As the evening drew to a close, the boys retired to their separate rooms, but Kylie stayed up and poured over the holoprojected notes she had spread across the table. She studied everything there was to know about the girl and Maverick’s headquarters. Of course, she knew it better than the back of her hand, but worry kept her at it.
She poured another cup of coffee from the thermos and almost moaned at the rich smell that wafted out of her cup. Why couldn’t she make coffee like that?
This mission had her nerves frayed. Preparing made her feel better, but now with the crew so fractured, she worried that if things went bad, they might fall apart. What good was she without her crew?
For all the stupid things Winter had done, he was right about one thing—kidnapped daughters happened all the time. Kylie made it her business not to care. She just went about her business salvaging lost and damaged freighters, turning a blind eye to all the circumstance that surrounded how they got there. Now she was going on a rescue mission? It left a bad taste in her mouth. Rescues weren’t her thing.
Never care too much. Keep your head down. Don’t get involved.
Whatever Maverick wanted with this Lana girl was his business, not hers. Except now she was pitting herself against him. He wasn’t an even-tempered man; there was only so much he’d be willing to forgive.
“You’re thinking too much.” Nadine’s sultry voice was smooth as chocolate as she came up behind her and ran her fingers down Kylie’s arms, kissing her cheek. Kylie sighed and bent her head to the side, allowing Nadine better access to her neck.
“A lot is going to happen, and soon. There’s so much to do, to plan for. Winter and Rogers—”
Nadine straddled Kylie’s lap, each of her bare thighs on opposite sides of the chair. Her shirt was still open from earlier, and her black lace cami was visible. “No more talking about those two. Not until tomorrow.”
Kylie kissed the rising cleavage spilling out of her lover’s bra. She tasted salty but smelled sweet as candy. “For my little dignitary, anything.”
Nadine laughed and wrapped her arms around Kylie’s neck. “That was a lifetime ago. Power, prestige, I lost it all. But at least I got you in the process.”
“A fair trade. When I think of how things could’ve gone today…” Kylie didn’t let herself finish the thought.
“You saved my life again, just like you’re always doing. Venturing outside my family’s estate, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into out into the dark. You saved me from one bad decision after another.”
Kylie smirked. “Every ship captain needs a princess, and you’re mine.”
Nadine didn’t often smile around the crew; mostly, she saved it for Kylie. Something that sat just fine with her. “Oh yes, I like the idea of being a kept princess. And you…your history with Maverick is worse than mine. For years, you were his…companion, for lack of a better word.”
Kylie nodded. “Until he let me go. Gave me the Dauntless.”
“You feel loyal to him in a weird and twisted way. Just as any long-time captive would. How do you really feel about betraying him like this? It might go beyond what he can forgive you for.”
“Maverick is capable of a lot of things. Love and forgiveness isn’t one of them. If he doesn’t want people to turn on him, then he shouldn’t go around kidnapping people’s children.”
Kylie knew that first hand.
Nadine studied her closely. “Maverick is unable to love, at least like a regular human being, but you’re not.”
Kylie gawked at her and pulled back. “You think I love Maverick? There’s only one person for me, and I’m with her.” She stretched her arms around Nadine and kissed the flat bit of flesh above her breasts.
“I know that, darling, but you feel you owe him. He released you after he kidnapped you and kept you as his sex toy. Think about how twisted that is, please. Before we face him again and he gets you under his spell.”
She would. Kylie gave her a long kiss. “Maybe instead of all this talking, we should just move to the bed.”
“Oooh,” Nadine laughed playfully, pulling on Kylie’s lip with her teeth. “I’m pretty sure I’m up for that. If only we had our toys.”
There would be time for that later Kylie hoped, if they were successful.
Nadine took Kylie’s hand and led her to an unoccupied room. Biting her lip with a sinful guise, she helped Kylie undress and they slipped beneath the covers. Kylie lay still on her back and she guided Nadine’s head beneath the sheets, where it needed to go.
As Kylie’s breath quickened and her heart skipped a beat, she thought of Grayson and how he could mess it all up for her. She should’ve warned Nadine; it would’ve been the right thing to do. But to end bliss like this with the news of his pending arrival?
Kylie wasn’t ready for that. Not at all.
CREWMEMBER
STELLAR DATE: 08.29.8947 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Silstrand Space Force navy base
REGION: Trio System, Silstrand Alliance
When Kylie saw the Dauntless again, it was an emotional moment. She hadn’t seen the damage her girl had taken in the battle, and Rogers’s stories had made it sound bad. Still, seeing her girl again made it feel like going home. Maybe the Dauntless couldn’t make her Momma Kate’s special brownies, but it had been Kylie’s special place for ten years.
The SSF engineers had done good work, the repaired sections were indistinguishable from the rest of the whip, which is to say they were dirty and carbon-scored. She looked out at the ship’s massive fusion burners, and single antimatter-pion drive, capable of boosting a ship up to ten times the Dauntless’s mass to a considerable percentage of c. Forward of the engines were fuel tanks and crew areas, fronted by the clear sphere that contained the bridge. Though it did not have a smooth, uniform hull, the majority of the ship had an overall conical shape.
Four grapping arms changed that profile, giving the ship a much more organic look. The arms branched off not far aft of the bridge and could extend over four-hundred meters to secure salvage, or even tear sections of damaged ships free.
The ship was power and grace, and it was all hers.
It had taken time to piece the crew together, and, for a while, it had just been her and the ship. Sure, it was smaller than your standard starfreighter and was always in need of some small repair, but there was nothing they couldn’t solve together. A ragtag ship for a ragtag crew.
The Dauntless was virtually unchanged on the inside, except maybe a bit cleaner since the repairs. It was Rogers who got choked up as he leaned over a panel and stroked its plas covering like he would touch a lover.
“Good to see her again?”
Rogers nodded. “Oh, baby, so very good.”
Kylie scowl. “Did you just call me ‘baby’?”
Rogers up straight to attention and cleared his throat. “Sorry about that, Captain. I guess I just lost myself…. And started talking to the ship. Again. Out loud.”
Kylie clapped a hand on his shoulder. “No problem, Rogers. We all get worked up over her sleek curves.”
“Do we ever.” Rogers took his leave of her and headed toward the bridge. Kylie suspected he wanted to make sure everything was as he left it, though there was no reason to think it would be any different.
Kylie followed the midships passageway to the galley. It wasn’t much, and the equipment was well-used, but it was enough to make a decent meal. A dark, wooden table rested in the center of the room, worn and scuffed from years of abuse and drinking games gone wrong.
Usually, it was just big enough for the members of her crew to gather around, but somehow with Grayson sitting there by himself, it looked even smaller. When he saw her, he immediately stood. “Is your crew on their way?”
“Be here soon.”
Grayson let a long breath. It sounded shaky, and Kylie suspected that he was nervous. “Don’t worry, they don’t bite. For the most part.”
“I’m looking forward to getting this
over with and getting the mission underway. I’ve never been very good at beginnings.”
“Or endings.”
Grayson’s eyes narrowed to a fine point. “Point taken.”
“Just follow my lead and everything will work out in the end. This isn’t a military vessel. Things work differently here.”
“I’m fully aware,” Grayson said.
Kylie head over to the kitchen counter. “Can I get you something? The instant coffee’s pretty good.”
Grayson’s eyebrows rose, and his nose scrunched up like he tasted something horrible. “If it’s anything like your regular coffee, I’ll pass.”
Kylie pulled a mug from the cabinet. “Suit yourself.”
Grayson huffed. “I can hear that you know.”
Kylie blew on her cup of coffee and smiled. “I know you can. Like old times, wouldn’t you say?”
Grayson shook his head and placed his hand on the table, fingers splayed. “I’m not your enemy here.”
“No? They’re going to think you are.”
“I can’t help that, but you can smooth things over. If you want your freedom, you will.”
Kylie gritted her teeth and considered sticking her tongue out at him as Nadine entered the room. Her footsteps faltered as her eyes fell on Grayson and she gasped, her posture gone rigid.
“You couldn’t tell me this last night? This is how you wanted me to find out?”
Kylie held her breath. It might not have been the best decision she’d ever made, but what was done, was done. The truth of the matter was, she didn’t want to have that conversation last night and still didn’t want to have it now.
“This doesn’t change anything.”
“No?” Nadine’s chest rose as she sucked in a deep breath. “He’s your husband. How could that not change anything?”
Grayson raised his finger in the air. “Ex-husband, for what it’s worth. I seem to have run afoul of some sort of domestic spat.”
Kylie ignored him and wished he’d step out of the conversation. “The general appointed him. I have nothing to do with it. We do this mission, and then he’s gone.” She took Nadine’s hand. “Then we’re gone and can do whatever we want. Legally.”
Nadine sighed and glanced at Grayson and then back at Kylie. “I know you don’t like to talk about things. I’ve long accepted you are who you are, just as I am. Just as Rogers and Winter are.” Nadine gently freed her hand. “But you should’ve told me.”
She was right about that.
Nadine didn’t answer, and as Rogers and Winter stepped into the galleyKylie thought maybe she really did screw the pooch this time.
“Oh hell, no!” Winter shook his head. “Him? You couldn’t have mentioned this last night?”
Kylie bit her tongue when she saw the look Nadine gave her. “I thought it was best to rip the band-aid off all at once. I need you all on board.”
“He set us up, Ky.” Rogers whispered.
“On orders. He’s military, that’s what he does.”
“And if his orders are to kill us? If his orders change?” Winter asked.
“I promise not to kill you if you promise not to try to kill me again,” Grayson said with a tilt of his head. “If you do this mission, I will honor the agreement. A letter of marquee for your ship. A chance to go legitimate. It’ll open a lot of doors for you. All of you.”
He gazed at each of their faces, but he was greeted with uncertainty—that much Kylie could see.
“For now, he’s just another crew member,” she told them. “We all fall in line, for this one mission. Then we go our way and he goes his way, but for this to work, we need to work together.”
“But he’s not a regular crew member; he has an AI,” Nadine said. “He could be plotting behind our backs.”
“I didn’t take you for the AI-phobe like Kylie,” Grayson said with a curious expression. “On your world, all the elite have an AI. I’m surprised you don’t.”
“Who says I didn’t?” Nadine raised an eyebrow. “And it’s all subterfuge and lies. The royal family is anything but transparent with its subjects.”
Rogers gave Grayson a sharp double take. “Great, someone to go around second-guessing all my calculations.”
“Jerrod, my AI, will be verifying your calculations while we’re aboard this ship. If I need your help, Rogers, I will ask for it.”
Rogers stepped up. “You want to pilot the Dauntless yourself? Over my dead body.”
Grayson held firm. “I wouldn’t dream of it, but you will do as I say.”
Kylie sighed as the tension in the room rose. “Settle down, Grayson. We’re working together. We are not working for you. This is still my ship, and you’re not in charge of Rogers. Be a team player, would you?” she reminded him.
“I am being a team player.”
And that was the problem. He didn’t know how to de-military, no matter the situation.
Grayson went on, “As much as it doesn’t feel like it, for now, we are on the same team. I’ll work with you, you work with me, and we get the job done. Do remember, an innocent woman is being held by a very terrible individual. Maverick isn’t someone who is going to play nice and serve his captives tea.”
Rogers crossed his arms but remained silent. Winter refused to pull his gaze from the floor.
Kylie took a deep breath and studied everyone’s cold expressions. “We’ll get through this. I know it won’t be easy, but when we get to Jericho, we can’t show Maverick that anything is wrong. We do exactly what it is we always do.”
“Which is pretty much nothing,” Rogers said. “I still get to fly the Dauntless, right?”
Kylie nodded. “Of course. As far as regular ship operations are concerned, Grayson isn’t even here. He’s asserting himself in all the wrong ways, but I still have your back.”
“If you say so. Didn’t much feel like it,” Rogers said and walked out of the room. Kylie longingly watched him go. This was his home as much as it was hers. She wished things could be different.
Nadine rose and silently followed Rogers out of the room. Kylie knew that it was time for her and Winter to have a talk.
He nodded. “I have some…preparations to make.” Pausing at the door, he offered a parting remark. “I won’t hold past actions against you, if you don’t hold mine against me, Winter.”
For his part, Winter crossed his arms and glowered at Grayson’s back as he strode down the corridor. “Top notch guy. Bet he loves taking the high road.”
“Sure does, but this isn’t about him, Winter. We need to—”
“I know, I know,” Winter said in a rush. “You know I panicked. I felt the walls closing in. If we had gotten off right then—”
“A SA officer wouldn’t have been injured, I’d still have my trusty spork, and I would’ve gone into the meeting with the general from a stronger negotiation place. You didn’t just screw yourself. You screwed us all. It can’t happen again.”
Winter snorted and gazed away. Kylie hoped her words were reaching him, but she couldn’t be sure. When his face went this rigid, he was impossible to read. “And now you let him on our ship. It won’t take long for him to take over.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“No?” Winter glowered and stepped up to her. “Seems you are rolling over easy enough already. If he makes a power play for control of the Dauntless, what are you going to do?”
“What I always do. Whatever is in our best interests. You might not see it, but I have your back. I need you to have mine. And anyone else that’s serving on this team. Even if that person is Grayson—for the time being.”
“If I can’t?”
Kylie shrugged and infinite sadness washed over her. “You know the answer to that question, but I’m really hopi
ng it won’t come to that. Do we have an understanding?”
Winter struggled with the question for a short while before he nodded. “Yeah, yeah we do.”
“If you ever put Nadine in harm’s way like that again—”
“I won’t. I shouldn’t have. Idiots are born every day, you know? Don’t get much bigger than me.”
Winter turned around and left. Kylie let him go because she needed him to process all of this on his own. She understood his fear of tight spaces, which was why he favored the cargo hold so much, and his panic. Awful as it was, if Winter’s self-hatred made him a better team player, Kylie wouldn’t just accept it, she would encourage it. Later there would be a chance to be a good friend.
But not now. Not before the mission.
* * * * *
Kylie stepped onto the bridge and reviewed their status with the tug. The SSF had provided them with the Titan-1, as the general had promised, to prove to Maverick they had been working. It would help get them in the door at Jericho—plus, money always softened Maverick up.
In the center of the bridge’s sphere, Rogers was in his seat operating the grappling arms to secure the ship, and then they’d be on their way to Gedri. Kylie crossed her arms and took a deep breath as Rogers swiveled in his chair. Her eyes darted to Nadine, but he didn’t say anything. Her communications and weapons officer appeared stoic as she studied something on her console. Right time, right place—and this wasn’t it.
Tensions were going to run high for a while. She thought of saying something when Grayson stepped onto the bridge. “Jerrod says your calculations are off .002 degrees. Readjust your grappling arms.”
Rogers didn’t flinch or say a word, but Kylie thought from how his fingers moved he might have taken Grayson’s unwelcome advice. She poked her ex-husband in the chest.
Close Proximity - An Aeon14 Space Opera Adventure (Perilous Alliance) Page 6
