Weapons Master Galactic Gladia - Anna Hackett Page 0,59
wasn’t shy about sharing her thoughts about this entire screwed-up situation. Eve’s older sister was a badass Space Corps special forces marine. Lara wouldn’t hesitate to take down anyone who pissed her off, the Space Corps included.
“And she had access to information she should not have had access to, meaning your other sister has done some…creative hacking.”
Dammit. The rush of love was mixed with some annoyance. Sweet, geeky Wren had a giant, super-smart brain. She was a computer-systems engineer for some company with cutting-edge technology in Japan. It helped keep her baby sister’s big brain busy, because Wren hadn’t found a computer she couldn’t hack.
“Plenty of people are unhappy with what your sisters have been stirring up,” Barber continued.
Eve stiffened. She didn’t like where this was going.
“I’ve tried to run interference—”
“Admiral—”
Barber held up a hand. “I can’t keep protecting them, Eve. I’ve been trying, but some of this is even above my pay grade. If you don’t do this mission, powers outside of my control will go after them. They’ll both end up in a cell right alongside yours until the Kantos arrive and blow this prison out of the sky.”
Her jaw tight, Eve’s brain turned all the information over. Fucking fuck.
“Eve, if there is anyone who has a chance of succeeding on this mission, it’s you.”
Eve stayed silent.
Barber stepped closer. “I don’t care if you do it for yourself, the billions of people of Earth, or your sisters—”
“I’ll do it.” The words shot out of Eve, harsh and angry.
She’d do it—abduct the scariest alien war commander in the galaxy—for all the reasons the admiral listed—to clear her name, for her freedom, to save the world, and for the sisters she loved.
Honestly, it didn’t matter anyway, because the odds of her succeeding and coming back alive were zero.
Eve left the starship gym, towel around her neck, and her muscles warm and limber from her workout.
God, it was nice to work out when it suited her. On the Citadel Prison, exercise time was strictly scheduled, monitored, and timed.
Two crew members came into view, heading down the hall toward her. As soon as the uniformed men spotted her, they looked at the floor and passed her quickly.
Eve rolled her eyes. Well, she wasn’t aboard the Polaris to make friends, and she had to admit, she had a pretty notorious reputation. She’d never been one to blindly follow the rules, plus there was the Haumea Incident and her imprisonment. And her family were infamous in the Space Corps. Her father had been a space marine, killed in action in one of the early Kantos encounters. Her mom had been a decorated Space Corps member, but after Eve’s dad had died, her mom had started drinking. It had deteriorated until she’d gone off the rails. She’d done it quite publicly, blaming the Space Corps for her husband’s death. In the process, she’d forgotten she had three young, grieving girls.
Yep, Eve was well aware that the people you cared for most either left you, or let you down. The employer you worked your ass off for treated you like shit. The only two people in the galaxy that didn’t apply to were her sisters.
Eve pushed thoughts of her parents away. Instead, she scanned the starship. The Polaris was a good ship. A mid-size cruiser, she was designed for exploration, but well-armed as well. Eve guessed they’d be heading out beyond Neptune about now.
The plan was for the Polaris to take her to the edge of Eon space, where she’d take a tiny, two-person stealth ship, sneak up to the Desteron, then steal onboard.
Piece of cake. She rolled her eyes.
Back in her small cabin, she took a quick shower, dressed, and then headed to the ops room. It was a small room close to the bridge that the ship’s captain had made available to her.
She stepped inside, and all the screens flickered to life. A light table stood in the center of the room, and everything was filled with every scrap of intel that the Space Corps had on the Eon Empire, their warriors, the Desteron, and War Commander Thann-Eon.
It was more than she’d guessed. A lot of it had been classified. There was fascinating intel on the four Eon homeworld planets—Eon, Jad, Felis, and Ath. Each Eon warrior carried their homeworld in their name, along with their clan names. The war commander hailed from the planet Eon, and Thann was a clan known as a warrior clan.
Eve swiped her fingers across the light table and