Page 66 of In a Dangerous Orbit
He ripped the Sync from her hands and tossed it on his desk. He cupped her face. “Xenia!”
Nothing.
His heart hammering a rapid beat in his chest, he shook her shoulders. “Xenia.”
She blinked, then her rigid body relaxed.
He caught her before she slid to the floor. He set her down in his chair. “What happened?”
“I’m…not sure.” She shook her head, like she needed to clear it. “I’m fine now.”
“It looked like you got some sort of shock.”
She eyed the Sync. “I don’t remember, I was looking for the problem, and then…nothing.”
“Run an internal scan.”
“There’s nothing wrong?—”
He gripped her upper arms, knew his fingers were digging into her skin. But dammit, she’d scared him. “Run it.”
“Axton—”
“Please.”
She huffed out a breath. “Okay, okay.” She went quiet for a second, her eyes flickering. “Everything is functioning within normal ranges.” She cocked her head. “Happy?”
He was still concerned and wondered if he should pester her into seeing his doctor. He snatched up the Sync off his desk. “This damn thing is only good for scrap.”
Xenia stilled. “Scrap. Wait. Wait!” She reached out and touched Axton’s computer screen. “That Rahl word for trash can also mean scrap.” The map reappeared on the screen. She tapped in some commands and mumbled under her breath.
“What are you thinking?” He enjoyed that sharp, focused look she got on her face.
“Hang on, I need to pick up some high-res images from the Security databases.” She swiped the screen, tapped again, and the screen filled with detailed satellite images of Haxx.
“Xenia, clue me in here.”
“I was right.” She pointed at the screen where she’d overlaid the Rahl map with a portion of a Haxx map. “Scrap, metal, spare. Spare parts. They were referencing the Haxx Salvage Yard.”
Sweet Creator. He saw it now, the way the lines and boxes on the map lined up with the starship and transport wrecks in the salvage yard, and the pathways winding amongst the junk.
Excitement licked at him. They could get the Codex back.
He kissed Xenia hard, leaving them both breathless. “You are brilliant.”
She smiled back. “Let’s get to the salvage yard.”
“You really thinkthe Codex Da Vinci is here?” Malin Phoenix asked. “In the salvage yard?”
“Yes. The Rahl left a map.” Xenia held up the Sync as they walked through the main gate of the yard where Malin was now the Assistant Superintendent.
“Unbelievable.” The salvage mechanic shook her head.
Malin always made Xenia feel like a giant. She was tiny, with short, black hair cut choppily around her pretty face, and large, purple-colored eyes. Her coveralls dwarfed her frame, a tool belt with a dizzying array of tools was hitched around her waist. She had a streak of black grease across one cheek, and she smelled of coconuts and starship fuel.
Hard to believe she was also the woman who’d helped the galaxy’s deadliest, most emotionless CenSec recover the Antikythera…and made him feel.
“You saw the Rahl here, right?” Axton asked. “During the coup.”
