Page 24 of Chased by the Alien Mercenary (Monster Mercenary Mates #6)
The office was big, with a large bank of windows looking out over the paved courtyard three stories below.
A massive desk sat front and center, and bookshelves lined the walls—filled with actual physical tomes, old and leather-bound, with golden letters in many different alien scripts along their spines.
They were pretty, but they weren’t why I was here.
I wasn’t much of a reader anyway; I didn’t have the patience to sit still that long, though it had always seemed like it could be a pleasant diversion.
The computer I needed sat front and center at the desk, but I didn’t rush for it, worried it might be trapped with some kind of alarm. It would certainly be locked with passwords and other protections, and without Mitnick to aid me in circumventing those… I had no clue how long this would take.
Slowly rounding the desk, I was, however, confronted with an unlocked computer and data scrolling across the screen.
No password was needed, and the duster lay right beside the controls, pristine and unused.
So, the female had come in to do her own bit of snooping, interesting.
Aramon wanted me to prod at that some more, maybe check what she’d looked into, but I didn’t want to take more time than I already had.
I could not sense her now, but I wondered if Lyra had woken yet and discovered that I was gone.
Time for me to get to work, and this was the part I hated most—but if I wanted Jalima’s location, there was no other option.
I wanted it very badly. But I wasn’t stupid.
Setting up a chair with a precariously balanced vase by the door would ensure a ruckus if someone came in.
It would have to serve as a warning when I had my mind inside the machine.
Then I knelt behind the desk and rummaged beneath the computer until I found the access panel.
Pulling the spare cable free from the collar of my armor was the next step.
The thin wire spooled in my hand, shimmering and glowing faintly.
It looked delicate and ethereal as I brought it up to my head and let the tip worm its way into my nav port.
Just like that, the world vanished around me, and I was caught in a tide of data: ones and zeroes, calculations upon calculations, code that made absolutely no sense to me at all.
This was not my home; this was not a nav-console where the universe expanded into endless possibilities.
This was something else, and it was patently clear right then that I was perhaps the worst male for the job.
They should have sent Mitnick for this, he would understand what I was seeing.
My whole body grew tense with dismay, as my mind hung there, suspended in something so unknown, so unfamiliar that it felt as if I’d stepped into a nightmare.
Maybe that’s why the navigational data seemed to drift from the chaos toward me, just like that.
It was the only point of data that made any kind of sense to my brain: the star configurations, the planets, and the view of the constellations from their surface.
Three suns, all dim and dying, a small watery planet…
I was caught up in the moment, in the familiarity of that piece of information, until Aramon prodded at my mind with a hint of urgency.
“ Found it? Copy it, remember that part of the job, bro? ”
Copy data. I vaguely remembered that part, and like swimming to the surface of a pool of muddy water, I clawed my way back to awareness and blinked open my eyes.
I had a data tab somewhere on me just for this, but my fingers felt clumsy as I patted a slender pocket on my thigh to find it.
The crash of noise filtered into my brain then, shouts, voices, excitement, and the scent of violence.
Instincts roaring, I yanked myself free of the computer and the cable hooked in my nav port, though my task was far from done.
Nobody was at the door, but I knew that, barely gave it a glance. I spun to the windows instead, and even as I leaned down and looked, I knew what I’d see. My mind opened wide, my heart rate speeding up as adrenaline flooded my system—a fighting rage crashing through me. Lyra. They had her.
That’s when I came to the horrifying realization that vengeance didn’t matter nearly as much to me as Lyra did.
I’d made a mistake coming here, just like everyone had been telling me all along.
Aramon did not gloat as he realized what had happened along with me.
“ Save her ,” was all he said. Yeah, I would. I had to make this right.
Crashing a chair through the window felt like crashing open a window inside my mind at the same time—shattering outward.
Aramon’s presence at the back of my mind was suddenly gone, but I was not alone.
As if all that had held us back this time was my divided loyalty, she was suddenly there, rising like a star inside my mind—a beacon to guide me by, the star to which my compass now pointed. “ I’mcoming, Lyra. I’ve got you. ”