The Star Thief (Star Thief Chronicles 1)

She picked up the device from its stand and switched it on. Encrypted, of course, but easy enough for her to hack. Less than a minute later, she was scanning through his messages.

“Dammit.” The message she needed had no identifying data, no electronic signature she could use to track down the sender. A few clicks later, she discovered the company who’d contacted Viktis, NavStar Industries, was a front. She didn’t recognize the name, but the information still might come in useful later, so she sent the rest of his messages to her own device. She’d go through them back on the Athena. Never hurt to know what the competition was up to.

Renna sighed and tucked the device back in its stand on the desk. Well, that’d been a waste of time. She turned to stand, and her fingers knocked into a pile of notes. A piece of paper fluttered to the ground.

Well, well, what was this? The paper was heavy and smooth against her fingers as she picked it up. Dr. Draven Navang. Bioethics and Biotechnology Specialist. NavStar Industries. The name and company were stamped in embossed black ink, and in the corner was a small logo: an eye with a two spears bisecting it.

Renna stiffened. Where had she seen that logo before?

But the flicker of recognition died, and she shrugged. Maybe it would come to her later. She tucked the card into her pocket and got to her feet. Across the room, Viktis grunted in his sleep, and she smiled. He was going to be so frakking pissed at her when he woke up. Good thing she wasn’t the kind of girl who held grudges, or he’d be in serious trouble right now.

But despite the urge to get back at the merc for trying to kill her, the Athena’s crew was locked in the brig, and Myka was still in hiding. It was time to get the hell out of here.

Renna unlatched the door and peeked into the hallway. Empty. She crept down the passageway, her boots making no sound against the metal floor. It would be easy enough to find her way back to the hatch, but what might be a little more difficult was calling back Viktis’s mercs and escaping the spaceport before they realized they’d been scammed.

The bridge lay straight ahead, and a smile curved her lips at the squat console sitting in the middle of the space. That would do just fine. Her fingers flew over the keypad as she hacked the propulsion system and disabled the ship’s engines.

Viktis and his crew were dead on the ground. Perfect. By the time he got the ship working again, the Athena would be long gone.

Now all she needed to do was program a simple recall message in the merc’s communicators and set it to go off in sixty seconds, so she had enough time to get back to Finn’s ship. There. A few taps on the console and it was done.

She peered down the corridor, then sprinted for the cargo ramp. Outside the ship, the fuel station was shadowy and silent, and Renna sucked in a deep breath. Viktis neutralized. Check. One team rescue, coming up. She paused. Team, huh? Since when? Most of those people hated her or, at least, didn’t trust her further than they could throw her. She wasn’t part of their team. She was on her own. As usual.

Renna shook her head and started toward the Athena. A moment later, a low tone sounded throughout the warehouse. Dammit! She darted behind a stack of crates, dropping low to hide from the gang of mercs who stomped down the Athena’s loading ramp.

One…two…three…. Shit. She had no idea how many were left on the Athena. Dealing with them herself was going to be tricky.

Renna crept from behind the boxes. She was running out of time. She needed to move now. Sprinting on silent feet, she sneaked through the landing hangar and back onto the Athena. Men’s voices echoed from the other side of the ship, and she crept in the opposite direction, toward the lower deck.

Laughter rang out, and she froze, pressing herself against the wall. A few more men stomped down the ramp, some chuckling, some grumbling, as they returned to Viktis’s ship. Once their voices faded, she moved again, making her way to the stairs.

Get Finn and his crew free. Get the hell off this planet.

She took the stairs slowly, making no sound. Carefully, she peered around the hatch and into the brig.

Dammit. The meaty mercenary was still there, leaning against the wall, picking his fingernails with a knife. Renna pulled back and chewed her lip. She had two options: attack the guy and hope she took him by surprise, or trick him into returning to the ship. She probably couldn’t take the guy without a weapon, so that left option two. Her stomach jumped, and she took a deep breath. It was now or never.

She marched into the room like she was following orders.

Mercenary Man jumped as she entered, gripping the knife and glaring at her.

She kept her whole body at ease, smiling her best I’m-in-the-mercenary-club-too smile. “Relax. Viktis sent me.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Oh?”

“Didn’t you hear the recall tone? They found the kid. Viktis wants you back on the ship.”

“And who the hell do you think you are?” He shifted on his feet, his gaze flicking to the Athena’s crew still behind bars.

Renna flipped her hair, focused on keeping the man’s attention. “You saw me leave with Viktis. We go way back. I’ve agreed to help him with this haul…and a few other things.”

Someone whispered “bitch” from the brig, but she ignored it.

His suspicion was almost palpable. “Yeah? So where’s Viktis then?”

“On the bridge getting ready to take off. You want him to leave you behind?” Renna turned to go with a shrug. “Whatever. You don’t believe me, that’s your problem. You can stay here and wait for the Marines to find you.”

The man frowned, then slid his knife back in its sheath. “Fine. Let’s go.”

Renna let him go first out the door, grabbing one of the crew’s pistols from the officer in charge’s desk. She slipped it into the waistband of her pants before following him back to the cargo ramp. She’d only use it if she had to.

The merc stepped outside the ship, but she paused, pressing her finger below her ear like she was taking a call on her communicator. “Right.” She paused for a beat. “I’ll make sure.” Another pause. “Yes, he’s on his way now.”

The man turned. “What was that?”

“Viktis wants me to search the captain’s quarters, but he wants you back on the ship to help with prep. I’ll be there in a minute.”

He shrugged. “Whatever the boss wants.” Without a glance back, he tromped down the gangway and disappeared into the docking bay.

Renna spun on her heels and slammed a hand against the hatch panel. As soon as it started to close, she dashed back down the deck to the brig.