Katrina clamped her mouth shut after that bit of a tantrum. She hadn’t meant to snap at Rush, and she’d meant it when she’d agreed to go to the Javelin. But she was hellaciously scared of what was going to happen next.

She clutched the locket. The guy she was supposed to meet, he was to find her, and she hadn’t heard anything, and, as glad as she was Rush came to her rescue, she realized she’d have a hard time arranging to meet anyone if she was under constant supervision on the ship.

And damn, I wished I’d thought of that before I agreed to go to the Javelin.

But noooo, not her. She had to be all stupidly girly and happy she’d get to spend another day or two with Rush. Even though she was snapping his head off half the time.

So now, yeah, she’d really gone and screwed shit up. She’d blown her chance to meet with the contact without being caught. Unless she could somehow sneak away. And if the contact found out she was staying on the Javelin…

Or if she went to the hotel where she was supposed be staying and hung out in the lobby? Or better yet, checked into the room? And was it a hotel? What was it?

Shit. Of all the times to be without a cell phone. What do these people do for communication around here? They had wrangled space travel better than her planet. Surely, they had some form of comm system?

Oh, yeah, smarty? What are you going to do when you do get a hold of whatever they have that passes for a cell phone around here? You going to call the operator? Or information?

She was so screwed. So very screwed.

“Katrina.” Rush’s voice broke through her panicked meanderings. He had started to walk off but then turned and looked at her over his shoulder.

“Huh?”

“Are you coming?” He said it so slowly she half expected him to break into some sort of mocking sign language.

Do they even have sign language on this planet?

And that’s the point where she realized she couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without a guide. She had no clue where anything was, no maps, no way to communicate, and no way to find the Javelin if she did wander off.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.” She gave him another dirty look then realized, you can’t treat the ones you rely on like shit or they won’t stick around.

And she wanted him to stick around. She needed a guide.

Okay, okay, maybe she wanted him for more than just a guide, but until she’d completed her task, there was no way in hell she could afford to think of anything else.

Her sister’s—and even her mother’s—wellbeing was at stake.

Katrina never lived in one place too long. That wasn’t the kind of lifestyle she’d had. Her father died in the War Between the States, now called provinces. A war that managed to divide states based on… what? Katrina couldn’t say if anyone asked.

All she knew was she lost her dad during the war, and, with the division, services like healthcare became a thing of the past. It didn’t matter which branch or state, or now province, a man had fought in. Everything started from rubbing sticks together again for fire.

To Katrina and her remaining family, this meant Misha was bound to spend a lifetime in a wheelchair. Not because there wasn’t medical knowledge to fix her, but because there weren’t funds for the now extremely rare machines needed for the operation.

No, after Dad died, the tiny family had moved and moved while Mom followed jobs. These opportunities did little more than provide a meager amount of food and nothing more. So, Katrina quit high school and went to work, too.

That was where she met the piper that gave Misha her legs back. And now she had to pay the piper.

But at least Misha can walk.

True. And as long as Katrina could perform her duty, her mother and her sister would not be bothered.

Needless to say, with the amount of moving she did, Katrina never formed an attachment to any place in particular.

So why was it, suddenly, for no good reason, when she stepped onto the Javelin, she felt at peace?

This elegant spaceship—what else could she call it?—with its large brass and copper pipes, oversized rivets, gauges, and panels, its bi-level metal staircases, and separate bunking areas…

She closed her eyes and inhaled the air within as she stepped onto the ship behind Rush. Home. It smelled like where she wanted to be.

You better get unused to it, missy, she cautioned herself. You’re due to marry Maz’n or someone. And then you’ll be living wherever he says.

For a year. No more, she promised herself then quelled her inner argument.

“Will it be lonely for you on the Javelin without Emily and Smyrna?” Rush reached behind her to close the hatch.

She hadn’t thought of that. She’d not really gotten close to either girl while she’d been on board. She’d stuck around Emily more than Smyrna because Smyrna’s knowing gaze made her worry the woman would see through her ruse and figure out what Katrina was up to. So, it was easier to be with the sweet naïve Emily, who spent her time fawning over Boron, her intended.

She couldn’t believe innocent, overly trusting Emily had broken the rules and spoken with Boron over the interweb services. They’d been communicating secretly, and though Emily’s family had sent her there to spread their faith and religion, Emily had fallen in love with a large brute of a man tamed by her gentleness.

A real Beauty and the Beast, Katrina mused.

But it worked for them, and they were happy, clearly. And who was Katrina to judge. Hell, she wished she’d had that kind of luck with love herself.

“Well, will it?” Rush crossed his arms over the chest she’d gotten a glimpse of, dripping wet from the shower that one day. “Will it be lonely without them here?”

“No. I’m sure the time will pass quickly.” Plus, I have to find Ernansis V’dnen and get rid of this damned locket.

She caught herself fiddling with it again, for what seem like the millionth time, and let go. “The Javelin seems quiet. Where’s the crew?”

“Leave. Shore leave, I think your people would call it. Except there’s no shore.” He laughed gently at his own joke.

Katrina found herself smiling. She liked a person who could laugh at their own jokes. It imparted a sense of confidence. “So, we’re alone.”

Shit.

She hadn’t meant to say that. Not like that. Damn! And now he had a look on his face that made her insides turn upside down. In all the good ways, except with Rush, and with her life where it was right now, it was in all the bad ways.

His eyes narrowed. “Are you upset?”

She frowned. “About…?”

He returned her frown. “Your intended. Maz’n. His disappearance.”

“Oh.” Have you lost your ever-loving mind? She couldn’t even fake being upset, could she? She didn’t think so. “This is so unexpected.”