Rushing to the computer, Trouble started typing. “Aiden. Look around some more. See if you can find anything to use for a weapon.”
“Okay. What are you doing?”
“Finding out where we are and where this ship is going. I’m going to try and shut off the ship’s cameras and see if I can get us to an emergency shuttle. In the main part of the ship it will be like the main part of the castle. The computer will see us. I have to shut that function down. And make sure it isn’t going to give us away to the captain.” He continued typing, his fingers flying across the keys.
Aiden was impressed. He knew a hacker when he saw one and Trouble was somewhere in the same league as Payton. It made him feel much better about their chances of escape.
Wandering around, he looked for anything that might be useful. There wasn’t much here, it was a small area once you got through the maze of computers. There was a large hatch, which he hoped stayed closed, and little else.
“Aiden.” Trouble motioned for him to hurry. “I started nosing around to see if there was any kind of hint as to why we were taken. And I came across the name Lord Braxton. Do you know him? He’s in the captain’s quarters right now with the captain and Caldwell.”
Aiden’s jaw dropped. Braxton? “Can you listen in or see them or something?”
Trouble nodded and typed again. Then there were voices. Trouble frowned. “That doesn’t sound like Caldwell.”
Aiden listened carefully. No it didn’t, but it was definitely Braxton. “Who’s the captain?”
“Chapman. Felix Chapman.”
“That is the man who tried to kill me. We’re on The Marchioness.”
It wasn’t a question, but Trouble nodded anyway, then went back to typing. “I’m going to download everything I can and then we’re going to get out of here. I’ve already disabled the computer’s notifications and I sent a distress signal.” He reached down and did something with the heel of his ankle boots. The wedge swiveled and he got a small rounded disk-shaped object out before pushing the heel back in. He held it up to Aiden and grinned. “A multifunction drive and holographic camera.”
Damn, the kid was good. Aiden’s unease let up a little. He wondered if Nate had any idea his son was this prepared for such events.
While Trouble typed, Aiden listened.
“Tell me again why you felt it was necessary to kidnap the prince?” Chapman sounded exasperated.
He and Trouble looked at one another.
“For money. We’re going to ransom him.”
“I told you I had a buyer already for the schematics we will be obtaining from the deal. That was to help you get away. Why do we need ransom money?” Caldwell said.
“I changed my mind. There is no way they haven’t found me out. We left this ship in my name and that little shit has sketches of the weapons on it because you failed to erase them from their damned castle computer. I’m not being hanged as a traitor. We are keeping the money we got from selling the weapons, the schematics and now the ransom for the prince, then I’m taking my share and I’m done. I’m tired of that backward-ass planet and their fucked-up morality anyway. Have you any idea how hard it is to find a decent piece of ass on Regelence? All the women are so inelegant and lower class. Although it is amusing to watch them come crawling back groveling at my feet for a chance at aristocracy even when they know I will leave them bruised, broken and bleeding.” Braxton chuckled.
“Are you getting this?” Aiden motioned to the wireless device Trouble had set on the keyboard that now had a steady blue light on the top of it.
Trouble hit a few more buttons. “Yeah. Got it, the ship’s log and a buttload of encrypted messages.”
“They probably would have never noticed the sketches if that idiot Benson had stopped taking the screens. I told him not too, but he did it anyway.”
“And where is this Benson now?” Caldwell asked.
“Dead.”
At the reminder of the dead valet, Aiden and Trouble looked at each other again.
Finally Trouble stopped typing. “We have to go. We’ve wasted enough time.” The blue light on the drive went off. Picking it up and fumbling with his heel, Trouble put the drive back.
“What now?”
Trouble typed a few more things on the keyboard, grabbed Aiden’s arm and took off. “Now we haul ass to the emergency shuttle. Give me a boost.”
Aiden put his hands together, letting Trouble step into them and hoist himself back into the tunnel.
Poking his head back out, he held down his hand. “Here.”
“Move out of the way.” Aiden jumped, caught the edge and pulled himself inside.
After replacing the panel, he crawled back through the maintenance shaft, following Trouble.
“Look for a ladder along the bulkhead.”
Aiden began looking ahead for a spot with no pipes. “Where are we going?”
“There is a hatch leading right outside the communications room. If I read it correctly, a few feet from that hatch to the left is the emergency shuttle.”
If he read it right? Great. If he read it wrong didn’t bare thinking on. They would be standing around right outside an occupied room. “There. There is the ladder. Are you sure about this?”
“Not a hundred percent no.” Trouble started up the ladder.
Wonderful. Aiden rolled his eyes. “Do you think maybe we should go back and check again?”
“No time. I sort of told the ship to self-destruct.”
“You what?”
“Come on.” Trouble reached the top and glanced down at him. “Okay, we are going to just do it. I’m going to push it open and hurry out and you have to be right behind me. One, two, three, go!”
Aiden didn’t have time to panic. He followed Trouble up and out. There was a hatch to their left, one to their right and one directly in front of them.
Trouble hit a button on the wall to their left as the hatch in front of them opened.
An officer stepped out of the communications room, his eyes widening when he came face-to-face with Aiden.
“Shit.” Without thinking, Aiden doubled up his fist and hit the man square in the nose. Everything went in slow motion, blood splattered, the man wobbled. Another man came out of the hatch behind the first one, fragger drawn. “Oh shit.”
“Aiden!”
He dove for the shuttle as a searing pain flared in his thigh. Falling into the shuttle, he caught himself on his hands. “Go! Trouble, get us out of here now.” Another fragger bolt caught his arm and made it buckle. His head hit the deck as a loud popping sound rang out.
“Fuck.” Trouble started hitting buttons.
The door closed.
“Aiden?”
“Unh.” Lying perfectly still, he stretched out on his stomach. His leg hurt, his arm hurt and he was going to vomit.
“Are you alive?”
He was seeing stars and—where was he? Oh yeah, kidnapped, shuttle escape. He had to focus. He couldn’t leave Trouble alone to fend for himself. Nate would expect him to take care of his son. Nate. Aiden would miss him terribly whether he was gone for a few months, few years or always. Aiden had gotten his freedom, but he’d lost his heart. “Trouble, tell Nate I love him, ’kay?”
He must have blacked out for a minute, because the next thing he knew Trouble was yelling at him.
“Damn it, Aiden! Talk to me. Please… I can’t come back there. They were shooting at us and I have to get further away and…” He sniffled, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. “Aiden?”
“’M here, Trouble. Where are we?” He opened his eyes and tried to sit, but as soon as he put any weight on his right arm pain overwhelmed him.
Trouble let out a big, audible breath. “Fuck if I know. I have no navigational controls. A fragger bolt took out the panel.”
“Did you call for help?” Moving himself to where he could see Trouble made his leg hurt, so he gave up and laid still.
“Yes, before we left the ship. You
all right?”
“Do it again. Try to get word to the IN and have them send someone to pick us up.”
“Okay. The Lady Anna should still be in the area. According to the coordinates before we left The Marchioness, we weren’t too far out of The Regelence System. I— Yes! A Destroyer. Aiden, there’s an IN Destroyer heading toward us.”
Aiden hoped that wasn’t a bad thing. He hurt enough without crashing and being blown to bits. “It’s not going to run into us since you can’t steer, is it?”
“It’s the Lady Anna.” Trouble sounded relieved.
Forcing himself to lift his head, Aiden squinted toward the viewscreen.
Nate’s ship was formidable. It looked like a metal warship of old. Massive gun turrets lined the main hanger deck. The tower, or Island as it was called, stood tall above the flight deck. The sheer size was intimidating, a sight to send any enemy into a panic. It was easy to see why Nate was so proud of her.
There were a few beeps and then a man spoke. “Please identify yourself. We indicate there are two passengers in your shuttle.”
“Oh, thank Galaxy, Lieutenant Taylor. Jeremy Hawkins, sir. I have Prince Aiden of Regelence with me.”
There was a cheer from over the speaker, making Aiden grin even through his pain. Then Taylor spoke again, sounding much more cheerful. “Nice to hear your voice, Trouble. Cut the engines and we’ll pull you in.”
The Lady Anna: One parsec outside of the Regelence System.
Nate stood in front of the hangar bay, trying to look calm and patient when he was anything but. What was taking so long? He, Raleigh and Steven had taken a shuttle to the Lady Anna as soon as Nate realized Aiden and Trouble had been kidnapped. They’d been in pursuit when they noticed the small shuttle heading toward them.
“Are they all right?” Raleigh asked from beside him.
“I don’t know.” Nate sounded a lot gruffer than he’d meant to, but damn it he was worried. He’d left the bridge as soon as he’d heard Jeremy’s voice.
Steven, who was pacing back and forth behind them, stopped beside Raleigh. “I thought you said you talked to them.”
“I went to get the two of you as soon as we learned it was them.” Nate closed his eyes. Trouble had sounded okay. Please, let them both be okay.
“Captain, the shuttle is onboard and another managed to escape The Marchioness before it self-destructed. It is headed away from the Regelence System,” Anna’s monotone voice stated.
“How many aboard the other shuttle, Anna?” Nate asked.
“My sensors indicate one life form, Captain.” The red light above the door changed to green. “The hangar is now pressurized, Captain.” The hatch opened.
Nate rushed in with Steven and Raleigh on his heels.
The shuttle door opened and Trouble and Aiden hobbled out together. Trouble looked fine, but Aiden had his arm around Jeremy’s shoulder, using him for support and limping badly.
It felt like someone grabbed Nate’s heart and squeezed. Running, Nate reached them seconds before the other two men. Nate swooped Aiden into his arms and Steven lifted Trouble, who immediately began protesting.
“Anna, ready the sickbay and let them know we’re on our way.” Nate ran out of the hanger.
“Yes, Captain.”
Aiden looked up and gave him a trembling smile, his eyelids droopy. “Hi.”
Nate smiled back. “Hi.” The tightness in his chest eased a little. “Steven, how’s Trouble?” Hurrying toward the sickbay, he watched Aiden. Aiden’s eyes started drifting closed. “Stay with me, boy.”
“Says he’s fine, but I’m not letting him down,” Steven called back.
“Good.” Nate could hear Trouble arguing that he was all right. “Jeremy, shut up and let Steven carry you.”
They reached the sickbay and four medics met them with gurneys. Nate laid Aiden down gently and was aware of Steven doing the same next to him with Trouble. Nate, Steven and Raleigh followed as the medics wheeled the two younger men into the exam room. After reading the message Benson had on him when he died, Nate didn’t trust anyone. He was pretty sure his own ship was safe, but…he wasn’t taking any chances.
Aiden reached out and grabbed his hand. “Nate—”
“We’ll talk about it all later. Let them check you over.” Nate bent and kissed his forehead. Caldwell better hope he died on that ship because if he didn’t, he was going to pay for hurting Aiden and Trouble.
The medics started undressing Aiden, but Aiden wouldn’t let go of Nate’s arm long enough to get the other sleeve off.
“Captain?” The medic hesitated.
“Cut it off.” He rubbed his thumb over Aiden’s knuckles, staring into the languid gray eyes. “I was afraid I’d lost you.”
Aiden nodded. “Me too.”
Cutting the pants off Aiden, the medics got to work cleaning the wounds. The wounds didn’t look too bad—they looked more like nicks and they weren’t bleeding due to being cauterized by the bolts. But Aiden was going to be pretty sore for awhile.
Trouble fussed next to them.
Nate turned to face his son. The kid did seem to be healthy and whole. But Nate would rather be safe than sorry. “Trouble, sit still and let them look at you.”
Catching his gaze, Trouble huffed out a breath. “I’m fine. Aiden is the one who needs help. He took a fragger bolt to the arm and leg and hit his head. He lost consciousness in the shuttle once already.”
Someone shined a light in Aiden’s eyes and started asking him questions. Through it all Nate stayed right there holding his hand.
Wincing at the pain when they probed at the fragger wounds, Aiden met his gaze. “I love you, Nate.”
Nate melted inside, his lips turning up into a soft smile. As fucked up as this day had been, suddenly everything felt a little better. He ran his free hand over Aiden’s cheek, feeling the warm skin, and noticed Aiden had drifted off to sleep. “I love you too, Aiden.”
The medics treated him for the fragger burns—that thankfully weren’t serious—gave him some pain meds that wouldn’t make him drowsy and told Nate to keep him awake. His concussion, from hitting his head on the deck of the shuttle, was the biggest concern. According to what he heard, he’d lost consciousness again in the sickbay. He barely even remembered being there. The memories of the last few hours were sketchy. He was still a little woozy, but better. He could focus on his surroundings now.
It was his first time on an IN Destroyer—not just any Destroyer but Nate’s—and he didn’t want to miss anything. This ship was Nate’s entire life, it was his rival in a sense, but he couldn’t make himself hate it. He was intrigued. Slowly heading toward the bridge, Aiden walked between his father and sire. He had a nice view of Nate’s arse in the tight-fitting black IN jumpsuit. It gave him something to focus on instead of his dizziness. “How’d Trouble get one of the cool jumpsuits and I got scrubs?”
Trouble turned his head, grinning. “Because I grabbed one in sickbay. No way I was wearing that stupid noose around my neck any longer. Besides, these are pretty cool, huh?”
“Yeah. I’m feeling way underdressed though.” Father and Cony may not have been in the cool IN suits, but they were properly dressed, with cravats and waistcoats.
They turned onto the gangway and Nate stopped before they reached the bridge. He looked every inch the IN captain, aloof and in control. “Let me stop in here and then we will all talk.” He gazed at Aiden, his face softening a little. “You all right?”
It made Aiden feel ten feet tall that he could affect this powerful man. He smiled back. “I’m good, sir.”
Nate smiled and gave him a crisp nod before preceding them onto the bridge. Cony mumbled something about Aiden not being a soldier and they stepped into the mayhem.
Someone called out, “Captain on deck.”
Nate scowled and pointed at the man who said it. “Shut the fuck up, Davis.”
Several people laughed and a crewman yelled, “Good to have you back, Captain Hawk.”
Trouble leaned in to whisper, “Hopefully this won’t take long.”
Aiden barely acknowledged him. He was too busy staring in awe and taking the whole scene in. People went back and forth rushing around, and everyone talked at once creating a static buzz. A huge viewscreen up front showed the stars, and what looked like debris of The Marchioness. It was chaotic, and there was Nate in the middle of it all. Officers came to give him reports and verify orders. Every few seconds or so someone was saying, “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Watching everything made Aiden feel claustrophobic and his head spin worse, so he focused on Nate.
Nate was big, towering over most of the other officers. He called back orders and looked over reports without missing a beat. It was utterly fascinating and a bit intimidating to see Nate in his natural element. All the gold on his uniform wasn’t the only thing that set him apart. His whole comportment was one of authority. Aiden could never take this away from Nate. He’d never ask Nate to give this up. Deep breath, Aiden.
Nate finally came toward them, but his attention was still on his crew. “Take us back to orbit around Regelence. Lieutenant Taylor, request proper clearances and notifications. Lieutenant Kindros, give an official report to IN Headquarters and Admiral Jenkins.”
Those commands were followed by a barrage of “Aye aye, Captains,” then Nate put his hand in the middle of Aiden’s back and ushered them all to the left of the bridge. “Please join me in the ready room.”
The captain’s ready room was subdued, masculine and blessedly quiet. It reminded Aiden a bit of his parents’ study. It even had a big oak desk, which Trouble sat on the edge of. Father and Cony took seats in a couple of armchairs and Nate sat with Aiden on a big navy blue leather couch.
Nate put his arm over the back of the couch and Aiden couldn’t help but snuggle into his side. This might be the last he saw of Nate for some while. Kissing Aiden’s forehead, Nate dropped his arm onto Aiden’s shoulder. “Did the two of you learn anything when you were being held captive on the ship?”
“From what we heard, it sounded like Braxton stole the weapons for money to buy some sort of plans to turn around and sell them for more capital. Only he didn’t plan on turning over the money for the plans, he was going to steal them, sell them and get richer.” Aiden shrugged. “Apparently, kidnapping me and Trouble was an afterthought to get even more cash.”
My Fair Captain Page 22
