“Proceed,” Varik told Jarn. He clicked his safety harness into place. He’d never bothered onThe Treasure. The ship was so rugged it was designed for bridge crossings, but as the first ER trip on theHarlan, Varik wasn’t sure what to expect. Didn’t matter what happened. As long as the ship stayed in one piece, it should put them at Kolben just in time to meetThe Treasure. Or possibly a few cycles ahead.
The stretching sensation struck, pulling Varik into his safety straps, crushing his balls. He gripped the arms of his chair in an attempt to shift away from the pain, but unable to move. The entire ship vibrated violently. A panel from the ceiling crashed down, centimeters from where he sat. For the first time, he second guessed his plan.
With a shudder, they lurched out of the bridge. Varik shifted up in his chair and released the painful harness. “Crew check, Karnek,” Varik barked out as he massaged his aching balls.
“That was intense.” Jarn rubbed his shoulder, his face ghostly pale.
“Check your nav systems. See how far we are from Kolben.” Varik didn’t have time to coddle his lover. “Karnek, get a galactic time stamp.” If they’d lost time going through the bridge, Varik would end someone. As he waited for confirmation that the ship was in one piece and when they would arrive, he ran system checks. A blown temperature sensor near the engines. Could be loss of structural shielding. He glanced at the panel on the floor. Not an unreasonable assumption.
“Karnek?”
The comm tech replied with the time stamp that confirmed they’d lost no time. Perfect. “Contact Kolben. Ask for emergency port access. We have damaged shielding.”
The reports would support his assumption. The emergency authorization would get him on the planet in time to retake The Treasure.Although with the limited crew, it would be a challenge to fly her. He could get the engines going, with Jarn’s help. But Jarn wasn’t an experience navigator. And Karnek couldn’t be at two stations at once assuming he had any engineering experience.Fuck.
Varik would figure out the logistics once he had his ship back.
The tracker onThe Treasurewasn’t pinging, but there was no where else they could go this far out. As it was, they’d need more fuel. If fact, so did he. It would be much easier to fuel theHarlan, thanThe Treasure. Much easier to fly with his existing crew.
“We have permission for a three-cycle repair stop, Captain.” Karnek interrupted Varik’s spiraling plans.
Three cycles should be plenty.The Treasureshould arrive shortly. Then it was just a matter of taking Cyra out of the equation. Except, did he want to staffThe Treasure? Spend all his time grasping at transport contracts, shaving his fees down to the bare minimum? Technically, he had a ship. TheHarlanwas in need of some repairs, and the grant organization might come looking for it. Or not. Twalley had the ship before he received the influx of credits. Who owned theHarlan Johnson?
Varik laughed. He did, for the time being. And perhaps he could make that permanent. A black market galactic identification chip, some paint on the freshly replaced panels, and the ship would no longer be theHarlan Johnson. Or he could rig a transfer of ownership predated to Twalley’s death. He had options. And none of them required repossessingThe Treasure.
But just because he’d changed his mind about what he wanted didn’t mean he was giving his ship to Cyra. She didn’t deserve it. Didn’t earn it.
“Prepare for entry,” Jarn announced over the ship’s speakers.
Varik settled into the captain’s chair. First, he’d fix theHarlan, then he’d figure out how to freeze Cyra out of her theft ofThe Treasure.
Chapter37
Kolben cameinto view on the screens mounted like windows on the deck. A frozen round ball floating in a dark drink but much more deadly. Cyra shivered as if she could already sense the horrible cold air crossing through space and filling her heart. It was nothing like Din’Gale. The complete opposite. Dez would hate Kolben.
The contract that had seemed like such a lifesaver was actually killing her. Leaving him there would break her, and, if what Veda said was true, kill him.
She still hadn’t asked him about that. They’d spent their rest time making love as if they had all the time in the universe.
“Captain?” Bodi’s voice roused Cyra from the sweet memories of Dez. “You missed first meal?”
Cyra checked the time, she’d been on deck a lot longer than she realized. “Did you need something?”
“Dez doesn’t look good either. You should talk to him.” Bodi took her position at the comms station. “I’ll contact Kolben and get authorization to land. I’ll verify with Rhysa, but I think we’re about twenty clicks out.”
A twist of dread knotted in her stomach. A single cycle before they landed. She stood up from the captain’s chair, stiff from not moving and from everything Dez had done to her body. Had he known how close they were to parting?
“I know it’s not my place, but if I were you, I’d keep him.”
“If I did…”
She didn’t finish her explanation, but turned for the exit and walked slowly through the halls of the ship. Her feet dragged along the textured floor and she inspected the pattern for the first time, noting the detailed valleys and mountains that created the anti-slip surface. The shine had long worn off the metal panels that were riveted together creating the hive of storage behind the extents of the corridor. The lighting, set for daylight circadian rhythm would dim later in the cycle, a nod to their planetary origins that circled various suns.The Treasurewas huge, had flown for galactic years before Cyra had ever joined Auvi’s crew. Ships like her weren’t made anymore. Owning her had been more than a dream come true.
But as she lingered in the galley door, her gaze locked on Dez. Mesmerized by the way his muscles shifted and bunched as he cleared the remains from the earlier meal, she may have stopped breathing.
“Hungry, my queen?”
How did he know it was her? He didn’t even turn around. And yes, she was ravenous, but not for food. For him. “Yes.”
