Rogue's Return by Ava York

Author:Ava York [York, Ava]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ClockWalk

Vianne

I was trying to stay alert, my reflexes sharp—the mission called for it. But all I could do was look at Colm. At first, I gave into a few, quick stolen glances. But as the minutes passed, I found myself needing to watch him more and more.

What had come over me? I was pining for a man I’d never truly had, my body and mind working together to throw me off balance whenever I was in his presence.

Worried it was only me feeling this way, I nervously rubbed at the nape of my neck, my irises darting back and forth between the others and him. It was driving me insane how he hadn’t looked over at me yet—why hadn’t he? It wasn’t like he had anything better to do. Okay, so he did, but I was equally important… somewhat just as important after our time together last night. Thankfully, my increasing stress levels didn’t stay spiked for long. Our eyes met, and I knew instantly he was struggling, too.

Once we’d both noticed how the other was feeling, it made paying attention all the harder.

Captain Krilling snapped her fingers at one of her reporting officers and I jumped, thinking she was singling me out instead. Why she would, I couldn’t say, because neither Colm nor myself were doing anything wrong. Sure, we weren’t as focused as we could be, but we weren’t naughty school children who needed chastising. As I bit my lip while fluttering my lashes at him, I questioned myself about our not being schoolchildren all over again. I was acting like one.

Keeping our minds clean, however, soon became a priority when a gaggle of scientists and engineers flocked into the room, all of them sporting troubled lines on their faces. Did they only employ staff of a certain age, or had our suggestion of a shield indirectly aged the entire workforce overnight?

Either way, this didn’t bode well. As I shifted my gaze from Colm to this new development, I noted how he looked less spirited and more somber now.

They spoke with Krilling in low tones, the hushed whispering halting when she bleated out a string of curses.

“For fuck sake, this is a nightmare,” she snapped, looking uncharacteristically rattled. But then again, this wasn’t a typical shakedown operation—we were aiming to save a whole system. No small feat, regardless of how experienced and robust each player was.

“What’s the problem?” Valtic asked, his voice betraying his mounting tension.

Krilling wafted her hands at the arranged team of specialists and bid them to explain themselves; none of them relished having to do so, but one finally spoke.

“The problem is time. The shield installations are running smoothly, so that’s in our favor, but,” she cracked her neck before speaking further, “but there isn’t enough time to install them all. We’ve got too many ships out on missions, and although they’re coming back, they won’t make it in time.”

No wonder Krilling was pissed. That was grave news. We were going to get annihilated or, at least, some of us would.

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