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As much as I want to abide by her, I don’t get many comms, and those I do get usually can’t be ignored. Still, I reach over to see who the comm is from before answering it. A moment later, I’m bolting upright, rolling Danielle to the side.
“Hey!” she cries out as I jump to my feet and grab my pants before hurrying to the front of the ship, leaving her in my bed to grumble after me.
I’m not expecting a comm from Volethos so soon, which means…nothing good.
My fingers tap the icon, connecting the comm to the main screen, and my stomach drops when a female I never thought I’d lay eyes on again appears instead of V. Behind her is a panicked looking Shae.
Vittu.“What’s happened?”
With wide eyes and a voice tight with fear, Shae quickly relays how Volethos attacked Kurrahstka, followed by her begging me to find his pod that has likely already been jettisoned into space without life support. I’m already tapping coordinates into the computer when Raela speaks up.
“Did Volethos tell you that I’m Federation?” she asks.
My fingers pause for a moment, and my brow ridges pull together into a tight furrow before I continue, “He did. He said I could trust you.” Except I don’t trust anyone easily. Especially not the Federation, with which I have a long history with and a lot of reasons not to trust.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Danielle appear in the doorway. She’s showered and dressed, and she stays put without me having to ask her to. Instead she watches everything going on with a clenched jaw.
“We’re ready to move, but we’ll need your help,” Raela continues.
That’s got to be a first, the Federation asking for my help instead of threatening me. If there was more time, I’d probably tell her where she and the Federation could stuff their plea for help. Instead, I give her a tight nod, then focus on Shae.
“I’ll get him, I swear. Then I’ll bring him back to you,” I promise V’s female.
“Thank you,” she chokes out, and I end the comm, focusing all my attention on maneuvering through the debris field that surrounds Kurrahstka’s pleasure station.
“Finding his pod in all of this is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Danielle breathes from behind me.
It’s not an analogy I’m familiar with, but I don’t argue with her meaning. Clenching my teeth, I switch the instruments to scan for life signs and heat signatures, knowing each heartbeat that pounds in my chest could be the last one Volethos’s heart echoes. The space is thick with debris that seems to multiply with each passing moment.
Fuck!I’m never going to be able to find him in all of this.
With the shields up and at full power, I maneuver my cruiser carefully, scanning the shifting field of junk with my own eyes, as if I might have better luck spotting what my tech cannot. But there is justnothing.
No. This can’t be happening. He can’t be gone.
At my back, Danielle sucks in a quick breath, “There.”
She points a finely boned finger to a flickering tube shape on the screen and my heart lurches with relief.
“Got him.” My palm hits a button that initiates the cruiser’s tractor beam. Then we both watch, breath held, as it grabs the pod and begins pulling it in. As soon as it moves out of sight, we hurry to the back where the cargo doors can already be heard grinding open.
We wait at the door for what feels like an eternity before the pod is brought inside, the doors shut, and the atmosphere is replaced. Neither of us speaks as I hurry to the pod and punch open the control panel. The glass front of the pod is frosted, obscuring what might—or might not—be inside, and I offer up a prayer to anyone who might be listening.
When I hit the eject button on the panel, I expect to hear the hiss of pressurized air, but there is nothing, and then the lid starts to slowly open.
“Oh, shit!” Danielle gasps when she leans over my shoulder.
Volethos is inside. His lips are purple, and his eyes are slitted open. He’s not moving. Fuck, it doesn’t look like he’s breathing. His hands are curled into fists and rest on his chest, like he was beating at the hatch before… before he….
“Is he dead?” she asks, stumbling back. Panic grips my stomach.
There is no time to waste! I reach inside and grab Volethos’s limp body. Tossing him over my shoulder, I turn and sprint out of the cargo and toward the small medical room. The cruiser isn’t equipped like some of the larger ships are, since it’s usually just me. But I’m thankful I at least splurged and made sure to have a medbot on board.
I hit the keypad, waking the bot up. As soon as the glass door opens wide enough to toss Volethos’s body inside, I slam the door back down and start the scan. The tube lights up red, and a button on the screen starts to flash.
“What does that say?” Danielle’s voice wavers from the doorway.
I glance at her over my shoulder. Her lips and around her nose have lost some of their dark color, and her eyes are wide with worry.
