Chapter 37

The trip through the asteroid belt would've woken Aiden up if he hadn't already been awake by the time Nan plunged the shuttle into the sea of rocks. In fact, he'd only caught maybe an hour of sleep since leaving Nyle's house, his mind still high on the events from the last twenty-four hours.

Whether it was flashbacks from the fight in the conference room, the faces of the men lying dead on the floor, or fragments of the invasion of his home the night before, Aiden couldn't stop any of it. Couldn't ignore it, or not think about it. He was a hostage to his restless mind, forced to face the things he'd rather forget, and they made him question his life until now.

He searched for missed signs, for discrepancies and hints that could've prepared him for the storm that had turned his world upside down again. He revisited every memory he had of him and Claudia, every smile and word and caress, wondering yet again how much of it had been real? Had any? If she'd lied to him about who she was, then what else ha—

Aiden's head hit the window with a nasty thud as Nan took a sharp turn to the right. Darren lost his balance too, crashing into Aiden's side. For a second that lasted too long and too short at the same time, Darren's body heat flowed into Aiden through the flimsy fabric of his shirt, a calming intrusion that buried itself deep in his bones. It remained there even as Darren retreated to his side, but Aiden pretended he didn't notice.

"Sorry!" Nan apologized once she cleared the cluster of rocks. "Might be best to strap in for this bit."

"How far out are we?" Aiden asked, making himself comfortable in his seat now that Darren was out of reach again. The part of him he wasn't going to acknowledge mourned the loss of Darren's proximity, wanted him closer, plastered to Aiden like he had been on the way from Horizons simply because it had felt good.

Nan angled herself back slightly, meeting his gaze with a smile. "We should be able to see the outpost in about fifteen minutes."

"What are you going to do once you drop us off?" Darren asked her, his fingers playing with the belt strap going over his chest. Since the shuttle was a lot like a car on the inside, belts followed a similar convention.

"Hmm, I'll go back to the main house and handle the authorities. I think it would be best if we keep radio silence for a while, but once things die down, Nyle knows how to get in touch."

Darren chuckled with genuine wonder. "Nan, you are way too calm considering the mess we've got you involved in."

"I was young like you once. I've had my fair share of adventures," Nan said with fondness in her voice. "Who do you think Nyle takes after? It's certainly not his grandad's side, that's for sure."

Even Aiden couldn't withhold a chuckle at the woman's laid-back outlook on life. She seemed unfazed by anything they'd shared with her so far, instead always finding a way to turn it around as if it were an entertaining memory they'd one day reminisce about with a smile on their faces.

After Nan told them another of her tales, they rounded up the Kepler outpost and docked at its lowest level. There were only three other vehicles parked there—a massive cargo ship repairing a broken supplementary engine, a commercial shuttle refueling on its way to Europa, and a middle-sized military-class frigate.

"Well, damn. I see our ride's already here," Nyle said with palpable excitement, darting out of the shuttle toward the frigate as soon as they touched ground. "Shit, Darren," he yelled, already halfway there, "you sure know your shit!"

Darren just shook his head in response as he got off. He thanked Nan and waited with Aiden until she'd lifted off before leading the way to the ship.

Nyle wasn't overreacting. The sleek form of the jet-black craft was a beauty of engineering. Designed in three levels, it was all sharp angles aside from its smooth, oblong main body and the orbital ring at its rear. Two wing sections protruded from the sides forward toward the tip, stopping just short of it, and weapons systems were mounted at the end of each of them as well as the nose. As for capacity—Aiden squinted and did a quick calculation based on the overall dimensions—it seemed able to accommodate a crew of about ten people.

As they approached, he also noticed the stealth casing and the anti-tracking modules at the back of the ship. "Howe, how did they catch you with a ship like this?" he asked with a little more bite than intended, but, well, it did make him wonder.

"That's a long story for some other time," Darren said with a smile as they came up to the airlock, his broad shoulders trembling with the urge to let out a laugh.

"I'd be curious to know about it, too," Nyle jumped in, seemingly done marveling at the ship's exterior. "It's a customized IFCSV, isn't it? Also"—he tilted his chin at the inactive access terminal—"I tried knocking but it looks like no one is home."

If Aiden's memory served, IFCSV, or Infiltration Frigate Class Stealth Vessel, was the kind of aircraft most of the general public wasn't even aware existed. It incorporated experimental tech and designs that were only available to the specialized divisions within the Global Nations Military.

"None of you is authorized and I was on the phone," a slightly scrambled female voice came from the speaker above the console. "Seriously though? What took you so long? I was starting to worry they'd caught you."

With a hiss of air, the hatch opened into an elevator-like decompression enclosure. Nyle jogged in first, Aiden and Darren following. Before the elevator even reached the main level, the engines came to life with a steady hum. The frigate rocked gently as it launched into space, making Aiden's stomach drop then shoot up for those few seconds of gravitational pull and adjustment.

When the elevator stopped and its doors slid open, a familiar woman with fiery curls and brown eyes was waiting for them in the corridor. She pushed herself off the wall, crossed her arms and gave each of them a slow head-to-toe.

"Welcome aboard. Finally," Bea said, shaking her head.

Baring his teeth in a grin, Darren nodded at her and stepped out. "Glad to see you again and in one piece, captain."

She laughed, her gaze cutting to Aiden. Her eyes narrowed and her lips curved slightly into a subtle smirk. It lasted just a few heartbeats, and then she looked at Darren again, overplaying a salute.

"Glad to have you back, Your Highness."