Ride the Stars

by Autumn Dawn

  Nemesis raised a jaded brow in silent inquiry. Trell was mildly famous as a racer, and galactically known for his rash temper. He’d have to be a little stupid and a lot crazy to dare moving against him, however.

  “He’s targeting the bridge, Captain!” Lore warned, watching the scanners.

  A dangerous light entered Nemesis’ topaz eyes.

  Before the situation could escalate, Sesame calmly called out, “Nexus computer, Sesame here. Switch to auxiliary power.” Instantly the lights on his bridge dimmed.

  Jaide hissed. This was not good. She’d always wondered why Sesame had agreed to that one job for Trell, shortly after Jaide’s accident. Knowing Sesame thought the man slime, it had confused her greatly. Now she feared she knew.

  Revenge time, Sesame style.

  Trell’s face registered astonished fury. “You said you’d taken yourself out of the command codes! I checked.”

  Sesame widened her eyes at him.

  “Captain Trell,” Nemesis interrupted, his voice silky. Some of the cockiness fled from Trell’s face, and a fine sheen of sweat popped out on his brow. “I’m tempted to blow your ship to atoms right now, but that wouldn’t be any fun. Instead, I think I’ll leave you to figure out how you’re going to work the bugs out of your system before something more dangerous occurs.” A nasty smile curved his lips. “In the meantime, I give you fair warning. Stay out of my sight, flotsam, or you may find yourself floating in space without a ship. Sesame Calais is under my personal protection, and I will take action if harm comes to Jaide.”

  Even Trell couldn’t miss the implications of that. With a venomous look at Jaide, he cut transmission.

  Nemesis turned his attention to Sesame, and by association, Jaide.

  Sesame was more than ready to match fire with fury. Shooting to her feet, she stalked him, demanding, “Your personal protection, is it? Why wasn’t I informed of this sweeping proclamation? I had the situation under control, Spectere.”

  Jaide groaned and slunk into her chair. Now was not the time for Sesame to get defensive! She was just glad that it was Sesame getting the third degree and not her. By the glimpse she’d caught of Skye’s face, he surely longed to take his turn at her.

  Nemesis towered over her, his eyes snapping with fury. “In my office, now.” When Sesame didn’t budge, he leaned closer, invading her space. “You wish this to be said in front of all? Very well. What have you done to my ship?” She stiffened, and his eyes chilled. “I am not a fool, Ms. Calais. If you make a habit of tampering with the command codes of others, then you have compromised mine. I want to know what you’ve done.”

  “I had good reason,” she spat out, chopping a hand through the air. “But just because you’re hot about it was no reason to tell Trell I was your roll.”

  Any heat still left in his gaze turned to liquid nitrogen. “Had you? I am waiting for this soothing information,” he said, prudently ignoring the last of her words. When she said nothing, he prodded with all the warmth of deep space, “I seem to recall a contract....its last line states something about waste disposal, if I remember right. You do remember, don’t you?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Trell was a special case”

  His answering smile was highly unpleasant. “I’m certain he was,” he said with patent disbelief, looking her over as if deciding whether to annihilate her on the spot or spare her on the grounds of madness. “However, I doubt anyone else will believe it. You want to know why I told Trell that we were sharing a bed?” Nemesis shook his head as if she were the dullest woman he’d ever encountered. “What do you think your life will be worth when Trell tells your patrons that you’ve kept control of their command codes?” His scathing glance took in both women this time.

  Sesame lost color as understanding finally dawned.

  A sick feeling of dread settled in Jaide’s stomach. They were dead meat.

  His face hard, Nemesis said, “I protected you for my own ends, Calais. With luck, it will keep you alive long enough to finish your job. Just pray I don’t decide to tell the truth if anyone asks about us.”

  Stepping back as if she were crawling with vermin, he crossed his arms and pinned her with a laser deadly stare. “You will finish your work on my ship. You will be watched at all times, and if I even suspect you of tampering again, I will kill you.” He paused a moment, drilling home the utter gravity of their situation. “You’re not the only one who keeps their contracts.”

  Skye watched Jaide slink away, as furious as he’d ever been in his life. If it hadn’t been for Trell, he might have never known her true character. Manipulative. For all he knew, planning blackmail or sabotage. Swearing silently to himself, he stared out the windshield

  How many criminals would pay-and well-for a way to cripple the Black Tide? The odds were against them surviving long enough to seek revenge, as she must know. He swore again, mouthing a vicious epithet as he shifted in his chair, ignoring the blinking readouts before him. Beside him, Lore sighed heavily, as though occupied with similar, disappointing thoughts.

  After a moment, he regained a measure of calm. With it came reason.

  It had been Sesame, not Jaide, who’d tampered with Trell’s command codes. Perhaps Jaide knew nothing of it, though cynically, he doubted it. After all, they were partners. Even if Sesame had only been protecting her friend, any sane man would be wary of giving her free rein.

  One glace at Nemesis’ stormy expression confirmed he regretted it.

  This was foolish, Skye told himself impatiently. Speculation wouldn’t bring any answers. Questioning Jaide would.

  But not yet. His fingers danced across the black console, entering queries, seeking data. First he would find out all there was to know of one V.B. Trell.

  A crippling wave of fear iced her veins, and Jaide pressed the fist holding her wrench to her forehead. Fight it, she demanded of herself. She wasn’t a coward, and by the galaxy’s black heart she wouldn’t back down now. There was a way out of this mess and she would find it.

  Skye, his eyes wise and remote, watched them work, leaning against the doorframe. To her surprise he hadn’t tried to question her. Like the rest of them, he treated her like a dangerous stranger. Fine. Let him. No distractions meant better work output.

  A vicious cramp seized her belly, and she closed her eyes, silently moving her lips as she chanted a prayer. Her cycle had seized her with particular force this time, leaving her head aching and her stomach rebellious of food. It was all she could do at mealtimes to take a few bites and push the rest around on her plate. She wondered if it had anything to do with stopping the Seti.

  Groping inside a pocket, she fumbled for a pain patch and slapped it on. Remembering how inefficient the last one had been, she grabbed another and used that one, too. Instant relief swept her system, and she relaxed a little, returning to her work. In spite of her exhaustion, if she could just keep up this pace for another week, they’d be out of here.

  One way or another.

  Determined not to think about it, she tightened a bolt, twisting hard. The wrench slipped in her hand, and she wracked her knuckles on a sharp edge, splitting the skin. Sesame glanced at her, saw she was all right, and went back to work.

  Holding her hand, she clenched it tight and gritted her teeth, waiting for the pain to fade.

  “Why do you do it?”

  Startled, Jaide turned pain glazed eyes to Skye, who studied Sesame with an unreadable expression. “What?” she rasped, confused.

  Ignoring her, he straightened from the wall, moving closer to Sesame, watching her wary face. “Why do you retain control of the ships?”

  Grunting in understanding, she tossed out, “Maybe I’m just a cold bitch.” Her eyes dulled. “Maybe I sell out to the highest bidder.”

  He seized her jaw, scanning her face with expert eyes. “You’re a bad liar.”

  Jaide took a fast step toward them and stopped, undecided. He wasn’t hurting her. Still, she couldn’t let Sesame do this for her. “You
’re asking the wrong woman.”

  Those predatory Draconian eyes fastened on her, and in that instant Jaide knew she’d blundered right into his trap. Sesame grabbed his arm before he could move toward her, warning him in her sternest voice, “Leave her alone, Skye. We’ll be out of here in a week at most. Nothing she says will change that.”

  Skye looked down at her hand until she let go. “What she has to say is her choice,” he said in a soft, warning tone. “And anything she does.”

  “Give us a minute, would you?” Jaide asked before Sesame could object.

  Glancing between the intense man at her side and her partner, who was intently studying her wrench, Sesame opened her mouth, shut it. “It’s your funeral,” she said grimly and strode out.

  Jaide remained where she was, staring at nothing. He hadn’t moved, but she was so attuned to him she could practically feel him breathe. Maybe that’s what triggered her lapse in sanity, she thought. What else would inspire her to dare the unthinkable?

  “When I was younger and more stupid,” and starving, she added silently, trying not to think about what she was saying, and the danger it put her in, again, “I took a job with a captain on the seedy side, thinking I could handle a week working on his ship. After all, it was docked, and he’d be off on business, out of my hair.” She swallowed, amazed again at her own foolishness. “He and his partner cornered me in the ship under the guise of looking over repairs.” Remembered terror thickened her voice. “The only way I got away was telling the computer to set off the fire claxon. I was under contract, so I had to finish his ship, but that night I hired two assistants, the biggest man I could find and a woman. Neither one knew a calculator from a calibrator. I lost money hand over fist on that job.”

  She cleared her throat, leaning against the workbench and toying with her wrench. “Sesame knows about that, so I guess I’m to blame for giving her the idea.” When he said nothing, she added, “So far as I know she doesn’t make a habit of it.”

  Silent seconds ticked by. She sneaked a peek at his face, but his expression didn’t show his thoughts.

  “She didn’t set Trell’s back.”

  Jaide looked up, squeezing her wrench. “Trell....” her voice cracked. No. She was not going to go into details. The things she’d seen while on Trell’s ship were nothing she’d ever wish to verbally dredge into the light. Instead, she turned her back on him. “I was glad she hadn’t today.”

  A cough broke the silence, hers. Fiddling with her tools, she waited for his next question.

  “Do you fear me?”

  Astonished, she spun around. The words tumbled out with too much haste, without thought. “No!”

  He took a step nearer, his eyes steady. “Then tell me.”

  She longed to. Wished with all her heart for the troubles to be over. Did she dare? Was it worth the chance? There was nowhere to run if this backfired.

  Closing her eyes, she debated a moment, then reached into her tool belt and extracted a chip. Toying with it, she asked, “How long have you been a soldier?”

  “Fifteen years.”

  Caught by surprise, her eyes mapped him as she thoughtlessly blurted, “You don’t look it.”

  His answering grin was far too sexy for her good sense.

  Taking a deep breath for courage and control, she searched the ceiling, then muttered, “If I needed proof I was crazy, here it is.” Handing the chip over with an unsteady hand, she explained, “I gave a copy of this to a law officer two years ago, and again to an official three months back, but I never saw anything come of it. Well, nothing but a couple of attempts to blow my head off.” She tried for a lop-sided smile, but it wouldn’t come.

  “What?” His tone was quiet, but his expression betrayed his shock and concern.

  Jaide looked down, shrugged. “Trell’s the brother of a powerful drug czar. He could easily have blocked any action. I think maybe his visit today had more to do with this,” she gestured to the chip, “than any defective parts.” Refusing to see what he did with it, she turned her back on him and grabbed a welding mask.

  Time to hope these Dracs were on the level. If not, she was dead.

  “This is the sworn testimony of Jaide Calanarre....”

  The crew of the Black Tide sat around the captain’s conference table, watching the video footage of Jaide’s evidence. All except Quadril, who was flying the ship and listening in. According to Jaide, she’d stumbled onto the records while trying to access other data. She hadn’t watched all the recordings, just enough to take action and download the files. They didn’t have the same luxury.

  The clips were long, and it was a while before the last feminine scream began to fade from the charged air.

  Skye’s face wasn’t the only one leeched of blood when it was through. “She didn’t tell me the name of the official,” he volunteered quietly, wishing he’d known all this a lot sooner. Early enough to have taken Trell in yesterday.

  “She will,” Nemesis said, his voice flat.

  “Stupid of him to record his little torture sessions,” Quadril growled over the intercom.

  Lore shook his head. “Monsters like him enjoy watching their own depravity over and over. It wets their appetite for more.” He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. The sound of female voices raised in terror, begging for mercy was going to stick with all of them for a very long time. “Trell was lucky she didn’t cause his ship to self-destruct while she had the chance. I would have.”

  “I still don’t understand why she didn’t just go straight to us with the chip,” Quadril said. “She had plenty of opportunity.”

  “Given the situation, would you be so trusting?” Nemesis asked dryly. Speaking almost to himself, he muttered, “And now what do I do? Sesame could have done a great deal more damage than she did, but I still can’t trust her, and Jaide’s become a prime witness. Even if they finished the ship tomorrow, I still couldn’t let her leave, not until this is settled.” He grimaced. “Not if I don’t want to find her with a knife in her back. And somehow I doubt she’ll take kindly to protective custody.”

  “Jaide took a leap of faith in coming to me,” Skye said quietly, locking eyes with Nemesis. “Three times now she’s taken a chance with her life to see justice done. It’s indication enough for me that we can trust her.” He knew it had taken a lot of courage for her to have risked giving him the chip, and he admired her fiercely for it. He couldn’t wait to collect the bounty soon to be posted on Trell. And it would be posted. He knew just where to take it. Five minutes into its viewing and he’d have a contract. And when he had the bounty, he’d give it to Jaide. She’d earned it.

  Skye wanted Trell badly. They all did. No one schemed against their people and lived.

  Trell was a dead man.

  More important to him than the knowledge of where to find Trell was the confirmation of his instincts. Jaide’s actions had proven to him that his concerns about pursuing her were groundless. And given that...“I’ll take responsibility for watching over her.”

  There was a moment of silence to honor his declaration, though no one seemed surprised. Certainly no one challenged it.

  “As you wish.” Nemesis made a notation in the log. “For your woman’s sake, we will extend leniency to Calais, though I still want her watched.” His smile to Skye was warm and faintly wistful, as if he envied his chance at happiness. “Good luck with the hunt.”

  “To the hunt!” the others echoed, and Lore slapped him on the back in glee, gripping his shoulder and giving him a friendly shake. “I knew it!”

  All stood, and Nemesis gripped forearms with Skye, using his opposite hand to brace Skye’s shoulder. “You chose well,” he offered, joyous and wickedly amused at once. After all, it wasn’t every day a Draconian tamed a mate.

  This chase promised to be particularly entertaining.

  “Get ready. We’re going dockside.”

  Jaide glanced over her shoulder at Skye. “Go ahead. I’m not interested.
”

  “That’s your misfortune. You’re not staying here by yourself,” he said, moving into the engine room. Stopping right next to her, he looked her over with a critical eye. “You’ll want to get cleaned up. Wear a dress if you’ve got one.”

  Glowering, she set aside her current project and turned to face him, crossing her arms. “I don’t own a dress. I like it that way.”

  He slanted her a speculative glance. “What do you wear to parties?”

  “I don’t go to parties. Too busy.”

  A grunt of disbelief was his answer to that. It was clear from his own dressy pants and flowing black shirt that he had no difficultly turning out for a party. Jaide felt the need to press her point. “Some people have better things to do than stand around and drink away the night. My time’s far too important.”

  He didn’t look convinced. Taking a step forward, he spanned her waist with his hands, gauging her dimensions.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded, shocked. She hadn’t been braced for the contact, and the sudden touch of his warm hands did frightening things to her body. Heat lightning streaked from the point of contact, igniting her nerves, and it was all she could do not to gasp.

  Grabbing his wrists, she tried to throw them off, but he wasn’t budging. “Let go,” she whispered, her heart racing at their half embrace. He was so close....

  Skye looked down at her, visually stroking her face. He looked at her lips. Half hypnotized by the lights in his eyes, they parted a fraction. His gaze moved to the side, then back.

  He released her and stepped away. “Wear pants, then. I’m sure we can find you something to go with them.” The natural rasp of his voice had deepened, and there was a warm darkness in his gaze that she hadn’t seen before. “I’ll meet you in the galley.”

  What was he doing? Skye drummed his fingers as he waited outside the changing room of one of the world Nepal’s largest department stores. Located in a nearby solar system, Nepal was currently one of the hottest vacation spots around, and outrageously expensive. Not that it had impressed their augmenters. Were all humans this reluctant to carouse?