Page 27 of Relyn (Warriors of Etlon #6)

Relyn

I t was getting to be a habit, pouring himself out of bed, but he didn’t want to wake Nora.

Relyn did not need as much sleep as she did, and while laying there, pooled around his mate was extremely pleasant, it did nothing to assuage a feeling that he had missed something.

His mind had been circling around and getting nowhere, so he decided to take a turn around the ship.

Relyn spent a good portion of time inspecting the cargo, double checking the seals to make sure that they had not been broken. He went looking for loose or secret panels that might hide a transponder or anything that Rutra might have done to sabotage the ship.

Rutra seemed to be conned a little two easily by the two females and their silly songs and clapping games.

Relyn had been in too much of a hurry to get Nora away from Ketle to question it.

After all, every agent the Mahdfel had sent in ended up dead.

Relyn doubted that Rutra was the type to put that much trust in Grom or him to deliver such a prize as Alana.

Relyn would have had a back up plan, and at the moment that was murky, and Relyn didn’t like it.

He also sensed that he was being watched.

“Why aren’t we headed to Terra?” Grom said after watching Relyn for a full minute.

“We’re not?” Relyn said as he ran his hands against the last panel he planned to check.

“Wendy wants to go to Terra.”

“We’re going to Terra, but with a little bit of a detour, first.”

“Did you find out where Alana is?”

“No, no,” Relyn said, turning and leaning against a crate of flugle, whatever the hell that was.

“But we got a lead, and it’s only eight hours out of the way, so we’re popping on it.

” There was no use telling Grom that the lead was actually a Mahdfel ship that could have him arrested and thrown in some prison hole for a good long time.

“What kind of lead?” Grom asked.

“It wasn’t too promising, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Relyn said, being as noncommittal as possible.

“We should go to Terra before looking for Alana,” Grom said. “We need to protect them.”

Relyn nodded. “I agree. Like I said, this is just a quick stop for Bright to make some connections that will lead us where we want to go, after we take them home.”

They both felt the jolt of the ship docking with another ship.

“Go to your quarters and don’t come out unless I say. The contact is a little skittish and seeing a Georgun might spook him,” Relyn said.

Grom nodded and headed off while Relyn went to the hatch.

The quicker they got the exchange over with, the faster they could be on their way.

It would be a relief to hand off that much information.

The Mahdfel might no longer need secrecy.

They could openly pursue the spies and Relyn could follow his mate to Terra, secure in the feeling that he wouldn’t be abandoning an important mission.

Relyn opened the hatch just as Bright got there. He was not expecting there to be two armed Adrastians on the other side. This was not a Mahdfel warship.

“The fuck?”

“Is that any way to treat a friend,” Bright said, not skipping a beat. She was wearing her pistol strapped to her side and had obviously not been expecting Mahdfel. Relyn’s pistol was sitting in his room.

“Captain wants to see you,” the Adrastian said to Bright.

He was unprepared for an encounter, but there was no way Relyn was letting Bright off this ship on her own.

She’d already lied too smoothly to be trusted again.

She probably would say that not taking his suggestion was not a lie, exactly.

More like an error of omission. Either way, it was dangerous, and put his mate in harm’s way.

For that, he was not sure that he could forgive her.

No one objected when he came along. The Adrastians probably figured they had the upper hand. One lone Sangrin was not much of a threat to two armed Adrastians. One Mahdfel was a different matter.

They exited the ship through the tunnel and emerged in one that was slightly larger, but nowhere near the size of the Misery.

A ship like this could take a crew complement of twelve to fifteen.

None of that would matter if he had not been caught quite unaware.

This ship was definitely faster and better armed than Clover’s ship, meaning fighting their way out was a risky proposition unless they managed to kill the crew and commandeer the ship.

The two Adrastians stopped them in the hold. It was about three quarters full of crates of varying sizes. There would be some cover here, but it would be fairly equal to both parties in a shootout.

Relyn decided his best course of action was to again play the quiet muscle, who didn’t act unless his employer demanded it.

A third Adrastian appeared with a female that could have been Bright’s twin.

There were subtle differences between their cheeks and nose, and this female was taller, but it became clear who she was the moment she put her hands on her hips and scowled at Bright.

How had he not known that Alana was Etlonian?

“I hear you’ve been looking for me,” she said.

“Alana!” Bright said, holding out her arms. “I didn’t realize you’d be on this ship.” The woman didn’t move to accept the hug.

“Gale,” she said with the tone of a person not so happy to see her. It was not unlike how Rutra had greeted her.

“I’ve been looking for you for weeks. Ever since-”

“Or should I call you Bright?” Alana said.

“Bright Gale. That’s me,” she said without hesitation. “My mother had quite a sense for names.”

“Funny how the name Bright never came up.”

“If you were named after a light level, would you bring it up?”

“Or if you were secretly working against me, a Mahdfel spy?”

This was not going well, not at all, and it got worse.

“And is that the Sangrin that killed five of my crew and stole my cargo?” Alana said. “Rutra thinks he is so smooth. He’s got spies? I’ve got real spies.”

“Look, I don’t know what you think you know, but I can tell you that Rel here has been working for me since the beginning.

The idiot Rutra sent him with me. And if you’d told me the cargo belonged to you, I would have gotten it for you,” Bright continued, completely ignoring the fact that she’d been pegged correctly as a Mahdfel spy.

“But I couldn’t find you. Now that I have, we can-”

“We are not doing anything,” Alana said.

“I’ve got a plan to get the Misery back,” Bright said.

“I don’t need the Misery. I need the cargo. Fuckin’ Rutra can have the Misery,” she said.

“We can work on that. Like I said-”

Alana cut her off. “No, like I say. You get me that cargo, and I’ll give you back your collateral.”

“Collateral?” Bright said, confused.

Alana punched a button on her com and an Adrastian came in, leading Nora at gunpoint. “I could only find one.”

“That’s the one we need.”

“No,” Relyn said as he took a move toward Nora. The Adrastian put his laser pistol right to her head, and Relyn froze. “Take me.”

“If I’m to believe Gale here, you’re some sort of super spy that has the great captain fooled, and you were willing to fight a death match for her, so here’s what we’re going to do.

You’re going to get me that crate. I’m going to keep her here, unharmed, until you do.

If the crate is destroyed, I kill her. If you bring Rutra here, I kill her.

If you don’t bring it back to me, I kill her.

Her, I don’t trust as far as I can throw her,” Alana said, motioning to Bright.

“You, I don’t know, so I’m not going to shoot you.

Now once you get back on the ship, you can shove her out the airlock for all I care. ”

“Do I get a say in any of this?” Nora asked.

“No!” Bright, Relyn and Alana all shouted at once.

“If I’m going to be used as a bartering chip,” Nora said. Relyn cut her off.

“Just so you know, if any harm comes to her at all, any at all, I will not just find you and kill you, I will destroy everyone and everything that has ever touched you, including that fucking crate,” Relyn said.

Alana shrugged. “Deal.”