Starcrossed - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,50

crew to relieve some of the ladies, but he and Ginny were both wary now, unable to trust any of the jit’suku crew members completely.

Their fears proved out a few minutes later when Krysta erupted from her seat at the nav console and grabbed her co-worker by the throat. She lifted him off his feet and into the air, using all her martial arts skill and what Tigh now realized had to be a cybernetic arm of some sort. The man flailed, unable to breathe as she held him with superior strength of an implanted arm that looked very realistic otherwise.

“What is it?” Ginny demanded.

“He just tried to reroute com through his panel, ma’am.” Krysta spoke fast, fending off the man’s attempts to dislodge her mechanical arm. “He’s one of the conspirators.”

“Stuff him in the brig!” Tigh surged to his feet, as those loyal to him moved in.

It took several men to subdue the navigator fully, taking the burden of the big man from Krysta. Tigh watched with grim approval as they secured his hands and dragged him from the bridge. Tigh then turned to the female navigator as he reclaimed his seat. The sad truth was he was still weak from the poison and needed to sit.

“Are you certain, Ensign?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. When I took over at nav, I noticed we’ve been on a very strange course. While on this station for the past hour or so, I traced the navigator’s logs and realized he was taking us on a circuitous route. I thought at first, it was a security measure, but now, I suspect it was so we could be in ambush position when the doctor gassed everyone.”

“Can you plot us a faster course, Krys?” Ginny asked.

The ensign nodded. “Aye, aye, ma’am.”

“I think we ought to get to Solaris Prime as soon as possible, don’t you?” Ginny asked Tigh as she stood at the side of his command chair.

“I think you’re right, my love. The sooner we get home, the better.”

Tigh sent word ahead and dispatched a number of ships he thought were loyal to him to escort the three traitorous vessels back to the nearest military base. Tigh both hoped and feared the revelation of the plot against him would make it clear just what side the rest of his men stood on. If there was one thing he couldn’t abide, it was a sneak.

When they finally reached the Solaris system, an honor guard made up of both military and Zenai ships awaited them. Tigh was taken aback by the presence of the brotherhood. They rarely involved themselves in matters of politics, but then, word of Ginny’s call sign had probably already gotten back to the Zenai. Tigh wondered what sort of reception the human Valkyries would meet from his old teachers.

CHAPTER TEN

Krysta waited to disembark down the wide gangplank alone, as usual. The doctor would leave last, with so many patients still to care for, even if she was technically higher in rank. Because of the diplomatic nature of this voyage, the disembarkation would probably be recorded for playback all over the empire. They had to pay at least some attention to protocol, as well as security.

To cover the security angle, Henny and that big brute, Hansa, had gone down the plank first, together. Krysta could tell there was something brewing there. She’d never seen Henny so radiant as when she was with the jit’suku warrior. Lieutenant Darlington, as executive officer, went next, accompanied by the jit XO. Sally seemed to be friendly with the man, but Krysta didn’t read any attraction between those two, at least, though there were a few other jit warriors who’d caught the eye of some of the other women. The rest of the female bridge crew would walk side by side with their jit counterparts as a deluge of news bots recorded their every move.

Krysta herself was somewhere in the middle of the pecking order, and since her jit counterpart was a traitor, she would have to face the news bots all alone. It wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to. Growing up differently from everyone else had set her apart from the moment she’d lost her arm at age eight. She hadn’t been fitted with her final cybernetic arm until she was fully grown. Losing a limb was one of the few disfiguring injuries that still couldn’t be fully—unnoticeably—repaired until adulthood. As a result, Krysta had grown up as the object of pity. On a world where everyone swam and