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“I just need a little boost is all,” he said, putting on his most charming smile.
She frowned at him, but still didn’t move.
“Oh, come on. Alec, I know you want out of here. Just help me up real quick so we can have some privacy.”
His eyes flicked up to the camera, and there was recognition on his face. Alec got to his hands and knees to help Herod, but Tayla threw an arm out and barred his passage.
“Don’t you dare,” she snarled.
There was a long moment of silence that filled the room, and I thought I could hear my heartbeat rattling around in my chest. Much to my surprise, Alec raised a hand and gently pushed Tayla’s arm out of his way. She scoffed at him in disbelief, but he moved forward to help Herod without stopping to argue with her. That was a man with a plan. I had to give him respect for standing up to her. And maybe, when the time came, we could take Alec with us. Tayla could keep pouting in the corner, and the three of us men would go about our business without her temper tantrums. Maybe Alec would join us aboard our ship, even.
I almost chuckled at the idea, but I was even more amused by the stunned look that Tayla was still giving the three of us as Alec knelt and provided a step up for Herod to reach the camera. In one quick move, Herod pulled my shirt up over the lens and hopped back down to the ground, dusting his hands off as if he’d done some kind of hard work.
“Now what?”
“Now, we figure out how this little thing works,” he answered, pointing to the alarm.
Alec shifted so he was directly beneath the alarm sensor, and waited patiently as Herod climbed up, balancing himself with one arm on the wall.
I watched, intrigued, as he poked and prodded at the device, and then switched to tugging aggressively at it.
“It won’t work,” Tayla said dismissively.
“And why’s that?” Herod retorted without stopping his efforts.
“They’re just going to come in here and punish you for covering the camera. Just wait and see.”
This time I chuckled aloud. Tayla might be some kind of genius scientist back on Earth, but she didn’t have much of a mind for common sense, a skill that we honed day in and day out on our smuggling runs. If covering the camera was all it took to get the guards through the door, so much the better for us. If they didn’t show up, the alarm would have to do it. Either way, we were on the right track. Plus, the more irate she became, the more pouty and ridiculous she looked, and I was coming to like the sight of her in such a state.
