Atrophy (17 page)

Rian’s bored expression didn’t alter. “Sounds like a heap of shite. You know no one’s ever escaped from Erebus. Not alive, anyway.”

Janon didn’t seem deterred. “Information about how to hypothetically get someone off that prison planet would be extremely valuable. Very profitable for you.”

Rian shrugged. “Can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

“You should consider my offer, because you know better than anyone there are ways of making someone cooperate. Maybe I’ll take your pissed off friend over there out the back for a little chat.”

Shoving to his feet, Rian braced both hands on the table, showing some emotion at last. And Tannin would have been happy to never witness the seething darkness that radiated from their captain. He’d turned into the Rian Sherron of legend, the one who scared seasoned soldiers.

Rian’s body had gone tight with fury, yet fallen unnaturally still at the same time. His expression was one of death, of icy, fatal danger. Janon pressed back against his seat. But to give the thug some credit, he didn’t move; if Tannin had been on the receiving end, he would have already ripped the door off its hinges trying to escape.

In all the times he’d thought Rian was angry or incensed by his presence, that’d been nothing compared to this. Zahli had been right—Rian had been in a good mood.

“I don’t like what you’re insinuating, Janon, and I don’t like people threatening my crew or talking trash about my sister. I’m here to trade with Uzair, so take your lily white ass back there and find him before I get any more pissed off.” Rian flipped his pulse pistol out of its holster and shot one of the thugs standing in the background without taking his cold stare from Janon. A split second of silence passed, before the brute fell to the floor with a muffled thud.

Janon jumped up from his chair and pulled out his gun as the other muscle did the same. In a blink, Callan and Lianna had hands on their weapons and pointed across the room. Tannin palmed one of the guns he’d been given earlier and aimed it in the general direction of the bad guys, trying to keep Rian out of his sights.

The far door opened, ratcheting the tension even higher. A slimy looking man with slicked back hair and a fitted suit walked in, holding his hands out to show he was unarmed. He stepped over the fallen thug, not seeming to care about the injured man.

“Gentleman, please, negotiations never end well when people start pointing guns at each other.” He stopped next to Janon at the table. “Remember how many dead bodies Sherron left behind last time he was here, Janon? We don’t really need to start a new tally.”

Janon shoved his gun away with a jerky movement and retreated to the door. Tannin lowered his weapon and then re-holstered it, since the theatrics appeared to be over.

“Now, Captain Sherron, what can I do for you?” The man motioned for Rian to take his seat.

Rian eased back down with slow movements, some of the tension leaving his body. “I’m after a delta-shield, Uzair.”

“I see. Planning on doing some gate travel, then? Finally got sick of all those long trips through void-space to get anywhere?”

Rian inclined his head.

“I have several delta-shields. The cheapest needs refitting, it’s nine thousand. The one you want, a brand new model I just acquired from an Epicurean class cruiser, only needs to be installed. That I’ll give you for twenty-two thousand, hard currency.”

They could have brought a whole ship for twenty-two thousand credits. Of course, it would have been a junker, barely space-worthy, but still, for the price of this delta-shield Rian could have made the startings of a fleet.

“I’ve got eighteen thousand hard currency,” Rian replied.

Uzair tapped his chin. “I see. The only other deal I can do for you is to take your eighteen thousand hard, and I’ll give you the shield for seven thousand red electronic currency on top of that.”

Had Uzair had jacked up the price from twenty-two thousand to twenty-five thousand? And Rian had just agreed to it.

Rian and Uzair exchanged details for the delivery of the shield and conversion of currency then they traded greetings, and Rian led them out into the chaotic bazaar of Huata.

“What just happened?” Tannin asked Lianna once they were weaving through the crowd and Rian couldn’t overhear him.

Lianna shook her head slightly. “Rian just agreed to go into debt to Uzair for seven thousand credits. But by the time Uzair adds his interest onto it, the sum will probably be closer to fourteen thousand. In effect, Rian agreed to pay three times what the shield is actually worth.”

“I thought the point of coming here was to get something cheaper.”

Lianna shrugged. “The shield is probably just as much, if not more expensive, than buying it retail. All ships with delta-shields and gate travel capacity have to be registered and pay fees to the IPC. That’s on top of what it costs to actually take a trip through a transit gate. We’re saving time and money by not going through the official channels.”

“Then how are we going to go through a gate if we’re not cleared?”

“Callan will forge the file and upload it to the ship’s registration records.”

“
Callan
?” Tannin glanced at the ship’s security advisor. He’d assumed Callan had been employed for muscle and not much else.

“Before Rian employed him, Callan worked as a universal-class forger for Elizar Dillon.”

“The crime lord?”

Lianna nodded. “That’s the one.”

There seemed to be more than a few mysteries amongst the crew and cargo onboard the
Imojenna.
He got the feeling he’d only just scratched the surface.

Once they slipped out the barrier fence, Callan dropped back to walk next to him and slapped him on the back hard enough to make him cough. “You owe us all a beer.”

Tannin shrugged off the pain. “How do you figure?”

“Tradition. When a new member of the crew is made official, they buy everyone else a beer.”

Tannin stumbled over a raised section of street then hurried after the three of them when they kept going without him. What the hell did Callan mean
new member of the crew
?

“Sorry, but I must have been on a different trading excursion. When exactly did this happen?”

Lianna grinned. “Didn’t you hear Rian when he said he doesn’t like people threatening his crew? He was talking about you, so it’s official. You’ve got a permanent place with us on the
Imojenna
.”

“Unless you’ve got somewhere else to be? Though since you’re an escaped prisoner, I can’t imagine you would,” Callan finished.

Tannin looked at Rian, who walked a few paces ahead of them with his hands braced on the grips of the guns on each hip. The captain didn’t acknowledge the conversation, didn’t deny or confirm what the other two had said. Was it that simple? Had Rian acquired all of his crew by telling them instead of asking? Tannin wanted this, had come to realize his best chance of staying out of IPC hands and avoiding a return to Erebus would be with Rian onboard the
Imojenna
.

And the idea of being stuck indefinitely on the same ship as Zahli sounded about as close to heaven as he’d ever thought to get. Of course, there was still the ginormous obstacle of her brother between them. Yet feeling as ecstatic as he did right now, he’d leave that bridge to cross later.

The multiplex they’d left their transport at came into view, and Callan shoved him in the arm. “There’s a few rules you need to know now.”

“You actually have
rules
?” Making a joke seemed like a bit of a risk, but now he’d become crew, he’d be more likely to get away in one piece.

Lianna gave a short laugh. “Don’t worry, you’ll pick them up as you go.”

Callan gripped his shoulder as they stopped at the end of the line waiting for transport. “Yeah, either that, or Rian will cut your fingers off.”

Tannin would have laughed, but he got the sense Rian really would cut his fingers off if he got pissed enough about something.

Rian turned and looked at him with a stern, measured gaze. “I’ll give you a head start. One of my rules is no
fraternization
between crew members.”

Any ideas Tannin had about finding a way around Rian’s apparent opposition to Zahli and him withered and went up in a poof of ashes.

They arrived at the front of the transport line, saving Tannin from having to come up with a reply. Because what in the fiery pits of Erebus could he have said to that?

The girl or the life
.

Chapter Thirteen

Z
ahli sat at the bottom of the ramp with a bottle of cold aerated electrolyte water in her hand, watching the buzzing activity in the large hangar as she waited for the trading party to return.

She spotted Tannin before any of the others, recognizing his dark hair, broad shoulders, and the way he moved around a group of mech-techs conversing in the middle of the walkway. Her heart rate picked up at the sight of him striding toward her and the smile he tried to hide when his gaze landed on her. She stood as they got closer, relieved to see they’d come back from Huata in one piece.

“Did you get it?” She couldn’t decide whether she hoped they’d been successful or had failed. Both options came with implications she didn’t want to consider.

Rian brushed past her without answering, heading straight for the stairs.

Lianna and Tannin stopped in front of her, while Callan followed Rian.

“We’ve agreed to trade for one, yeah,” Lianna answered.

She crossed her arms and glared at where Rian had disappeared up the steps.

“And I suppose he’s spent all of the currency we haven’t made yet on this shipment of liquor?”

Lianna’s expression gave nothing away. The woman was nothing if not loyal to their captain. “In a manner of speaking.”

Tannin shook his head. “I don’t think you really want to know.”

Sighing, Zahli trudged back up the ramp. “Payton will be here soon. I’d better double check none of the product is damaged or anything.”

“And I’d better start re-routing some systems so Jensen can install the shield as soon as we get it. No doubt our captain will want to get off the ground as soon as it’s onboard.” Lianna headed toward the stairs, but turned to look back at her. “By the way, Rian made it official. Tannin is crew now.”

Zahli nodded, heart skipping up her chest to lodge in the bottom of her throat as Lianna sent her a small wave and disappeared. Ever since they’d discovered the extent of Tannin’s hacking abilities, part of her had expected the development, but the news still surprised her. If he felt even half of the myriad of emotions that flooded her every time she laid eyes on him, she didn’t know how either of them would adhere to Rian’s rules.

Tannin reached out and took the chilled bottle from her hand, his warm fingers a delicious contrast to the icy beverage.

“Thanks. Just what I need.” He titled his head back and took a long swallow, his gaze never leaving hers.

There was absolutely nothing erotic about sharing a bottle of aerated drink with someone. She’d done it plenty of times with Rian, a few with Kira and Lianna, and even once with Jensen. Erebus would have to freeze over before she’d lay her lips on anything Callan had touched. However, as she stood there and watched Tannin with his mouth on the rim of the bottle where her lips had been moments ago, she knew she’d never be able to innocently share a bottle ever again, because he
made
it erotic. The warm, wicked glint in his eyes suggested his thoughts may have taken the same path.

When he finished and handed it back to her, the bottle was half-empty. And just to prove two could play his game, she took another couple of mouthfuls herself.

They treaded on dangerous ground. She’d always lived life by the book, but Tannin made her want to break the rules.
All of the rules
. Smash them into little pieces and crawl over the debris, if only to have one of Tannin’s breath-stealing, heart-stopping kisses.

The cargo bay’s comms pinged, signaling a message coming through.

“Zi-zi, we just got a transmission from Payton. He’ll be here in a few minutes,” Rian’s voice echoed over the speakers.

Zi-zi?
What had she done to deserve that? Okay, she’d been straying close to the line on the fraternization issue, but how could Rian have known that from wherever he was in the main part of the ship?

With another sigh, one solely reserved for frecking annoying brothers, she went to the stack of crates in the middle of the floor and bent to open the nearest one, giving the contents a quick check.

“What are you doing?” Tannin took the crate lid out of her hands while she leaned into the box.

“If I’m going to ask for more credits at the last minute, I don’t want the client to find a reason to try and talk the price down again.” She took the lid from him and re-secured it before moving onto the next container.

The sound of footsteps on the ramp caught her attention. She leaned sideways to glance around the stack of crates and her heart flat-out failed, because it wasn’t Payton.

Zahli grabbed the front of Tannin’s shirt and pushed him backward against the crates and into a small corner between two stacks.

His expression took on an edge of uncertainty. “What the hell—?”

She slapped her hand over his mouth and shook her head in a sharp movement.

Heart pounding and breath shortening to the point of making her dizzy, she peeked out around the edge of the containers. Lieutenant Marshal Raleigh paused at the top of the ramp way, looking around. Thank god he hadn’t seen them. But if he walked any farther into the cargo bay, the little alcove she’d shoved them into wouldn’t hide them any longer.

“Hello? Anyone aboard?” Raleigh called out, not moving from where he’d stopped.
Thank lucky stars.

Tannin’s expression turned grim. He moved her hand from his lips, but held onto it, pressing it against his chest, over his heart. She felt the pound of Tannin’s life beneath her palm and became aware of how she was pressed up against him, her feet between his, thighs touching, and hips together.

So not the time
.

Any second now, he could be caught by an IPC officer who’d take him back to Erebus in a flash. But all she could think about was kissing him, running her fingers over the contours of his chest and exploring every bit of him with her lips, physically reassuring him they’d find a way out of it together. The environs must have been playing up again, because she’d started getting hot.

“Can I help you?” Lianna’s voice echoed down from the stairs and a hard swell of relief poured through Zahli.

Lianna passed their hideout and glanced at them, but managed to make it seem like she’d looked right through them, as if they weren’t there.
Good, Lianna, play dumb
.

“I’m sorry to come unannounced, but I need to see Captain Sherron,” Raleigh said, not sounding the least bit apologetic. Zahli wanted to scoff.
As if
he hadn’t meant to surprise them. No doubt the lieutenant marshal had been hoping to catch them unaware and find Tannin. And he almost had. It’d been so close. Her grip tightened on him, and in silent answer he brought her closer, every muscle in his body rigid.

“The captain has business to attend to. He’s not seeing anyone at the moment.”

Lianna’s tone sounded calm and firm. Zahli could guess she had on her second-in-command face, the one that said
just try it and I’ll kick your ass
.

“This will only take a moment. I need to ask him a couple of questions.” It didn’t seem like Raleigh would be deterred easily.

“And you haven’t heard of subspace communication? Couldn’t send a message?” Lianna demanded.

“I’m doing this off record, as a favor to a fellow soldier. I can go through official channels and come back later, but either way, I will need to talk to him.”

Lianna sighed, then the small chime of a personal comm sounded. “Captain, Raleigh is here. He needs to talk to you.”

All Zahli heard of Rian’s answer was his rumbling voice. A few seconds later, his boots rang on the stairs as he stomped down. Unlike Lianna, he didn’t even glance in their direction when he passed, but Zahli didn’t doubt he’d seen them there. Just what she needed on top of this, another lecture from him later on.

“Why are you here, Raleigh?” Rian didn’t bother to hide his irritation.

Zahli all but heard Raleigh snap to attention. “Major Captain Sherron, I need to ask you some questions. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”

She caught her breath, sinking her teeth into her lower lip. Was Raleigh just being polite, or was this his way of trying to get another look around their ship?

“Right here is fine. Whatever you’ve got to say, it can be said in front of my engineer.” Rian’s tone was implacable, and just short of out-right hostile.

Raleigh cleared his throat and with slow movements, Zahli peeked around the edge of the containers. Rian had stopped a few steps from Raleigh, with his arms crossed and an extremely unimpressed expression on his face.

“We still haven’t found any clue as to the missing prisoner’s whereabouts.”

“So what, you want to search my ship again? You still think I had something to do with it?” Rian’s glare intensified and Raleigh ran a hand through his short hair, appearing agitated.

“Of course not, I just need to find out what you know. As I said to your engineer, this is off the record. As a favor to a fellow soldier.”

Zahli shook her head. It seemed laughable when IPC officers were so willing to do Rian
favors
because they all believed him to be some big hero. Rian told her once if he ever came across an IPC officer who’d caught on fire, he wouldn’t even piss on the guy to help put out the flames.

Raleigh took a step forward, but then seemed to think better of it and shifted back again as Rian’s palms came to rest on the butts of his holstered guns.

“From our last conversation, I got the feeling you knew more than you were willing to say. Soldier to soldier, you can tell me anything, and I’ll make sure you’re kept in the clear, Major Captain.”

For a long moment Rian simply stared at him with a flinty expression, until Raleigh shifted, swiping a hand across his damp hairline.

“Fine. Off the record? All I know is that I saw the man you showed us in the holograph image having an argument with another man while the colonel marshal gave us a tour. I think it was an officer.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when I first came aboard on Arleta?” Raleigh sounded exasperated, but tried to maintain a polite mien.

“You didn’t ask. Not directly. Besides, would you have believed me, especially considering I’m implicating a fellow officer?” Rian added an insolent shrug.

Raleigh looked insulted. “I would have taken your word for it, Major Captain Sherron.”

Rian sighed and his stance relaxed. Slightly. “I’m not a major captain anymore, Raleigh. I left the IPC years ago. And I don’t have any more information on your missing prisoner than I’ve already told you.”

“Thank you for your time, Captain. I appreciate the tip.” Raleigh inclined his head and backed a few steps down the ramp. “Good journey. I hope we cross paths again one day.”

Raleigh disappeared from sight a moment later. Tannin relaxed beneath Zahli; his head tilted back and eyes closed as he leaned against the crates.

“Tannin?” She touched his cheek, worried about what this latest near miss would do to his frame of mind.

He forced out a harsh breath as he opened his eyes, his gaze dark with shadows. He used his grip on her hips to gently push her back from him and then let her go.

“I’m okay.” The slight tenor of his voice told her the complete opposite.

She wanted to keep hold on him, getting the definite sense that he was putting as much emotional distance between them as physical. Yeah, this had been a close call, and starkly reminded them that Tannin was far from clear where the IPC authorities were concerned. But pushing her away wouldn’t make that any better. She started arranging words in her mind to tell him exactly that, but the familiar tread of her brother’s boot steps stopped her short.

“Mind explaining how Raleigh arrived on our rampway when your
one and only
duty was to monitor his ship?” Rian asked from behind her.

Tannin still stood close enough for her to feel him tense. “It was hard to monitor Raleigh’s ship when I’ve been out with you for the past few hours. He must have taken a transit gate to get here so fast. There probably wasn’t any way to see that coming. In fact, if I go up and check, the tag will probably tell me they’re still orbiting Arleta. Remember what I said about the subspace—”

Rian held up both hands. “I don’t want to hear about anything I can’t understand. If anyone else besides Payton comes onboard, shoot them.” He turned and clomped towards the stairs.

“Shoot them?” Lianna caught her eye with a smirk. She, more than anyone, had gotten used to Rian’s moods and asinine orders.

“If your pulse pistol is set to stun, that won’t get us arrested.” Rian flicked one hand in the air in a
dismissed
kind of gesture and started up the steps.

Lianna sighed. “I have to get back to setting up a program so this old garbage compactor of a ship recognizes the spanking new delta-shield when it arrives.”

“I heard that, Mackenzie!” Rian shouted down from the upper levels.

“Whoops.” Lianna smiled, a cheeky grin that said she’d intended for him to hear it. She left, heading for the bridge.

Zahli turned to Tannin, unsurprised to find him staring at her. Except something in his gaze was no longer so intimate. She backed up, realizing they stood so close she could feel the delicious heat of him.

“I have to finish checking the cargo,” she said, instead of asking him if he was okay again. Like when her brother shut down; she got the feeling Tannin wasn’t in a sharing mood.

“Yeah, I should probably go see if Rian needs me to do any other kind of hacking. Got to make myself useful.” He slipped out from between her and the crates with an entirely platonic smile.

Astonishment and disappointment washed through her. Where had the teasing, flirty, sexy Tannin gone? Had the near miss with Raleigh freaked him out, or was something else going on?

Zahli turned and numbly resumed checking the cargo, though didn’t pay anywhere near as much attention as she should have. She shouldn’t feel upset. Maybe Rian or someone else had filled Tannin in on ship rules, so he’d put some distance between them, doing what she hadn’t been willing to.

More like what I couldn’t do
. Sighing, she moved onto the final crate. Despite the many reasons against it, she hadn’t been able to resist Tannin’s charms. Perhaps Tannin hadn’t felt things as deeply as she had after all. In that case, it’d be better if things ended now, rather than when she went and fell irrevocably in love with him. That would have shattered her heart into a million pieces.