Unchained (7 page)

Cidra followed his lead, taking a generous
sip. It was chilly, alternating sweet and sour on her tongue as she
swallowed. Suddenly she gasped, her eyes watered. The coolness
transformed to heat, spreading quickly, following the same path
down her throat.

Grey grinned guiltily. “It takes some
getting used to.”

“
Thanks for telling me,”
Cidra sputtered. The burning subsided, replaced by a rush of
pleasure. She watched the undulations with new respect. Barrios
would love this stuff.

She drew a deep breath. “I lost my temper.
Mora said some things that cut too close, and I reacted poorly. I
promise it won’t happen again.”

“
Don’t promise things you
can’t deliver.”

Cidra blinked at him. That was hardly the
reply she had expected. “Why would I do that?”

He shrugged. “From my experience, most
people don’t honor their promises. They make them casually. They
break them casually. Besides, there’s something important I want
you to promise me.” He pinned her with a stern expression. “Really
promise me.”

Cidra could almost feel the precise moment
impending doom descended upon her. “What’s that?”

“
I don’t need to tell you
how most people feel about Avion and the Kin-sha. It’s not a topic
you want to bring up in casual conversation. It also turns off
potential customers, contacts, and employees. In other words, it’s
lousy for business.” He spoke purposely, his gaze unwavering. “No
one on board knows I’m from Avion or that I’m a trained Kin-sha. I
would like to keep it that way. If anyone asks, I’m from
Vaasa.”

Cidra stared sadly into her
drink. So much for loyalty. “I can understand your predicament.
I
promise
I won’t
say a word.”

He shifted against the table. “There’s
something else. That move back there. With Mora. She probably
didn’t recognize it as pure Kin-sha, but I did. Someone else might
pick up on it, too.”

Cidra argued, “It was a simple self-defense
move. Anyone could have done it.”

He nodded. “Granted, but keep the Kin-sha
for emergencies. No need to raise any suspicions.”

“
You never use
it?”

Grey lifted his eyes to meet hers. “I had to
give it up ten years ago. It wasn’t a choice.”

Cidra’s mouth dropped open as his words hit
home. “My father didn’t betray the Kin-sha. You saw Syrus’
note.”

He smiled wryly. “I saw it. So far I have
your word and his.”

There was a heavy silence. Frustration
choked Cidra as she stated flatly, “You won’t help.”

“
I didn’t say
that.”

“
You didn’t have
to.”

Grey took a big swallow of Oeno. “I’d like
to see what’s on the holo recording.”

As Cidra stared at him, she realized what he
was doing. Stalling. And there wasn’t a thing she could do about
it. He certainly didn’t look in the mood for negotiation.

“
Of course, Captain. Well
if there’s nothing else, I’ll return to my quarters.” She placed
her glass on the table next to him and headed toward the
door.

She was across the room when he announced,
“Mora’s a spy.”

Cidra stopped and turned to look at him.
Barrios’ statement of a leak aboard ship rushed to mind. “Are you
sure?”

“
Positive. She works for
Sandor Wex. Another treasure hunter. At least that’s what he calls
himself. A scavenger is more like it.” He glowered, his fists
clenching.

“
He jumped your last two
finds,” she deduced quickly.

He brightened and saluted her with his
drink. “Very good.”

Much to her chagrin, she blushed. Memories
of Syrus’ gentle instruction flashed in her mind. She could see his
influence on Grey.

“
I marked the first
incident up to coincidence, but I knew I had a problem after the
second one. The odds were astronomical that he’d hit us twice. Not
these finds. No one except the crew even knew I was working on
them.” He shot down the rest of the drink and turned to pour
himself another.

She found herself watching him, fascinated
by the way he moved. He glided from position to position, purely,
powerfully male. It called to her on a level she couldn’t explain.
Cidra frowned, disturbed that these thoughts were developing with
more frequency.

Turning back around, Grey’s
tone darkened. “Now he’s apparently decided jumping my finds aren’t
enough. He wants
Calíbre
, too.”

“
How do you know
that?”

“
Decker confirmed it was
his Victor that attacked us over Avion.” He shoved a hand through
his hair.

Cidra was stunned and appalled. “They tried
to kill us!”

“
Actually, I believe they
were trying to kill me. Easier to take
Calíbre
with me out of the way. Mora
must have tipped them off that I would be alone. I don’t think they
expected any trouble taking me out. They certainly didn’t count on
your flying skills.”

“
What are you going to do
about it?” Cidra whispered, almost afraid to ask.

“
I have a plan.” Grey
stared at the floor, his mind elsewhere.

She took in his hard eyes, hard face. “Are
you going to kill them?”

A corner of his mouth raised. “No. Just
teach them a lesson and get them out of our way for a while. A long
while.” He paused and said pointedly, “If Mora finds out we’re on
to her, the plan won’t work.”

Cidra relaxed. “I won’t breathe a word.”
Then she added with a laugh, “And remind me not to cross you.”

She never saw him coming. He slammed his
glass down, shoved off the cabinet and closed on her swiftly.
Slipping a hand under her chin, he held her fast, warning flashing
in his eyes.

“
I wouldn’t recommend it.
You don’t want me for an enemy,” his voice was as hard as his
face.

Cidra swallowed, unable to break the
connection, his close proximity generating more heat than the Oeno.
Alarmed, she placed her free hand on his chest to keep him from
coming any closer. He didn’t budge and made no move to release
her.

Grey had only meant to reinforce his
position on the subject, but the lines were quickly blurring. He
suddenly found himself enthralled by her clear blue eyes. In an
instant, he was drawn into their bottomless depths. There he
uncovered her inner strength and courage, her innocence and
absolute trust. In the calm mirror lay his own reflection.

Out of nowhere, a thunderous awareness
gripped him. He ran his thumb slowly along the edge of her lower
lip, enchanted by the fine line. Cidra parted her lips and inhaled
sharply. He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her gently, denying
her escape. As he tasted her, each kiss became deeper, more
demanding, intoxicating.

Her lips were as soft and sweet as they
appeared. Lush and inviting, a perfect foil for his own. He found
himself swallowed up in her softness, her heat, unable to pull
himself away.

She moaned softly, her palm splaying across
his chest. He felt the second she relaxed, the moment when she gave
in, her wordless gift of sweet surrender.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he
wondered if she understood her full affect on a man or what she was
offering. Although her kisses were eager, there was a definite
innocence in her reaction to him.

Reality invaded with its cold edge. He was
in charge, the Captain of the ship, her employer. It was up to him
to curb the situation before it went any further. He was failing
miserably.

He groaned. Under a crush of obligation,
Grey released her and stepped back, thoroughly disgusted with
himself. He half-turned from her, running a hand through his hair
and down the back of his neck.

“
That was wrong. I
shouldn’t have...” he started and stopped, blowing out a long
breath. “That won’t happen again.”

Cidra stared at him, flushed, out of breath
and astonished by his sudden withdrawal. Her outward composure
returned rapidly along with a healthy dose of anger while her mind
struggled to catch up.

“
Tell me, Captain. Do you
always seduce your new crew members?” she snapped, trying to regain
some semblance of dignity after her moment of emotional
abandon.

He stiffened, his eyes pure fire. “I didn’t
seduce you. You would know it if I did. I said, it won’t happen
again.”

Cidra blurted out, “And do you always make
the rules?” Immediately she regretted letting her mouth work
without benefit of her brain.

His eyes narrowed at her. “Are you mad at me
for starting the kiss or for stopping it?”

Cidra glared back at him, unsure what else
to do. His advance had shattered her self-control and she deeply
resented it. On the other hand, she wanted desperately to try it
again.

With cold conviction, Grey said, “I’m your
employer. Period.”

Mercifully, his room comm blared. They
stared at each other a second longer before Grey hit the comm.
“What!”

“
Ah, I’m glad I found you,
sir. Barrios and I just broke the code on the holo recording. We’re
ready to run it,” Decker announced with cheerful
innocence.

Cidra froze. Finally, answers. Her ire
vanished, the past few moments displaced by exhilaration and a new
fear. She had not realized until this moment that the answers might
not be the ones she wanted to hear.

“
We’ll be right there.”
Otherwise distracted, Cidra missed the distinct note of relief in
Grey’s voice.

“
We?” Decker
questioned.

Grey cleared his throat. “Cidra’s here.”

There was a pause.

“
Yes, sir!” Decker replied,
a little too enthusiastically.

Grey winced and flipped off the comm. It
would be all over the ship in minutes. Still he was grateful for
the reprieve, and one look at Cidra told him she was looking toward
the future again. He was off the hook, at least for now. Gallantly
he swept a hand toward the door.

“
Shall we?”

Decker smiled up at them from the round holo
deck table as they entered Grey’s office.

Cidra slid into the seat next to Barrios at
the table. He patted her hand gently as if sensing her turmoil. She
smiled at the only man in the room who truly understood what this
meant to her.

Decker addressed Grey, “I didn’t even break
a sweat on this one, had the encryption key for the holo recording
on file. Standard Avion military format. Ages old.”

Grey dropped into the chair next to Decker.
The holo cartridge’s raw data dump scrolled down the display
screen. “Find anything interesting in the data section?” Grey
asked.

Decker’s eyebrows raised. “I sure did and I
still can’t believe it. Looks like a complete cargo manifest.
Serial numbers for almost a thousand ampoules of Ximenes vaccine in
the shipment. Do you have any idea how much that’s worth? We could
all retire,” Decker marveled. He shoved Syrus’ holo cartridge into
the holo deck unit. “OK, here comes the show.”

A cylinder-shaped grid surged up from the
holo deck in the center of the table to a height of roughly two
meters. Cidra’s eyes adjusted as the luminous holo recording came
alive, filling the grid. A surreal, three-dimensional space battle
burst forth, complete with statistics scrolling up underneath. The
skirmish was chaotic and it took a few seconds for her to
assimilate what they were watching.

“
That’s one of ours. An
Avion freighter,” Barrios blurted out, pointing to the largest
vessel. “And that’s a Kin-sha escort.” He pointed to the smaller,
silver ships hanging tightly around the freighter. “Four of
them.”

“
Looks like they are under
attack by these little fighters.” Decker scanned the players as he
tried to dissect the players on each side. “Are those Saurelian
ships? Nasty little units. There must be twenty of them. Looks like
they are swarming and firing on the escort ships.” Decker shook his
head. “Trying to take out one of those is like trying to swat gypsy
wings, there’s always more.”

Grey frowned. “Decker, what are we watching
here? Can you catch some of these stats?”

As the Kin-sha escort was being soundly
pummeled, Cidra grimaced. She prayed this was only a simulation.
The first Kin-sha escort burst into flames and disappeared from the
image. She swallowed, hope shattered.

Decker picked out the details carefully.
“The freighter is the Galena. She generated this holo recording
from her sensor readings. Left Avion...” his voice faltered. “This
can’t be right. According to the autodate, this holo recording is
ten years old.”

Next to Cidra, Barrios’ voice was no more
than a rasp. “The Galena?”

“
Original destination?”
Grey asked.

“
Got it. My Lord. It’s
Dakru,” Decker said in awe. He stared wide-eyed at Grey. “Are we
watching what I think we’re watching?”

Grey’s jaw set hard.

Cidra looked at Barrios. He didn’t move a
muscle, but she could see his pulse throbbing at his temples.
Another Kin-sha escort exploded and she was riveted again to the
recording. She watched the silent, historic battle rage before her.
Not a simulation, not a recreation. The destruction of the Avion
vaccine shipment bound for Dakru ten years ago. It was raw. It was
real. It was the turning point in her life.

Decker continued his commentary. “Their
location is just outside Dakru’s outer region. So much for the
rumor that they never left Avion.”

The freighter was fighting back with
everything it had, guns blazing unceasingly, scoring some hits,
trying desperately to assist the overwhelmed escort. A third
Kin-sha ship vanished in a ball of fire. The Saurelian fighters
outnumbered the last escort twenty to one. It didn’t last long.