Without Hesitation, Talia Jager [warren buffett book recommendations txt] 📗

>“I can’t hand her over to Caspar. The attack on Caipra bought us some time. Zia told us the Authority hasn’t confirmed how many were killed or released any names yet. I insinuated to Caspar that she could be one of them.”

I knew my crew was looking at me like I had lost my mind as I paced the bridge muttering ideas. “What if we just took off? Went somewhere nobody could find us?”

“So you’re going to abduct the Empress, never return her, and we’re all going to vanish into the great unknown?” Zabe said.

“Sure.”

He arched an eyebrow. “You’re not thinking clearly.”

“Why couldn’t we?”

“She might have a problem with that, for one. And you really think Caspar is going to let us disappear?” Huxley furrowed his brow.

“What if he takes it out on our families?” Briar asked.

“Then we take him out.”

“You want to kill him? Is she that important to you? You don’t even know her!” Zabe exclaimed.

“We’ll fix the FTL drive and vanish until we can come up with a plan to kill him. As long as Caspar doesn’t know we have her, we have time.”

“How long do you really think he’s going to give us? He’s already mad he doesn’t have her yet,” Briar was the voice of reason. It wouldn’t take him long.

“Maybe a couple of days. That should be enough time to come up with a plan.”

“Ever, you have to think about the big picture here.” Huxley reached out to me.

I put up my hand to stop him from saying anything more. “Come up with more options then.” I said, then I left the bridge and retired to my quarters.

In the morning, the conversation I had with my crew last night weighed heavy on my mind as I made my way to Kaci’s room to tell her breakfast would be ready soon. Would she want to stay with us? Outside her door, I hit the button to signal to her I was there.

Instead of just answering the intercom, she opened the door still wearing the cami and shorts she slept in. My heart rate accelerated.

“Hi.”

“What’s up?” she asked, smiling brightly.

Her smile made me feel weird inside. Tingly. Warm. “Eggs,” I blurted then cleared my throat. “I just wanted to let you know the eggs are almost done if you want to have some.”

“I’ll just get changed. Do you want to come in or…”

“I’ll wait for you here.”

She nodded and the door closed. I paced back and forth while I waited for her. What was I doing? Was I really considering giving up my life for someone I didn’t know? What if she didn’t share my feelings? What if she laughed in my face when I told her everything?

The door opened and she stepped out. “Ready.”

Wordlessly, I led her to the kitchen. We plopped down on opposite sides of the table.

Huxley filled our plates with eggs. “Eat up!”

Akacia picked up her fork and dug into the food. Her face lit up as she chewed it and swallowed. “Oh damn, this is so good.”

“Thanks, Empress.”

“Akacia,” she corrected him.

She didn’t tell him to call her Kaci like she had with me. I found satisfaction in that bit of intimacy. I watched Kaci as she enjoyed each bite of eggs. Her expressions made me smile.

“We’ll be docking at the station in a couple of hours. Do you want to go out and explore while the ship gets fixed?”

Her brow furrowed. “How do you do that? Aren’t you like…wanted?”

A smile stretched across my face. “Money goes a long way. There are certain stations we can’t go to. There are others that like a little extra money.”

“Okay, then. I’d love to go out with y—” Her cheeks blushed something fierce. It was the cutest damn thing. “To go exploring.”

I turned before she could see the blush in my own cheeks and cleaned up our plates. Briar was grinning at me from across the room.

“Do I look okay?” she asked innocently.

It was a simple question, but one that required me to look at her again. Her only clothing was the protective suit she wore to the summit meeting and that was a mess. She had been wearing my pants and T-shirt since. “I can give you another shirt.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Briar’s expression faded and she lifted the tablet that she held and tapped on the glass. “We have a problem,” she announced, meeting my eyes.

“What?”

“My source at the Authority says Valinor contacted them claiming we have abducted the Empress.”

“They must have figured out who we were.”

The look on Akacia’s face said it all. “It’s my fault. I sent Bristow a signal that I needed help when we talked. I didn’t know what to think then. I was worried about what might happen to me. I’m sorry.”

I searched her eyes and read her body language. She was being genuine. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. Make sure our Gledi contact gets a bonus.”

We walked in silence back to my room. When the door closed, she said, “I really am sorry.”

I fingered a button on my pants. “I know.”

“I’ll make it right.”

I almost laughed. “It’s just another charge on our criminal log.”

“Still, I’ll fix it.”

Something in me told me she would. She’d at least try. We would have to be extra careful at the space station.

The ship shuddered slightly as it docked. I pulled a shirt out of my drawer and handed it to Kaci.

“Do you have any clothes that aren’t black?” she teased.

I shook my head. “No.”

She slipped in the bathroom and when she came back out, she had my shirt on. I sucked in a breath. Her breasts were bigger than mine so the shirt was pulled tight across the chest.

“Does it look okay?”

I nodded, but took a step toward her and pulled up the middle a bit. “There are some people who aren’t very nice.”

“I can hold my own.”

“I know. Turn around.”

She turned—not even asking why. I stepped closer and gently pulled her hair out of the clip that held it up. A whiff of something sweet tickled my nose. I breathed in deeply. Honey. She smelled like honey and…milk. My heart pounded wildly. Her neck looked so soft, so smooth, so beautiful. I swallowed hard and moved her hair to cover her marking. “Don’t want your marking to show.”

She cleared her throat and said, “Thank you.”

Kaci turned and our eyes met. The air between us crackled with electricity. Thoughts of kissing her filled my mind and I was just about to give in when Briar’s voice came over the intercom.

“Ever? We’re docked.”

Swallowing hard, I answered, “Be right there.”

A few minutes later, I led everyone, except Briar, out of the Nirvana and into the station. We always left one person behind to make sure nobody messed with the ship and everything ran smoothly. Briar stayed this time to monitor what was going on with the Authority.

“Everleigh!” a familiar voice called out.

“Hey, Jago.”

“What happened to your ship?” the blond-haired man asked.

“FTL’s broken. How fast can you get her fixed up?”

“Few earthhours.” He wiped his dirty hands on his pants.

“Perfect. We sent ahead an order. If you need anything, Briar is on board.”

“Got it.”

When we got to the end of the corridor, I faced Zabe, Huxley, and Akacia. “Safe journeys.”

Zabe let out a whoop before taking off. Huxley grinned and went in the other direction.

“What do you usually do here?” Akacia asked.

“Drink,” I answered honestly. “Shop. Get a massage.”

“Well, which do you want to do now?”

What I wanted to do and what I would do were totally different. “We could walk around and then eat somewhere.”

She nodded, but then frowned. “I don’t have any money.”

“Don’t worry. I do,” I said.

Akacia’s mouth fell open as we entered the main hall. It was dark even with the lights that recreated the light from a sunstar. The corridors and shops had no windows. We walked down the wide hallway full of people, past stores, clubs, casinos, and any service ever thought of. It was loud with voices and sounds echoing off the metallic walls.

“This is amazing.” Her blue eyes were lit with wonder as we walked through the space station.

“Don’t you ever get to go to the stations?”

“No. I’ve only been off Valinor a handful of times.”

“Why?”

“Hidden as a child. When I turned sixteen, they let me out of hiding and I took my place. They didn’t let me leave the planet for another two years. Then they accompanied me for the next year. Now I finally get to go to the meetings myself. Always with a crew, and a guard, never for long…” She sighed. “Bristow and I always dreamt of going exploring as kids, but when I grew up, I realized I couldn’t go. I had to take care of my people and protect my planet.”

I tried to see it the way she was seeing it for the first time. There were a lot of people and some of their clothing or hairstyles were more than interesting. While many people lived and worked at the station, most people were just passing through. All of the facilities were open around the clock because travelers arrived constantly.

The clothing people wore ranged from almost naked to glowing, full-length dresses to fancy tech outfits. We passed people dressed in long robes and wildly styled hair. Another group of people with tattoos covering the right side of their faces walked by.

“Their makeup is astounding,” she said, gesturing to a group of people coming out of a clothing store wearing makeup that made them look like they had masks on.

I turned into the restaurant. “Two,” I said to the hostess, who was an AI, but I doubted Akacia noticed. She was very human looking and could only be identified by a logo under her ear.

The hostess nodded and led us to a small table. We sat down and I touched the tabletop to pull up the menu. Akacia strained her neck to see what I was doing.

“Never seen one of these before either?”

Her cheeks burned red. “There are plenty of touchscreens in my command center and on my spacecraft—well there were, but I’ve never been to a restaurant.”

“Really?”

“I’m the Empress. I have a chef.” She rubbed her fingers over a simple, yet beautiful tattoo on her arm.

“Of course, you do,” I said with a laugh. I swallowed and then took a few deep breaths to get up the courage to ask her a question. “Bristow? Is he your boyfriend?”

She met my eyes with a furrowed brow. “No. He’s my best friend.”

My heart beat faster hearing her answer and I thought about all the crazy feelings I’ve had since I first met her. Did she feel them, too?

“Do you dance?” she asked, looking at the people on the dance floor.

“Only after a few drinks.” I didn’t dance often. It wasn’t something I enjoyed. Maybe it would be different with the right person.

“I’d like a drink. I don’t get to do that either.”

We both ordered mixed drinks and a few appetizers to share.

“Have you ever been to Earth?” she asked.

“No. It’s something I’d like to do someday. I’m a bit of a history buff and I’d like to see it for myself. So much of the planet was destroyed, but there is still a lot I’d like to explore.”

“It would be neat to see it all with my own eyes, not just in pictures or