Salvation (2 page)

“Well, yes, but I’m being respectful. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way.” He may not have been raised by a set of parents but he knew how to respect a woman.

“Just—just sit there and look pretty, okay? This will be over soon enough and then I need to get to your pod. You’d better not be lying and this had better not be some kind of trap. If it is, you’d better hope I kill you quick before Rock gets to your ass.
Capiche
?”

“There is no need for violence. I am being truthful.” What an odd, but attractive woman.

“Yeah, yeah.
I hear
ya
.”
Sela
waved the wand over his body from head to toe. When it got to his knee, it started to beep.

“What is that?” It could not be what she thought it was. No way. The equipment had to be wrong.

“That is a tracking device.
Looks like it’s embedded in your leg.”
Sela
reached behind her and grabbed an instrument before huddling over his knee.

“What kind of equipment do you have here? That looks old.” His curiosity overtook his uncertainty.

“We aren’t up to
regs
on our medical supplies but we don’t have much use for it here. Oh, I should say, Rock doesn’t. He likes to be all
caveman
about things and thinks a Band-Aid will fix it. I need to get that thing out of your leg before we warp again so hold still.”

Zander scrambled off the cot and backed away.

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” He was appalled that a non-medical person would try to extract something from his body, and would have preferred a real medical facility and a doctor. Or maybe he could do it himself.

“Sit down. It won’t hurt. Much.” Was that glee in her voice? “We don’t have a lot of time. Don’t make me knock you out. I’m going to need your help with the pod. How did you get a tracker in your leg?” She closed in on him.

“I don’t know. I—well, shit.”
How could he have been so stupid?
“I had to go to the med bay for a check-up. I was told it was mandatory for boarding. They gave me an inoculation in my leg. I should have—damn it. Pardon the language. I am not myself. I don’t mean to curse.”

“Yeah, you need to get over that. You’re not offending anyone on this ship. Now what are you involved in?”

He wasn’t involved in anything. Was he? Something about this whole situation was wrong.
Very wrong.
And he didn’t know if he had enough information to get to the bottom of it. He didn’t have enemies. He’d have to know a lot of people for that to happen, and he was very solitary. Growing up in one of the tech orphanages didn’t lead to many friends. Most of the world thought he was a freak, being born for the sole purpose of being a scientist.
 
His DNA a mismatch of prime genes.
A good old test tube baby.
He had no idea who his parents were. Not that it bothered him anymore. He did his work and that was that. His life was beholden to the Alliance so he would do what he must, but he didn’t always have to like it. But enough of that, it still didn’t make any logical sense for someone to be after him.

“Get this thing out of my leg.” Starting to panic about all of the unknowns, he returned to the cot. “Please,” he added as an afterthought. It never hurt to be polite, even in the face of danger and his controlled universe being ripped apart.

 
He wasn’t this important. His day consisted of waking up, working, eating, reading and going to bed.
Nothing exciting.
Maybe he had an occasional fling, but those were few and far between. He didn’t like to be the aggressor, so he spent more nights alone than not. Zander racked his brain for any clue that would explain why this was happening. Now that he thought about it, things had been normal for too long. He was practically due a colossal fuck up.

“This will only take a sec.”
Sela
said calmly.

Zander took a deep breath and gathered his scattered thoughts.
Control.
He could take it back. “I’m ready.”

She was quick and efficient with the equipment and it didn’t hurt. More like an inoculation than anything. She dropped the transmitter into a liquid and he watched as it dissolved to nothing. It was such a small thing to cause so much trouble.

“Okay, let’s get to that pod and report to Rock. You okay to walk? I don’t want you passing out again. I won’t be able to catch you.” She looked him up and down and he straightened his posture.

“I’ll be fine.” He assured her.

And Zander would be. No matter how unlucky he was, he could handle himself. He may only be a scientist, but he knew the rewards of being able to protect yourself. The geeky kid that he’d been had needed a little help in that regard. Not that he was a lethal weapon or anything, but he could hold his own if he had to. He just hoped he didn’t have to.

He followed Se out of sick bay. It was then that he really got a good look at the woman in front of him. Her ass made him want to touch. She was sexy, with a curvy, lush body. Her long black hair swayed with her every step. He wasn’t expecting the rush of lust that racked his body. He’d attribute it to the adrenaline of fleeing for his life.

“You coming, or are you going to stare at my ass for the duration?” She teased.

Shit.
Busted
.
He looked up and she winked at him. At least she didn’t appear to be angry. He really didn’t think he could take a slap right now. His head hurt as it was.

“I—sorry.
Didn’t mean to—”

She laughed and it was beautiful. The sound was music to his ears, a full belly laugh as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Se was all
woman
and he was
very
attracted to her.

“I’m not complaining. Just, not the time. And you’re cute when you blush. Your face almost matches your hair.” She turned back around and led the way to the docking bay.

He hated the fact that his complexion always gave him away.
And the fact that he couldn’t be suave.
He was a bumbling—well, he would say idiot, but that wouldn’t be true. He wasn’t exactly stupid. He pulled up short when he realised they had reached their destination. The ship wasn’t that big.

Se tossed something at him, and he almost dropped it but caught it before it hit the ground.

“What is this?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of his embarrassment. It looked like one of the instruments he used to get a reading from certain elements.

“A scanner.
Slowly wave it over the ship. If it beeps at you, then you’ve found the tracker. Easy.” She shrugged and started running her scanner over the hull of the pod.

So it was like his equipment.
Shouldn’t be hard to use.

“Se, you found those trackers yet? These ships are coming into firing range. I need to jump and I don’t want them to keep following us,” Rock’s voice filtered through the bay.

“What is it with you and rushing me? We’re working here. Leave us be and do your magic. And I hate to say it, but unless you do a wipe, they are going to follow. If we weren’t traced before, we have been by now.” Se smiled at Zander and continued waving her scanner over the ship.

Zander jumped at Rock’s reply. The man sounded so angry and he was big. No
way he
wanted to get on the captain’s bad side.

“Damn it, Se. For once, could you please do what I ask and not fight me every fucking step of the way? I already did a wipe. I’ll do another one before we jump. Just tell me you’ve got it taken care of.”

“
Awww
, you know you like it when I give you a hard time.”

The ship jolted and Zander fell. What the hell? Was this ship going to be shot out of the sky too? Once was plenty, and if he didn’t have to experience it again it would be a good thing.

“God damn it, Se. We’re out of time. I’m jumping.”

Zander scrambled up and continued his work.
Nothing.
No trackers. It had been him the whole time. What the hell was going on?

“Rock, we’re good. Found one tracker and destroyed it.” Se turned towards him. “So, Zander, what do you have to say for yourself now?”

Rock’s voice on the com interrupted anything Zander could say. Not that he had any clues. He was in the dark, and he didn’t like the feeling of hopelessness that hit him.

“Hold on, you two. We’re preparing for warp in three, two, one,
warp
.”

Zander fell on his ass—again. He was tired of looking like a fool, but he was so out of his element. Where was his nice quiet lab when he really needed it? He never should have taken the job on Vega Delta.

Se reached out to help him up.
“Alright, Zander.
Let’s head to the bridge and have a little chat. Something is going on and we need to figure it out.”

Zander nodded at Se and followed her again, with a heavy heart. How could he explain that he was
a nobody
? There was no rhyme or reason to any of this. And all those people, now dead, because of him and he had no clue what it could be. Maybe they were mistaken. It could have been a simple tracer device installed for tracking him on Vega Delta. But he knew that wasn’t the case and he wasn’t in the habit of lying to himself. Something was going on, and he was going to need help to get to the bottom of it. Hopefully they’d believe him.