Taking Command (8 page)

“Come here.” He held out his hand.

Shon approached, sliding her palm into his.

Tarik shifted her to stand in front of him, banding one around her waist and pulling her back flush against his chest. His other hand covered hers as he guided their joined fingers over the console. Together, they piloted BioOne, making slight shifts in her trajectory.

Shon glanced up as the dome vanished and the endless blackness of space surrounded them. In the far off distance, vivid colors swirled. “Is that the Rincon?” Just saying the words had adrenaline flowing through her veins.

Tarik chuckled. “No, just a distant system. But don’t worry. I’ve navigated the Rincon. There’s no reason to be scared.”

“I’m not.”

“I can feel you trembling.”

She was trembling, but not from fear of the Rincon. Not to say she wasn’t terrified to navigate through the impossible. But Tarik, being wrapped in his strong, capable arms, unsettled her in ways she’d never been before. A need, sharp and intense, drilled into the core of who she was. With the whole of her being, she knew she belonged with this man. Not for sex, although she would hate never experiencing his touch, kiss, or the way his cock slid deep into her pussy again.

“What happens once we’re in the Rincon?” she asked to help distract herself from her thoughts. For her whole career, she’d searched for a purpose. Perhaps she’d finally found one in Tarik, BioOne, and exposing the Tri’Neith for their treachery.

“We’ll meet up with Jone Morry and the others who fight against the Tri’Neith. We have BioOne, but our grievances run deep. People want to trust their government. But few know what is really happening. Those, like me and my associates, are quickly eliminated when discovered. But we have men on the inside. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to get to BioOne.”

Men like Darcolm.
He could be just such an asset to Tarik. She nodded, but what she really wanted to know was if there was a place for her in his group, a place for her with him. “You’ll always fight?”

“Yes.”

Emotion welled in her throat. Of course, he would. Tarik was a man of honor. Strange that, in such a short period of time, she could go from believing him to be a space pirate to wanting to stand by his side to fight the Tri’Neith. She stepped out of his arms and walked toward the edge of the dome, staring at the red, purple, and green swirling maelstrom in the distance. “What will you do with BioOne?”

When he didn’t answer, she turned to him.

Tarik’s mouth pulled into a tight line, and his jaw ticked. “Some in my group would use her the same way the Tri’Neith would. That’s why there are those on both sides who think she should be destroyed.”

Shon cocked her head to the side. “One ship becomes two. Does BioOne reproduce? Is there a chance that BioOne could fail to follow your commands and organize missions on her own? One ship, as she now is, can be controlled. What happens when there are more like BioOne? She’s sentient so wouldn’t that make the ships a race, a species capable of determining their own future? How would you or anyone else stop a fully mature, fully sentient ship?”

Tarik ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know.”

Shon raised a brow. “You don’t know? Tarik, if not you, who? You created her. Both of us can hear her in our thoughts. How far is her reach?” Shon covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, my god.” She finally realized the full power and danger of the ship. The ship could end all wars…or begin a new era of unrest that could stretch across the galaxy.

Shon ran her hand along the wall. Heat seeped into her palm. BioOne was alive. “You can’t destroy her.” Tears burned behind her eyes. “But you can’t truly command her.”

“She’s only a weapon in the wrong hands. That is why I’m on my own. I’ll regroup with Morry and the others, but I won’t be staying. I created her. Now I have to protect her.”

Bile rose into Shon’s throat. She could feel the weight of his words, the reason he risked his life for BioOne. It was why he trusted no one, not even himself. “How long before we reach the Rincon?” How long did she have with him before he left her?

“Not long. A few hours until we reach the edge of the nebula.”

Not long enough. She didn’t doubt they’d make it safely to the Rincon. No doubt, Darcolm had seen to that. And she didn’t doubt Tarik’s piloting skills to see them safely through. How would she be able to convince him that he needed her, that he could trust her when she had to confess she’d already gone against his explicit instructions?

Steeling her nerves and ready to defend her reasoning, she took a deep steadying breath and turned to him. She crossed her arms over her chest, raised her chin, and met his gaze directly. “I need to tell you something, but I need you to understand that I’m fighting with you, not against you.” She took a step closer. “It’s crazy for me, too, but so much as happened since I decided to sneak aboard this ship. I knew there was a story here. But I promise, I’m convinced. When the time is right, and that day may never come, we will expose the truth behind BioOne. I get it. Knowing might cause more risk to BioOne than letting her exist somewhere no one will ever look for her.” Shon took a deep breath. “You said yourself, we have to protect BioOne at all cost. Even if that means risking our lives.”

“
My
life. You didn’t ask to be part of this.”

“I’m asking now.”

“Shon, you don’t know what you’re asking for.” He approached and rested his hands on her shoulders. “You’re my hostage.” He gently kissed her lips, and a piece of her heart became his. He was a good man, and he deserved more than a life on the run.

“I’m your guest.”

“No one knows you’re aboard. You can go back—”

“Yes, they do.” She licked her suddenly dry lips and spoke the words she should have told him hours ago. “BioOne secured a channel in the captain’s quarters. I understand now why you don’t trust people, but Darcolm is careful. We can trust him.”

Tarik’s hold tightened. “You made outside contact?”

“I did what I felt what was necessary. BioOne agreed or she wouldn’t have provided a secure channel for me to make contact with Darcolm or give our location. I wouldn’t have been able to tell him how to help. BioOne relayed the information. Now we can safely make it to the Rincon, but then it’s all up to you.”

“How long ago?”

“Hours. Right after I left the bridge.”

Tarik pushed her away. His palms glided over the console. “Full control to the captain.”

“Tarik, we never would have made it without help. He’s in the government, but I swear, he’s not Tri’Neith. He’s always known I was aboard this ship. Before we left Etan, I had been in contact with him. I don’t know for sure, but I believe BioOne is still in communication with him. Is BioOne communicating with you?”

“BioOne, override all self-commands. Sever all outside communication. Full containment.” The dome became solid again. Tarik turned, lips pulled into a sneer. “I’d tell you to get off my bridge, but I don’t trust you anywhere on the ship without an escort.”

Uneasiness swirled in her belly, and her chest tightened. She’d known he’d be upset, but he wasn’t alone with BioOne. She was just as involved. No, not by design, but by fate. Fine, if she couldn’t change his mind, whether he wanted her help or not, he was getting it. “You don’t trust me? I can live with that, because I trust you, and I trust in BioOne. And like you, I trust my instincts.”

“Do your instincts tell you we’re heading into a fucking trap? Because mine are blaring red alerts.” He pivoted away from her. “Continuous sweeps,” he instructed BioOne. “So much as a dust particle flutters wrong, we fire on it and take evasive measures.”

“You’re wrong about Darcolm, Tarik. But if you believe we’re going to be intercepted before we reach the Rincon, find another way in.”

“I don’t know when…or where we’ll be intercepted. But there is only one way into the Rincon. Do I make a run for it, possibly be intercepted on route?” His hands glided over the console, and his gaze searched the monitors. “Or have we already been detected?”

“If we’d been detected, we’d already be captured or dead.” Neither unacceptable outcome appealed to her. Both meant she’d lose Tarik, and BioOne would again be under Tri’Neith control.

“I’m not the only man they’re after. I could be leading Tri’Neith destroyers through the Rincon. The government would be able to destroy the rebellion. BioOne is our best weapon. Not only would they have her back, but they would destroy all opposition in the region and beyond.”

She carefully approached. Although Tarik made sense, she didn’t regret her decision to contact Darcolm. When she told him they were going to the Rincon, panic had filled his voice. He’d wanted her to stall, to keep Tarik from taking BioOne from the ship graveyard. Since she hadn’t told him their location, she assumed BioOne had relayed the coordinates. However, in the time spent with Tarik, she knew she couldn’t alter his course. Darcolm had understood and made it clear he’d do what he could without jeopardizing her or the ship. “What are our options?”

“We’re out of options.”

****

And his luck had run out. He should’ve known nothing good could come into his life. Fate had been fucking with him as far back as he could remember. He wanted to be angry with Shon…and he was. But he had to acknowledge that he’d brought this on himself. Within moments of meeting her, her finger on the trigger of his pulse gun, she had shown him she was trouble. The body suit said she was the type of trouble he couldn’t resist, which was even worse. And now look at where his lust had taken him.

For the moment, he had BioOne. Although falling apart, he had a plan. And he had Shon and the memories of the sinking his cock into her fiery heat. He was losing control of all three.

Throughout the planning, Morry had said there were too many risks trying to take BioOne from the spaceport. Never had he considered the biggest threat would be a sexy brunette with luscious pouty lips. Tarik had risked his life for BioOne and would again when needed. But he’d also risked Shon’s. Now, like him, she was in survival mode. Together they were reckless, which is why, regardless how much he liked her and wanted between her thighs again, he needed to put distance between them. Morry would get her back to civilization, and then he’d put a galaxy between them.

Deep in his gut, he knew something was wrong. Darcolm, the Tri’Neith, the very smallest and essential details of the plan were compromised.

“BioOne, disengage the cloak. Camouflage protocol. A Kartonian transport.” The scourge of Karto specialized in human cargo. Slave traders, specifically sex slaves.

His gaze shifted to Shon. Dressed in 32D’s harem outfit, she already looked the part. Nipples, pert and rosy, prodded against the thin material. The shadow at the juncture of her thighs hinted at her secrets, secrets he was intimately aware of, secrets he wanted for himself.

He snapped his attention back to BioOne. Wanting wasn’t a luxury he would ever have again. BioOne had to be his only focus. “Change my life signature to a Kartonian.” If they were scanned, or worse overtaken by Tri’Neith, he would appear to be a trader, Shon his cargo.

“What happens if you’re right?” Shon slipped into the captain’s chair.

“It means you were wrong and your contact fucked us both.” He couldn’t look at her, knowing his cutting words would hurt. Better to sever any false ideas she might have if they were to make it out of this alive.

She stood and approached him, resting her hand on his arm. “Even if I’m wrong, I believe in BioOne. She’ll protect you the same way you protect her.”

He snatched his arm away. “BioOne is all that matters.” He let the heaviness of the words linger.

As they approached the spectacular nebula surrounding the Rincon, Tarik’s nerves sizzled. Hairs prickled along his neck. Navigating the Rincon was like walking a tightrope. One miscalculation, one wrong move, and they could be trapped in the magnetic pull of a cabalistic black hole or incinerated by a boiling red giant. He had to thread the needle between the two opposing monsters. Gliding his fingers along propulsion, he slowed BioOne to nearly an idle as they drifted into the Rincon.

An eerie silence filled the bridge. Shon stepped toward the wide monitor. “I want to see more.”

BioOne’s dome quivered and became transparent again. Tarik remembered the first time he’d seen the magic of the Rincon, a pocket of beauty in the universe so volatile. A secluded place offered both sanctuary and hellish destruction.

Tarik focused, mapping the distance, knowing exactly where he needed to be to see them safely through. With slight shifts and bumping off radiant energy fields, he slipped past heated chemical zones.

Shon gasped as a blazing red flare arched in the distance, forks of silver lightning stinging and singeing the hull of BioOne. The ship vibrated. Lights fluctuated. Tarik’s gut tumbled as the ship fought to stabilize. “We’ve lost camouflage.”

Not that they would need it now. The ruse perhaps would have worked if they’d been stopped before entering the Rincon. With a slide of his hand, he powered up the thrusters, propelling the ship bravely forward.

Shon stumbled. “Slow down,” she demanded, gripping the console.

“Do you want to pilot the ship?” This path of unstable energy couldn’t be navigated slowly.

“No! But slow down.”

“I know what I’m doing. I have done this before.” And it was the same adrenaline-fueled race every time. His heart pounded. Sweat trickled along his spine.

“You’re going to fly BioOne right into one of those fireballs.”

“I don’t need a co-pilot.”

“I disagree.” Her gaze pierced his. “You can’t do this alone.”

“I know you’re scared, but we can’t linger here. It’s not safe.”

“I know it’s not safe,” she screeched. “It’s the Rincon.” She took a breath and tried to project calm. Yet she white-knuckle gripped the console. “And I’m not scared. I just think you should slow down.”

“Not yet.”

“Tarik!” Another fiery ball scorched a trail of heat over BioOne. “Get us out of here.”

His mouth pulled into a tight line. What did she think he was doing?