Page 59 of Guardian's Heart

"We are trying to find out more about you and the Ohrurs," Nova stated, as defiant as ever.

"We're testing how to get into the Ohrur system. Did they call you?"

I stared at Nock. "You did this on purpose?"

Nock grinned, self-satisfied. "I didn't want them to think it was you in case we got caught. Deniability and all that."

I stared at the small Kred in disbelief. He was a wily one, and I had better keep a much closer eye on him.

"You didn't tell me that." Nova tensed in my arms.

"I didn't want to waste time on explaining," Nock apologized.

"Alright, so let me summarize: you two broke into the Ohrurs database to test their abilities to catch you?"

"Yeah, something like that. When did they call you?"

"Just a few moments ago."

"Hmm, hmm." Nock nodded to himself.

"When did you guys start?"

"Not much later after you left."

I did some quick math. "So, about four hours before they caught you?"

"About that. Nova has been a great help. She's incredibly smart, by the way."

"Thank you." Nova grinned at him.

"So what did you learn?" I was getting tired of this exchange.

"That it’s pretty much impossible to worm our way into their system or hack into one of the four with all access," Nock summarized.

I could tell by the grin on his face that he had a plan. "What?"

"How many credits do you have?" Nock surprised me.

"Enough to buy a few planets. The Ohrurs understand that some missions require larger amounts of credits."

"Good, we need a new ship. And since we're here…"

I held up a hand. "Why do we need a new ship?"

Nock rolled his eyes and nodded at Nova. "Because the Ohrurs are watching this one."

I shrugged, not understanding.

"They might be okay with her aboard as your guest for now, but after you deliver the other humans to Astrionis, do you reallythink they won’t notice or mind if you kept a human female to yourself? Or what happens if they see your markings?"

He had me there. I hadn't thought that far ahead. Nova and the discovery of our bond had occupied me too much to think about anything past the next few hours. When I was near her, all I could think of was her, and when I wasn’t near her… it was the same. Nova had fully infiltrated my brain and conquered it. I was besotted with her. Even now, standing right next to her, I couldn’t stop touching her.

When our skins made contact, my mind eased enough to admit that Nock was right. Eventually, the Ohrurs would question Nova's presence on my ship. They would question Nock's as well if I extended his invitation.

"Not a problem for now," I finally decided after thinking it through. "We'll keep this ship. Possedion might question Nova's presence, but I'll explain that she volunteered to stay as an ambassador to make it easier for the next humans I free. I'll tell him that it was them hacking into the computer, trying to steal my ship and take off. Because of their trauma, they don’t trust anybody, and I don’t want to have to lock them up. That way, Nova's presence makes perfect sense."

"Good point, that might work," Nock agreed, "and gives us more time to access the best computer systems in the universe to dig into your past."

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