Caught by Menace (19 page)

nervously. “I was just asking for my men. There are

some who have the points to enter a Grab, but not

some who have the points to enter a Grab, but not

enough seniority to make it onto the lists every quarter.

There are so many men aboard the
Valiant
with years of

dedicated service, especialy in the land corps, that the

younger airmen among us don’t have much of a

chance…”

Menace didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. The

admiral’s thought was an interesting one. Menace had

bumped a younger pilot off the Connor’s Run Grab list

when he’d added his name. At the time, he hadn’t much

cared. He’d earned his spot, after al, but now he

wondered if there wasn’t a better way to do things down

on Calyx. If Vicious was right and there were women

who wanted to marry, why not give them access to

matchmaking services like the ones on Prime?

“Wel, that went better than I’d expected,” Vicious

muttered upon rejoining him. “Looks like Halie has

saved my ass yet again. The moons know she won’t let

me forget it.”

Menace snorted. “I can’t imagine your sweet Halie

crowing over such a thing.”

Vicious shot him a warning glare. “Don’t laugh too

hard, Menace. The two of us made a huge tactical error

earlier.”

earlier.”

“And what’s that?”

“We left our wives alone together.”

“Don’t worry, Naya. Vicious wil protect you and

Menace.”

Naya glanced at Halie before stepping off the elevator

into a private halway. Her stomach was in knots. The

idea of being taken away from Menace scared her. It

wasn’t as if she was in love with him or anything, but

he’d been very good to her. He cared for her and would

protect her. She couldn’t say the same for other men

aboard the ship.

“You seem very confident in your husband’s abilities.”

“He’s not the kind of man people chalenge.” Halie

unlocked her front door with a press of her thumb to a

red pad. “When Vicious gives an order, it’s folowed

without question.”

She wondered if Halie was one of those people who

folowed orders given by Vicious. She had a sneaking

suspicion the short, spunky woman was the general at

home and Vicious was the one jumping to folow her

orders.

orders.

One step into Halie’s home and Naya’s jaw dropped.

It wasn’t the size difference that stunned her but the

homey, inviting warmth of the space. Halie’s home was

laid out almost identicaly to the one Naya now shared

with Menace. The furniture and materials were al the

same with only a few differences in upholstery colors and

the paler, softer gray on the wals, but Halie had done

something extraordinary with the blank canvas of her

home.

“Your home is beautiful.” Naya admired the framed

painting on the entryway wal. It was a simple design with

the letters V and H intertwined and nestled in two

feathers. There was something familiar about the look of

it. “Where did you buy this?”

“I painted it.” Halie lovingly touched the frame. She

gestured toward the open living area. “I’ve done al the

artwork in our home.”

Naya entered the living room and scanned the stunning

pieces on the wals. “You’re very talented.”

“Thank you.”

“And you sew!” She fingered one of the plush

decorative pilows on the couch. The lilac hue

complemented the silvery upholstery. She spotted the

complemented the silvery upholstery. She spotted the

sewing basket on the floor. It was piled high with

embroidery projects. A stack of completed pieces, baby

clothes and bibs, sat on the cushion of the chair.

“You can order fabric and sewing supplies through the

clothing store.” Halie gathered up the sewing supplies on

the couch and moved them to the basket. “I was finishing

up some sewing when the alarms sounded. A friend of

mine is due any day.”

Naya picked up one of the smal bibs. “You’re very

good.”

“I’m not nearly as good as my oldest sister but I do al

right. Do you sew?”

Naya laughed. “No.”

“Would you like to learn?”

“Not realy,” Naya admitted and hoped she wasn’t

hurting Halie’s feelings. Clearly this woman relished her

homemaking duties.

Halie surprised her by laughing. “I like honesty.

Sewing isn’t for everyone. You could always barter if

you needed sewing services.”

Naya perked up. “Barter? Now that’s something I

know how to do.”

know how to do.”

“Realy?” Halie motioned toward the kitchen. “Would

you like something to drink? I’ve got tea and juice.”

“I’l take tea if it isn’t too much trouble.”

“It’s not.”

Naya glanced into the large formal dining room. The

embroidered tablecloth and centerpiece of candles and

flowers were gorgeous. Halie had even made chair

covers to soften the harshness of the al-metal look.

“How in the world do you keep houseplants and flowers

alive up here?”

“A friend of ours brought me some of the hardiest

houseplants available on Calyx. One of the biologists in

the science department let Vicious buy a special growing

light and some food for them. I move them under the light

a few hours every evening and feed them once a week.

So far, so good. Would you like one of the plants?”

“No way.” Naya shook her head. “I have a tried-and-

true brown thumb.”

“I’m sure you’re not that bad.” Halie showed her to

the smal table in the spacious kitchen. She brushed

crumbs off the simple runner and caught them in her

hand. “Sorry. Vicious seems to think kitchen elves clean

up after him.”

up after him.”

Naya smiled and slid into a chair. “He’s, um, realy

intimidating.”

Halie laughed. “He’s not as scary as he looks.” She

dumped the crumbs in the silver trash receptacle. “Wel,

okay, he can be that scary but never with me or any

other woman for that matter. He only shows the
grrr

side when it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Is it necessary often?”

“Only when he’s defending me or his men.”

Naya rubbed her finger across the bright-white

flowers embroidered on the runner. “You’re happy

here?”

“Very,” Halie confirmed and took down the tea

supplies from a cabinet. “You’re from Connor’s Run,

right?”

“I am.”

“Wel, I came from Harper’s Wel. My life with

Vicious is heaven compared to the hel I endured there.”

Naya didn’t doubt that. “He makes you happy?”

“Yes.” Halie cast a quick smile her way before

fidgeting with some strange machine built into the wal.

“We love each other very much.”

“We love each other very much.”

“Was it hard in the beginning?” Naya watched as the

contraption whirred to life and spit steaming-hot water

into mugs. “That’s amazing!”

“You probably have one in your quarters. Most of the

units in the officer housing section have the same built-

ins.” Halie carried the tray with mugs and sweeteners to

the table. “Sugar. Milk. Honey. Help yourself.”

Naya sweetened her cup of tea with a drizzle of honey

and gave it a stir. Halie opened a sleek black door and

retrieved a covered dish. “I did a breakfast casserole this

morning. Would you like some?”

“I would. We didn’t have time for breakfast before the

alarms started.”

“There wil be another dril in a week or two, but it wil

be in the evening, which is just as annoying.” Halie

dished out a portion and put the plate into another weird

device. She tapped a keypad and it started to hum. “This

machine heats food quickly. They sel frozen boxed

dinners in the commissary that can be quickly prepared

with this. I don’t like them very much, but Vicious swears

they’re delicious.”

Naya made a mental note to ask Menace about them.

Naya made a mental note to ask Menace about them.

To a girl who couldn’t cook, the prospect of putting a

frozen box of food in that super oven sounded like a

lifesaver.

The machine dinged and Halie removed the hot dish.

She brought it to the table with utensils and a napkin.

After grabbing a couple of cookies from a jar on the

counter, Halie came to the table. Naya poked her fork

into the fluffy egg-and-bacon casserole. She spied bits of

potato and specks of cheese. One bite proved that it was

as delicious as it smeled. So Halie could sew, paint,

keep house and cook. Naya wanted to hate her but

couldn’t. That smile and gentle air about her were too

disarming.

“To answer your question, it wasn’t easy in the

beginning. Vicious is basicaly the ideal Harcos male.

What I mean by that is that he is maddeningly arrogant.”

Halie said it with a grin but Naya guessed she hadn’t

always found her husband’s arrogance so amusing.

“Menace has an arrogant streak in him as wel. He seems

to think that if he just says something wil be one way, it

wil be.”

Halie roled her eyes and laughed. “The whole I’m-

going-to-make-you-happy thing, right?”

going-to-make-you-happy thing, right?”

“Yes! What makes them think they can just catch us in

a race, drag us back to their weird-ass ships and make

us into happy little wives?”

“Tradition,” Halie answered simply. “They’ve been

taking wives from their treaty-controled territories via the

Grabs for hundreds of years.”

“It’s a bad tradition. Can you imagine how many

unhappy couples there are?”

“Not as many as you’d think,” Halie replied. “At least

not in this sector. Our wives’ group has access to the

census data from the ships taking part in the Grab

program on our planet. The divorce rate is less than ten

percent.”

Naya swalowed her mouthful of food. “Divorce?”

Halie smiled knowingly. “They keep that part of the

contracts quiet. I never saw it in mine, but it’s there.”

Even though Naya was starting to care for Menace,

she wanted al the information she could get—just in

case. “How does it work?”

Halie didn’t hesitate to give her the answers. Naya

respected her al the more for it. “Wel, first, you need to

know that the first thirty days of a Grabbed bond are on

know that the first thirty days of a Grabbed bond are on

shaky ground legaly. For instance, if you leave your

quarters without an escort, you’re considered lost

property. Whoever finds you first gets to keep you.”

“What?” Outraged, Naya dropped her fork “That’s

ridiculous. What am I? A walet?”

“It’s an awful rule. A few months ago, something like

that happened on the
Arctis
.”

“
Arctis
?”

“It’s one of the guard ships that flies with us. After the

last Grab, a bride got away from her husband and was

taken by a land corps soldier. It became this huge mess.

They deployed the SRU team from the
Valiant
.”

“SRU team?”

“They’re an elite group of soldiers who deal with so-

caled ‘special’ circumstances. Terrorist threats, hostage

negotiations, escorts and other high-risk things like that.”

“Oh.” Naya breathed a little easier. “I thought maybe

you meant they were secret police.”

“No. The men on the SRU teams are good,

upstanding men.” She hesitated. “There is a unit that’s

sort of like the secret police but they’re caled the

Shadow Force. I can’t imagine you’d ever come into

Shadow Force. I can’t imagine you’d ever come into

contact with them, so I wouldn’t worry about it. They

don’t go after citizens like the secret police on Calyx.

They’re focused solely on the Splinter movement and

terrorism.”

“Good to know.” Naya scooped up another forkful of

her breakfast. “Being arrested three times in Connor’s

Run was enough for me.”

Halie’s gaze snapped to her face. She smiled sadly.

“You can add me to that club.”

Before Naya could ask her why she’d been pinched,

Halie scooted back in her chair and stood. “Let me get

you some of our pamphlets. We’re having a new wives

meeting later this week but you may as wel take the

information with you today.”

Naya watched Halie leave and tucked right back in to

her breakfast. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d

eaten something so good. When Halie returned, she slid