Page 110 of Tempting Cargo

Jackpot. The chamber was much like the cell, except for the addition of metal shelves across the walls. And there, stashed on a low one to the left, was all our gear. I strapped on my armour and wrist-comm—funny how I’d gotten so used to the weight of it on my arm.

Backpack. Blaster. And a second, bigger one from the wall because hell yeah.

As I picked up the others’ gear, my ears caught the faint tread of booted feet.

Damn. At least I was armed now.

I crouched to the side of the doorway, ready to spring, then shook my head. If all the guards were coming, having a bigger blaster wasn’t enough to even the odds.

I ran. Dived back into the cell before the guards rounded the corner.

As the footsteps got louder, I realised they weren’t the light pad of Orithian footwear but the heavy clomp of station boots, and I grinned as two figures came into view.

Through the purple forcefield, Tokki and Daiytak looked us up and down. “Need some help?”

I couldn’t resist. “Yes, but not as much as you might think.” The portal shimmered as I walked through it to join them.

Tokki’s smile wasn’t something I’d seen often, but his mouth spread wide. “I was not expecting that.” His nod was the closest to praise I’d get from him, so I took it.

He’d already turned away, inspecting the control panel. “What’s the code likely to be?”

“Just shoot it,” Muzati said.

“What?”

“If Garrison got through, it’s basic one-phase plasma. Stupid Orithians. It’s not volatile like proper ones. Just blast it.”

Daiytak raised a brow and bared her teeth. “Stand back.”

The noise was deafening in the small space. Sparks flew, smoke seeped into the cell, and the the field winked out of existence.

With more time to search the storage room, we found Shohari’s wrist-comm, bloodied knife, and miniature blaster.

Fuck.

A fresh deluge of worry swallowed any relief I’d felt at getting free.

“Take this.” Tokki threw a rifle at me, then offered the spare to Paiata.

The pilot shook his head and picked up a blaster instead. “Save it for the cap.”

A low, insistent bleep came from Tokki’s tac-tablet.

“Someone’s coming,” he murmured. “Must have heard us blow the control panel.”

Adrenaline burned away my worry. “Time to leave.”

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

My revenge is the inevitable slow creep of winter

Shohari

“I AM takinga turn around the garden with my betrothed.”

My bones prickled at Rokharu’s words, but the guards nodded in deference, and the feeling dissipated as quickly as it came.

We took a sedate pace from the main hub of the house, and he shifted closer, his breath warm on my ear ridge. “Can we get to the gardens this way?”