Iza stopped short. How willing will Jovani be to help me once he learns the truth about my engagement to Karter?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Joe watched on the flight deck as Braedon slowly lost his patience with the Apex mechanical crew. The unsuspecting workers, not knowing Braedon, had no idea that his silence wasn’t a good thing.
The distraction was just what Joe needed after the news about Iza and Karter’s engagement. He wanted to believe it was a ruse—to what end, he didn’t know. But given Iza’s odd behavior over the past several weeks, he had to give more credit to the stories in the Sensationals than he might otherwise. The question was, though, did she have any intention of following through with a marriage?
“No, I’ve tried that already!” Braedon yelled at the Apex engineers, interrupting Joe’s thoughts. The young pilot launched into another explanation about what had happened.
Joe had to admit, the ship’s malfunctions were a genuine mystery. The moment Braedon’s patch was disabled, the navigation system defaulted to plotting a course to the same coordinates in the middle of nowhere. The thermostat continued to act up no matter how many times they tried to calibrate it. The refrigerator in the galley refused to regulate temperature and humidity correctly. And those were just the problems they’d been able to identify so far.
For a short while, Joe had been concerned that his covert jump drive upgrades to the Verity had adversely impacted the ship in some way, or that the TSS had unknowingly slipped in spyware during the upgrades. After listening to the Apex mechanics, however, he was convinced that the issues were unrelated to his interventions. Iza had made enough enemies that it could be a deliberate attack, or maybe the problems were just a terrible coincidence.
Regardless, they needed to find the real cause for the malfunctions or Iza might find herself without a ship, which would leave Joe without transportation and put his undercover TSS mission in jeopardy. Worse, Joe didn’t want to have to explain to TSS High Commander Wil Sietinen why the independent jump drive Joe had begged him to approve was on an impounded ship sitting in a scrapyard because no one could fix it.
By late-afternoon, after hours of running into dead ends with the mechanics, Joe could almost feel the anger radiating off of Braedon when he sat down next to him. Instead of speaking first, Joe waited for his friend to broach the subject.
It took all of five seconds. “They’ve been at it for hours, and they’re no closer to finding the cause of the malfunctions than before,” Braedon grumbled. “Some systems came back online on their own, though to hear them talk, they’re to be credited for that.” He let out a short, incredulous snort. “It’s like the ship’s running a bomaxed fever. It’s blazing in here!”
Joe tugged at the collar of his shirt. “Maybe Cierra is secretly a technological wizard and this is her sinister plan to turn the entire ship into a massive greenhouse.”
Braedon cracked a smile. “You joke, but you may be onto something.”
Joe turned serious again when he looked at Trix’s empty seat. “Any word back from Lynaeda?”
Braedon shook his head. “No, though we received a message marked ‘Verity Crew’. I didn’t peek because I figured we’d all want to look it together, since it’s probably from Iz. Then the dumb thing got locked inside the system. The whole ship is breaking down! It’s like living on a freaking death trap.”
Something about the message being marked to the ‘Verity Crew’ made Joe doubt it came from Iza. She’d never directly called them her crew. Though they’d become more than just visitors, Joe knew she hadn’t fully accepted him or Braedon into her life yet.
I can’t force her to trust me. And he couldn’t fault her for being cautious. After all, he hadn’t even told her his real name. I need to come clean.
—
While Braedon went down to Engineering to berate the Apex mechanics about their general incompetence, Joe decided to use the down time to reach out to his best friend, Emery Valackas. It’d been more than a month since they last spoke, and Emery had been demanding an update.
“I was just telling my fiancée you were a bomaxed idiot.” Emery was notorious for starting conversations mid-flow. His bright topaz eyes lit up the screen in delight underneath the dark curls falling down into his eyes.
Joe sat in the captain’s chair on the flight deck, smiling at the holodisplay. Their stop on Beurias was the longest they’d been anywhere in a while, and Joe was glad for the opportunity to catch up with his friend. “I’m calling you now, aren’t I? Things in my new assignment have been more exciting than I originally anticipated.”
“Who are you trying to fool? You’re in the outer colonies, how eventful can it be? Though, it looks like you found yourself a ship.” Emery chuckled.
“Things haven’t been too bad.” Joe glanced around him. “Though I lost an arm.”
Silence. That got Emery’s attention. He leaned forward.
“Got it back though,” Joe continued, “but that’s why I couldn’t contact you. Not even the High Commander knows I was rejuvenating an arm in a private hospital.” He flexed the arm muscle like they used to back at Headquarters when they were both younger and training to become TSS Agents.
“Are you serious? Whoa, it’s a good thing you’re well, because with news like that, your sister is liable to kill you for not making it to the wedding.”
Joe smiled. His best friend bonding with his older sister had thrown him at first. Now, though, after his brief time with Iza, he understood the power of that pull firsthand. It wasn’t something easily severed, even for the love of a brother or a friend.
“Do I even want to know how it happened?” Emery asked.
“It’s a long story, I’ll save it for later.” Joe wanted to shift the focus off of himself. “How are the wedding plans?”
Emery laughed and rubbed a hand through his thick, dark curls. “Wow, where did that come from?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think you’ve ever brought up the subject before. What’s really going on with you? Do you have some kind of terminal, incurable disease?” Emery asked.
Joe thought back to his first days in the outer colonies and remembered how rough it had been. He’d had no friends, no place to stay. Then, it all changed when he met Braedon. He didn’t realize it then, but the kid would bring so much more than a ship into his life. They’d gotten into some trouble along the way, too, but that wasn’t all together unexpected when dealing with a Lower Dynasty rebel who had a Robin Hood complex.
“To be honest, I really like it here,” Joe said.
“So, who is she?” Emery smirked.
The question caught Joe off guard. He hadn’t even hinted at Iza. “What?”
“I’ve never heard you so animated. I’m pretty sure if you’re not dying, then you’re already in love. So, what’s her name?”
Joe struggled to find the right words to define his relationship with Iza. “Well, there is someone,” he began.
“I knew it!” Emery slap his hand against his thigh out of the camera’s view. “It’s obvious there’s something different about you. Where did you meet her, what does she look like, and when’s the wedding?”
Joe laughed. Emery had bonded and fallen fast and hard, it was no wonder he’d leap straight to the happily ever-after. How could Joe begin explaining Iza? Things with her were so different. Her mind was closed off from him, and lately he couldn’t even be sure she still felt the same way.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Joe said. “Not everyone falls in love in a week and gets married the next day.”
“It wasn’t like that. Skyler and I didn’t talk about getting married at all in the first four days.” Emery winked.
“Save me the details. You and my sister getting together is still weird to me. I am happy for you both, though. I hope you can believe that,” Joe said, hoping his voice sounded as sincere as he felt.
“You sound like you actually mean it this time.” Emery’
s eyes darted to the left, and Joe realized his sister was listening in.
Joe shifted in his seat, not sure how much to say in front of her. It was easier to focus on Emery and pretend they were alone.
“I do. Before, I might not have completely understood what you two have, but lately,” Joe rubbed the prickling at the back of his neck, “it’s starting to make more sense.”
“You didn’t mention how you met this mystery woman,” Emery said. His powers of persuasion were weak, but he saw through Joe faster than most.
“Actually, she captains the ship I’m on. That’s sort of how we met,” Joe said. With his sister listening in off-screen, he didn’t mention the prison ship.
“The captain? This just gets better and better. Does she know who you are, I mean about the TSS stuff?”
“No.” Joe shook his head and bit his lip. Though he wanted to tell her, his position and post depended on no one knowing his true identity. As it happened, he’d already blown his cover with both Trix and Karter.
“So I guess you won’t be bringing her to the wedding.”
Joe shook his head. The fantasy of dancing with Iza with many of his classmates and former teachers looking on was something that he’d dreamed about. However, attending his sister’s wedding with Iza wasn’t meant to be.
“Fair enough. Come on, what’s her name?”
“Iza.” It came out more like a whisper, as if just saying her name would bring her to him.
“Iza—sounds exotic. Can’t wait to meet her,” Emery said. “But you’re coming, right?” It was hard to ignore the hope in his voice.
“I’ll do my best,” Joe promised and meant it.
“Don’t show up without a gift. We’re expecting something expensive.” Emery teased. Joe saw Skyler’s fist come from the left side of the screen and hit Emery in the shoulder.
“Okay, sounds good,” Joe said, laughing.
“Your sister says hi.” Emery braced himself for another hit.
Joe hadn’t spoken to Skyler in over two years, when Skyler and Emery had told him about their impending nuptials. It had been a rough time for all of them when Joe didn’t take the news well. Emery hadn’t understood why Joe was so upset then, and he probably never would. Joe’s relationship with Skyler was too complex to properly articulate, so he normally just shut down rather than trying to justify his behavior.
Joe cleared his throat. “I’m glad you two are doing well. Take care.” He waved at the camera. He was taking the coward’s way out; the shame of it crept up his neck and into his cheeks like a heat rash.
Emery glanced to his left and then nodded, dropping his shoulders in resignation. “Yeah, Joe. you too.” He’d finally learned—some things he couldn’t fix. Despite Emery’s eager optimism, Joe appreciated the effort. He would make a great addition to their family.
Joe ended the call and slumped in the captain’s seat. He hated that every talk with Emery inevitably circled back to his sister. That’s what hurt so much. Emery had been his friend. His person to talk to and help him forget about how his life had been turned upside down.
But then Skyler had stolen his best friend. Perfect Skyler, the older sister who’d decided his fate without even realizing that’s what she was doing.
Joe forced himself from the seat with a frustrated groan. He wiped the communication logs so no one could trace the call back to the TSS, and then he headed to his cabin.
“Wow, what’s with you?” Cierra asked when she passed him in the corridor.
Joe normally kept his thoughts guarded from her, but he knew he was wearing enough emotion on his face to give an accurate impression of his mood. As he passed by her, he decided to share a telepathic hint of the storm brewing just beneath the surface.
Cierra nodded as she took in the mental impressions. “Family is complicated.”
“You really have no idea,” he muttered and continued on his way.
He’d had what he would consider a typical childhood in America, if Hollywood movies were a proper indication. Skyler was the golden child, excelling at everything she tried. Joe had given up trying to compete with her by the time he was a teenager, happy to have fun rather than stress about being Number One at anything.
Then, their parents had been killed in the line of duty during a mission gone wrong. Until then, Joe and his sister had no idea that their parents were Tarans stationed on TSS special assignment on Earth. When an Agent came to recruit Joe and Skyler to follow in their parents’ career footsteps, Skylar had jumped at the chance to go off to become a TSS Agent herself; she’d always dreamed of being some kind of superhero.
Joe, on the other hand, had gone off the deep end. His temper got the best of him most days, and he never seemed to be able to keep it under control. The doctors tried to tell him it was an issue with abandonment, or some such nonsense, but he didn’t buy it. He didn’t blame his parents for dying, but he didn’t like being a part of the lie once he learned the truth about Earth’s place in the galaxy. The Taran Empire was right there, just beyond Earth’s technological reach. They hadn’t rescued his parents in time, and then they’d convinced his sister to join their ranks and leave everyone they cared about on Earth behind, in the dark.
Joe had no choice: either lose his sister, too, or join the TSS to maintain a connection to the only family he had left.
Despite having entered the TSS in the same cohort, the experience ultimately drove Joe further from his older sister. He resented her, as unfair as it was, for choosing a path that led away from their home. He didn’t need to follow her, but at sixteen, he’d been too alone and scared to see another option. Sure, the TSS was great in a lot of ways, but he grew bitter about struggling with things that always came so naturally to her.
In the end, the TSS managed to turn Joe into a mediocre Agent with an average skillset. Whenever he saw his sister, though, the anger and resentment was impossible to conceal. Instead of fighting with him, Skyler had avoided him. After many years of practice, they’d found that keeping their distance was for the best.
I followed her so we’d have each other, and then I did everything I could to force her away. He shook his head.
At least Emery had found a way to maintain a relationship with both of them, against the odds. Maybe, one day, Joe would find common ground with Skyler, but that still felt like a long way off. For now, though, he had found a surrogate family aboard the Verity. And maybe, just maybe, Iza could become even more than that.
CHAPTER NINE
Iza’s conversation with Jovani, Braedon, and Cierra went much like she expected when she told them that she wouldn’t be around for a couple of days.
“Of course, we’ll continue to oversee the repairs and pick up any supplies you may need,” Braedon said. “There’s this sweet little shop near the city where we can get fresh fruit for almost nothing. Cierra wants to go so I’ll get extra for the rest of us who want their fruit whole.”
“There’s nothing wrong with blended fruit.” Cierra crossed her arms defensively.
“Maybe not once in a while, but I’d like to use my teeth while I still have them,” Braedon complained.
Iza ignored their bickering. “Jovani, reach out to Lynaeda tell them what’s going on with Trix. Find out if there’s anything we can do for her until we are able to bring her to them.”
“I’ll take care of her.” He reached out and rubbed his hands up and down both of her arms.
Does he know I feel chilled to the bone, or is it just something he does for someone he cares about? Either way, she welcomed the contact. She’d need every bit of energizing she could get before spending two days being paraded around as Karter’s newest acquisition.
“If they say it’s necessary, leave my shuttle here and take the Verity to Lynaeda,” Iza told him. “Trix is the priority. She’s been down for almost a full day, and I’m worried about what’s going on with her internal systems if she remains inactive for any longer. If I could get out of this job, I would.”
>
“You didn’t say exactly what your plans were,” Braedon said.
“No, I didn’t,” Iza said, ignoring his implied question. “If you run into trouble or you’re not sure what to do, contact me. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Oh, and check on the dog for me too. He needs to go out at least twice a day. Let him run around the ship a few times, it will tire him out a bit.”
“Cierra and I know how to care for a dog, we’ve got this. Everything will be fine,” Braedon assured her. He seemed almost too eager for her to go.
Cierra nodded once, as if she were also eager for Iza to be away.
“Why do you always look like you’re about to get into trouble?” Iza asked them.
“Because they usually are,” Jovani answered with a smirk that made Braedon frown. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Braedon stays out of trouble this time.”
Iza nodded, still not sure about leaving Trix but knowing she didn’t have a choice. “Thanks, you’re a huge help. I’ll make it up to you.”
Jovani waved a hand at her. “Don’t worry about it, that’s what friends do for each other. Just be safe.”
Iza smiled. He’s amazing. She stared at his smile a moment longer than normal to commit it to memory. It would disappear once he learned the truth.
—
Karter was sending his driver to pick up Iza at 01:00 in the dead of night. The others had long since gone to bed when Iza opened up her cabin door to creep out. It was better this way—fewer questions, she reasoned. However, the questions would come later. Then she’d be forced to answer them.
Iza was only bringing a small bag of clothes, which she’d slipped the ancient box inside. She didn’t want it wind up in someone else’s hands while there were so many unknown people on board her ship. It was safer with her, though she’d probably sleep better without it.
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