Beyond Galaxy's Edge (12 page)

Dathan lifted a Sync, reading from the screen. “It travelled on a starship called the
Nero
. Captain was a man named Horatio Griffin.”

“We know anything about Griffin?” Justyn asked.

“A solid, experienced captain. Known for getting the job done. I found a picture of Griffin with the
Nero
.”

The image flashed onto the screen. The resolution wasn’t great,
but the
Nero
was a sturdy-looking starfreighter and Griffin was a short, stocky man with a strong jaw.

“Anything else?” Nissa asked.

Eos shrugged. “Not much else. The records from that time are slim and the transport of the documents was top secret. The documents pertaining to it were either not created in the first place or deleted.”

“Anything about its route?”

Dathan stepped forward.
“Actually, I found something promising. I tapped a few of our contacts and one of them directed me to a Nabu priest. These guys have records of
everything
.”

Justyn was practically vibrating beside Nissa. “He knew something about the
Nero
?”

“Yes. And he knew of some of the places it visited on its journey.”

Justyn waved his hand. “Come on, spill.”

“The
Nero
appears to have travelled along
the very edge of the galaxy. And back then things were even wilder than they are now. My Nabu friend said the ship docked at Tyne IV, New Luxor Station and the Enterprise Colony.”

Nissa knew of all those places. She guessed they were good places to start.

Dathan smiled. “It gets better. The
Nero
slipped
beyond
the galaxy’s edge not far from your very location. This was obviously before the
space station of the same name existed.”

Nissa could feel the treasure hunter building up to something. “And?”

“And, when it crossed back into charted space, it stopped at the market world of Souk. Apparently they’d suffered some damage, had injured crew, and the ship needed maintenance.”

Justyn straightened. “That’s the planet your moon orbits.”

Nissa felt her muscles tighten across her
shoulders.

“Yep. After I learned this, I did a bit of digging on Souk. Found the maintenance records for the
Nero
, as well as some images. There was something a little strange about the pics.”

“Jesus, get to the point, Dathan!” Justyn burst out.

“Take a look at the
Nero
in drydock on Souk.”

Again the images were of poor resolution, but they were clear enough for everyone to see.

Nissa
sucked in a breath. “That is
not
a starfreighter.”

The ship in drydock looked like some sort of starcruiser. Sleeker, less cargo room.

“You’re sure that’s the
Nero
?” she asked.

“That’s what the records say. And this second image shows Griffin talking with the mechanics.”

And there he was. Same short, stocky build.

Justyn stood, his gaze turned inward. “Something happened to the
Nero
when it left charted space and when it returned it wasn’t the same ship.”

Nissa’s heart beat hard and slow in her chest. Her gaze snagged with Justyn’s. Whatever the hell had happened to the
Nero
, she’d bet her captaincy that it explained what had happened to the Constitution.

Seven hours straight of staring at Sync screens, reading old documents, and running computer searches was not easy on the eyes.

Justyn squinted at the screen, scanning yet another document. The information Eos and Dathan had managed to pull together was incredible. He swiped the screen and moved onto the next page. The computer was running several searches for any references
to the
Nero
. He and Nissa were manually going through anything the computer flagged.

Beside him, Nissa shifted in her chair. Again. For the hundredth time since they’d settled in the empty cabin to work.

“This completely destroys all my beliefs about the adventure of treasure hunting.” She sank back into her chair. “This is boring.”

Justyn hid his smile. He suspected Captain Sander didn’t
spend much time sitting around. No, she’d be striding through the corridors of the
Resolute Freedom
, checking in with her crew and solving issues. “I don’t know, I kind of like it.”

There was a thrill to finding a hidden reference to a long-ago ship and its crew. And on top of that, he and Nissa had worked steadily together, almost like they’d be doing this kind of thing for years. He even liked
the companionable silences.

Being able to watch her wasn’t a hardship either. He’d learned she had a habit on gnawing on her bottom lip when she was concentrating and tapping her nails on the table when she was frustrated.

She got to her feet and walked over to the large holo-screen mounted on the wall. It showed a star map and was marked with colored dots that showed any reference of the
Nero
or a reference they suspected could have been the ship.

They were slowly piecing things together, but there were still a hell of a lot of gaps.

An idea popped into his head to help break up the boredom and he fought back a grin. Oh yeah, he liked the idea of spicing things up a little. Touching his Sync, he quickly typed a message.

I keep from getting too bored by remembering what you
look like with your clothes off.

He hit send.

Nissa’s console chimed. With a frown, she wandered back to her seat and tapped the screen. He watched her eyebrows wing up. “Phoenix.” A warning tone.

He shrugged. “Just telling the truth.”

She shook her head. “Get back to work.” Snatching up her Sync, she went back to study the star map. She tapped one red mark. “I’m sure this is where the
Nero
left what we now call charted space. Back then, they were already in the wild.”

“Agreed.” Justyn eyed the map. “Surely they wouldn’t have gone much farther out than that.”

Nissa nodded. “Agreed.”

He jumped up and stood beside her. As his shoulder brushed hers, he savored the hit of heat to the gut. “The Colony Route runs very close to this spot. Even back then, it was around. The Hydraens
have a detailed oral history about ships that were already using the route and visiting them.”

“The Hydraens?”

“A humanoid race who live on a planet here.” He tapped the screen. “Hydrae is a caravanserai world.”

“Caravanserai?”

“Old Earth word. Caravanserais were roadside inns or camps offering respite to travelers on the trade routes.”

“You’re thinking the
Nero
might have used the Colony
Route?”

“Maybe.”

Silence once again reigned, both of them mulling over their respective thoughts. Unable to stop himself, Justyn penned another short message.

If you were naked, I’d lay you back on the table and put my mouth on you. I want to watch you come and hear those little cries you make.

When her Sync chimed again, he saw her shoot him a suspicious look. He kept his face blank as
she opened it. He watched a beguiling mix of outrage, desire and temptation cross her face. It made him want to push her back against the table and do as he’d written.

She made a choking noise. “Justyn…”

“Nissa.” He mimicked her tone. He didn’t move closer to her, just watched her face. That face he could stare at all day, with her stubborn chin, generous mouth and beautiful scale pattern.
“It’s true. I can’t get the memory of you out of my head. I relive that moment in your cabin a hundred times a day. The sweet curve of your ass, thrusting my fingers inside your tight, hot wetness—”

“Stop it.” Her smooth-as-sin voice was shaky.

“No harm in a little fun, Nissa.” And damned if he didn’t want to be the one to loosen her up a bit, make her smile more.

“Focus, Phoenix.”

He
heaved a sigh and turned back to the map. The line they’d extrapolated as the route of the
Nero
glowed. “If they knew they were headed out of charted space, into the black unknown, they would have stocked up on supplies.”

Nissa cleared her throat. “Um, yes…no food printers back then. The only printers they had then made items from plas to make parts and goods. They hadn’t worked out how to manipulate
protein.”

Justyn smiled to himself. Oh, he liked seeing the captain overwhelmed and off balance. “Right. So where did they take on supplies?”

She straightened, her mind fully on the map now. “Enterprise Station.”

“Right. So, based on the size of the
Nero’s
cargo bays, by the time they were here—” he touched the red mark where the
Nero
passed the galaxy’s edge “—they were running low. They
would have needed to re-supply.”

Her eyes sparked. “Right! So, you know the convoy route. Where’s the most likely place they would have stopped?”

He tapped a finger against his mouth. “Maybe Uurin. It’s a temperate planet but there’s not much civilization there. The humanoid species that call it home aren’t very advanced.”

“Where else?”

He snapped his fingers. “Hydrae! That’s got to be
it.”

“The caravanserai world. Did they offer respite to travelers back then?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. Tell me more about it.”

“You’d love it.” Justyn did. “The people are so friendly. They’ve developed outside the galaxy as we know it so they have a different view on things. They have a slower pace of life, believe in everyone finding their own passion, not living up to external expectations. Their
architecture is simple and beautiful.” Hydrae was a quiet little paradise. “Believe me, anyone stopping there considers never leaving.”

Nissa leaned back against the table. “Traveling the convoy routes must be so exciting. New species, new planets, new foods.”

“It is. You meet new people, see amazing things. But it’s also dangerous. Some species prey on the convoys, looking to steal goods
and ships, or take slaves. Sometimes even the food’s dangerous. I tried some berries once that shone like pearl. Damned things tasted like ambrosia. Turned out they were also violently poisonous.” He shook his head, remembering the hideous pain. “Luckily, Elana, our medic, is smart and quick. She saved me from a painful death.”

Nissa shook her head. “And you like to bring some of these
amazing
things back to the galaxy, where they could be dangerous to other species.”

He grinned. “You’re just trying to trip me up and get me to admit to smuggling.”

***

Nissa rolled her eyes at Justyn, ignoring his question and looked back at the star map. “So, you think Captain Griffin stopped at Hydrae for supplies?”

“Yep, I do.”

She thought so too. “Do you have access to any of their records?
We need to check to see if there’s any reference to a visit in the right time period.”

“They don’t keep many records. They have excellent memories, so they tend to store things in their heads. Their planet’s history is mostly recorded in oral storytelling. That said, Rynan does collect data and historical records from all the planets along the convoy route. Guy is obsessed with security and
boy, does he love information. He might have something.” Justyn moved back to the table, plugging his Sync into the computer console and working on the larger screen.

Nissa followed, trying to rip her gaze off the man’s first-class ass and the way his jeans hugged it. His dirty little “notes” had left her feeling more than a little hot and bothered.

Damn tempting smuggler.

She sat back in
her chair, shifting restlessly. This time it had nothing to do with boredom and everything to do with the aching emptiness between her thighs.

Why shouldn’t she enjoy a man she was crazily attracted to? She wasn’t talking about long term, or forever. She was talking about enjoying every wild thing there was about Justyn Phoenix while they were on this crazy treasure hunt together.

“A-ha!”
Justyn tapped furiously at the screen. “I found Ry’s stash of files on Hydrae. There’s not much. I’m shooting you the link to the directory now. You start at the top and I’ll start at the bottom, and we’ll work toward the middle. See if you can find anything referencing the
Nero
.”

“Got it.”

It was tedious work. Most of the records were intelligence about climate, resources, level of development
of the Hydraen people. Certainly nothing gripping, with the exception of some interesting information about the caravanserai and its long history.

But as the minutes ticked by, Nissa felt her vision waver from staring at the screen so long. She rubbed at her tired eyes and glanced over at her partner. Justyn seemed just fine, wide-awake and alert. He was sprawled back in his chair, his gaze
intently flicking across the screen as he read.

A naughty idea tickled at the edge of her mind.
No
. She couldn’t.

But as she watched him snatch up his drink and chug back a large gulp, her stomach tightened with pure feminine appreciation.

She opened up a blank message screen and typed.

I’ve had my fantasies, too, Phoenix. I imagine you naked, exploring every inch of that big, tough body
of yours. With my hands and my mouth. I wonder what you taste like and how your cock would feel in my mouth.

She stared at the blinking cursor. Goddess, was she really going to do this?

Screwing up her courage, she hit send.

Justyn’s console chimed. She watched him lean forward, then sit up straight like he’d been electrocuted.

His gaze shot to her and he groaned. “Jesus, Nissa, you’re
going to kill me. There is no more room in my trousers and I just got harder.”

Nissa slapped her hand over her mouth, stifling her laugh. “You started it.”

He glanced at the ceiling, breathing deeply. “You’re right. And now look, I’ve created a she-devil.”

With a snort, she went back to her searches. But thrilled by his reaction to her message, she typed another one.

I think I might like
driving you crazy. Can you imagine me, on my knees between your legs as you sprawl in that chair? I’d take out your cock and lick it, stroke it, suck it. I wonder how hard you’d be. And how long it would take me to make you come?