His eyes crinkled slightly at the corners. “I would’ve thought that thing in the shower would’ve told you how much I want you.”
Her cheeks heated slightly. “I might owe you an apology for that. I truly didn’t mean to just walk into your chamber and seduce you.”
Talon gave her a wicked grin. “Oh, I didn’t mind. In fact, for a minute there I was pretty sure that I was just dreaming it was happening. It would not have been the first time that I dreamed it.”
She gawked at him, hope and joy lifting some of the despair away from her heart. “I wish we could stand here all day and talk to each other about this, but we can’t. We have to get moving.”
His head inclined forward and then affirmative gesture. “We do. Show me the way back to the ship so we can get this done.”
Done?
Until those who were trying to overthrow the Federation were removed from power and until the Gorlites were eradicated from the universe they had terrorized for so many centuries, this would never be done.
And even after that happened, it would still not be done. She would forever be wanted by the Federation, and so would he. They could go back to that planet that he had purchased along with his siblings and live outside of the Federation rule, but once they did that there would be no more flight for him.
That bothered her greatly.
Talon lived to fly, and she could not imagine him not being able to, or him ever being happy without a ship to guide through space.
There were shouts on the narrow roadway ahead of the alley. Jessica and Talon instinctively flattened themselves against the wall and then sidled down it, heading toward a shadowy L-shaped corner that might provide them more cover.
They had no sooner ducked into the cover provided by a large trash receptacle than bright lights flashed from the head of the alley, pointing toward the blind wall nearby and the walls of the buildings that formed the small alley.
A querulous voice cried out, “Capo! I saw her! I’m telling you, it is her! I saw them come from over there!”
More voices floated into the alley. Some were raised in jeers of derision. “Capo, you can’t believe a word that old-timer says! He’s been drinking too much wheat-fire!”
Talon’s fingers tapped on her arm, a signal they had worked out several months before when they needed silence but also to communicate. Three taps. That meant get ready to fire. Jessica’s hands slid her weapons from the holsters with slow and silent movements. Her entire body went rigid with tension, and her heartbeat first sped up and then slowed considerably as she forced herself to breathe and relax her muscles so that she would be ready to spring into action and would not be hampered by muscles too stiff to move.
The lights continued to probe into the alley. Jessica didn’t dare peek over the trash receptacle or around it for fear that her shadow or her hair would give her away. Instead, she directed her eyes toward the walls of the buildings beside them and watched the shadows move across the brightly lit walls.
Talon was doing the same thing. He didn’t move anything but his fingers. He spread four of them across her forearm and pressed down wiggling them a bit so that she could be sure of what he meant.
Four Capos in the alley, and who knew how many more on the street.
She should shoot that damn old man herself!
A great hue and cry went up. Someone screamed, “There she goes! And that alien with her! There! Off toward the tenth exit! They’re probably headed for the tubes!”
Jessica held her breath. She did not know who was pointing the Capo in the wrong direction, whether it was a friend trying to ensure her survival or just a citizen caught up in the excitement and seeing ghosts. It didn’t really matter either way. All that mattered was that the lights suddenly went off and the sound of heavy footsteps heading away from their hiding place rang out.
A door placed at the rear of the building and obviously used by whoever had to dump the trash opening. A familiar voice hissed, “Hurry, please! I had a friend distract them and point them in the other direction, but they won’t stay on the wrong track for long. You should know this.”
Talon went taut with tension, and she whispered, “Go. Selena is a friend.”
They dashed into the building and Selena, a tall and emaciated woman with deep-brown eyes and hair that had gone solid gray, whispered, “To the roof. They’re on the streets, and on the streets, they’ll stay. You’ll have to take the hard way.”
Talon balked. “How did you know we were in the alley?”
Selena’s eyes narrowed. “Did my man not get you what you asked for when you were waiting at the banquelle earlier? Do you think I don’t know everything that happens below?”
Jessica understood why Talon was so jumpy. It was hard to know who to trust. Yori had told them that the back of the resistance had been broken, and it seemed it had been but there were some who still went undetected.
Talon nodded, but his hands stayed very close to his weapons. Selena hissed again, “Go! We have risked our very lives for you this evening. Do not forget us.”
Jessica said, “You have risked far too much far too often for me to forget you, Selena.”
They took the stairs, treading as softly as possible. Jessica’s hands found the latch for the roof, and they stepped out on it as she closed the latch. A volley of voices and what sounded like weapon fire made them drop to their bellies and crawl to the edge of the roof so they could peer down.
