Free Supernova by Jessica Marting

he’s
ambitious,” she translated.
    “To a
fault. Everyone knows he wants a permanent captaincy.”
    “Is he
married?” The question slipped out of Lily’s mouth before she could stop
herself.
    “Hell
no.”
    A thrill
coursed through her at this information, and she immediately chastised herself
for it.
    “Hell
no, he isn’t married?” she echoed.
    “He’s
thirty-four, thirty-five years old. You don’t make commander, then first
officer on the Bradlaw , and then acting captain at that age unless you
have no social life,” Taz explained. He raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you
care if he’s married?”
    She
ignored the question. “Dumb it down a shade. What’s the Bradlaw ?”
    “One of
the premier battleships in Fleet. It blasted a couple of Nym ships out of the
star lanes when they were trespassing in Commons space.”
    “It was
the Nym who kidnapped me,” Lily said.
    “Not
surprising,” Taz said. “It would be easier if we could just go into their space
and blow up the whole planet, but that’s not likely to happen.”
    Lily was
going to ask him why, but he pointed to the remains of her stew. “Are you going
to eat that?” he asked. The dishes on his tray were empty. She pushed the bowl
across the table to him, wondering if people now had faster metabolisms than at
home. Taz caught her pensive expression and set down his spoon.
    “I know
this is really terrible for you,” he said. His voice had taken on an unusually
serious tone. “But I think—I hope, anyway—you’ll like living here.”
    Taz was
shaping up to be a friend in all this, after all. “Thank you,” she said.

 
    Chapter 5
    At 2200
hours, Rian finally went off duty at the insistence of the Defiant ’s
executive officer. Aside from a short nap in his office chair, he had gone
without sleep for almost two days, and he felt every moment of wakefulness.
Shortly before his summons to sick bay, he had taken a pep pill for the first
time in years and unhappily discovered that they now gave him a splitting
headache.
    He had
had meetings with his key staff a few times throughout the day in between
conferring via vidlink with his commanding officers at Fleet. It had taken
nearly an hour for Dr. Ashford to explain that Lily was who she claimed to be,
transmitting his medical reports to them twice. It had taken careful manipulation
on the parts of Rian and his first officer, Kostin, to convince the admirals
that the best idea was to keep the Defiant on course.
    Then
there was the hair-raising news that a tabloid on Rubidge Station had picked up
a story about a time traveler in Fleet.
    Rian
swore before he could stop himself and was quickly reprimanded. “How could that
happen?” he demanded.
    “It’s
your ship,” Admiral Kentz replied frostily. “Someone tipped off the media.”
    Rian
took a deep, cleansing breath and saw that Commander Kostin was doing the same.
Possibilities ran through his mind. The ship wasn’t bugged or under
surveillance; Rian knew that for a fact. “So you’re telling me I may have a
traitor on board,” Rian translated.
    “It’s a
strong possibility.” The admiral glowered at him through the vidscreen, as
though it were Rian’s fault. He hadn’t had any say in his crew. If he had, the
seven weeks they had all been together would have been very different.
    Rian
scrubbed his hands over his eyes. Why the hell couldn’t that pep pill kick in?
    He hated
to ask his next question, one he had asked far too often since his posting to
the Defiant . “How do I handle this?” Fleet hadn’t prepared him for time
travelers, crew feeding classified information to the media, or Taz Shraft, for
that matter. Rian had a sinking suspicion the ensign was behind the office
replicator’s coffee turning green.
    “Your
ship will be checked for invasive communications devices,” the admiral assured
him, a smirk on his face. Rian prayed he hadn’t accidentally turned in his
captaincy. Admiral Kentz was looking for