companies used gas to make passengers sleep on longer flights, offering up some bullshit about it being safer than other modes of long-term travel. I preferred a cryo sleep myself—being put into a frozen state and gradually warmed to wakefulness. With gas, you felt like shit for days. All the fluffy promises of it being the preferred style of travel were just that. Fluffy.
Add in being dumped on a strange planet, fighting lizard monsters and seeing the man I’d loved and now hated with a fiery passion? It was no wonder I slept for over twenty-four hours. When I finally rolled and dragged my sore body from a bed I had no intention of getting back into, I felt like I could drink half the lake outside and still be thirsty. I was halfway across the room to the simulator when I realized I no longer wore the silly big pants. But I vaguely remembered sitting up to yank them off and throw them after they slipped down to tangle up my legs one too many times. I was surprised I still had the T-shirt on. Normally, I slept naked.
“Those might be the most beautiful legs I’ve ever seen. Feeling better?”
I jumped and spun around to find Jacks sitting in a chair that hadn’t been there before. He was by the bed, on the side I’d been sleeping. I’d rolled to the other side to get up because it was closer to the simulator. “You were watching me sleep?”
“Yes.”
I waited for him to say more, then shrugged and hurried to the simulator. “I don’t suppose you have any real juice stocked in this thing?”
He shook his head. “No, but there are some good native fruits we could juice. By hand. As you can see, not too many modern amenities here.”
I programmed water and drank half a tube before frowning. “Where’s Bastian?”
“Exploring. He didn’t want to leave you but he started prowling the room like a caged creature.” He stretched out his legs. “I make him nervous. He tensed up anytime I took a step toward him.”
“He did?” That surprised me after his little impassioned speech. I took a sip of water, loving its coolness on my raspy throat. “He’s very nice to look at—did you try something with him?”
Jacks shook his head. “Now that would just be in poor taste after kidnapping him.”
“According to you, the kidnapping blame falls to your brother. But I do remember you liking pretty men. That man you were seeing on Kithra? He was tall and lean, like Bastian. Only he had pale blond hair and those weird lavender eyes. Graceful like Bastian, too.” I shot him a challenging glare. “He’s just your type.”
“And you think you aren’t?”
I didn’t want to go there.
“Interesting color on your arms. You get that done in the Toquerian Sector?”
I shook my head. “One of the Earths.” Taking a deep breath, I turned all my focus on Jacks. “I’m rested now. Tell me what happened on Kithra, Jacks.”
He didn’t say anything for a time, but I waited because I could tell he wasn’t going to leave me hanging.
“You might as well sit and get comfortable. It’s not a short story.” He leaned back in his chair. “It basically boils down to the fact that I was a spy for Saturna.”
“The mining company? The one that lost the bid on kithronite mining?”
He nodded. “I’d been with them for years, had drawn the maps for several other planets with mining potential. My employers never got over losing that bid.”
“Of course they didn’t. Kithronite is priceless.”
“No, it has a price.” He stood, movements jerky with anger as he paced to the simulator and then to me. He touched my cheek gently and the raw grief that flashed through his eyes gutted me. He dropped his hand. “Nearly an entire beautiful race paid its price, Vala.”
Sorrow, like a heavy black cloak, draped my shoulders and I stumbled back to the bed. “They killed… Saturna blew up my people for metal ?”
“No. At least I don’t think so. I’ve been hacking into their files for years and I’ve come