The guard slid Renny a glare, which he ignored.
“Right before Captain Forrester was attacked, he overheard a conversation outside the infirmary. You’ll never guess where Fleece told the workers he was taking them.”
“Bet it wasn’t Narnia,” Solara quipped.
“You’re closer than you think,” Renny said. “Both are mythical lands no one’s seen.”
“Middle Earth?”
“Better.” Renny paused for dramatic effect. “Adel Vice.”
It took a moment for Cassia to recall where she’d heard that name. Then it clicked. Adel Vice had been written on the scrap of paper the ferret had left behind on the black market satellite. “Then it’s a location, not a flower?”
“So it would seem.”
“Did the workers say anything else?” Kane asked. “Like what planet it’s on? Or what they’re supposed to do there?”
Renny shook his head. “That’s the last thing Forrester heard before…” He trailed off with a glance at the guard’s bandaged neck.
“Still, this is huge,” Doran said. “Now that we know Adel Vice is a place, we can start putting out feelers.”
Cassia agreed. This information changed everything. “I’ll call Jordan and have him alert the tech team. Someone has to know where it is.”
“And what the mafia wants with all those people,” Renny added. “Speaking of which, we should head out soon. I don’t want Fleece coming back to finish what he started.”
The crew had no arguments there. They said their good-byes to Captain Forrester, who gave Cassia’s hand an extra squeeze when he shook it. She kissed her index finger and gently touched it to the man’s bandages, then left the infirmary with more spring in her step than she’d felt in at least a month.
She found the Banshee docked outside the merchant dome with its boarding ramp already lowered and ready for departure. Eager to tell Jordan what she’d learned, she jogged up the ramp but skidded to a halt the instant she reached the cargo hold and slammed into an invisible wall of fish.
She waved a hand in front of her nostrils and noticed Acorn scurrying from one storage crate to another, her tiny pink nose twitching furiously as she investigated the pungent new cargo. “Does the whole ship smell like this?”
The rest of the crew had the same reaction, each stopping short when they reached the top of the ramp.
“I didn’t think anything could smell worse than Doran’s burnt porridge,” Solara said. “I stand corrected.”
“Really?” Doran asked. “We’re still talking about that?”
Renny strolled into the cargo bay, the only person not cringing. Either his nose had died or else he really loved tuna. “Relax. I already found a buyer.”
“A close buyer?” Cassia asked.
“Very close. Only two days away.” From behind his glasses, his blue eyes twinkled. “You might’ve heard of the place—a little colony by the name of Pesirus.”
Cassia gasped. “Don’t play with my heart, Captain.” Pesirus was her mecca. Hellberry wine was made there from berries grown in bioluminescent bogs.
“It’s no joke. I think we can afford an hour or two, provided you lie low”—he slid her a glance, chuckling—“and history doesn’t repeat itself.”
She felt the color rise in her face while Doran and Solara snorted with laughter. Much like the topic of Doran’s burnt porridge, the crew loved regurgitating the tale of her infamous first visit to the hellberry festival, where she and Kane had overindulged on wine and woken up on the lawn of First Pesirus Presbyterian wearing nothing but grass clippings. That night had changed everything. They’d risked their friendship by sharing a first kiss. Maybe a grope, too. It was hard to remember.
But Kane didn’t smile, or even blush, when he walked on board. Without a word, he strode past them and continued up the stairs, reminding Cassia there was something more important to discuss before her call with the general.
She followed him to the residential level but made a detour to the washroom to retrieve something special before joining him in their quarters. When she shut the door behind her, he glanced expectantly at her from his seat on the lower bunk.
“You know why I’m here,” she said, lingering at the door because apologies never came easily. Especially not this one. “I’m sorry for doubting you. I didn’t mean it.”
“Are you sure? It sounded like you meant it.”
“I’m sure. My brain might’ve lapsed, but in my heart I knew you would never spy on me.” She left the safety of the door and took the spot beside him on the cot, facing him with one leg curled beneath her. “And I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I know.” His voice carried an unspoken but…
“But I did anyway.”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t take back what I said, but I can give you a token of my sincerity.” She placed her pink laser blade on the cot between them. “If this doesn’t prove I’m sorry, nothing will.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “Mine to keep?”