Page 57 of Chosen By Swift

Swift grunted and sipped his beer. “I suppose it would serve me right for someone to try.”

“Hopefully, you’ll stay on your feet this time.”

“You just had to get that dig in,” Swift groused. Even all these months later, he could still feel the burst of pain from Raze’s fist.

Rampage laughed and then, moreseriously, asked, “Did you recognize...?”

He didn’t have to finish the sentence. Swift instantly knew what he meant. “No, I didn’t.”

“Neither did I.” Rampage looked troubled by that. “I was called in to see—.” He tapped his eye, and Swift understood he meant Terror. “I wasn’t able to give them anything they didn’t already know.”

“Don’t feel bad about that, Ram. Those guys have more spies and surveillance than we can even imagine.”

“But not enough to catch a stowaway?” Rampage glanced around anxiously. “Where is that saboteur now? Here? Or did they get off the ship? Are there more of them?”

“I don’t know. I wish I did.” Swift didn’t like those unanswered questions any more than Rampage did. He had a mate to worry about now, after all.

“Did you read the evening brief?”

“Earlier,” he confirmed with a nod. “Why?”

“The line about the transport schedule being cut back?”

“What about it?”

“It started as a rumor, down in the bachelor section, but I checked it out, Swift. It’s true.”

“What’s true?”

“Two more pilots are missing.”

Swift sat up straighter. “What do you mean? Two more?”

Rampage nodded. “The ship you brought back with Tirade? That pilot went missing—and now two more. At least,” he added. “Who knows how many others are gone from the rest of the fleet?”

“Missing could mean a lot of things, Ram. Someone ran off with a girl they met or decided they weren’t cut out for this anymore or—.”

“No.” Rampage shook his head. “These aren'tpilots going AWOL. This is something else.” He leaned forward. “One of the guys on my floor works on the bridge. He told me their chips were working fine. Normal bio reports. And then?” Rampage drew a finger across his throat. “Spikes in blood pressure and pulse. Like they were being chased or in a fight. Then? Dead.”

Swift swallowed hard. “That man shouldn’t be telling you what he saw on the bridge.”

“Spare me the lecture.” Rampage drank deeply from his beer bottle. “He was scared shitless when he told me, and I don’t blame him. If someone is hunting down pilots on Calyx? If someone stowed away on your ship? If pilots are dying? What the hell is going on, Swift?”

“I don’t know.” And he didn’t like admitting that. “But I’m going to find out.”

“Be careful,” Rampage warned. “You’ve got a mate now. She doesn’t need you to be a hero. She needs you to come home safely.”

“I’m aware.”

“Listen, speaking of Alys...” Rampage nervously rubbed his thumb along the bottle he held. “I ran into someone when I was on theMercya few days ago.”

“Who?”

“Shear.”

The mention of the battle engineer hit Swift like an avalanche.

“I didn’t realize he had been out of this sector for nearly three years.” Rampage rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. “He asked about my rescue, and your name came up and I mentioned you had Grabbed a woman and—.”

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