Chapter 6

HOT WATER WASHED over Kira’s body, releasing the tension in her muscles from

the last several hours. She could use more than that, but it would have to wait

until she was back in her private cabin at the Tararian Guard outpost she

called home; no need to add any more ammunition to Ari’s arsenal.

She turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping a towel around

herself. The shared bathroom was large enough for six people at once, but she

had the place to herself at the moment.

I wonder if we’ll get any answers back at the station? Given the major’s

reticence, she doubted it. But she could hope.

With MTech headquartered on a planet in the same system as her

homeworld, she was more familiar with them than some of her

reconnaissance targets. She’d never had any reason to think of them as

anything other than a respectable biotech research company, but any private

corporation with military ties always put her on edge. If MTech was indeed

working on a secret project with the Mysaran military, she didn’t like the

potential implications for her loved ones on Valta.

Kira dressed in a clean shipsuit, her standard garb while on any spaceship

or station. The interior elastic material fit snugly against her body like a

second skin, providing protection in the event of a rapid decompression. A

black outer layer offered pockets and weapon holsters for practical use, and

quick-release pouches in the collar and around the cuffs contained an

emergency helmet and gloves to complete the pressure suit. Given the

amount of tech packed into the garment, it was surprisingly sleek and

flattering—though the tight fit always did take several minutes to get used to

each time she put it on.

Her team was waiting for her in their shared quarters down the hall. The

four of them had slept, eaten, and trained together nearly every day for the

past four years, and it had made them as tightknit a group as any in the

Guard. Though she was officially in command, any time they weren’t on an

active op, she would rather just be one of the team. They were friends, and that friendship kept them safe when it mattered most.

“Learn anything?” Kyle asked as soon as Kira stepped through the door.

He was perched on his bunk above Ari’s against the right wall of the compact

room.

“Squat.” Kira closed the door and leaned back against it.

Nia, on the upper bunk to the left, tilted her head, her dark eyes narrowed.

“We can’t do our job effectively if they keep secrets from us.”

“Don’t I know it.” Kira shook her head.

“We can’t let it happen again,” Ari grumbled.

“What am I supposed to do? Sandren was fed bad intel—he didn’t know,

either. We have to go in and do what we’re told. We’ve trained to be

prepared for anything, and we showed that today.”

The large soldier crossed his arms, highlighting the substantial muscles

under his tight shipsuit. “I still don’t like it.”

“Well that’s the nature of the job. Quit moaning,” Kira shot back. She

pushed off the door and took the two steps to her bunk. “We got the job done

today. That’s what counts.” She collapsed on the mattress.

“The Guard has more than enough means to have anticipated we’d run

into problems,” Kyle insisted.

Kira flourished a hand. “Yes, someone lied. We can speculate all night

about what MTech was up to, but we won’t know for sure until someone tells

us.”

“One of those times I wish I’d been able to download the info to internal

storage so I could look at it myself.” Kyle’s youth on Lynaeda had given him

a leg up when it came to technology, being one of the so-called ‘tech head’

planets in the habited band of Taran worlds situated between the core worlds

and outer colonies. He was surprisingly un-modded for someone of his

background—no AI pairing or significant body augmentations—but that was

probably what had attracted him to the Guard’s sensibilities in the first place.

Admittedly, Kira shared his regret that they didn’t have a copy of

MTech’s data for their own review. “Best not to get ourselves worked up

about it,” she said.

Kyle sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

“They did shoot at us. I think we have the right to be a little cranky,” Nia

pointed out. Ari straightened on his bed across the narrow gap from Kira. “Speaking

of cranky, your newest video will be paired with ‘She Can Move’.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “That song is terrible.”

“I knew you’d love it! It’s oh so appropriate.”

Ari was lucky he was half a meter taller than Kira or he’d have a boot in

his face. He was the brawn of the group—a weapons specialist paired with

two hackers and a telepath—but he had a good head on his shoulders and a

big heart, in addition to being one of the best marksmen in the Guard. As

much as Kira razed him for his video-posting obsession, it amused her to

watch the huge man take such care and attention to sync up the music with

visuals. So long as that attention to detail continued to carry over to his

planning of the team’s loadout for ops, she didn’t have complaints.

All the same, Kira couldn’t let him get away with the videos forever. She

had been quietly plotting her retribution—a practical joke that would leave

Ari begging for mercy. He’d never see it coming.

“Since the dire matter of musical accompaniment has finally been

resolved and we’re at a dead end with the MTech investigation, who’s up for

a game of Fastara?” Nia asked.

“Sure, why not?” Kira agreed, eager for a distraction. She had been about

to suggest the same activity for the jump home before they’d been so rudely

shot at by the MTech missile-launcher.

Kyle hopped down from his bunk. “Come on, Ari. The video editing can

wait.”

The other man groaned. “None of you are any fun.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “Oh, I know, it’s shocking that I’m not thrilled about

your entertainment coming at my expense.”

“Hey, I’m turning you into a celebrity. You should be thanking me.” Ari

grinned.

She gave him a dagger-glare as she rose from her bunk, knowing it would

carry more weight than any punch she could land on him—and was more

professional.

Ari swallowed. “Um, yeah, a game of Fastara sounds great!” He followed

the rest of the team out of their cabin.

Their go-to gaming spot was the galley, not far down the corridor from

their cabin. Though there was a proper rec space on the deck below, having