Page 57 of Caught By Menace

No doubt he wouldn’t be thrilled that she’d broken protocol to visit him while he worked, but the thought of making the long trek back to their private quarters with Terror hot on her heels made her sick. There were too many infrequently used corridors where the frightening Shadow Force soldier could snatch her.

She rounded a corner—and slammed into a very familiar chest. “Oof!”

“Naya?” Menace grasped her shoulders and set her back on her feet. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see you.” She glanced over her shoulder to make sure she hadn’t been followed.

Menace cupped her chin and peered down at her. An expression of concern colored his face. “Are you okay? You look scared.”

Naya licked her lips. “I thought someone was following me.”

He caressed her cheek with his knuckles. “Did you go to the med bay for your mandatory head check?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not crazy!”

“I didn’t say you were. Space sickness is a very real threat, sweetheart. You’ve gone from spending every day of your life on solid ground to spending…what? Thirty-three days in space? It can affect your mind.”

She huffed loudly. “I don’t have space sickness. I thought Terror was following me.”

Menace reeled back in surprise. “Terror? He’s back on the ship?”

“I just saw him in the retail sector.”

“He was probably trying to catch up with you to talk. I know he’s terrifying on the outside but he’s a really great guy when you get to know him.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it.”

Menace cracked a smile and checked his watch. “I’m off-duty in half an hour. You want to come back to my office and watch me finish inputting some data? We can grab dinner when I’m done.”

Relieved that he would let her stay, she happily nodded. “I’d love that.”

He slid his arm around her shoulders and led her to his office. The space was cramped and hot. Menace gestured to the chair in front of his desk but she ignored him, choosing instead to slide onto the empty space next to this workstation.

Chuckling, Menace dropped into his chair. “You are the prettiest damn paperweight I’ve ever seen.”

“You could hire me on as your assistant. I could perch right here every day and brighten up the place.” Naya crossed her legs, making sure to show off as much skin as possible. It wasn’t oftenthat she wore skirts back on Calyx but up here on the ship she’d rediscovered her childhood love of them.

Menace had discovered his love of the garments as well. His hand moved to her bare leg. He stroked her skin. “Temping offer, sweetheart, but I don’t think I would get much work done.”

“Probably not,” Naya agreed, only too aware of his raging libido. She grasped his hand and returned it to his desk. “Finish your work so we can go home and play.”

“We might not make it home,” Menace grumbled and picked up the stack of shiny silver cards on his desk. He scanned them one by one and tapped information into the empty fields on the big touchscreen monitor mounted on his desk.

“What are you doing?”

“I spent the morning certifying the first group of soldiers to use the new weapons we’ll be receiving tomorrow. It’s the newest version of a plasma gun. It’s supposed to be ideal for urban warfare.”

“I see.” Naya didn’t like the sound of that. If the men in this sector of Harcos operations were gearing up for urban warfare, it meant they had identified the locations of rumored terrorists on Calyx. She feared what that would mean for the innocent people down there who would inevitably be caught in the crossfire.

Menace paused his scanning and tapping and pointed to a small digital catalogue on top of a pile of similar weapons catalogues. “The specs are in there if you’d like to see them.”

Naya picked up the lightweight catalog and swiped her finger over the touchscreen to activate the sales pitch. Images of explosions and terrifyingly large soldiers decimating enemy forces popped onto the screen. The bright-white bursts from the muzzles burned right through armor, clothing and skin. The gaping holes left in the bodies smoked and sizzled. Twenty seconds into the pitch, she’d seen enough and stopped it. “Gross.”

He chuckled. “But effective.”

“You realize that the people down on Calyx are farmers and millers and tradesmen. I mean, dentistry is considered magic to some of those people in the far-flung corners of our civilization. Do you really need a weapon like this?”

“It’s not your people we’re worried about, Naya. We know that the Harcos faction of insurgents, the Splinters, are here. That bombing four years ago in The City near our embassy had all the trademarks. There’s no doubt they’re trying to sow seeds of dissatisfaction down there to gain followers and fighters for their dwindling army.”

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