“How did my mate sleep?”
Vera turned her head, smiling at Roth, despite it not being light enough for her to see. “Really good. Lights on.”
Nothing happened.
“Computer, lights up twenty-five percent,” he ordered.
The bedroom lightened until she could see him. “Thanks.”
“I will program your voice into the cabin controls today.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“This is your home now.” Roth smiled at her.
There was a ping noise. Vera frowned. “That’s the door?”
“Yes. Stay in bed.” Roth released her and got out from under the blankets.
Vera enjoyed the sight of her very naked mate’s body. Roth pulled on pants and strode to the door. He palmed the pad next to it and stepped out.
Minutes passed before the door reopened and he reentered. “Computer, day lighting.”
The room brightened. Vera sat up, studying Roth’s face. He appeared angry when he stood at the end of the bed.
“What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Your people are here early. Clark just contacted Drak. They have checked in with security and are demanding access to you immediately.”
It took her a second to figure out what he meant. “The New Worlds representatives are onboard?”
“Yes.”
“Oh crap! I had planned on contacting my company to terminate my employment right after we mated. I probably should have done that yesterday afternoon, but to tell you the truth, I forgot about them. We were doing sexy celebrating. I guess I’ll be quitting in person.” She winced a little. “They’re going to be furious that they made the trip for nothing, since I’m not going back with them. But then again, I’m sure they probably want to interrogate me in person anyway.”
A growl came from Roth. “They will not be interrogating you.”
“Maybe that’s the wrong word for me to use, but they are going to want a full report on everything that happened down on Biter. Not only did we lose forty-two people, but they’re going to have to pay out a fortune in death benefits. Plus, all the money and time they’ve lost on this project.”
“None of that is your fault.”
“I know that, but I’m the only survivor for them to question. On top of everything else, they could lose the rights to Biter if they don’t get another survey team down there soon to meet the one-year deadline. I can’t even imagine how much money is at stake for the company.”
“The humans are demanding that we meet them on deck two in Investigator Trowly’s office right away. Drak is ordering Gnaw and Maith to return to our cabin. They will be here within minutes. I’m not taking you out of our cabin without our grouping to escort you. You’re in danger still. Drak invited your people to our cabin, but they refused.”
Vera climbed out of bed. “Shit.” She dashed to the few clothing items she had in Roth’s room, starting to dress fast.
“We should shower first. The humans can wait. They arrived earlier than they stated they would.”
She stood after putting on her shoes and peered into his eyes. “This is upper-management bullshit tactics. Trust me. It’s best if I present myself to them as quickly as possible. Otherwise, they’ll screw me over. I’m sure they’re looking to save money anywhere they can.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve never been subjected to a surprise inspection on a work site, but I’ve heard about it happening to other survey teams. They were given no warning until a shuttle landed and suddenly, company representatives were there. Anyone who refused to instantly comply by answering questions or showing their work were docked pay. They probably lied about when they were going to arrive just to catch me off guard.”
Roth snarled and spun away, going to his dresser. She felt relief as he quickly got dressed too. They exited their bedroom and took turns using the bathroom.
By the time Vera had brushed her hair and teeth, and splashed water on her face, the rest of the Veslors had assembled in the living room. They’d also brought weapons. She tried not to stare at the pair of laser blasters Roth strapped to his thighs.
He held out his hand to her, and Vera immediately took it. Roth made her feel safe. She also loved the sweet gesture of holding her hand.
“Are you ready?” He studied her features, concern showing in his eyes.
“Yes.” She wasn’t about to admit to feeling nervous. He could probably already tell.
Darla came out of one of the bedrooms with the cubs. All of them wore matching pajamas. “What’s going on?”
Gnaw went to his mate and gave her a kiss on her forehead. “Vera’s people are here. We are escorting her to speak to them.”
“They aren’t really my people. It’s two representatives from the company I work for,” Vera corrected.
Darla grimaced. “That doesn’t sound like fun.”
No, it won’t be. Vera sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. “We should go.”
Drak and Gnaw took the lead. Roth kept hold of her hand, and Maith trailed behind. They passed a few crew members on the way to the lift. No one shared it with them as they went to deck two. When the doors opened, Clark stood there in full military uniform. Vera noticed he also wore weapons.
“Our appreciation to you for being here,” Roth told the older human.
“You’re my boys. I’ll always look out for you. Congratulations on your mating, Roth.” Clark’s gaze fixed on Vera. “I informed Commander Bills of the news. He’s given his permission for you to stay onboard. He also sends his congratulations on your mating.”
Vera swallowed hard. “I hadn’t even thought about that. I’m afraid I’m not too familiar with protocols for the fleet.”
“It’s been taken care of. You’ve officially been listed as part of the Veslor grouping.” Clark turned, moving down the corridor. “We’re meeting in conference room two instead of George’s office. It’s larger,” he called out over his shoulder.
Two officers stood from behind a long counter when they entered security. One of them cleared his throat. “This way, sirs.” The man had them follow him deeper into the offices.
Trowly sat on the far side of a round table when they entered the room. A man and woman dressed in business attire were seated on each side of him. Both appeared in their mid-fifties and displayed stern expressions.
The woman spoke first. “Thanks for bringing us our employee. Now leave. This is a private matter.”
Roth’s hold on Vera’s hand tightened. “We are not leaving Vera.”
“These are the Veslors I was telling you about.” Trowly motioned for them to take seats. “They are all a part of Miss Wade’s protection detail.”
The man in the suit scowled at Trowly. “You’re saying that one of our employees isn’t safe on one of the biggest battle cruisers in your fleet? Especially inside your own security offices? Some of the things we need to go over are classified. The last thing New Worlds needs is a bunch of gossip circulating about what in the hell happened on that planet. I understand that you have to be here because fleet stuck their nose where it didn’t belong, but I want those men to leave while we question our employee.”
“Don’t be insulting, Mr. Danver,” Trowly snapped. “These men were in your facility as part of the rescue detail. They saw the result of the sabotage. And we answered a distress hail. Be thankful for that, or every employee would be dead and you’d have no one to question. I’ve opened my files to you about our investigation results so far, and informed you of what happened to Miss Wade in the bar. You haven’t been so forthcoming. Who has the most motivation to murder your entire survey team?”
The woman cleared her throat. “Gentlemen, enough.” She stared at Vera. “Miss Wade, tell your security to leave right now. Then take a seat.” She reached down and withdrew a data pad. “The fleet has demanded that we interview you in front of their lead investigator. We have no time to waste. Our pilot is ready to depart in an hou
r.”
Vera didn’t like the woman’s rude tone or the fact that she had just ordered her to make Roth and his grouping leave. “What is your name, and what do you do for New Worlds?”
The woman narrowed her eyes, studying Vera shrewdly. “I don’t think that’s relevant, but I’m Marcy Piers. I am a station resources manager. This is my associate, Ted Danver. He works for our legal department. We were the closest to your location. We’ve both been authorized to handle this unfortunate event.”
“Unfortunate event,” Vera repeated. “Wow. That’s what you’re calling what happened on Biter? Someone sabotaged our pods habitat, we were all being drugged against our will by stuff that made us lose our minds, and pure hell went down, up to and including murder and suicide.” Tears filled her eyes, slipping down her face, but her voice remained strong. “It was a living nightmare none of us could escape. My team just kept dying, one after another. Unfortunate event doesn’t begin to cover it. Try calling it a fucking nightmare that there was no waking up from. Put that in your report.”
Both New Worlds representatives gaped at her.
Then the woman’s job description sank into Vera’s mind. “Station resources?”
“Yes,” Marcy Piers admitted. “I just said that.”
Vera suddenly had a suspicion. “You got here pretty fast. I’ve heard something about station resources before… Did you hire temporary workers from a space station to assemble our pods habitat on Biter? I know the freighter made a stop at a station right before we reached the planet. We were told it was to refuel…but did they also pick up people? There are rumors that New Worlds does that sometimes to save money. You wouldn’t have to pay one of our assembly teams to travel all the way from Earth and back. Is that what you did?”
“Have a seat,” Danver ordered. “We’ll be asking the questions. Not you.”
“Vera?” Roth’s hand tightened on hers.
She turned to look up at him. “It makes no sense that someone on my team would willingly drug everyone. They were trapped on Biter, too. And you told me where those canisters were hidden, where they weren’t easy to access. Do you know who could have put them there? The people who assembled the pods habitat.”
Vera glared at Marcy Pier. “Did you risk our safety by hiring non-vetted stationers? Did you even run background checks on them? New Worlds does extensive checks on full-time contracted employees. They’re highly motivated to make sure every project is successful, since higher-ups get annual bonuses if profits are—”
“Sit down and shut up!” Marcy Piers snapped. “I have the authority from New Worlds to fire you. You will be heavily fined as well.”
“Answer Miss Wade,” Trowly demanded. “Did you hire stationers, giving them access to the planet? You gave me the impression your job was simply to buy food supplies from nearby space stations. And the list you provided of employees who were part of the delivery crews—who had access to your dead employees and the job site—were all from earth.”
Vera’s anger spiked. “If she said that, she’s lying for sure. All our food comes from the same distributor on Earth. It’s marked on all the boxes in our kitchen storage. You can send someone back down to our pods facility to look yourself. A good portion of our food boxes are still sealed, since we hadn’t even reached the halfway mark on completing our job. There are four storage areas in the kitchen pod. Two are for shelf-stable supplies, one is for cold storage, and the fourth is a freezer.” She paused. “It doesn’t even make sense to buy food from a space station. The prices would be much higher. My company buys directly from the same place every time. It’s always Krongon Foods.”
“You’re not a cook. You wouldn’t know that for certain,” Danver argued.
“No, I’m not.” Vera glared at him. “But I’ve been on many survey teams, and guess what? Every cook asks for help from time to time. Especially if it’s someone’s birthday or a holiday. It happens on every assignment. I’m usually the nice one who gets suckered into scanning the label of those boxes to search for a frozen cake or canned something or other. It’s always Krongon Foods printed on those boxes. On every job.”
“None of this matters.” Marcy Piers stood. “We’ll discuss this on the shuttle. It’s time to leave.”
“Sit back down,” Trowly snapped. “You gave me a falsified list of suspects if you did hire people off a space station. No one is going anywhere until I say otherwise. That won’t be until after you give me an honest list of suspects.”
“And I quit,” Vera blurted.
Trowly, Danver, and Marcy Piers gaped at her.
“I quit,” Vera repeated. “I’ll be officially sending notice to New Worlds as soon as I get access to a data pad. I’m not going back to Earth, and definitely not with you two. I didn’t have anything to do with what happened on Biter, beyond being a victim. You’re not going to try to pin any of this bullshit on me.” Her gaze locked on the other woman. “Especially if you’re the one who hired the asshole or assholes who put those canisters inside the vents.”
“You are going back with us. We don’t accept your resignation.” Danver glared at Vera.
“You won’t be taking my mate anywhere.” Roth released her hand and stepped forward, putting himself a little in front of Vera.
“She’s returning to Earth!” Danver rose to his feet. “Miss Wade is the only employee left alive. Corporate demands that we bring her in. They have questions that she will be answering directly to them, since she refuses to cooperate with us.”
Trowly stood as well. Vera’s heart pounded at his angry expression. Would he try to make her leave against her will? She had no doubt Roth would get into a physical altercation to protect her. That could get him arrested. She didn’t want that.
But Trowly turned on Danver. “You won’t be forcing Miss Wade to leave with you. As you pointed out, she’s the only remaining witness to the crime that took place on the planet. Fleet is now in charge of this investigation.” Then he turned his head, glaring at Marcy Piers. “It seems you may have motive to push some blame onto Miss Wade, if you’re the one who hired whoever placed that illegal drug on your work site.”
Vera breathed out in relief and placed her hand on Roth’s back. He felt tense under her palm. She appreciated that he was protecting her, keeping her slightly behind him.
“I demand a complete list of names of everyone who had access to your job site.” Trowly almost shouted the words. “Sit down, Mr. Danver.”
Danver paled and quickly sat. So did Marcy Piers.
Trowly retook his seat too. “Miss Piers, I suggest you inform your pilot that you both will be delayed indefinitely. Neither of you are leaving until I’m satisfied. The fleet doesn’t take kindly to being lied to.” He addressed Clark last. “For now, Miss Wade isn’t needed. You, her, and the Veslors can leave.” He looked at Vera. “Please keep close to Mr. Roth in case I have questions. I’ll reach you through his com link.”
Roth turned, wrapped an arm around Vera, and herded her to the door. The grouping and Clark followed them out of the conference room and they all walked out of security.
Clark whistled when they reached the lift, waiting for the doors to open. “That didn’t go the way I thought it would.”
“We still don’t know who attempted to harm Vera with poison,” Roth grunted. “Or who hurt her on the planet.”
“No,” Clark sighed. “But we now have a better lead on how those drug canisters ended up where they did. And someone bribed someone on this ship to poison Vera. I’d bet a chunk of my pension that they also bribed a stationer who got hired by New Worlds temporarily to put those pods together on Biter. Jobs are hard to come by for some of those people, and some wouldn’t care about killing if the price was right. George will get his answers and let us know what he’s uncovered. He’s a great investigator.”
Vera leaned against Roth. She just wanted to go back to their cabin.
Clark met her gaze. “How many companies are there like yours?”
“Do any of them have a reputation of playing dirty when they lose a bid?” The lift opened and Clark entered first, turning to glance back at Vera for her answer.
“Not that I’ve heard about.” She shrugged as she and Roth entered the lift.
“Get down!” a deep male voice suddenly roared. It sounded like Drak.
Vera hit the wall hard as Roth shoved her against the side of the lift. He used his body to pin her there, shielding her.
Then a big hole appeared on the back wall of the lift, barely missing Clark’s head. He dropped to his knees, grabbing one of his laser blasters.
The smell of burning metal filled her nose. Someone had shot at them.
More laser fire sounds filled her ears and alarms blared from somewhere outside the open doors of the lift. Terror struck hard as Vera realized they were under attack.
Chapter Sixteen
Roth wanted to go after whoever was shooting at them, but he couldn’t risk exposing his mate. His body was the only thing between Vera and the laser fire. Gnaw had entered the lift already and pressed tight to the other wall across from them. The doors started to close.
“Protect my mate!” he roared at both males inside the lift. Then he shoved away from Vera and dove back into the corridor with Maith and Drak. He instantly began to shift into his battle form, feeling his clothing tear as he hit the floor.
As he rolled to his back, moving to avoid being hit by laser fire, he heard the lift doors seal.
He took in the situation as he finished the roll and landed on all four of his legs.
Maith was sprawled on his stomach, unmoving. Rage flooded Roth’s system at the sight. Drak was shifting form.
A human male stood farther down the corridor where it curved out of sight, holding a blaster.
Their gazes locked—the human’s expression one of fear.
Mission: Planet Biter (Veslor Mates Book 4) Page 17
