The Star Thief (31 page)

“There!” Finn pointed off in the distance. “That’s the
Athena
.” He pulled Renna back into the stairwell, and they watched the ship approach.

“Thanks for rescuing me,” he said softly. “You could have gone without me, finished the mission. No one would have thought badly of you.”

She gaped at him. “Is that what you think of me? That I’d steal your ship and your crew and disappear? I thought you trusted me. Or was that all a lie, too?” Anger and disappointment licked across her skin like the fire in one of the buildings below, burning away the fear and exhaustion that threatened to make her collapse.

“No. That’s not what I mean.” Finn pinched the bridge of his nose before trying again. “That didn’t come out right. I just meant that I knew you’d do the right thing.”

She glared. “I don’t have time right now to work out if I should be offended or not. Not to mention, your crew would never leave you behind.”

“I still appreciate you risking your life to find me.” He gently touched the skin beneath the cut on her cheekbone. “We’ll get you patched up as soon as we get back on board.”

Her gaze drifted past his head to the dark form sweeping toward them. “I think we’re going to have a few other things to worry about first.” She pointed at the other ship, and her blood turned to ice. Had the
Athena
seen them?

She stepped around Finn and pressed below her ear to turn on her comm. “Renna to the
Athena
. Do you read?” Dear gods, let the comms be working at close quarters, she prayed. “
Athena
, do you copy?”

A burst of static sounded in her ear before she recognized Kojima’s voice. “This is
Athena
. What’s your position?”

“We’re on the roof of the hospital, but there are hostiles incoming. Watch your left flank. They’re going to attack.”

“I see them. Evasive maneuvers in place. We’ll loop back around to pick you up when we’ve lost them.”

The
Athena
changed course, curving away from the hospital and causing the other ship to shoot past them.

“What the hell is that?” Finn asked, staring at the onyx machine. “I’ve never seen that ship designed before.”

“It’s made from the same material as the facility. I have a feeling Navang designed it. I just wish I knew why.” She held her breath as two white streaks burst from the belly of the enemy ship and snaked toward the
Athena
.

The ship banked, slipping behind a high rise, and the missiles hit the building in a fiery explosion, blowing out all the windows on the block.

“Shit. All those people.” Her hands were shaking, and she clenched them in front of her.

“It was empty. They evacuate tall buildings like that first.” Finn’s fingers pried hers apart, and he held her hand tightly as the
Athena
came around behind the enemy ship.

“There! Kojima won’t let them get away. Watch this.” Finn squeezed her hand as the missile bay doors on the
Athena
opened and the main gun fired at the other ship. It started its turn to escape, but it wasn’t as agile as the
Athena
. The MYTH ship fired four shots. They hit the side of the enemy in a waterfall of sparks. A moment later, an explosion ripped through the air.

Renna clasped her hands to her ears as the ship blew apart in a volley of shrapnel and fire. Down below, she could hear people cheering at the
Athena
’s victory. At the destruction of the enemy.

Less than two minutes later, the
Athena
touched down on the roof. Renna and Finn raced for the hatch, which slid open to meet them. Keva and Viktis were waiting for them.

Finn stopped short inside the airlock and glared at the pirate. “What the hell is he doing on my ship?” he demanded of Keva. To Viktis, he turned and said, “You’re like a bad disease that just keeps showing up.”

Viktis grinned. “And you’d know all about bad diseases, Captain? I hope you were tested before you slept with our girl here.”

Dear gods, would the man ever grow up? She rolled her eyes as Keva’s mouth dropped open into a shocked O.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Keva said. “He said he had information on the attack and that he’d been working with Renna. Should we throw him off?”

Viktis stepped aside. “Why don’t we discuss my merits
after
we get the hell off this planet?”

Finn shook his head and strode past toward the CIC. “He can stay. But one Ileth toe out of line and he goes in the brig.”

“Damn, Renna. This guy is a gem.” Viktis frowned at her as they followed Finn through the ship. “I can see why you chose him over me.”

Renna slanted him a look. “Enough. We barely made it out of there in one piece. We don’t have time to ice your injured pride right now.”

The
Athena
’s engines spun up, and the ship lifted off. Less than a minute later, they were through the atmosphere and away from the attack. Renna paused at the bridge window and looked down at the plumes of smoke drifting up from the city.

Aldani’s had cost them more than time; it had cost those people their lives.

Viktis leaned against one of the railings in the CIC. “Captain, I have some information. That is if you’d like to take your head out of your ass long enough to hear it.” He paused for effect. “The attacks aren’t random.”

Finn studied the monitor in front of him. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

“Okay. How about each of the attacks hit MYTH bases in specific cities?”

Finn’s hands paused on the keyboard, and he slowly turned to face Viktis.

Renna felt her jaw slip open. “How did you find that out? Aren’t MYTH bases top secret?”

“They’re supposed to be. But there’s an interesting mechanical signature some of their machinery uses. The same signature of the
Athena
here.”

“You had Gheewala track the signatures.” It wasn’t a question. Dammit. Why hadn’t she thought of that? They might have learned about this days ago. The blame she’d felt toward Aldani faded, replaced by the sting of self-hatred. “But what does this mean?” she asked.

Viktis smiled slowly and crossed his arms. The damn Ileth was enjoying himself way too much. “I had her go back several years and search for each of the MYTH signatures in this quadrant of the galaxy. The first attack was on Banos Prime three years ago, the one that killed the kid’s parents. It destroyed the MYTH research station there, but not before, I assume, the drug formula was intercepted. There was a gap in the attacks, but they started up again earlier this year. Each attack struck at one of the secret MYTH bases: Nath, Baeno, Hesperia, Lenue.” He paused, letting his gaze shift between Renna and Finn.

Her whole body ached from her race through Lenue. Maybe her brain still wasn’t working quite right, but what Viktis said didn’t make any sense. “I don’t understand. Then how is Myka involved? Why go to such trouble to kidnap him? And then destroy the worlds he was being held on?”

“Whoever is behind this is killing two birds with one stone. Isn’t that the human expression?” Viktis asked. “I think they’re eliminating MYTH strongholds and searching for Myka at the same time. Which begs the question. Where’s the leak?”

Finn growled and turned away, his shoulders tense and hard as stone beneath his uniform. “There is no leak. Somehow the kid is leading them to MYTH. So we need to find out what’s so special about Myka before we can stop these people.”

“And there’s only one person who can do that,” Renna said.

After a long moment, Finn nodded. “Keva, patch us through to Aldani.”

The lieutenant turned to her console, but after a moment of typing, she frowned. “I’m sorry, sir. It looks like enemy fire hit our long-range communicator.”

“Dammit.” Finn slammed his hand down on the railing.

“There’s still another option.” Renna let her eyes drift shut for a moment. “We have to go to Vall. Aldani said that’s where his ex-partner and his business are located. If what Aldani says is true, Draven Navang has been behind all of this from the start.”

Viktis growled. “I knew I should never have taken a job from a corporate type. Industrial espionage, my ass.”

Renna thought back to the business card she’d found in Viktis’s things when she’d drugged him. If only she’d done more research. Maybe she could have stopped Navang days ago. Yet another screw-up on an already messy job.

“Too late for principles now, pirate,” Finn snapped. “If you hadn’t started all this…”

“Someone else would have. You know how it works.”

The two men glared at each other. Evidently she was going to have to play peacekeeper between them a little longer. “Hey! Save your pissing contest for a day when we don’t actually have to save the universe. Until then, pack it away. We have work to do.” When neither man relented, she ground out, “Right, Finn?”

He stared at her for a moment before finally letting out a huff of air. “Keva, set course for Vall. It’s time to pay our esteemed doctor a visit.” He spun on his heels. “I’ll be in my quarters. I have some research of my own to do.” And without another word, he stalked away.

“Moody, isn’t he?” Viktis asked. “Where should I put my stuff? Am I bunking with you, Renna, love?”

“Hell no. Keva will find you a place to stay.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

Keva’s voice came through the intercom, and Renna sat up in her bed. “Thirty minutes out from Vall. Prep for landing.” In two hours, maybe they’d have answers. Maybe they’d have Myka.

And then what?

Take the kid back to his uncle and start her new life? Stick around and see what happened with Finn? Disappear completely? She sighed and buried her hands in her hair. Why was everything so complicated? A month ago, she’d been all ready to retire. And then that one-last-job speech from Boyd had dragged her back into this life.

Renna pushed away from her bed where she’d been trying to sleep and paced the room. Her whole body thrummed with tension. Not long ago, she would have gone to find Viktis in his bunk for a much-needed distraction. Now, her thoughts strayed to Finn. To the feel of his hands on her skin, to his scent wrapping around her.

Stop it, Renna
.

Being with Finn had been nice. More than nice, if she was being completely honest with herself. But down that road lay heartbreak and bitterness. They were completely different people, and Finn wasn’t exactly a no-commitments kind of guy. She doubted he’d ever even heard the word “fling.”

The only other option to work off her stress was the weight room. Not nearly as fun, but it would have to do.

When she arrived at the shuttle bay weight room, she paused in the doorway. Finn had a thin T-shirt on, his shoulder and back muscles rippling as he used the pull-up bar in the corner. She stared for a moment, mesmerized by the movement.

Gods, he was beautiful.

But the lust that surged through her left her with no doubt. She had to get away. The last thing she needed was another confrontation with the man. She had no doubt he’d win.

She turned to leave, and Finn’s voice came from the corner. “Renna. Don’t go.” He didn’t even turn around to talk to her.

“How did you know I was here?” she asked.

“I always know when you’re close.” He sighed and dropped from the bar, landing lightly on his feet. He wiped his hands on a towel from the stand beside him before turning to face her. “We need to talk.”

Wasn’t she the one who usually delivered the it’s-not-you-it’s-me speech? “About what?” she asked, sinking down onto one of the benches.

He swung a leg over, straddling the seat to face her. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

“How about starting with what happened to you after I thought you died seven years ago?” Her tone was sharper than she’d intended. Evidently she hadn’t quite forgiven him for that yet.

Finn nodded. “After I found proof of Blur’s activities, one of the Coalition agents on the case, Erik Dallas, convinced me I had to turn Blur and the gang in. He arranged for my death after I agreed to join the new organization he was forming.”

His gaze drifted away over her head as he talked, like he was reliving the memory. “It seemed like the perfect way to start a new life. To become someone different. I thought everyone who knew my past was dead. Gone.” He sighed and brought his gaze back to hers. “A few weeks ago, Dallas came to me. Wanted to bring in a new option to help us retrieve Myka, since we’d been unsuccessful. A thief by the name of Renna Carrizal.”

Finn raked a hand through his dark hair. “The world I’d built so carefully came crashing down around me. You couldn’t be the same Renna from my time with Blur. It wasn’t possible. But there you were, large as life on that parking deck and obviously very good at your job. I wanted to run you through with my sword right then and there.”

She nodded. “Yeah, that was pretty obvious.”

“I was furious. You were a part of the life I’d worked so hard to forget. And you were a threat to everything I stood for. I tried to convince Dallas to arrest you or send you away, but he wouldn’t listen. So I was determined to make you miserable. To make you feel as on edge as I did. Then you would laugh at something the kid said or smile at him, and even after all these years, I still recognized that girl I’d known. It killed me thinking you were part of Blur’s slavery business.”