My breath sawed in and out. Only an idiot wouldn’t be scared shitless, right? But didn’t big jobs always feel like this? A tangle of sweat and fear and near-regret with the potential reward keeping you too invested in the process to back out? If we pulled this off—whenwe pulled it off—we’d have a whole lot to show for our efforts. Food for the DT Mooncamps formonths. That was where I needed to focus.
My breathing turned easier, and my pulse started to even out. No one had fired on us. Nothing was technically wrong yet.
“This doesn’t feel right.” Shade’s mouth drew down as he lifted a hand to his controls and got ready to drop us out of line and run.
The outside com flared to life again. One bright flash undid all my calming work. Nerves clanged inside me like cymbals and jarred a hard beat from my heart.
“Crew 32, did you mean Beta EchoEchoCharlie?” the same uninterested voice asked.
Shade jerked his hand back from his console like a whip had cracked down on his knuckles.
I gaped at the now-silent communications board. I couldn’t believe it. That was some sloppy Dark Watch.
Shade looked shocked also. He glanced at me, then over his shoulder at Frank. “What do you think?”
“It’s a trick.” Frank sat down and started strapping in. “They’re trying to trip us up. We should go. Now.”
“No.” I shook my head, disagreeing with him. “They’re being careless. Just listen to his voice. He’s already had it with this shit. He wants moving day to beover. Our intel was missing something, and he’s giving us an out.”
Two blue lasers stared at me from Frank’s grim face as he clicked his harness into place. The snick of the latch punched into my raw nerves like a fist. “You can’t be sure of that.”
“No, but it’s a good guess. Vote now,” I said, “or they’ll get suspicious.”
Abruptly, Jax straightened from his turtle hunch. “Let’s do it.”
Everyone else nodded, Frank just a half second behind.
Shade opened the channel from our end. “Yeah. Echo Echo Charlie. Isn’t that what I said?”
I held my breath, not moving a single muscle. Shade’s game face was incredible. Or his voice, in this case. Totally convincing. He had even me believing he was utterly calm and exactly where he belonged. I was so glad he was on my team now. I’d thought it before, but this time, the reality of it swamped me in a hot rush that raced through my blood.
The voice came back, as fed-up as ever. “When the light turns green, dock on Platform 9, Slot 28. They’re waiting for you on Lower Z Level to repair those phasers that went out.”
I slowly exhaled. We were in—but LZL was nearly the polar opposite of where we needed to go on the station. If we had to go to the very bottom level to maintain our cover, it would mean being on the Ewelock hub for longer than any of us wanted.
Good thing I had a mechanic. I glanced at Shade. He could totally fix some phasers.
“Got it.” Shade kept his response short and sweet and disconnected from our end.
The signal light on Platform 9 turned green. He eased us through the plasma shield to the landing area.
“When this is over and you’re flying out by yourself, you drop the second you can.” Shade glanced at me. “If the lower phasers are out, they can’t shoot you if you’re beneath them.”
I nodded. Not getting blown up was high on my to-do list. Right up there with stealing a bunch of stuff without getting caught. If we had tofixthe phasers, though, this idea didn’t help.
I reached for the navigation controls as Shade located Slot 28. “Time for a blank slate.” If the Dark Watch somehow got its hands on theQueen Bee, we didn’t want anyone knowing where we’d been.
“You’re one step ahead of everyone, aren’t you, sugar?” Shade said with a wink.
“Cupcake, we already knew that.” I wiped the memory.Delete.
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Not a modest muffin, are you?”
My lips twitched. I wiped the com device next. It looked like a new unit when I put it back in place. “I’m the big one with the nuts on top.”
Shade grinned, his eyes laughing when they met mine. I grinned back, and right then, I wassurethis crazy, ballsy plan could work.
“Are you two talking in code or something?” Caeryssa asked from the back. “Now I’m hungry,” she grumbled.
