For once, Mace was glad of the insult. It meant he wasn’t a vindictive sociopath like Foley. And it also meant Foley hadn’t gone off to find Nia. Whether or not Justice told Foley about Nia’s lineage, the only people who knew she was on board were Spiro and Betel, and they’d stab themselves before betraying him. As long as Mace didn’t contact her, then she’d stay safe.
With an irreverent salute, Mace turned on his heel and strode toward the lift.
Nia would be gone from the ship soon, Foley none the wiser.
Chapter thirty-nine
Shewasreturninghome.The truth should have been exhilarating, but the sick feeling in Nia’s stomach hadn’t dissipated since she’d woke.
Mace’s quarters were empty. He’d left without saying goodbye. Her heart cracked and wouldn’t stop throbbing in pain. He’d told her everything he needed to say last night. He’d said he loved her.
When the sob passed her lips, she pressed them tight together.I’m not going to cry.
She’d already dressed in the generic civilian uniform she’d received from the processor. An alien sensation infused her as she stared at her reflection in the digital mirror she’d found in one of the wall compartments. The garment was mostly gray but had blue trim, the same blue worn by warriors and technical personnel.
On a weary sigh, she took the palette she’d been given, and sat on the bed with her spine pressed against the bulkhead, knees bent. Ship updates scrolled across the top, but none that told her where Mace was or what he was doing.
At the bottom of the screen were Tellusian newsreels. Most were about what happened onOrion, the death toll, the missing persons, if there was hope of the station being returned to Tellusian control. It all made her heart beat an uncomfortable rhythm in her chest.
A while later, a message appeared on the screen:Your registered transport leaves in thirty minutes. Confirm your seat.
Below the “confirm” icon was a “delay ticket” option. Below the delay icon was a list of four other transports. Nia’s fingers hovered over the screen. Mace had told her to get on the first transport. But the next one wasn’t much of a wait, only thirty minutes.
The thought of leaving now, of stepping on a transport and never seeing Mace again…she swallowed against the lump in her throat. Maybe he would come back here one more time.
She pressed the “delay” icon, choosing the next transport, and hadn’t moved from her spot when its reminder appeared on her screen thirty minutes later.
She pressed the delay icon again.
It wasn’t until there was only one transport remaining that she finally left Mace’s quarters.
Throughout the entire planning session, Mace felt Cache’s knife-like gaze cut through him. The schematic ofOrionlay between them, but the distance might as well have been a crater. With her every movement, she restrained herself from doing him physical harm, and probably would have attacked if they’d been alone—because she’d have to answer for Justice’s death as much as him.
Six other infiltration team members surrounded the briefing room holotable. Grey, Betel, and Spiro stood to his left, the three techies on the right. Taking non-warriors on this mission tripled the chance of failure, but he understood they needed them if they were to unlockOrion’ssystems. He didn’t have to like it.
Mouse had been on an op before, but the other two were green. Mouse had earned his name because of his huge eyes. They almost gave him the look of someone of lower intelligence. Until you had a conversation with the guy—his brain operated at a level not attained by the average population.
Newton specialized in hardware. Mace had never worked with him before but knew him from the bridge. He had short curly black hair and his Adam’s apple bobbed every other minute when he swallowed.
Callista was the last of the tech team, a software genius new toOrion.He’d heard her name a few times since she’d arrived, all compliments. Her honey brown hair was tied at her neck, and she kept her head bent.
When Cache’s gaze flicked to him, her eyes narrowed. He met her stare straight on, unapologetic. Anything else would show weakness, and he couldn’t afford that right now.
Because Nia was never far from his thoughts.She should already be gone.His stomach squeezed, and he resisted the urge to make sure she’d taken her transport. He didn’t want to leave a trail to her now she was safe. With Foley’s resources, Mace had even more reason to keep his distance—no matter how much it pained him to do so.
Cache broke his gaze, leaning forward to brace her hands on the surface of the holotable. He focused on what the techie, Callista, was saying. This wasn’t the time for him and Cache to be unaligned. The only thing he should be focused on right now was liberatingOrionfrom the CORE.
They solidified the plan, then went over it again. They changed the plan, then scrapped the plan and started over again.
“Commander.” Cache’s biting voice made him lift his head. She’d obviously asked him something and his mind had drifted.
The mission. He had to concentrate on the mission. If he let anything else distract him, they’d all get killed.
Heart aching with each step, Nia followed the map of thePhalanxon her palette to the transport hangar. The farther she traveled the corridor, the more people she encountered.
She kept telling herself she wasn’t safe here to make her feet move.
Following a crowd, she stepped into the hangar. Tension crept from her shoulders to her ears. The place was packed from bulkhead to bulkhead.
