to defend this ship, our soldiers and airmen and our people.”
“I know,” Orion assured him, “but that doesn’t mean you weren’t also the worst asshole at the same time.”
He couldn’t argue that. “I never claimed to be a nice man.”
“No, but I think there’s a good man hiding beneath all this meanness.” Orion gestured toward his face. “I’ve seen it in the way you treat Hallie and your interactions with Cipher’s mate. I saw it again today, in that interrogation room, when you looked at Maisie.”
Terror shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not Vicious or Cipher. I can’t offer her what she deserves.”
“Maybe not,” Orion conceded, “but you can protect her. You can set her free. And, maybe along the way, you can figure out what the hell is really going on around here.” The admiral shook his head. “There’s something more than a mole at play. Something deeper. Something much worse.”
Terror hesitated before admitting, “I think Maisie knows a lot more than she’s saying. Back in the interrogation room, she seemed confused about the photos of Devious. There was something wrong about them.”
“Why didn’t Keen press her? Or Savage?”
“That’s an interesting question, isn’t it?”
Orion grimaced. “The last thing we need is to find out that there’s some sort of conspiracy happening within the upper levels of the intelligence divisions.” He sighed and said, “You have to be careful, Terror. I have a lot of pull, but there’s only so much cover I can give you.”
Terror gave Orion’s shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t worry about me. I’m not about to do anything to risk your career or Vee’s. If I find something, I’ll handle it my way.”
“That’s what worries me,” Orion grumbled. He checked his watch again. “We need to hurry. I’ve got to throw you out of here and have you confined to quarters before Risk makes his move.”
“I’m impressed with your scheming.”
“Yeah, well, don’t compliment me until we actually pull this off,” Orion warned. “A thousand things could go wrong.”
“I’ve managed far worse situations than this,” Terror assured him. He glanced at the ceiling. “I’m going to put this back. We’ll have a few seconds before it reconnects and starts receiving data from the other cameras. Are you ready?”
“Ready?” Orion grinned. “Hell, I’ve been dreaming about the day I would finally have the chance to throw you off my ship.”
Terror didn’t hold it against the admiral. If there was one man who deserved to be shoved out of an air lock, it was probably him. From the way he had risked Hallie’s life for cover on a mission to the way he had coerced and abused his authority to force Naya to confront her family, he had earned Orion’s ire. Considering all of the other terrible, questionable things he had done, he was lucky that the admiral had even consented to Vicious borrowing a ship to rescue Maisie.
As he hopped back up onto the sink to replace the transmitter, Terror vowed he wouldn’t waste this precious chance to truly rescue her. He hadn’t been lying when he told Orion he wasn’t a good man. He wasn’t. At all.
Maisie was his chance to redeem himself. This was one mission he refused to fail.
Chapter Eleven
Escorting precious cargo had been a daily occurrence during Noble’s years as a member of an elite fighter pilot unit. He doubted he had ever escorted anything as important as the young woman leaning heavily against the back wall of the elevator. She was definitely the prettiest cargo ever entrusted to him.
He could understand why Terror had tried to steal a ship and attempt an off-the-books rescue. Long dark hair that would feel so good wrapped around his long fingers. Expressive eyes that reminded him of the ocean. A lush mouth that begged for punishing kisses. After a shower and some time to heal all those cuts and scrapes and bruises, she would be stunning.
If only she hadn’t been classified a Defect.
Noble didn’t care about her deafness. He hadn’t ever prescribed to the genetic fitness ideology shoved down their throats from an early age. It seemed wasteful to toss aside perfectly healthy children and bar them from public service or breeding simply because they couldn’t hear or see or had some other sort of disability. There were ways to receive dispensation to mate with a Defect, but the male in question had to fit certain criteria. Men who had lost a mate through a Discard or who had documented physical damages, for instance. Sterility and advanced age were other factors.