Zero's Heart - Mina Carter Page 0,45

stop until you’re dead.”

Full and happy after Zero’s excellent breakfast, Eris turned her attention to the next item on her internal to-do list. Her suit.

Citing the need for a little “alone time,” she quickly worked out where the cargo bay was. Since the Sprite only had three decks, it was a process of elimination that didn’t take long at all. Like the rest of the ship, it was functional and utilitarian with bare metal walls and checker-pattern deck plates. Hard-wearing and easy to clean. Honest. Not pretending to be anything else.

But… it was also someone else’s domain. Eris registered the other presence as soon as she stepped through the door and paused. She was just a guest on the ship, so the last thing she wanted to do was step on anyone’s toes.

“Might as well come in if you’re going to,” a gruff voice announced from the upper level.

Jumping slightly, Eris twisted and looked up. Red, the second female member of the Warborne crew, was sitting on a catwalk against the back wall, a wiring panel open as she worked on its insides. A spaghetti mass of colored wires vomited from the gap, and the alien woman’s long fingers worked quickly in the chaos.

“Hi. It’s Red. Isn’t it? I’m Eris Archer,” she introduced herself as she located the nearest ladder to the upper catwalk. With its own lift and tilt mechanism, it could be maneuvered into place anywhere in the cargo bay.

“Yeah. Caught that.” Red spared her a look as she reached the top of the ladder. Not one for conversation then. Eris cast about for something to say.

“I’m Red. But guess you caught that too.” The alien woman’s lips compressed as something sparked deep in the panel. “Draanth it! This wiring is fucking screwed.”

“Anything I can help with?”

Red shook her head and gave a small grunt. “Almost done. Then I can show you what you came here for. ‘Cause I’m pretty sure you didn’t come down here just to introduce yourself again.”

A flush warmed Eris’s cheeks. “That obvious, huh?”

Red chuckled and then grimaced as she twisted something deep in the panel. “There, that should do it. It’s that fucking idiot Fin’s fault. The wiring in his quarters is on this loop, and it’s dodgy. He’s constantly overloading the fucker so I have to go in there and fix it.”

Eris kept her mouth shut on that one. The way she’d reacted to Sparky hitting on Fin… yeah, there was history there for sure.

Red closed the panel, shoving her tools into belt loops. Her ship-suit was tied around her waist, the wifebeater vest she wore showing off muscular development Eris could only dream of.

“Looks like you work out a fair bit. Is there a gym on board as well?” she asked as they made their way down to the lower level. “Could do with testing out the patch job your medic did on my legs.”

Red nodded. “Same corridor as the galley, carry on to the end. It’s just a couple of storage spaces knocked through, but it’s well equipped. Cardio machines, weights. Sparring mats. Just…” She looked Eris up and down. “If you’re planning on dropping Zero on his ass, make sure to ping me. Okay?” She tapped her bracer-mounted wrist comp. “I’ll record it.”

Eris chuckled. “Yeah, right. You do know he’s a cyborg? There’s no way I’d be able to take him down. I’m only human. And female.”

“Pffft… Then cheat.”

Eris arched an eyebrow. She’d have pegged Red for straight down the line, must be better than men to be as good as men. “Isn’t that…well, a little unfair?”

Red shrugged. “Then call it… adapt and overcome. It’s not your fault that most males have in-built stupidity when it comes to females. Show a tear, and their protectiveness comes rushing to the fore. If all else fails, flash your boobs and that shuts down all their higher brain functions. That’s when you double-tap them between the eyes.”

Eris about choked. “I don’t want to shoot Zero.”

“Yeah, well… Obviously, don’t do that on the Sprite,” Red advised as she strode across the floor to the other side of the cargo bay. “Probably best you don’t flash your boobs either unless it’s at Zero. Not unless you want a blood bath on board.”

“No! Definitely not!”

She might not know Zero too well just yet, but she knew enough to know he was the possessive type. Which was cute. On him. Not anyone else. She’d never wanted a guy to be all possessive over her before.

Then her