Ambassador Aralias tugged his helmet off, his disdainful gaze snagging mine. “Captain Sevis,” he snapped, his tone crisp. He was accompanied by two heavily armed UGFS officers whose faces were shielded behind visors. It definitely ratcheted up the intimidation factor, and to say that I was nervous would have been an understatement.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your unscheduled visit?” I tried to keep my usual sarcasm out of my tone … and failed horribly if the ‘I just ate a lemon’ look that puckered Ambassador Aralias’ face was any indication.

He leaned forward into my personal space, which was very un-ambassador type behavior in my opinion. “Do you have Ash? And the chip, do you have the chip?”

I blinked rapidly, taken aback by the almost desperate demeanor Ambassador Aralias was exhibiting. “No. I … we would have contacted you the moment we did. Why would you think that?”

Ambassador Aralias straightened himself, regaining his composure. “It was a logical assumption after you visited the Gartian territory. What other reason would one have to visit such a place?”

I slid a quick glance to Zula and noticed she was standing still … too still. Her body language and lack of contribution to the conversion told me everything I needed to know in that situation. I needed to tread very carefully because something was very, very wrong. “We had a lead that didn’t pan out. We don’t have him … yet.” I smiled, dipping my gaze demurely. I could act submissive when I really, really needed to. It definitely ate at my insides like acid, though.

“And the upgrades on your ship?” he snapped.

“The Pittsburgh has long been in need of upgrades and maintenance. We—”

“You traded directly with the Gartians?”

My eye twitched. I wanted to tell him to shove it where the sun would never shine, but my gut was tightening with the familiar warning of danger. Between the surprise visit, Ambassador Aralias’ tone, and the very large Gartian I had hiding on my ship, I instinctively knew I couldn’t let the UGFS know we’d had direct contact with the Gartians. “No. We happened upon a trader who had just stocked up on Gartian grade alloy, we were able to intersect him and … convince him to sell us his supply. I have a very skilled Guaviva onboard who did the upgrades herself.”

Ambassador Aralias’ eyes narrowed as he studied me. Sweat began to build on my upper lip, and I fought the urge to fidget under his scrutiny. I felt isolated under the spotlight of his steady stare. It was as if everything had fallen away except for the two of us, and we were locked into some kind of weird stalemate. “Very skilled,” he begrudgingly stated, although I got the sense that he wasn’t buying what I was trying to sell one little bit. “Do you have another lead on Ash?”

“Yes,” I lied. “I still plan on getting him and that chip to the UGFS before the deadline. I’m looking forward to spending that extra big payment.” I smiled, but was sure the humor didn’t reach my eyes.

“How did you convince the trader to sell you the Gartian grade alloy when I’m sure you couldn’t have offered him fair market value?”

It was time to put the nasty rumors about me to good use. I cocked my hip, gazing at him from under my eyelashes. “Well … you know … I sweetened the deal with a little something extra.” I grinned coquettishly.

Ambassador Aralias’ eyes flared with sudden interest. I was astonished. With his thinly veiled disdain for me I was pretty sure that he’d never be interested in me sexually. Of course, I was a firm believer that you could still have unbelievably good sex with someone you didn’t like. Ash was case in point. My skin warmed at just the thought of Ash and I together carnally.

“Captain Sevis, you intrigue me.” The ambassador trailed his long index finger along my jawline. “Very much.” He cleared his throat as his gaze roamed blatantly over my body. “I’ve heard you’re very good at … your job.”

It was like ice water had been dumped over my head, all thoughts of Ash temporarily forgotten. “From who?” I croaked. I mean … seriously? I knew there were rumors about me, I was the one fanning them at the moment, but I wasn’t aware there were details about the quality of my … work as well. I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or insulted. Especially because it was all a big fat lie.

“I’ve heard many speak of your … talents. Maybe after you bring me Ash, we can discuss the furtherment of your career through UGFS exclusive contracts. I’d very much like for you to show me your particular brand of persuasion.”

I stifled a shudder. I was repulsed and I wanted—no, needed to take a shower immediately. “Yes … well, I’ll be happy to discuss my career after I catch Ash. It’s my top priority at the moment.”

“Yes, of course.” Ambassador Aralias turned abruptly, and paused with his helmet over his head. “I look forward to Ash’s capture and the conclusion of your contract then.” He slid his helmet back on, clicking it into place. Him and his entourage moved back into the airlock. I watched grimly as they traveled the short distance from The Pittsburgh back to their cruiser.

I turned to Zula who was eyeing me warily. “You don’t have to tell me how fucked I am, I already know.”

“Do you?” she asked softly.

I snorted. “Yeah, I’m well aware.” I tilted my head back, cursing the Universe for not delivering, once again, on my good karma. In fact, I seemed to be marinating in the bad stuff instead.

I inhaled and exhaled a few times to calm myself. “We need to have a meeting between all of us. That means Dar as well. Fifteen minutes in the eating lounge.” My boots pinged loudly on the metal floors as I stomped towards my quarters. I needed a scalding shower to remove Ambassador Aralias’ slimy remnants from my skin.

 

 

The water spattered heavily down against the back of my head and shoulders as I leaned my face against the warm metal of my shower stall. I’d needed to wash away Ambassador Aralias … hell, the events from the last few hours, days even, but instead of refreshing me I was feeling overwhelmed, and a bit scared. Two emotions which I didn’t do very well with, mostly because I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt them as deeply as I currently was.

A simple job had turned into me picking up an unwanted mate, and now an unwanted, dangerous suitor. When I ultimately turned down Ambassador Aralias, what would it mean for my career as a bounty hunter? Would he be able to stonewall me from the best jobs and ruin the career I’d worked so hard to build? The simple solution would be to just let him fuck me, but—I slammed my fist against the wall—I couldn’t. I may have some questionable partners on my list of past conquests, but every single one of them I’d wanted at the time. Yes, sometimes alcohol had been a prime motivator, but everything had still been my choice. Ambassador Aralias would never be my choice under any circumstances. I should have listened to Zula and forgotten about Ash when I’d had the chance. I wouldn’t be in either predicament if I’d, just for once, not been so damned stubborn.

Switching off the shower dial, I stepped onto the auto dry fan, quickly pulling on the same clothes I’d had on before my aquatic breakdown. My moment of weakness was already melting into the past. There was no time for wallowing of any kind or I really would end up floating out in space without any thrusters. It wasn’t in my nature to dwell … thank God. There were always options. I just had to figure out what they were.

My determination began to crystallize as I made my way to the meeting I’d called … and now was late for. I knew I was going to get some attitude from my crew for that one.

As I entered the eating lounge I let my gaze sweep over Zula, Tamzea, Masha, and Dar. I stomped over to stand in front of the latter. Narrowing my eyes to slits, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Now would be a good time to start explaining why you felt the need to hide from the UGFS, and anything else you might think is pertinent to this shit storm that’s pouring down on me.”

“Which you caused,” Zula chimed in … of course. I really didn’t expect any less from her.

“Yes, fine. I caused it by not wanting to let Ash go. It’s kind of late for me to change my mind now, though,” I grated, not taking my eyes off of Dar. He glanced at Masha as if asking for her permission to speak. That fact pissed me off. “I’m the captain here, Dar. I tell you to jump and you say how high. Not ask Masha whether or not you should.”

Dar’s features hardened for a moment as he regarded me before they softened to something between deference and respect. “My apologies. You aided me without question before and now I do owe you an explanation.”

“Yes, you do.” I tapped my boot against the floor.

Dar spared one last glance at Masha before beginning. “We, the Gartians, are not the insane, unstable race that most believe us to be, which I’m positive you’ve already figured out for yourself.” I rolled my eyes at Captain Obvious as he continued. “The UGFS can’t be trusted. The only reason the Gartians, as a species, haven’t been completely annihilated is because of two things. One, the fact that with our grade of alloy we’re damn hard to destroy, not to mention our cloaking capabilities and other technological advances that most don’t possess or are even aware of. And two, we keep to ourselves, not revealing the true nature of the UGFS. They don’t engage us because it’s not worth the risk of losses they would accrue. But if the status quo changed … I’m sure that would as well. Finding me here on the ship would have meant you and your crew’s death at the very least.”

“What secret do the Gartians possess about the UGFS?” It was the only thing that made sense. It would explain why Ambassador Aralias was so nervous about us being in contact with them at all.

“They allowed the Denards to infect us with the G-Pox. The pox was an attempt by the Denards to wipe out yet another species that they deemed unworthy.”

“Unworthy?” My mind was reeling. I hadn’t fully processed the information Dar was giving me, but the need to have my questions answered was overruling everything else in that moment.

“We’re not sure what makes them classify some species as tolerable and others unworthy, but they’ve been systematically wiping out entire races.”

“No. Those times are in the past. The Denards killed the phoenix, the—” Zula began in her professor-ish tone, as if we were all in her imaginary class. Dar didn’t let her finish her lecture though.

“Those times are not in the past,” he spat. “The Denards have just become more skilled at what they do. Things like the G-Pox are their weapons of choice now. The only thing in the past is their open extermination like with the phoenix.”

“And what is it that they do?” I asked numbly. I found myself sitting without consciously making the decision to. It’s wasn’t like I was a big UGFS supporter in the way that I thought they were all good and shiny and perfect, but I was floored to find out that they allowed such things to happen right under their noses. I thought they existed to keep the peace, and to prevent the extermination of planets and species from happening—bad things like the destruction of Earth from ever happening again.

“What they do? Genocide of races without the mass population knowing about it. They are the true power behind the UGFS. Things are not the way you all are made to believe.”

“It doesn’t matter.” I pulled myself to my feet, meeting Dar’s shocked gaze steadily. “It changes nothing here for my crew and myself. Or you, for that matter. You and all of the Gartians will continue on like you’ve been doing and so will we. Once we bag Ash we can put all of this behind us.”

“You’re Ash’s mate now,” Tamzea said, the first words she’d uttered since I entered the room. “And what about Ambassador Aralias’ pass at you? What will you do when—”

“I’ll figure it out. I just need more time. Until then, all we have to worry about is tracking down Ash. Zula, you need to get on that containment contraption, or whatever you want to call it, immediately.” I spun on my heel, heading towards my living quarters. I required time alone to think.

No one followed me, but I also knew my solitude wouldn’t last long before Tamzea, Zula, Masha, or all three of them would be pestering me about my decision. I didn’t have much of a choice. After all, what could I really do with the information that Dar had given me? Start some kind of uprising or revolution? I didn’t think so. All I cared about was my ship, my crew, and myself. The rest of the Universe would have to take care of themselves, just like they always did.