What the hell was she going to do about Finn?
When she was a kid, he’d been an unattainable crush. The four-year age difference had been a chasm between them, even when she was sixteen and he was twenty. And then he’d died, and she’d buried all those feelings, as well as her desire to trust. His abandonment had been the last straw after a lifetime of other rejections.
She’d kept a tight rein on her heart since then, but now, here she was with a team behind her. With Finn at her side. And she hated to admit it, but it felt good. She’d been strong on her own, had loved the freedom. But it was exhausting, always having to watch her back, waiting for the next up-and-comer to come gunning for her.
A gust of wind blew a loose piece of paper down the street, bringing the smell of starfuel and exhaust from the traffic lanes. Her hair whipped around her face, and she pushed it behind her ears. Could she give up everything she’d worked for to be part of this team?
The Athena was docked at one of the landing bays nearest the city center. MYTH status would do that for you. She blinked in the bright helolights as she entered the hangar and made for the ship. The facility was clean and well-lit, with mechanics and security both on staff twenty-four hours a day. Quite a bit different from the seedy ports she was used to using.
Renna pressed her hand to the scanner at the door of the ship and the automated voice responded, “Welcome, Renna Carrizal. Please enter your security code.”
She typed in her code, and the door slid open with a swoosh.
Most of the CIC deck was empty, just a few techs still manning the computers or performing last-minute checks. She ignored them as she made her way down to her cabin. All she wanted was a shower and bed. In that order.
Keva appeared instantly in her doorway as Renna passed. “Renna! How’s the captain?”
Had the woman been waiting for her all this time? “He’s doing well. Doc says he could be back onboard in a couple of days.”
Relief flooded the woman’s features, and Renna wondered again about Keva’s feelings for her boss. A sudden twinge of sympathy flooded through her. The man was easy to lust after, despite being infuriating. And Keva was exactly the type of woman he needed in this life. Honorable. Trustworthy. Someone who followed orders. Maybe it would be better for everyone if she left now. Before anyone else got hurt.
Before she got hurt.
Keva smiled. “That’s such great news. I’ll have to go check on him first thing in the morning.”
“I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.” Renna stifled a yawn behind her hand. “Night, Lieutenant.”
“Goodnight, Renna.”
Sergeant Gheewala stopped Renna before she could leave the ship the next morning. The woman twitched even more than usual, her eyes darting round the command center before pulling Renna into an empty navigation pod.
“What’s going on, Sergeant?” Renna asked.
“I’ve been hearing things.”
From anyone else, Renna might have laughed, but from Gheewala, that meant trouble.
“What kinds of things?”
The sergeant shook her head. “That’s the problem. I don’t recognize them. Whatever it is has no signatures to read. It’s just white noise, different than the rest of the galaxy. And there’s something beyond it. Something coming this way.” Her voice quivered on the last word.
Renna frowned. “Have you told Keva? They need to make sure the ship is ready to go if we’re attacked again.”
“I told her.”
“Good. I’ll make sure to let Major Larson know, too. I think we should be prepared for anything.”
Gheewala nodded. “I’m glad you’re here, Miss Carrizal.”
“Renna, please.” She smiled at the sergeant. “One of these days you will all remember to call me by my first name.”
Gheewala laughed, a nervous, schoolgirl twitter. “I’ll try my best.”
“Good. Now go find Corporal Bokal and tell him what you told me. Also, tell him I said to ready the Athena for takeoff. We need her on standby in case what you heard shows up.”
Renna left the ship, making her way through the port toward the Warehouse District. She didn’t like Gheewala’s news. It meant whoever was attacking the planets might be on their way here. She needed to get her information and get the hell out of here before they arrived.
As she reached Wall’s warehouse, her implant beeped with an incoming transmission.
“Just knock. Runner will let you in,” Viktis’s voice said in her ear.
“How did you know I was here?” she asked.
“I have my ways.”
She could hear the smile in his voice and shook her head. She’d have to search for a tracking device. Knowing Viktis, he’d slipped one on her yesterday. If she’d been thinking, she’d have done the same to him.
She knocked sharply on the metal door, and it swung open.
“Go on back, they’re waiting for you,” Runner said with a grin. She noticed he was missing a front tooth since yesterday.
“Must have been a hell of a fight.”
He nodded. “But you should see the other guy.”
Renna made her way through the warehouse, pausing in the doorway to Wall’s lab. The other men who’d been working there yesterday were nowhere to be seen. The place felt eerily quiet. Even the crates of clay she’d spotted were gone, leaving faint outlines of orange dust on the floor. And only a lingering trace of the burnt-sugar smell.
“What’s going on?” she asked. Her palms itched, and she let one of her hands drift down to the pistol at her hip.
Wall looked up from his microscope. “Just a precaution. Whatever it is you got yourself involved with is big time, Miss Carrizal, and I’m not going to take any chances with my business. I’ve relocated.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I’ve never seen a drug like this before. And I’ve seen it all. Whoever created this was a genius. Or a madman. On the surface it seems like a refined version of clay in pill form, but laced throughout is a strange element that makes the clay act differently.”
“But you’re not sure what it does?”
Wall shook his head. “No. It seems like it could be an immunosuppressant or an anti-rejection drug because of the clay and the cytotoxins laced throughout. But until I know what this new element does, I couldn’t even begin to guess.”
Renna sighed and tugged at the ends of her hair. “And the only planets it’s found on…”