Page 35 of Touch the Stars
“Shit.”
The opening sped toward her…or she sped toward it.Whatever.She stretched out her arm, brushed her hand over the edge of the doorframe.Then her body careened, shoulder first, against the opposite bulkhead.
“Ow.”
Baatar caught her,again, this time by her arm as she sailed by him, then tucked her back against his side.
She met his gaze.“We gotta stop meeting like this.”
“Do not worry, Kaitlyn.”Humor sparkled in his eyes.“We can practice aboard the cruiser later.”
“Can’t wait.”Yes, she could.
“Good.”He set her to float upright again.“Handgrip, now.”
“Got it.”She slipped her hand around one and gave him a nod.
He moved forward and she followed, brushing aside “entrails” and shining her helmet light into one dark, empty cell after another.Each one brought a little more heaviness to her heart than the one before.
She peeked into the fourth cell.A tiny flash of gold in the beam of her hood lamp drew her gaze up to the back corner of the ceiling.Something was there.
Excitement clutched at her heart.“Baatar.”
She gripped the doorframe and propelled toward the corner, then reached out and closed her right hand around the tiny object floating there.“Got it… Oh, shit!”
“Kait-lyn.”Baatar wrapped his large hand around her ankle, stopping her before her head impacted with the ceiling.
The warning growl from his throat rolled over her, as if he wanted to scare her for misbehaving.Like she hadn’t seen through that act when he’d cuddled her in bed after the Rocky incident.The guy was too much of a teddy bear to scare her anymore.
She grinned down at him.“I found something.Pull me down.”
Another growl, this one full of exasperation, then he gave her leg a slight downward tug.Once she was at his level, she grabbed his shoulder with her free hand, keeping her other hand between them.
“Look.”She uncurled three of her gloved fingers, pinning a fine, gold chain in the crux between her thumb and forefinger.
The golden, half-heart charm floated above her palm, and the scrolling, etched letters flashed in the beam of his hood lamp.Sisters.
“She was here, Baatar.This is her necklace, the match to mine.”The sting of tears pricked her eyes as she met his solemn gaze.“But, where’d she go?”
Maybe she was somewhere else on the ship, trying to escape.Waiting for help.Was she even alive?
The freighter shuttered, and a series of cracks and pops sounded around them.
Well, that was ominous.
Baatar jerked his gaze up, around the space, then back to her.“This mission is over.Put the pendant in your belt pouch for now.We must go, quickly.”
Chapter 12
Baatar.
Hegraspedonehandholdafter another, propelling himself toward the hull door.The pressure of Kaitlyn’s arms around his neck was a steady reminder of the precious cargo clinging to his back.He passed through the freighter’s exterior door and floated into the docking tube.
“Neltai.”
As he “swam” through the cruiser’s doorway, the fresh clean scent of decontaminate invaded his senses.Then the ship’s gravity grabbed him, and he crashed, stomach first, to the deck.
“Oof.”The air gushed from his lungs.By the stars, he must be getting older, or ship decks were getting harder.At least they had made it back alive.“Cruiser, disconnect tube.Move out of firing range of the Bajiki freighter.”
