Page 18 of Tempting Jupiter
Chapter Nine
TheSalleyHo
EarthAllianceBeta Sector
2210.147
TheSalley Hocrewman pulled Feeona into the hallway. Fitz led the way down the corridor. The crude banter between the crew made it clear that word of her being-nice-to-Jupiter gesture had made it around the ship. She let the comments roll off her shoulders. She should banter with them. That’s what she would normally do, but the taste of Jupiter, the tug of his fingers in her hair, the press of him against the back of her throat wasn’t something she wanted to turn into a joke.
Fitz led them to one of the secondary cargo bays and through the maze of stacked crates that filled the space. As they rounded the last crate, Feeona finally had a clear view of the ship-to-ship spanner rigged to the exterior hatch. She let herself study Stone and Barney, since she wasn’t supposed to know them. They’d done a creditable job of cleaning up enough to pass as Alliance patrollers. Barney had left off her usual arrangement of metal studs, gauges, and spikes, making her piercings less noticeable. Stone had shaved off the few scraps of graying hair that normally dotted his mostly bald scalp and his height gave him the illusion of authority. The weapons they carried were the only real giveaways—they were considerably overpowered for escorting one small-time thief onto their ship.
Stone and Barney both focused intensely on Fitz’s men. A shiver crept down Feeona’s spine. If she was assessing the situation without any expectations, she’d say they were waiting for all of Fitz’s men to clear the crates. Ensuring they were in the open. Easy targets.
Damn. Something was very wrong.
Fitz’s men were armed, but with her hands restrained and Stone and Barney’s weapons trained on her, the crewmen had relaxed. Their weapons pointed at the decking beneath their feet. Some had even shoved their weapons into a holster or pocket.
Fitz approached Stone, too tense about having patrollers onboard to see the danger. “Here she is and, ah…” Fitz cleared his throat and shifted his stance, clearly nervous, but she’d bet he was nervous about the wrong thing. “Since she already has a long list of charges against her, I don’t see a need to file a report and add my complaint to the lot.”
No, Fitz was worrying about the wrong thing altogether. He’d just attacked a ship, probably killed the crew, and now he had the Arena Dogs in his brig. He was probably eager to get the men he thought were patrollers off his ship.
Feeona scanned the bay for the closest cover. Stone and Barney wouldn’t have been carrying weapons that size unless they expected trouble. What had gone wrong? Until she knew what was going on, there was nothing she could do.
Stone frowned at Fitz. “Right. No need for trouble. No need for anyone to get hurt.”
“Hurt?” Fitz’s body jerked taut as if the volatility of the situation had finally struck like an electrical jolt. “We—” Whatever Fitz would have said was cut short when Stone aimed his gun more pointedly in Fitz’s direction. Fitz’s hands lifted up in the universal assurance of cooperation and lack of weapons. He took a half step back. “Ah, I don’t know what the problem is, but—”
“If you like your chest without a hole in it, you’ll stay right where you are.” Stone looked as serious as Feeona had ever seen him.
Barney had her big cannon aimed at Fitz’s men. Anyone who knew weapons would know the cannon’s blast could easily put them all on the deck. With their weapons already pointed at their feet, Fitz’s crew had become teetering statues on the edge between playing it safe and doing something stupid enough to send them all crashing over the edge.
It was time to find out what was going on. Feeona kept her stance relaxed and open, not exactly an easy look to pull off with her hands restrained behind her back. She aimed her smile at Stone. “Maybe we could resolve this situation without anyone getting hurt, if you tell them what you need from them.”
Stone’s frown deepened even further, but he spoke to Fitz. “We intercepted your communication with Grande Owens. You’ve got an Arena Dog onboard. We’ll be taking it off your hands.”
Feeona’s stomach turned at Stone’s use of ‘it’ for the men she’d left behind in the brig. It didn’t help her digestion to know that she’d given Stone the means to listen in on that transmission. She’d wanted him to be able to monitor theSalley Hoin case Fitz got a crazy notion in his head, like dropping her off on some lifeless rock before the planned rendezvous.
Fitz’s placating demeanor flipped in a flash of anger. “Holy Hell, man. You seriously don’t want to screw with Owens.”
Stone belched. “I don’t imagine Owens cares who he does business with. No reason we shouldn’t be the ones to collect on the reward. We’ll even let you keep the ship you’ve been prepping to tow. We got no way to haul that thing. Plenty of money to go around.”
Fitz stomped his foot like an angry child. “You think I’m going to let you just walk onto my ship and take what you want?”
“That’s exactly what I think,” answered Stone. “First, you’re going to unlock Mattie and she’s going to walk over to the com panel with you. Then you’re going to order your crew to bring the Arena Dog to us.”
Fitz grabbed Feeona and shook her. “You! You’re in league with them.” His pale face flamed to a red as bright as his hair.
“Hey,” shouted Stone. “I said release her restraints. Do as you’re told unless you want to lose every man and woman in this room.”
Fitz let go of her arms, but she knew she’d probably have bruises from the way he’d gripped her. He turned her and released the plasmold ties.
Stone shifted his focus to Feeona. “Sorry, Mattie. Can’t pass up this kind of money.”
Everything went from unfortunate to plasma-storm in a flash. Fitz shoved her toward Stone. She tried to get her feet under her, but she crashed into him. She didn’t actually register the sound of the blast as Stone fired his cannon no more than ten centimeters from her face. Everything went eerily silent. She could see Stone shouting. Muzzle-flashes flared and winked out. Sparks danced in her peripheral vision as projectiles from a stinger weapon hit the bulkhead near her. It all happened in complete silence. That had to mean the blast had taken out her hearing.
Her journey down to the decking as she tumbled down Stone’s body seemed stretched, as if time were an elastic string pulled just short of breaking. A fiery sensation blistered across her shoulder as a burst round burned into her arm. When she finally hit the deck, the entire bay was an explosion of motion. Some of the crew were down. Some had made it up and over the crates and were returning fire, but that wouldn’t last long. Stone and Barney were blasting their way through the freight at an impressive rate.
Fighting for breath, she rolled to her side and scooted to the nearest crate.
