Free Polaris by Mindee Arnett Page A

Sierra shifted against him, and when too many seconds passed without a response he asked, “You don’t think that’s a good idea?”
    â€œNo, it’s fine.” She paused. “I was just thinking abouthow we’re going to get our hands on a stealth drive now.”
    Jeth tensed at her words, resisting the urge to hug her tighter. He couldn’t believe it. Even now, after losing her brother, she was still devoted to the plan to rescue his mother. She had more right than anyone else on board to want to walk away from all this, and yet here she was, worrying about the stealth drive.
    He cleared his throat. “Any ideas?”
    â€œOne.”
    â€œReally?” He’d been kidding, but he should’ve known better than to be surprised that Sierra already had something in mind.
    â€œYes,” she said, her voice solemn now. “I think we should consider selling the Aether Project.”
    â€œWhat?” Jeth rolled toward her, trying to read her expression in the darkness. The idea had crossed his mind before—of course it had—but he’d never voiced it out loud. There was too much risk involved. The Aether Project was full of information about Cora, Lizzie, and Jeth’s mother. Like Cora, Marian Seagrave was no longer strictly human. Her DNA had been irreversibly altered when she discovered the Pyreans’ home world, a mysterious planet known as Empyria. She’d been pregnant with Cora at the time, and something about the planet had changed them both. Sure, they could cleanse the data of anything to do with his family before handing it over, but there was no way to guarantee the path of information wouldn’t eventually lead back to Cora again in the end.
    â€œIt’s risky, I know,” Sierra said. “But it’s the most valuable object in our possession. It makes the ITA’s bounty look like a drop of water in the ocean by comparison.”
    Jeth didn’t say anything as he felt the walls pressing in on him. The bounty will force us into a corner , Sierra had said. As usual she was right. He adjusted his position on the bed, trying to get his mind comfortable with the new idea. It was better than giving up. “Do you have a buyer in mind?”
    â€œWhen we were looking for jobs to get money for the stealth drive,” Sierra said, “you mentioned an Enanti contact.”
    â€œYeah, I did.” Jeth shot her a puzzled look that she had no chance of seeing in the dark. “And you mentioned that you would rather saw off your own body parts and feed them to Viggo rather than deal with them.”
    Sierra made a disgusted noise. “I still would. But our situation has changed. With the ITA bounty, we can’t trust any of your crime lord contacts not to turn us in. But the Enanti are fanatics. They won’t be tempted by ITA money.”
    â€œNo, they probably won’t,” Jeth said, mulling it over. The Enanti were a group of freedom fighters from the planet Tiglath. They’d been regular customers of Hammer’s, spending millions to secure weapons and supplies to support their mission to overthrow the central government of Tiglath. The ruling regime was actively pursuing membership in the United Confederation of Planets, an act that would put the planet under the control of the ITA. The Enanti were determined to stop it by any means possible.“You know they’re terrorists, right?”
    Sierra smacked his bare shoulder. “You are so tactless. Of course I know it, but do you have to remind me? I’m trying to get us out of this mess.”
    â€œSorry,” Jeth said, resisting the temptation to rub his stinging shoulder. “Does it help that I think you might be right? The Enanti would be a good choice. The safest.”
    â€œLess unsafe,” Sierra corrected him. “We should probably discuss it with Milton first, but I really don’t see any other option.”
    â€œMe