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“Very quick,” I comment. “Impressive.”
Rossa doesn’t even clock my compliment.
“The one called Frankie is likely being shipped in a pod,” she says. “Raina might not like this, but it’s not going to be feasible to stop Frankie from leaving. Her buyer is a businessman, and he means to make a profit, so he runs a very tight route on the forklines.
“Raina will understand as long as we have a plan to save her friend. But please tell me that the other girl can be saved tonight. She needs a win. Her spirit was so low earlier. I couldn’t stand to see her that way.”
“Not tonight,” Rossa sighs. “But soon. As far as we can tell, Kaye’s buyer is a Zaledian lord, and he has plans to smuggle her into Rathe. If we can track them and work with the Zaledian border patrol, the authorities can intervene without us having to lift a single stinger.”
I nod slowly. “Less personal risk is what I like to hear.”
Rossa hesitates to listen in to the crew.
“This is wrapping up as we planned, then?” she asks Satto. He swivels in his chair and nods.
“They’ll return soon.”
“Good.” Rossa runs her fingers through her thick blue curls. “Finish up without me. I’m going to make some calls about the one that bought Frankie. See what I can find out about how his business is run.”
She heads back through the doorway that leads directly to her private quarters.
The crew has been speaking in codes, but most of the dialogue is clear enough. Raina is Silver for her dress, Dash is Red, and Honey goes by his own name, probably because it’s always been a code for the killbot. Before his consciousness grew, the nickname was just one of the many equipment nicknames like Sweetheart, Pearl, and Matebait. Rossa calls her many skimmers, crafts, and bombers her “girlfriends.”
“Silver is boarded. Red is occupied momentarily, but I think we’ll be out in ten taps.”
“Occupied by what?”
“Matebait, I think. Some pretty thing wants double the fun . . .”
“Honey, get on board with Silver. Red will be right behind—”
“Uh, any reason why Gemstone is lighting up?”
Gemstone is Rossa’s prettiest ship, and she often lets Dash use it for missions like this one because it’s expensive and fashionable.
Luka glances at me. “Would it be Silver?”
“She can’t turn on a shower without detailed instructions,” I say, pressing my fingers hard into my thighs.
“We aren’t the only con artists in town today,” Satto says. “Someone’s taking off with Dash’s ship, and your mate is on board.”
“I put that together, thanks,” I snap. Time slows as I realize someone must have followed them from the auction and thought that catching a human might be a good score after seeing the auction results. The crew communicates frantically with Dash, warning him that the female chatting him up is only a distraction.
“We have Gem tracked, Niko. They won’t get far before we snag them.”
I nod, reminding myself to breathe. Murderous thoughts descend into my mind, ice-cold and powerful. The spirit is taking hold of my heart and squeezing.
“You’re going to air whip it onto the deck, I assume?” The ship is linked to all of Rossa’s small crafts, making it easy for the computer to lock onto its coordinates. When the small-time thieves launch Gemstone and leave the atmosphere, they’ll be in for a rude awakening when the power of thePrimordial Avengerfreezes their engine and drags them inside its belly with an air whip lasso.
That doesn’t mean Raina’s not in terrible danger.
“That’s the plan,” Luka confirms.
I stand up and roll my neck.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m waiting on the deck, and unless you hear my line beeping the comm system, you better not interrupt me,” I warn them. “As soon as that craft lands, I’m going in.”
