by Susan Hayes
“And that means they’re going to be thrilled to see us arriving before we’re expected…again.” Eric sighed and ran a hand through his dark curls, leaving them in a chaotic mess.
“People make mistakes when they’re off-balance. The more mistakes they make, the faster we’ll close this investigation and get out of here.” He gestured to a wall monitor that showed the planet they were fast approaching. Wide stretches of water dominated the view, while the northern hemisphere contained a dull green and brown continent dotted with lakes and rivers. It was a barren land of rock and tundra, completely uninhabited apart from the men and women who worked at the base.
An alert sounded in the mess, letting them know that the ship was now approaching their final destination.
“That’s my cue.” Dante, the ship’s pilot, looked to Dax, waiting for permission to leave the meeting and begin their descent.
“Dismissed.” He released them to their various duties. Seconds later, only he and Kurt were left.
“What’s your gut telling you about this mission, Sabre?” he asked his XO. Kurt was a third-generation soldier who was as by the book as they came, but he had an uncanny ability to sense when a mission was going to go spinning out of orbit.
Kurt raised a brow and gave his head a slow shake. “Nothing good. There’s too much we don’t know. I got a feeling one of those secrets is going to bite us in the ass.”
Dax looked at his friend and nodded. “I’ll make sure the Colonel gets us access to everything. No secrets. No surprises. Not again.”
Kurt didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. The last time they’d gone into a situation without all the information they should have had, they’d both lost a friend. Nothing Dax did would bring Travis back, but he honored his friend’s memory by doing his best to ensure he never lost another teammate.
He rapped his knuckles on the table three times, then rose to his feet. “I’m going to contact the Colonel and let her know what we need. You get to tell the base commander that we’re on approach and expect to begin our investigation in a matter of hours.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll have them so off-balance they won’t know what hit them.”
He clapped Kurt on the shoulder. “Just don’t piss them off so much they threaten to shoot us out of the sky.”
“That happened one time! And as I recall, it was your fault.”
“My fault? I believe you’re the one who said that lieutenant had a face only a blind Jeskyran could love.”
“I’m not the one who left the comm channel open so she heard that remark, though. That was on you.” Kurt got to his feet, snapped off a salute and headed toward the bridge. “See you when we touchdown.”
Dax stared at the monitor for a few minutes, watching as the planet expanded until it filled the screen. He wasn’t one for getting premonitions, but for once, he agreed with Kurt. Something about this mission had him on edge.
Keep Reading
Want to read more stories with book boyfriends
that are out of this world?
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Check out Susan Hayes’ other Science Fiction Romance Titles
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The Drift
Double Down
All In
Wild Card
Three of a Kind
Full House
No Limit
Aces Over Queen
Nova Force
Operation Phoenix
Operation Cobalt
Star-Crossed Alien Mail Order Brides
Joran
Vader
Kash
Tarjen
Torel
Radek
3013: The Series
3013: RENEGADE
3013: STOWAWAY
3013: TARGETED
3013: FATED
3013: SCARRED
About the Author
Susan lives out on the Canadian west coast surrounded by open water, dear family, and good friends. She’s jumped out of perfectly good airplanes on purpose and accidentally swum with sharks on the Great Barrier Reef.
If the world ends, she plans to survive as the spunky, comedic sidekick to the heroes of the new world, because she’s too damned short and out of shape to make it on her own for long.
To contact her about her books or to arrange end of the world team-ups, you can email her at [email protected].
For all titles by Susan Hayes, please visit her website:
susanhayes.ca
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