GARK
It was on the third day, when they reached the place where Gark had decided to ambush the slaver’s ship. Finding the already limping slave transport had been shockingly easy. Too easy, in fact.
Gark ran a hand over his face, attempting to blink away the fatigue that had plagued him for the last few days.
But Gark didn’t have the luxury of time to rest.
He drummed his fingers against the armrest of his chair on the bridge, watching as they gained on the transport.
Arik’s voice came over the comm. “Boss?”
“Go ahead, Arik.”
“I think they’ve disabled the engines on purpose,” he said over the comm from engineering.
Gark scowled. It made no sense. If you were transporting illegal cargo, you’d want to do it quickly. He watched as The Lady pulled closer to the transport.
A second, smaller vessel—the one Oren had tracked on its way to intercept the slave ship—detached from the transport and sped away from them.
Vox cursed. “Do we chase them?”
Gark frowned. There was something here he was missing.
“Not yet. Scan both vessels,” he ordered.
A few moments later, Klath spoke. “There are six lifesigns on the smaller vessel. There are 18 on the transport, all human.
Gark barked out a laugh, looking up at the ceiling. He thanked the Lady that Aletta wasn’t on the bridge to hear that. He needed everyone to be level-headed, and with every passing day, he found it harder and harder to maintain the control he’d cultivated his entire life. He’d heard rumors of Gnaggarian mates that had gone mad from an unreciprocated bond.
He was starting to think it was true.
“Klath, you’re coming with us on this one. We may need you sooner than we thought.” He stood from the captain’s chair. “Arik?”
“Yes, captain?”
“You’re in as well. We’ll struggle to fit that many passengers on The Lady. See if you can get that transport’s engines going.”
“I’ll do what I can.” The big mechanic disconnected the comm.
He felt Aletta’s presence before he heard her voice.
“What can I do?”
He closed his eyes, steeling himself with a deep breath, then opened them and turned to see her standing in the open doorway. “How much did you hear?”
The grim expression on her face told him all he needed to know, but she answered anyway. “All of it.”
He didn’t want her to come on the mission. The thought of all the things that could go wrong, that could get her hurt, made him break out in a sweat. But Lady knew he’d be hard-pressed to keep her out of it. Not with her sister involved. He stepped toward her, hands rising as if to touch her. He forced them down to his sides. She’d made it clear she didn’t want him as a mate. He wasn’t going to torture himself, any more than he could help, anyway.
“If I ask you to stay here, will you listen?”
“No.”
“If I order you to stay here?—“
She snorted and shook her head. “No.”
“If I?—“
