Beneath a Trojan Moon (11 page)
Read Beneath a Trojan Moon Online
Authors: Anna Hackett
He reached out and ran a finger down the side of her neck, briefly touching the start of the scale pattern on her skin. “I bet when people see that sexy reptilian pattern they think it might be rough. But it’s so smooth.”
She slapped his hand away. “Quit calling me that ridiculous name.”
“It suits you. That smooth, caramel-gold skin with those tantalizing patches of pattern. Your long, elegant neck and sexy, bare head. Your deep, oh-so-smoky voice.” He leaned down and she felt his warm breath against her face. “We both know your security team won’t find anything. Same as the last time you searched me. And the time before that.”
The scent of him ambushed her. Impossibly, he smelled like the snow-dusted trees on her homeworld of Thusia. Damn him for smelling so good.
“You also know I don’t hurt anyone, don’t steal from anyone. Why do you have such a burning need to lock me up, Captain?”
“It’s my job.”
“But out here on the edge, no one really cares much about laws and rules.” He waved a hand. “Things are more fluid.”
“The laws and rules are there to keep order. To keep people safe.” Goddess, Nissa could almost hear her father’s voice. Commodore Sander lived and breathed Patrol, even though he’d retired several years ago. “If we start bending or ignoring the rules, the edge will turn into a lawless, chaotic mess in less time than that speedy runnership of yours can cross the galactic border.” The thought of lawless chaos made her think of her brother. She felt a stab of pain, and squelched it.
Justyn’s teeth were white against his tanned skin. “But Nissa, getting messy is so much fun.”
Nissa’s lips twitched. Goddess, he was the only person who could swing her from wanting to punch him to wanting to laugh in a matter of seconds. “Just stay out of the way while my team does their search.”
“Want to wager they won’t find anything?”
His confidence made her heart sink. She had the horrible feeling she’d be going away empty-handed and red-faced. Again. “No.”
“Come on. How about a case of that Gluk’sol wine you like to drink?”
She shook her head. Last time she’d been on Galaxy’s Edge—the closest and most popular space station on the edge—she’d let him buy her a drink. It was an unwritten rule on Galaxy’s Edge that you left your feuds and quarrels at the spacedock.
In the space station’s bars and clubs, off-duty Patrol officers rubbed shoulders with smugglers, wealthy merchants drank with career thieves, and missionaries danced with pleasure workers. The damned smuggler had gotten her tipsy, made her laugh, and let his thigh brush against hers at the bar one too many times.
She was woman enough to admit she wondered what it would be like to have Justyn Phoenix spread out beneath her—naked and available for her hands to explore.
But she was a Patrol captain. An ambitious one who was good at her job. So she never let the fantasy go past that. She imagined what her father would have to say about Phoenix. She winced. None of it would be good.
“Captain Sander?”
Her comms specialist’s voice came through her nano-earpiece. Nissa kept her gaze locked with Phoenix’s silver one and touched her ear. “Go ahead, Ensign.”
“There’s a Pri-One transmission for you. From HQ.”
A priority one meant something big. “I’ll be there in a minute.” She heard the distinctive step of Patrol boots headed back into the cockpit. Tryker entered, his face dark. He shook his head.
Nissa sighed. “One of these days, Phoenix, I’m going to catch you with your pants down.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she cursed herself.
The laugh lines around his mouth deepened. “Oh, I hope so, Captain Smooth. I hope so.”
She gave his handsome face one last perusal, then looked at her team. “Back to the
Freedom
.” The teletrans flared and the last thing she saw was Justyn’s silver-gray eyes.
Back on the bridge, she strode toward her ops room off the bridge. “Ensign Gat’nar, put the Pri-One through to my private console.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Nissa pressed the palm plate beside the door. The ops room was actually two rooms—the larger main room with a glossy conference table, and an adjoining room that was her private office. She loved that her office had a large, round window that gave a stunning view of space. Something inside her eased. The vista of the endless black—covered in a sprinkle of stars—never failed to speak to something in her. As she rounded her desk, she caught sight of the very back of Phoenix’s runnership. Her gaze narrowed on the engine intakes. If she wasn’t mistaken, he had some not-strictly-legal modifications.
She shook her head. Justyn Phoenix wasn’t her priority right now.
Dropping into her chair, she touched the screen built into her desk. Admiral Carmel DeRuyter’s stern face filled the screen, her ash-blonde hair a sleek bell surrounding features untouched by the popular anti-aging treatments. DeRuyter had been a mentor to Nissa since her days in the Galactic Security Services Academy. Nissa respected the older woman, who’d come through the Quadrant Wars with a slew of commendations, and was tougher than most sitting on the GSS Council. Most of all, DeRuyter was willing to do anything to protect the galaxy.
“Ma’am. What can I do for you?”
“It’s good to see you, Nissa. I wish I was calling under better circumstances. We have a situation and you’re the closest ship we have.”
Nissa waited for the woman to continue, anticipation sending a flare through her blood.
“Exactly seven hours ago, the US Constitution document was stolen from the Galactic Institute of Historical Preservation.”
“What?” Nissa sat forward in her seat. “
The
US Constitution? One of the five Galactic Constitution Codices?” It was one of the most revered manuscripts in the galaxy, used as a foundation for the Galactic Constitution. And it was priceless.
“Unfortunately, yes,” the admiral said.
“Do you know who took it?”
“We have some partial intel. Galactic Intelligence managed to intercept a transmission, but they only got a short section. We don’t know who stole it or why, but we know they’ve since passed it off to a gridrunner named Hewett Kenth.”
A gridrunner. A small transporter, not unlike Phoenix, who moved all manner of things around the galaxy. Usually legal cargo, but everyone knew that gridrunners were known to go off-grid and run all kinds of contraband.
Hewett Kenth was a familiar name. He ran through the Exodus quadrant in his runnership, the
Trader’s Dart
, and kept a small base at Galaxy’s Edge. She’d arrested him three times in the past…no, wait a minute, four. “I know Kenth. He’s strictly small-time. I can’t see him getting involved with something like this.”
“Well, he must have decided to join the big leagues. He’s to rendezvous with someone at Galaxy’s Edge Space Station and hand over the artifact.” DeRuyter’s blue eyes glittered. “I want you to get it back and bring in everyone involved.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
DeRuyter smiled. “Pull this off, Captain, and I can finally arrange a transfer back to one of the central quadrants in your near future.”
Nissa straightened. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Update me regularly.” The screen went black.
Nissa stood and strode onto the bridge. “Get the interstellar drives up. We have a priceless artifact to recover.”
The Phoenix Adventures
Return to Dark Earth – Coming 2015
Return to Dark Earth
– starring Niklas Phoenix and Nera Darc
will be available in 2015.
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Also by Anna Hackett
The Anomaly Series
The Phoenix Adventures
Perma Series
The WindKeepers Series
Standalone Titles
Anthologies
Awakening the Dragon (UK Only)
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About Anna
I’m passionate about
action romance
. I love stories that combine the thrill of falling in love with the excitement of action, danger and adventure. I’m a sucker for that moment when the team is walking in slow motion, shoulder-to-shoulder heading off into battle. I write about people overcoming unbeatable odds and achieving seemingly impossible goals. I like to believe it’s possible for all of us to do the same.
My books are mixture of action, adventure and sexy romance and they’re recommended for anyone who enjoys fast-paced stories where the boy wins the girl at the end (or sometimes the girl wins the boy!)
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