“Problems?” Zeke sounded suspicious, which made perfect sense.
“Were you or were you not all irradiated when Captain Letty set off nuclear ordnance while theCandiruwas on-planet? If you start having children, that’s going to pose a problem. And even if you don’t want kids, in ten or twenty years, your body is going to start showing the signs of wear and tear. Ulcers, tumors, chronic hepatic fibrosis, reduced vision, peripheral artery claudication. Do you want me to go on with the possible symptoms?”
When Copta grabbed her hand and squeezed it so hard Allie’s fingers ached, Allie flinched.
“And you have a solution?” Zeke demanded.
Commander Jasper shrugged. “A little regenerate won’t fix all that, but a few trips through a genetic resequencer might. I could be persuaded to set you all up with SC doctors who could undo the damage.”
“In return for what?”
Allie’s eyes watered as Copta squeezed unmercifully.
“Join SC.” Commander Jasper grinned like he had just told the best joke in the world. Allie stared at him. Jacqs brought his gun halfway up, and Shank shifted so his body was between Allie and the ship.
Okay, this was an unexpected twist.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jasper stretched outhis legs and propped his prosthetic arm on the table. “Nice place, isn’t it? The politician who ordered this baby wanted the best of everything.” He patted the conference table, and Allie had to admit it was incredible, with embedded holoprojectors and top-notch materials.
“And you confiscated his ship and executed him,” Zeke guessed. Allie was glad someone pointed that out, because she was trying hard not to jump in with both feet before understanding the situation.
“Someone did,” Jasper said without any sympathy. “We might have made sure that particular someone was in the right place at the right time. There are some crimes that cannot be forgiven, and a parent’s love is better justice than a court you can bribe.”
“So you arranged the death but kept your hands clean,” Ben said. “That’s a pretty standard procedure for SC. Assassinations and spying are the nice jobs they take. It gets far messier than that.”
“True,” Jasper said. He looked over to the SC man they’d taken captive. “Not that you seem to be above roughing someone up. Are you okay?”
The guy nodded. “They weren’t even putting their hearts into it. I’ve gotten worse training—literally.”
“Okay then. What alias are you using now?” Jasper asked.
The guy seemed to think for a second, and then he glanced in Allie’s direction. “How about Heyoo?”
Allie could not keep her mouth shut anymore. “Heyoo as in ‘Hey, you’? Are you serious?”
