Chapter 23
Danitalin
To say that Jaxin liked it when I built bombs was an understatement.
It was a very good thing that I already knew Koratalin was the only Aderian aboard the ship, and she didn’t have a gift for empathy.
Jaxin’s secret was safe with me. “Lover,” I drawled, “you’ve got to remember the cameras.
You can’t make love to me in here, even if you do like an audience.
” I grinned, finding brevity, lightness—even if our situation was still grim.
He coughed to cover the laughter that bubbled from his wide chest, his head ducking low to mask the surprise on his blunt, gray face.
“I know that,” he said gruffly, but he was still amused.
“I can’t help it… You’re just so damn sexy.
” Primly, I informed him he was safe to feel whatever he wanted, because Koratalin only had the ability to mask her own feelings, not sense those of others.
Secretly, I loved what he’d said. Sexy? When had I ever been called sexy? Never.
“You’re going to have to give that to me,” Jaxin said once he’d regained control of his libido and his mirth.
“We passed a spot from my cell to here that’ll make the perfect distraction with a little destruction.
” I met his eyes, my fingers tightening around the small explosive device I’d been building, and fear rose, clouding my judgment.
This was nearly the exact same plan I’d tried with Jeltom back on Radin.
Jeltom had been shot, and it would have been fatal if not for Jaxin and his crew arriving shortly after.
What if they caught my guy with the device and shot him?
I was the one they couldn’t harm because they needed me to make the damn cure.
That meant I should be the one taking the risk, shouldn’t it?
He was right, though; as much as it sucked to admit.
I knew nothing of ships; I wouldn’t know where to place this bomb for the right kind of effect.
I might end up blowing an exterior wall and getting sucked into the vacuum of space, or placing the bomb in a spot where it hardly did any damage at all.
With the limited chemicals available to me, it wasn’t like I was able to make something big.
This was really just a means to distract, not destroy.
“Okay,” I said. “We’ll have to pretend I’m working on the Roka pollution cure for a couple of hours.
Koratalin will grow impatient soon enough, and then we’ll make our move.
” He agreed with a low-voiced yes, his eyes flicking to the camera in the corner, full of suspicion.
Then he turned to prop himself against the counter beside me, his arms crossed over his chest. I knew we had to move fast, in case his friends were still near enough to come to our aid.
I had never heard of the crew of the Varakartoom, but Koratalin had seemed impressed to discover who my guard was.
What I hoped was that I could be right here with the samples and my tablet when Jaxin made his move.
After all I’d been through, both on Radin and now here, I did not want to lose them at the last moment.
This ill-outfitted lab would also be the best place to be when chaos started.
I could create a few more distractions while I was at it; defend myself until Jaxin could come for me.
The thought of harming another made my skin crawl; the emotional backlash would be painful.
To get out of here—with Jaxin and my research—was going to be worth it, I hoped.
It kept me busy, that thought, as I whittled away the hours pretending to be occupied.
Could I actually harm someone with the smaller versions of the bomb I’d created for Jaxin’s planned distraction? I was beginning to doubt it.
Jaxin was infuriatingly at ease in this situation, and I tried to let his calm anchor me, settle my nerves.
It didn’t help—even when I tried his exercises, his low voice rumbling as he talked me through them—I couldn’t find the calm I sought.
In the end, it was what I thought would be a fairly innocuous bit of work on my research that made me forget the time: the flower garlands.
Even though we’d had them for over a day now, they had not begun to wilt, and when I pulled one from the bag to peer at it under a microscope, I discovered a preserving agent covered the leaves.
I was just about to take a smaller sample of that to analyze the components in one of the barely installed machines when she came.
Just like I’d known she would. Koratalin could not curb her impatience.
She knew better than most criminals that scientific work took time, that you couldn’t rush an experiment, yet here she was, barging into the lab with a rush of perfume and silk, her impatience needling my skin like barbs.
“Are you finished yet?” she demanded before she’d even made it fully through the door, on the heels of her bodyguard.
I lifted my head to feign a confused frown.
“Finished? Oh, what time is it?” She had always thought I was the typical scatterbrained scientist, and now I let her believe it even more.
“I’ve got my samples prepped for the next test; now I need to read and analyze data.
” Glancing at Jaxin, I shrugged. “You can take him. I don’t need his presence for this next stage. ”
Those words made alarm spike in Jaxin; he wasn’t ready to go, to leave my side. To look at him would undo my resolve, too—would let the fear take control—so I stoically kept my eyes on the microscope. If I looked, I would give away to Koratalin how badly I needed him.
With my skin prickling in unease and my fingers clammy from cold sweat, I waited.
I might even have been holding my breath, but I was so focused on what was happening behind me that I didn’t notice.
Koratalin was staring holes into my back, but she understood so little of my true process that she was ready to believe whatever I said.
She shrugged, the sound of her clothes a whisper in my ears.
“You want me to lock him in your quarters for the night?” she asked—a question that at once filled me with hope and dread.
This was a test. She’d teased before about how I must want Jaxin for sex, but really, that was all about figuring out the dynamics.
Was there another way she could control me, and him?
A way she could use us to do her bidding?
As desperately as I’d love to say yes and have Jaxin hold me tonight, I knew I had to say no.
Jaxin ached with the same desire I felt, but he did not speak.
“No, I have no use for him until morning,” I said.
With my heart pounding furiously in my chest, I leaned in closer to the microscope to pretend whatever was being magnified was of great interest.
I heard the thud of boots on the floor as Jaxin walked away under armed escort.
With my gift, it felt like I was walking out of the lab with him, my mind tangled around his.
The furious determination, the ache of being forced to leave me unprotected, and the need to see this through.
Save us. He carried such a heavy responsibility on his wide shoulders, and he did not blink twice in taking it on.
Aboard this unfamiliar ship, I had a feeling he was in his element just as much as he’d been in the water on Radin.
As terrified as I was of all the things that could go wrong, I discovered I also had faith in the future.
Faith that he’d pull off that distraction and escape. Faith that we’d somehow get ourselves off this ship. Bright and beautiful, the future beckoned, filled with endless nights in his arms.
When Koratalin came to stand at my side a moment later, her arms crossed and her expression thoughtful, I felt stronger, ready.
I could handle her; I had been handling her, and she didn’t even realize it.
Jaxin had made me stronger; he’d made me able to withstand so much I’d never thought I could before.
If not for him, I had no doubt I would already be a shaking, near-burned-out mess.
But my gift burned bright and strong, undaunted by the presence of so many dark minds nearby.
***
Jaxin
I knew it was the plan, but walking out of that lab as if I didn’t care one bit either way was tough.
Leaving Dani? I never wanted to do that, and under circumstances like these, it was nearly impossible.
Somehow, I made myself put one foot in front of the other, the bomb she’d made so perfectly hidden in the palm of my hand.
That was what I needed to focus on: the distraction, the escape.
Her scent faded as we went down several hallways, used an elevator to a lower deck, and steadily made our way back to the cells from which they’d retrieved me before.
Just as I’d noticed on the way here, we passed a junction point on the ship.
It was a place where several important bundles of cables intersected.
Blow that, and the ship would be severely crippled for a short while.
Not long, because a computer could reroute nearly anything.
Spaceships were built with redundancy in mind.
It would be good enough for what I needed.
Dropping the bomb by the wall as I passed, I held my breath and kept walking.
One of the guards behind me paused after hearing the soft thump as it hit the ground.
Poor bastard was going to get hit with the full blast, because I’d set that timer real short.
The corner was nearby, and I caught the two guards in front of me by the backs of their necks and shoved them.
They stumbled, and I flung myself after them around the corner just as the hallway rocked with the explosion.
The lights went out, and though I lacked any night vision, I knew exactly where my enemies were.
Yanking the garrote from a fold by my elbow, I strangled the Xurtal, whose thinner skin made him a prime target.
He passed out from a good wrench of the strong metal wire, and I threw him forward into the arms of the charging Kertinal.
His battle rage made the lines on his black body glow with bioluminescence, easily giving away his position.
He bit it with a fist to the jaw and a yank on one of his horns that broke his neck.
The third guard who had survived the explosion was the Rummicaron.
I sensed him move rather than saw him, but the lights flicked back on just in time for me to see him open his maw.
He had the presence of mind to raise his laser rifle to fire at me, but it was too late.
A rifle in close quarters like this was a terrible idea anyway.
Freeing a knife hidden in the armor on my wrist, and a flick of my hand, was all it took.
The blade sank deep into his gills, and he crumpled to the floor.
The fight had taken less than ten seconds after the explosion, but ten seconds had still been plenty of time for the ship to start rerouting the pertinent lines.
Power had already been restored, and, with it, the internal sensors of these hallways might be back online too.
I needed to prepare myself for a whole lot more hostiles.
Bending down, I picked up the rifles of two of my adversaries.
Not nearly as good as having Bex at my side, but it would do.
I stole the comm off the wrist of the Rummicaron and then input a connection I knew by heart.
This was not a ship I’d been on before, but I was pretty sure I knew where the armory would be located anyway.
Jogging in that direction, I kept my eyes peeled for enemies and waited for the call to connect, if it could.
This comm device wouldn’t have a whole lot of range, but if we were still in the same solar system as the Varakartoom, it would connect.
The comm call did not go through for several long minutes, but that did not surprise me.
This was an unfamiliar device, calling the Varakartoom from an unfamiliar ship.
They would not trust it, and Mitnick was probably running all kinds of checks before they answered.
I was almost at the armory, and I’d taken out two more males along the way.
Suddenly, alarms began blaring loudly, red lights flashing along the floor.
So, they’d figured out I’d escaped, that this wasn’t just a malfunction.
The armory would be the first place anyone would head for; not to look for me, but to arm themselves.
I had to hurry. The doors were locked, but I’d made it my job to know exactly how to get into a place like this.
You never knew when being able to rearm yourself would come in handy.
The door gave way after a few concentrated blasts from the pilfered laser rifles at key hinge points.
Rolling in low, I fully expected a guard to be waiting inside, but the armory was unoccupied.
As I’d hoped, Bex lay on a table against one wall, and I rushed to pick her up.
“Missed you, lady,” I said, my hands running over the metal and finding the familiar scratch on her barrel.
She felt just right in my hands, and the strap I’d once braided myself out of strong leather fit perfectly over my shoulder.
Yeah, they wouldn’t know what hit them when I was done with this damn ship.
Koratalin was going to pay for the fear and pain she’d put my Dani through.
She’d discover the lengths to which a Rummicaron who had gone completely dark side—and surrendered to the primal beast within—would go. I tasted her blood already.
“Jaxin, is that you?” Asmoded asked as the comm connection finally established.
They had not allowed a holographic image, but it felt as if I were seeing onto the bridge of the Varakartoom anyway: the captain in his seat, the twins at the helm, and the Sineater taking charge of weapons in my absence. They would be ready for war.
“Yes,” I snarled. “Get ready to tangle with a crimelord, boss. Koratalin has us. Turns out she’s Dani’s sister.” I did not need to explain much, because Mitnick had already traced the call. They were coming; all we had to do was hunker down until they got here. I needed to find Dani, right now.