Break Out - By Nina Croft Page 0,21

get any better by putting them off. A wave of anger washed over her—why the hell hadn’t Rico switched off the visual monitors before giving her his mojo lust drink? If this were some sort of planned entertainment for the crew, she’d kill him. And to think she almost gave in…

She squared her shoulders and stalked off, leaving Al to follow or not.

Another shot hit the ship, hurling her against the wall. She rubbed her elbow, picked herself up, and hurried to the bridge.

Everyone appeared amazingly calm considering they were under attack. Rico lounged in the pilot’s seat, talking to Daisy.

“It came out of nowhere,” she said.

“Intergalactic space cruisers do not come out of nowhere.”

“Well, this one did.”

Skylar studied the monitor. The image of a ship nearly twice the size of the El Cazador and with ten times the firepower filled the screen. It was coming round on them once more, and she quickly found something to grab hold of. This time she managed to stay upright.

Rico swore loudly. “Don’t let go of whatever you’re holding on to,” he said, and deftly maneuvered the ship with a hard bank down and left, darting around so he came up behind the space cruiser. He hit the fire switch and the laser guns blasted the other ship. It was a direct hit, and the ship veered away, disappearing from the screen.

“That should keep them for a minute or two.” They waited in silence, but the screen remained blank.

“It’s gone,” Daisy said.

Tannis stepped up closer to stare over Rico’s shoulder at the screens. “What do you mean ‘gone’?”

“Vanished.”

“Intergalactic space cruisers do not just vanish.”

“Well, this one did,” Daisy said.

“What’s going on?” Skylar asked.

Tannis turned to look at her. “I don’t know. We seem to have attracted the attention of a Collective cruiser. It came out of nowhere and now it’s disappeared.” She peered at Skylar suspiciously. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

“Like what?”

“Like the fact that you’ve got the Collective on your tail.”

“I made no secret of the fact that I’m with the rebels and wanted by the Collective. But do you really think that if they knew I was on board, they would shoot a few times and then vanish?”

The yellow eyes seemed to bore through her. Skylar held her gaze, keeping her expression guileless.

“She’s right,” Rico spoke into the silence. “If they knew we had a rebel on the Cazador, we’d be boarded by now.”

“I still don’t like it.”

Rico punched something into the console in front of him and shook his head. “They’re definitely gone. Was there any damage?”

“None,” Daisy said. “The shields took the impact. It’s as if they were playing with us. As if they didn’t want to do any actual damage.”

“So what did they want?” Tannis asked.

Rico shrugged. “Get our attention maybe. Whatever, it’s time to get out of here.” Skylar stalked over to him and he swiveled in his chair and rose to his feet. “Hey, sweetheart—did you miss me?”

At the endearment, her fury rose again. She drew back her fist and punched him in the mouth.

“Ow,” she muttered, shaking her hand.

She glanced into Rico’s face and took a step back. A glint of ruby gleamed out from behind his half-closed lashes. A drop of blood beaded on his lower lip. He licked it slowly with his tongue then rose to his feet to tower over her. His lips peeled back in a snarl to reveal razor sharp fangs.

The sight just made her madder—those damn fangs had gotten her into this mess in the first place—it was about time he learned to keep them to himself. Skylar’s hand went to the laser pistol at her hip, and his gaze dropped to follow the movement. She took a deep calming breath and kicked out with her booted foot. She connected with his thigh and swept his legs from under him so he crashed to the floor. Drawing the laser pistol in one fluid move, she stood over him, the pistol aimed at his heart.

He stared up at her for long moments before the tension oozed from his body. He reached up and stroked his finger over his mouth where her fist had connected.

“Hey, I promised to come back.”

“You knew they could see us.” Her eyes narrowed on him, and her finger tightened on the trigger.

He looked at the gun and back at her face. “Maybe, but I didn’t know they would look. And that gun won’t stop me, but it will hurt, so I suggest you think