Ben pulled out his high-tech SC scanner. It was better than anything Allie had ever seen, and the crew of theMitakuye Oyasinhad been drooling over it. “I got full schematics on everything behind the blast door. It’s going to take a while to export and correlate all the data, but we’ll have a better idea how to liberate that ship once we get a peek inside.”
“You know, you could always leave that behind as a little thank-you for our generosity in helping you,” Cetan suggested. Anpaytoo had paid a number of bribes to get them this far, but Allie hated that Ben was being asked to do the repaying. If they got out of this without getting arrested, they would all be in need of some quick cash, and that scanner could help Ben—either when he sold it, or when he used it to start his own business of professional thieving.
“I’ll show your techs how to use it as soon as I download the data,” Ben said without hesitation.
“You don’t have to give up your tech,” Shank protested.
“Hey, it’s not my tech. When the SC left me behind with you guys, they just didn’t take it back,” Ben said with an easy shrug. “Of course, that doesn’t mean it isn’t illegal as hell, and if you get caught holding it, not only will you go to jail, but I’m going to pretend I’ve never met you.” Ben poked a finger in Cetan’s direction.
“Deal,” Cetan said cheerfully. “Allie, Paya would like to see you on the second deck. Shank, maybe you can help your cousins sort out equipment for your raid.”
Shank made quick eye contact with Allie, and she gave him a weak smile.Great. Another meeting with Anpaytoo.This day just kept getting better. Shank reached over and gave her arm a squeeze.
“Pick us out some nice big guns,” Allie said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
“Will do,” Shank promised. He offered her a sympathetic smile before leaving.
“Lead away,” Allie said to Cetan.
He rolled his eyes. “I doubt my sister is going to eat you.”
“Nope, just kill me. And can I say I’m not the only one who didn’t expect Claire to come out and make a scene in the middle of the dock?” They headed toward the closest lift, moving aside to let others pass.
This part of the ship was crowded with people who all looked like Shank. Allie was used to more genetic diversity—the town where she grew up had dozens of different skin tones and hair colors, but this was definitely a family ship. She felt weirdly out of place. Physical appearance might not be all that important to her, but it felt odd to be the one person who didn’t fit into the picture.
“We all dropped the ball on that one,” Cetan admitted. “I figured Claire and Shank would avoid each other, not circle around like vultures fighting over some carcass.”
“I think Shank was doing more of the getting circled.”
Cetan stopped and looked down at her with disbelief. “Review those tapes. He went out of his way to aggravate her as much as she was verbally tormenting him. I thought he’d handle it better. He has you, so he doesn’t need to feel insecure around some woman he used to date.”
Allie felt a twinge of fear at that. Maybe part of Shank still wanted what Claire could offer him—a stronger woman, someone who wasn’t always mired down by guilt and bad decisions.
“Oh, do not get that look on your face,” Cetan said wearily as he got off the lift in a quieter section of the ship. A few techs came through, easily identified by their oversize tool belts and wrinkled uniforms, but the general crush of people had vanished.
“What?” Allie demanded.
“My idiot nephew adores you, so stop looking like someone threatened to take your dog out and shoot him.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t say anything.”
“Right, you didn’t say it, but you were thinking it.”
Now Allie was getting aggravated. “You don’t know me well enough to know what I’m thinking.”
“I’m old and wise, and you’re a lot more transparent than you think you are,” Cetan said. He stopped at a door. “Shank wouldn’t trust you to fight his battles for him if he didn’t believe in you. Don’t second-guess that and screw this all up.”
“I wouldn’t,” Allie said.
“Good. Don’t. Now go make my sister happy because when she’s not, I end up having to convince people to stay with the ship rather than running for the hills.” Cetan hit the chime for the door and then strolled off. The door lock clicked as it opened, and Allie sighed before pushing her way into the room.
The second deck had control panels and stations that made it pretty clear it worked as a backup command center or bridge. Anpaytoo sat at a central console with a dozen screens offering information on the ship, but the other stations were all dark. It gave the room an ominous feel like some half-abandoned outpost. Anpaytoo looked up. She didn’t say anything. She simply watched Allie as though trying to plan her words.
“I know,” Allie finally blurted out. She much preferred getting yelled at to this uncomfortable silence. “I should have anticipated Claire would come out, and I should have had a backup plan, but you know, it isn’t like anyone else noticed that little detail either. Despite what you think, Shank not only has a brain, but he knows her better than anyone.”
Anpaytoo leaned back in her chair and swiped her hand over the monitors, turning half of them off. It made the room even more dim and eerie. “I had assumed you were the contingency plan and that Cetan had arranged to loan you two of our crew to make it work.”
“Oh.” Allie cleared her throat. That had definitely not gone to plan. “We did get the scans.”
