“But if we survive and come back, there’s not a good reason why he can’t fly with us,” Allie warned.
Anpaytoo waved a hand. “If you come back without bounties large enough to tempt every hunter in the galaxy to chase you, I am going to call you the luckiest crew in history.”
“Luck?” Allie shook her head. “We’ll make it, and it won’t have anything to do with luck. These are the four bravest people I’ve ever known.”
Anpaytoo raised her chin in that gesture that reminded Allie of Shank. “All our people are brave. To be brave is expected...normal, but to be lucky... That’s a gift one envies. I think I will wish you luck.”
Allie looked at her. They didn’t like each other, not by a long shot. However, Allie thought that maybe they didn’t dislike each other. “Luck and some good weaponry are all we need. After all, we’ve already had bats and treasonous Nicve marines trying and failing to kill us. Command doesn’t have anything on them.”
“I think you were a Sioux warrior in another life.”
“Maybe.” Allie shrugged. “Maybe I’m just too mean to die.”
“That is an admirable trait in a woman,” Anpaytoo said in a serious voice. “Go make your plans to steal Claire’s ship, and if you can find a way to shoot her as you do, I would consider it a favor.”
Allie grinned. “You don’t have to ask me twice.” With that, she considered the conversation over. She turned and headed out, leaving Anpaytoo to her displays of ship reports and her certainty that Shank and the rest of them were on a suicide run.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“What do ya have?” Allieasked.
The guys had coopted one of the small communication rooms, and Cetan had the third chair, leaving her no place to sit. However, Shank quickly stood and offered her the seat. Curiosity won over any reluctance to steal Shank’s chair, and she sat. Complex schematics scrolled across the screens, and Allie struggled to make sense of the data as the computer worked to compile it. Honestly, she was only getting fragments and glimpses. One data stream offered her power-usage numbers, and it looked like the ship was running station normal, so that should mean all systems had power. Shank came and stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder.
“Is that what I think it is?” Cetan asked, tapping his finger on the glass of one monitor.
“A biolock,” Ben answered.
Allie groaned.Damn it.
“Well that’s going to complicate things. What’s your plan?” Cetan asked.
Ben leaned back in his chair. “SC has tech that can break that.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Allie blurted. All three men looked at her. “If you’re suggesting we steal SC equipment, I’m saying no right now. You two may have been raised to be suicidally brave, but that plan is suicidal without any hope of success, which is less brave and more stupid. And Ben, I expect sanity out of you.”
Ben shrugged. “I had to offer, although I agree with you. That means that we need to go with the second-best plan.”
