Through Uncharted Space: A Phoenix Adventures Sci-fi Romance (17 page)

Dakota tilted her head. “You know where the treasure is.”

“It is on my home planet, but it was lost many years ago.” He held his hand out for the orb. “Now, with the original map, I can locate it again and safeguard it. I’ll be a hero.”

“Heroes don’t kidnap and bribe,” Dare said darkly.

Something crossed the man’s face. He wiggled his fingers. “Hand it over.”

Dare held up the orb. “What did you do to my brother?”

“He’s fine. I just gave him a shot of a sedative we derive from a fish on my world. He’s alive, and the sedative will wear off shortly.”

The man snatched the orb from Dare’s hand. “Thank you.” The man stepped back. “And I’m sorry, but I’ve decided it is probably not a good idea to let you leave here alive.”

“What?” Dare said.

Ralu pulled out a laser pistol, and fired at a large pile of rocks behind them. Dakota dropped to the ground, heard rocks falling. Dare dived toward her, grabbed her, and together, they rolled across the bumpy surface.

She quickly assessed their surroundings, and she saw a giant rock boulder rolling. It fell into the lava lake with a splash, sending up a giant spray of molten rock.

And that’s when she saw it.

The fall of the pile of rocks had created a domino effect.

A wide river of lava was now snaking from the lake, across the rocky ground where they stood.

It cut them off from both their shuttle and Ralu.

“Ry, get Justyn,” Dare bellowed.

Ralu had turned his back on them, hurrying toward his shuttle.

Something inside Dakota exploded. She was tired of people taking everything from her. Usually, it was things, just like this man. And sometimes it was other things. She glanced at Dare. Like trust.

With a frustrated yell, Dakota sprinted forward toward the lava river.

“Dakota!” Dare roared.

She leaped into the air, flying across the flow. She landed, just inches away from the molten rock, and rolled. Then she sprang to her feet, sprinted across the rocky ground, and tackled Ralu.

She could hear Dare shouting, but she ignored it and focused on fighting. Ralu looked young, but he was strong.

But Dakota was pissed, and she was mean.

Dakota hammered a fist into the man’s blue face, ignoring the pain that flared in her knuckles. They rolled, both fighting to get on top. Ralu slammed an elbow against her jaw and Dakota tasted blood in her mouth.

She got a knee into his gut and heard him groan, and then they rolled again. Rocks struck painfully into her side and back, but she gripped the man’s shirt and refused to let go.

She got another punch in to his stomach, and blocked one of his hits.

He heaved and they rolled again across the rocks.

“Dakota! Watch out!”

Dare’s urgent shout made her glance over. Her heart stopped. They were dangerously close to the lava. She felt the heat pouring off it.

But she wasn’t giving up. She managed to get on top of Ralu and pounded him with her fists.

“No one takes what’s mine. Not unless I choose to give it.” She smacked him again.

They skidded a few inches across the rock and she smelled something burning. Ralu let out a scream.

“My boots! It’s burning my boots!”

Then, hands were hauling her off him. Dare yanked her backward, and Rynan swooped in and pulled a groaning Ralu to his feet. Rynan yanked out some electro-cuffs, and cuffed the man’s wrists together behind his back.

“Dakota, are you okay?” Dare ran his hands over her body, patting her down. “Did the lava touch you anywhere?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine.” She probed her face where it was stinging.

Dare cupped her cheeks. “You have a few scratches.”

“Not the—”

“First time,” he finished for her.

Their gazes locked, and she forced herself to turn her head. She saw Rynan leading Ralu over toward their shuttle. Justyn was beside the shuttle, on his feet now, although a little wobbly.

She pulled away from Dare. “Let’s get going.”

“This is yours.”

His quiet voice made her glance back at him. He was holding out the orb.

She stared at it, then took it. She held it for a second, then slipped it over her head.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what?”

“For not giving you the chance to help me save Justyn.”

She hardened her heart and shrugged. “You did the right thing. I look out for myself, no one else.” She started back toward the shuttle.

He grabbed her arm, and spun her back to him. “No, you don’t. You look out for what—and who—you care about.”

She felt a burn of something uncomfortable under her ribs. She recognized it in a flash. Fear. Dare was the one person who could see inside her, reach inside her. He was the one person who could really hurt her. Today had proven that.

“Don’t kid yourself, Phoenix.” She shrugged off his hold and walked back to the shuttle.

Chapter Fourteen

Dare stared through the glass at the man in the
Nomad’s
interview room just off the brig.

Rynan had tied Ralu to a chair. He sat in front of an empty desk and he looked unhappy.

“Bastard got the jump on me,” Justyn said from the other side of Dare. “He seemed so friendly and unthreatening. Then he jammed an injector in my neck and it was lights out.”

Elana had checked Justyn out and given him the all-clear. He looked almost back to his normal self, but his eyes still appeared a little unfocused.

“What species is he?” Dare asked.

“Whatever he is, it’s not in the database,” Rynan answered. “He has some aquatic heritage, but it’s faint. There’s a whole lot of human in him.”

Not surprising. Colonists leaving war-torn Earth had seeded a lot of life across the galaxy.

Ry and Dare had both questioned Ralu. The man hadn’t said a word. He was afraid of them, but whatever cause he was dedicated to was stronger than his fear.

“My turn.”

Dare turned to look at Dakota. She’d quietly watched their interrogations and their failure, but hadn’t said much since they’d returned from the proto-planet. Now, she had a stubborn look on her face.

Dare nodded. “Okay.”

He watched her enter the room.

“You screwed up with her,” Justyn said.

“You’re usually Mr. Smooth with women,” Rynan said. “Not with her.”

Dare gritted his teeth. He’d fix what he’d broken.

“You care about her,” Justyn said.

“Yes.” When Dare looked at his brothers, he saw them both watching him intently.

Justyn broke out in a wide grin. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Hi, Ralu.”

Dakota’s voice broke up their conversation and they all turned back to the window.

“Time for you and I to have a little bit of fun.” She perched on the table, crossing her legs. “This is where you tell me what you know about the Atocha Treasure, what your planet’s called, and where I can find it.”

The man looked at the wall.

Dakota made a tutting sound and stood. She walked behind him, pacing a little. Dare saw her remove something from her pocket.

It was a small laser cutter. She fired it up, the orange light bright in the darkened room.

“What the hell is she doing?” Justyn said.

Ry raised a brow. “Don’t tell me she’s into torture?”

“You don’t sound very upset about possible torture,” Dare said.

“That asshole kidnapped our brother, so yeah, not much sympathy.”

Dare shook his head. “Give her a minute.” He’d made the mistake of not trusting her earlier, he wouldn’t do it again.

She leaned in from behind Ralu, her mouth near the man’s ear. She brought the laser cutter up close to his cheek. The glow illuminated both their faces.

The man jerked his head away from the laser, but Dakota followed.

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” She waved the laser around. “All that heat.”

She moved the glowing blade all around his face, just centimeters from his skin. Down along his arms, never touching him.

“She’s drying him out.” Dare took a step closer to the glass. “He’s part aquatic. He’ll have a higher water content, and need to keep his skin hydrated.”

Ry nodded. “Yeah, I found some fancy-looking shower and tub on his shuttle. It’s clear he needs to wet down regularly.”

“Start talking,” Dakota said. “And the laser will go away.”

She kept moving that laser around, the man shifting uncomfortably on his seat.

“I want the name of your planet, and where it is.”

Ralu pressed his lips together.

She flicked the cutter off and stepped back. She grabbed one of the bottles of water on the desk, uncapped it, and lifted it up. She chugged the contents down.

The man’s gaze glued to her throat. He watched her drink like a man dying of thirst.

Dakota set the bottle down and came back toward him. “Those men out there have scruples—” she nodded toward the two-way mirror “—I don’t.” She lifted the laser cutter again.

She really believed that. Dare felt a muscle in his jaw flex. He’d made her believe that. He hadn’t stepped carefully enough with Dakota. He knew that under her tough shell, under her strength and grit, she had a soft center. A center he wanted.

She ran the laser back down along the man’s arm. “It’s hot, isn’t it?”

“Can I have some water?” Ralu’s voice was strained.

“For every answer you give me, I’ll let you have one sip of water.”

The struggle was clear on the young man’s face. She moved the laser cutter past him again and Dare could see that the skin on his face looked tight and dry,

“The
Southwind
crashed on my planet hundreds of years ago. The Atocha Treasure was a marvel, so the legends say. But after many years it was lost and absorbed into myth. They say the orb shows exactly where the treasure is located on my planet.”

Dakota poured some of the water into a glass and then walked to him. She lifted the cup and helped him drink it. He gulped it like a desert survivor.

“Keep going.” She lifted the bottle and poured more water into the glass.

The man licked his lips. “My planet is called Maro.”

“And the survivors of the
Southwind
?”

“Were welcomed. Absorbed by the local inhabitants. The history of the Atocha Treasure became embedded in my culture.”

She helped him take another sip, and this time, she dripped water down his dry arms. The man groaned.

“Where is Maro?”

The man looked torn, but then rattled off some coordinates.

Dare looked at Rynan and nodded. His brother disappeared to get to the bridge.

“Tell me about your planet?”

“It’s covered by oceans. We have no land.”

Dakota straightened. “None at all?”

The man nodded. “None.”

Dare frowned. A water world.

“And you don’t know where the Atocha Treasure is?”

Ralu shook his head. “It was kept with the wreck of the
Southwind
. It was said the ship crashed, deep in the ocean. Later, my ancestors destroyed all mention of the treasure’s location. To protect it.”

She helped him drink once more, dripping some water on his face. Then she stepped out of the interrogation room.

“Let’s head to my office and take a look at the map,” Dare said.

They moved toward Dare’s office.

“Well done getting the information.”

She gave him a sharp smile. “Anything to find my treasure and snag a few more e-creds.”

“Dakota.”

She shrugged off his hand and swept into his office. Justyn and Rynan joined them. Ry went straight to the comp and tapped in some commands. An image appeared on the screen, showing a giant blue planet.

“I give you the water world of Maro. I found a single reference and image of it in our archives.”

“Here.” Dakota held out the orb. Ry clicked it into the comp and tapped again. The map projected above the screen.

“I’m inputting the name of the planet,” Ry told them.

Dare watched the golden planet turn blue. There was a glowing red mark on the watery surface of the planet, just south of the equator.

“So, looks like we’re going for a swim,” Justyn said.

“There’s not much information on the native Maronians,” Ry added. “Just that they are a peaceful aquatic race.”

“We’ll make contact with the Maronians when we arrive,” Dare said. “See if they can help us. Set course for Maro and notify the rest of the convoy we’ll be making a short detour. I’ll talk with all the captains myself later to explain the situation. For now, search for somewhere close to Maro where they can wait for us. Ry, we’ll need the security team to stay with them.”

Dare’s brothers nodded. Both of them looked between him and Dakota.

Justyn cleared his throat. “Um, I’m going to let my wife fuss over me for a bit.”

“And I need to check in with my team,” Ry said.

After his brothers had left, Dare stared at Dakota and that damn blank face that she’d plastered on. He was getting sick of it.

“Hopefully we can find some local guides and equipment,” Dakota said. “Can’t say I know much about underwater recovery.”

“Our shuttles are rated for underwater trips, but nothing too long or too deep.” Dare tilted his head. “From what our guest said, I’m not sure the locals are going to let us waltz in and take a legendary treasure.”

Dakota crossed her arms and shrugged. “It’s not like they’re taking care of it. They lost it. I won’t take it all, and we’ll let them know where it is.”

“You’re still upset with me about me wanting to pay you for the orb.”

“I’m not upset.” Her voice was emotionless.

He moved closer and she took a step backward. He pinned her up against his desk. “You are. It’s okay to tell me.”

“Screw you, Dare. Remember, this is just a temporary thing, you and I. We fucked, it was good, now we’re done. Once we find the treasure and I take my cut, I’m out of here.”

He gripped her arms. “We are not done.”

“We never really got started. You wanted me to spill all my dirty little secrets but you keep yourself locked up so tight.” Her chest was heaving, then she shook her head. “Just forget it.”

“My father left when we were kids. My mother couldn’t handle three rambunctious boys alone. She met a man.”