“Are you going to be this ridiculous the entire time?”
“Are you going to be a stubborn ass the entire time? In the time it’s taken you to argue, you could’ve already opened the shutters.”
He grumbled something under his breath, but he opened the shutters, revealing that the view of Andromeda Prime hadn’t been a video trick. The planet was even prettier through the windows than it had been on the vid screens.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome.” He retracted the shutters as Persistence prepared to land in Honorius.
Even the fastest von Hasenberg ships wouldn’t be able to jump again in less than six hours, and that’s if Ian hadn’t jumped the ship on the way to DTD Four, which he must’ve.
Therefore, I had at least six hours where I could sleep in relative safety without worrying that the ship would deliver me to Earth while I was out. I would take advantage of that while I could. I unclipped and stood. “I’m going to grab a bunk.”
“I collected some of your clothes from Aurora. I put the bag in the first bunk, but you’re welcome to choose whichever quarters you prefer.”
The thought of Ian going through my undergarments caused a little frisson of heat to lick through me, half embarrassment, half desire. I bit my tongue before I asked him if he saw anything he liked. “Thank you,” I said. My voice came out husky and I cleared my throat before continuing, “Wake me if anything changes. Otherwise, I’ll see you in six hours.”
“Sleep well.”
“You, too.” I left the flight deck, then skipped the stairs and slid down the ladder to the middle level. I grabbed a glass of water from the mess hall, then went in search of a bed.
Chapter 12
My purse and a large, unfamiliar pack sat in the middle of the bed of the first bunk on the left. There were a half dozen crew quarters on this level with a shared bath at the end of the hall. Ian would be in the captain’s suite upstairs, which meant I wouldn’t be tempted to find out how he looked without a shirt. He might be frustrating and infuriating, but damn if he didn’t cut a fine figure.
And desire could be a useful weapon, but one best wielded carefully.
I went through my bedtime routine, then sat cross-legged on the bed in my makeshift sleepwear. Ian hadn’t grabbed any loungewear, so I’d scrounged up an oversized shirt from the wardrobe that at least covered my underwear.
A scan for trackers and bugs in the room came back clean. Ian hadn’t picked this room because he’d bugged it. Huh. Trying to figure out his reasoning made my head ache worse, so I chalked it up to a fluke and moved on.
I carefully set up my most secure network connection. Once I verified it was secure and my traffic was being obfuscated, I logged in to my Fenix account in HIVE with my smart glasses. I had a message from Nadia. She said she had the information I requested and that it was extremely time sensitive. The message included a link to a secure repository that would only unlock once the fee had been paid.
She wanted twenty thousand credits. I laughed at her audacity. The woman knew how to drive a hard bargain, but her information had always been worth it.
I paid the fee.
The unlocked message confirmed that the Syndicate party was happening tonight in Matavara and that Riccardo Silva would be in attendance. He was one of the younger sons of the main branch of the Silva family. I had not dealt with him before, but rumors indicated he was hotheaded, impulsive, and cruel. He wasn’t the last Silva I’d want to deal with, but he was pretty far down the list.
The message also had a line on a contact in Matavara who might be able to procure an invitation with the right incentive. I copied down the info and sent a note of thanks to Nadia.
I had HIVE transport me to my safe house and went through the entry ritual. The cozy library living room appeared, now with a warm fire and darkness outside. The time here mirrored Universal.
Lili Hu sat curled up in one of the overstuffed armchairs by the window. Petite, with straight dark hair, her avatar looked exactly like she did in real life. She had decided to stay in her position, now that she had a support network