Star Raiders (3 page)

Shyanne’s laughter echoed in the corridor. “Greyson, meet Bear. You can let him up, Bear.”

The large man heaved himself up and off Greyson, who gasped air into his crushed lungs and stared mutely at the hirsute giant towering above. At nearly seven feet tal , Bear had to hunch his massive shoulders to keep his head from brushing the ceiling. Few men who went into space were as large as this; most ships couldn’t accommodate even Greyson’s six feet two inches. The brute’s black hair hung in feltlike ropes around a face that had never used a beard suppressant.

Dressed al in black, the figure radiated strength…and menace. Then he grinned, his white teeth a shocking contrast against his ebony skin and hair, and held out a huge paw.

Greyson clasped the man’s hand with a bit of apprehension. Inside the giant fingers, his own felt like a child’s, but Bear’s grip, while firm, was gentle. He pul ed Greyson to his feet.

“Thanks,” Greyson murmured, absently rubbing his hand.

“You can go, Bear,” Shyanne said.

Bear’s smile disappeared. He fixed his stare on Greyson, the warning in his eyes clear: Harm her and you die. Then he turned and left. For al his bulk, he moved without sound.

Until Bear disappeared around a corner, Greyson hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. He considered himself fit and capable of defending himself, but in a fistfight against Bear he wouldn’t stand a chance. Maybe not even if he had a weapon.

“He’s from Cardew,” Shyanne remarked.

Greyson searched his mind for the history he’d learned early in his career. Al ASP agents had to be familiar with the known outer worlds and their occupants, as wel as the thousands accepted into the Consortium. “Cardew. A planet colonized over two hundred years ago by descendants of an African tribe looking to preserve their native culture. When Earth joined the Consortium, they refused to unite with Earth or apply to C.O.I.L. as an independent world.” He paused as he remembered Cardew’s fate. “They were wiped out when Alphus Prime claimed the planet forty years ago. I didn’t know any Cardewians survived.”

“Bear’s the only one left. During the attack, his parents escaped in a smal ship. Brave Alphus Prime warriors—with the ful blessing of the Consortium, I’l remind you—tracked them down, boarded the ship, kil ed his father and tortured and raped his mother while he lay in hiding a few feet away. Before she died and they blew up the ship, she managed to get Bear onto a space raft. They missed his escape in the explosion. A few days later my father found and took him in. He was only five. He’s never spoken a word.”

Shyanne’s monotone recital of the facts didn’t hide her rage and disgust for the Consortium. Quite a few citizens of Earth felt the same way, Greyson knew, but until Earth was a ful member they had no representation in C.O.I.L.’s main council.

Earth League Force feared any move on Earth’s part to object might result in expulsion, and there were too many planets who coveted Earth’s rich resources to lose C.O.I.L. protection. Again, toeing the line was compulsory at this junction.

Regardless, Greyson decided not to argue the finer points of interstel ar politics. Unlike their spirited discussions of ten years ago, when they’d both been young and idealistic but without practical experience, they’d each now seen and done things that put them firmly on opposite sides of this fight—a fight he couldn’t afford to lose.

And they couldn’t make up the way they used to.

When Greyson didn’t rise to her bait, Shy let the subject drop, turned and proceeded down the corridor. Was al owing him to stay aboard her ship foolish?

She didn’t fear that he’d attack her physical y. He’d be an idiot to do so. After meeting Bear, he had to know if he hurt her he’d never make it off the ship alive.

Besides, the Greyson she’d known would never sink to using violence against anyone he considered weaker than himself. That personality flaw was what had al owed her to escape ten years ago.

Of course, he could have changed in that time. She herself certainly had. But even now he seemed more diplomat than warrior. No, the danger he posed to her wasn’t physical. Words had always been his most powerful weapon. She remembered their arguments when they’d sat up half the night debating the pros and cons of Earth’s membership in the Consortium. Even then she’d taken the side against C.O.I.L., but her childhood had been free of the trauma and tragedy she’d seen since. She’d had no idea what she was talking about while parroting her father’s words. Now she did.

Yes, during those youthful discussions Greyson’s knowledge and logic had easily defeated her idealistic rhetoric, but she’d managed to circumvent his complete victory by other means. Her body heated as she recal ed just how she’d always silenced him.

That wasn’t an option anymore. It was no more an option than was letting him go.

His offer of pardon tempted her. Not that she trusted him, exactly, but the thought of living with her son—of living without fear, without constantly having to watch her back, final y able to trust someone outside her crew—held an inescapable lure. As wel , she had to find out how he’d tracked her. If he could find her, so could Dempster.

“Nice ship.” Greyson came abreast of her in the narrow corridor, and his shoulder brushed hers. She sucked in a breath, attempting futilely to break contact, but he didn’t seem to notice and ran his hand along the wal . “She’s old but wel designed and maintained. I don’t recognize the make or model.”

“Kedar designed and built her himself. She may be older, but she’s as good as anything being built today.” Since his arrest ten years ago, she’d never again spoken of Kedar as her father. In her mind his lies had stripped him of that title.

Unfortunately, the message hadn’t quite reached her heart. She referred to him as Kedar, as did his former crew, not only to remind herself of his betrayal and distance herself from him, but to remind herself of who she was—his daughter.

Greyson gave a whistle. “With this kind of talent, I’m surprised he turned to smuggling. Earth League Force would have paid him wel to be a designer.”

“They never gave him the chance. He was four when Earth joined the Consortium. He and his parents lived on Delta. When the planet officials objected to having their independent-planet status revoked after seventy-five years and becoming a second-class Earth colony, ELF sent in troops to forcibly remove them. During the fighting, Kedar’s family was kil ed.” She hadn’t known any of this until after his arrest. For al the good it did, he’d tried to protect her by keeping her in the dark. Only as she tried to rebuild her life had she learned of her father’s past.

“History is ful of tragedy and injustice,” Greyson agreed. “Earth League Force had just come into being. Any human colonized planet less than a hundred years old had to come in under Earth’s umbrel a. Perhaps in their zeal to bring everyone in line with the new law, ELF overreacted.”

His weak attempt to explain away the horror of the event enraged her, and Shy whirled to face him. “
Overreacted?
Every person from Delta was judged a criminal and sent to a penal work colony, including Kedar. He spent the next fourteen years doing hard labor for ELF. To court favor with C.O.I.L., they stole his planet, his home, his family and his future. When they final y released him as an ex-convict, he couldn’t find work on Earth or any Earth colony. And other C.O.I.L. worlds don’t accept ex-cons as immigrants. Is it any surprise he turned to smuggling to survive and had little love for Earth or the Consortium?”

“I’m sorry,” Greyson said. “I don’t doubt they made a mistake.” Unable to accept his offered sympathy and understanding, Shy turned and strode off down the corridor. At that moment she didn’t care if he fol owed or not; she had to get away from him and the memories.

But which memories was she running from? When she’d learned of her father’s past, some of her anger with him died. She’d forgiven him for his crimes, if she couldn’t forgive him for abandoning her and betraying her trust in him, for not being the man she’d believed. But those memories, while stil tender, weren’t the ones that haunted her days and tormented her nights.

She counted her life as rich. Not in credits but in personal relationships. As odd a col ection as they might be, she viewed her crew as family. So, why did scarcely a moment in her life pass when she didn’t grieve for what might have been if Kedar and Greyson were honest? If they’d been the men she’d thought them to be? It was a question she wasn’t ready to forget.

She reached the lift at the end of the corridor and stopped. Despite his heavy gravity boots, Greyson made no sound as he moved over the metal grate flooring, and she sensed rather than heard him come up behind her. The subtle smel of him, reminiscent of rich, dark chocolate, teased her nostrils. Heat from where his hand hovered over her shoulder sent a bolt of longing through her for him to touch her, but when she turned to face him, he stood at least three feet away, his arms hanging loosely at his sides.

Miserable and aching, Shy swal owed a groan.

The sadness in Shyanne’s eyes stirred Greyson’s emotions. Guilt and pity threatened to drown hope.

During their interviews, Kedar had never spoken of his past to Greyson, or of his reasons for becoming a smuggler. Nor had he discussed his daughter, so Greyson didn’t know what to say to erase the pain in Shyanne’s expression. Pain he’d helped put there.

He knew her youthful arguments against the Consortium were based on a childhood of being raised by a parent who was anti-C.O.I.L., and now experience had hardened her once idealistic views into antiestablishment dogma. The Consortium was far from perfect, and Earth League Force had its share of sins to answer for, but he believed in the greater good both organizations were set upon accomplishing. C.O.I.L. worlds provided better and safer lives for their inhabitants than the outer worlds. As long as they complied with C.O.I.L.’s simple laws, each member planet was al owed to govern itself without interference.

Of course, break those laws and the imposed penalties were swift and harsh.

Earth was particularly vulnerable, as it was stil in its probationary period. Greyson didn’t claim to understand al the power dynamics, but he knew there were forces that wanted Earth to fail: The manner and localization of the recent upsurge in piracy and other criminal activity was a clear indication of that. It was also why ELF, desperate to avoid drawing negative attention from the Consortium, was coming down hard on ASP. They had to put an end to it.

Greyson spared a moment to wonder what would happen if the ELF officials who drooled over the ships Dane Enterprises built for them learned who designed those ships. Despite his words to Shyanne, he’d recognized the design of her craft immediately. She was right; despite her age, the
Independence
was as good as or better than the battle cruisers being built today. Kedar was a sly dog holding back on his current designs to give his daughter the edge she needed to survive.

Though Kedar was a convicted felon, Greyson quickly learned things were not always what they seemed with the man.

For years, Greyson had been bringing Kedar’s designs out of prison and helping him bank the proceeds—another black mark against him if it ever came to light.

The door opened, and he fol owed Shyanne inside the lift. Crammed together in the tiny cubicle, they rode upward in silence. She stood at the front with her back to him. A blast of air from the circulation system ruffled her short hair and he inhaled sharply. Her familiar scent fil ed his lungs.

Soap. Clean female. A sudden urge to wrap his arms around her and pul her against his chest left Greyson shaken. Years had passed since he’d felt the nearly overwhelming need to touch, smel or taste a woman. No—his hands curled into fists to keep from reaching for her—who was he fooling? The only woman he’d ever felt this way about stood right in front of him. Since she’d blindsided him and run away that day, he’d never again wanted a woman the same way he wanted her.

He just hadn’t admitted it until this moment. Which meant he was in serious trouble.

If he was wrong and she was responsible for the attacks, he’d have to bring her in.

If he was right and she was innocent, even if he obtained the pardons he promised, she’d never forgive him for this second betrayal, for his lies.

The lift stopped and the doors slid open. The corridor revealed was better lit than the one below, the metal of the wal s buffed and clean.

“
Independence
’s bridge, gal ey and crew lounge are on this level. Medical bay and crew quarters are on the next deck down.” Shyanne pointed out the rooms as they walked. Greyson peered into the open doorways they passed.

Kedar had designed a unique, comfortable and functional craft. Even some of Earth’s premier luxury space liners weren’t as wel laid out or appointed, and the design of
Independence
rivaled the best ELF had to offer in either cargo or military ships. It was a shame he hadn’t turned to his talent for ship design sooner rather than becoming a smuggler.

“How many in your crew?”

“There are seven of us.”

“That’s al ?” There was no possible way seven people could be responsible for al the attacks currently being blamed on them. If she was tel ing the truth, the smal size of her crew went a long way to establishing her innocence.

“Despite what you might have heard, we’re a smal operation.”

“This is a pretty big ship for such a smal crew,” Greyson pointed out. Though his gut told him she was being truthful, he couldn’t help wondering why she was being so forthcoming with information. Working his job had given him a healthy dose of skepticism about people and their motives.

Shyanne shrugged. “Kedar built her for his operation, which was much larger than mine. She’l house a crew of up to thirty comfortably. But he also designed her so only two people can fly her if necessary. We prefer to run our business undetected. The less ELF and C.O.I.L. know about us, the better.”

“You’re not as invisible as you think. Even before this rash of attacks, ASP

was aware of your activities.”