MoonRush (33 page)

“Hey!” Jarod yelled at one scrawny but surprisingly strong miner who refused to let go of Jarod’s carbon dioxide scrubber. “I need that!”

“Get your own!” the man cackled at him.

“That is
my own
, you lunatic!” Jarod yelled back, changing the pull into a push that caught the man square in the chest and sent him reeling against the bar. Jarod took that as his cue to get the hell out of there. He went to move toward the exit again, only to find his way blocked by a wall of stinky diamond hunters. Jarod backed up, bumping into someone behind him. He whirled around and found himself face
-
to
-
face with a jade scorpion pendant.

“Why am I not surprised to find Gil’s lackey here spying on me
?
”
H
e sneered at the Asian woman, jumping back just in time to miss a kick aimed at his head.

She snapped back. “My name is Mia, and I only hitched a ride with the scum
bag
, which I paid for. That’s it.” She whirled around and delivered a snap kick to a large man’s midsection. The breath went out of the miner in a whoosh of alcohol
-
drenched air.

Mia looked back over at Jarod and yelled, “Get down!” She tackled Jarod, taking him to the floor just as a bottle whizzed overhead.

Jarod now found himself prostrate, his limbs entangled with those of the lovely Mia. “How Freudian.” He chuckled at the perplexed look on Mia’s face. “You know, I’m starting to form a new theory about our rendezvous.” He grinned, loving the flush that was creeping up the woman’s face. “You’re stalking me.”

Mia stood up, seeming a bit rattled. Jarod slowly rose, allowing a bit of swagger to enter in. “Yeah. You’ve got a taste of the Rogue
,
and can’t
—
”

A beer bottle to the jaw knocked the remainder of that sentence clear out of Jarod’s head. In its place was the most fantastic display of fireworks Jarod could remember seeing. He shook his head, trying to figure out where the bottle-wielder had
gone
. This good-natured bar fight was starting to turn downright ugly.

Mia spoke over her shoulder at Jarod as she headed toward the exit. “Follow me.”

“What? While you recite poetry?”

Jarod watched while Mia kicked off her gravity boots. All of
a
sudden, this lithe woman became a whirling dervish of destruction. Using the low gravity to her advantage, Mia kicked off one brawler, propelling her fist toward another. She was a whirlwind of striking heels and slicing hands. Jarod had seen Cuisinart blenders that did less damage than Mia. He followed in her wake of broken bones toward the hat-check area.

“Remind me never to piss you off.”

The hat-check girl, still reading her magazine, seemed unfazed by the mayhem surrounding her. She handed them their helmets as they rushed for the door.

“Thanks for visiting the Dark Side of the Moon. Come again soon.”

Jarod and Mia raced out to their bikes, but found only Jarod’s decrepit cycle awaiting them. “Where’s my Harley?” Mia shouted.

“That piece of muscle was yours?”

“Yes! But it’s been jacked.”

Jarod revved the engine on his clunker, trying to make a point. Unfortunately, the motor only sputtered before cutting out. He kicked it back to life, trying to look like that was
his
intention all along.

“Bummer. Catch you on the flip side.”

Jarod watched out of his peripherals as Mia assessed her situation. The fight from inside the bar had now spilled out and threaten
ed
to engulf her once more. Jarod looked back and did a double take. An older, bookish
-
looking man was walking
toward
the bar and the still
-
raging fight, flanked by two burly looking guys. He shook his head. It took all kinds, he guessed. He mentally wished the old guy well.

Mia reasserted herself. “Wait! Can I buy a ride off of you?”

Jarod snorted. “Sorry
.
I’m
not for sale.” He paused a second,
and
then mumbled to himself, “Well, at least not yet.” He inched his way forward, forcing Mia to trot to stay alongside the bike. She dodged to avoid a particularly nasty knife fight.

“Look, I’ve got a scientific method to help you locate diamonds.”

Jarod laughed. “Sorry, but the Rogues
’
brainiac position is filled.

Mia jumped to the side, avoiding being stabbed by mere millimeters. She reached into her pocket, pulling out an elongated black device. It was the thing she had waved in front of his face in the bar back on the space station.

“Does he have this?”

Jarod put on his best neutral face as he responded, “That looks like it could have many uses, several of which I really don’t want to know about.” He was gratified to notice that once more
,
a serious blush was heating up Mia’s cheeks.

She wasn’t done with her presentation, however. She showed Jarod that the device was clearly scanning for something. “It can locate a diamond within a twenty
-
foot radius.”

Jarod felt his expression freeze for a moment. Then the smile to beat all smiles broke spread over his face. He stopped the bike.

“Hop on.” He waited until she clambered aboard before continuing. “You had me at ‘pretentious car
.
’
”

Jarod cranked the lever on the bike, lifting them up to cruising altitude. He then pointed them in the direction of the Rogues
’
ship.

Mia tapped him on the shoulder. “Where are you going? The diamond fields are to the east.”

“I’m taking the scenic route.”

CHAPTER
11

Diamond Fields on the Moon

March 31, 2049

0830 hours,
LST

Cleo surveyed the panning equipment the ship had come with. One nice thing about
S
tar
D
iamonds being undetectable is that mining tools were mostly low
tech. That kind of gear had a tendency to stay relatively intact. Now that the Rogues had finally made it out to the fields, they had as much chance of succeeding as anyone else out here. Cleo glanced over at Buton and reassessed. They had a much greater chance. This whole thing could actually work
—
for once.

Working alongside Rob, Cleo nudged him in the ribs as they both pulled out the panning equipment. They had been putting everything to the test since Jarod had left to get supplies, and everyone seemed to be in higher spirits than Cleo had seen in quite some time. Rob shied away from her ribbing, a grin plastered
on
his face as he knelt down in the dirt and scooped up a pan full of moondust.

“Check me out, Cleo
!
I’m a prospector.” He spoke with an exaggerated hick accent and pulled a face that dropped his IQ down at least fifty points.

She felt the laughter bubble up from a place deep inside her. Sometimes, in her drive to make sure
that
Rob was protected, she forgot just what a good kid he was. Impulsive, sure. But kind and thoughtful, too. And funny as all hell.

Buton looked over and beyond both of them. “It appears Jarod is returning.”

Cleo faced the direction Buton’s body was pointing. She squinted against the dust the bike was kicking up, realizing after the fact that she was wearing a helmet. Habits die hard. Just one more reminder of how different this environment was.

As the cloud cleared, the entire crew seemed to notice at the same time the additional body plastered against Jarod’s back. The additional
female
body plastered against Jarod’s back.

Jarod swung his leg over the side of the bike, reaching out a hand to help down whoever it was behind him. Cleo didn’t give him a chance to settle in.

“Jarod! I can’t believe…
You can’t bring some one
-
night stand to our ship!”

Cleo watched Jarod’s spine stiffen. “How do you think
that
you
joined the Rogues?”

Before she could respond, Buton stepped forward. “Perhaps this is best
discussed
inside?”

Cleo felt her shock forging itself into white
-
hot rage as she followed the group into the interior of the ship. Is that really where Jarod was going to go with this whole thing? She ripped off her helmet the moment the door to the outside achieved its seal and watched all
-
but
-
Jarod’s
-
latest conquest do the same. Considering how much hostility was floating around the hold, Cleo didn’t particularly blame her. Much.

“How
dare
you turn this on me?” She got close enough to Jarod to shove him, but managed to restrain herself at the last moment.

“Hey
!
” Jarod shrugged. “I meant it as a compliment!”

Cleo’s mouth gaped open for a brief heartbeat. “Comparing me to this whore!” Cleo realized what she had said, turned to the woman
,
and muttered, “Nothing personal.”

The woman removed her helmet and spoke for the first time. “None taken.”

And then all hell broke loose.

Rob pointed his finger at her. “You’re Gil’s squeeze!”

Buton mumbled, “Oh
,
dear.”

That was it. Cleo had had more than enough of Jarod. Enough of his charm. Enough of his attitude. Enough of his idiotic sexcapades.

“How dare you risk everything for
—
”

Jarod threw up his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” He waited for the hubbub to die down. “If Mia here
is
telling the truth, the risk is totally worth it.” He turned to the woman, who
,
all of
a
sudden
,
seemed to develop stage fright.

“C’mon, Mia,” Jarod urged. “I’ve shown you mine…”