Beyond Galaxy's Edge (20 page)

“When we get to Hydrae—” her voice was a quiet mumble against his skin “—I’m locking you in a bedroom and not letting you out for hours. Many, many hours.”

He pressed
a kiss to her temple. “Captain Smooth, you aren’t getting a single complaint from me.”

“I’m glad we didn’t die down there on that jungle planet.”

His hand skimmed up her long neck. “Right now, I’ve gone well past glad and right into ecstatic.”

She gave a small laugh, then she bolted upright. “Shit. If that clock beside your bunk is right, we have four minutes to be on the bridge.”

Justyn
cursed. “How fast can you get dressed?”

Her gaze skimmed down his naked body. “Not fast enough if you’re naked and in the same room.”

He gave her fine ass a gentle slap. “Go. Get dressed, my Thusian temptress. I’ll see you on the bridge.”

After a lightning-fast shower, Justyn grabbed a piece of fruit from the galley and strode onto the bridge of the
Pathfinder
with about twenty seconds to spare.

Rynan eyed him in a way that said he didn’t miss the sated look on Justyn’s face. Justyn didn’t care. He felt too damned good right now to care about anything.

Dare was in his usual position, leaning against the
wall, arms crossed over his chest. “Nice to see you in one piece.”

Justyn started to peel the hydroponic mandarin he’d nabbed. “Nice to be in one piece.” He popped a sliver of the juicy fruit in his mouth and savored the tart taste. Much better than nutribars. Not as good as the taste of Nissa. “Surprised to see you left the convoy, bro.”

“We’d already made it to Hydrae. And I left Aurina
in charge.”

Aurina had a streak of bossy in her and Justyn had no doubt his sister would keep the convoy members in line. “I’m sure glad you picked up the e-beacon signal.”

Ry nodded. “We were already looking for you. When the
Nomad
arrived at the caravanserai and there’d been no sign of your guys, we figured something was up. That’s when we ran into the Firebrands.”

Nissa strode in wearing
fresh clothes. “What’d I miss?”

“We’re just about to get started.” Justyn grabbed her and tugged her down into the seat beside his. He ignored his brothers’ smiles.

“So what the hell happened?” Dare asked.

Between the two of them, Justyn and Nissa told the story of the attack, the crash landing and their adventures on the jungle planet.

“Carnivorous plants.” Rynan gave a small scowl of
distaste.

Nissa took a deep breath. “There’s something else…I’ve been reporting back to the GSS. I suspect the mole’s been hacking my transmissions.”

Justyn watched his brothers. Their faces were unreadable.

She hurried on to fill the silence. “I’m sorry. I never meant to endanger you, your ship, or the convoy.”

Justyn shot his brothers a look. “A bitch of an admiral blackmailed her into
it.”

“I take it you won’t be making any more reports?” Dare’s voice was smooth but held the whip of command.

Nissa shifted. “No.”

“Good.” Rynan swiveled back to his computer. “I’ve been running checks on all the passengers to search for the mole. No flags, yet. Obviously getting information out here takes a bit more time, but so far they’re clean.”

“And the crew?” Justyn asked.

Rynan
gave an unhappy nod. “I’m checking them, too. I don’t want to believe it, but I’m searching for any changes in their routines, their bank accounts, or transmissions.”

“We need to all stay alert.” Dare pushed away from the wall. “Trust no one but the four of us in here with anything to do about the Constitution.”

They all nodded.

Nissa perked up. “Oh, I forgot to mention. We found a book
on the planet.”

“A book?” Rynan frowned.

Justyn leaned forward. “It was in the wreck of an escape pod…from the
Nero
.”

Dare’s brows rose and Rynan whistled.

“I need to authenticate it and it’ll have to be treated to preserve the pages,” Nissa said.

“We have everything you need in the science lab,” Rynan said. “One level down.”

“Thanks.”

Justyn got to his feet. “Come on. I’ll show
you.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were settled in the lab, Nissa bent over the enclosed synth-glass case. The leather-bound book sat inside, open, its delicate pages on display. It was being sprayed with a mist of plas-coating.

She tapped her fingers against the bench. “You think the book might tell has what happened to the Nero? Or any clue to where the Constitution might be?”

Justyn was
watching her, not the machine. “We’ll know soon enough.”

The machine beeped and the glass door opened. She looked at him, drew in a deep breath, then reached for the book.

“Okay, let’s see what we have.” She set it on the workbench and turned to the first page. “Diary of Anderson Chan, Science Officer of the
Nero
.” She blinked. “A diary!”

He smiled at her. “Did you run the dating tests?”

A nod. “A thousand years old. It dates to the time of the
Nero
.”

Justyn savored a shot of excitement. “Then it’s the real deal. We can’t tell a soul.”

“Of course not.” She stroked the paper page. “It’s so beautiful.”

He thought old paper was no match for her skin. “It’ll take some time to read it.” He squinted at the handwriting. “Man, it’s damn hard to read handwriting. Can’t believe anyone
thought writing with ink was a good idea.”

Nissa turned the page and read the words scrawled there. “I bought this diary to record every moment of my first deep-space voyage. I am excited and scared all rolled together. I’ve of course logged my hours on in-system trips, and spent several months on Jupiter Station. But now I’ll be headed far beyond the Milky Way, traveling on the
Nero
under Captain
Griffin. Our route is a secret, our cargo beyond precious, and me, Anderson Chan, is getting to be a part of history.” She gave Justyn a sad smile. “He was so excited. Completely unaware he’d die alone on a jungle world beyond the galaxy’s edge.”

Justyn gripped her shoulder. “Always knew there was marshmallow under your smooth skin. He was right though, he did become a part of history. We’ll
make sure he’s remembered.”

She nodded. “You’re a bit marshmallow too, Phoenix.”

“Shh, don’t tell anyone.” He flicked her earlobe. “You’ll ruin my hard-earned reputation as a rogue smuggler. I mean,
alleged
rogue smuggler.”

As she rolled her eyes, the comms panel beside the door chimed. Justyn strolled over.

“Go ahead.”

Rynan’s voice came through the speaker. “Coming up on Hydrae, Justyn.”

“Got it. Thanks.” He looked at Nissa. “You keep reading. I’m going to help Ry bring the ship in at Meni.” He checked his timepiece. “It’ll be dinnertime by the time we get dirtside.”

“Okay.”

“The caravanserai usually puts on a good show for new arrivals. Bonfire, feast, music, dancing.”

She tilted her head, a soft smile on her wide mouth. “You asking me out on a date, Justyn?”

He moved
fast, sweeping her into his chest. He saw delighted shock skitter over her stunning features. God, he loved the feel of her. “I’m asking if you’ll let me feed you before I fuck your brains out.”

Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. Justyn swallowed a groan.

“Well—” her voice was a little breathy “—with an offer like that—”

He nipped her bottom lip, but forced himself to keep at that.
Or else he’d be fucking her on the workbench behind them. Or the hard floor. He wanted a soft bed and he wanted to stay there all night. “Let me feed you—” another nip of her lips “—because you’ll need the energy, Sander.”

She nipped him back. “Ditto, Phoenix.”

***

Nissa carefully placed the diary in the wall safe in the
Sky Nomad’s
science lab and shut the door. As she coded in the lock,
she shook off the sense of despair that had settled over her.

She’d finished reading Anderson’s diary.

It didn’t tell her the location of the wreckage of the
Nero
or the US Constitution.

The man’s excitement had leaped off the pages. It had slowly settled down as the monotony of ship life had rubbed the unbridled enthusiasm away. And he’d stopped writing in his diary every day, eventually
using it just to note interesting stops and events. But he’d never lost the underlying thirst for adventure that had prompted him to join the
Nero
. He’d loved every second of being on the ship. Nissa envied him that joy.

He’d also fallen in love. Tumbled headlong in love with a woman named Claudia, the
Nero’s
comms specialist.

At least Nissa had confirmed the
Nero
had followed the path she
and Justyn had guessed, almost exactly.

Young Anderson had been in awe of the cargo they’d carried.

I got to see the Constitution today! The Captain allowed a select few on the science team to examine it and ensure its plas-coating was still protecting it. It’s so amazing to think about what this document represents. It was the foundation of a nation and now will be the cornerstone of the
galaxy’s new laws. And little ol’ me, from New Hong Kong, is playing a part in the story.

She headed out of the science lab and up to her cabin. The corridors were all empty. After the
Pathfinder
had landed on Hydrae, they’d transferred to the
Sky Nomad
and not long after that, everyone had headed off for the feast.

Nissa had wanted to finish reading the diary and promised Justyn she’d find
him. Once she’d started Anderson’s tale, she’d been compelled to follow it through to the end. The tragic end that had been written in a hurried panic. It had taken her some time to decipher the uneven scrawl written in half sentences: Nero
under attack. We’ve tipped on our side. Crewmen dead and dying. I can’t find Claudia. Enviro systems failing. Out the window I can see green gases and a space
monster devouring the ship
.
Leaving in an escape pod
.

She shook her head. He’d obviously been panicked, and probably suffering oxygen deprivation from failing enviro. Crazy tales of space monsters abounded in the records of early space explorers. A way to explain the strange things they often saw that had no explanation a thousand years ago.

In her years as a captain, Nissa had seen strange-shaped
nebulas, molecular clouds and accumulations of interstellar dust, but she’d never seen a space monster.

Anderson’s last heart-wrenching entry had been days after the attack. His pod had drifted for so long he’d lost track of time. No one had found him and he’d eaten all his emergency rations. He’d been starving, afraid and alone. He said he was going to try and land on the planet he’d seen on
his sensors. A habitable Super-Earth.

She released a long breath. She needed a break. Better yet, she needed to seduce a certain
alleged
smuggler. She ruffled through her bag and pulled on her favorite skinny black trousers and heeled boots, but all she had to wear with it were plain T-shirts. Three years on the edge of the galaxy had left her wardrobe sadly lacking.

After a quick trip to
the goods printer, she was wearing a black halter top covered in small silver dangles. The string did up at the back of the neck and left her back bare. Justyn really seemed to love her skin, including the reptilian scale pattern across her lower back, so she wanted to show it off.

Nissa exited the ship and paused for a second to drink in the view. Hydrae was mostly desert in the southern hemisphere.
The sun had almost finished setting, painting the horizon a brilliant golden-orange. Dual moons hung in the sky, casting a glow over the undulating dunes of the palest sand intermixed with tall, twisted rock formations. She imagined the planet’s children playing games to pick what each formation looked like. A soldier standing tall and straight, weapon held high. A woman dancing in a wild
twirl of skirts. A tree, with its branches long and twisted.

A crushed-gravel path led from the landing pads toward the two-story, U-shaped building that made up the main part of the caravanserai. The complex was nestled in a sprawling oasis with a small, placid lake in the center. Slim, rough-barked trees speared into the sky and father away from the landing pads and the main building, she
noted smaller domed buildings dotted amongst the trees. Private cottages for those who had money to spare for the extra privacy and ambiance. Lights from the village of Meni twinkled across the lake.

As she neared the main building, the noise of a party in progress filled the air—laughter, chatter, the strum of some stringed instrument, the snap and crackle of burning wood. Actual burning wood!
Not something she saw very often.

She rounded the corner and paused. The convoy members seemed very happy to enjoy the hospitality of the Hydraens. She easily picked out the hosts—slim, blue-skinned humanoids with elongated, hairless heads. They smiled unceasingly, many of them carrying platters covered in delicious-smelling food around for people to sample.

Masculine laughter she knew belonged
to Justyn came from nearby. The sound shivered through her.

She stayed in the shadows, content to watch for now. Two young Hydraen children, maybe around seven or eight, were pestering Justyn, tugging at his shirt. He was teasing them, making something—chocolate treats, she suspected—appear from behind their ears. His tricks sent the two boys into fits of laughter.

She couldn’t drag her gaze
off him. The golden firelight washed over him, making him seem sexier than ever.
Mine
. All her life, she’d been driven to excel in her career. Follow the rules, be the best she could be, keep her eye on the next promotion. She thought that was what she wanted.

But looking at Justyn Phoenix, she really understood what those wants and needs were.

Now, here on this little-known planet in uncharted
space, she wanted this man.

Music cut through the night. She pulled her gaze away and saw a small group of Hydraens seated on a bright-red blanket, playing an assortment of instruments. The hard beat of the drum blended with the thrum of strings and some sort of pipe. It was happy, cheerful, optimistic.