Page 38 of Enthraller

There was a short, sudden beep, and then the acrid smell of burning circuits.

Wren stood, saw the creeper that had followed the men in through the door curled into itself, smoking gently.

The others followed her gaze.

“Your creeper detector doesn’t just detect,” Hatch observed.

“I didn’t realize it was that . . . vigorous.” Wren felt faintly embarrassed. Her nanos, in contrast, preened.

“Nice.” Bailey walked over and picked it up. “It’ll be hard for the lab to work out where it came from if it’s too damaged, but I’d rather it be dead than recording us.”

Wren reached out to take it and Bailey handed it over. She studied it, felt the nanos considering the burned out husk in her hand. When she lifted her head, Ed was watching her, and she shot him a smile as she sat back down, and moved over on her seat so he could sit next to her.

He ambled over, his shoulder and thigh rubbing against hers as he lowered himself down and made himself comfortable. Hatch found a seat and Bailey caught them up on Guttra agreeing to ask the military to stop and search all freighters backing away from nearspace.

“It’s a good idea,” Ed said. “And speaking of being extra cautious, Hatch, I think you need to be wary of Lashka.”

Hatch looked at him with a blank expression. “Who?”

“One of the academics on the research team, right?” Bailey said.

Ed nodded. “I ran into her last night while Wren was building the creeper destroyers, and she gave off a strange vibe. I don’t know if she was trying to play me or not, but she voiced aninterest in sleeping with Hatch, so I’m just saying, if you allow yourself to be caught, be careful not to give anything away.”

Hatch stared at him in horror, and Wren found the blush that stained his cheeks adorable.

“No problem,” he eventually managed to get out.

“That’s what she was doing at dinner last night,” Bailey said, snapping her fingers. “Trying to catch Hatch’s eye. I wondered why she kept looking our way.”

“But Hatch was too focused on his dinner,” Ed said. “Which made her feel a trifle put out.”

Hatch cleared his throat. “Moving along. Who’s out first on the line?”

“Me,” Bailey said, “you were out for six hours yesterday. Get used to the control room, and I’ll go out.”

The comms unit signaled an incoming call and Bailey got up to answer it.

“We’re about to go out,” she said, and there was an edge to her voice. “Scanning will begin shortly.” She fidgeted, clearly impatient to be off the call.

“Complaints?” Ed asked when she finally murmured a polite goodbye and signed off.

“They’re backed up. More than eighty freighters waiting.” She blew out a breath. “Tempers are running high.”

“Then let’s get to it.” Ed set his plate and cup down.

“I’ll deal with the dishes, you go do your thing.” Wren began collecting the crockery, and Ed put a hand on her arm.

“Be careful. Those creepers are coming from somewhere, and that means there are enemies up here with us.”

She nodded. “I’ll be careful.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but stepped back instead. “Lashka and Banks are both suspect. Ludlow definitely is. I’ve already spoken to Hyt about him. His project is bogus. Lashka told me as much last night.”

“You still suspect her after she told you that?” Wren was curious as to why.

“A good way to get someone’s ear is to pretend to be confessing something you think they already know or suspect.”

Hatch had turned to listen in on their conversation while Bailey suited up. “You think she was pretending to be honest so we’d take her into our confidence?”

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