Page 52 of Enthraller

Her nanos must have agreed, because they did not intervene as much as they could.

“You all right?” Ed asked.

She gave a nod and a fake smile. “Fine.”

He didn’t believe her, but he inclined his head, giving her privacy.

“Coming up on Freighter Four,” Bailey announced.

Darnell and Fann had not yet entered the freighter, their ships were waiting just outside the bay, so Bailey passed them, going in first and settling in as far forward as she could to allow both ships room to come in behind her.

Both the military and Protection had brought considerably more people this time. Teams of six, it looked like to Wren.

They all looked a lot more alert than they had last time, too.

Ed was ready to go by the time they stepped out into the bay, and he oriented himself, levering the visor down over his eyes and stood quietly for a few beats.

He walked toward the wall to the left of the doors of the bay. “It’s right here.” He slapped the wall with a hand. “But I think to get to it we need to go through the bay doors and gain access from the passage.”

There were no members of the crew around, and Wren guessed that the military had sequestered them in a room somewhere. Perhaps, unlike last time, there was more than just one officer on board to oversee the ship. The horror of Freighter Two clearly weighed on them all.

There was a tension radiating off everyone—and no one wanted to be unprepared a second time.

Ed walked out of the bay, with everyone following behind him.

“There,” he told Bailey, pointing to a lever that looked like part of the fire control system.

She pulled it down, and a sliding door popped open.

She pushed it aside, and it kept sliding, wider and wider.

The hidden room was a long, narrow space, with lights that flicked on as the door was opened. Set in individual holders all along the wall was the lethal gleam of weapons, all the same, all completely foreign to Wren.

“Jarnaks.” Captain Darnell breathed the word from behind her.

Wren turned slightly to look at him. “What are they for?”

“For hunting the big creatures on Faldine. They’re called usinian.” Darnell shook his head. “Jarnaks are completely illegal. Some hunters think they can get away with it because Faldine is so sparsely populated and the Protection Force isspread so thin. Also, since the end of the war, the military has largely withdrawn.”

“Things must be busier now that they found those ruins and the downed ancestral ship,” Wren said. It had been more than eight years since she’d left Faldine, but she’d put in a request to be part of the artifacts team sent to study the ruins. She thought the fact that she’d spent a lot of time there as a child would work in her favor, but she had a feeling Captain Ferris Harden, the captain of the SF teams in Nanganya, had scuttled that application, or never submitted it in the first place. He wouldn’t have wanted her so far out of reach.

Darnell inclined his head. “That’s true, but it still leaves a lot of planet, and actually the increase in tourist and academic traffic means the big game hunters can slip in a little easier now. Before, they stood out because there were so few visitors.”

“Are we sure this is meant for Faldine?” Captain Fann asked. She was studying the weapons with interest. “I didn’t notice Faldine as a stop on the manifest.”

“No, but they are going to Arkhor, and Faldine’s on the way. My guess is they were planning on meeting someone in Faldine nearspace to hand these over to.”

“Is this everything?” Wren turned to Ed, hoping desperately the answer was yes. This was by far an easier find than the women.

He was turning in place, sweeping the area slowly and methodically.

“This is it.” He lifted the visor.

Wren wasn’t sure if she was projecting, but he seemed as relieved as she was.

She exchanged a smile with him, and was taking a step toward him when she was suddenly thrown to the floor.

There was a strange roaring sound, and people were shouting all around her.

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