and grinned.
Skylar inched closer to Rico and nodded toward Tannis. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Probably.”
“Do you think she could be okay sooner rather than later? There’s something you need to know.”
He obviously saw something in her face. “Tannis! Get over it, and get over here. We might have a problem.”
Tannis stopped pacing. “A bigger problem than my pilot losing his mind?”
“Much bigger,” Skylar said. “Where’s the prisoner? Has he talked yet?”
“Your baby brother? No, he’s sleeping off the cryo. Why?”
“I think the Collective are going to come after him.”
“Well, obviously. They’ll want him back.”
“No. I think they want him dead.”
Rico looked at her sharply. “Why? If it was nothing but a training exercise, why kill him?”
“I don’t know. I just know something’s not right.”
“Explain,” Tannis snapped.
“I couldn’t work it out until just now, but then it struck me. The soldiers I shot on Trakis One—the Corps—they weren’t carrying laser pistols. They were carrying blasters.”
“So?” Tannis didn’t attempt to hide her impatience.
“So, they were an assassination squad. All along, they meant to kill him.”
“That makes no sense. They’ve had him in prison for weeks. If they wanted him dead, why not kill him there?”
“If he’d died in prison, there would be all sorts of questions. I think they wanted it to look like a failed escape attempt. For some reason they didn’t want him to come round from the cryo. I’m guessing he has information they don’t want to come out.”
“And what would that be?”
She shrugged. “How should I know? I’m a soldier. I’m on a need-to-know basis.”
“Hmm. So they would have just blasted us all to pieces?”
Skylar nodded.
“And they’re going to come after us.”
“With everything they’ve got.”
“Great, just great. And I bet there’s no chance of me getting the rest of my money either.” She gave Skylar a black look. “You do know this is your fault?” She turned her cold gaze on Rico. “And yours.”
“Why the hell is it my fault?”
Tannis snorted. “She probably only picked this ship because she’d heard what a pushover you were. Forget that ‘I heard you’re the best’ crap. I bet it was more a case of she’d heard all she needed was to flash a big pair of tits in your face and your brain would fly out the airlock.”
Someone sniggered. Tannis glared at the crew, and the sound was cutoff abruptly. Shoving her hands in her pockets, she turned and stalked away.
“Well, that went well,” Rico murmured.
“It did, didn’t it?” Skylar waited until Tannis reached the door. “Captain?”
Tannis paused, but didn’t turn around. “What?”
“You still planning to kill me?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
Epilogue
Tannis slapped a bottle down on the table.
“What’s that?” Skylar asked.
“Iron supplement,” Tannis said. “I think you’re going to need it.”
“Oh.” She only narrowly resisted lifting her hand to her throat, where she knew the marks of Rico’s fangs still showed. “Thank you.”
It was later that evening, and they’d all gathered at the table in the galley for the final meal of the day. El Cazador was heading away from the Trakis system as fast as she could go. Tomorrow, they had a planning meeting, but tonight, by unspoken agreement, they’d been keeping the conversation light. Rico sat next to her, his hand resting on her thigh.
“Tannis looks after her crew,” he said.
Skylar stared up into Tannis’ cold, yellow eyes. “So, am I crew?”
Tannis nodded curtly, and something tight unraveled in Skylar.
“We just haven’t decided what position yet,” Rico murmured, stroking his hand along her thigh. “We can discuss it later—try a few out.”
“Yes, we have. She’s our security officer,” Tannis said, kicking out a chair and sinking down opposite her. “So does this mean you’ve left the Collective?” she asked.
Skylar shook her head. It always amazed her how little outsiders understood about the Collective. “I can’t leave the Collective,” she said. “I am the Collective. We all are. I could no more leave than you could chop off your arm and expect it to have a life without you.”
Tannis frowned, and Skylar struggled to explain. “The Meridian joins us together until we’re part of a single being. If we open ourselves, we can think as one, expand our minds.”
“A gestalt,” Rico said. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“So, they’ll be able to find you?” Tannis asked.
“I really don’t know. No one’s ever tried to leave before, but I’m sure we’ll find out.”
She didn’t mention that although she had clamped down her internal links, she could already feel them nudging at her, trying to get in.
They were all silent for a minute, and then Al spoke up from the end of the table. “The Church believes the Collective is evil.”
Skylar frowned. “Why do you say that? It’s certainly not an official stance.”
Al shrugged one skinny shoulder. “They say it takes a hundred men a hundred years to mine enough Meridian for one treatment. But they also believe Meridian ties your soul to your body. That’s why you can’t die, and why you’ll never go to heaven.”
He rose from the table, picked up a plate, and started piling it with food.
“Who’s that for?” Tannis asked.
“Jon.”
“He’s not a prisoner—he can come and join us.”
Al shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Skylar. “He says he won’t sit in the same room as a piece of Collective…” He bit his lip on the last word.
“Hmm,” Tannis said. “Well, we’ll let it go for tonight, but if he stays on this ship, he eats with my crew.”
“I’ll tell him,” Al said.
They watched as he took the plate and left the galley. Soon after, the rest of the crew drifted away, leaving Skylar alone with Rico. As soon as they were gone, he pulled her onto his lap. “Security officer,” he whispered into her ear. “Does that mean you get to tie me up, maybe even handcuff me, if I misbehave?”
She giggled, but pulled back slightly.
“Do you think it’s safe?” she asked.
“What? Tying me up?”
“No. Al with that criminal?”
“Why shouldn’t it be?”
“Well, Al’s …” she trailed off, unsure if she should giveaway Al’s secret.
“A girl?” Rico said.
She stared at him in surprise. “You knew?”
“Only just guessed—the kid got me interested. It was easy to see once you looked.”
“Don’t you want to know why?”
He shrugged. “There’re a whole load of reasons people want to hide—I reckon Al’s reasons are her own.”
“Yes, but—”
He dragged her closer and kissed her. For a moment, she relaxed against him. But something was tugging at her mind. Something to do with the Church. She pictured Al, that shock of dark red hair, the huge grey eyes, and suddenly it came to her.
She sat up straight, eyes wide. “Holy Meridian!”
Rico sighed. “What?”
“I just realized who Al is.”
“Really? Well, Al can wait until tomorrow.” He kissed her throat, his tongue stroking along the length of the vein, and Al vanished from her mind.
Picking up her left hand, he twisted the ring on her finger. “Did you really pick this ship because you heard I was the best?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“And what do you think now?”
She looked down into his hard, handsome face and thought about forever. “Why don’t you ask me again in a few hundred years, and I’ll let you know.”
Acknowledgements
To the fabulous ladies at Passionate Critters for reading my stories and letting me know what they really think. And to my editor at Entangled, Liz Pelletier, for her help, her suggestions, and most of all, for her wonderful enthusiasm.
About the Author
Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain. Nina’s writing mixes romance with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.
You can find Nina at www.ninacroft.com.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author