Hagen, Lynn and Glenn, Stormy - End of the Line [Lady Blue Crew 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (16 page)

“Here,” he said as he pointed to a spot on the holographic world. “This valley is pretty far from any populated areas. Or at least it was the last time I was here. The valley is hidden enough that we might be able to avoid detection even from space.”

“Okay, Tank, plot a course for that valley,” Remy said. “Crank, I want you and Blade to check our weapons and ammo in case we get any visitors while we’re on the ground. I want everything else strapped down. No unnecessary use of power.”

Remy jumped from his chair and started for the door.

“Commander, where are you going?”

“To let Gigi and Pax know what’s happening. As much as I want to keep them occupied making that dinner, the kitchen needs to be shut down until the thrusters recharge. The less power we use, the less chance we’ll be detected.”

* * * *

“Gigi!”

Gigi rolled his eyes when he heard Remy shout. He glanced at Pax, shaking his head. “You would think he’d just come in here and tell me what he wants instead of yelling through half the ship.”

Pax giggled. Gigi smiled as he dried his hands off, tossed the towel on the counter, then walked out of the kitchen. Remy was just walking into the mess hall when he came out. “You bellowed?”

“Shut down the kitchen, angel.”

Gigi’s mouth dropped. “What?”

“I need you to shut down all electronic devices, anything that needs power.”

Gigi waved his hand back toward the kitchen. “But you just told me to cook a celebration dinner.”

Remy arched an eyebrow. “And now I’m telling you to shut everything down.”

“Why?”

“Gigi.”

“Fine,” Gigi said when he heard the warning in Remy’s voice. His shoulders dropped as he turned and walked back into the kitchen. He started putting away all of the food he had pulled out for the celebration dinner.

“What are you doing?” Pax asked.

“Remy wants us to shut everything down.”

“But, I thought—”

“So did I, but apparently I was wrong.”

Gigi grumbled to himself as he put the last of the food away and started on the dishes. He didn’t like doing this. Luckily, they had gotten them all cleaned up from the last fiasco, so there wasn’t a huge mess to put away. Gigi put the last dish away just as Pax turned off the last of the machines.

“Now what?” Pax asked.

Gigi shrugged. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter. He really didn’t have a clue what they should do now. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Pax grimaced. “Want to go up on the bridge and find out what’s going on?”

“I think the bridge is the last place we need to be. We’d just get in the way.”

Pax frowned. “Want to go back to your room and play cards?”

“I don’t play cards.” Gigi laughed. “I wouldn’t know how to even if I did. Drake didn’t let us play games.”

“Us?” Pax asked. “There was more than one of you?”

Gigi sobered instantly. “Yes, Drake likes keeping pretty things around him. He has an entire stable of sex slaves.”

“He sounds like a real jerk.”

“Drake is…Drake is hard to understand. He can be kind one moment and a cruel monster the next, depending on his mood. He used kindness like a boon and torture for entertainment.”

“Damn,” Pax whispered. “If he’s so horrible, why did you stay?”

“I was his property. I wasn’t allowed to leave. I tried a few times, but I was always caught and returned. Hell, even the law returned me to him. On Earth, when you are considered property, you have no say in what happens to you. Drake could do anything he wanted with me, and I couldn’t do anything about it.”

“How did you end up with him anyway?”

Gigi sighed. Remy had asked this very same question, and Gigi had gone ballistic. He knew now he probably should have talked things out with Remy. There just hadn’t been time. If they weren’t being chased by a madman, they were running off to complete their next job. There never seemed to be enough time to just sit and talk.

If there had been, Gigi might have been able to tell Remy that he had realized that his family had sold him into slavery. It was something Gigi hadn’t wanted to face before, but after experiencing all that Remy gave him, Gigi knew what true love was. And it wasn’t selling those you loved for credits.

“I was sold to Drake by my father. I was with Drake for almost five years before I escaped the last time.”

“Is that why Drake is trying so hard to get you back?” Pax asked. “Because you belonged to him?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure. I always knew Drake was somewhat egotistical, but I never thought he’d come after me this far out in space. I gave him quite a bit of trouble. I’d think he’d be happy to get rid of me.” Gigi shrugged. “It wasn’t like he paid that many credits for me in the first place.”

“He really bought you?”

Gigi nodded. “Paid three hundred cold hard credits for my ass.”

Pax’s finger glided over the shiny countertop as he stared at the far wall. “At least you knew why,” he whispered.

Gigi cocked his head to the side as he stared at the fragile-looking man. He wasn’t sure what Pax meant, but something told Gigi that Pax may have had it worse. How? He couldn’t put a finger on it, but his gut was screaming to pay attention.

“What do you mean, knew why, Pax?” Gigi probed a little, hoping that Pax would finally open up. He knew Pax liked locked doors and the feeling of safety. Most people liked feeling safe, but Pax went beyond normality.

Gigi plunged a hand through his hair when Pax didn’t answer him. Pax started to leave, but Gigi caught his arm on the way by. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

Drawing in a deep breath, Pax reluctantly turned back around and locked eyes with Gigi. “I lived from hand to mouth with no one to take care of me. I wasn’t looking for anyone to take care of me, but it would have been better than—”

Damn, Gigi’s mind went numb when the ramifications of Pax’s words finally registered. “You sold yourself, didn’t you?” Pax tried to yank his arm away, but Gigi kept a tight grip. “I’m not judging you, I swear.”

Gigi released Pax’s arm when he tugged again. The blue-skinned man walked over to the porthole, staring out into the black sky. Okay, he was being brushed off. Gigi wasn’t going to push.

“I’d love to play cards if you’re willing to teach me,” Gigi said with a big smile. “Maybe I’ll get so good that I can play against the crew and take their credits.”

This got a smile from Pax. “We could double-team them and then go on a shopping spree.”

Gigi giggled, glad to see Pax’s somber mood gone. He still had questions, but they could wait.

* * * *

Crank didn’t like this one bit. He was back on his home world, and old feelings began to surface, feelings he’d rather have kept buried. He wondered briefly if Blay was still here. Crank’s anger skyrocketed and his back teeth ground together thinking of the man that had betrayed him.

“You with us?” Remy asked with a touch of concern in his eyes.

Crank nodded. He narrowed his eyes against the glaring suns that shone brightly around his home planet and then focused on his hands. He wasn’t going to allow his thoughts to go down that pothole-filled road. It would be dangerous for everyone onboard if he continued to stew about it.

“I have life readings. Two to be exact, and they’re getting close,” Colt said from across the bridge. “The bio readings are about two klicks away.”

“I want everything shut down and everyone to remain quiet,” Remy ordered from the commander’s chair.

“Everything?” Livewire asked from the floor. Crank almost smiled when Tank shot his foot out and nudged Livewire, tightening his face at the mechanic. Livewire flipped him off as he laid back.

“Everything,” Remy confirmed.

“I’ll go tell Gigi and Pax.” Livewire got up and walked off of the bridge.

Crank watched the monitor closely as the two bio signatures quickly closed the gap between them and the ship. This wasn’t good. Sweat began to trickle down his temples as the two signatures got close as hell and then veered off, going the other way. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but he would wait to do that once they cleared the planet.

Remy glanced over at him, and Crank raised two fingers and pointed in the direction the two had gone off in. Remy nodded.

Crank knew the waiting was the hardest part. Having to sit on his ass and do absolutely nothing was starting to unravel his nerves. He was a fighter, loved to blow shit up. This sitting still and waiting to be discovered was going against everything he’d been taught.

“Bio signatures are gone,” Crank finally said when the monitor appeared empty.

“Good,” Remy commented. “Let’s hope we don’t have any more visitors while our thrusters cool off.”

A grin broke out across Tank’s face as he began to chuckle. Crank knew the man was nuts, but now was not the time to finally confirm it.

“I just thought of something.” Tank snickered.

“Do we even want to know?” Remy asked with a smile.

“I’m raising my hand and saying hell no,” Blade said as both his hands went into the air.

Crank rolled his eyes. He could see everyone was going to get in on this. He had to admit, these guys knew how to lighten a dark mood.

“Go ahead,” Colt encouraged the pilot.

“We need to get away, right? We need to get Drake off of our asses, right?”

“Get to the point,” Remy growled.

The entire bridge watched as Tank got up and walked out.

“I told you.” Blade threw his hands up. “I told you we didn’t want to know.”

Tank walked back in with Livewire hot on his heels. They watched as Livewire crawled between Remy’s legs and scooted under the helm. Remy cocked a brow at Tank.

“Watch and learn, ladies.” Tank winked.

“Got it,” Livewire yelled from under the helm. “Just give me a few more seconds.”

Crank sat forward, wondering what in the blazes these two were up to. He gasped when a computerized voice flooded the bridge. “Cloaking engaged.”

“You’re a fucking genius!” Remy shouted and whooped. “We’ve been without it for so long that I forgot we had that little charm.”

“Fuck yeah!” Crank pumped his arm and bit his bottom lip. “Get us the hell out of here, Tank, pronto.”

“Mr. Genius is on it.” He chuckled.

“Oh god, now he’s going to have a bigger head than he already has.” Blade groaned.

“Gentlemen, we have lift-off,” Tank announced as the ship lifted and they got the hell off of that rock. “We can rest on Beta Five. It’s the next planet over.”

“Sounds good.” Remy patted Tank on his shoulder and then looked down at Livewire, who was backing out from under the helm. “Go check the fuel cells and make sure they’re steady.”

“On it, Commander,” Livewire said with a spring in his step.

* * * *

Remy sat in his commander’s chair in the middle of the bridge and smiled to himself. Lady Blue was finally getting the repairs she needed after so much unintentional neglect. He still couldn’t believe he won his baby in a card game against a bunch of Vykillians.