Page 51 of Star Prince

“Someone tried to sabotage the ship.”

Stepping away from the thruster, Quin shoved his hands in his pockets. “Someonedidsabotage the ship.”

Ian’s neck tingled. He took his comm out of his pocket. “See anything, Push?”

“No, sir. Not yet.”

Quin interjected, “I think I can have it fixed by mid-morning,” with grudging acknowledgment he added, “Tee chased whoever it was off before he did any real damage.”

Ian sighed. “Take what time you need to do the repairs right. When Randall leaves for Earth, I want us to be on his tail. I don’t want there to be any reason for us to be left behind, especially not sitting here nursing a busted ship.”

Gredda returned with the medical kit and Tee’s coat.

Tee winced as the big Valkarian tended to the wound on her scalp. “The power went off—the security locks too,” she said. “I saw what looked like a person near the thruster, so I went outside to scare him off.”

“You shouldn’t have gone out alone,” Ian told her.

His concern sprang from his frustration at not being there to protect her, but she took it as an insult. “I quite understood the risk. I considered the situation desperate enough to warrant it. It was a decision that probably saved your ship.”

“And almost cost you your life,” he snapped. “You blindly charged into action. You should always think things through, make a plan.”

One brow arched. “In other words, I didn’t handle this the right way.”

“The safe way, Tee,” he amended.

“Your way,you mean.”

They glared at each other. Prudence versus pluck, he thought.

Her tone softened—only a fraction, but enough to tell him she had finally recognized the worry in his tone. “I tried to reach you, Ian. The power went off before the call went through. My personal comm was in my quarters, and in the dark I didn’t think I had enough time to get it and save the ship. When he saw me come out, he started firing. I fired back. Then he ran into the woods. I nearly put that tree branch on his head.”

In unison, the crew’s eyes veered to a huge smoldering branch crushing a grove of wet fern-like plants.

Tee growled, “I wish I had.”

“Practice will make perfect,” Gredda said from beside her. The big woman was concentrating on her ministrations, covering Tee’s abrasion with healer-film. Then she ruffled Tee’s hair. The short green-brown locks on her forehead sprang straight up and stayed there. “There. You’ll live.”

Tee climbed to her feet. Ian tried to assist her, but she pushed away, clutching his jacket aroundher. Her pale eyes blazed with indignation. “I want some clarification about this job of mine, and I want it now. The same cargo that was in the hold the day I came aboard this ship is still there. We haven’t made a single act of trade in the entire time I’ve worked for you. You say we’re checking out your competitor, but we’ve been following an Earth senator. Come on, Ian. How stupid do you think I am?”

Quin coughed. Gredda fiddled with a loose stud on her vest, and Muffin whistled silently, drumming his fingers on his upper arms. “I’d better check the perimeter again,” Push said and made an abrupt about-face.

Ian couldn’t think of anything to say. With her aptitude for galactic politics, it had been inevitable that Tee would guess his identity before long.

The young woman drew herself up to her full height. “I’ve worked hard for you, Earth-dweller. I’verisked my lifefor you. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Yet still you don’t trust me. What more do I have to do to prove my loyalty to you and this crew?”

“Nothing, Tee. You have a right to know everything.”

Her voice lost its edge. “You’re not a trader, are you?”

“No,” he said quietly. “I’m not.”

She let out a quick, harsh breath.

“My name is Ian Hamilton. I’m the heir to the Trade Federation and crown prince of theVashempire. I haven’t broadcasted that fact because I wanted to keep a low profile. I wouldn’t have been able to learn what I have otherwise.”

Shivering, Tee dabbed her nose with the back of her hand. For the first time since he met her, she looked truly afraid. “You have enemies, Ian,” she said finally.

“I get that feeling.”

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