Kane saluted the wreckage. “May she rest in peace.”
“More like pieces,” Doran quipped. “How many shuttles have you wrecked now?”
“Two. Both times saving your pretty carcass.”
“My pretty carcass thanks you.”
“Me too.” Solara strode around her boyfriend to give Kane a peck on the cheek. “By the way, we have a lot to tell you. You’re not going to believe what we found out at the settlement.”
After the events of today, Kane would believe just about anything. But before they went any further, they had to figure out who was feeding information to Fleece. He noticed that Arabelle hadn’t joined them. “Where’s Arabelle?”
Renny glanced toward the Banshee. “She’s lying down with a headache. I think coming close to Fleece really shook her up.”
Right, Kane thought. Or maybe she’s the one who tipped him off.
The look Doran delivered said he agreed.
“Now for the hard part,” Renny said, eyes smiling behind his glasses. “Telling General Jordan you ruined one of his toys.”
By the next morning, the scent of scorched earth had faded enough for Cassia to detect more pleasant notes in the air, like lemongrass and pine, but nothing could erase the ringing in her ears from the blast. She faced the rising sun and tried to focus instead on its warmth. She would miss this when the Banshee departed and her only source of heat came from a UV bulb designed to prevent transport madness.
“Ready to go?” Kane asked from the Banshee’s boarding ramp. He peered at her above the crate he carried, the last of the local cargo Renny had contracted to deliver. “After I strap this down, it’s time for liftoff.”
For the hundredth time, she searched his mannerisms for a hint of guilt or a trace of duplicity, anything to confirm that Jordan’s accusations might be true. But he moved with the same easy gait as always.
“What?” he asked when he caught her staring.
“Nothing.” She thumbed at the Eturian cruiser. “Give me a minute to say good-bye.”
“Make it quick.”
Turning her back to the sun, she faced the pasture where the crew had met last night to discuss what Doran and Solara had found at the settlement. The infected settlers had suffered identical symptoms to those on Eturia, and like Kane’s mother, many of them had worsened and then abruptly bounced back. But in a strange twist, all of them had vanished on the same night—fifty men and women gone with no sign of a struggle. It was as though they’d teleported from their beds into an alternate dimension.
The group had decided the Banshee would continue to New Atlantia to investigate another outbreak while Jordan and his soldiers returned to Eturia to delve deeper into Marius’s partnership with the mafia…or at least that was what Cassia had claimed. In truth, Jordan was returning home to plan a rebel sting. She’d chosen not to share that information with Kane for reasons she refused to examine too closely.
“There you are,” Jordan called to her from the top of the boarding ramp. He descended the ramp and met her at the base. “I was about to come find you.”
“How’s the, uh…” She pointed at his lower abdomen, trying not to think about the tense moment that had passed between them when she’d bandaged it.
He lifted his shirt hem. All that remained of the gash was a thin pink scar. “Good as new. You’re a queen of many talents.”
“Hey, wrap it up,” Kane hollered from the Banshee’s open cargo hold. He flashed both palms when Cassia glared at him. “Don’t shoot the messenger. Renny said it’s time to lift off.” He gave Jordan a fake salute. “General, I can’t tell you how sad I am to see you go. Sorry about your Hypersonic Deluxe. No hard feelings, right?”
Jordan groaned and muttered something under his breath.
“Sorry,” Cassia whispered. “I know he can be grating, but—”
“But deep down he’s a great guy?”
“Well, usually, yes.”
Jordan backed up the ramp. He didn’t say anything more, but he used his gaze to send a silent message that she should remember his warning.
She nodded in a silent reply.
As if she could forget.
Several hours later, she left her quarters to make a pot of coffee. She found it odd that she didn’t pass anyone in the hallway, but she didn’t think much about it until she reached the galley and glanced up at the wall’s clock display. There were several throughout the ship, each showing the time, date, and current coordinates. According to this one, the ship was traveling away from New Atlantia instead of toward it.
She climbed the stairs to the pilothouse, expecting to find Renny, but she stopped short when she discovered the whole crew inside, even Arabelle, who seemed to have warmed up to the captain, judging by her position atop his knee. Kane occupied the copilot’s chair, and Doran and Solara sat on the floor with their backs against the wall.