Ian nodded easily.
Ferdinand told us what he remembered of the capture and the captivity, but they’d kept him drugged and blindfolded, so it was precious little. He did tell us that they’d killed all of his bodyguards and jettisoned their bodies.
Poor Edward. The young man with the quick smile and easy laugh who’d been my bodyguard these last few months didn’t deserve to die. And now his family would never have closure. I made a mental note to set up a fund for his sisters.
When Ferdinand started hinting he’d like some time alone, Ian and I retired to the captain’s quarters. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t a random hit. Someone had put thought, effort, and money into it. They had targeted me and Ferdinand but not Hannah, Benedict, or Catarina.
What was I missing?
I mulled it over as I got ready for bed. I used the cosmetics kit to return my hair to its usual light brown with blond and red highlights. I felt more like myself with my hair back to normal.
Ian reclined on the bed, clad in a pair of low-slung pajama pants and nothing else. He looked to be asleep, but when I paused to admire the view, one eye cracked open. “You changed your hair back.”
“Yeah, I’m stuck on this attack problem so I thought I’d knock out another item on my to-do list while I thought about it.”
Ian sighed and sat up. “We’re missing something, and being out of contact for four days doesn’t help.”
I worked through the time line out loud. “I caught a tricky encrypted message of just the word ‘Go.’ I was attacked publicly and violently. Meanwhile, Ferdinand was snatched silently, without leaving a trace. The next morning, I met with Evelyn and then a few hours later, someone painted me as a traitor. Do we know who started that rumor?”
Ian shook his head. “I had people looking into where the traitor rumor came from, but I didn’t follow up with them. Too much other stuff going on. You didn’t tell me about the first message you’d caught.”
“I didn’t tell anyone.”
I tapped my fingers against my lips and paced at the foot of the bed. Something about the original message had been important. I focused on how it had felt to unlock the encryption because my emotional memory tended to be more permanent than the thoughts themselves. Joy and pride and a fierce sense of accomplishment. Then confusion. I stopped midstride.
“The message that kicked off the attack was encrypted twice. The outer encryption I’d never seen before. But the inner encryption was standard von Hasenberg encryption.”
Ian’s gaze sharpened. “Someone connected to the House was involved. Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“At the time, there was no way to tell you without explaining how I knew. Then I had to run and it slipped my mind. The brain implant screws with my memory sometimes.”
Ian spat out a low curse. “I failed to protect you, Bianca. I knew you were unhappy, but I never thought it was something like this.” He met my eyes, expression solemn. “I am so fucking sorry.”
I edged around the bed to where he was sitting and took his face in my hands. “It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you.” He looked like he wanted to protest, so I bent my head and kissed him.
His mouth parted under mine with a groan. I licked into his mouth, and his hands clenched on my hips. He leaned back, pulling me with him, until he was flat on the bed and I was straddling him.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” he growled.
“Trust me, I’m going to burn these clothes at the earliest opportunity.” I was still wearing the too big fatigues I’d stolen from the mine guard. They’d gone a few cycles through the sonic wash, but I was happy to have my own clothes as an option again.
“So you won’t mind if I do this?” He didn’t wait for a response before he pulled the front of my shirt apart, sending buttons flying.
Lust warred with amusement. When he palmed my breasts, lust won.
When we started docking at the space station orbiting APD Zero, I called Ada. She didn’t pick up, despite the fact that the early hour in Universal meant it was late afternoon in Sedition. I knew she’d be pissed that I’d left her behind, but I didn’t expect her to dodge my calls. I hoped she was away rather than ignoring me.
I connected to the Net, brought up my usual security precautions, and checked my messages. I’d been offline for over four days, something that never happened. Ada had informed our siblings of what I was attempting in Antlia. Three days ago, Benedict had reported Ferdinand’s arrival with a warning to keep it to themselves until I turned up.
After that, I’d received a series of increasingly worried messages from my siblings, until the final one from Ada yesterday morning that merely read: ARE YOU DEAD?
Benedict had sent a message late last night, assuring everyone I was alive and on my way home with Ferdinand. He told them to keep it quiet until I said otherwise. I posted the same and swore them all to secrecy about Ferdinand because I wanted to spring it on Father myself.
The messages from Catarina were the most interesting. She’d been digging into who had access to Ferdinand’s schedule while I was “off having fun”—her words, not mine. Then she’d expanded her search into who had started the traitor rumor, with Deputy Director Stevens’s help.
Three days ago, she’d found a suspect.
She wouldn’t tell me who it was on an insecure connection, but yesterday they’d had enough to pull him in for questioning. I tried to read between the lines, but she’d been careful and there were no hints. Was it someone on the security team? What would he gain? Revenge?
Ferdinand pulled me aside while Ian spoke to Aoife and Alex. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“What do you mean?” I asked warily.
“I heard Aoife talking about how the Rockhurst battle cruiser was going to eat our lunch. There’s only one Rockhurst in Antlia and he wouldn’t let us get away for free. What did you do?”
“I said I was with the Syndicate and heavily implied that retaliation for my death would be swift and brutal.”
“And Richard believed you?”
“He didn’t shoot us down, did he?”
Ferdinand narrowed his eyes at me. “I taught you that trick, Bee. You won’t distract me so easily. What did you do?”
I sighed. “I promised him a future favor.”
“And of course he extracted it from the one person who will honor their word. Fuck.”
“I won’t apologize for getting you out. I was prepared to do whatever it took. I will deal with the consequences when they arrive.” Because I had no doubt that I would pay, it was just a matter of when and how much.
“Don’t forget that you have support. You don’t have to take on the world by yourself. The family will help you. And it seems like you’re stuck with Director Bishop, too.”
A soft smile pulled at my lips. I hoped I was stuck with Ian for a long time.
The transfer to Aurora went quickly. We left most of our gear behind. Aoife and Alex promised to keep an eye on Phantom until we could come back for it. I hugged both of them good-bye and made them promise to keep in touch.
I breathed out a sigh of relief to be back on my own ship. Aurora had made the trip from Brava without any trouble, but I had worried, like a mother worrying after a child left home for the first time.