Aiden laughed, the sound deep and free and reverberating through Darren. It caressed Darren’s soul, chasing away some of that anxiety still lingering within him. “I think you are right about that, but I could give the underwear a go,” Aiden agreed, unbuttoning his wrinkled shirt. “I confess, I’ve been a little curious since you bought the red pair.”
After putting Darren’s black shirt on, Aiden did a quick job of taking his pants off and changing from his briefs into the black thong. He let Darren grope him just once, chuckling when Darren let out an appreciative and slightly restrained groan.
“You look so sexy,” Darren said, trying to force his semi down as they headed for the elevator.
Aiden cocked an eyebrow, amusement dancing in his eyes. “I suppose I can see the appeal,” he said, giving his voice a sultry drawl.
Darren huffed a laugh. A ship-wide shudder made them stumble as the doors slid closed, but they both managed to retain their balance.
“Things are about to get a bit wild, guys, so make sure you’re either on the bridge in the next minute, or get secured!”Bea announced over the ship-wide comms.
Thirty seconds later, they were in the cockpit with her just in time to watch her maneuver the Maine through a formation of massive rocks with sharp sections protruding out of them. Her ability to stay calm and focused was just as impressive as her expertise when it came to most things ship-related, and Darren left her to her piloting, herding Aiden to the mess hall. As it was technically a sectioned-off part of the bridge, the suspension and stabilizing systems ensured it would be a safe assembly point, even if the flying conditions were unfavorable.
“Hey, Aiden. Darren,” Rick greeted them, looking up from whatever he was doing on his phone. Trying to figure out where they had to go from here, if Darren had to guess.
Nyle lifted his gaze from his tablet in a greeting, but otherwise didn’t say anything, so Darren made coffee for himself and Aiden and didn’t bother the other two men. By the time they finished drinking it, the Maine emerged from the debris field and entered the tunnel leading to the hideout’s hangar.
“Hey, Nyle. Any idea what these readings I’m seeing are?” Bea said through the speakers as the ship came to a stop, sounding a little confused.
“Which ones?” Nyle asked, frowning.
“Ship diagnostics. I can see a spike in power consumption by the engine subsystem… CL-00. That’s the cooling. I had Rick run some checks for me, but those came out normal…”
“I thought you and Kristen already changed the old cooling bracket?” Nyle said, fingers flying over menus on his tablet.
“We did. If you check the data on the way to Mars, things were fine,” Bea explained, joining them in the mess hall. “Look.” She shoved her tablet in Nyle’s face. “We did have the ship in orbit for quite a while, though… I wonder if that has something to do with it and the bracket system needs recalibrating. I’ll try a restart.”
Nyle nodded, rubbing his forehead. “Sure. Let me know if you need help.”
“I’m sure I can handle a few diagnostics and troubleshooting myself,” she snorted, swatting him on the back. “It’s probably just a glitch. Anyhow, you boys can head off. I’ll stay behind and go through the damage report.”
Sighing like an old man, Nyle uncrossed his legs and hopped down from the sofa. He started to stretch, but a wide yawn halted him. It spread to Rick and Aiden and made Darren fight off one of his own.
“Nyle, when was the last time you slept?” Darren asked as all of them headed for the main elevator.
“Yes,” Nyle clipped, not looking him in the eyes. When Darren nudged him with an elbow, he shrugged. “I don’t know. Two days ago?”
“Try three, baby angel,” Bea generously supplied, earning herself a scowl. “You need to rest.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll rest when I’m dea—Oh shit.” Nyle stopped dead in his tracks in front of the elevator, causing Aiden to crash into him. Darren reached out automatically, grabbing Aiden’s forearm to steady him as Nyle spun around with his eyes wide and shining. “Shit, guys. George sent a reply,” he said, holding up his tablet as a grin stretched his lips.
Darren’s heartbeat quickened, excitement tingling just under his skin. George was supposedly one of Liu’s associates.A person who could help them fight Marcus.“You’re sure he’s the real deal?”
Nyle held the tablet to his chest, and they boarded the elevator, leaving Bea to deal with the remaining ship checks. “As sure as I can be without actually meeting him. The tracking software I embedded in the message has come back with one of those ‘ghost’ coordinates, but I’m not surprised. Like us, he probably doesn’t want his whereabouts to be known.”
With how Marcus had gone after Liu when he’d found out the billionaire was helping Darren, it made sense. Most of the people on the list Darren had were already dead, and he didn’t blame the few remaining for keeping low. It was the only way to avoid putting a target on their backs.
“What did he say?” Aiden asked, beating Darren to it.
“Hmm, he’s asked me a few things. I’m about to do the same. We are… feeling each other out,” Nyle trailed off, tapping his fingers against the wall. “He wants to know if I’m legit, just like I want to know if he is,” he mumbled to himself, lost in thought.
They reached the airlock and it opened with a low hiss. Stepping out, Darren noticed Kristen was waiting for them by the cargo racks at the ramp’s base. He wore a tight expression, worry pouring off him.
“Welcome back,” he said, looking between them. “I’m glad you are okay.”
So was Darren, but that didn’t change the reality of their failed mission. They needed to figure out what they were going to do, how they were going to fight Marcus. It was only a matter of time before he realized why they’d infiltrated his vault and when that happened, they would no longer have an advantage.
“Everyone. War room in five,” Darren said, tapping his earpiece so Bea could hear him too.
