Break Out - By Nina Croft Page 0,2

her internal AI unit to break all contact and blinked in the sudden silence. For the first time in many years, she was alone inside her head. It was a strange feeling and not entirely unpleasant.

She’d spent most of her life on active combat duty, but always as part of a team, never alone. Then she’d been promoted to a more strategic planning position, and she’d missed the fighting, but not the barracks life. Now she’d moved on, handpicked to be part of the elite intelligence division. She only hoped she would find some challenge in the job to stave off the restlessness that seemed a constant companion these days.

This was her first solo job, and she’d planned it carefully. She’d factored in everything she could discover about the El Cazador and its crew, put that somewhat scanty information together with all possible permutations of events, added a probable fuck-up factor of ten, the highest level available, and this had been calculated as her best-chance-of-success scenario. Still, she wished she’d come up with a plan that didn’t involve her looking quite so ridiculous.

Tugging at the neckline of her silver tube dress, Skylar tried to ignore the fact that even staring straight ahead, she could still see her breasts. She’d never considered herself particularly well endowed, had never given the whole breast thing much thought, but this dress had the effect of making them impossible to overlook.

Christ, she’d give anything for a jumpsuit and a laser gun.

But there was no point in putting this off. Taking a calming breath, she reached across and opened the comm link.

“Kestrel 617, calling El Cazador.”

“This is Captain Tannis of El Cazador.”

“I’m at the rendezvous point.”

“We’ll be there in an hour.”

The link went dead.

Skylar sat back in her seat as the adrenalin surged in her veins. The game was on.

. . .

“Rico, get your lazy ass out of bed. Our client just called. We’re on our way.”

Rico had been aware of Tannis the moment the door glided open, but maybe, if he kept his eyes shut, she would get the hint and go away. When her booted feet stomped across the cabin, he knew it wasn’t going to happen. He buried his face in the pillow.

“Rico!”

Something sharp prodded him in the lower back until he rolled over and opened one eye. Tannis stood, legs braced, staring down at him, his sword dangling from her fist.

He frowned. “Hey, put that down—it’s dangerous.”

“Actually,” she said, holding up the sword, “this is a toy.” She opened her fingers, and the sword clattered to the floor. Tannis drew the laser gun from the holster at her hip and pointed it straight at him. “Now this is dangerous.”

“Dios.” He went up on one elbow and regarded her balefully through half-closed lids.

They’d docked last night at a spaceport close to the rendezvous point, waiting for the client to make contact, and Rico had taken the opportunity to indulge in a little recreation. He felt good, sated with food and sex, but the one thing guaranteed to spoil that mood was a laser shot in the backside. And he knew from experience she’d do it.

He opened his eyes fully and glared. She stepped back, and he knew they must still be glowing crimson from his recent feeding.

“Shit,” she muttered.

Reaching down, she flipped over the corner of the black silk sheet, revealing the naked woman beneath. Rico followed her gaze. The woman’s eyes were closed, her skin pale with the waxy perfection of a lily.

“Is she dead?” Tannis asked.

He frowned. “Of course she’s not dead. What do you take me for—some sort of monster?”

Though he had taken a lot of blood, and the woman was rather quiet. He nudged her with his toe. She rolled onto her side, snuggled into the pillow, and Rico sighed in relief. He was willing to kill if he had to, but he had nothing against this woman—she was only doing her job. Besides killing by accident was just plain careless.

Tannis reached down, running a slender finger across the woman’s throat. The puncture wounds were already closing.

“Neat,” she murmured. “But what have I told you about bringing whores on board my ship?”

Rico pulled himself up and swung his legs out of bed. “Whose ship?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You asked me to be captain. So you do what I say.”

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”

Her finger tightened on the trigger of the laser gun, and he held up a hand. “Okay, Okay. I’ll get rid of her.”

He reached across and