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“We’re in.”
Around them, the three-dimensional control display showed the asteroids that surrounded the Empire’s Hope. Some were no bigger than grains of sand, others the size of star liners, but all of them tumbled erratically from frequent collisions. It was probably the most dangerous place for a ship in the Thronesystem, with the possible exception of the core of the local sun.
“I don’t like this.” Rance studied the display with a dark frown.
“I’m not exactly thrilled myself.”
It had been a nerve-racking flight. First they’d come into Thronesystem under heavy shielding to avoid being detected by the Empire’s security forces. Next she’d spent three hours maneuvering into the asteroid belt that lay on the outer edge of the system—all that remained of two planets that had collided a couple of billion years before. She’d then had to find the right enormous chunk of rock, match its tumbling spin, locate its hidden airlock, and perform a nightmare of a docking maneuver.
It was a kilometer-long asteroid that was no asteroid, but rather one of the Rebellion’s hidden bases. Zarifa had no idea how many such bases Kuarc had, or where they were located, but she figured they’d all be as tough to get to as this one. Otherwise, Umar and the Imperial Marines would have found them by now. Lady knew they’d looked.
Now that the Hope was docked, she silently ordered the ship to issue a short-range communication squirt. “Hope to Centurion.”
The response was instant; he must have been standing over the com. “I see you found the place.” Edin sounded so much like her father, it hurt.
“Barely. You folks don’t much want visitors, do you?”
“Depends on the visitor. I’m looking forward to seeing you. It’s been a long time.”
She smiled. “Too long. Where do you want to meet?”
“Come on down the main corridor into the warehouse. We’ll talk there. Centurion off.”
Zarifa cut the connection and took a deep breath, trying to ignore her stomach’s unhappy little jitter
. She’d been working for this moment for weeks, but now that it was here, she almost wished she could put it off. So much could go wrong…
She turned to find Rance watching her, his gaze all too perceptive. “Zarifa, just stay on the ship. Let me meet with Edin. I’ll give him the message, whatever the hell it is. You don’t need to—”
“Thank you for the offer, but we both know I can’t take you up on it.” She swung her legs off the pilot’s couch and reached out to cup his cheek. They’d spent the past three weeks talking and making love, and she suspected she now knew him better than she’d ever known anyone in her life. Being protective came as automatically to him as breathing. “This is something I have to do myself. It’s a matter of honor.”
Frustration flared in his eyes. “Look, this is a trap. You know it, I know it—”
“And you seriously think I’m going to send you in alone?”
“I can turn into a two-meter werewolf. I’m a hell of a lot less killable than you are.”
“And I’m empress. I know my duty, Rance. If Edin’s setting me up, Kuarc will be somewhere around. I’ll tell him what I need to tell him, and he’ll back off.”
“What the hell makes you think that?”
Hanging on to her temper with an effort, she gritted, “Because he won’t have a reason to kill me anymore.”
“You’re assuming he needs one!”
Frustrated with the argument, she stood and fisted her hands on her hips. “Are you going with me or not?”
“Well, I’m sure as hell not letting you go alone.” Growling, he got up and stalked toward the airlock.
The base’s airlock door opened on a dimly lit corridor that seemed to have been cut through the asteroid’s rock with a laser. Zarifa started to step through the ’lock, but Rance grabbed her armored wrist. She stopped and looked up at him, her violet gaze questioning. He’d shifted to werewolf form, so she looked even more delicate to him than usual.
“Let me check it out first,” he told her.
She frowned, looking along the corridor. “My nanosystem sensors aren’t picking up anything.”
“Neither are mine, but my wolf senses aren’t as easy to fool.” He inhaled deeply, scenting. “A standard human male came this way a few hours ago. Alone.”
“Edin. Coming to our meeting solo, just like he said he would.”
