Return to Duty

by Elizabeth Hollows

  “When we arrive on Asam,” Tristan said, interrupting Jay’s drifting thoughts and making him look at the agent, “will the people know you as Jaybird?”

  Jay shook his head. “Never been down to that particular spaceport. And I’m not known in this part of the galaxy anyway.”

  Tristan nodded. “Then a simple cover of two thieves evading the authorities should suffice.”

  Jay eyed Tristan oddly. “You know thieves don’t give that information away for free, don’t you? We won’t be advertising ourselves. Land the ship, grab the equines, head into the desert. The people we barter from aren’t meant to remember us.”

  “Yes, I’m aware,” Tristan answered, sounding irritated. “But people only forget you if you give them no cause for suspicion or alarm.” His voice took on a lecturing tone, as if Jay were an underling on his first assignment. “Acting at odds with one another is the quickest way to be noticed by the enemy.”

  “Tips from a pro, huh?” Jay drawled, dry amusement coating his voice. “A spy’s guide to turning tricks.”

  Tristan looked unamused by his turn of phrase, and Jay remembered his words from the previous night. ‘I don’t sleep with my targets.’ There had been frustration and offense in his voice. How many people assumed Tristan whored himself? How many people didn’t believe him when Tristan said otherwise? Jay didn’t want to be one of them. He wanted to smooth this over.

  “A soldier acts more simply,” Jay offered, sidestepping his faux pas. “Keep your head down and do your job. You’re a man who wants to buy horses. That’s all they need to see.”

  “The training is similar,” Tristan agreed, the frost in his eyes thawing. “But where a soldier carries his training in every step, an IA agent must carry nothing but his guise.”

  Tristan suddenly smiled. His expression was innocent and his posture relaxed. He held out his hand in an open, easy gesture. It was all an act, but it was an impressive one. He looked even more naïve than Bryce.

  “A waiter doesn’t know what the price for an equine is, does he? Why, he’s a swindle just waiting to happen.” He bit his lip and widened his eyes, looking shy and hopeful. “Until some nice man spots him and offers aid, for this waiter has such a pretty face.”

  Jay huffed out a laugh and Tristan dropped the demure act to lean back in the chair, once more the calm, composed agent.

  “You have to know the role before you can play it, Jay.”

  Jay nodded, still feeling amused. He could have held on to anger over the reminder of being tricked, but the more Jay thought about it and the longer he had to cool down, the more he accepted it. Jay was one of many, and Tristan hadn’t been out to con him specifically. Hell, Tristan’s abilities impressed him. Jay had met successful conmen who didn’t have half as much talent as the agent.

  He could respect Tristan. The man wanted to help people and protect the universe. Jay might not trust organizations anymore, but he could trust individual people. He had no choice but to trust Tristan. They were going on a mission together, and as a soldier, he had to believe that the man had his back.

  It helped that he liked him, too.

  The sex had softened the tension between them, but Tristan was still intelligent, funny and striking. The fact that he was an IA agent didn’t put a damper on Jay’s interest. It made him wonder who would win in a true fight. What it would be like to grapple on the ground with him? Would Tristan have enough tricks to pin him?

  It was a shame they’d never find out.

  “Okay,” Jay said, shaking off his thoughts, “so, we’re thieves.” Switching the ship to autopilot, Jay turned in his seat to face Tristan, willing to play along with the agent’s mission process. “Why are we evading the authorities?”

  Tristan shifted in his own seat until they were knee-to-knee.

  “Isn’t that your area to draw from, Jaybird?” he asked with a grin.

  Jay chuckled.

  “All right. What are your skills? Why am I teaming up with a thief like you?” He looked the agent up and down but couldn’t resist the tease, “It’s that pretty face, isn’t it?”

  His remark made Tristan laugh. His expression wasn’t as artless and open as Bryce the waiter’s or as rigid as Tristan the agent’s. It was reminiscent of the straightforward man who had come into Jay’s quarters and cleared the air of lies and sexual tension.

  It was like peeling away one strange and interesting layer after another, and damn it all, Jay liked it. He was just as intrigued by Tristan as he had been with Bryce—and that meant he had to be careful. This wasn’t some fling. This was an IA agent. Their association and mission would end with the two of them on opposite sides.

  Although, a part of Jay chimed in, it doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with him. It’s a long mission and you’re both adults. Who would it hurt?

  But, realistically, what were the odds that Tristan would be interested in another night with him? Why would either of them jeopardize the mission for another round of casual sex?

  * * * *

  It didn’t take long to reach Asam and land the ship, but they had spent the time devising their façade. Tristan was the conman, his flash and smirk distracting everyone’s attention. Jay would stand in the shadows, his nimble fingers stealing items of value from their oblivious audience. They had recently completed a large con and were hiding out while the heat died down. It was an easy role for Jay to play, and if Tristan wanted a backstory to better help him work the mission, Jay was willing to go along with it.

  The starport they had chosen was one of the main ports on the planet and was always busy. They were one of many who were bartering for a storage bay to park their ship in for a week. Jay was grateful IA was footing the bill, as the prices were exorbitant. The relaxed air they’d developed on the ship was still present, but a fresh tension had formed as they stepped out of the bay. The mission had begun.

  They each had a pack of supplies slung over their shoulder. They looked like any other travelers as they joined the crowd waiting for a transport shuttle to take them to the nearby city. Jay took a moment to look over the surroundings. The starport was built on top of a salt pan, with mountains encircling the large, flat surface. Miles of smooth salt merged into rock and dirt as it approached the harsh cliff face to the north. The city of Ashak rested on the top of the cliff. It had roads built into the rock that twisted up to the city center. Ashak had large buildings and bustling streets. It had started as a small trading settlement and had quickly grown. Its reputation and location remained unchanged, but its tendency toward illegal practices had risen, helped by the power and influence of the Kada’rah.

  A tap on his arm drew Jay’s attention. Tristan nodded to the left where the shuttle approached. When it landed and its passengers disembarked, a portion of the waiting crowd stepped inside. The shuttle was full of seats and poles to hold on to, and Tristan and Jay took a place standing together in the corner. The moment everyone was on board, the automated craft lifted into the air.

  Tristan was looking out of the window, but Jay knew he was listening to the conversation between three nearby port workers. It held little interested to Jay—anger over budget cuts and AI support minimizing paid working hours—so he let his mind wander back to the city.

  Jay had never visited Ashak, but IA had provided everything they could need—a map of the area, forecasted weather for the week and a dossier on animals and plants native to Asam and the Carana Desert. They had also included a list of dealers who would sell them sturdy equines. IA had information on the preferred breeds for their mission and current trading prices. It had been years since his time with the UCAFD, but they had never managed such thorough information. Jay supposed that was the difference between the soldiers and the spies.

  Looking at Tristan, he wondered what had made the agent choose to be a spy. Had he been handpicked or had he naturally gravitated to the agency of secrets?

  When the shuttle landed at the plaza, Jay let his eyes drift over the peopl
e darting from place to place. It was a large, open area with a balcony that overlooked the starport. People were chatting, eating and drinking. There were even a few street performers. Jay suppressed a chuckle when he spotted at least three people being pickpocketed.

  The buildings of the city spread up the mountainside in winding roads and narrow alleyways. There were bars and gambling dens galore. Ashak was the perfect place for a charlatan who needed to lie low but still craved some fun. It was a damn shame he and Tristan really weren’t two thieves looking for a good drink and a comfortable bed. They could spend weeks here, living a life of debauchery and disrepute. They would have sex every night—and a few more times during the day. It sounded much more appealing than a rescue mission and going up against the Kada’rah.

  Jay held on to the wistful idea for a few seconds longer, but the doors of the shuttle opened and it was time to focus.

  Tristan exited the shuttle with a sly grin. He darted his eyes to the occasional pocket, as if he wanted to rob it. He was every inch the relaxed and ready vagabond. Jay was still surprised by how quickly Tristan could shift between one persona and another. It was a fascinating skill, but he didn’t have the time to truly admire it.

  Jay adjusted the pack on his shoulder and followed along at a lazy pace. A few real conmen glanced at them, but they were dismissed as difficult marks. The people of the city were not so willing to let them walk by unaccosted. The moment they left the plaza for the shaded city streets, the amount of people tripled.

  Workers rushed from one side of the street to another, clearly in a hurry to get to their next destination. There were animals being led on ropes or dragging carts. Men and women shouted prices for their wares or bartered with shoppers who were desperate for a good deal. Large hovercraft zipped overhead while smaller road craft pushed through the churning streets, beeping their horns at the pedestrians in their way. It was a cacophony of sounds and languages. It made a person want to flee into the safety of an empty alleyway or the quieter plaza—right into the open, opportunistic arms of any good thief.

  Within five minutes, two people had bumped against Jay, trying to steal from one of his pockets. He caught one by the wrist and glared until they’d retreated. The other he let graze his plasma gun before he caught their eye with a dark glower. Tristan sent similar, silent threats to approaching thieves and the attempts to steal from them soon halted.

  Tristan and Jay didn’t speak as they made their way through the mayhem, communicating only by eye contact and touches to the arm. Eventually the loud, bustling nature of the town center faded, and they reached the more slow-paced and better-quality stalls and shops. The stall they were looking for was easy to find. Rickety, wooden and old, most people would have walked right past it. It was run by a heavily tan old man with a pipe in his mouth. He sat comfortably on a high chair, his legs nowhere near the ground. The stall had pillows and a bed for quick naps. There were six datascreens with thin cracks on them. The area smelled of vanilla, cloves and tobacco. When they stopped in front of him, the man smiled around the pipe in his mouth but didn’t say a word. They’d have to make the first move.

  “We hear you’re the one to see about a sturdy steed,” Tristan said, offering a charming smile.

  The man sucked on his pipe before expelling a thin smoke ring. He pulled the pipe from his lips and nodded.

  “Fine quaggas, good price,” the man said.

  He gestured at a datascreen. Jay picked it up and turned it on, finding a record of the equines for sale and their prices. Tristan looked over Jay’s shoulder. He tapped a picture of an equine, accessing further details on the quagga. They looked through twenty before choosing two stallions that met their requirements.

  When they showed the man their choices, he nodded and took another puff from his pipe.

  “Good boys.” Jay couldn’t tell if the compliment was for them or their selection. “Pay now and we will fetch them.”

  “How long will it take?” Tristan questioned.

  The stall owner grinned before grabbing a different datascreen. He tapped it and glanced to his left. They had to take a step to the side to see, but Jay was surprised to find a transporter embedded in the road’s stone. It was common in larger cities to have fresh wares transported from where they were housed and farmed, but Jay hadn’t been expecting it on Asam. The IA had certainly picked someone with good quality. The price and use of a transporter spoke for itself.

  “Excellent,” Tristan said. “I’ll transfer it.”

  The man set up the transaction before passing a datascreen to Tristan, who made the payment. Jay moved around Tristan to stand before the transporter. After being assured of the successful transfer of payment, the old man placed their order and the first quagga appeared in front of Jay.

  The equine was tall and large, standing at his eye-level. It was a stallion, dark brown with black stripes around the head, neck and shoulders before his coat faded into a lighter brown. His legs were white, along with his tail, while his short mane had black and white stripes. The quagga already had a saddle and reins, and Jay took the reins and led the animal off the transporter. He smiled at the quagga’s easy compliance and stroked the stallion’s neck.

  When his quagga was clear of the platform, Tristan took Jay’s place and awaited their second purchase. This quagga was just as large but was a much lighter brown, with black stripes visible almost down to its rump. His mane and tail were the same as Jay’s and he whinnied at seeing Jay’s quagga, obviously familiar with the other stallion.

  “Good ride to you,” the old man said before placing the pipe back in his mouth and puffing away at it once more.

  Jay gave him a nod of thanks. Tristan ignored him to lead his quagga away. Jay fell back into step beside the agent and waited until they were far enough away that no one would hear them before leaning close and asking, “Did you see the names on the quagga’s dossiers?”

  Tristan frowned. “Brutus and Rinax. What of it?”

  “Nothing.” Jay shrugged. “But you know what they say about naming animals.” He stroked a hand down the quagga’s neck for further emphasis. He looked at Tristan. “It makes them harder to give up.”

  Tristan looked unimpressed. “I doubt either of us are the sentimental type.”

  Jay looked at his quagga, Brutus. He was a docile and handsome animal, but it was true that he should just consider the equine as just one more piece of equipment. Rescuing Zanik then getting out alive was the priority. If it were him or the quagga, he wouldn’t hesitate to make that choice. Yet Jay had always been fond of animals. He didn’t want to leave them to the mercy of the Kada’rah or to wander the desert with a low chance of survival, if he could avoid it.

  But life was tough, especially as a soldier’s steed. These quaggas had just graduated into that unfortunate position.

  Patting Brutus, Jay didn’t respond to Tristan’s remark as they stepped back into the bustle of the populated streets.

  They still had a long way to go to reach the outskirts of Ashak.

  The city was built into the cliff and had been forced to expand around the impenetrable rock. That caused it to have lots of steep, high streets only to plummet into low dips. When the buildings eventually stopped, the sophisticated roads turned into dirt trails that led to the wall of mountainous granite that surrounded the city.

  At that point, trails shot off in all directions, taking explorers anywhere they wanted to go, including the Carana Desert, which spread for hundreds of miles on the other side of the mountain.

  Caverns and caves needed to be navigated successfully if a person wanted to survive. One wrong turn could get someone lost, with little chance of rescue. It would take hours of mountain climbing to reach the desert and, once there, conditions would only get worse. Jay wasn’t looking forward to it.

  Welcome back to hell, Major.

  The voice of his old drill sergeant passed through Jay’s mind. The man had taken it as a personal challenge to break the spirit of
every recruit under his command. Jay had taken it as a personal challenge to never give up. It meant that his drill sergeant’s voice echoed in his head, reminding him to get up, get moving and walk off that broken leg he’d had.

  ‘You’ll rest when you’re in bed, private.’

  Jay let out a huff of breath and flicked his gaze to Tristan. The man was focused on the city and looking for a place to buy the last of their supplies. He was an antagonistic, clinical and perfectly poised agent who was the cause of Jay being a major again.

  Yet despite all the annoyance and trouble, Jay still wanted to get a hand under Tristan’s shirt and capture his lips in a kiss. But that was just his libido talking, and Jay would have to ignore it.

  Because Tristan was right—neither of them did sentiment. It was why Brutus the quagga and Tristan the IA agent would end up meaning the same amount to Jay by the end of the week…absolutely nothing.

  Right?

  Chapter Five

  Once, it had been common for people to cross the Carana Desert with quaggas. It had been a fast and easy way to reach the isolated settlements when few people had been able to access hovercrafts. However, as large swathes of the sand had become Kada’rah territory, people had been forced to take longer routes or pay to fly.

  The villagers and occasional sightseer still journeyed across the sands, but it was dangerous if a person didn’t know the areas to avoid. It meant that Jay and Tristan were a normal enough sight that no one raised any eyebrows. They’d planned to lie about where they were headed if anyone asked—but no one did. They bought a week’s worth of supplies without a problem.

  It was a winding walk to get free from the bustle of Ashak, but when they finally exchanged city streets for dirt tracks, the size of the rock wall bracketing the city could be truly absorbed. The towering mountainside could be seen from Ashak, but there were too many distractions in the city for it to hold anyone’s attention. Here though, the stone monolith even took away Jay’s breath. The cliffs and crags loomed overhead. The jagged black rock stood higher than the tallest building, fallen boulders the size of a small hovercraft littered the sides of the track and stone spires jutted from the ground like teeth. The wall of stone flanked the city like a barricade, while the trail they needed disappeared from sight as it snaked through the treacherous terrain.