“But I do. You’re one of the specialists. I’ve been on SC ships long enough to know the type.”
“Specialists?” Shank asked before Allie had a chance to ask the same thing.
Ben nodded, and his captor didn’t seem quick to stop him from explaining. “One-man teams. They’ll take suicide missions without blinking, and half the time, they come back despite impossible odds.”
“We’re well trained,” the man said. “But the offer is an honest one. You toss me in the brig, but if we encounter any bats, you give me your word that I will have a chance to explain you’re all suicidal idiots who formed an unhealthy attachment to a couple of misfit crewmates. Otherwise, we can’t risk you heading into bat territory.” He gave them a predatory grin. “We would kill you all now, but our superiors seem to believe that the bats will see a potential rescue as a sign of good mental health from humans. Right now, they seem to have formed a rather poor impression of us.”
“Imagine that,” Shank said drily. “Not that they’ve made a great impression on humanity.”
Ben looked over his shoulder again, and then he was turning. The SC specialist didn’t stop him, and Ben turned all the way around until Allie could see his hands cuffed behind his back. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“A lot,” the man answered. “And trust me, that won’t change.” He stepped to the side so he was completely exposed and showed both his hands. “You’re welcome to search me, but I honestly did not bring weapons despite what Aluino is going to tell you.”
Ben snorted. “I’m going to tell them to never trust an SC operative. They’re ten times more dangerous than a pirate and only half as sane.”
“We are. How do you want to do this?”
Allie raised her gun. “You’re assuming we’re going to agree to your terms.”
“Yep, I am,” he said. “I have a psychological profile that says you guys aren’t actually suicidal, so you have to play by SC rules or prove that profile wrong, and we have very good profilers.”
Allie looked at Shank and then at Ben. Ben shrugged. “He’s right. We take him, or we give up on this whole plan. We can slip past Command but not Security Central ships.”
Shank pressed his lips together tightly, but he didn’t have anything to say.
“What do we call you?” Allie asked.
The guy slowly lowered his hands while keeping them away from his body and any potential weaponry. “That SC guy. Hey, you. Specialist. Hostage... I pretty much answer to anything.”
“Hey, you,” Allie said, not bothering to hide her annoyance, “uncuff Ben, and then turn around and put your hands flat against the door.”
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am,” he answered. He slowly pulled a key out of his pocket and moved toward Ben and unlocked one side of the cuffs before handing Ben the key and letting him unlock the other side. Then he turned and put his hands against the wall. “That distraction of yours isn’t going to last forever, and the SC would rather hide its involvement in this mission, so we should probably get out of here before theMonitortries to retake the ship.”
“Ben?” Allie asked.
“It’s a good plan,” he agreed. He started frisking their new prisoner. “Get moving. I’ve got this.”
“I should prep for launch,” Allie said.
Shank nodded at her. “Go. Ben and I will finish here. Take Becca and Copta into the ship, and be ready the second we get on board.”
Allie turned and nearly walked into Becca. The woman stood there, her gaze on Ben and her eyes shining like she had just finished crying or she might start any second. “Hey,” Allie said softly, “he’s coming with us. However, if we don’t get that ship prepped, this is going to be the world’s shortest rescue attempt when Claire’s friends retake the ship and space us.”
“Yeah.” Becca cleared her throat. “Yeah, we need to go.” She gave Ben one more look, and then they were hurrying toward the end of the corridor.
Copta stood guard on a supply closet at the end, and Allie nodded toward her. “Open it.”
“You sure?” Copta asked.
“Yeah. I just need to say something.”
Copta gave her an odd look, but she unlocked the door. Inside, Claire and the two guards were tied tightly and laid out on the floor. Ropes led from their feet to the shelves that were bolted to the steel walls, and from the shelves on the other side of the room to their hands, which were all bound behind their backs. It meant they had very little room to wiggle around.
Claire looked up. “You are dead,” she said, her voice flat.
“Maybe, but you won’t be the one to kill me,” Allie said. “Don’t come into the hangar, because we will override the safeties and space you rather than stop, so if you get free, you run back to theMonitor. And you don’t ever come near Shank again.”
Claire chuckled, a truly nasty sound. “He’s not as loyal as you think.”
