Page 9 of Star Defenders (My Alien Mates 2)

Slek sat up and crossed his arms.

"What did you find?" I asked finally.

"Nothing," Danec said. "That's just it."

I creased my brow.

"There should besomething," Slek said. "Did you check the histories?"

Danec shook his head. "Even in there, there's nothing. Not even the word nanobot. I tried a translation, in case the word has changed, and still nothing."

Slek scratched his head. "That is strange."

"Could someone have wiped the information?" I asked.

Slek considered for a moment. "More likely they've hidden it behind a higher level of security. Danec wouldn't have the rank to access it."

When Danec opened his mouth to argue, Slek said, "Neither do I. Given time, we could hack in, but the chance of being caught…"

I sat back against the cushions. "We could ask. Zarex seems to like me."

"Given his questions, it would probably be him who hid it," Slek said. "Or J'avet. Or someone with higher rank than either of them."

"Or…" I paused.

"Or?" Slek prompted.

"Or there's someone on board working with the Iri and they don't want us to find that information."

"Doubtful," Slek said. "The rank they would need to do it would be high. To think someone got in that deep…"

"Stranger things have happened," I pointed out.

"Unfortunately that's true," Slek admitted. To Danec, he said, "You should be careful. If they know you were looking, things might not end well. For any of us."

3

"Behold, theHalcyon."Slek's grand declaration made me smile. "She's something, isn't she?"

I glanced at Danec, who stood to one side of me as I watched the ship's approach through the station window.

He shrugged and half smiled.

Slek didn't seem to notice Danec's apparent disinterest. "State of the art," he enthused. "Out of dry dock only three months."

"She's sleek." I didn't know Zarex was nearby until he spoke. "I'm expecting a smooth ride from her."

Slek managed to tear his eyes away from the ship for long enough to flash a smile. "Finally, someone else who appreciates a fine woman."

Zarex eyed me. "Yes, I do indeed," he said.

I blushed and turned my gaze back to the window

Danec made a face. "I appreciate a fine ship," he said. Evidently the innuendo went over his head. Or he chose to ignore it. "An hour ago, Slek said new ships always have teething problems because the engineer who designed them doesn't fly them, or see to their maintenance."

I glanced toward Slek. "Is that your mother?" I asked.

"It's more than likely," Slek replied lightly. "I've tried to tell her, but she's always off in an orbit of her own."

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