So a child, not one of the adults who worked at the orphanage. “How old is he?” He couldn’t be too young if Tess had formed an attachment to him there. She’d been out of that place for eight years.
“Eleven,” she answered. “Well, almost twelve.” She brightened all over just thinking about this kid Coltin.
Until now, Starway 8 had only two names and faces for me: Mareeka and Surral. I’d barely noticed the administrators I hadn’t been introduced to while I gritted my teeth against a throbbing gunshot wound and we all reeled from the confrontation with the Overseer.
Tess turned back to Asher. “I left a message for him to study his math, but I doubt he’ll listen.” Her freckles bunched together as she wrinkled her nose. “I think he likes numbers as much as I do.”
Asher shook his head with a chuckle. “That’s because you’ve filled his head with too many stories. Now, all he wants to do is read more books about treasure hunts across the galaxy and swashbuckling space pirates.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Then he’ll definitely join you on Frank’s crew when he’s older.” Tess’s broad smile landed on the blond captain, and I felt an annoying stab of jealousy.
“Or he’ll joinyou,” Asher said pointedly.
Tess nodded. The kid was eleven, though, and she had other plans for the future. We’d see what happened.
“Bailey always finds the best treasures.” Frank winked at Tess, his compliment sending a hint of pink across her features.
I’d never seen her look flushed or shy with anyone but me before, and I honestly hated it. I liked Frank, though, and I could tell his esteem meant something to her.
Tess waved his praise away with a quick “Whatever,” but her not-quite-hidden smile got bigger.
“What did you guys bring for the Mooncamps?” one of the twins, Macey, asked. She dragged her booted toe along the floor of the hangar, leaving a streak in the grit that coated this whole place from top to bottom.
“A fuckton of food,” Fiona answered. “We’ve been carting it around for ages but couldn’t get here. You?” she asked.
“Same, although I wouldn’t call it a fuckton,” Macey answered. “Still, it was worth the trip here so that we can reload with the new haul we’re about to go after.”
“Got a tip on a heist?” Tess asked. “We could double crew it.”
“That would actually be really good,” Frank answered thoughtfully. “But you’ve gotta be ready to go in twenty-four hours. Dark Watch supply ships just restocked the security hub orbiting Ewelock. They’re preparing for a major personnel shift. According to the message we hacked into, new people are arriving to man the starbase tomorrow. There’ll be a flood of people in. Others leaving. Ships all over the place. I say we redirect a few cargo attachments before they figure out who’s actually supposed to be there.”
“Your intel is correct,” Mwende offered.
I stiffened, seeing the same slight hardening in Tess. How was Mwende going to explain knowing that? “I’m General Bridgebane’s personal bodyguard” probably wouldn’t go over well here—or anywhere full of Nightchasers.
“Ah, good. You heard the same thing?” Frank asked.
The lieutenant nodded. The prickly feeling of sitting on a mountain of hair-trigger explosives built inside me. But they didn’t question her further, and nothing detonated.
A tightness that had nothing to do with anxiety tugged my ribs together. So, this was how it felt to be a part of something. A team. Almost an extended family. Sanaa Mwende was with the crew of theEndeavor. Frank and his group took her at face value, just like that. Tess was letting it happen, which told me exactly which side she’d come down on in terms of trusting her uncle. Tess was no believer, but she still knew how to take a leap of faith.
“Twenty-four hours? We can manage that.” Tess didn’t show any of the concern I was feeling about taking on a new mission before we’d even started planning the Starbase 12 rescues. Maybe she was more fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants than I’d realized—and maybe I wasn’t impulsive enough for this new life.
She turned to us. “What do you guys think?”
Both Jax and Fiona confirmed they were okay with it. Merrick rumbled something to the effect of “Finally getting some action around here,” as though we hadn’t just fought for our lives on Korabon. Mwende didn’t comment. She just stood there, apparently ready for anything.
“Sounds okay.” I shrugged, going along with the majority. The ship was at nearly full power. We had four days before we had to be anywhere, and planning the Starbase 12 break-in without knowing what Bridgebane had to offer, if anything, felt a lot like tossing ideas into a pot, stirring, and seeing what didn’t sink to the bottom. We could do this Ewelock heist. I just hoped nothing prevented us from getting to Bridgebane’s drop point. Or, worse, derailed us from the main mission.
“Do you guys have a plan?” I asked, directing my question at Frank.
He nodded. “We’ll go over the details later, but in a nutshell, we’re going to hit the spine of cargo holds crawling up the outside of the spacedock. Upper levels A through O are food containers.” He glanced at Tess’s ship. “We can vacuum seal any two onto theUnholy Stenchand you can latch two onto theEndeavor. We’d have only gone for one attachment without you guys, but it’ll go a lot faster with Tess working her lock magic. You float ’em, and we’ll snatch ’em up from the outside. You up for that, Bailey?”
“Have I ever said no?” Tess asked in challenge.
“Not tothat,” Frank answered flirtatiously.
Tess’s cheeks reddened, and I had to combat the urge to stake my claim to her. Wrapping my arm around her shoulders and hauling her against my side was both what I wanted to do and what I knew I shouldn’t. She liked a little caveman possessive in bed, that hint of dominance, but I doubted she’d appreciate it anywhere else, and especially not when she was talking business.
