“Have you ever replaced a processing unit?” Kee asked. “I could use a hand, and these two are terrible at delicate, fiddly work.”
“Don’t fall for her rainbow hair and sunny smile,” Eli advised over his shoulder. “She is completely ruthless when it comes to her systems. Once, I made a tiny little mistake and she refused to talk to me for a week. A week! That’s like three lifetimes in Kee time.”
Eli’s mistake had taken out the navigation system. He hadn’t meant to, of course, but Kee had been furious—and worried. Without nav, our chance of finding our way out of deep space was basically nil. It had been a long week.
Kee sniffed. “That’s how long it took me to fix your mess. You deserved longer, but I couldn’t stand your sad eyes. And you made me apology cookies. You know I can’t resist cookies.”
“I’ve never replaced a processing unit, but I’m good with fiddly tasks because my job involves a lot of them.” Anja paused and looked back and forth between them. “But what kind of cookies? Just in case.”
“Snickerdoodle is my favorite, but I’ve never met a cookie I didn’t love. Eli made me chocolate chip, with the chocolate bar he’d been hoarding for two months. That’s when I knew he was really sorry.”
Eli plated the last of the eggs and joined them at the bar. “I was sorry. I told you that about a million times.”
Kee’s smile was gentle. “I know. But actions speak louder than words, and I was mad at you.”
The proximity chime cut off whatever Eli was going to say. “Show me,” I said, moving to the nearest screen.
Torran Fletcher had arrived without so much as a message of warning. As I watched, he climbed the cargo ramp, three Valoffs in full armor behind him, each of them pushing a levcart piled with supplies.
I growled under my breath.
“Problem?” Eli asked, his earlier playful mood wiped away, leaving the hard-faced soldier.
“Our guests have decided to arrive early and make themselves at home.” I waved him off when he would’ve left his breakfast. “I will go say hello. You stay here. If they murder me, avenge my death.”
“Not funny,” he said with a scowl.
“I’m kidding.” Mostly. I looked at Anja. “You okay here?”
When she nodded, I took my leave and used the short walk from the galley to the cargo bay to compose myself. I needed to be calm and cold and professional, even if Torran’s audacity made me furious. And I needed to practice my mental shielding.
By the time I made it through the hatch into the cargo bay, the Valoffs had the levcarts mostly unloaded. Torran carried boxes beside his soldiers, which surprised me. I expected him to stand and point. They had neatly stacked their supplies out of the way against the starboard wall. I considered making them move everything just for the hell of it, but such pettiness was beneath me.
Torran turned at my approach and inclined his head. “Captain.”
“General. Your comm must have failed to deliver the message that you planned to arrive early and board my ship without permission.”
His eyes narrowed. “We had an agreement.”
“The agreement doesn’t override common curtesy. Would you board a Valovian ship without informing the captain?”
“I apologize,” he said stiffly. “I should have warned you that I would arrive early to give my crew time to make another trip back to our ship. I was going to wait outside with the cargo, but with the ramp down, I thought you expected me.” He looked like the words tasted foul, but I didn’t detect any deceit.
The three soldiers with him finished unloading the levcarts and waited, unmoving. It was creepy as fuck because I couldn’t see their faces. I made an instant decision. “Ship dress code is civilian clothes. If your soldiers don’t have any, have them pick some up.”
Torran straightened, trying to use his height to intimidate me. “They are comfortable in armor.”
The top of my head might have come up only to his nose, but I was hard to intimidate. “Good for them. They’ll also be comfortable in civilian clothes. My ship, my rules.”
His mouth firmed into a flat line. When I didn’t budge, he nodded once, sharply. The three soldiers behind him moved at the same time, pushing the carts out of the cargo bay and down the ramp without a word.
“They will return with the rest of the gear and appropriate clothing. It will take them approximately thirty minutes.”
I desperately wanted to leave him standing in the cargo bay for the next half an hour, but he had agreed on the armor. I could also be civil. “Would you like to see your quarters while you wait?”
He stared at me for long enough that I thought he wasn’t going to respond, but finally he inclined his head in agreement. I waved for him to follow. It made me itch to have him at my back, but it was better to find out now if he was going to gut me where I stood.
We were nearly to our destination when I caught a flash of white out of the corner of my eye. I’d been keeping watch for Luna, but I hadn’t been careful enough.
“Luna, no!” Before I could turn and grab her, she froze, held in the air by an invisible force.
Chapter Five
Telekinetic. I assessed the threat with new eyes. Fighting a telekinetic Valoff one-on-one was a good way to die. I clutched the grip of the plas blade on my hip but didn’t draw it. “Let her go,” I demanded.
Luna, for her part, did not seem to mind the midair hover. She was a little above shoulder height, held by nothing but air and Torran’s power. She blinked sleepily at me and started to purr. It was all I could do not to snatch her out of the air, but I didn’t know exactly how his ability worked and I didn’t want to hurt her.
“How dare you,” Torran seethed. His eyes blazed with fury, and as I watched, the silver and teal expanded, bleeding through the darkness of his irises. I could feel the power roiling off him.
My nightmares had come to life in the hallway of my ship.
I drew my blade but didn’t activate it. I would fight for Luna, even if I was hopelessly outmatched. I poured energy into my mental shields. I would have one shot and if he sensed it, I was done.
Luna chirruped at him and cocked her head, her ears swiveling between the two of us. He met her eyes, and I got the distinct impression that they were communicating far better than I’d ever communicated with her.
Jealousy reared its ugly head. What if she liked him more because he could understand her? Hurt punched me in the stomach, but I kept my weapon hand steady.
“Are you okay?” Kee asked quietly, her voice coming through my comm implant.
“I don’t know,” I responded subvocally. “He’s telekinetic. Stay back for now. Relay the message.”
“Eli is around the corner behind you. He has a plas rifle. If shit goes down, duck to your right.”
I wouldn’t, not if it left Luna in the line of fire. But Kee knew that, as did Eli. They would compensate.
Slowly, the brilliant color drained from Torran’s eyes until his calm mask was back in place. Luna was gently lowered to the ground, then released. She looked between us, then leapt for my shoulder. Her familiar weight was almost enough to send me to my knees in gratitude.