhaps he should make them work off the chips they’d stolen before dumping them on Nazzu.
Onnika bent to check the condition of her ankle, a move that perfectly presented her backside toward the camera. Aidan’s body tightened. He gritted his teeth, his mood souring. It rankled that he still found her attractive, that he couldn’t look away from her.
Mentally scolding himself, he shut off the screen. “We’ll get more answers when we question them later. For now, I only want to focus on gaining ground. I’m not comfortable with being in last place. Are you?”
Both men grunted in agreement.
The large viewport that wrapped the front of the bridge doubled as a holo-screen. It went dark as Zeek brought up the live two-dimensional map that marked the location of Nazzu as well as any nearby crafts within range. “We’re coming up behind two ships now. Let’s show these bastards our backside.”
