Aberrant

Chapter 18

Jinx eyed the stretch of tech and lean muscle that was Lieutenant Commander Reid Nathanial Kaplan. Outwardly, he looked one hundred per cent human. No obvious facial or skull mods under his therm-pro's hood. The man didn't need spike implants or filed teeth to unnerve. Not with those eyes. That weird distance in them.

Some part of him wasn't in the junk-cluttered escape tunnel with her. His neurotech—an unusual and expensive enhancement for a void hound—would be feeding him data and coms. He had a small headset by his right ear, almost hidden by his hood and dark hair.

But right that second, she had his attention. Or, at least, her report on the explosion out in the wastes did. He remained seated, his long, Zex-clad legs stretched out as if he were in no hurry to go anywhere, but the look in his eyes...

The man was ready to move—shoot something.

He tossed her com back to her. "Call your friend and find out what he or she knows about that site. Audio only. Don't mention you have company."

"Okay..." He knew something about the explosion and the Xykeree. Should she ask? How much breath did she have to waste? The guy hadn't even wanted to give her his name. He wasn't advertising his business on planet. Or his presence.

That made her damn curious. And edgy.

Playing along would be her best bet for getting answers.

She placed the com-link request.

Lenton accepted it immediately. "Jinx?" His taut greeting made her wince—and resolve to leave Tirus sooner rather than later. Before a certain other issue could affect her friends. "You okay? Where are you? Your signal's messed up. Your location's not registering."

"I'm fine, Smarty." True—sort of. Her headache and the weird buzz developing in her skull weren't going anywhere, but the screams had been silent for a while. "Just keeping my head down and running a location-masking app. Figure you know why."

"Yeah, I'm monitoring the backchannels to see if anyone's brain dead enough to try to collect on you. So far, the pros aren't touching the job—too much heat. Demtong's got all of Enforcement looking for you, and he's threatening to close the entire port. The mining VIPs are denying all knowledge of the contract. They're talking about legal action. You need to call your supervisor and let him know you're okay before this gets out of hand."

Jinx pressed two fingers to the ache between her eyes. "I'd be flattered, except I get the feeling if some mine-corp thug doesn't beat me bloody, Dem sure as hell will."

"Jinx, I'm going to beat you bloody. Answer your damn com. And what's this void shit about you fainting while on board the roach ship?"

She bared her teeth. Olsen and his flappy lips. Now everyone was going to be on her back about Medical. "Lenton, those ships are hot, suffocating, and infested with cybo-bugs. Don't give me grief. Just give me an update on the situation in ground sec three."

"Fine, Demtong can ride your arse about a med check. But you go silent on me again while that contract is live, I will personally violate every piece of tech you own to hunt you down. You know I have the shit to do it, Jinx."

"Love you too, Smarty."

"Save it. You're staying on my shit list." Her friend tapped something vigorously on the other end of the link. "As for the situation in sector three, the air droid has just finished its first sweep. Give me a sec to..." He trailed off then let out a low whistle. "Okay, visual feeds are up. Oh, yeah. We've got evidence of an explosion alright. But it's not from a lost missile or scav strike. I'm looking at a significant debris field. The remains of a vessel."