6. Calder

Elodie and I arrive at the spaceport at the same time, and I take her luggage. “I can carry it myself,” she protests.

“Humor me.”

She rolls her eyes but hands me her bag. “I haven’t noticed it until now, but you’re awfully bossy,” she complains.

I glance down at her. “Me?”

She imitates my voice. “‘Eat real food, Elodie. Don’t take the public bullets, Elodie; I’ll give you a ride. Hand me your bags, Elodie.’ Yes, you’re bossy.”

Or maybe I just want to take care of her.

We head inside. The entrance hall is packed with people, so I stay a half-step ahead of Elodie, subtly clearing her way with my body. “The private docks are this way,” I say, veering to the right. “Come on.”

We pass through the weapons scan and step into an air tube. She looks around as we glide down the corridor. “Unlike you, I’ve never been to this part of the port,” she says. “Do you deliver packages here?”

“I haven’t been here before.”

Her eyebrow creeps up. “You haven’t? But you didn’t even look at a map. How do you know your way around?”

The spaceport’s schematic is loaded into my memory. “Zayd gave me directions,” I improvise as Dock 24 comes into sight. “Speak of the devil. There he is.”

Zayd Pereira and I went through basic training together. After Basic, our paths diverged. Zayd joined Amarillo Squadron, and I ended up at Rogue. Three years ago, Zayd stepped on a landmine in Niamey and lost his leg. The medics fixed him up, of course, but unsurprisingly, Zayd had had enough of fighting and became a bounty hunter. I’ve talked to him a lot these last few months as I planned my transition from the KSF.

“Blaze,” Zayd booms. “There you are. I’ve been watching the?—”

Stifling a groan, I cut him off before he says anything else. “Zayd, good to see you.” Of course he’d watch Cage’s fights. Knowing him, he probably bet on me too. “This is Elodie. Elodie Rinou, meet Zayd Pereira. Zayd was kind enough to loan us his ship.”

He did no such thing. Zayd’s spaceship is his baby, and no one else is allowed to touch it.

Elodie bumps elbows with Zayd. “Why did you call him Blaze?” she asks curiously.

Damn it. She caught that. Of course she did. Zayd opens his mouth, but I jump in before he answers. “It’s a work nickname,” I explain. “You’ve seen the way I ride a speeder.”

“Fast and reckless,” Zayd says, catching on quickly. Thank stars.

“So you work with Calder?” Elodie asks. She doesn’t look like she buys it. Great. This is my second unforced error in as many minutes. First, I don’t look at a map, and now this. I’m distracted—still thinking about our kiss from this morning—but I need to step up my game. Elodie isn’t stupid. If I don’t watch out, she’ll catch me in a lie.

“I used to, yes,” Zayd replies.

Thankfully, Elodie catches sight of the ship behind him and gets distracted. Her eyes widen. “This is the Wraith 9000,” she exhales. She takes a step toward it and reverently touches the body. “Oh wow.”

“You know your spaceships.” There’s an admiring look in Zayd’s eyes. Too admiring. I glare at the man. “Elodie is a mech,” I grit out.

His grin widens. “You are?” He offers Elodie his hand. “Beautiful and smart. Let me give you a tour.”

I’ve been friends with Zayd for sixteen years, and I am going to strangle him.

Elodie misses the undercurrent between us. “I’d love that,” she says, her voice bubbling with enthusiasm. “This is such a fantastic ship. Fast, reliable, and the best part? It’s unbelievably fuel-efficient.”

Fresh guilt fills me. Of course, Elodie would be thinking about fuel. My podmate has probably spent sleepless nights worrying about the cost of this trip. If I didn’t need a fast exit from Luxaria, I would have never suggested a private shuttle.

She gives Zayd a sweet smile. Too sweet. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up in warning. “Speaking of fuel, I never got your bill.”

Crap.

Zayd’s expression is blank. He’s a soldier, not a spy. Lying isn’t second nature to him. Elodie pounces on his hesitation. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” She pivots toward me and gives me a pointed glare. “Calder, didn’t you tell Zayd I wanted to pay for the fuel for this trip?”

She has a mind like a steel trap, and I am making mistake after mistake. I grimace and throw myself at her mercy. “I might have forgotten to mention it,” I confess sheepishly.

“Calder! I thought we agreed. I cannot let you pay for this trip.”

Thankfully, the pad underneath the Wraith flashes red. “Dock 24, ten minutes until scheduled departure.”

Phew. “Look at that,” I say heartily. “It’s time for us to go. Zayd, thanks for the ship. I’ll have it back to you in four days.”

Elodie’s expression promises that we’re not done discussing the damn fuel. Zayd laughs at my consternation and bumps elbows with Elodie in farewell. Then he turns to me. He doesn’t know the details of my mission—that’s classified. But he knows I’m working for Raz, and Special Forces missions usually tend to be dangerous. His voice turns serious. “Good luck, my friend.”

Once we stash our luggage,I lead the way to the cockpit and take the pilot’s seat. “Shall we?”

Elodie buckles herself in. “I didn’t realize you knew how to pilot a ship.” Her voice is teasing. “I am discovering a lot about you on this trip, and we’ve barely gotten underway.”

“I want to be a bounty hunter, remember? I’ve been taking lessons.”

Not that there’s much flying needed on this trip. Harte is so crowded that only autopilot routes are allowed in its airspace, all controlled by the central automated system. Same with Luxaria. I’m sitting in the pilot seat out of habit, but in truth, we don’t even need to be in the cockpit.

She bounces impatiently as we get underway. Once we’re out of Harte’s atmosphere and the artificial gravity kicks in, she unbuckles her restraints and jumps out of her chair. “I want to look around.”

I love her enthusiasm for all things mechanical. I give her a fond look. “I’ll give you a tour. Let’s start with the lower level.”

The lower level houses the engines and everything else that makes the ship move. I’m not a mech—I know better than to touch anything here. Elodie, however, is in her element. “One of the coolest things about this model is how customizable it is,” she says, almost dancing in excitement as she looks around. “The forums are filled with accounts of people modifying their Wraiths. You can upgrade the turbofans, the engines, shields, everything.”

She walks around, her eyes shining, bringing up displays and making admiring noises as she reads the screens. Because I’m a stupid fool, Elodie’s approval makes me preen. I want her to like my ship. “Is the Wraith on your shopping list?”

“I wish,” she says. “I can’t afford anything this fancy. No, I’m probably going to buy the Grasshopper. It’s not as fast as the Wraith series—nothing is—but it’s extremely reliable.”

Take this ship, I almost say. Move in with me. Let’s fly around the galaxy together.

We head back upstairs, and I continue my tour. “This is the crew space.” There is a living area with separate sections for cooking, eating, and relaxing and two private cabins, each equipped with a bed, some storage, and a small ensuite refresher. “And this way are the holding stations.”

“Holding stations,” she repeats, her voice expressionless. “For the people your friend captures. The bounty.”

I glance at her. “This bothers you.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?” she asks. “Anyone can set a bounty on anyone. Remember that story in the Periodico a couple of months ago? The one where the mining company placed a bounty on the employees who ran away before their contract was up? The miners didn’t deserve to be hunted like prey. Yes, Fensubon didn’t succeed, but they could have.”

They didn’t succeed because Raz intervened. The head of the KSF has a conscience, as much as he’d like to pretend otherwise.

“That’s not how Zayd works,” I tell Elodie, needing her to understand. “He’s a member of Zodiac Guild. The guild only accepts jobs from the Karven Federation authorities. They locate people with warrants out for their arrests. Sometimes, they track down people who’ve been convicted but manage to escape before they can serve their time. They don’t go after anyone else.”

She considers that. “I didn’t know that,” she says. “That’s not how bounty hunters on Harte work. Is Zodiac the Guild you want to join?”

“Yes.”

Her face softens into a smile. “That’s good.”

Stars, when she smiles at me, I want to kiss her again. Scratch that. It doesn’t matter if she’s smiling or frowning; I want to kiss her all the time.

And now I’m staring at her like a love-sick adolescent. I give myself a shake. “It’s a long trip to Luxaria. You want to take one of the crew cabins and get some rest?”

She bites her lower lip, and hot need flashes through me. Again. I can think of plenty of things to do for the next eight hours, none involving rest.

“Rest,” she says. “Yes, that’s a good idea.”

Then she flees.

It’s for the best,I tell myself. You need to stay focused.

Pity I don’t believe it.