HostileIntent (7 page)

She paused at the thought. Nowhere in his file did it say
that he’d had training in that particular discipline yet he seemed more
comfortable around machines than he did with weaponry. It was something she’d
have to ask him about later. Maybe she could find some way to put those skills
to use. Since she’d lost her mechanic—she sneered as she thought about the
traitor, McNeal—she needed to have someone around who was good with machines.

They reached the end of the tunnel and she let the men go up
to the surface first. She didn’t enjoy cowering underground until they cleared
the surrounding area but Sans was her security. This task belonged to him. It
only took a couple of moments before she was poking her head aboveground again
anyway. She took a deep breath and relished the fresh scent of the woods in
fall before she climbed out. She loved flying through space but sometimes she
did miss certain aspects of being on the ground. The scent of fall was one of
the things she missed the most.

“Where are we?” she asked as she put the camouflaged door to
the tunnel back in place.

Aimes had his reader out and was flipping through the
screens but he paused to look up at her. “We’ve gone about twenty klicks
northwest.”

“Is there anything here we can use for shelter?” She glanced
around to get her bearings but all she saw was forest.

“Not unless we build it ourselves.” He looked around as if
he was taking inventory of the resources. “But since we aren’t going to be here
long, I don’t think we need to worry about shelter.”

“We’re going to be here as long as it takes for Michael to
rejoin us,” she said firmly.

“We need to be off this planet before sunset. If they
tracked you to Michael’s, this isn’t a secure location.”

“There’s no way to know that they tracked us to Michael’s.
We don’t even know that his visitors had anything to do with us. So we wait
until Michael joins us.”

“We’ll wait as long as possible for him, Captain. But he’s
not critical.”

“Yes, he is.” She couldn’t believe Sans hadn’t figured that
out already.

“Why? And don’t tell me it’s because you want to get into
his pants.”

She smirked at him for throwing her words back at her. “No.
Because he’s the only member of our little group who is still legally alive.
And you were right when you suggested we go to him for help. He’s got the
connections to smuggle us off this planet.”

“Damn. I’d forgotten for a second. My accounts and access
codes probably don’t work either.” Sans sighed heavily as he massaged his
scalp. Poor guy. He hadn’t thought about all of the ramifications of being dead
yet. “Okay. We wait for Michael.”

“I thought you’d see the wisdom of my decision.” Her smile
was probably a touch smug but she allowed it.

He ignored her gloating though. “And where are you having
him smuggle us to?”

“Thumell.” The small settler planet was perfect. No one
would think to look for her there. No one would ever think to look for anything
there except ore.

“Thumell?” Sans’ brow crinkled in thought. “Small mining
planet on the belt?”

“Yeah. I’m surprised you’ve heard of it. I only know about
it because I scouted it once. Back when I was the navigator.”

“My family mined. It’s a tight-knit community.”

As he said the words, she realized she knew nothing about
him or his past. She wanted to start asking him questions but she recognized
that now wasn’t the time to start digging. They needed to get out of this mess
first. She could, however, capitalize on her new discovery. “Great. Then you
can help us with the locals when we land. Pull the planet up on the charts,
Aimes.”

Aimes pulled up the universe chart on his reader and flipped
through a couple of screens. “I don’t have it.”

“It’s in the second quadrant.”

He flipped through several more screens before shaking his
head. “It’s not on the charts, sir.”

“Of course it is.” She snatched the reader away from him and
started to search through the maps. After a few minutes, though, she had to
admit Aimes had been correct. “I don’t understand. I saw the planet. I know it’s
there.”

“What were you scouting for?” Sans asked softly.

“The same thing we were always scouting for on these
missions. The same thing we were scouting for before we were attacked. Coalition
bases.” She still stared down at the reader. No amount of time would change
what she saw but she couldn’t help but hope the missing planet would suddenly
appear. “But we didn’t find anything on Thumell that looked suspicious.”

“And that’s what the report said?” Sans pressed.

“It wasn’t my ship so I didn’t fill out the final report.
But I can’t imagine there was a Coalition base down there that I didn’t notice.”
But as she stared at the reader, she started to wonder. Maybe she had missed
something. The evidence was right in front of her. The planet no longer
existed. And she had been pretty green on that mission. “Dystanatious.” She was
already typing the planet’s coordinates into the reader as she said its name.

“I’m sorry?” Aimes peeked over her shoulder.

“Dystanatious. We could go there.” That had been her
mission. She’d cleared the planet in no uncertain terms. But as she pulled up
its sector she saw it was missing as well. “No. That one I know was clear. It
can’t be gone.”

Aimes shook his head. “No. I was on that mission. I remember
the planet. It has to be there.”

“Maybe you’ll have better luck finding it then.” She handed
his reader back to him. “And look for the last three missions we ran while you’re
at it.” She held out hope that she was wrong but a ball of dread was quickly
gathering in the pit of her stomach.

“They’re all gone. Wiped from the database.”

The ball grew at his words until her arms and legs felt numb
with it. “This makes no sense. How do entire planets suddenly go missing and no
one notices?” She started pacing. “And where did they go? They were all clean.
No judge would issue a burn off for a clean planet.”

“Were they all mining settlements?” Until Sans asked the
question, she’d almost forgotten he was there.

“Yeah. The Coalition likes to hide its bases on small
planets in the outer realms. Which means most of my missions focus on mining
colonies.”

“And how many Coalition bases have you spotted over the
years?”

“Three.” And she’d felt a sense of accomplishment and pride
with each find.

“Out of how many missions?” Sans asked.

She tried to think back over the years to add up the
missions but couldn’t. “Too many to count.”

“Countless missions to find three bases? Sounds like a waste
of manpower and money. Unless they weren’t looking for bases, sir.”

The need to defend herself and the military twisted in her
gut. “Of course they were looking for bases. And how can you put a price on the
lives that finding those three bases saved? How many of your brothers- and
sisters-in-arms were saved because I stopped all possible raids from those
bases?”

An expression too close to pain to be anything else crossed
Sans’ face but he shrugged and it was gone. “You’re right. I’ve lost far too
many members of my family. I’m all for any solution that stops the
bloodletting.” He turned from her and started picking up fallen branches. “I’d
better get a shelter set up.”

He was definitely in pain. She recognized the avoidance and
the stalling tactics. And it killed her that she’d caused it. She did tend to
get carried away when she talked about the Coalition. And it wasn’t as if she
had to prove herself to him. He knew what it was like to be trapped in this
never-ending battle. “I’m sorry I didn’t find more.” Now that she was thinking
about it, three bases didn’t sound like much of an accomplishment. Not when he
was probably fighting on the front lines. That’s where tactical officers usually
started out, right? He was most likely in the infantry, watching his friends
die around him as she was gliding over civilian planets. And she’d been
bragging about her three bases.

“No. I should be apologizing. I shouldn’t have questioned
you. And I didn’t mean to imply your missions were a waste of time. Three bases
is an accomplishment and you should be proud.” His smile, valiant attempt as it
was, didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Hell, it’s three more bases than I ever
found.”

His words rang hollow but they were as good as she was going
to get right now. And they were better than she actually deserved. What he
needed was time. “So we’re good?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine with us.” He said the words with
enough sincerity that she did believe him this time.

“Good. Then let’s get this shelter up.” She and Aimes helped
Sans gather the branches and brush they would need to build a small lean-to and
then helped him erect the rustic structure. They used vines to tie the branches
together and covered it with large palm leaves that littered the forest floor.
When they were finished she was too hot, sweaty and tired to feel any of the
residual guilt or sorrow. She was exhausted. And exhausted felt pretty damn
good.

Deciding to embrace the moment, she sat down next to Sans
and smiled. “I’ve got a secret.”

“I’m fairly certain you’ve got more than one.” He pulled off
his shirt and started to use it to wipe the sweat from his body. All those
glorious muscles and wonderful scars were back on display for her. And this
time she was the one in charge. She licked her lips in appreciation of the
sight. “And I already know that secret.” His wink pulled her out of the
thoughts.

Of course he did. He shared that secret with her. But that
wasn’t what she’d been talking about. “I’ve got another. And it’s a good one.”

“Better than the other?”

“Under the circumstances I’d say it’s much better.” She
reached into her uniform pocket and pulled out a candy bar.

“You’re right. That is a good one.”

Her stomach growled at the sight. “And I’ve decided to share
it with you and Aimes.”

“I do love a woman who shares.”

Heat filled her face at the implication. “Candy only.”

“It’s a start.” His smile told her that they were
speaking—or rather not speaking—of the same thing. Michael. “So what’s put you
into such a generous mood?”

“I kind of got us into this mess.” She peeled the wrapper
back and then broke the chocolate into three relatively equal parts.

Aimes sat down on the ground next to them and took his piece
of candy. “You’re not to blame, sir. And we’re still alive. That’s got to count
for something.”

“And yet you’re eating my chocolate,” she pointed out.

“I’m honest, not stupid.” He smiled and then popped the
candy into his mouth. “Besides, you’ll figure a way to get us out of this mess.”

“Damn right I will.” Following his example, she gleefully
ate her chocolate. She refused to rush the experience as he had though. Instead
she took her time and savored the sensation of it melting against her tongue.
The extra boost the sugar gave her coupled with Aimes’ faith in her immediately
bolstered her morale. She could do this. She would figure out who attacked her
and why. And she’d get them their lives back.

“But first you need to rest,” Sans said as he licked the
chocolate off his fingers. “I’ll take the first watch.”

She wanted to argue with him but he was right. She was bone
tired. And the wine Michael had given her to settle her nerves had only made
her mind fuzzy. “If Michael isn’t here in an hour, wake me and I’ll take the
next watch.”

He nodded but she doubted he’d actually do it. She couldn’t
discipline him until after he’d disobeyed her order, though, so she and Aimes
went into the shelter. She wanted to stay awake and wait for Michael. At the
very least she intended to stay awake for the hour so she could bust Sans and
make him do the cleaning for the next week. But it was a losing battle. The
moment she closed her eyes she fell into the comforting embrace of sleep and
she didn’t wake again until the sun had set and the shelter was blanketed in the
black of night.

“Sans?”

A fire crackled nearby but it was behind the shelter so she
couldn’t see it until after she’d climbed out. “Sans?”

“Over here, Captain.”

The smell of roasting meat made her stomach cramp painfully
and she was reminded that a third of a candy bar was simply not enough to keep
her going. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Because I knew you didn’t actually expect me to. And you
needed the rest.” Oh, he was so busted. She almost smiled at the thought of
handing him a week’s worth of chores. “And you said that if Michael hadn’t
shown up yet to wake you up. Since he had, I was off the hook.”

Her heart caught at his words and all thoughts of discipline
slipped out of her mind. Until that moment she hadn’t let herself think about
what would happen if Michael hadn’t shown up. But now that he was here she was
painfully aware of how worried for him she’d been. “Michael’s here?”

“Where else would I be? It is my tunnel. I suspect I’d never
hear the end of it if I got lost.” Michael stepped out in front of her. “Or did
you think a couple of interrogators could get the best of me?” He studied her
for a moment. “That’s it, isn’t it? I’m hurt that you have such a low opinion
of me.” He gave her his best expression of a hurt puppy but she didn’t care. She’d
already launched herself at him to give him a fierce hug. “Wow. You really must
need me to get you off this rock.”

“I just need you.” The moment the words were out, panic
filled her. But she’d said them and she couldn’t take them back. She wanted
nothing more than to rewind time and do just that though. Why had she said it? “I
just… I need you to be okay. I didn’t want anything to happen to you because of
me.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He hugged her back just as
fiercely. “I understand.”

And maybe he did. That would mean he was ahead of her
though. She didn’t understand anything right now. She backed away from him and
ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m not sure where to go or who to trust
anymore.”