The Star Thief (32 page)

“I wish you would have asked me about it. You were always so stubborn.”

“Guess some things never change, no matter how hard you try.”

His shoulders drooped, and Renna wanted to touch his arm, to comfort him. Instead she clutched her hands in her lap and let him continue.

“So when you went off with Viktis…I don’t know what came over me. I was furious. But for some reason, I was also jealous. It didn’t make sense.” Finn stared down at the bench. Traced a finger across the worn plastic. “I expected to never see you again. Assumed that you’d run off with the merc and disappear. But when you came back, everything I thought about you shifted. And even before I knew the truth about you and Blur, I’d started to respect you.”

Renna blinked at that. “You did?”

Finn nodded. “I saw how good at your job you were, at how much pride you took in doing things well. You’re amazing at what you do, even if you don’t always do it the way I’d approve of. We’re lucky to have you here. I’m lucky to have you here. I would never have made it out of that facility without you.”

She smirked. “You probably wouldn’t have gotten in without me either.”

His face hardened into a grim expression. “That’s what I mean. I don’t want to do it without you. And that scares the hell out of me.”

“I know the feeling.” It almost made it worse that Finn understood where she was coming from, that he was having the same conflict. “I had planned to sell my stuff, cash out my accounts, and change my name. I was going to retire to some tropical island and life on the beach. Alone.”

“So what now?” he asked. Need and vulnerability warred in his expression. The silence stretched between them until it felt heavy and impenetrable.

How she answered him could change everything. For both of them.

Her mind flashed back to the series of men her mother had slept with. To the series of men Renna had slept with. The only difference was Renna had chosen her conquests, not had them chosen for her because they paid for her services.

She curled her shoulders in, wrapping her arms around her waist as the tightness in her chest grew. She wasn’t her mother. Sometimes it was okay if life wasn’t entirely in her control. It was okay to trust people, even if they didn’t always live up to that trust.

A shuddering breath shook her to her core. Dammit. This was more terrifying than finishing her first job.

Finally, she raised her eyes to look at Finn. “You’re not the only one it scares the hell out of. But then I remember that the best jobs always freak me out before I start.”

“I know that feeling. It’s the same one I get before starting a new mission. You just have to hold your breath and jump in.”

She nodded. “Sometimes fear is good for you. It makes you sharper. More alert. It makes things more real. And if you have someone else to depend on…”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” he finished. His lips curled up slowly. “So does this mean you’re going to stick around for a little while?”

Renna used her finger to draw a cross over her heart. “I promise.”

His grin grew bigger. “I can’t believe you’re still using the Code.”

“Hey, it’s kept me alive for the last seven years. You were a smart guy back then.”

Finn raised an eyebrow. “That was a backhanded compliment if I ever heard one.”

She shrugged, trying to keep a serious face. “Too bad I’m still not convinced your merc skills have carried over. I might need a bit more convincing.”

“Convincing, eh? I think we need to take care of that right now.” He leaned forward and scooped her into his arms, pulling her across his lap. She felt him thicken as she settled against him.

“Why, Captain, is that a blaster in your pocket?” she asked with a wicked grin.

Finn let out a low growl and kissed her hungrily. His hands drifted lower to lift the hem of her shirt and stroke the soft skin of her stomach.

She shivered against him and let her own hands tangle in his hair, pulling him even closer.

“Captain, we have a distress call coming through.” Finn jumped at Keva’s voice over the intercom. He pulled his lips away from Renna’s, but kept her in his embrace, pressed against his chest.

“Who’s it from?” he asked, flashing Renna a look of disappointment.

“I can’t tell. Looks like it’s coming from Navang’s facility. Maybe he has defectors.”

“We’ll be right there.” Finn smiled at Renna. “Are we good?”

She forced a stern look to her face. “For now. But I can’t wait for shore leave. You still owe me some more convincing.”

He traced a finger across her jaw. “I promise.”

Renna and Finn raced to the bridge where the crew was already working feverishly, talking into their comms and tapping at their consoles. An air of barely contained panic filled the space and set Renna’s teeth on edge.

“Lieutenant Keva, status report.” Finn stood in military stance behind his chair, legs apart, hands behind his back

Everyone else on the bridge snapped into military formality as well, straightening their backs, watching their posture. Except Renna. She leaned against the railing and crossed her arms, watching Finn with a smirk. He’d thrown on his uniform jacket as they’d run, but it hung open, displaying the muscled planes of his chest through his cotton shirt.

There were some perks to being a thief.

Keva bent over one of the comm screens. “I think we almost have the distress call located, Captain. Estimated landing in ten minutes.”

“Any sign of attack? Have we been able to hail their airbase?”

Keva shook her head. “No answer yet.”

Finn frowned and stared out the window at the approaching planet.

Gheewala stepped forward, her hands twisting the hem of her uniform jacket. “Sir, I’m not sure if this helps, but the strange electronic signatures are getting stronger the closer we get to Vall. From what I can tell, they’re clustered around the facility. We should be careful.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Sergeant. Renna, you think we can sneak in and see what we’re up against?”

“Maybe. Can we cloak our landing? If these are the same ships that attacked us on Lenue, we don’t want them finishing the job here.”

“Already done.” Kojima’s voice came over the intercom. “There looks to be a small clearing off to the west of the facility. We should be able to land there and send a small team in.”

“Then we go in quiet. Renna and I will head in first, then call for backup.”

“But sir, after last time…” Keva shook her head. “We should assemble a team. You’re going to need more support than just…Renna.” She tilted up her chin defiantly.

Interesting. The lieutenant was finally growing a backbone.

Finn stared at Keva appraisingly. “Very well. Pull one together, Lieutenant. We’ll split into two groups. Do we have the emergency transmission cleaned up yet?”

Viktis nodded from his chair in the corner and pressed one of the buttons on the comm device. “Here it is.”

Static filled the bridge, and Viktis moved one of the controls. The noise sharpened into the sound of a woman’s voice. “…out of control. Please help. Trapped in section two. Chemical leak in manufacturing has affected staff and production…. Send help.”

The words cut in and out, covered by static and a strange beeping sound.

“What is that?” Finn asked.

“I can’t tell. The signal is too degraded.” Viktis tried to sharpen the loop, but the recording was still choppy.

Renna straightened from her lounging pose as her skin erupted into goose bumps. The one thing she could make out was the sheer terror in the woman’s voice.

Finn crossed his arms. “I don’t like this. Everyone gear up and meet in the shuttle bay in five.”

The crew scattered, and Renna made her way back to her own cabin. She didn’t need armor, but she did have a few tricks in her bag that might come in handy. She stuffed her pack with her lock-picking tools, some small thermal detonators, and an extra blaster pistol.

“Download map of Vall,” she told her implant. A terrain map of the planet appeared. “Now the city map, please.” She found Navang’s lab at the edge of the spaceport, a large, sprawling building with spokes running off a central hub. From the satellite image, it seemed like a normal complex of buildings, but when she drilled deeper with the infrared scan, it looked like there was a whole other maze below ground level.

Where in all this was Myka?

She let out a sigh and let the image fade. She needed to focus, to get this job done no matter what. The kid was counting on her. The universe was counting on her.

No pressure.

TWENTY-EIGHT

The rest of the crew was already down in the shuttle bay when Renna joined them. Bokal and Gheewala were staying behind, but they stood off to the side inspecting the gear. Lieutenant Keva and two of the other MYTH agents wore their black ninja suits, only Keva’s silver eyes betraying who she was behind the mask.

Captain Finn appeared from the locker bay, wearing a similar version, but it shone metallic in the helo lights when he moved and seemed thicker, more like armor. It clung to his thigh muscles, and as he turned to talk to Keva, Renna’s gaze drifted lower to linger appreciatively on the view.

Viktis stood nearby, checking his blaster. “I think there’s a little drool on your chin, Renna,” he said, looking up with a smirk.

She shrugged. “Yeah? I saw you watching Lieutenant Keva as she bent to tuck her uniform into her boots.”

“Damn, you caught me.” He slid the chamber closed and holstered his gun.

Renna frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m coming with you. These people killed my crew, remember?”

“Finn agreed to that?” Maybe there was hope for this mission yet.

“He didn’t have a choice.” Viktis’s glance at the man was full of cold indifference. “So am I to assume he’s the new fling of the week?”

“Viktis…”

“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t try to kill you this time. I’m more than over you.”

Renna shook her head. “You never loved me, Viktis.”

He smiled sadly, his violet eyes almost going soft. “You never let me.”

Renna sucked in a breath like he’d punched her. What they’d had had been a convenient, friends-with-benefits kind of relationship. He couldn’t have loved her. Or had she been too afraid to see it?

Before she could figure out how to answer, Kojima’s voice came over the intercom. “Captain, we’ll be landing in two minutes.”

Finn stood with his arms behind his back to give orders. “Team, we’re going in hot. Keva, take your crew to the east entrance of the facility and make your way to the center. Viktis, Renna, and I will head west. Keep in contact if possible. If this facility is anything like the last, they may have disabled comms. If that’s the case, find the boy and get back here ASAP. Whoever finds him waits two hours and then leaves. His safety comes first.”

Keva and the rest of the crew finished gearing up.

Renna’s skin prickled, and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She hated this feeling, like things were about to go tits up and there was nothing she could do about it.

The
Athena
touched down with a soft tremor, and the cargo door slid open. Everyone drew their guns, and each group headed down the plank. Keva raised a hand in farewell and headed east with her crew.

“Renna, you have the map?” Finn asked.

She nodded. “Shouldn’t be too far. I found an entrance that looks like it’s through the forest here. Keva and her team will have to go farther around the building before they can get in.”

“Let’s go.”

The trio headed through the jungle. The air pressed down on her like a weight, the smell of death and decay catching in her nose and hair. Strange animals screamed at them from the shadows as they approached the cement-gray building. At least it wasn’t made of the same strange material the last place had used. Getting in would be much easier.

Walking through the wet heat felt like moving through water. Renna tugged at the neck of her shirt as sweat trickled down her back and her hair plastered to her face. Beside her, Finn used his sleeve to wipe the perspiration from his forehead.

Luckily they found a thick, steel door guarding the entrance at the corner of the building. A V’Mani lock glowed blue against the dull cement wall. Renna smiled. About time things started looking up. She had the lock disabled in moments, and Finn let out a low whistle.