“Lucien, get your brother out of that hole before he hurts himself,” Dev’s voice echoed as they came out of the chamber.

“I can’t,” Lucien answered, not sounding panicked as he added, “he’s already stuck.”

The chamber door closed. Raisa dropped Jackson’s shirt and her shoes on the floor. She rushed to slide her legs into the pants before jumping as she quickly tugged them on. She then took Jackson’s shirt and held it out to him as Dev came back around the corner.

“Hey,” Raisa asserted, her voice an octave too high as she attempted to act as if nothing was going on.

“They’re out,” Dev shouted as he strode toward them. The sound of footsteps ran behind him as more of the crew appeared. Only Viktor and Rick were missing.

Jackson took his shirt and pulled it on. As he shoved his head through the neck hole, Lucien, Alexis, and Violette grinned knowingly at him. Dev frowned.

Lochlann chuckled. “Hope we’re not interrupting anything.” He gave a meaningful nod at Raisa’s bare feet. He slapped Dev on the stomach as he strode past the larger man. “I don’t think he wanted to be rescued.”

“See, Dev, I told you Jackson was fine. He always lands on his feet.” Violette threaded her arm through her husband’s.

“Or his back,” Lucien muttered, though the words were intentionally loud enough for all to hear. He snickered.

Dev turned to him and pointed back the way they’d come. “What are you doing? Get your brother out of that blasted hole!”

Lucien grimaced and saluted before turning to do as ordered. His voice carried back to them as he walked away. “Are we sure we don’t want to seal him in there? I mean, I have to ask.”

“Well?” Alexis prompted. “What’s in there?”

“It is as she said,” Jackson answered. “There is a highly advanced, secret laboratory on this ship and it’s sucking up a lot of our power.”

“Can we shut it off?” Lochlann glanced at the wall. Smears of blood were on it from where the others had attempted to enter but were unsuccessful.

“Possibly, but I don’t know if we should,” Jackson said. “There are vials of unknown substances. I don’t know what will happen if the environment is disturbed, and the laboratory has two subjects. One is long dead, but the other looks to be in hypersleep and might still be alive.”

“What do you mean, might? What did the panel for her life functions read?” Lochlann asked.

“It’s a language I’ve never seen before,” Jackson admitted. “She could be in stasis or dead.”

“She?” Lucien’s voice called from around the corner, indicating that he’d stopped to eavesdrop.

“Lucien,” Dev warned.

“Fine,” Lucien yelled. “I’m going.”

“Why didn’t you open the door to let me in?” Dev eyed the two lovers with a skeptical lift to his brow.

“That’s the thing,” Raisa put forth, finally recovering from the slight embarrassment of having what they’d been doing discovered by the crew. “The door doesn’t open until this corridor is empty. We had to wait for you to leave so we could come out. And the access panel appears jammed from the inside, so we couldn’t leave the way I came in the first time—not that Jackson would fit through the opening or in the repair corridors.”

“Well, as curious as this all is, it doesn’t provide a solution to our current problems. We need power and we need a propulsion system.” Lochlann gave once last glance at the wall and sighed. “No one is to go back in there until it can be properly dealt with as a team. It has been here this long, it can wait.”

Footsteps sounded seconds before Rick came around the corner. “What I miss?”

“Alien laboratory,” Violette answered.

“Super,” Rick said, a little out of breath.

“Why aren’t you in the cockpit?” Lochlann asked.

“Like we’re going to crawl into an asteroid at the pace we’re flying,” Rick dismissed. “Besides, communications are down, so I had to come tell you in person. What scans I was able to do of deep space show we have company in the skies. Looks like they might have followed us from Torgan. I can’t be sure, but they’re coming from that direction.”

“The Dokka?” Raisa wondered aloud, fear causing her to panic. “They could be mad that I took my molecular gastro-spectrometer back.”

“Federation,” Jackson stated.

Though she didn’t want to deal with the Dokka again, his answer didn’t really set her mind at ease.

Rick nodded. “Could be. The size fits their smaller deep-space vessels.”

“You are to turn me over to them,” Jackson stated. “I am the one they want. I’ll make sure they leave you in peace.”

The crew’s answers to his suggestion came in unison.

“Stow it,” Lochlann ordered.

“No,” Dev answered flatly.

“Jackson, come on, be serious,” Alexis said, shaking her head.

“Don’t be a space cadet,” Violette scoffed.

“Will do,” Rick agreed. “Never liked you much anyway.”

Lochlann frowned at Rick. “Shut your black hole and man the cockpit. We can’t outrun them but figure out a way to hide us.”

“Aye, aye, spoilsport.” Rick could be heard jogging away. “Rick will save the day…once again!”

“What’s a spoilsport?” Raisa asked.

“Probably something from twenty-first century Old Earth,” Violette said. “Rick’s obsessed with that time period. Half the time we don’t know what he’s going on about.”

“Would it be wrong to dose him again to shut him up?” Dev asked. Raisa was surprised the man knew how to make a joke. At least, she assumed it was a joke.

“Out of medicine,” Alexis answered.

“I’d be willing to test the alien vials on him,” Violette teased. “Could be fun.”

“There will be no more dosing of fellow crewmen. Last time someone tied him naked to the dining table,” Lochlann said. “We had to sanitize the room for a month before anyone would eat in there again.”

Raisa had a feeling this crew joked to hide the fact that they were nervous.

“Why does the Federation want you?” Raisa studied Jackson’s face, not joining in the banter. She noticed he liked to avoid any questions related to that part of his past.

“I don’t know,” Jackson said.

“Really? They just woke up one day and decided to chase you?” Raisa questioned doubtfully.

“A couple of new recruits found him on Torgan while playing with their hand scanner. My guess is they want to reenlist him—” Alexis said.

“They didn’t say that,” Jackson inserted.

“—but Jackson refused to go with them,” Alexis finished.

“They didn’t take no for an answer?” Raisa asked.

“They didn’t take Jackson’s fist in their faces as an answer,” Lochlann admitted. “After the Federation soldiers scanned him he was supposed to stay on the ship while we were on the ground so he wouldn’t get caught, but for some reason he disobeyed and left. They must have spotted him. Now they’re on our trail.”

Raisa took a deep breath. Guilt filled her at the realization. “It’s because you helped me, isn’t it? You left the ship to rescue me and that’s why they’re coming for you now.”

“What’s done is done,” Jackson dismissed.

“I am so sorry,” Raisa said to the crew.

“For what? Needing help?” Violette chuckled wryly. She moved to follow Rick. “If it wasn’t this, it would be something else. Life of the high skies.”

“Life of the high skies,” Alexis agreed.

“I’ll help the space cadet in the cockpit. Jackass couldn’t fly his way out of a rainbow,” Violette said. The soft notes of a pirate song trailed behind her as she sang, “And we sail the high skies, looking for gold, looking for treasures that never grow old. The wind in our sails, lads, the stars at our feet, as we plunder for women, thick brown, and good mead.”

“Secret aliens, Federation up our backsides, a broken tin can of a ship.” Alexis gave the group a bemused look. “Just another day in space, isn’t it?”

Lochlann didn’t find the same amusement as his wife. Neither did Dev. Raisa glanced up at Jackson.

And, neither did he.

“Lighten up.” Alexis waved her hand at all of them as if to erase their expressions. She used her husband’s arm for leverage as she lifted onto her toes to kiss his jaw. “I’m only teasing. Besides, I wouldn’t trade the adventure of being your wife for anything in the known galaxies.” She released him and gestured at Raisa. “Grab your shoes and come on. You’ve had a long day and the security officers need to discuss security stuff. Let’s get you something to eat before the real fun starts. I’m dying to know if Jackson actually makes sounds during sex or just stares moodily at a woman in silent disapproval.”

“Ah, I, ah…” Raisa stuttered as she looked at Jackson.

His eyes were closed as he grimaced.

Raisa picked up her shoes and moved to follow the woman toward the dining hall.