Free Dark Horse by Michelle Diener Page A

board the Barrist .” She shivered at the thought, and felt her throat tighten again with nausea.
    “Take the earpiece out now, then. They might find it if they do a physical exam. Put it in your shoe or your clothes until itʼs done. And get access to their system. A password and user name. Itʼs the only way Iʼll get in.”
    “I donʼt know if I want you to get in.” She wasnʼt going to lie here, or dance around him. “Iʼm afraid youʼll decide to kill them, too.”
    “I wonʼt. They havenʼt done anything to me. This isnʼt negotiable, Rose. Anything will do. A handheld comm unit. A small personal unit. It doesnʼt matter. If you get a login, thatʼs all Iʼll need.”
    He spoke matter-of-factly. Quite normally, as if he was promising not to leave his towels on the floor anymore, instead of not killing a ship full of people.
    But he had. He had killed them.
    And a lion.
    She shook her head. “Theyʼll never give me a login to their system.”
    “Maybe not at first,” he conceded. “But I need in to the system, Rose. I have to have it. My plan depends on it and I never anticipated I wouldnʼt be able to get in.”
    “Tell me why, and Iʼll try.” She ran her hands over the funny, frilly grass that grew lush and green on the river bank.
    “It makes sense to know what theyʼre up to when our lives are in their hands,” he said. “And I want to make sure theyʼre not using anyone like me in their ships, either. I also need to know what they plan to do if the Tecran try to take the Class 5 back. Whether theyʼll bow to pressure and return it.”
    The tone in his voice said that would be over his dead body.
    Or more likely, theirs.
    “You still in control of the Class 5?” she asked.
    “Of course.” He sounded less strident now. “The explorer ship we came on is linked to it, and Iʼm in both systems.”
    “So they couldnʼt give it back to the Tecran, whether they wanted to or not. Not unless you decided to let them.” And also, if he wanted to, he could probably shoot the Barrist out of the sky anyway. But . . . “Youʼre still hiding a lot from me, Sazo. Iʼll think about trying to get you into the system. But no promises, unless you start talking.”
    “Rose.” He paused, and if he were human, Rose had the feeling heʼd be pulling at his hair. “I want to hurt you for saying that, even though youʼre my best friend.”
    “Itʼs called frustration. Donʼt worry, Iʼve felt the same way about you more than once.”
    He made a sound, one sheʼd made before, a sort of huff. “What have I done——?” He broke off. “Captain Jallan is coming. Hide the earpiece.”
    She bent down, as if to trail her hands in the water, and fiddled around in her ear, trying to snag it. It was small and in deep but she caught it with a fingernail and carefully grabbed it between her forefinger and thumb, pushed it deep into her bra.
    Then she plunged both hands into the water.
    “You like water?” Jallan came to a stop next to her, and she had to turn and crane her neck to look up at him.
    “I love it.”
    His gaze moved from her to the water sparkling in the last light of the day. “We have more snow than water on my planet, but we do love to swim when it isnʼt too cold.”
    He held out a hand to her and she shook her hands off, lifted her feet out the water, and let him pull her up. She let go of him and bent to slip her shoes back on, found she needed help balancing, and used his convenient and rock-hard arm.
    He cleared his throat. “The scan has come back clear. There is no device that we can find embedded in you, and no pathogen, virus or bacteria that could harm us, so itʼs time for us to leave.”
    She gave a tight nod. “Have they been able to get my bags out of the explorer?”
    He hesitated before he shook his head, and she knew they probably had got them out, but wanted to search them thoroughly before they gave them back to her. She supposed that was logical.
    “Theyʼll send them up to you when