Not the Man She Thought (17 page)

She held her breath, waiting for Keir to make some reference
to her spending the night in Rade’s bed, but he didn’t, much to her
relief.  Then again, he probably wouldn’t remark on his captain’s choice
of bedmates.

“He’s in his ready room with the first officer, I think. I
can take you there, if you want.”

Laken shook her head.  “I can find it. Thank you,
though.”

“Sure thing.” Keir gave her a wink. “It’s good to see
you back.”

Laken watched Keir walk down the passageway.  While she
appreciated his offer to take her to the captain’s ready room, she’d refused mainly
because she needed some time to think and go over in her head what she was
going to say to Rade.  If she had found the other conversations she’d had
with him uncomfortable, now that they’d slept together, it was going to be even
more awkward. With a sigh, she turned and made her way to the stairwell.

* * * * *

“I don’t like this.”

Rade lifted his gaze from the holo-map he’d been studying to
give Kellen a sidelong glance.  “I’m not exactly pleased with the way
things worked out myself.  But we’ll just have to make due.  We don’t
much of a choice. If we don’t deliver that shipmen like we promised, then a lot
of innocent people are going to suffer.”

The older man sighed.  “I understand why you’re so
sympathetic to their situation, but that doesn’t make it any less dangerous.
“Going after the girl totally destroyed any chance we had of making the
original rendezvous.  According to the rebels, there was going to be a gap
in the Federation’s patrol grid, but only a small one, and only for a short period
of time.  That opportunity is gone now.  How can we get to the drop
point on Marlon Prime if we can’t get through the Federation’s blockade?”

Rade’s mouth tightened.  He didn’t need to be reminded
of the reason they were behind schedule. Given the same choice, though, he
wouldn’t hesitate to rescue her again.  “We can still slip through their
sensor grid if we go in cloaked. It worked on Kandeere, it will work here.

Kellen frowned.  “Kandeere is a small backwater hole,
with a few lightweight cruisers.  Marlon Prime is blockaded by twenty
destroyers and half that many frigates.  We’re unlikely to make it through
undetected, and even if we did, is it really worth the risk?”

“Everyone on board knew the risks when they signed on,
Kellen. That’s why I pay them.” Rade hadn’t meant to sound quite so
harsh, but the words were out now.  Besides, it was worth the
risk. Kellen knew that.

His first officer lifted a brow.  “What about Laken
Andara? How does she fit into this?” 

Rade lowered his gaze to the map and pretended to study it
as he thought of the beautiful woman still sleeping in his bed.  “She’s
the daughter of a high-ranking Federation merchant.  If we’re captured,
the Federation won’t harm her.”  Of course, there was always the
possibility that the Feds would just open fire on his ship, and in that case,
Laken’s parentage wouldn’t matter.  His gut clenched at the thought.

The other man said nothing for a moment.  “I wasn’t
asking you whether you thought she would be safe.  I was wondering if you
had thought of a way to use her father’s identity to our benefit. If I had
asked you that same question a couple of days ago, that’s what you would have
been thinking as well. What’s changed?”

Rade looked at his friend sharply.  The older man knew
him too well. “Nothing has changed. She doesn’t need us making her a pawn in
all of this. The Federation does a fine job of that on its own.”

Though Kellen made no comment, the doubtful look in his eyes
spoke volumes.

Rade cleared his throat.  “We’re doing the job, old
friend.  We have no choice.” At Kellen’s nod, he continued, “How long
until we get to the Tobagee System, did you say?”

“About twelve hours.”

The sound of footsteps in the doorway drew both their
attention, and Rade glanced in the direction of the noise to see Laken standing
there.  Even dressed in the rumpled clothes she’d been wearing the night
before, she looked so damn beautiful that it was all he could do not to sweep
her up into his arms and make love to her right there on the floor of his ready
room.  Sleeping with her may have been a mistake, especially after all the
trouble she had caused him, but he would never regret it, he was sure of
that.    

She gave them an apologetic look.  “I didn’t mean to
interrupt.”

Rade shook his head.  “You didn’t.  We were just
finishing up.” He glanced at Kellen.  “Tell Dev to send an encrypted
message to our contact on Marlon Prime saying we’ll meet him at the rendezvous
point at twenty-three-hundred hours.  Make sure they’re not late. 
And let the crew know I want to meet with them in the mess in two hours.”

Kellen gave Rade a nod before turning to Laken.  “It is
good to see you back and unharmed, Ms. Andara.”

She gave him a warm smile.  “Thank you, Kellen.”

With another nod in Rade’s direction, the first officer
walked out of the room, leaving Rade alone with Laken. For a moment, they
both stood like that, as if neither of them knew quite what to say to the
other. Admittedly, Rade didn’t have much experience in this area since most of
the women he usually bedded were one-night stands. Being able to jump on a
ship and head out when things got complicated was more his style. 

“Did I hear you say that we would be in the Tobagee System
by tonight?” Laken said abruptly.

Rade was taken aback by her question for a moment, but then
he nodded.  “Yes.”

“Then you’ll be able to drop me off on New Ashanti on the
way to Marlon Prime.”

His brow furrowed.  He wasn’t really sure what he had
expected, but after what had happened between them last night, he’d naturally
assumed she wouldn’t be quite so eager to get off his ship as she had
been.  Obviously not.  Laken might be willing to amuse herself with
someone like him, but she wasn’t going to hang around afterward. He wasn’t in
her league.

When he didn’t say anything, she wet her lips and added,
“I’d like to get back to my fiancé.”

Her fiancé. With everything that had happened, he’d almost
forgotten she was engaged to another man.  Turning back to the table, he
leaned his hands on the edge of it and studied the holo-map.  “We won’t be
able to drop you off on the way. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a little while
longer to be reunited with that fiancé of yours.”

Behind him, he heard Laken take a step closer.  “Why
can’t you drop me off on the way?”

His grip on the table tightened at the petulant tone in her
voice.  “Because I have a job to do first.”

She snorted. “Of course you do. “What is it you’re
running this time? Drugs or weapons? Or is it something even more
illegal?”

Rade spun around to face her.  “You wouldn’t
understand.”

“I understand, all right. I know exactly what you are, and
it disgusts me.”

Rade clenched his jaw. She sure as hell hadn’t been
disgusted with him last night.  The urge to throw that back in her face
was almost too strong to resist, but he wouldn’t allow himself to go
there. For some reason he couldn’t understand, he really wanted her to
know the truth about him, and why he did what he did. But he couldn’t risk
it. If she told her father or anyone else in the Federation when she got off
his ship, it would put his whole crew in danger.

When he didn’t answer, Laken folded her arms to glare up at
him. “How long is this job on Marlon Prime going to take?”

“If things go smoothly, then we’ll be in and out in an hour.
You could be back with your fiancé by this time tomorrow.”

She nodded, apparently satisfied.  “Fine.”

Turning on her heel, she stormed out of his ready room. Rade
ground his jaw. Damn, how he wished they did have time to drop her off on New
Ashanti before the job. It would certainly make his life a whole hell of a
lot easier. As he turned back to study the holo-map again, though, he knew that
wasn’t true. She might be a spoiled brat who had no clue how the real
world worked, but as infuriating as she could be, part of him was going to miss
her like hell when she left.

* * * * *

Insufferable, arrogant jerk, Laken thought as she marched
down the passageway.  She couldn’t believe he’d refused to drop her off on
New Ashanti. It would have only taken a couple of hours at the most, but
he wouldn’t even consider it. All he cared about was his stupid job and making
a damn profit. How could she have slept with a man like him?

That thought brought her to a halt right there in the middle
of the passageway. She knew she should be pleased Rade hadn’t brought up their
night together, but for some reason the fact that he hadn’t even mentioned it
bothered her. Was she that forgettable? Or was he just so used to
having women in his bed that he could disregard their night of passion so
easily?

Furious at herself for even caring what Rade Karsten thought
of her, Laken rounded the corner and headed for the mess. To her relief,
it was empty. As angry as she was, she was afraid that if she ran into someone
right then, she might display a complete lack of composure.  Crossing the
room, she yanked open one of the cabinets and grabbed a bowl, then set it down
on the counter with a thud. She dumped a packet of oatmeal in it and put it in
the heating unit, then slammed the door closed with a bang. Taking out a
mug, she thumped that down beside it, then took out the canister of tea bags.

“Food that bad, huh?”

Laken turned to see Dev coming into the room. The heating
unit beeped, announcing the oatmeal was ready. 

“It’s not the food,” she said. “It’s your insufferable
captain. He refuses to drop me off on New Ashanti before he does his stupid
job.”

The other girl shrugged as she opened one of the cabinets
and took out a mug.  “Well, we are kind of pressed for time on this.”

Laken walked over to the table and sat down. “I didn’t
realize criminals adhered to such strict schedules.”

Dev spun around to face her.  “You don’t even know what
we’re delivering, and if you did, you wouldn’t be nearly so quick to judge.”

Laken dipped her spoon into the oatmeal. “No, I don’t know
what it is. But I do know that it’s illegal.”

“You’re right. It is illegal,” Dev said. “But in the
real world, that doesn’t automatically make it wrong.”

Laken watched the dark-haired girl pour coffee into her
mug. She wanted to eat her oatmeal and drink her tea, then go back to her
cabin and spend the rest of the day seething about the way Rade had just
dismissed her, but her curiosity got the better of her. 

“So, what are you carrying?” she asked the other woman.

Dev added cream and sugar to her coffee before
answering.  “Medicine.”

Laken blinked. “Medicine? That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Then what’s the big deal?”

Dev walked over to the table and sat down opposite
her. “Because we’re delivering it to the people of Marlon Prime. That
planet is currently under Federation embargo, which makes any contact with them
illegal. That includes bringing them first aid.”

Laken frowned.  She’d never given much thought to the
Federation’s activities on the outer planets.  As far as she knew, all the
Federation did was set pricing policies and guard their ships from
pirates.  “I don’t understand.”

Dev sipped her coffee. “What do you know about Federation
business practices?”

“Not much. They’re a merchant guild that does business all
over the galaxy. They sell supplies and equipment to the outer planets, then
bring back raw material and exotic goods to the inner worlds. What else is
there to know?”

“Lots,” Dev said. “Have you ever wondered why the
Federation doesn’t seem to have any competition?”

Laken shrugged.

“Because the people who run it are greedy and cruel beyond
belief,” the dark-haired woman said. “They ruthlessly eliminate any competition
to ensure that planets like Marlon Prime will be forced to deal with
them. The Federation pays next to nothing for the good they purchase from
the outer planets, even though they make billions of credits selling those same
products to the inner worlds. Even worse, planets like Marlon Prime are forced
to pay outrageous charges for even the most basic supplies. Whole planets have
gone bankrupt, thanks to the Federation.  And when a planet decides to go
around the Federation by transporting their own products and making their own
deals, then the Federation becomes truly ruthless.”

“What do you mean?”

Dev leaned forward to lean her elbows on the
table. “When the Federation decides a planet is trying to go around them,
they blockade the planet. Nothing in, nothing out.”