Page 25

When she did, he rested his hands on her shoulders, pinning her in place as Erv had done for every meeting she had with Sebastian Carne. She squirmed in the chair.

“Any of these lights flash red, you call me or Grunt.” Leaning over her, Nikko touched the wide screens running the length of the console.

Billions of stars blinked in greeting. “If a red circle appears on here, call me.” He spun the chair and forced her to meet his gaze.

“If something flies past the screens, you hit this red button.” He pointed to the massive rectangle button at the top of the console.

“Okay, so red is bad.”

He grinned, softening his features into rugged attractiveness. “Yes. Any questions?”

She shook her head.

Trent returned, balancing a plate on his hands while reading from his tablet.

He stumbled when he saw them, slipped around them, and waited for her to vacate the chair.

She did so, jumping up and almost bumping into Nikko.

Since when had she become this clumsy? Thankfully, she halted before she touched him.

After Tiny’s medical assessment, she needed a little space.

“With me, Vic.” Nikko marched off the bridge and along the passage, taking turns randomly.

Not wanting to have to ask the computer to direct her, she stuck to his tail.

She would never live down getting lost. When she entered a room behind Nikko, the stench of old sweat filled her nostrils.

She laughed, surprised to realize she had missed it.

“Let’s see what you have.” He stripped off his uniform jacket and hung it on a hook.

She did the same and met him in the middle of a five-by-five meter training mat. “You’re not ready for this, Sarg.” She raised her fists, rolled her weight onto her front foot, and winked at him.

He lunged and landed on his back.

She’d swept him off his feet by directing his momentum to where she wanted him. “We don’t have to do this, y’know. Although, I do appreciate the exercise.”

Each lunge, parry, punch, and duck sprawled him on the mat. His grunts became heavier, his resilience less enthusiastic. Not once did he manage to touch her.

“Where the farg did you learn this?” He wiped sweat from his brow with the hem of his shirt, exposing a lovely set of abs.

“A decade of training against the finest, Nikko.” She fell into a defensive stance, her fists in front of her face, hoping to hide her grimace. This crew was slipping under her guard, getting her to reveal tidbits of who she was and what she had endured.

“How good are you?”

She shrugged. “Without breaking a sweat, I can kill. I choose not to.”

“So you were going easy on us?” Grunt slipped into the gym and settled on a padded bench to watch them.

“Death isn’t the only solution.” She smiled. “It is often delicious to consider though, especially when someone wishes me harm.”

“You’re an assassin?” Grunt’s eyes widened.

She laughed. “No.”

Nikko rocked on his toes, forming fists as she did. “Then how do you know the captain’s son?”

Everything within Vic stilled as realization dawned. “Ande?” A twang shot her as loneliness settled like a deep ache in her bones. If only she could hear his voice, but contacting him would alert Carne.

Nikko nodded.

“We trained together.” Farg, so that was the connection. Ande had asked dear old dad to hire her. Or was there more to this? In all these years, when she had spoken of her pa, Ande had never once mentioned that he had a father or that said father was a Ring legend.

“Ande’s as good as you?”

She shrugged. “Better with his strength and bulk.”

Nikko struck, his punch hitting her chest. She stumbled back, not feeling anything, as if he had shoved her aside. What the farg?

“How much of you is cybernetics?” He huffed, shaking his hand.

“My arm and leg.” Touching her chest, she gasped.

Her fingers recognized the feel of armor, like Drafe’s.

Hurrying across the mat, she stopped an inch from the floor-to-ceiling mirror.

A pearlescent shimmer rippled over her skin.

As she rubbed her sternum, the armor faded to her normal skin before rippling into place again.

Facing Nikko, she burst forward, pausing in front of him. He blinked at her. “Punch me as hard as you can.” She threw her arms out wide and waited.

“Are you sure?” His brows knitted even as he curled his fingers into a fist.

“My chest, please. Let’s not bruise my face, shall we?”

He spread his thighs, pulled back his fist, and punched her. Again, the force pushed her back a few steps, but she’d felt nothing.

Closing her eyes, she listened to the incoherent whispers in the reaches of her mind.

Screaming at them to remain there, she ran, ignoring Nikko calling her name.

Tiny would know what was going on since she had taken a blood sample yesterday.

Bursting into the med bay drew a yelp from the blind woman.

She clasped her chest, panting for breath. “Vic, you scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry, Tiny. Did you get the results from my bloodwork?” Every muscle in Vic tensed, waiting, ready to explode into action.

“Yeah, but they make no sense.” She raised her face to the ceiling. “Computer, explain Vic’s bloodwork results.”

“Victoria Barnes’s blood contains an overabundance of nanites. This is to be expected with her recent implants. However, these nanites are not decreasing in number and dying off as designed. In addition, an unknown organism has merged with them and may be the reason for the nanites’ extended life.”

“What?” Vic squeaked.

“There is no clear indication of how they entered your system. Removing them will be impossible since they have fused with your DNA,” the computer continued in her monotone voice.

“What?” Vic slumped onto a bunker, gripping the metal railing.

“It is unusual. The nanites encourage your body’s healing process and are integral to post-implantation. It now appears that they will remain indefinitely.”

“Thank you, computer.” Farg. Vic gazed at Tiny. “What doesn’t make sense?”

“The existence of these organisms, Vic. When you enter a public area on the Lunar Base, a sterilization spray neutralizes all manner of bugs. Yours are…foreign. I can tell you that.” She waved a plastic model of a worm. “They carry the memory cells we find in human brains.”

“Right.” That explanation didn’t help. Vic drew in a ragged breath. “Am I dying?”

“No, they’re not harming you. They’re commensalistic since I can’t see what they gain in this symbiosis. They’re repairing minor damage to your liver and kidneys—the natural decay from a diet with insufficient hydration and nutrition.”

So much for Carne’s expensive medical team. “Okay, fine, great, but can this explain the shimmer?”

“The what?” Tiny furrowed her brow. “As in glitter? You’re glowing?”

“Kind of. Nikko punched me, and I didn’t feel it.”

“Oh, dear.” Tiny giggled. “That must’ve irritated him.”

Vic hadn’t checked his reaction, too focused on her Drafe-like armor.

She would have to chat with Drafe. Excitement coiled in her stomach, and those whispers rose in a crescendo, as if urging her to reach out to him.

He had a smart band, and if it was possible, perhaps she could hear his rasping voice again.

Pushing off the bed, Vic rose. “According to you, I’m well, and I don’t need to panic.”

“Yes, and I’ll have to inform the captain.” Tiny typed on a small console, then paused. “Only the captain. Medical results are considered confidential.”

“Good to know.” Vic liked that, when at Carne a yeast infection was open for discussion and ridicule.

“We are traveling to the best medical facility in the galaxy…. Well, past it.” Tiny’s hurried words sparked Vic’s instincts. Why would they, an ice hauler, visit a medical facility? Unless they bought ice from the source.

“Thanks, Tiny. I’ll find Sarg, and let him punch me again, as a peace offering for abandoning him on the training mat.”

“Enjoy.” Tiny waved at the bed even though Vic was at the door.

She strolled to the gym, slipped inside, and raised her hands as if she approached a rabid animal.

Nikko waited, his arms folded across his chest. “What the farg was that?”

“An expected issue with my nanites.” She wasn’t about to reveal that a little of Drafe had found a home in her. That was for Drafe’s ears, though how she would reveal that with the fargen ship listening in was beyond her. “Go ahead, Sarg, punch me again.” She smirked. “You know you want to.”