Jackson ran his hand against the wall in the darkness as he made his way back toward the captain’s quarters. Power was fluctuating all over the ship, and Viktor had diverted energy from all nonessential systems for takeoff. That included the lights. They were literally flying in the dark as Rick guided the ship off planet.

He stumbled as the ship lurched. Technically, he should have been strapped into a seat, but he wanted to check on the woman he’d rescued. He’d left her on the bed. With the gravitational controls not stabilizing the inside of the ship, Jackson worried she would be unconscious and bouncing dangerously all over the room.

Jackson heard footsteps coming toward him and realized whoever was there probably hadn’t heard him. He had a natural stealth that was hard to turn off. He consciously made noise by heavying his steps.

“Who is that?” a female whispered.

“Alexis?” Jackson asked. “What are you doing in the passageways? You’re supposed to be in the cockpit.”

“It took me a moment to process the right information, but I think I might be able to figure out the wiring for the lights. They don’t match this ship’s official schematics at all.” Alexis had been used as a test subject by a corporation that manufactured pleasure droids. They uploaded files into her brain and used her as a base model to create lifelike companions.

“That’s good.” Jackson wasn’t sure how much was stored in her brain, but he’d heard Lucien estimate there were millions of files, from ship schematics to biomedicine to books by famous authors. Humans weren’t meant to carry so much knowledge, and what was left after the experiments was a living computer database. At one point she’d been connected to the Pleasure Droid Corporation mainframe, but that connection was severed to protect her from capture. It sometimes took her a while to sort through the information, but she almost always came through. She’d even saved Jackson’s life once when a shipwreck had left him with a knife blade lodged in his side.

“We’ll see if it works.” She sounded frustrated. “Some of it is Viktor’s modifications. Some of the wire patterns resemble a few known samples of smuggler ships caught by the Federation over the years, which means there are probably secret holds none of you has even seen on this thing. Others look to be official HIA mods, which honestly, I don’t want to know how you guys got hold of those.”

“That doesn’t explain what you’re doing running around in the dark. You should be somewhere safe,” Jackson said.

Alexis laughed in dismissal. “Violette was right. You are feeling overprotective today. I—ow!”

Alexis stumbled, and he followed the sounds she made to catch her before she fell.

“Blasted Rick,” Jackson swore. “The wires will have to wait. The ship isn’t steady and—”

“What the hell was that?” Alexis pushed away from him.

The vibration of the ship changed, becoming lighter as they entered deep space. The lights flickered and turned on. He looked down to where Alexis was sweeping her hand over the floor. She gasped and pulled back.

“What in the blazing star trails?” Alexis swore under her breath. “Where did she come from?”

The woman he’d rescued lay on the floor beneath the door. Her head and one hand stuck into the passageway, face down. It looked as if she’d been trying to crawl out of the room.

He knelt beside her. “I rescued her and didn’t know where else to put her.”

“You kidnapped a—”

“Rescued,” Jackson stressed.

The lights flickered again. A hissing sound came from the door. He shared a look with Alexis. They both grabbed an arm and jerked the woman into the passageway. The door reset itself and slid shut, barely missing her feet. The woman landed partly on his lap. Jackson uncomfortably adjusted his hips and moved out from under her.

“Jackson, why were you hiding this stranger on board? Who is she?” Alexis leaned over to examine the woman’s head with a worried look.

“She needed help.” The answer was simple, but it was the only truth he knew to tell.

“Why didn’t you say anything before takeoff?” Alexis stroked back the woman’s hair to reveal the side of her face. “I don’t think I kicked her too hard when I tripped on her head, but it’s hard to tell under all this dirt. I’m more worried about her neck.”

“We need this ship back to full power,” Jackson said in irritation. “The safety mechanisms should have engaged. She could have been crushed.”

Alexis arched a brow but clearly chose to ignore is grumpy tone. “What happened to her?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I found her in the docking lot.” He didn’t feel the need to mention she was stealing at the time, not that anyone on the ship would care about that little fact. “I had the medical unit in your room examine her and it said she was dehydrated and had three fractured ribs.” Jackson supported her head. “Help me turn her over.”

Alexis helped roll the woman onto her back to make her more comfortable. Dust covered her in patches, dirtying her face and clothes. Jackson stared at her face, willing her eyes to open and knowing it was best if they didn’t. A fractured rib would be excruciatingly painful. How had she not screamed in agony as he ran through the docking lot with her?

“She’s the reason why you kept saying we needed to restock the medical booth before we took off.” It was more a statement than a question. “I wish you had told me. We had to divert power away from the medical booth. It was a calculated risk. It was either that or our food supply. We choose to keep the food simulator running.”

“We need to help her. I had the medic give her something for pain. I don’t know how she made it to the door, but she shouldn’t have been able to get up and walk.”

“We might be at the tail end of the pain medicine cartridges. They’re probably not at full potency.” Alexis sighed heavily. “I kept telling you guys to take your hangovers like men.”

Jackson ignored the jibe. He slipped his arms beneath the woman’s body and lifted her off the floor. Her slight figure worried him, and he tried not to put pressure on her rib cage while supporting her head. “Can you access one of your head file things and see if you can help her?”

“Sure. I’ll access my head file things. For the record, I prefer to call it a database.” Alexis looked at him thoughtfully. “But why do you need me to look it up? Didn’t they give you field medicine training in the military? I thought you were some kind of super soldier. Surely you’ve come across worse injuries than this.”

“None of my missions involved rescue orders.” Jackson didn’t like thinking about the past, let alone talking about it. “If we were injured, we had an injector to keep us going until we reached the base.”

Alexis gave him a contemplative smile. “Do you think she’s the one to break your curse?”

“No,” Jackson instantly denied. “I think the true curse is the threat of the curse. It makes us overthink each situation, each woman we come across. When you think of how many stops we’ve made all over the universe, how many women we’ve crossed paths with, the odds are not in our favor.”

“Lochlann told me what Zhang An said.” Alexis’ eyes glazed and she stared forward. He knew she was accessing the memory. She spoke the words the spirit had use to curse them, “Together you travel and together you’ll remain. Tied and joined like the five elements of our people.”

“The road to happiness is very rocky for all of you.” Jackson finished the ghost’s curse. He didn’t need Alexis to tell him the rest. He remembered every word. Zhang An had gone on to say, “You will find your love hidden within the mysteries of the five elements. One element for each of you. The corresponding element will hold the secret to your future happiness. But fate is not clear. If you do not recognize it, you will lose it and be forever alone.”

Five elements. Five men. Simple as far as curses went.

And yet very complicated.

“Three of the five found happiness. I consider that a success. Lochlann, Dev, and Evan were the most deserving out of all of us.” Jackson found it hard to feel sorry for the pilot. It was Rick’s fault they had been cursed to begin with.

“Don’t you think you deserve happiness?” Alexis placed a hand on his arm, and he leaned away from her touch.

Jackson tried to activate the door scanner to the captain’s quarters without jostling the woman he carried. Alexis ran her hand over it for him. He hadn’t bothered to ask permission to put their new guest in the room. He already knew what Alexis’ answer would be. Everyone on the crew has a soft spot for an underdog, and what was a battered woman if not in need of their help? They both watched the door inch up slower than normal. He paused briefly before quickly ducking under it, in case the metal slab decided to drop shut again.

“I think she must have been outside,” Alexis said. “She’s the color of Torgan dirt.”

Jackson nodded. He’d thought as much too. “The computer said dehydration, extreme sun exposure, and foreign obstructions in the lungs. I think she breathed in the dust.”

“You were right to bring her on board,” Alexis said. “I can think of no good reason why a woman would be in the Torgan outdoor markets with sand in her lungs, a beat-up body, and without adequate water.”

Jackson laid the woman on the bed, still dusty from the last time he’d put her there. “Do your database thing.”

Alexis took a deep breath and began to mumble to herself as she searched for answers. It was almost as if her other senses shut down when she searched. Her eyes became glazed and distant. Her voice took on a droning quality. “Human anatomy. Skeletal System. Rib cage provides protection to the heart and lungs. Irrelevant to the situation. Reexamine.”

Lochlann had explained that her mind worked like a giant database of linked computers, in which she had to follow the pathways until she reached the right information.

“Federation Military guide to field medicine during the Ven wars. Winged creatures. Irrelevant to the situation. Reexamine. Federation Military guide to pre-medic care. Blaster injuries. Crash landings. Fire injury. Protrusions. Fractures. Relevant to the situation. Spiral fracture. Impacted fracture. Transverse fracture. Epiphyseal fracture. Closed fracture. Complete fracture. Broken ribs can move inside the body and puncture organs. Compression can alleviate pain. Compression may cause other problems. Relevant to the situation. Recommended treatment is to use a medical booth. If no medical booth is available—”

“Yes, that one,” Jackson interrupted, his words insistent. “Relevant. Relevant.”

Alexis’ eyes darted to him and her words stuttered as if he made her lose her place. “Re-relevant to situation.”

She stopped talking.

“Well?” Jackson asked, ready to help the woman on the bed. “How do we fix it?”

“We can’t.” Alexis frowned. “All we can do is hope they’re not complete factures and keep her still until we can get to a medical booth. They have to heal on their own. She’ll have to stay here for now. I don’t want to move her again. If it hurts when she coughs or speaks, she can apply a little pressure to the area, but not much. And let her have whatever is left of the pain medicine. When it’s out, we’re going to have to resort to liquor.” She walked to the door. “I’ll let Lochlann know we’ve been kicked out of our room. We’ll take yours. You get the rec room.”

“Wait, what about her?” Jackson asked. “Shouldn’t you stay and…” He gestured helplessly at the woman.

“Do I look like a nursemaid?” Alexis chuckled. “You found her, you take care of her. I have a ship to fix.”

“What’s a nursemaid?” Jackson frowned.

“You are.” Alexis winked before hurrying under the door. “Take care of your patient.”