Page 15 of Marked By the Bounty Hunter

She nodded. “Didn’t notice at the time. Too focused on making sure they’d find Xara.”

She turned back to the console, fingers moving across the ancient controls. “While we’re here, we should see what else this system can tell us.”

I moved behind her, reaching around to guide her hands. “Here. These maintenance subroutines give better access.”

She leaned back, her body fitting perfectly against mine as she studied the display. “Look at these delivery logs. Lab equipment being routed through maintenance requests. Keeping it off official manifests.”

My hands settled on her hips, steadying her. Or steadying myself. The heat of her bled through my borrowed vest, making it hard to focus on the data scrolling past.

Her breath caught as I bent closer, drawn by the curve of her neck. My markings burned where they pressed against her skin. Just a taste...

A sharp hiss of steam erupted from a corroded pipe nearby, making us both jump. The ancient console’s display flickered wildly, environmental warnings flashing red. Something in the station’s guts had finally given way.

“That’s the secondary coolant line if I remember correctly,” Nalina said, reluctantly pulling away from me to check the readouts. “If it fails completely, it’ll trigger alarms all through this sector. Bring maintenance crews running.”

“We need to move.” The last thing we needed was legitimate repair crews finding us here. But my hand lingered at her waist, unwilling to break contact. “I’ll check out Research Bay 23-A. You’ll be safer at the bar.”

She shot me a look that suggested she had opinions about my definition of ‘safer,’ but nodded. “At least there I can keep track of who’s watching whom.” Exhaustion showed in the shadows under her eyes, making my protective instincts surge.

“Don’t take unnecessary risks,” I said, fighting the urge to pull her close again, to guard her until she was properly rested.

“I can handle myself.” She touched the spot where I’d cleaned her wound. “But thanks for the concern.”

The urge to protect warred with respect for her capabilities. Both instincts felt foreign - I worked alone for good reasons. Attachment was dangerous in my line of work.

But watching her gather her gear, checking sight lines before moving toward the door, I knew it was already too late for such warnings. Whatever this was between us, it had taken root despite my best defenses.

“Nalina.” I grabbed her hand before she could leave. “When this is done...”

“Let’s survive it first.” She squeezed my fingers. “Then we can figure out the rest.”

She slipped away into the shadows, leaving me with the ghost of her touch and too many questions without answers. I gave her a few minutes’ head start before following, my senses alert for pursuit.

For the first time in my career, the mission felt secondary to protecting someone else. To protecting her.

I needed to focus. Dr. Gondon was still out there. Jevik held vital information. The Consortium’s experiments had to be stopped.

But as I made my way through the station’s dark arteries, my thoughts kept returning to Nalina. To the way she fit against me. To the trust in her eyes despite knowing what I was.

Focus. The hunt wouldn’t wait for whatever this was becoming.

I picked up snippets of conversation from adjacent corridors:

“...another whole section quarantined...”

“...seen Weber lately? Acting strange...”

“...keep your head down and your mouth shut...”

The station’s population knew something was wrong, even if they didn’t understand what. Fear rode the recycled air, mixed with the eternal scents of rust and ozone.

I passed through a major junction, noting the station personnel. They moved with military precision despite their maintenance coveralls. More of the Consortium’s puppets, like Grot.

Time was running out. Whatever they were planning, it was accelerating.

I needed to find Dr. Gondon. Needed to understand what the Consortium was doing to people here.

And I needed to keep Nalina safe, even if she’d hate me for it.

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