Not the Man She Thought (18 page)

Laken thought a moment. “And Marlon Prime is one of
these planets that’s been blockaded.”

Dev nodded.  “Yes. They’ve been resisting the
Federation for almost a year now. The Federation doesn’t take kindly to
rebellion. They think it encourages other planets to try the same
thing. So, about two months ago, the Federation began to drop bio-agents
onto the major cities.”

Laken frowned. She’d never heard anything about it on
the news-vids. She couldn’t believe her father or the other merchants she
knew would be part of something like that, regardless of how money hungry they
were. 

“Even though thousands of people on Marlon Prime have
already died, the planet is still resisting,” Dev continued.  “A few weeks
ago, another pirate crew managed to slip a blood sample of the virus through
the blockade. They brought it back to Tellune and were able to get an antidote
produced, but the Federation knows about it and will do anything to stop it
from getting through. That’s where we come in. The captain was the
only one that would agree to try to get the antidote through the blockade.”

Laken felt her stomach churn. She’d never felt so naïve or
embarrassed in her life. She had never known the Federation did things like
this, not had she ever thought about where all their money came from. Suddenly,
she felt ashamed about the things she had said to Rade and his crew. She’d
just thought Rade was just a pirate looking to make fast money. She’d never
dreamed he was saving lives.

“Why didn’t Rade just tell me about this instead of letting
me think he was carrying illegal drugs or weapons?” she asked quietly.

Dev gave her a small smile. “You’re the daughter of one
of the Federation’s leading families. He was probably concerned that if he said
anything to you, it might get back to your father.”

“I would never say anything to my father about Rade or his
crew.”

Dev toyed with the handle on her mug.  “I know that,
but the captain can’t take that chance. It’s not just the crew he’s protecting,
Laken, but everyone on Marlon Prime as well. They’re depending on him to
get through with that antidote. He’ll do anything to get it to them.”

Laken sighed. “Why would he take such a risky job? I mean, I
know it’s important, but why not let someone else do it?”

The other woman was silent for a moment. “The captain
would be really pissed off at me if he knew I had told you about this, but
there’s something you should know about him. Something that will help you
understand why he does the things he does. Have you ever heard of Aurora
Five?” When Laken shook her head, she continued.  “Of course not.
It’s not the kind of things they write about in the inner-world school books.
Twenty years ago, Aurora Five rebelled against the Federation just like Marlon
Prime is doing now. And just like now, the Federation resorted to
bio-bombs. Back then, though, there wasn’t an antidote for the agent they
dropped. The captain was ten years old when it happened. He watched his whole
family die around him. His parents, his brother and his sister all died in
horrible pain at the hands of the Federation.”

Laken stared at the other girl in astonishment.  “Oh,
God. That’s terrible. How was he able to survive?”

Dev shrugged. “The law of averages, I suppose. Out of
the millions of people who were infected, some were naturally resistant to it.
The captain was one of them. Since then, he’s spent every minute of his life
fighting the Federation.”

Tears stung Laken’s eyes.  “I never knew.”

“How could you have known? Kellen and I are the only
people who know about it. The rest of the crew doesn’t even know.” Dev
sighed. “Laken, I see the way you two look at each other. I know there’s
something between you, or there could be, especially now that you know the
captain isn’t the ruthless pirate you think he is.”

Laken didn’t say anything. Most of the time, she and Rade
couldn’t stand to be in the same room with each other, so she had no idea what
kind of looks Dev thought she’d seen pass between them. Or was that Dev’s way
of saying she knew Laken and Rade had slept together? She was trying to think
of a clever way to figure out just how much Dev knew when the dark-haired woman
spoke.

“Laken, the captain put this entire mission at risk when he
went back to look for you. We were going to slip through an opening in the
Federation’s sensor network, but by turning around to get you, we missed that
chance.  Everything will be a lot more dangerous now.”

Laken swallowed hard. Rade had put their job, a job that was
incredibly important, on hold for her. To say she had misjudged him from
the beginning was an understatement.

Across from her, Dev pushed back her chair. “I need to
get going. The captain’s called a meeting in a couple of hours and I have some
things to do before then. I’ll see you later.”

Laken nodded absently as the other woman left the
room. Although she knew it probably wouldn’t mean much now, she needed to
apologize to Rade.  She needed to tell she’d been wrong about him, and
that she knew what it had cost him to come back and save her life. Her actions
had not just endangered Rade and his crew, but also the people of Marlon Prime.
She wished there was some way she could make it right, but she couldn’t think
of anything. An apology was a good place to start, though. 

* * * * *

She tried to find a good time to slip in and talk to Rade,
but the man never seemed to stay in one place long enough for her to get a word
in. Probably because he thought she was trying to corner him so she could
complain some more. She wasn’t surprised when he made himself unavailable.

Without even realizing it, Laken found herself wandering
toward the mess two hours later. She knew she wouldn’t be welcome at the
meeting, so she just stood off to one side by the door, hidden from view of
anyone inside the room as she listened in on their conversation.

“Can you show someone how to do it?” Rade asked.

Silence met his query for a moment. It was followed by a
sigh, then Dev’s voice.  “Captain, I barely know how to do it
myself. I can follow the steps Laken showed me, but I don’t really
understand what I’m doing. If the Federation has changed the codes again,
then everyone on the shuttle is screwed. I’ll go and do the best I can,
but I’m not guaranteeing anything. Like I said, it would be better if
Laken went along and handled the codes like she did back on Fensor.”

Laken chewed on her lower lip. Fensor was the planet where
the crew had run into all those problems and Jorn had gotten shot. Dev was
talking about the cloaking algorithm she had generated.

“Bringing Laken is out of the question,” Rade said. 
“You can handle this. I have faith in you.”

Another sigh from Dev. “Captain, I appreciate your
confidence in me, but I don’t think you realize how big a risk you’re taking by
putting all of this on me. I’ve seen Laken do it one time and I barely
understood half of what she was doing. If we’re halfway to the planet and
we run into a problem, I’m not sure I’d know what to do about it.”

“Well, you’ll have to handle it because we don’t have
another option,” Rade said.

Before she even realized the implications of what she was
doing, Laken stepped into the room. “Yes, you do. I’ll go with you instead
of Dev. I can modify the cloaking algorithms if anything changes.”

Rade looked at her in surprise, as did the rest of the crew.
She didn’t know if they were more stunned that she’d been eavesdropping, or
that she’d volunteered to go with them. Laken could hardly believe she was
offering to go with them herself. She had wanted to find a way to make it up to
them, though, and this was the best way to do that.    

“Absolutely not,” Rade growled.  “It’s too dangerous.”

Laken frowned. Rade apparently had no problem putting
the whole shuttle crew at risk, but he didn’t want to endanger her? That
was ridiculous. “And how dangerous will it be if I don’t go?” she
countered. “Dev said it herself. If you’re halfway there and you lose the
sensor cloak, you’re screwed.”

Rade opened his mouth to argue, but Dev spoke before he
could say anything. “You know she’s right, Captain. She’s not officially
part of the crew, but she’s the only one who can do this.”

Laken could tell from the expression on Rade’s face that he
wasn’t convinced, but before she could try to persuade him, Kellen spoke.

“I agree with Dev,” the older man said. “Taking Laken
with you is your best option.”

Rade was silent as he studied her.  “All right. But you
do exactly as I tell you.  Understood?”

Relieved he had agreed to let her help at all, Laken nodded
her head in agreement.  As everyone began to file from the room, however,
the full realization of what she had just agreed to struck her. She’d just
volunteered to be part of a dangerous, clandestine mission to break through a
Federation blockade. What the hell was she thinking?

* * * * *

Laken was still a little self-conscious about wearing the
snug-fitting breeches and shirt Dev had given her to wear. While she and
Dev might be the same height, the other woman didn’t have the same curves Laken
had, so the breeches were a little tighter than she would have liked. It
wasn’t like she could wear a dress, she told herself as she headed down to the
cargo hold.

  
The rest
of the crew was already there and waiting for her. Rade was standing beside the
shuttle with Kellen, and he glanced up as she walked over to them. Laken
felt herself blush as his smoldering gaze ran over her curve-hugging outfit. It
was hard not to think of his hands roaming all over her when he looked at her
like that.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said. “Dev had some last
minute stuff to talk to me about.”

Rade nodded, but said nothing. In the silence, Kellen
excused himself, leaving her and Rade alone together. Laken stood there
feeling awkward, wanting to apologize to him for the hateful things she had
said earlier, but not knowing quite what to say.  It was Rade who finally
broke the silence.

“Why did you volunteer to come along on this job, Laken?”

Laken had put her long hair back in a loose bun and she
tucked a stray strand behind her ear.  “Dev told me about the medicine
you’re delivering and why it’s so important. It seemed wrong to just stand by
and let something like that happen if I can help stop it.” 

Rade regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, but before he
could reply, Finn poked his head out of the shuttle.

“We’re ready whenever you are, Captain,” the man said.

Rade gestured to the shuttle, indicating to Laken that she
should go ahead of him.  Smoothing her hands down the front of her
breeches, she walked onto the shuttle.  Keir, Finn, Jorn and Vance had
already taken their seats and were waiting for them.  Laken quickly
slipped into the empty seat beside Finn while Rade took the one up in the front
next to Keir.  A moment later, Keir was guiding them through the loading
doors and out into space.

Laken nervously kept an eye on the sensor
read-outs. The codes she had written up previously still seemed to be
working, so they should be able to slip through the Federation’s perimeter
without them knowing the shuttle was ever there, but she kept her fingers
poised over the keyboard just in case she had to change something at the last
moment.  Even though everything seemed to be going fine, she was still
tense the whole flight down to the planet.  She couldn’t help but notice
that the rest of the crew was laughing and joking as if they did this every
day.

Once they reached the surface, Laken automatically followed
the rest of the crew out of the shuttle.  Though it was nighttime, she
could see that the area where they had landed was heavily wooded.  It was
also rather hilly, so she couldn’t see very far in any direction.  She
supposed it was a good place to hide the ship while they delivered the
medicine.

Laken walked over to the small personal transport vehicle
that she had first seen them use what seemed like a lifetime ago back on
Seguu. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Rade asked.

She pivoted around to look at him.  “I’m going with
you,” she said, as if that should have been obvious.

“Oh no, you’re not,” he said firmly. “I want you to stay
here in the shuttle with Keir.  I want to make sure you’re someplace
safe.”

Laken couldn’t help but frown.  There it was
again.  For someone who was supposed to be a merciless pirate, Rade spent
a lot of time worrying about her safety.  She looked from the three men climbing
into the transport to Keir, then back at Rade.  She folded her arms and
glared up at him.  “Let me get this straight. You think I’ll be safer with
Keir and his single weapon than I will be with you four big, strapping men and
all of your weapons.”  She turned to give Keir an apologetic look. 
“No offense intended.”