Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)(44)

I checked on Veronica. She was starting to come around. She must’ve gotten stunned. “Keep your mask on,” I said. “I’m heading to the flight deck. I’ll let you know when it’s safe.” She nodded weakly.

Once all of the Rockhurst soldiers were knocked out, I’d have to purge and replace all of the air before we left the atmosphere, but it was safer than fighting the soldiers outright.

I picked up the discarded pistol and kept the stunstick. This was a Rockhurst ship. I had a basic idea of the layout, but unlike Yamado, Rockhurst frequently tweaked their ship designs. Still, the flight deck was generally in the same place. I headed out of the cargo deck toward the front of the ship.

Two more disorientated soldiers met the business end of the stunstick before I made it to the flight deck. The door was locked, but thanks to my newly minted captain status, I overrode the lock.

The room was empty. I entered and locked the door behind me—no reason to let someone sneak up on me. I dropped into the captain’s chair and logged in. First, I added myself to the ship’s voice authorization. “Infineon, this is Ada von Hasenberg, authorize.”

“Welcome, Captain von Hasenberg. You are authorized.”

“Thank you. Show me the outside cameras.”

The screens in the walls came on with a 360-degree view of the surroundings. Two security guards stood behind the ship, talking on handheld coms. The rest of Richard’s team had not shown up yet, which meant his communications must still be down.

“Infineon, sweep the ship and show me the locations of all life-forms on board.”

A translucent 3-D model of the ship appeared above the captain’s console. More than a dozen red dots appeared, indicating people. Holy shit. Four were in the cargo bay alone.

“Veronica, are you okay?” I asked. “I see two extra people in the cargo bay. Are you under attack?”

“I am not under attack,” she said. That was a dodge of the question, but the two extras weren’t moving, so I focused on the only moving dot. I assumed it was Loch, but one of the red dots near him blinked out.

“Loch, what are you doing?” He didn’t respond. Shit. “Infineon, transfer this map to my com and prepare for takeoff.”

“Yes, Captain,” the computer responded.

The map overlay came up on my glasses display. The moving dot was down a level near the crew quarters. I slid down the nearest access ladder. Two soldiers—dead, not sleeping—slumped in the hall. I stepped around them and closed on the moving dot.

Loch spun and crouched as I came around the corner. His pistol came up but he paused before firing. He was not wearing his mask. He should not still be awake, but I could tell by his expression that the foxy had a deep grip on him.

“Infineon,” I said under my breath, “turn on air filtration. Purge and replace all of the ship’s breathable air.” A chime confirmed my command, then the ventilation system turned on high enough to produce a draft in the hallway.

I held my arms out in a careful gesture. “Loch, it’s me,” I said. “Put down the blaster. We won.”

He stood up but didn’t put away the pistol. He frowned at me as if I was someone he distantly recognized. Foxy generally made the user more focused and able to ignore pain. There had been a few reports of odd side effects, but since the results couldn’t be reliably reproduced, it hadn’t been enough to prevent its use.

I had a feeling I was seeing a new side effect firsthand. I took a step closer but Loch brought the pistol up in a defensive move. Okay, then, no closer. I would have to talk my way out of this one, or wait out the effects.

“Loch, it’s me, Ada. You remember me, right? I need your help, but you have to put the pistol down first.”

“Ada,” he murmured, testing the word. He blinked, holstered his gun, and closed the distance between us in two long strides.

He backed me up against the wall and pressed his big body up against mine. He lifted me slightly and slid a thigh between my own. I settled with delicious friction against the hard muscles of his leg. I bit back a moan.

Foxy did have one well-known side effect: in the right dosage, it was a strong aphrodisiac. It was one of the reasons it was such a popular street drug. The military doses were designed to work around the flaw, but it appeared that Veronica had procured a street dose.

When I wouldn’t let him remove my mask, Loch trailed burning kisses across my jaw and down my throat. I arched into him with a hiss before I could stop myself. I had to focus, dammit.

“Loch, you’re high as a kite,” I said. “The foxy is fucking with your head. You’re going to crash and burn in about ten minutes and before you do, ahhh—” I moaned as his hand slid up my ribs and settled under my breast. His thumb traced a tantalizing line over my nipple and it took all of my control not to just say fuck it and go with the flow.

“Before you crash, I need help,” I said. My voice wavered.

“I’ll help you,” he murmured against my neck. He shifted and I felt him, hot and hard, against my thigh. I was going to be nominated for sainthood after this.

“Not that kind of help, though, trust me, if you weren’t high as hell, I’d consider it.” A neglected libido could only be suppressed for so long, and I’d passed the point of no return three kisses ago. I struggled to keep my thoughts on target. I pushed against his chest. “I need you to help me move all of these soldiers to the cargo bay.”