“Number of crew?”
I looked at Lacy and shrugged.How was I supposed to answer that?
“Arriving with three,” she said, “adding one for departure.”
Apparently that was the right answer because it next asked for our IDs.
We held them up to the screen and a blue light washed over them, cataloging the data in the chips.
There was a long pause and I felt more than saw Lacy hold her breath.Then the gate opened and we were on the short walkway to the station.
The closer we got to the main part of the station, the louder and more crowded it became.
“This place is busy,” I said, looking this way and that to take it all in.
Next to me, Lacy nodded.“I told you.This is a major trading center.It’s a great place to pick up cargo.”
“Sarge, I see the bar.”Burn was already several feet ahead of us.She pointed to a neon sign depicting a large alien.
I lifted my chin, indicating that she should go ahead.
She nodded, then wove her way through the crowd.
Stepping close to Lacy so we wouldn’t get separated, I placed my hand on the small of her back.Her muscles stiffened beneath my palm.Then she exhaled and they relaxed.I ducked my head so she could hear me.“Is Elegium Station like this?”
I’d spent a few minutes off my ship, but I didn’t remember it being this busy.
She turned her head, her lips inches from my ear.“Rarely.Maybe if we get a flotilla or a military ship docked there.This station is easily three times the size of Elegium.”Her words fluttered the fine hairs near my ear and a shiver ran through me.“This is one of the station’s spokes.If we take the exit on the far end, we’ll end up in another corridor and then the heart of the station.”
I raised my head and looked for the exit she mentioned.This section of the station appeared to be a large oval and I finally saw what looked like another passage at the far end.
People moved this way and that all around us.Some seemed to have a destination.Others appeared to be taking it in, the same as us.
Neon signs like the one that hung over our destination crowded the walls, advertising everything from lodging and food to supplies and company.I’d been on shore leave often enough that I wasn’t usually overwhelmed in situations like this.
But this time was different, I realized.In the past, I’d had my orders—be back on the ship by a certain time or else.Now I was the boss.The orders came from me...and I had no idea what they were.
While I’d been gaping, the crowds had moved us farther away from our target.“Burn and Finn are waiting,” I said.“We better catch up.”
Lacy nodded, but when I stepped in that direction, she didn’t move.
“Lacy, c’mon.”
She took my hand, lacing our fingers together.Then, with startling grace, she started to move.
Lacy wove us through the crush of people like it was a dance, occasionally muttering “Excuse me” when we cut too close, but we never hit anyone.
Content to let her lead, I kept my elbows tucked in and matched my stride to hers.One minute we were dancing through the crowd, the next I nearly plowed into Lacy when she stopped in front of the bar.
“Sorry,” I murmured as she placed a hand on my stomach to stop my forward momentum.My muscles flexed under her touch.
Heat flickered in her eyes.
“Finally,” Burn said, interrupting the moment.
Lacy’s hand dropped, but her fingers trailed over my abdomen before falling away.She shot me a bright, mischievous smile before she looked away.One of these days, we wouldn’t be interrupted.And I wasn’t sure my heart would take it.
Burn held the door open and ushered us inside.
