Aletta pushed against Gark’s arm, trying to get around him as she snarled at A’Kar, but he held her back. “They’re people! They matter. You can’t just kidnap women.”
A’Kar snorted and smirked.
Something in Aletta snapped at his indifference. “You fucker! If they mean nothing to you, then why take them? Give them back!”
Gark broke his silence. “The Alliance is selling them.”
CHAPTER 6
GARK
“Do you believe him?” Vox asked, after they’d locked A’Kar into a cell in the brig.
“Some of it, yes. Not all.”
After the confrontation in the mess, they’d taken A’Kar to the brig and then searched his room. He’d been particularly sloppy, with instructions on his datapad that anyone could read. It seems the Alliance knew about Gark’s job and what he was trying to find, and had sent A’Kar to get it.
Vox joined him as they walked back to the mess. “He’s been with us for what, two jobs?”
Gark nodded. During his first job, A’Kar’s performance had been adequate. Nothing had stood out to Gark as a problem, but…
“Something changed, though,” Vox said.
They’d stopped on Irith’s Moons, where the crew had been given leave, and A’Kar had come back to the ship with a nervous kind of energy. Gark had chalked it up to excitement for their next job.
“He knew more about this job than he should have.” Gark frowned, considering what A’Kar had admitted. “And about the human women being abducted. I can’t trust him.”
They paused outside the mess.
“Are you going to mention this to your contact?” Vox asked, leaning against the wall in a slouch.
Gark nodded. “I’ll have to. They have a leak, and it almost cost me this ship.”
He shook his head, remembering the lucky hit from the Alliance ship that had disabled their engines. It was a good thing Arik was such a good mechanic.
“That’s what you get for working with the Taurean government, hey?” Vox pushed off the wall. He tilted his head toward the mess door. “Is she going to be a problem?”
Gark snorted. “Almost certainly.” He sobered. “But she’s caught up in this through no fault of her own.”
Vox didn’t reply, just lifted an eyebrow.
“What?” He didn’t like that look. That was the look that usually came before Vox landed a blow that Gark spent the next week thinking about.
“You do like to play the hero.”
Gark frowned. “I’m just doing the right thing.”
Vox nodded, his usual joking attitude gone. “Just make sure this time it doesn’t cost you more than you’re prepared to pay.”
Gark turned away and entered the mess, the doors opening to reveal Aletta curled up in the corner of the booth where he’d left her, and Klath leaning against the counter. A good distance from his mate, he noted with a nod.
One of the crew had brought Aletta a blanket, and she was wrapped up with it around her shoulders. He sniffed the air, frowning at the scent of Klath mingled with that of his mate.
Heshould have thought of her comfort.
Heshould have brought her the blanket.
He hated the idea of another male near his mate.
