Clear,” Andy murmured, stepping around the corner onto the crowded street.

Lina nodded to Bailey and Mirela and they pushed the cart out into the gathering of pedestrians. They each wore the elaborate headgear of the traders who frequented the Spaceport and masks depicting an alien visitor’s face. Mechelle had created different costumes for each of them so they could move around the station with ease.

Lina merged into the crowd with several people between her and the cart.

Their small group had become experts at blending in over the past two years. They worked as a team, each scanning the crowded lane. Shouts sounded behind them and the crowd slowed as most people tried to glimpse what was causing the commotion behind them.

Lina gripped the pistol in her hand as she peered through her mask.

“Move out of the way,” a harsh voice ordered.

A patron who was standing behind Andy was shoved aside by one of the Waxian’s guards. Andy turned and stepped to the side to avoid a collision as the men swarmed the market.

Mirela and Bailey continued to push the cart at a steady pace several yards ahead of them. Lina bit back a curse when she saw the Waxian striding down the lane. People parted like the Red Sea, quickly moving to the side. Anyone who didn’t move fast enough was tossed aside or shot.

“Search every cart! Find him,” the Waxian ordered.

“Yes, sir,” one of the guards replied as he lifted his hand and signaled the others in the hunting group.

Lina’s eyes moved to Andy. Her friend had already slipped into the shadows and was working her way through the crowd and down a narrow alley.

Turning to glance down the lane, Lina’s mouth tightened when she saw that Bailey and Mirela were ordered to stop. Both women stopped and bowed their heads. Lina pushed her way through the crowd toward them.

Fear washed through her when the Waxian paused by their cart. His penetrating look ran over Mirela and Bailey before he turned his attention to their cart, and he reached out to pull off the cover on the top.

As he yanked off the cover, Lina lifted her gun. Two guards moved, effectively cutting off her view of the cart and the Waxian. Frustrated, she pushed between several patrons so she could get a clear shot. Her eyes widened when the Waxian turned back in fury.

“Find him!” the Waxian yelled.

The guards pushed past her while the Waxian turned and retraced his steps. He had only gone a few feet before he stopped and slowly swiveled in her direction. Lina hurriedly stepped into the shadowed recess of a doorway and froze. After a few seconds, the Waxian pivoted on his heel and disappeared into the crowd.

Releasing the breath she’d been holding, Lina turned back toward Bailey and Mirela who were again proceeding down the lane. Where in the hell had they hidden Edge? He should have been in the cart!

Lina quickened her step until she was even with the two women. They turned down the next lane and Gail fell into step next to her. Near the end of the lane, Mirela and Bailey abandoned the cart they’d been pushing and grabbed the handles of another cart waiting in front of a cloth vendor. Andy nodded and fell in behind them.

The small group continued, sometimes close together and other times spread apart. Two dozen turns and three levels down from where they had started, they slowed as they neared a series of grates barring access to the internal workings of the Spaceport.

The third grate from the end swiftly opened. Mirela and Bailey pushed the cart inside. Lina, Andy, and Gail turned to make sure no one had followed them, then nodded to Mechelle, and swept past her. A moment later, the grate sealed behind them.

Only after the second door had closed behind them and the lift descended deeper into the belly of the Spaceport did Lina look over at Mirela and Bailey. She couldn’t see their faces behind the masks, but she could feel their excitement. The lift slowed and opened into a dark tunnel.

Andy and Gail took the lead, Mirela, Bailey, and the cart were in the middle, and Lina was in the rear. In the year and a half that they had been in hiding on this Spaceport, they had never encountered anyone down this far. Still, there was always a chance it could happen. The engineers or whoever had designed and built the Spaceport had used the remains of a small moon that had been locked in orbit around the Waxian home planet. Lina and the others had discovered this section which had been built with surplus supplies after the Spaceport’s main construction was completed.

They all paused as Mechelle punched in the code to a large abandoned storage bay they now called home. The small door set in the larger bay door clicked and slid to the side. Gail entered first, making sure the area was clear before motioning to Andy and Mechelle.

Mechelle stepped inside while Andy stood by the door and motioned for Mirela and Bailey to push the cart through. Once they entered, Lina followed with Andy, double-checking the corridor before stepping inside and resealing the door. Only when they were safely inside their makeshift home did they relax.

Lina slipped off the hood of her cloak and removed her mask. She took a deep breath before walking over and folding down the tarp covering Edge. He was pale, sweat covered his face, and his body was violently shaking.

“Bailey,” she said, looking up at the other woman.

Bailey handed her cloak and mask to Mechelle and stepped up close to the cart. She bent over Edge, and shone a small light into his eyes, observing his dilated pupils. She looked back at Lina.

“Did he give you any indication of what they did to him?” Bailey asked.

Lina pursed her lips. “He said drugs. I imagine it was more. Can you help him?” she bit out.

Bailey frowned and raised one shoulder. “Without knowing which drug, how it affects them, and what can counteract it, the only thing we can do is hope he can make it through detox without severe withdrawals. If he has internal injuries, that is going to be even worse. I’ve only got a rudimentary understanding of the alien medicine we stole,” she explained.

Lina nodded her head in understanding. She reached out and gently touched Edge’s forehead. He was burning up. He softly groaned at her touch.

“Let’s make him as comfortable as possible. Bailey, I’d like you to examine him as best as you can,” Lina instructed.

“Of course,” Bailey said, motioning for Mirela to grab the other handle. “Let’s get him over to one of the beds.”

“He can have mine. I’ll make another one,” Lina said.

“Why don’t we just leave him in the cart?” Mirela suggested. “This way, if he dies, all we’ll have to do is wheel him up to the top level and leave him.”

Lina scowled at the other woman. “He’s not going to die!” she snapped, motioning for them to take him to the section she had created for herself. “Bailey, I’ll help you.”

It took all of them to lift Edge out of the cart and onto Lina’s bed. Fortunately, they were able to use the blanket he was lying on as a stretcher. Once he was on the bed, Bailey motioned for everyone but Lina to leave. Lina pulled the curtain closed, giving them privacy.

“What do you need me to do?” she asked Bailey.

Bailey looked up from where she was taking Edge’s vital signs. Lina patiently waited until Bailey was done. Bailey used the side of a crate to write down some numbers.

“Get some water, lukewarm is best. We need to get his fever down. I can’t tell exactly what his temperature is, but I know it is higher than is safe. If it stays high for too long, there’s a chance of brain or organ damage. I’ll check him over for any visible physical injuries,” Bailey replied.

“I’ll be right back,” Lina murmured and turned around. She pulled aside the curtain, then paused to look at Bailey. “Do you think he’ll make it?”

Bailey looked up, and her expression softened into a look of compassion. Lina shifted uncomfortably. There was a lot riding on this Trivator’s health. They all knew it. Just because she was remembering how he had looked at her, and how his voice had become an intimate growl when he called her goddess, didn’t mean she wanted him to get better more than the rest of them did.

“Let me assess him first and I’ll feel more comfortable answering that question. We know that he’s been through a lot. Still, he’s a Trivator. We know just how tough they can be,” Bailey answered.

Lina’s smile was bittersweet. “Yeah, we do. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said and stepped through the opening.

Taking a deep breath once again, Lina pushed down memories of the man from more than a decade before and focused on the task at hand. Walking across the storage bay to the bathroom, she grabbed a bucket along the way. She stepped inside, placed the bucket in the sink, and turned on the faucet.

Her attention was drawn to a soft knock on the door behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Andy leaning against the doorframe. She turned back around and stared down at the water filling the bucket.

“That was pretty clever, switching the carts like that,” Lina commented.

Andy straightened behind her and walked over to lean against the wall so that they were facing each other. Lina kept her head down and continued to watch the water pouring into the bucket. She finally looked up when Andy didn’t immediately respond.

“Yeah, it was. Gail must have seen the guards and realized what was about to happen before we did. She warned Mirela and Bailey. They commandeered another cart while Gail pushed the one with the Trivator in it. Bailey told me, and I met up with Gail and took over the cart while she fell back to give you guys coverage if you needed it,” Andy explained.

Lina nodded. “That was really a smart move,” she said again, reaching over the bucket to turn off the water.

“Lina, you know that the Waxian isn’t going to stop until he’s torn up every inch of this station,” Andy warned, reaching out to touch her arm.

Picking up the bucket of water, Lina nodded. “I know,” she replied before pushing past Andy and exiting the room.

Lina was all too aware of the can of worms they had just opened. Her hope was that they would be gone before the Waxian found their hiding place. One thing in their favor was that the clientele of the Spaceport appeared to hate the idea of surveillance cameras. There were some on the upper levels from what she had seen, but none in the lower, seedier sections. The few that had been installed down there were usually gone within an hour.

Still, Lina wasn’t positive whether they had been seen or not. All this anxiety was making her nauseous. If the bucket weren’t so heavy, she would have carried it with one hand so she could rub her aching stomach. She really hoped she wasn’t getting an ulcer.