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“Can you let them know I’ll be up momentarily?”
“Yes.” A tightness around his eyes relayed his worry., “I will see you later?”
“I can message you when I’m done to see if you’re still awake?”
Without waiting for an answer, she boldly kissed him on the lips and was out the door as he said, “I will be.”
Rick met her at the entrance to the bridge. His stern regard unable to be missed. He’d been waiting for her to appear. “Watson mentioned West might be the one causing this?”
“Watson is partially correct.” Kira could handle Rick in stride normally, but that was because she’d been straightforward before. Warning him about West had slipped her mind, and Watson seemed to take care of it. Their other passenger, well, he had some idea of the danger, but not all of it. “Quinn is possibly the other part. West isn’t smart enough to put two and two together. After we undocked without permission, I’m sure that he raised the alert, putting us on their radar. A ship with advanced technology when they’re looking for what they consider missing property, it raises red flags I’m sure.”
Clear anger covered Rick’s face. His brooding took on new levels when there was genuine danger towards the crew. She didn’t want to see the look he gave. Dark eyes surrounded by rugged dark locks coupled with a jaw sharp enough to cut glass and the man would be devilishly attractive if he’d remained a mystery. But Kira knew he had enough PTSD to sink a rowboat no matter how hard he threw out water.
He was her subordinate, in a sense, so she popped back quickly. “It’s not polite to stare,” she crossed the room to where Morgan waited, inputting the coordinates to make their next jump.
Rick followed, thick boots stomping heavily. A hand gripped her upper arm, not roughly, but just enough to draw her attention back. “Kira, if I do not know what I am up against, I cannot plan for it.”
Looking at his hand, then face, then hand again, she assessed how far to push him, keeping herself in his grasp because she had royally screwed the pooch as she’d heard Alec say from time to time. “I know Rick. It was a matter of privacy. Before now, I did not believe it would be an issue. Let me assist Morgan, and then I will explain everything.”
Rick slowly unfurled his grip. The grunt he gave her more animalistic than human, but she was free.
Morgan acted ignorant of the conversation, his cheerful manner false but still present. “I’ve got the next coordinates in. I’m ready when you are.”
“Get us out of here.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
“So he’s that Q.” Rick sucked air between his teeth.
“One and the same.” They sat at the large table on the bridge. Kira propped her feet up on an empty chair.
Morgan had turned around at the main console to be a part of the conversation. “I knew he was awkward as hell but, damn.”
“He was an experiment,” Kira clarified, her right hand rubbing absentmindedly at her thigh. “They think he’s their property, so they’re trying to find him. His whereabouts have been unknown. I’m assuming with Toke having now the vanguard of the fleet be suspiciously advanced, it raised a flag. Paradigm is centered in Praetorian space. I don’t know what leverage they have that they’re willing to test Toke, but obviously they have something.”
“They’ve had their own resources on it as well,” Rick chipped in, surprising Kira. “When I was on leave, I ran a few ops for Toke. They were covert operations meant to recover intelligence instead of supplies. One of them involved finding out information on something they called Q.”
“Well, someone now.” Morgan half smiled when he said it, correcting Rick.
Rick lowered his chin.
“Were you able to keep anything?” Kira dropped her feet to the ground, leaning forward.
“No,” Rick informed her. “Everything was kept on an encrypted database. I uploaded it directly and had nothing on me, Toke’s orders.”
Morgan let out a laugh. “And you actually listened?”
“Some of us follow orders.”
“Don’t start.” Kira rose, pacing back and forth. “Toke would have alerted us if there was anything found that was worrisome or if they were on our tails. Quinn can make sure that either his or our ship never sees the light of another day if it is a concern.”
Watson was another concern, she thought. Then she had an idea. “Rick?”
Rick lifted his chin, his attention on her.
“I want Watson out of the system completely. With his new body, it is no longer necessary for him to be the ship’s main A.I.. He will be another crew member and be centered under you. We’ll switch completely back to Ann. He can do regular backups on an isolated system. Have Alec help you create an essential black box for him to do it. I will inform him of this when you are prepared for the move.”
“Captain?” Morgan furrowed his brows, his carefree manner lost in the motion. “Why are we- are you sure about this?”
