trying to decipher the records she’d recovered from the facility. You?”
His brow creases in frustration. “The same. I’m not sure she’ll ever get anything out of those documents. They’re heavily redacted.”
“Well if anyone can, it’s Fiona. I hope she finds something. Lamira’s like a dog with a bone and won’t let up at all about why she was taken. She maintains her innocence. I shudder to think what the IHC was planning to do with one hundred and seven women. And such a strange number…”
My voice trails off as I become lost in thought again.
Solair leans forward in his chair, encroaching on my space, his eyes narrowed as he surveys me. “I’ve seen that look on your face many times these past few weeks. What aren’t you telling me? Do you know something about Solace you haven’t felt comfortable sharing?”
“I know nothing about Solace. I discovered what it was at the same time you did. I’ve maintained transparency with you, Solair. I’ve just… seen a lot of crazy shit in my life and when something stinks, I get suspicious. This situation positively reeks,” I say.
“But what do you think it is?”
I weigh my words because I’m not sure what exactly I want to tell him. I don’t want him to overreact or underreact. I don’t want him to become so incensed that he abandons all other missions because it wouldn’t be in the best interests of this crew. But I also don’t want him to decide to wash his hands of the IHC and Solace entirely, not when we have a ship half-full of women who deserve answers regarding their capture and subsequent imprisonment…
“I think the IHC is doing something dirty—something incomprehensible they don’t want anyone else knowing about. I don’t know why. I’ve no intel, and even my contact on Glimner was in the dark. But the fact that the Frontier was just floating out there, completely disabled with her crew dead and no records or anything but those women—our women—on board… I think it was a black ops mission. Human trafficking,” I say finally, deciding to let him do what he wants with the information. He’s a good, capable leader, who’s never steered us wrong yet. He’ll make the right call.
He studies my face for another moment before releasing a deep breath. “I was thinking the same thing. I’ve told no one, not even Varia. We’ll keep this between us for now?”
“Of course. What do you think we should do about it, though?”
His eyes are distant and thoughtful. “I’m not sure yet. If Fiona discovers anything in those files, it’ll determine our next course of action. For now, we continue on as we have been—running supplies, replenishing our rapidly decreasing coffers, and protecting our new charges.”
It’s absolutely the right decision. I nod and slide my gaze back to the stars stretching out before us, my thoughts once again returning to Lamira. Solair’s shift is just about to end, so I’ll be in command for the next twelve hours, counting down the minutes until I can slide back into bed and bury myself in her sensual embrace.
Just as Solair is about to take his leave, Swipt’s voice emits a loud string of curses over the din of the engines. It’s infused with frantic energy, causing me to immediately vacate my seat and head to his station.
“Report,” I demand, even though Solair is still present on the bridge.
“We’re being hailed by an approaching IHC vessel. It’s pinging us on comms. What do you want me to do?”
Solair doubles back to join me in standing over our pilot.
“Do you have specs on the vessel?” he asks.
Swipt punches a few commands into his console and within seconds a 3-D holographic schematic of the ship is floating above the screen. It’s one of their larger crafts—not as large as the Frontier, but definitely bigger than the Queen.
The lines on Solair’s face tense as he surveys the holo. “Open up comms. We can’t ignore a ship that size.”
“Yes, sir,” Swipt responds, his formality in addressing Solair betraying the gravity of the situation.
Within moments the hard, ravaged face of a human male appears on the vidscreen. There’s no emotion portrayed in his features, only cold impassivity.
“Greetings, Ancestral Queen. I’m Captain Corin Zayne of the IHC ship Prestige. It’s my understanding that a Kilgari by the name of Solair is in charge of your vessel. Are either of you him?”
His voice is as monotonous as his features.
Solair speaks up, politely introducing himself before inquiring what we