“Well,” Kraft hesitated. “Guess I gotta show you one of my super powers.”
Kraft disappeared.
“What the hell?” Jace looked around.
“Looking for me?” She appeared on the other side of the table and touched Jace’s shoulder. He almost shot from the bench in shock.
“How’d you do that?” Garrett asked.
“It’s a trick of the mind. I make you forget to see me.”
“There’s a thought,” Heller said.
Jace now understood how she snuck up on him in the derelict Basic. “You walked right past Garrett and Heller. They didn’t see you because you didn’t want them to.”
Kraft smiled and nodded with abashed assurance.
“I pondered that for days!” Garrett leaned back. “I thought you were some kind of magician.”
“See, she’s a freak-show!” Heller glared.
“That may be true, Heller, but my talents could make us all the richer.” Kraft moved back to the other side of the table. “Isn’t it best to have the freak-show on your side?”
“But they’ll alert the whole quadrant about the stolen goods. We won’t be able to unload them.” Jace looked desperately for holes.
“Nope.” Kraft shook her head and grinned. “They won’t say a word.”
“Mutiny strips an IWOG transport and they don’t put out a lure on the Tasher? Are we blessed, or did they get real stupid real fast?” Garrett asked.
“To add insult to injury, a splash of vinegar to their salt filled wounds, they’re gonna think it was an inside job,” Kraft said. “They’re gonna be real quiet about it.”
“Beginning to feel like an IWOG ditto-head, but how?” Garrett asked.
“When we’re done with the False, it melts down and starts a fire. They’ll be dealing with that while we make a fast get away. And, since they had no indication of a ship approaching, they’ll think it was an inside job by the two guards who’ll swear up and down they ordered the crew to respond.”
“That’s fairly evil,” Heller said with admiration, and a low, deep chuckle. “I’m beginning to like this job more and more.”
Jace realized even Heller had been swayed. Script and revenge at the expense of the IWOG was a combination all of them could appreciate.
“I’ve got no problem making them chase their own tail,” Kraft said.
“We’ll have to maintain com silence. How will I know when to approach and dock?” Bailey asked.
“I’m going to invite you to dock,” Kraft said.
“You’re mad!” Garrett exclaimed.
“No one but Mutiny will hear it, and I’m going to erase even the tiniest smudge of it from the IWOG computers.”
“They won’t have a record?” Garrett asked.
“Not after I get done with the computers.” Kraft gave Garrett a saucy wink.
Later that night, Jace found Kraft sitting at the kitchen table, fiddling with circuit boards and wires. She bit her bottom lip, one corner tucked below her perfect gleaming teeth as she concentrated. A soldering iron smoldered next to her, and she picked it up, dabbed it to the works, then considered the wires again.
Even though she seemed oblivious to him, Jace felt her awareness that he entered, yet her gaze never left her task.
“You’d be taking all the risk.” He poured himself a cup of the ever-present swassing that simmered on the back of the stove.
“Risk is minimal, but I would be taking it all.” Kraft focused her attention on building the False. “Call me greedy.” She smiled then frowned. “If something goes wrong, you hightail it out of there.”
“Fancy yourself captain?” Jace plunked himself down in the chair opposite hers.
Kraft stopped what she was doing and caught his gaze. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Yes, you did.” He sipped his drink. “Right under my nose you’re running the show.”
“It’s a good plan.”
He nodded. “But you’re still taking all the risk. And I’m beginning to feel like window dressing, being so pretty and all.”
“Is that what this is about?” She pushed the gizmo aside. “When I call you pretty that’s just my way—you’re like a fancy package—hell, you’re making this job so much harder than it has to be.”
“My ship. I’m captain. We run a job only if I say.” To his own ears, he sounded like a tyrant, one desperate to assert his authority. He’d never felt a need to declare himself the alpha dog with any of his crew in such a surly manner, until Kraft came along, all powerful and enticing.
“I’m not disputing that.”
“Not overtly.”
“I’m taking the risk, sure, but we’d all make out like Berserkers.” She slapped her palms to the table. “What is this really about, Captain?”
“If they catch you, they’ll kill you. I won’t be able to save you.” He took a casual sip of his swassing.
“I’m not asking you to.” Kraft gave him a sharp one-eyebrow-up look. “You can’t honestly think I don’t know how to take care of myself.”
He didn’t dispute that for a heartbeat. Kraft could take care of herself and just about anyone else. Dropping his imperious captain tone, he quietly asked, “Is it so bad here that you’re willing to take this risk just to get away from me?” He looked deep into her fathomless eyes. “What happened last night won’t happen again.”
“That’s too bad.” She winked. “I’d like to finish what we started.”
Anger surged at her smirky tone. “It’s not funny. I hurt you, and I didn’t mean to. Why are you acting like it wasn’t any big deal?”
“Because it’s not.” Kraft shrugged. “Look, I know you’ve only been with your wife, but if you’re thinking you’re the second or third in my line, you’re sadly mistaken.”
So now she was trying to push him away with her experience or his lack thereof. “You make it sound like you’ve done half the Void.”
“Well, probably less than half, but I’m working on it.” She winked and flashed him that slow, lazy and sexy smile.
His answering frown dropped the grin right off her face.
“Anyway, last night has nothing to do with this. If you don’t want to do this job, then pull rank and put the synch on it. I’ve got no desire to step on your captain toes. And if that’s what you think this is about, some kind of pissing match, then say.”
“Fine. I’m saying no.” He leaned back and took a swig of his drink. Her excellent swassing rolled over his tongue.
“Fine.” She pushed away from the table and tucked her chair neatly beneath it. She unplugged the soldering iron with a yank. “Night, Captain.”
“Night, Kraft.”
She made it all the way to the door before she turned back.
“You know—”
“I know there’s no way you’re giving up without an argument.” He kicked her chair out from under the table. “Plunk yourself right back down and let’s have it out.”
Kraft smiled and poured herself a cup of swassing. “And you think only I can read you.” She sat down and leaned back in her chair. “Are you saying no just to keep me on your ship?”
“Do you want to do this job just to get off my ship?”
“We could play dueling questions all night.” Kraft leaned across the table, her palms flat to the battered surface. “Or we could just cut the crap.”
“Ladies first.” Jace didn’t touch the table, because he didn’t want her to read him through it. Drawing his body and mind tight, he forced a mental shield around himself.
Kraft uttered an annoyed sigh. “If I sit at the table and touch it when you do I can read you.” She stood. “Just so we’re real clear on the concept, I’m going to stand over here.” She leaned against the wall that separated the kitchen from the main hall. “I want to do this job so I can get back to where I belong—on my own ship.”
“You expect me to put you in a terrible position.”
“That’s what a captain does.”<
br />
“Did you?”
“All the time.” Kraft nodded earnestly. “I put Danna and Tan into the mouth of hell, over and over, because that’s what our life demanded. It was my call not to stand down, and my call cost seven women their lives. Don’t look at me like I don’t know what it’s like to be captain.”
In her eyes he saw the pain that made her flee the kitchen in tears. She would have sacrificed her ship and all her cargo if only she could save her crew. Kraft had never been given the option and only a flimsy piece of paper had kept her alive.
Jace knew what crushed her was not the loss of her ship or her cargo, but the loss of her crew. Kraft failed to protect them. As she said long ago, everything hinges on the captain.
“And now you’re punishing yourself for surviving.”
“I’m not.” Kraft looked offended at the very idea. “I’m not going to get a ship of my own again with piecemeal jobs. I need something big. I could take my share from this job and wager it ten times over.”
Jace saw her frustration building.
“Look, you gotta use your people for the skills they have. You wouldn’t take Bailey off being pilot because it was risky, right? No one but me has the skill to pull off a shadow. Not even you. Let me do what I’m good at.”
“Use you.” Suddenly, the thought of her in his bed, captive to the needs of his body, made him look away.
“If that’s the way you want to look at it, fine. Use me. You’ve had no problem making me cook.”
“You’re not likely to die from it.”
“Is that the rub?” Kraft frowned. “You’re all for letting me use my skills as long as I’m safe? You hold Garrett and Heller to that too?”
“We’re not talking about them.”
“No, but maybe we should be. You’re holding me back. And for the life of me I don’t know why. If you were taking all the risk, you’d be all for it, and you know it.”
“I guess that’s the problem,” he said. “I’m sitting back, safe, while you risk your neck.”
“I’ve got no problem with you sitting back and being captain, while I, your intrepid cook, bring down an IWOG transport. Sure, I risk my neck, one person, one you know you can spare, to bring a bonus—what you paid Trickster for me would be returned to you a thousand times over. Or more.”
“I should gamble you to that?” Jace was sickened that she wanted him to approach this with such a casual attitude. Like he shouldn’t care if she got hurt or died for she only cost fifteen hundred.
“Look at the odds on this job. You’d have to be blind or daft not to take them. It’s a good plan.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Well, you don’t have to like it, but do you see any holes in it?”
“No, but—”
“Just leave it at no. Don’t give me any buts. This will work. When we pull this off, you could get real picky about taking jobs. You could even go legitimate if you wanted to.”
“That’s if your plan succeeds.”
“True enough.” Kraft nodded. “But if it doesn’t, you’re out a cook and one suit.”
He was appalled that she expected him to consider her no more valuable than that. “You’re not just a cook.”
Kraft groaned. “I’m a woman you paid a fifteen hundred for.” She looked like she wanted to shake some sense into him.
“That’s not what this is about. It’s not that you’re a cook I bought from Trickster, nor is it about how much I paid for you. It’s about you.”
“Fine. Let me be who and what I am. Let me fight, let me cook good food, and if you want, let me fuck.”
The vulgarity made him shoot to his feet. “Don’t swear at me. I don’t like it.” If he wouldn’t tolerate cursing from Heller, he certainly wouldn’t let Kraft get away with it. He slammed his cup to the table and strode over to where she leaned against the wall.
“I apologize, Captain Lawless.” She stood at attention and kept her gaze on the floor.
He had an overwhelming urge to pick her up and place her back on the kitchen counter. Her attitude about last night filled him with confusion and anger. If it didn’t mean anything, then why hadn’t she kissed him?
Sudden understanding filled him and he leaned close. “You know, I think now is the time to discuss the payout on your contract.”
“After this job, I’ll be able to pay you in full.”
“I never agreed to that.” And he knew she already had that amount from wagering up her take from the Runner salvage job.
Kraft looked up and frowned. “You want more than the fifteen hundred?”
“I don’t want money at all, because money doesn’t mean anything to you.”
“Then what do you want?”
“One night.”
Her breath quickened and her breasts rose and fell against the plunging V of her shirt as she looked up at him. “If all you want is one night of wild sex then I’ll happily pay you tonight.”
Stroking his finger over her lips, he said, “I didn’t say anything about sex.”
She swallowed hard and narrowed her gaze. “I don’t understand.”
“One night, you in my bunk, and all I want to do is kiss you.”
Turning her head, she closed her eyes. “I don’t like kissing.”
He believed that was the first lie she’d ever told him. He cupped her chin and turned her face back to his. “I guess that’s what makes kissing me a payment.” No matter what she said, he knew why she hadn’t kissed him and why she feared doing so. Kissing would make their liaison mean something. She could keep him at arm’s length and keep it casual as long as she didn’t share that sweet intimacy with him. Now that he understood, kissing was all he wanted from her.
“One night of nothing but kissing?” she asked, keeping her gaze demurely lowered.
“Are you afraid you won’t be able to handle it or I won’t?” He leaned closer. “After a decade of celibacy it might be a little difficult for me, but we can keep all of our clothes on, maybe even wrap ourselves up in separate blankets.”
“One night?”
“Eight hours. We can set a timer.” He couldn’t believe he was actually suggesting this, moreover, defining the particulars when he had no intention of ever forcing her. In the back of his mind he thought she might not ever leave if he made the payout difficult. But he knew she would leave. Eventually. And he would do everything he could to delay that day.
“Fine. I’ll settle my contract after the job is over.”
Pulling away from her, he returned to the table and wondered if she hoped she’d never have to pay because the job might go south. But he couldn’t believe she’d put herself in danger just to avoid kissing him. She had a solid plan with minimal risk to everyone but herself. Like a burr in his boot, the fact that Kraft could be hurt dug at him. He couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her again. But whether he held her back or not, he couldn’t hold her forever. Eventually, she would have the script to start over and she would leave Mutiny.
The question was how long did he want to delay the inevitable? Would it hurt worse to let her go now or a year from now?
“You’re sweet on me.” Kraft frowned. “And I’m real sweet on you too. But that can’t enter into this. This is about captain and crew. You’re a good captain and you take good care of your people. Right now, I’m one of your people, and you don’t want to see me hurt, and I appreciate that.” Her hungry eyes pinned him. “This job is solid and will satisfy my needs, yours, and will also toss a snag into the IWOG machinery. It’s bonus all around.”
“You don’t just think this will work, you know it will.” She couldn’t be more convincing if she had proof in her hand.
“Again, I don’t have a psychic hat, but I’ve run this job once before. The damage to the bottom line of the IWOG was so minimal they didn’t bother to upgrade anything, especially since they thought it was an inside job.”
Jace considered. Kraft laid it out, step by blessed step, an
d for the life of him, he couldn’t find a single hole. Every job he’d ever run looked just as solid until real life showed up, and he knew if it looked too good to be true…
“You wanted the derelict Basic to be a cakewalk, right?” Kraft asked.
“You heard me say that?”
“We tapped the Basic a full hour before you showed up. We heard everything. Hell, we tapped your ship thirty minutes before you docked your shuttle. How did you think I knew all your names?”
He’d thought she’d read them by touching the ship. “With that kind of power, how—”
“My crew was skilled, and we had our tricks, but we weren’t perfect.” Kraft shook her head. “My point is, this job is a total cakewalk. It’s practically a skip to the bank. Another bonus is we don’t have to deal with Trickster or any of his ilk. I know someone who will take it all. Not full price, mind you, but we won’t have to worry about any deadly dancing with middlemen like Trickster or Kobra.”
Kraft could sell a glass of water to a drowning man.
“We’ll run it,” Jace said. For the life of him he swore he heard a tsunami approaching.
She grinned. “You won’t be sorry.”
As the tsunami crashed over his head, Kraft refilled his cup with swassing.
“That remains to be seen.” Jace plucked it off the table and hustled out of the room.
Whether the job went south or not, he would be sorry to see Kraft go, but he couldn’t hold her. He wondered how Fairing had coped with it. Surely, Fairing had not been in love with Kraft—the realization in his own head made Jace stop dead in his tracks. Swassing rolled from his cup to splash on the worn neospring of the main hall.
He heard Kraft returning to her work at the kitchen table as Bailey obsessively tuned his guitar on the bridge.
Jace stood in the dark hallway and listened. Bailey had been tuning his guitar the whole time he’d been in the kitchen with Kraft. He hadn’t paid attention to it until now.
Bailey tuned and tuned.
Kraft sighed, sharp. Once, twice. He could hear her stand and slap the galley com. With a rolling whisper, Kraft said, “Bailey? Play her or I swear, I’ll march in there and play her myself.”
The hall went silent.
Thief: Fringe, Book 1 Page 15
