Chapter 41
Chapter
Forty-One
Morgan
T he engine hummed beneath my boots as I reviewed the mission schematics on my device for the tenth time since we’d left the academy. The air was crisp and clean, the oxygen pumping in through the vents at the perfect temperature—for Drexians. I moved my legs up and down as a shiver went through me, and I wished I’d given in to my instinct to bring my giant wearable fleece blanket. It might not have been appropriate rescue mission attire, but I would have been warm.
“Ridiculous, my ass,” I muttered under my breath, wishing that I hadn’t swayed to popular opinion among my friends that a huge wearable fleece was an absurd item to pack.
I shifted in my safety restraints, trying not to think about the fact that our ship was hurtling through the frigid blackness of space. I was not the biggest fan of space travel. I preferred keeping my feet firmly on the ground where I could happily study star charts and battle plans without rocketing into the sky to put those plans into action.
Glancing around the sleek, black interior of the ship, I was reminded that we were running with a skeleton team. Ariana was our pilot and Commander Vyk was acting as her copilot and team leader, but Torq had stepped in for Kann, and I was the only one representing the School of Strategy.
And then there was Tivek.
I tilted my head to take in the Drexian who was also focusing hard on his device. The admiral's enigmatic adjunct had always intrigued me—there was something about him that suggested layers of complexity beneath his perfectly proper exterior. He was the admiral’s closest confidant. He had been the one to teach Fiona how to play Drexian cards so she could hold her own against Commander Vyk. And now he was part of the team to rescue Sasha, because it was his brother who had gone missing looking for her.
I studied his profile. He had a brother who was in Inferno Force? I added that to the growing list of things that didn’t make sense about the Drexian.
He straightened and turned his head, so I quickly whipped my own head back to my device. My cheeks warmed as I felt his gaze on me. Shit. I hated getting busted. I was an Assassin. I was supposed to be smoother than that.
Who was I kidding? Fiona was best at anything having to do with stealth.
“I wish you were here, Fi,” I said under my breath.
She and Jess had stayed behind. Fiona had classes to teach, and the admiral requested her help while Commander Vyk was away. Jess had stayed because she couldn’t bear the idea of leaving Britta stuck in the simulation without one of us there for her when she got out.
If she got out.
I gave my head a violent shake, as if to dislodge such a traitorous thought. Of course, Britta would get out. She and Kann would be extracted from the holo program and join the mission. I was sure of it.
I glanced at my jiggling leg. Then why was I such a nervous wreck?
Probably because I was the only strategist on the mission, and I was only a second-year cadet. This mission needed a strategist, someone who could think like the enemy, but I had never imagined that it would be me sitting in the ship and barreling toward enemy space.
“Are you okay, cadet?”
I jerked my head up, startled by the deep voice. Commander Vyk was no longer in the cockpit with Ariana. He now stood near the weapons locker, the silver in his hair and beard glinting in the low light of the ship's interior.
I stopped jiggling my leg. “Fine, Commander.”
He grunted, but I doubted he believed me. I didn’t even know if he trusted me to be on the mission. There was no question in my mind that he would rather Fiona be there instead of me. Not surprising, considering they were a thing. Not that I would dare say any of that to the stern Drexian.
I merely dropped my gaze to my device and pretended to be intensely studying the schematics. The team leader pivoted to the weapons locker and began to check what we’d brought.
As he inspected each blaster and photon rifle, I couldn't help but flinch at the thought of battle. My combat training wasn’t meager, but the idea of hand-to-hand combat with the lizard-like Kronock made my stomach turn.
Torq joined Vyk at the locker, and the two began discussing tactical strategy, their voices low, but carrying, in the confined space.
"The photon weapons will be our primary defense," Vyk said, checking the charge on one of the rifles. "But I want everyone to carry blasters—and blades.”
Torq nodded, his hand unconsciously moving to the Drexian blade at his hip. “In case we need to kill quietly.”
Vyk didn’t turn to Torq as he spoke. “You rank highest in your class in combat. You should not worry.”
Torq squared his shoulders at the praise. "I still hope Kann and Volten might join the team.”
Vyk let his hand linger on a blaster. "I hope Fiona stays exactly where she is—safe at the academy."
"I hope the same for Jess," Torq admitted quietly.
I kept my gaze on the schematics even though I couldn’t focus on them, as the two Drexians closed the locker and left the area. If neither warrior wanted their girlfriend on the mission, what did that mean for us? I started to jiggle my leg again, my nerves jangling and my heart racing.
Then Tivek slid over from his seat to sit next to me. “Would you mind sharing those plans?"
I wondered if he’d asked me to interrupt my nervous jiggling, but I couldn’t exactly tell him no.
"Of course." I tried to ignore the flutter in my stomach, as his shoulder brushed mine when he leaned in to see the display.
I pointed to the display of a Kronock prison schematic the Drexians had been able to source from a previous rescue. "They converted the lower levels first, using existing infrastructure where they could. These areas here and here were adapted into cells."
His jaw tensed at the word 'cells,' and I remembered with a jolt that his brother might be in one of them. Then it struck me that I still didn’t know much about the mysterious Inferno Force warrior.
"Can I ask you something?" I asked. When he nodded, I continued, "Why didn't anyone know you had a brother in the Inferno Force?"
Tivek's fingers traced the outline of a corridor on my screen, but he did not lift his gaze. "It wasn't a secret. I never hid my family, but my brother and I were always different. We took different paths.”
I didn't mention what everyone knew but no one discussed—that his path included washing out of the academy.
“So, you aren’t close?”
He gave a brief shake of his head.
It all made sense. Having family you weren’t close with was nothing unusual, but something told me there was more to the story than he was telling. There was more to Tivek than any of us knew.
“The sentry stations,” he said, changing the subject as he indicated several points on the schematic. “Were they added or existing?”
His fingers brushed mine as we both pointed to the same section, and warmth spread up my arm at the contact.
I cleared my throat and moved my hand away. “Added.”
He finally lifted his head to meet my gaze, his own pupils dark. “So, we should expect just as many wherever we’re going.”
My mouth went bone dry as I tried to think of an answer, the right answer, but I was too lost in his eyes to do anything but stare at him.
"Approaching Kronock territory," Ariana’s voice came over the internal comms system, breaking the spell.
We both looked away, and I released a breath. What the hell had just happened? Until Ariana’s voice had startled me, I could have sworn Tivek was about to kiss me, and I was about to let him.
"Going silent and engaging stealth shields in three…two…one.”
My pulse spiked as the ship’s lights dimmed for stealth mode, and the only illumination now came from the blue, ambient lights in the ceiling.
Just as I was about to jiggle my leg, Tivek’s hand moved to my knee. Instead of being outraged that the Drexian was touching me and preventing me from releasing my nervous energy, the warmth of his hand sent the strangest calming sensation through my body. When he twisted his head to smile at me, I cocked my head at him and smiled back.
Then I swallowed hard. This was unexpected.
Unexpected and very inconvenient.