Page 131 of Stars in Halo

A soft beep from the control console sounded.

‘Katya has hit payload,’ Mirage said, with a smile on her face.

In seconds, the quantum computing intellect parsed through the data the metanoids were transmitted to the Tachy.

‘What do we have?’ Xion murmured.

‘Holo call logs, recordings, bank transfers from K’Sumi to Akira and not just for this op. Going back months. Akira ran contraband freight of stolen money and treasures from Iccythria to various foreign holdings. He’s been helping K’Sumi raid the planet of its wealth.’

Xion grunted as he accessed the information, eyes widening at the incriminating evidence against Akira and his involvement in King K’Sumi’s conspiracy. ‘Just like the Khosana DKRT claimed.’

‘Is it enough?’

‘More than enough,’ the rider growled.

‘So what now?’

‘I don’t want to let them land on Eden II. He’s got two weaponised escorts, and when cornered, Akira will fire at will, which might harm civilians. We need to force them into a confrontation in a neutral zone. Are Kage and Kisan close?’

‘Naam. Notus I and II are within hailing distance.’

The Sable frigates were the most mighty ships of their size and armed to the fokkin’ teeth.

‘Good,’ the Rider grunted. ‘We’ll retrieve Katya, and after, if Akira doesn’t play nice, we’ll blow his incoming joke of an armada into pieces.’

The stars shimmered like diamonds against the dark expanse.

Clawed Vengeance and its pair of corvettes escorts were tucked behind a cluster of asteroids within sight of Eden II.

Around them, space was silent and vast, the only sound coming from the soft hum of the ships’ engines in hover mode.

The holo screen displayed the busy spaceport’s traffic, which was lighter now that it was late into the night on the rock.

Akira’s convoy had exited hyperspace and had been treading space for the past few hours.

Waiting for the hour to strike.

Akira tracked back to Katya’s seat, his flaming gaze flicked to her.

She tagged his desire to own her, lust swirling in the depths of his eyes. ‘I can’t wait for all this to be over and you and I get some quiet time together,’ he murmured as he drew up to her.

She tamped down a shiver of disgust and leaned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest and meeting Akira’s stare with one of her own.

‘Don’t think that by strong-arming me, you will be loved by me. Doing so will only increase my regard of you as a theatrical creation of a failed Iccythrian, who’s so pathetic it’s almost sympathetic. By aligning with K’Sumi, you’ve only dug yourself a deeper grave.’

Akira’s face reddened, and his eyes flamed. ‘You’re the one who’ll be in a grave if you don’t shut the fokk up.’

Katya stared back at him, unwavering. ‘You’re forgetting one thing, Akira,’ she murmured. ‘I always have a backup plan. You keep me away from my daughter, and I’ll find a way to escape you.’

‘Try your best,’ he shot back at her. ‘This time, I won’t be so naive to your machinations.’

He turned away from her, feigning boredom, hiding hurt. ‘Pilot, get us away from the asteroid belt and aim for Eden II. Our payday can’t come any sooner.’

On the Tachy, the holo screen displayed the positions of Kage in Notus I and Kisan in Notus II.

They were hovering on an arrow vector with the Tachy in the lead.

The view outside was dark, the distant stars casting a cold light over the scene.

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