Through Uncharted Space: A Phoenix Adventures Sci-fi Romance (6 page)

He turned back to the med bay doors and they opened. As he stepped inside, he came to an abrupt stop.

The bed was empty. The electro-cuff was dangling off the side. The other door to the med bay was open.

“Dammit!”

As he strode out of the med bay, he felt a strange mix of anger and admiration.

But the biggest thing he felt was the challenge.

***

Dakota stumbled down another corridor. Her head was throbbing, her vision was blurry, and she was lost. She pressed a hand to her forehead, and as a sharp pain stabbed through her head, she felt her stomach do a slow, sickening roll.

She had no plan, and no idea where she was going. She just knew she had to protect the map and get away from Dare.

She rounded the corner and pressed one palm against the smooth wall to stay upright. This time, she really thought she was going to be sick, and stopped, breathing through her nose until she felt better.

Slipping a hand inside her shirt, she clasped the holo-orb. Her entire future was right here. She’d worked so hard to escape her homeworld and make a life for herself, but every time, she’d been knocked down. She felt a muscle beneath her eye twitch. Chris Tarron, the fucker, had been the last in a long line of bastards who’d duped her. They’d opened an antiquities store together, built up the business, shared each other’s bed a time or two. She didn’t believe in idiotic fairytales like love, but she’d thought he was decent enough, even if he was selfish between the sheets.

Until he’d tricked her. She’d discovered the deeds and bank accounts to the business had all been changed to his name. He’d booted her out and left her with nothing.

Her fingers tightened on the orb. Not this time. This time, she was protecting what was hers.

She stumbled around another corner. After she found the treasure, maybe she’d get a ship like the
Sky Nomad
. A ship that was all hers. Dakota Jones—starship owner. It had a nice ring to it.

As she hobbled a bit farther, dizziness hit her. She thudded into the wall and ended up on her knees. She looked up, blinking through her hazy vision, and spotted a maintenance cupboard right beside her. The door was set into the wall, with a small discreet sign on it. She managed to get on her feet and touched the door-control panel.

The door opened without a sound. Inside was a small space filled with cleaning supplies and a cleaning droid, and some maintenance access panels with blinking lights.

She crawled inside the space and fell to the floor. She curled up into a ball, and when the throb in her head eased a little, she sighed.

Sometimes it sucked to be alone. When she’d gone into business with Chris, she’d thought, for about two stellar seconds, that she might have someone to share things with, someone to lean on.

Her eyelids were feeling heavy.
What a joke.
Chris had just been a big pile of space waste. There was only one person she could depend on and that was herself.

She pulled her knees into her chest, curled in on herself, and drifted off.

A deep male voice cursing woke her. She blinked, trying to orient herself. Where was she? Why did her head hurt so much?

Arms slid beneath her and lifted her up against a hard male body. Dakota’s pulse leaped, and she swung out with her fist.

“Hey.” A hand wrapped around hers. “Easy there. I’ve got you.”

“No, you don’t,” she grumbled.

Dare pulled her in close to his chest. Stars, he was so warm and strong. It was so easy to just think about pressing her head against him and leaning on him for a second. She wavered, fighting the urge.

“I’m not letting you go, so you may as well rest your head on my shoulder and take it easy.”

Well, just because she was weak. She leaned against him, then turned her face to press against his neck. She breathed in the scent of him—something earthy, musky.

He went still for a second, then his hand smoothed down over her hair. He stepped out of the maintenance cupboard and started walking.

“I feel sick,” she whispered. Stars, she shouldn’t be admitting a weakness.

“You shouldn’t have left the med bay. The med scanner hadn’t finished working on your head injury.”

She made a little sound and snuggled into him. Just a second or two wouldn’t hurt. “Are you going to toss me in the brig?”

“Not right now. I usually draw the line at throwing an injured woman in a cell.” He looked down at her. “You’re sneaky.”

“I am,” she agreed. “It’s in my DNA.”

“I like it.”

Dakota blinked. No one had
ever
said they liked that about her before. “I’m trouble.”

“Without a doubt,” he answered.

Hmm, he didn’t seem too bothered by that, either. “Don’t be nice to me, Phoenix. I don’t want to like you.” He’d just disappoint her, like everyone else she’d ever known.

“Quiet.”

He opened a door and when she looked up, she saw that it wasn’t the med bay. It was his cabin.

He sat her on the bed and seconds later, he was pulling off her shoes. The plush covers and pillows beneath her were so soft. She sank back against them, telling herself she should fight it.

She looked up at the man standing above her. Sexy, dominant, bossy—things that she usually avoided. He was watching her with that scary intensity she found so very interesting.

Damn, her eyelids were feeling heavy again. She was fighting to stay awake. She needed to stay alert.

Then she felt something at her neck followed by a quick sting. He’d given her drugs.

She batted his hand away. “No! No drugs.”

“You need them to get better.”

“I don’t like them.” They made her feel helpless and out of control. The gangs had liked to drug people, make them more biddable and less able to escape.

“You can relax and rest here, Dakota. No one’s going to hurt you.”

She saw blue light, and realized he had the medscope out again. He helped her lean forward, waving the device over the back of her head.

She stared at the long fingers of his hand. “Why haven’t you tossed me out of an airlock?”

His gaze came back to her face. “I’m still considering it.”

She laughed. “No, you’re not.” Then pain hit and she groaned.

“Stop talking and just lie still.” He shut off the medscope, and helped her sink back against the pillows. He pushed her hair back off her face. “Just let me take care of you.”

“No one takes care of me. I think you just like being in charge and having people at your mercy.”

“Beats being the one at the mercy of others.” There was something dark in his voice.

She studied him for a moment, wondering when a man like Dare could have possibly been at the mercy of someone else. But she understood what it felt like, and didn’t pry. “Amen to that,” she murmured.

“I’m going to help you.” He brushed her hair again, rubbing the strands between his fingers.

“But can I pay what it’s going to cost me?”

He stared at her with an intensity that was frightening. “It doesn’t matter. You need my help. You need me.”

She turned her head into the pillow—a pillow that smelled of him—and realized that the drugs were pulling her under.

“Tell me what the artifact is, Dakota. Why is it so important?”

She couldn’t fight him anymore. “A map.” She closed her eyes.

“To what?”

“Treasure.” Sleep surrounded her and dragged her down.

***

From his seat beside the bed, Dare heard the small sounds Dakota made as she started to awaken. He glanced over and saw her eyelids flutter. He liked the look of her tucked up in his bed.

Usually, he liked seeing a woman naked in his bed. But seeing this one curled into a protective ball, her hand tucked under her cheek—

She sat bolt upright, her hand clenching the orb between her breasts.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

Her blue eyes darted his way. “Better.” She sat up.

“Let me help.” He stalked over to the bed.

“I don’t need anyone’s help.” She pulled her knees up under her chin. “Get me to Sierra.”

“Then what?”

“I go it alone.”

“Dodging Golden Nova assassins, and whatever else uncharted space throws at you?”

“I can handle it.”

He sat on the bed, and reached out and grabbed her ankle. “You have no idea what’s out here. And I can help you find your treasure.”

“I
told
you?” She broke into a string of curses. “You drugged me and took advantage—”

“Careful, Dakota. I don’t take advantage of women. The drugs helped you.”

She pressed her hands to her face. “You want to help me? And how much is it going to cost me? How much of my treasure?”

He eyed her steadily. “We can do an eighty/twenty split—”

She gasped and tried to jerk her leg away from his hold. “Forget it! You can have a small finder’s fee, but this treasure is mine! Stars, you didn’t even start with a fifty/fifty split. Men, you’re all the same—”

Dare tugged on her leg, pulling it out straight and dragging her toward him. She squeaked and tried to kick him.

He pressed his body down over hers to hold her still. “The eighty percent is for you. I’ll take twenty percent for me. It’ll be my ship we’re using, my fuel we’re burning.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Twenty?”

“Yes.”

“That’s…reasonable.” She was staring at him, like she was looking for the con or the angle.

“Don’t you trust anyone?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. Everyone’s always screwed me over.”

Curiosity and a deep-seated anger burned through him. “Like Chris Tarron?”

She stiffened like she’d been hit with a stunner. “I don’t want to hear that scum-sucking thief’s name again.” She turned her head and stared at the wall, her jaw tight.

“Was he your lover?” Dare asked.

Now she glared at him. “None of your fucking business.”

“He was your business partner.”

“He was a thief. He stole from me. The bastard took everything.”

Bitter words, but he didn’t sense any self-pity. The man hadn’t beaten her down.

“Let me help you find this treasure.”

“Why?”

“Twenty percent will be worth it. My crew is always eager for an adventure.”

“You don’t even know what the treasure is. Your share could be worthless.”

“You wouldn’t risk your life for worthless.”

She stared at him, evidence of an internal battle on her face. Finally, she lifted the orb at the end of her necklace. The next second, a star map projected into the air.

“Amazing.” He studied the marked planets and stars.

“This planet is the location of the treasure.” She pointed to one that glowed gold. “The treasure was taken off Earth on a starship called the
Southwind
. According to legend, the ship made it out here, to uncharted space, where its captain went crazy. He purposely stranded the ship and her crew on a distant planet. One of the crew, a man named Caleb Stock, made it back to charted space, telling the tale of the
Southwind
and her Terran treasure. He made this map.”

Dare frowned. “The star chart doesn’t look familiar. I don’t see any planets that look like worlds we’ve come across on our convoy trips.”

She made a frustrated sound. “It doesn’t match anything. The only two points that I can reliably identify are these.” She touched a small star system on one side of the map. “This is close to the Galaxy’s Edge Space Station.” She touched a large planet at the other side of the map. “From the descriptions, this is Sierra.”

He nodded. “That’s how you knew this treasure planet was out here, somewhere, between these two points.”

“Yes. But nothing matches current star maps. It’s like things have been jumbled around. I’ve studied every map and scrap of information of this area of space.” She pointed at one planet. “There is a detailed description of this world in the map data. It’s described as a low-tech world, containing a beautiful city of white spires, arches, canals, and bridges.”

Dare sucked in a breath.

She sat up. “You know it!”

Yes, he knew it. He knew things about it she probably didn’t.

“We need to go there. I want to ask about Caleb Stock. He had to have spent some time there—”

“We’ll see. You haven’t told me what the
Southwind
was carrying, Dakota. What’s the treasure?”

She fidgeted, her gaze dropping to the sheets.

“Dakota?”

“It’s called the Atocha Treasure. It came from a Terran shipwreck.”

He paused. “So it was already old at the time of Earth’s destruction?”

“Yes.”

Which meant its value would be immense.

“It’s valuable,” she said. “That’s all I know.”

He tilted his head. “You don’t know what the treasure is.”

“Not exactly, but Golden Nova protected this map like it was the key to the central system bank vaults. It has to be big.”

“It could be rusted metal and rotted wood.”

“No. Historical Terran shipwrecks carried gold, silver, jewels—”

“It could be worthless.”

“It isn’t. I went through a lot to get this map. This
isn’t
nothing.”

Dare ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, okay. I know someone we can ask about the treasure. See if we can find out what it is.”

“Who?” she asked suspiciously.

“Her name is Eos—”

Dakota’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Dr. Eos Rai-Phoenix? Renowned Terran history expert and astro-archeologist?” Dakota’s voice rose. “Who just happens to be married to Dathan Phoenix, the galaxy’s most infamous treasure hunter?”

“They aren’t thieves, Dakota.”

“And Dathan’s brother also happens to be Niklas Phoenix. A director of the Institute of Historical Preservation, and one of the people in charge of acquiring new artifacts.”

“And we’re in uncharted space. The Institute has no jurisdiction out here. Our half-sister, Aurina, discovered Terran starship wrecks out here on her mate’s world. The Institute helped uncover them, it didn’t steal them. I assure you, the treasure is yours.” He lowered his voice. “You have an almost-worthless map and very little to go on, and you don’t even know what you’re looking for. We need to talk to Eos.”