Forged (Star Breed #10) - Elin Wyn Page 0,58

in our father’s death if it was just the similarity of the blasters.

Luca had been at Uncle’s side for years. What else had he seen to make him suspicious?

Whatever it was, I wasn’t going to find out stuck in here.

Glancing around the room for cameras, I finally decided it didn’t matter.

I’d have one chance to do this and I had better be fast.

Bending over as if to adjust my shoe, I opened up the hidden pocket in the deep hem of my pants.

There hadn’t been much time to program up replacement clothing with such specific alterations in those few moments I’d been alone on the Kodo Ragir.

But it had been long enough, even to redistribute the contents of the makeshift bag. The precious salvaged components that had seemed so important for so long, I’d dumped into the recycler without a second thought.

The fragments of the Dysek uniforms, I’d folded and placed carefully into the newly made satchel with a sample of the moss.

The datachip had gone into a pants pocket.

And the access card I’d kept all this while, wrapped in Hakon’s shredded jacket nestled in the bottom of the bag, I’d hidden most carefully of all.

Thankful for the impulse that had urged me to not slide it into the satchel that had been ripped from me before I’d been deposited unceremoniously into this suite, I hid the card in my palm.

Wandering to the replicator, I opened the menus as if I was browsing for something to eat, and crossed my fingers.

I’d never been able to look into the system before, never had the right access except for that brief moment when I’d had the card in my hand with Hakon at the hub.

Where we’d had our first meal together and even despite my focus on the mission, I hadn’t been able to stop myself from basking in his warmth.

I pushed that memory away.

I’d take it out again later, when I had the answers I needed. When his friend Thalcorr was safely out of this place.

Hakon and I hadn’t had much time together, but there were plenty of memories. They would have to be enough to last me for a lifetime.

Brushing away tears, I worked deeper into the operating code of the replicator, followed the path the system used to monitor and replenish stocks, until I was deep into the systems of Station 112 itself.

The tiny screen wasn’t built to display camera feeds, but it would do.

It would have to.

First steps first.

I needed to get out of this room, because if Uncle Ran decided I wasn’t loyal, I had no doubts what would happen to me.

The camera showed Jenke outside the door, watching and waiting as if he had all the time in the world. There was no sound, but just having some sense of what was happening outside was a relief.

But I didn’t have the time Jenke had. Splitting the tiny screen, I kept one eye on him while flipping through cameras, trying to find Thalcorr.

With luck, I could get him back to his shuttle.

If he couldn’t pilot, I’d take him back to the Kodo Ragir, then return in the old exploratory shuttle Hakon and I had made it off of Sat 9 in. I’d come back to find Luca, and get solid answers instead of hints.

It wasn’t a great plan, but it was something.

But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find Thalcorr.

Suddenly, another mercenary came running into view on the other screen, his quick gestures matching the anxious expression on his face as he said something to Jenke.

With a glance back at my door, Jenke followed the newcomer, leaving the corridor empty, trusting in the lock to keep me in.

“Mistake number one,” I muttered as I slipped out, hurrying in the opposite direction to the one they’d taken.

The executive suites were only a few levels away from the fabrication labs, and I made my way slowly to my old workspace.

There’d be no reason for anyone to look for me there, and the terminals would let me search the station in safety while I made my plans.

It would be the perfect hiding place.

The door slid open, and Tinon’s mouth dropped open, mirroring mine.

“What are you doing here?” we both whispered as I scuttled inside, sealing the door behind me with the access card.

“You’ve been missing for days!” Tinon continued. “Rumor was that you’d been blown off the station in the attack.”

“That’s sort of what happened,” I admitted. “But I’m here now. I just need to be quiet about it,