The Star Thief

by Jamie Grey

  “It was fun, wasn’t it?” he asked with a wicked smile. “Nice change from the sniping and fighting we’ve done so far. I’d like to do it again.”

  Her heart kicked with unease, and she nodded. “I feel the same way. But I can’t be distracted right now. We have a job to do.” She shrugged into her jacket. “Let’s keep it casual, okay? We can figure it out later if we need to.”

  He slid off the bed and stalked toward her. Completely naked. She forced her gaze away, focusing on his strong chin, the hint of a dimple as he talked. Renna shook her head and realized his lips were moving.

  “When this is all over, we’re going to have a lot to talk about. I’m not going to let you run, Renna. Not this time.”

  He tilted her chin up so their eyes met for one long, intense moment.

  And then he kissed her. Gently. Before letting her go.

  TWENTY-SIX

  She left Finn and made her way back to the ship. Partially to escape Finn and partially because she needed to talk to Aldani about the drug they’d found. She wanted the truth, and this time she wasn’t letting him get away with vague half-answers.

  Renna made her way to the comm room, nodding at the crew as she passed. Somewhere in all this they’d come to accept her as one of their own. Maybe because she’d saved Finn’s life. Maybe it was something else. Either way, it felt…nice.

  She frowned at the thought. These men and women would give their lives for him. That they respected her now meant something.

  She just wasn’t sure what.

  Renna patched into the comm system and waited for Aldani to answer, drumming her fingers against the table. The steady beat slowed as her mind crowded with images of Finn’s naked body beneath hers. Her skin start to burn, and she pressed her hands to her cheeks. She could still smell him on her skin. Feel his hands on her.

  Aldani’s voice jerked her out of her daydream. “Miss Carrizal. I assume you’re calling about a status update on the mission?”

  Renna cleared her throat. Thank the gods he couldn’t see the flush staining her cheeks. “Actually, Doctor, I’m not. I need information. Have you heard of this compound before?” She rattled off the formula Wall had given her.

  There was silence at the other end of the communicator. Then Aldani cleared his throat. “Where did you find that?”

  Dammit. She was right. “Does it matter? I know this is the same drug Myka’s parents were working on. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  He let out a weary sigh. “You’re correct. But their work was based on something my ex-partner Draven Navang and I developed years ago. We thought the compound could be used for creating a new medical device, but it never worked properly. When a new chemical was found on Banos Prime, my brother remembered our research. He and his wife began working on a new chemical formula containing that mineral.”

  “Their drug was an inhibitor, right? To help the body receive retrofitted body parts and transplants?”

  “Exactly.” He paused for a moment before asking, “How did you know what Navang’s original work was to be used for?”

  “Because it’s now being used on a robotic army.”

  Aldani sucked in a breath. “What did you say?”

  “The facility was full of robotic parts and cybernetic implants. Whoever is behind this is creating a mechanical army.”

  “Damn him,” Aldani whispered. “He promised.”

  “Doctor?”

  “The formula you shared is slightly different from the one my brother developed. Someone’s been working on it since he was killed. Altering it. My ex-partner has to be behind this. He’s using his NavStar facility on Vall. It’s the only place in this part of the galaxy with that kind of tech.”

  “I thought you said Navang wasn’t involved.”

  “I’d say anything to keep Myka safe, including lying to you.” His voice dropped, worry in every syllable. “Navang threatened my nephew. Blackmailed me into keeping quiet about his involvement with the promise to return him, unharmed.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, exhaling forcefully to temper the sudden frustration swelling inside her. “Don’t you realize you’ve put him in even more danger? What does Navang want with him? Is he using the kid as blackmail to get you to cooperate with his research?”

  Before he could answer, sirens screamed through the ship and the emergency lights flashed.

  Renna shot from her chair.

  “What is that?” Aldani demanded.

  “I don’t know. I need to go, but this isn’t over. You owe us the truth.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Renna. I didn’t have a choice. Just be careful. Navang is more dangerous than you can imagine. Don’t trust a word he says.”

  “Noted.” Renna snapped off the communicator before sprinting to the CIC.

  “What’s going on?” she demanded.

  Keva spared Renna a brief glance between barked orders. “We just caught four ships on our system scanners. They’re coming in fast.”

  “Lieutenant Keva.” Flight Lieutenant Kojima’s voice boomed over the comm system. “The ships are headed right for the main part of the city. They’re deploying bombs. Impact in t-minus ten minutes.”

  “Dammit!” Keva tapped something into the computer. “I can’t get through to warn Larson and the captain. If this is anything like Hesperia, the port will be destroyed in minutes.”

  The crew kept the panic to a well-ordered minimum, but Renna’s muscles throbbed with the urge to flee. “Keep trying to raise him, I’m on my way to the hospital now. There’s a landing pad on the roof. Be ready to meet us there.”

  Keva nodded. “Be safe out there. We don’t have much time.”

  Renna tore through the ship, adrenaline lending her speed. As she ran through the docking portal, a roar filled the warehouse and the whole ship shuddered. But Renna continued her sprint. She’d spotted a vibrobike in the corner. It was a beautiful machine, with sleek lines and a five-hundred horsepower engine. Hopefully it would get her to the hospital in one piece. She’d have to pay the owner back for it later.

  If any of them survived.

  She threw her leg over the bike and kicked it into gear. With a squeal from the tires, she took off. She pushed the machine as fast as it would go, until the buildings and cars she passed were nothing but a blur. The machine seemed to have a mind of its own, and she gripped the seat with her thighs as it rounded corners and dodged debris at her slightest touch.

  Fires burned whole blocks where the bombs had already hit.

  A boom sounded in the distance, and the ground vibrated as one of the buildings collapsed in a plume of smoke and rubble. Screams and shouts filled the air as people fled the destruction, searching for safety. Wherever that was.

  Renna coughed and tugged her shirt over her mouth, keeping her head down as she passed through a wall of smoke. The scent of sulfur and ash filled her lungs and stung her eyes until everything around her wore a hazy halo.

  She wove the bike between emergency vehicles and scattered bodies, urging it to go faster. The hospital was only a few kilometers away, but it felt like she was running a gauntlet as more bombs rained down onto the city.

  When she glanced behind her, starships shot one after another from the spaceport like a flock of birds, their silhouettes black against the purple sky. Maybe they’d had enough warning to evacuate the population.

  And maybe she’d actually be able to retire to that paradise world she kept dreaming about.

  Renna swerved as a man ran screaming from the building beside her, his clothes blazing. He made it five steps before collapsing in flames. She gritted her teeth and looked away. There was nothing she could do for him. Getting to Finn was the only thing that mattered right now.

  She kicked the bike into a higher gear just as an explosion erupted on her right, sending a shock wave full of debris at her and the motorcycle. The impact sent the bike spinning, and she flew off, landing with a bone-jarring thug against another building. Pain sledgeham
mered through her body, her bones and muscles rebelling against the collision. She lay there, paralyzed and gasping, each breath a thousand tiny knives. Renna stared up at the sky and forced herself to relax, to breathe through the agony.

  She focused on the tiny black bird soaring high above her in the purple sky. Her eyes narrowed and focused. It wasn’t a bird. It was a ship, growing larger and larger as it approached. The sheer mass of it made her jaw drop. It was double the size of the Athena, with strange wings on the sides, almost like the old airplanes they’d made before space travel. The dull, metallic color glinted in the weak sunlight. Instinctually, she knew it was made of the same strange material they’d found at the facility on Banos Prime.

  And it was coming in fast.

  Renna staggered to her feet. Hospital. Captain Finn. Athena. Her head swam, making the road beneath her feet jump and move. She focused on standing straight. If she didn’t hurry, none of this would matter anyway. They’d all be dead.

  She took one slow step and then another. As she moved, the fire in her lungs eased and her muscles loosened. The hospital was close. Hopefully it was still standing.

  Less than two minutes later, she rounded the alley and her shoulders sagged in relief as she spotted the hospital. It hadn’t been hit yet, despite the bombs falling all around. Maybe that meant Finn was all right.

  Renna burst through the front doors and headed for the stairwell, climbing two at a time. “Find Captain Finn,” she ordered her implant. It returned a heat signature in the fourth floor conference room where she’d met with Major Larson yesterday. She made for that corridor, skirting past the medical personnel scurrying in every direction, trying to stabilize and evacuate patients.

  She slammed open the conference room door. “Finn!”

  The captain and Major Larson jumped at the thud of the door against the wall, but she didn’t wait for them to answer.

  “What the hell are you two still doing here? The attack is getting worse by the second.” Renna’s heart threatened to pound through her ribs. She hadn’t run like that in months. Something warm trickled down her face. She raised her fingers to the cut throbbing on her cheek, and they came away wet with blood.

  Major Larson frowned at her. “We couldn’t get through. Comms are down.”

  Why did the guy look so unhappy to see her?

  “Doesn’t matter now,” she said, shaking her head. “We need to get to the roof. The Athena is on her way.”

  Finn nodded. “Major, come with us. It’ll be safer onboard.”

  Larson shook his head and strode toward the door. “I’m heading to HQ. We have a bunker there. I’ll be in contact soon, Captain. Be safe, both of you, and stop these bastards. Whatever it takes.”

  Finn’s eyebrows furrowed, but he and Renna followed Larson out into the hall. “Yes, sir. You can count on us.” Finn saluted.

  The major returned it. “Go on. Get out of here before it’s too late. That’s an order.”

  Renna grabbed Finn’s arm and headed back to the stairwell.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked as they ran toward the roof.

  “We couldn’t get you on the comms, and Keva wouldn’t leave without you.” Renna ignored the other part of her that said she didn’t want to leave without the blasted man either.

  “Larson and I were trying to patch into the Athena as well. Seems like the first thing the attackers did was disable all communications on planet.” Finn shook his head. “What are these people after? Lenue is nothing but a backwater spaceport. There’s no value here. And Myka’s not here. I thought these attacks were tied to him.”

  “That’s what we need to find out.” Renna sucked in a breath, trying to calm her pounding heart. “Aldani’s been lying to us. His ex-partner is behind this.”

  “Dammit.” Finn raked a hand through his hair. “I should have known. Dallas had me investigate Navang’s biomedical device company, NavStar, almost six months ago. Everything came up clean. A little too clean.”

  They climbed the last flight of stairs, and Renna shoved open the door to the roof. The flight pad was empty, and she scanned the sky for the ship. Finn turned and searched in the other direction. The echoes of screams filled the air, even this high up. Each blast of a bomb striking its target made her jump. She forced herself to block the noises out. If she let herself think about what was happening, how many people were dying, she’d be paralyzed. And now, more than ever, she needed to stay strong.

  “There!” Finn pointed off in the distance. “That’s the Athena.” He pulled Renna back into the stairwell, and they watched the ship approach.

  “Thanks for rescuing me,” he said softly. “You could have gone without me, finished the mission. No one would have thought badly of you.”

  She gaped at him. “Is that what you think of me? That I’d steal your ship and your crew and disappear? I thought you trusted me. Or was that all a lie, too?” Anger and disappointment licked across her skin like the fire in one of the buildings below, burning away the fear and exhaustion that threatened to make her collapse.

  “No. That’s not what I mean.” Finn pinched the bridge of his nose before trying again. “That didn’t come out right. I just meant that I knew you’d do the right thing.”

  She glared. “I don’t have time right now to work out if I should be offended or not. Not to mention, your crew would never leave you behind.”

  “I still appreciate you risking your life to find me.” He gently touched the skin beneath the cut on her cheekbone. “We’ll get you patched up as soon as we get back on board.”

  Her gaze drifted past his head to the dark form sweeping toward them. “I think we’re going to have a few other things to worry about first.” She pointed at the other ship, and her blood turned to ice. Had the Athena seen them?

  She stepped around Finn and pressed below her ear to turn on her comm. “Renna to the Athena. Do you read?” Dear gods, let the comms be working at close quarters, she prayed. “Athena, do you copy?”

  A burst of static sounded in her ear before she recognized Kojima’s voice. “This is Athena. What’s your position?”

  “We’re on the roof of the hospital, but there are hostiles incoming. Watch your left flank. They’re going to attack.”

  “I see them. Evasive maneuvers in place. We’ll loop back around to pick you up when we’ve lost them.”

  The Athena changed course, curving away from the hospital and causing the other ship to shoot past them.

  “What the hell is that?” Finn asked, staring at the onyx machine. “I’ve never seen that ship designed before.”

  “It’s made from the same material as the facility. I have a feeling Navang designed it. I just wish I knew why.” She held her breath as two white streaks burst from the belly of the enemy ship and snaked toward the Athena.

  The ship banked, slipping behind a high rise, and the missiles hit the building in a fiery explosion, blowing out all the windows on the block.

  “Shit. All those people.” Her hands were shaking, and she clenched them in front of her.

  “It was empty. They evacuate tall buildings like that first.” Finn’s fingers pried hers apart, and he held her hand tightly as the Athena came around behind the enemy ship.

  “There! Kojima won’t let them get away. Watch this.” Finn squeezed her hand as the missile bay doors on the Athena opened and the main gun fired at the other ship. It started its turn to escape, but it wasn’t as agile as the Athena. The MYTH ship fired four shots. They hit the side of the enemy in a waterfall of sparks. A moment later, an explosion ripped through the air.

  Renna clasped her hands to her ears as the ship blew apart in a volley of shrapnel and fire. Down below, she could hear people cheering at the Athena’s victory. At the destruction of the enemy.

  Less than two minutes later, the Athena touched down on the roof. Renna and Finn raced for the hatch, which slid open to meet them. Keva and Viktis were waiting for them.

  Finn stopped short i
nside the airlock and glared at the pirate. “What the hell is he doing on my ship?” he demanded of Keva. To Viktis, he turned and said, “You’re like a bad disease that just keeps showing up.”

  Viktis grinned. “And you’d know all about bad diseases, Captain? I hope you were tested before you slept with our girl here.”

  Dear gods, would the man ever grow up? She rolled her eyes as Keva’s mouth dropped open into a shocked O.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Keva said. “He said he had information on the attack and that he’d been working with Renna. Should we throw him off?”

  Viktis stepped aside. “Why don’t we discuss my merits after we get the hell off this planet?”

  Finn shook his head and strode past toward the CIC. “He can stay. But one Ileth toe out of line and he goes in the brig.”

  “Damn, Renna. This guy is a gem.” Viktis frowned at her as they followed Finn through the ship. “I can see why you chose him over me.”

  Renna slanted him a look. “Enough. We barely made it out of there in one piece. We don’t have time to ice your injured pride right now.”

  The Athena’s engines spun up, and the ship lifted off. Less than a minute later, they were through the atmosphere and away from the attack. Renna paused at the bridge window and looked down at the plumes of smoke drifting up from the city.

  Aldani’s had cost them more than time; it had cost those people their lives.

  Viktis leaned against one of the railings in the CIC. “Captain, I have some information. That is if you’d like to take your head out of your ass long enough to hear it.” He paused for effect. “The attacks aren’t random.”

  Finn studied the monitor in front of him. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

  “Okay. How about each of the attacks hit MYTH bases in specific cities?”

  Finn’s hands paused on the keyboard, and he slowly turned to face Viktis.

  Renna felt her jaw slip open. “How did you find that out? Aren’t MYTH bases top secret?”