At least the Federation was off their ship.

Jackson watched as they loaded Blue’s dead body onto a transport next to him. Relief filled him to know someone had stopped the woman from escaping the ship and doing more damage. He had no doubt that if a creature like her was let loose, she’d not stop her attacks on her own. That relief was quickly replaced by worry as he wondered who else Blue had harmed.

Thick manacles covered his wrists, holding them crossed in front of him. He tried pulling free, but they were magnetized to a belt around his waist and all he managed to do was cut the base of this thumb. Matching bracelets wound around his ankles, locking his feet against a platform. The prison disc kept him hovered over the ground so they could easily push him where they needed him, like cargo.

Dodson, a blond soldier, walked by and purposefully tapped Jackson’s arm to send him into slow rotation. He laughed at the mild amusement.

As Jackson turned in a circle, he studied his surroundings. The private loading dock was empty except for the handful of soldiers, and fuel workers carrying a large hose and connectors to the body of the ship. The smell of fuel and cleaning fluid was faint in the air, common in such places. He shifted his weight, causing the disc to drift away from the Federation transport ship. It wasn’t enough to make an escape, but it still amused him to make the soldiers chase after him to turn him around.

“I don’t get it.” Dodson looked up at him as he tugged Jackson’s arm to steer him back toward the ship. “Are you like some kind of spy or something?”

Jackson kept his eyes forward.

“What did you do?” Dodson insisted. “Why do they want you so badly?”

Jackson didn’t answer. Hydock, Aikens, and another man he didn’t see the nametag of, sat on a cargo box. Their laughter rose and fell. He couldn’t hear what they said, but the blustering tones reminded him of when he’d been in the same position—a soldier on duty.

“Where were you hiding on the ship?” the soldier kept prodding.

Jackson gave an audible sigh to show he was bored with the line of questioning and had no intention of participating.

“You can tell me who you are, or I can hold those friends of yours for lying to Federation soldiers,” Dodson threatened.

“No, you can’t. We’re on an off-planet fueling dock, and on a ship that is not part of the Federation Alliance,” Jackson dismissed. “We can lie to you all we want, and I don’t have to answer your questions. The only reason you were let on board is because you threatened the docking lot authorities and they forced the captain’s hand, but if you try to arrest a non-Alliance crew outside of Federation territory...” He purposefully let his words trail off. There was no need to point out that such an act would cause an intergalactic incident. Raiding and beating up a bunch of pirates was one thing, but an official arrest quite another.

“And we don’t have to feed you on this trip. We’ll see if you’re so smug when we turn you in,” Dodson grumbled. He kicked the disc and Jackson went floating across the private docking lot from him toward where the transport ship was docked.

As he turned, he saw Raisa standing in the entryway. She swatted at someone hiding on the other side of the wall. The fuel workers finished and carried their hoses to store them along the far wall of the private fueling area.

Jackson frowned. He shook his head once, trying to get Raisa to go back. If she saw the gesture, she didn’t let on.

Raisa crossed the private fueling dock carrying a small container in her hands. She glanced up at him, and though her eyes lingered, she didn’t acknowledge him otherwise. Jackson narrowed his gaze, glaring at her in hopes she’d turned around.

“Stop,” Dodson warned at her approach.

“I’m looking for the two men who saved my life,” Raisa said. Jackson frowned at the tone. It didn’t sound like her, instead it was light and airy. She smiled and before Dodson could answer, she said, “There’s one of them.”

The leader of the fuel workers waved them away from the ship and off the docks, leaving Jackson and Raisa alone with the soldiers. Raisa continued forward, seemingly unconcerned with the fact she was surrounded by armed men. Hydock instantly straightening at her approach. Jackson leaned, trying to force the disc to move toward the conversation.

“This is an Old Earth recipe, very rare but delicious,” Raisa said, lifting the top of the container and holding it out. “I will never be able to repay you for what you did.”

“Just doing what I’ve been trained to do.” Hydock puffed out his chest. He reached into the container and took out a cylindrical tan pastry. Lang and Berger walked off the transport to see what was happening.

Raisa offered them to the others, making small talk as they tried the food.

“Where are you going?” Dodson stopped Jackson from drifting toward Raisa. “Prisoners get rations, not treats.”

“Take one.” Raisa held the container to Dodson with a big smile. She glanced up at Jackson. He arched a brow. Did she think bribing the men with desserts would help his case?

Hydock came forward for a second helping.

Raisa tilted her head, watching the scarred man eat. “For Rick.”

“What?” Hydock slurred the word. Lang stumbled into Berger, who in turn grabbed Aikens’ leg for support as he fell. The weight of Berger’s fall pulled Aikens from his perch on the cargo box and all three men collapsed on the floor. Lang moaned, trying to stand, but his knees gave, and he ended up on the ground.

Jackson tried pulling his wrists apart but was unable to. Dodson spat the food from his mouth. Raisa dropped the container and gave a sharp whistle.

Dodson lurched for Raisa. “What did you do?”

She jumped back. Rick, Dev, and Lochlann ran into the private fuel dock to help Raisa. Dodson swung his arm to grab her and she jerked out of his reach again. The soldier tried a few more times, each attempt becoming weaker until he fell to his knees, and then forward onto the ground.

“You win that bet, baby cakes,” Rick said as he approached. A dark bruise had formed beneath his eye and down his cheek. He looked to be heavily armed, as if he’d expected to have to fight his way off the fuel dock. “You took them down without throwing a punch.”

“You let her come out here alone?” Jackson demanded from his prisoner platform.

“She had the best plan,” Lochlann answered. “And it worked.”

“We had few options,” Dev said, his tone matter-of-fact. “And if I’ve learned one thing, it’s not to underestimate the skills of a woman.”

“You’re welcome,” Raisa added.

“None of you should be here,” Jackson said. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Shut your black hole,” Rick said, grinning. “You know you’re happy to see me.”

The man was right. He was happy to see them. Jackson would never admit that to Rick.

“You would have come for us.” Dev crossed to the unconscious soldiers. He lifted them from the ground and sat them against the cargo crate in a more humane position. He then began searching their pockets.

“What did you give them?” Jackson asked Raisa.

“A little combination I came across by accident when creating a cream recipe.” Raisa chuckled. “For obvious reasons, the company didn’t preset it into the food simulators. If people realized half the things those units could be programmed to do, simulators would be reclassified as weapons.”

“Are they dead?” Jackson asked.

“They’ll be fine,” Raisa assured him. “They’ll sleep and wake up with bad gut aches and the need to go to the restroom.”

“Serves them right, after the beating they gave me,” Rick mumbled. Raisa nodded in agreement.

“And Blue?” Jackson asked, pointing a shackled hand toward the body.

“These guys,” she gestured toward the sleeping soldiers, “came in at the last minute, shot a blaster and then claimed to be heroes. The blaster didn’t appear to have an effect on her. I think she poisoned herself when I crushed her teeth with a wrench.” Raisa turned her eyes down and frowned. “There must be some kind of venom in her bite. She got hold of Lucien. He’s in the medical booth. He’s stabilized, but he’s looking pretty rough. Viktor refuses to leave his side.”

“Why were you close enough to hit her in the teeth?” Jackson automatically tried to pull free. Again, it didn’t work. He glanced at Dev to see if he’d found the keys yet. The man was still checking pockets. “I told you to stay where it was safe.”

Raisa arched a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. Damn, she looked sexy when she was defiant. “Did you seriously think Alexis and I would hide in a bedroom when everyone else was in danger? It was bad enough we were forced to wait in the secret room.”

Jackson understood the feeling. Staying in the secret chamber had seemed like a good plan at the time. That was before everything went sideways. It might have worked too, except that it hadn’t. The Federation had poked around longer than expected. The medical chair attacked Raisa. Jackson gave the order to wake up Blue.

“We don’t know if she is contagious.” Jackson nodded at the body.

“They sealed Blue in a sterile bag. Alexis has been trying to process the information she heard from the recording. She thinks by cure, he meant he stopped her from spreading it to others. She and Violette are cleaning up the blood with sterilizers from the ESC crates.”

“I kind of like him like this,” Rick interrupted. He leaned down, took hold of the hover disc, and spun Jackson. As Jackson turned in a circle, Rick skipped around him in the opposite direction while humming a playful tune.

“Rick,” Jackson warned.

Rick laughed. “Anyone want to play pass the space cadet?”

Raisa stopped Jackson from spinning. She placed her hand on his waist and looked up at him. The contact made the ache inside him deepen. He wanted to hold her, feel her against him. “What happened? How did they capture you? Did they hurt you?”

“After I left you, I went to warn Dev and Lochlann about Blue. I heard a couple of soldiers in the hall and tried to avoid them when two more came from the cargo area. They cornered me from both directions.” Jackson gazed down at Raisa, wanting desperately to pull her into his arms. “I should have just knocked them unconscious and been done with it, but instead I tried to warn them about Blue attacking the ship. They blasted me on the back of my head for the trouble. I woke on this prisoner transport disc with a killer headache. It’s my fault for letting them get the jump on me.”

“Found it.” Dev held up the key to Jackson’s manacles. It was a rectangular demagnetizer, which fit into tiny slots in the metal restraints. Dev pushed it into one cuff and then the other. The shackles dropped and he caught them with one hand before tossing them at Rick.

Rick stumbled under the weight as they hit his stomach. “Watch it, Red!”

Dev chuckled and slid the key into the belt and ankle restraints.

Jackson rubbed his wrists and jumped off the hover disc. The second his feet hit the floor, he grabbed Raisa and pulled her against him. He whispered in her ear, “I worried I might not see you again.”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I’m starting to like this pirate lifestyle.” Her nervous laugh contradicted that statement. “We should go.”

“Can we keep this?” Rick asked.

Jackson turned around to see Rick floating on the hover disc, his arms spread wide and his weight shifted to make the disc move over the ground toward the exit.

Dev went to the stacked crates and lifted one off the top that was marked as food supplies purchased from the docking lot. He moved to follow Rick. At Raisa’s questioning look, he shrugged and said, “They stole from us first. Like we wouldn’t notice things missing off the ship from their search. Plus, they disrespected my wife.”

Lochlann also grabbed one of the crates. “And they took our cleaning droid. These supplies won’t cover the cost of the damage they’ve done, but it will be a start.”

“Let’s get out of here before they wake up,” Jackson said. “We need to be out of this airspace.”

Raisa pushed away from him to gather the container with the pastries before returning to his side. “Too bad we can’t take their ship. It’s in much better shape than ours.”

Jackson felt his breath catch when she used the word “ours.”

“What’s wrong? Is it your head?” Raisa reached to touch his face.

“I…” Jackson gazed into her eyes. “I want it to be ours.”

Raisa glanced back. “The ship? I was joking. A few crates are one thing, but stealing a ship? We can’t.”

“Jackson, come,” Dev ordered.

Jackson quickened his pace, urging Raisa to do so as well. “No, I mean, I want everything I have to be ours.”

They ducked under the exit of the private dock. Jackson touched the door scanner to close it and slid the door indicator to “private” to ensure no one disturbed the soldiers while they were unconscious.

Raisa pulled on his arm as she hurried to follow the others. They jogged down the corridor leading to their ship. He glanced over his shoulder several times to ensure they weren’t followed. When they neared the ship, Dev was already inside and Lochlann was passing his cargo box to him through the hatch.

Raisa ran ahead as Lochlann and handed her food container to Dev before climbing in. Jackson followed, locking the hatch behind him. When he turned, Raisa was waiting for him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “I love you, too.”

Joy filled him, and he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his features. “I didn’t say that.”

“Yeah, but you were stuttering around it, and I thought I’d save you the trouble of choking the words out.” Raisa leaned up to kiss him. He loved her confidence, and her openness. She wasn’t a woman to run away from how she felt.

“I love you,” he stated clearly to prove the words weren’t caught in his throat. Their mouths were close as they spoke. “I want everything from now on to be ours.”

“I think you just want to get your hands on my molecular gastro-spectrometer,” she teased.

Jackson reached behind her, grabbed her backside, and lifted her off the ground so that she pressed fully against him. “I can assure you. Your molecular gastro-spectrometer is not what I’m trying to get my hands on.”