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communication just to show they aren t trying to bluff us. We have no
idea how many of the rest of the crew and guards are still alive, but
maybe they are. It s hard to say.
This was truly turning into a nightmare like no commanding
officer ever wanted to face. Do we have orders?
Helm gave a decisive nod. The settlers are being sent to bunkers
designed for emergencies such as meteor events and cosmic storms.
We re going to let the ship dock, but the colony itself will be deserted.
You will take transports down and land also. At that time, you will
have an opportunity to effect retaking the hijacked ship. I realize you
don t have combat troops on board, Commander, but your crew is
trained military personnel.
In other words, they were in for a fight. No group of desperate
escaped felons was going to surrender quietly.
Is this an extermination now? He hated to ask it, but he did need
to know. Are we supposed to take the prisoners if we can?
Under His Command 69
Commander, you are supposed to do whatever you have to do.
There was a pause. On no account let them get near your ship,
understand? What they have now is a freight vessel. We re taking a
chance letting you land with transports on the same planet, but the
Council is concerned about the lives of the crew of the Serpentine and
the settlers. If any can be saved, we re willing to at least send you in
to try. But if a military vessel fell into the hands of these men&
He trailed off and shook his head.
Unfortunately, Kel understood all too well. Criminals aside, he d
never lose his ship while still breathing.
70 Annabel Wolfe
Chapter 7
When the light flashed, she jumped up and then had to
consciously stop herself from running over to push the admittance
button.
By the stars, she was acting like an adolescent and Tara had no
real idea why. Well, that wasn t quite true, she admitted silently as
she managed a sedate pace across the small space. For one thing she
was bored. That was the first excuse she gave herself. The boredom
on these journeys was always a problem for her, but normally she at
least brought along some of her own solutions to relieve the tedium.
Reading material, research to do, scientific papers to write, games&
On this trip she had nothing to play with. She reached out a finger
to touch the pad that would open the door. Nothing to play with
except possibly Will Janssen.
She had no clue as to why the idea intrigued her but it did. Quiet
intellectual males usually didn t even garner a passing glance from
her. Her last true sexual interest it was inappropriate to label it
love had been a trooper who worked with a special division that ran
secret missions for the Universal Council. Missions that were usually
covert and always dangerous. He could fly any type of transport, had
the skills to survive in almost any type of atmosphere, handled all
weapons with ease, and spoke nearly every dialect in four solar
systems. The sex had been much the same as his personality, a little
rough and wild, just a touch on the dangerous side. Exactly how she
liked it.
Will Janssen lived and breathed numbers on a screen. His
existence was based on logic and rules, not risk. She was pretty sure
Under His Command 71
he couldn t say the word fuck in eleven languages like Lucas, but then
again, if he could, he wouldn t. He was polite to a fault.
But, she thought as the panel slid up, she was attracted to him for
some reason. It didn t make sense to her, but the interest was there
just the same. It was reciprocated as far as she could tell, though he
hadn t once in the past days since their rescue from Epsilon made as
much as one suggestive move or even a comment to indicate he was
thinking along the same lines.
In short, Tara was pretty sure if she wanted him in bed, she was
going to have to make the move.
I hope you don t mind me dropping by every day. Will smiled,
hovering outside the door. I just sent the last of the figures I d stored
in my handheld memory bank to my father s assistant. That s the end
of it. I guess right now, technically, I m unemployed.
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