Chapter 10
GARK
“Ihear you got into some trouble.”
Gark was sitting in the corner of a dingy bar on Irith’s Moons across from his contact.
Known to him only as O, the big Taurean carried himself in a way that screamed dangerous confidence.
Gark pretended to take a sip of his drink, being careful to appear to swallow.
Being drunk around O would not serve him well, he guessed.
“A little, O.”
The Taurean smiled grimly, leaning back in his chair with his legs splayed. “I think we can get rid of the, what’s the term? Cloaks-and-daggers? Call me Oren.”
That’s why O—Oren—had looked familiar. He was one of the Ress lineage—a warrior whose ancestors could trace their origins back to the earliest Taurean Emperors.
And infamous for his relationship with a human woman.
Gark frowned. He should have realized sooner. “Oren Ka’Ress, Taurean intelligence officer.”
Oren huffed a laugh. “Hard to be in intelligence when everyone knows who you are. I’m more in a liaison role these days, though most see me as part of station security.”
The relaxed pose did not fool Gark. Oren may not be in intelligence anymore, but he was armed to the teeth and moved with the casual grace that only those with years of experience as warriors possessed.
“You caught the attention of the Purists, though they prefer the term Alliance.” Oren tapped the package on the table in front of him. The package that Gark had been paid handsomely to retrieve. “This is the evidence we need to reveal their interference on Earth.”
Gark frowned. “Why Earth?”
Oren leaned forward, his forearms resting on the rickety table. “That’s a very good question, and one I don’t know the answer to.”
Oren entered the code Gark had given him into the display on the front of the packet, then pulled out the data drive. He tapped it against a tablet he pulled from a pocket in his jacket and grunted as he flipped through images and pages of writing.
“If that’s everything, I’ll be leaving,” Gark said as he pushed to stand.
Oren waved a hand, gesturing for him to sit. “Not just yet. You see this?” Oren pushed his tablet across the table.
Gark sat back down but didn’t look at the tablet. “What do you want?”
Oren smiled grimly. “Look.”
Gark looked at the tablet, his curiosity getting the better of him—maps, plans, and transcripts of comms. Gark frowned as he read. Surely this couldn’t be right?
“These are comms between someone in the Taurean military and the Alliance.” He looked up at Oren in shock. “Why did you show me this?”
He had expected to hand over the goods, receive the chip with his credits, and then leave.
Usually, meetings like this lasted no longer than a few minutes, if that.
Most of his clients were keen to get well away from him after he’d served his purpose…
until the next time they needed his services, of course.
Oren picked up his beer bottle, spinning it between his hands.
“We’ve been tracking certain people in the military for a while.
This particular officer, and yes, it’s an officer, has been slippery.
” He snorted, shaking his head. “It’s hard to know who to trust these days.
” He placed the beer bottle on the table.
“So I understand if you feel trepidation, but if you think of anything that could help me set things right, I would be very appreciative.” He leaned forward a little, eyes intense.
He nodded as if satisfied with something. “Be careful who you trust, commander.”
Gark stiffened at the use of the title that had been stripped from him. His eyes narrowed as he watched Oren pull the tablet back toward him and tuck it in his pocket.
Should he tell Oren about A’Kar? Gark wasn’t sure. He needed to think about this. The information he’d collected for Oren changed everything. The Alliance and an officer of the Taurean military in allegiance? It didn’t make sense.
Oren tapped the table with his fingers. “I’ll be in touch.”
Gark watched with a confused frown as Oren left the bar. He shook his head. This is why he didn’t get involved. He didn’t have time for Taureans who played in the shadows.
Gark was on his way back to The Lady when his wrist comm beeped. He stepped to one side of the busy thoroughfare to answer the call. Checking the screen, he saw it was from his ship.
Vox’s voice reached him through the comm. “A’Kar escaped.”
“What?” Gark straightened, looking around him as if he could spot the errant security officer. Ex-security officer.
“Klath went to check on him, and he stabbed him.”
Gark froze. “Is he all right?”
“He’s shaken up, but ok. It’s a good thing Arik was a combat medic, otherwise we’d have to take Klath to the station medical center and he would have hated that.”
Gark nodded, even though Vox couldn’t see him over a wrist comm. Klath was the worst patient, despite being an excellent medic himself.
Gark ran a hand over his face. It wasn’t the best news, but he’d alert the station’s security office and check back in on The Lady—
“He took Aletta.”
Gark froze. “What?”
“A’Kar grabbed Aletta. He took her.” Vox started blabbing. “Nobody saw it, and he stole Klath’s comm. The ship’s AI was down because Arik was working on upgrades—"
“Where did he take her?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” He choked out the words, his hand gripping his hair and tugging. Where was she? What had A’Kar done with her? Why? He dropped to his knees, heedless of the onlookers who moved around him like river water around an unmovable boulder.
He paid no more attention to the people in the busy thoroughfare, the sounds of the hawkers selling their wares, and the chatter of voices faded from his notice.
Gark’s hands fell to his thighs as his head drooped. The strap of his wrist comm pressed against his leg.
What was the point now? She was gone and he’d never—
Klath’s comm. A’Kar had stolen Klath’s comm.
Gark swallowed, the sounds around him coming back with a rush.
Gark jumped to his feet. “Vox! Get the ship ready. We may be leaving in a hurry.”
He ran back to the ship, heedless of the attention he attracted. He raced up the open ramp to see Arik standing guard. He nodded in greeting.
“Klath’s comm. Did you trace it?”
Arik nodded. “Yes. He’s on the far side of the station.” He closed the ramp. “In another hanger.”
Gark ran to the bridge as Arik headed to engineering. He slid into his seat, Jarden and Vox already in their own.
“Show me the footage.”
Vox showed the footage of the corridor on the main viewscreen. Gark flinched as A’Kar stabbed Klath with what looked like a screwdriver. Klath fell to the ground, and A’Kar slid his comm from his wrist, then ran down the hallway.
He turned a corner, and the view changed to show Aletta rounding the corner just as A’Kar does. They collide, and she goes flying, landing on her backside.
“Were you able to follow them off the ship?” Gark asked.
“Yes,” Jarden said. He pushed more footage onto the viewscreen to show A’Kar dragging Aletta, who stumbles. A’Kar laughs at her as she cowers from him.
A muscle in his neck twitched as he forced himself to watch, nostrils flaring with every out breath as he tried to contain his fury at how his mate—how Aletta—was being treated.
Jarden sped the footage up, sending Aletta and A’Kar racing through the station until they disappeared.
“Stop. What happened there?” Gark pointed at the screen. The same footage showed Aletta, and then she just disappeared.
“It appears to have been tampered with. This is a black spot. The footage loops from this area. After this, I don’t have anything.”
Gark slapped his hand against the armrest in frustration.
“But Klath’s comm shows where they continue to,” Arik’s voice came over the comm. “I’ve just been enhancing the signal, so we can follow it if they leave the station.”
Gark closed his eyes. His crew hadn’t hesitated to help. This wasn’t a job. They weren’t going to get paid.
“I’ll find a way to pay you all—”
All four of them—including a dopey-sounding Klath from the med bay—told him in no uncertain terms where he could put his pay.
Gark smiled. “Thank you.”
Jarden and Vox turned in their seats, sharing a look.
“They’re leaving!” Arik practically shouted over the comm.
Vox spoke up. “She’s your mate, isn’t she?”
Gark nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Well, let’s go get her.”
The Lady shot away from the station, but not before Gark opened the comm. “Oren, I have some information.” He paused. “But I need a favor in exchange.”