Page 30 of On a Rogue Planet
“I want to help Centax. I’ve visited there many times and I like it. I consider Traxan from the salvage yard a friend. Besides, if I can do anything to help Centax’s women, I will.”
With the sound of gum popping, Lala strolled forward. “Well, girl, I think you’ll need to borrow some stuff from my wardrobe because according to those images, coveralls or cargo pants arenotgoing to cut it.”
Mal spun and saw the new images BEll had displayed. Her throat went dry.
They looked like images captured by people’s personal Syncs. Candid. Not all in focus. A huge crowd gathered around a sunken pit. In the center of the pit were two fighters stripped to the waist with muscles bulging, one with blood smeared over his ridged abdomen.
But it was the women who caught her attention.
They were wearing…very little.
Filmy fabrics and microscopic skirts. A few were naked except for beaten-gold metal jewelry wrapped around their necks, biceps, and wrists. Skin. Skin and more skin. And from the looks of them, most of the women were happy to show their wares and cheer on the brawling fighters.
She closed her eyes for a second. What had she just agreed to do?
She could pull out, just head down to the hangar and get back to work stripping apart her engines.
When she opened her eyes, Xander was in front of her. She hadn’t heard him move.
“I won’t let you do this.”
Anger shot through her like a supernova. “You don’t get to make that decision. This is a Phoenix treasure hunt now.” She saw that muscle in his jaw working again.
He drew in a deep breath, his chest rising and falling.
“You’ll have to go in solo. They don’t let spectators or entourage on-planet without prior arrangement.” Dathan didn’t sound happy about it. “We’ll monitor you from the ship.”
“Cool,” Lala said. “I’m up for a trip.”
“You’renotcoming. You’ll be here. Doing your schoolwork with BEll watching over you.”
Lala wrinkled her nose. “Come on, Dathan. I could help.”
He stared her down.
With a put-upon sigh, she subsided. “Fine. Fine. I’ll stay here and do boring schoolwork.”
“And I’m going to have Sel drop by and check on you.”
Lala opened her mouth to complain but closed it again. “Sel’s not bad.”
Mal rolled her eyes. Sel was a shop owner from Souk. He also dealt in gray market weapons. He and the teenaged bomb maker got on like a starship on fire. They’d probably swap explosive formulas or something.
Nik stood. “I’ll get theInfinitasfueled.”
Lala grinned. “Man, Zayn is going to be pissed you’re taking his ship out without him.”
A former Strike Wing fighter pilot, Zayn was protective of his ship. Still, he was on his honeymoon and Mal suspected even theInfinitascame a distant second to his new wife.
Dathan followed his brother. “I’ll make sure all the other supplies we need are on ship.” He glanced at Xander. “Eos can help you find whatever clothing you need. We have a few boxes of…” He waved his hand.
“Disguises,” Eos added helpfully. “Everything from assassin’s robes to…well, CenSec uniforms. And we’ll have to come up with something to hide your implants.”
He gave her a terse nod, but then he was looking at Malin again. In a way that made her certain there was plenty of emotion under his implants. She felt a swirl of reaction in her belly. Why, oh why, did she have to be attracted to inappropriate men? From charming salvage dealers who were scum of the galaxy to an emotionally-stunted cyborg completely dedicated to his planet.
“Lala, come on.” Mal waved a hand. “I need to see your wardrobe.”Stars help me.
As she left the room, Mal felt the weight of that green-gold gaze on her back.
