Star Raiders (2 page)

Greyson stood, and despite her height Shy had to tilt her head back to look him in the face. It reminded her of tilting her head back to kiss him, which made things even worse when he said, “What I think doesn’t matter. What matters is what ASP

is offering for your cooperation. It’s your only hope.” She refused to let him intimidate her. “What exactly is ASP offering?” Curiosity made her ask. Not that she’d ever trust ASP or this man. Not after their past. She’d rather let her crewmate Bear pul off her arms and beat her with them. Not that he’d ever do that. The result would be less painful.

“Ful pardons from ASP and C.O.I.L. for al crimes past and present.”

“You have that kind of authority?” Shy’s heart lurched with a hope quickly quashed when he didn’t meet her gaze. He did nod, but he had something to hide.

Nothing came without price, she supposed. “And what kind of cooperation are they looking for? Who do we have to kil ?”

“No one.” He chuckled. “Help me track down and arrest the man behind the recent attacks.”

Hope crumbled completely, became the dry dust of sarcasm. “Is
that
al ? Just find and catch this mystery man? Do you know how many smugglers and pirates there are in the outer worlds? You could search for years and never find the right one. The galaxy is a lot bigger than you pencil-pushing bureaucrats think…though the free part’s getting smal er every day. Are you even sure it’s just one man or crew? Who says this is a coordinated series of attacks? Maybe everyone’s getting sick of the Consortium’s iron grip.” She laughed.

Greyson stared at her. “I’ve been in the business for fifteen years. Not al of them behind a desk. Believe me, I’m wel aware of how difficult it is to catch pirates, slavers, drug runners and smugglers.”

Shy’s grim humor evaporated. “Don’t lump us al together with that human filth.

We’re not in the same category, smugglers and murderers.”

“I don’t see the distinction,” Greyson replied.

“Then you’re blind. Smuggling may be il egal, but aside from lightening the Consortium’s wel -padded coffers, we don’t hurt anyone. In fact, we do just the opposite. Without smuggling, a lot of the smal er outer-world colonies wouldn’t even be able to survive. We help keep them supplied. We bring them food—”

“And weapons.”

“Yes! Why not? Neither ELF nor C.O.I.L. wil protect them, despite their high-handed laws on who can be sold which technologies. Who’l keep them safe from the very pirates you mention—or from the less honorable members of the Consortium?”

She’d seen firsthand what happened to colonists without any means of self-defense, and pirates were the least of their worries. That type might raid a colony, but they usual y moved in and out quickly, taking what they wanted and leaving the rest intact for later visits. But more than one colony had been wiped out by a greedy C.O.I.L. member, its infrastructure destroyed, its people kil ed or sold into slavery. Part of C.O.I.L.’s charter said no member planet could claim a world if it held sentient beings unless after first contact that world refused membership. Then the charter al owed anything, including outright conquest and murder.

By the time Earth chose to join C.O.I.L., humans had spread far and wide throughout the galaxy. Many had become independent worlds and despite the risk of remaining separate entities were unwil ing to forgo their independence and turn their government back over to Earth. Nor did al wish to join the Consortium.

“If they’d agree to unite with Earth rather than insist on maintaining their independent planet status, ELF would provide protection.”

“Not everyone wants to be part of the great Consortium or submit to Earth rule.” Shy sneered. “Some people prefer true freedom.”

“Then they have to be wil ing to accept the accompanying risks. Freedom is never free—as some of us have always believed.”

The corners of Shy’s lips twisted at the memory of her youthful idealism.

Nothing was as clear-cut as she’d believed at the tender age of eighteen. “Yes, I think we’ve had this argument before.”

“And we agreed to disagree.” Greyson smiled, too, perhaps unconsciously, and the expression transformed his face from merely appealing to dazzling.

Unbidden and unwanted, warmth curled inside Shy as she remembered what had usual y ended each and every one of their arguments.

After a pause Greyson went on. “I have some information that wil help narrow the search.”

“And what might that be?”

“A name. Simon Dempster.”

Shy flinched. Her breath hissed through her teeth and she bit her bottom lip; her fingernails cut into her palms. Simon Dempster—her father’s former right-hand man and her personal nemesis. As a child, she’d disliked him. Though he smiled and treated her like a princess whenever her father was watching, other times she had seen his hatred. It had lurked always beneath the surface of his genial charm, waiting for release.

Because of her father’s regard for the man, she had never mentioned the look in Dempster’s eyes, or her uneasy feelings for him, but after her father’s arrest she’d learned the true extent of his evil. When she managed to escape Greyson, Simon was waiting. At first she’d thought he was there to help rescue her father, but she quickly learned that he had a different agenda. He’d tried to use her father’s arrest to gain control of her. She’d managed to elude him.

Over the years she’d continued to evade the man, watching helplessly as he built his own smuggling organization, one that erased the line between smuggler and pirate. Last year she’d had a run-in with him from which she barely escaped.

His interest had grown from mere hate to obsession. He no longer wanted her dead; he wanted to possess her. And for a few endless days, he did. Screams—

her own—stil echoed in her mind. She preferred death to a return to that.

“You know him?” Greyson asked.

To ward off the headache growing behind her eyes, Shy pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “Yes, but why come to me for help in finding him? Why not appeal to C.O.I.L. for assistance? Isn’t that what they’re for?”

“Until Earth gains ful membership, C.O.I.L. only provides limited assistance in what they consider internal planetary matters. To prove ourselves worthy of membership, the Consortium charter requires Earth to police its own borders, to maintain control of its rogue planets and criminals. If we won’t or can’t do so, they’l step in and the result won’t be good for humanity. Failure to stop this renegade could cost Earth everything.”

“What good is being a C.O.I.L. member if you can’t count on their protection?” Shy sneered.

He ignored her and continued. “We’ve destroyed some of Dempster’s ships, but he’s smart enough to never enter our space himself.” Shy shook her head. “ASP isn’t restricted to Earth or Consortium space. Why don’t they send ships in pursuit of him?” She’d be happy to see Dempster destroyed.

“In the last few years there’s been a dramatic increase in smuggling and piracy inside Consortium space. ASP is overwhelmed. We don’t have enough agents or ships to protect Earth ships and legitimate colonies.”

“And so they sent you out alone to track down and capture him.” Just as it always had, his rich laugh warmed her like hot chocolate after a long, cold, space walk. “No, they don’t expect me to do it alone. That’s why I’m here. You have contacts throughout the outer worlds, access to places and information no ASP agent could ever hope to have. Once I know Dempster’s location, I can cal in backup. We’re going to take him down.”

“Contacts…” His words turned to acid in her stomach. “You want me to be a Judas goat. Again.”

She’d worked hard to bury the pain of betrayal by both Greyson and her father.

Her father’s duplicity cut deep. His lies about who and what he was had left her vulnerable. If she’d known the truth, maybe she wouldn’t have let slip the information that led to his arrest and imprisonment. She’d forgiven him, incarcerated as he was on a Consortium prison world, but with a standing warrant out for her arrest it was impossible to ever see him again. To initiate or accept any contact would be foolish, as the Consortium had spies everywhere. The fact that Greyson had found her proved as much.

Greyson. His betrayal was beyond forgiveness. Whereas her father had lied to protect her, Greyson had lied to entrap her. She was no longer a naive, trusting little girl enamored of a handsome face. Experience had taught her a hard lesson: Never trust anyone. It had taught her wel .

And yet the past was the past. What Greyson offered had to be considered, if it was genuine. Ten years of living a smuggler’s life had taken their tol . Long months spent away from her son. Dangerous encounters with desperate men.

Never being able to relax, knowing there was always someone out there trying to take away everything you’d worked for. There was also her smal crew: the loyal few who hadn’t scattered into the outer worlds to make their own way when her father’s organization shattered. They deserved more than she could offer. Their smuggling operation earned enough for them to survive, but with little put aside for the future. Stil , not one of them objected when she used their hard-earned credits to rescue slaves or help resupply a devastated colony. They were good men. For them, she had to consider Greyson’s offer.

But he’d lied to her before. Was he lying to her now?

To another man, Shyanne’s face might appear expressionless, but Greyson could see the emotion flickering in her pale blue eyes. He remembered how those eyes darkened from their normal color to a deep azure when they’d made love and she came apart in his arms. For ten years he’d pushed those memories away. Now, in her presence, they came rushing back.

From the first time he saw her he’d fought an instinctive urge to possess and protect her. A wil owy young girl with summer-sky blue eyes and golden blonde hair floating around a smiling face, she’d seemed so fresh and innocent. He’d found it hard to believe the Consortium’s most-wanted smuggler could be her father, but his superiors claimed she was not only the man’s daughter but deeply involved in his operations.

That charge had been false. He knew it now. But at the time he’d been young and idealistic, and he’d believed in ASP and ELF without reservation. He stil believed in their purpose, though experience taught him that the men who ran the organizations made mistakes, mistakes that cost him and others dearly. And honesty forced him to admit that at times they were not just inept but also corrupt.

But what alternative did one have if one believed in the law? Every planet and every people needed the rule of law.

For months he’d played the part of a student. Ignoring what his heart and conscience told him, he’d courted and wooed Shyanne until she fel into his arms.

At the same time he’d fought against what was growing in his heart. He’d convinced himself that by bringing her father to justice he’d be saving her as wel . He real y was an accomplished liar. And now he needed every bit of his considerable skil to convince Shyanne to help him.

The years had treated her wel . Her fresh-faced prettiness had blossomed into womanly beauty. She now wore her blonde hair in a short cap, a style that emphasized her high cheekbones, wide-set eyes and ful lips. Though her frame was stil wil owy, giving her a feline grace, her breasts and hips appeared ful er as they strained against the snug confines of her metal ic silver flight suit. The toe of her soft-soled ship boot tapped impatiently as he continued to stare. He pul ed his gaze up to meet hers.

While years ago Shyanne had been blameless in her father’s crimes, today that wasn’t the case. She freely admitted to being a smuggler. Nor was she the trusting innocent he’d lied to before.

“Why did they send
you
?”

Her question snapped him out of his thoughts. “Because of our history, I volunteered.”

“You betrayed me before. Why should I trust you?” He shrugged and answered, “You shouldn’t…but what choice do you have?”

“I could space you.” Her hand rested on the hilt of the pistol at her waist. “No one would ever know what happened.”

“They’d have a good idea,” Greyson replied. “And what purpose would kil ing me serve? ASP isn’t going to give up. They can’t al ow murder and piracy to go on like this, unpunished. Even if they wanted to, the Consortium wouldn’t let them. On the other hand, if you agree to help capture Dempster, you gain pardons for you and your crew.” The old Earth custom of clasping hands to seal a bargain was long out of fashion, but he wanted an excuse to touch her. “Do we have a deal?” He held out his right hand. When she stared as if it might hiss and strike, he let it drop to his side.

“I’l consider your offer. But don’t think this means I trust you. I don’t. Make one wrong move and you’re out the air lock.”

Chapter Two

Greyson didn’t miss the way Shyanne rubbed her palm against her thigh, surely stifling the urge to touch him, and he suppressed a smile. She wasn’t as immune to him as she’d like to be, even if she hadn’t given in and shaken his hand. He’d made it past the first hurdle.

“Come on,” she said. “It’s time you met my crew.” He gingerly rubbed the back of his head and grimaced as his fingers touched a smal knot. “I’ve already met one of them. What did he hit me with?”

“You’ve met two. Eldin and Bear. Eldin, face-to-face. Bear, fist-to-the-back-of-your-head.”

Greyson could hear the amusement in her voice. He fol owed Shyanne out of the cel into the ship’s main corridor. “He hit me with his fist? Felt like an iron pipe.”

“Good analogy. You’l understand when you meet him.” She led him through a maze of corridors. The fact she trusted him enough, despite her words, to let him walk behind her gave him hope this relationship might work. But then, as if she heard his thought, she looked over her shoulder and said,

“Don’t get cocky.” Her eyes flicked behind him.

The hairs on the nape of his neck rose. Prepared to defend himself, Greyson whirled. A body thumped into his, clearly surprised by his sudden stop, and both of them lost their balance and went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Greyson ended up on the bottom, flattened beneath an enormous weight.