“Damn machines.” Myka snatched up a wrench.

“Need some help?”

Myka glanced over his shoulder at the Star Ranger. “If you can make the adjustments while I calibrate the converter, I’d appreciate the help.”

“I should be able to follow a few simple directions.”

Myka popped to his feet and handed Frost the tool bag, then swung around to take the control chair. He started the calibration sequence and turned back to his newly-found helper.

“How long have you been here, Frost?”

“A couple of years. I was chasing a fugitive. I didn’t plan on staying at the time, but things changed.”

“Seems to me you’re breaking a few interstellar laws by being here.”

“You would think, but after I met my Lacey and she created a black hole to come save my ass, I figured she was worthy of breaking a few rules. Besides, my daughter is worth the sacrifice, if you could call it a sacrifice.” Frost eyed him carefully. “But isn’t your race doing more than breaking a few rules?”

Myka’s eyes narrowed. “How do you calculate?”

“I came here to permanently remove a threat and prevent humans from dying. Your race is the threat. You can’t tell me that pod you’re here to retrieve is the only one. There have got to be more, and if there are, what are the odds of them leaking as well?”

“There are thousands of pods buried deep below the surface, and too many to remove.”

“My point. What if others get sick? This race has nothing to counteract the effects—nothing they have discovered yet, anyhow. Beck’s doctors know his cells are being altered, but don’t know how to reverse the effects.”

The computer beeped to alert Myka to the calibration results. He pointed, “A fraction to the left.”

Frost loosened, then rotated the converter before tightening the screws again. “Okay. Let’s try this again.”

Myka restarted the sequence while pondering Frost’s concerns. “I’m certain the leaders would call humans finding the energy infrastructure a calculated risk. They look like ordinary rocks.”

“But they aren’t ordinary, are they?” Frosts blue eyes turned paler, his breath icy. “And if Beck were your child?”

“I didn’t say I agree with their opinions. I said it’s probably what the leaders would say.”

Frost’s breath came out a crystal cloud. “So the interstellar directive to do no harm doesn’t apply when it’s inconvenient. Is that what I’m hearing?”

Myka’s gills vibrated to produce a low rumble. “I don’t like what you’re implying, Star Ranger.”

Frost’s mouth crooked into a smirk. “Mighty touchy, aren’t we, Waterman?”

Shame and fear for the people of this planet made Myka break out in a sweat.

The Iceman wasn’t wrong. His race had impacted the planet and its inhabitants. The impact was reversible, but only with the proper equipment—equipment the humans didn’t have and couldn’t access.

“Tell me this.” Frost straightened when the calibration sequence chirped all clear. “Is Raine also dying?”

Myka rounded on the ranger, no longer distracted.

“Thought so. She just began showing the signs this week. I don’t think she’s recognized the symptoms because she’d been so focused on Beck.” Getting to his feet, Frost added, “And you will do nothing to save your mate? I’ve seen the way you look at her and protect her. She’s your match, isn’t she?”

Myka grabbed the Ranger’s shirt. When Frost touched him, Myka’s skin instantly turned frostbite black.

“Shit.” Myka loosened his grip and wiggled his fingers to get the circulation to return.

“You want to go a couple of rounds, tadpole, I’m good. I haven’t had a good fight in a while. I miss hunting down greedy asswipes who are only in it for themselves.”

“I’m not greedy.” Myka’s anger welled while he continued to shake out his frostbitten hand. “And I get your point. But even if I could get her aboard the space station without being arrested,” or killed, “and I figured out how to get them regenerated—and, by the way, I have no idea if the process will work on humans—I would still need to find a way to get them both back off the ship.”

“That’s not a problem. Once she’s there, she’ll be the link this community needs to open a gate. We just need a way to get a signal.”

“A signal. Right. And I suppose a couple dozen of you, armed with nothing but a bunch of brooms and vines, are ready to fight the hundred-plus on board.”

“I think you have underestimated what this group can do.”

“Maybe, but are you willing to sacrifice your life, Frostman?”

“I am. If saving my wife’s best friend and her son are at stake, count me in.”

The intensity in the frosty man’s voice was like a right uppercut, swift and painful. “You care about these people, even though they aren’t your true race.”

“They are good, honest people.” Frost surprised him by extending his hand, palm up, a universal symbol of friendship. “And so are you, Waterman, even if you are a tadpole.”

Myka smirked. “Yeah, being a nice guy tends to get my ass dumped into a cesspool of nastiness, but…” Myka extended his hand. “…I will do what I can to save them.” And avoid getting them all killed in the process.

Frost nodded and released his hand. “And I will do what I can to ease the burden here if you don’t succeed.”

The coil in Myka’s gut tightened.

He didn’t want to watch his mate or her son die.

His mate deserved to live a full life, with or without him.