Fatal Extraction Read online

  She placed the tiny, white pill onto his calloused palm. For a few moments, he just stared at it. She was beginning to worry when he popped it into his mouth and drank the water to wash it down.

  “It’s a really fast-acting pill, so you should feel the effect soon.”

  “The pill will numb my brain and make me too sleepy to think,” he complained.

  “That’s the jab. The pill’s different. I don’t know what kind of mojo goes into the pill or the jab but Eryn told me they work differently.” She cupped his face in her hands and made him look at her. “I can’t change who I am, you can’t change who you are, but we can try to make this work. This is how we go about in a relationship, yes? We don’t bail at the slightest hint of trouble. We stick it out to the end.”

  His arms came around her. The emotional turmoil going on inside him was coming off in waves. She resisted going into his head to see what he was thinking because she didn’t think she would be able to cope. She tried it once when they were trying to work out different entry points for the stronghold. She thought it would be easier if she could see it through his eyes and understand better. Instead, she became so dizzy and nauseous that she exited his head. This man’s brain worked at light speed.

  He dragged his feet over to the bed and slumped onto it. She was about to go over when he waved her off. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll come join you when I’m ready.”

  “Alright.”

  She didn’t want to leave him alone but decided to respect his wishes. She walked over to the crew’s suite and focused on the discussion with them. There was no point second-guessing her decision to commit. She’d made up her mind that no matter how difficult being in a relationship with Zane was going to be, she would give it her all.

  Chapter 37

  Zane checked his mind barrier to make sure it was up after Nirvana left the room. Then, he broke down.

  He hadn’t had much time to himself to process the news of his diagnosis since Nirvana told him about it. She’d been watching him like a hawk. If it wasn’t her, it would be one of the crew members. It was stifling.

  She acted nonchalant about his depression diagnosis and tried to get him to move on, but he what he really wanted was some space to throw a bitch fit about it. Maybe this was a good time.

  His mother had told him once, in anger, that he was like a black hole that sucked the light out of everything. She loved him, but he exhausted her with his mood swings and negativity. He felt lousy about it. That’s why, to make it up to her, he risked his life to plan their escape.

  He thought he was clever enough to make Dein fall for his mind-games and fund his personal vendetta against his father, while providing sanctuary for his mother. Nirvana was only supposed to serve as a consultant on how to break in. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that Nirvana would develop feelings for him and insist on the current course of action. He should have held back and kept her at arm’s length, but he wasn’t that noble.

  This entire thing was a train wreck from the start and his father was the root of everyone’s problems—the reason his mother had an affair, the cause of his depression, the mastermind behind everybody’s misery.

  Chorax Hayashi needed to be eliminated. As Nirvana had said earlier, if they couldn’t take him down, they would inflict maximum damage. If she didn’t survive the mission, he would take the entire stronghold down with him.

  The medication kicked in as his heart rate had slowed down to a normal pace, and he was no longer breathing heavily. The emotions were more like information without the feelings. This was good. He should remember this the next time Nirvana asked him to pop a pill so he would be less resistant towards it.

  Zane went to the bathroom to wash up. He stared at the wreck who looked back at him from the mirror. He still didn’t understand what Nirvana saw in him.

  Live strong for me, she had told him.

  He could at least do that for her. He took a quick shower to freshen up before heading over to the suite.

  “Welcome back,” Daxon greeted him as he entered the room. The rest mumbled some form of greeting and returned their focus back to the map. Levi gave him a look to remind him of what he’d said the other day, and Zane nodded at him gratefully.

  Nirvana watched him carefully as he approached, and he could feel a huge sense of relief from her when he kissed her forehead.

  Pill is amazing, he told her. I just hope I don’t develop an addiction to it.

  We’ll alternate with sex, she grinned at him.

  Daxon cleared his throat, “Eyes here, lovebirds. Zane, we will be flying Nirvana’s new spacecraft and use one of the cargo ships flying in as cover.”

  “Like how you smuggled the Proetium cells?” he asked.

  Everyone nodded.

  “Won’t work.” Zane shook his head. “Kojiwa tried to use the same method to smuggle stuff and his pilot wasn’t skilled enough. They were caught, tortured and everyone on board was executed.”

  “Kojiwa is dead?” Nirvana asked in disbelief.

  “I killed him myself.”

  “But you were involved in the Proetium cells…”

  “I was. That idiot got carried away with the success and decided to try smuggling weapons the same way. He even tried to drag me into it after he was caught, but my father just laughed, and tortured him even more for trying to frame his stupidest son. After that, he arranged a death match for me to punish Kojiwa.”

  “I thought Kojiwa was a good man,” Nirvana said, still looking shocked.

  Zane shook his head. “There are no good men. Look at the leader. Look at his son.” He gestured to himself.

  Nirvana sighed. “Ok. So, back to square one. How do we get in?”

  “I have a crazy method, but I’m not sure how much you all want to risk your lives,” Zane mumbled. He saw everyone giving him “the look,” so he explained his plans. “We’ll do a warp into the planet and exit just above ground. This way, we probably can avoid the aerial scanners. I know there aren’t any scanners at two hundred feet.”

  “That’s because it’s suicide!” Daxon said, flummoxed.

  “You can do that?” Nirvana asked, raising a brow.

  “I don’t know. Never tried, but my eldest brother did. He was running from enemies then, so I gave him the navigation path out of desperation. He survived, then he tried it a few more times after that. I only know how to do it in theory, but I did help him with all the navigation paths.”

  Asan enlarged the area surrounding the stronghold and looked at Zane incredulously, “This area is a forested hillside. How the hell do you exit a warp here with the exact coordinates without crashing into a tree?”

  “There is a small opening here.” Zane pulled the virtual map towards him and zoomed in. “It’s a communal graveyard, large enough to land a small craft like Nirvana’s, but we’ll have to exit the warp in a vertical position.”

  “What?!” Asan, Ramsey, Daxon and Nirvana exclaimed at the same time.

  “We’ll have to pull upwards just before the exit so that we’ll head up.” Zane positioned the graphics of the spacecraft to point skywards. “If not, we’ll definitely crash into the trees.”

  “You’ve done this before?” Daxon asked, looking astonished.

  Zane shook his head. “That’s why I needed your expertise, to figure out how else I could sneak into Chikara. If I had known there wouldn’t be a better idea, I would have done this alone. Wouldn’t have gotten Dein to get you all involved.”

  “This is exciting!” Ramsey burst out. “This whole thing! The complexity of the flying techniques, the algorithm involved in the plotting of the navigation path, I need to see this!” He grabbed Zane’s head and planted a hard kiss on his lips. He broke the kiss with a loud smack and announced, “I’m very turned on by you right now. I’ve never been so attracted to a man before.”

  “You won’t be when we crash,” Zane said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

  “It’ll be worth it!” Ramsey grin
ned. “If we don’t crash, it’ll be the most amazing feat I’ve ever witnessed. I’m in!” He shot his hand up into the air.

  “It does sound very crazily plausible,” Nirvana pondered, narrowing her eyes at the display.

  “You don’t have to risk your lives for this. Let me try it out and if it doesn’t—”

  “Stop,” Nirvana cut Zane off. She pointed a finger at him and threw him a warning glare. “We’ll do this together, or we’ll find another way.”

  Zane held up his hands in surrender and nodded. The crew filled him in on the rest of extraction plans, and he felt very humbled by how easily they could take apart the security measures he had installed in the stronghold.

  “I’m glad I’m not as competent as I thought I was,” he shook his head. “I wonder how many people had already snuck in and out without our knowledge.”

  “You’re only twenty-four. You’ve been head of security since you were nineteen. Unless you’ve studied the security systems of other planets, I’d say you’ve put in the best one you could. In fact, it’s already a very impressive achievement by someone your age,” Daxon said.

  “And we’ve had decades of infiltration experience,” Asan added.

  They had a solid plan by the end of the day, one with a very high success rate and a couple of escape routes. The riskiest part of the whole mission was Zane’s crazy warp-in idea.

  Nirvana ended the meeting. They would run through the plans again the next day when everyone was fresh and well-rested. The men wanted to go for drinks, but Zane declined their invitation. It had taken quite a lot out of him to go through all the possible ways in which Nirvana could get herself caught or killed.

  In fact, he didn’t know if he could keep doing this even if they survived the mission. He was probably thinking with his dick when he told her he wanted to be part of her crew. Who was he kidding? He had no area of expertise, neither was he strong nor skilled in combat.

  Yet, he didn’t want to let her go. She was too precious. The thought of her in the arms of another man, especially now that she was his, was unbearable. He would do this, even if it killed him. It wasn’t as if she was going to be someone else even if they weren’t together. She was still going to put herself in danger every time. He would just have to do his best to ensure their survival.

  They might not have forever, but he would treasure every single moment with her.

  Chapter 38

  “I’m going to see Ching for a while. Do you want to come with?” Nirvana asked.

  “You go ahead. I’m going to take a shower and get some sleep. Do you have anything that can knock me out for the night?” Zane pulled off his shirt and headed to the bathroom without waiting for Nirvana’s answer.

  “Eryn gave me some sleeping aids. I’ll leave it at the nightstand,” she called out.

  He grunted and blasted the shower.

  She thought about whether she wanted to join him in the shower to check on him but decided to give him his space. To his credit, he had tried to sit through the meeting as calmly as he could, discussing the different ways Nirvana could fail during the mission, and coming up with solutions to those problems.

  After placing the pill beside a glass of water for him, she sent Ching a message to arrange for a meeting at the hangar. Earlier on, he had sent her a message to inform her that the new spacecraft was ready. She wanted to see it first, before the others got a look.

  Ching was already there when she arrived. She couldn’t help but give a small squeal of delight when she saw the final product. It was sleek, beautiful and fitted with nasty-looking weapons that would give anyone pause before attacking it.

  She let her fingers slide along the sleek gunmetal grey exterior and marveled at the beauty. “Dawa did an amazing job!”

  He grinned at her. “I’m glad you like it. He calls this his masterpiece of the year.”

  “Bill me the damage. I’m a happy customer.” She sat down on one of the cushioned seats and admired the spanking new interior. “While it’s perfect for me, it’s not going to fit my entire crew.”

  “You said for two,” he reminded her.

  “Yes, I did,” she laughed. “I’ll get them to pack some outdoor sleeping units.”

  He sat down beside her and looked at her solemnly. “You know, now that we’re not together anymore, do you want to—”

  “No,” Nirvana cut him off. “Unless it bothers you or Eryn, the arrangement remains. If I don’t make it back, all the money is yours.”

  “Wouldn’t Zane—”

  Nirvana shook her head. “Zane won’t survive this if I don’t. He’ll probably do something suicidal, so it’s imperative that I survive this.”

  “You’ve never asked how much money you have with me.”

  “I have a rough idea, and I don’t spend beyond my means. Look, Ching.” She reached over to hold his hand. “You’re the closest I have to family. My guys have their own money deposited somewhere with someone else they trust. Who else do I give mine to? I’m fine with my money under your name. I’m sure Zane will be fine with it.”

  “Twelve,” Ching replied, entwining his fingers with hers.

  “Twelve?”

  “Twelve million credits.” He gave her hand a squeeze.

  Nirvana’s eyes almost popped out.

  “You have a share in everything I own,” he explained, “A lot of which was only made possible because I used your money too.”

  She pulled his hand to her and hugged his arm, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “I’m so glad I gave all my money to you.”

  Ching shook his head and leaned over to kiss her temple gently. “I don’t want your money. Come back safely.”

  “For twelve million, I’m tempted to retire.” She laughed.

  “You should, Athar welcomes you anytime.”

  “Retiring doesn’t mean settling down. It just means I stop taking high-risk jobs. I really like travelling.”

  “Speaking of settling down, I proposed to Eryn last night.”

  Nirvana jolted up and looked at him, gawking.

  He smiled and nodded slowly. “You never thought you’d live to see the day Sima Ching did anything crazy.”

  “I mean,” she struggled to find the words, “I’ve always known you were ready to start a family, I felt Eryn was the right girl, too. I just didn’t think you’d… so soon….”

  “I know. It seems rushed—”

  “Pfft.”

  “She’s actually known me all her life. When she was studying in Nayrie, I went over to check on her every three months. She’s responsible, mature, hardworking—”

  “But this is not a business transaction, Ching. You’re not employing her. You need to at least romance her.”

  He shrugged. “I promised that I would love her, in the way I know how.”

  “She accepted?”

  He nodded.

  “She didn’t think it was too soon? Or feel like a rebound?”

  “We spoke about it. I think you were right to say we both felt something for each other, but we just didn’t act on it. I felt that it was inappropriate given how old I am and she thought she wasn’t as good as you.”

  “Me?!”

  “I assured her I wasn’t using her to try to get back at you, or make you jealous, or to make me look better because I just got dumped. We knew long ago we weren’t right for each other. Anyway, I’m tired. I have a lot of responsibilities here. All I want to do after a long day of work is to know that she’s there for me. I’ll do my best and give her what she needs.”

  She pulled him in for a tight hug. “I’m really happy for you.” She rested her cheek on that familiar firm shoulder of his.

  “We’ll wait for you to come back to decide on a wedding date.”

  “Why?!”

  “Eryn wants your blessing.”

  “That silly girl! She already has my blessing!”

  “At our wedding. She wants your blessing at our wedding, I want you at our wedding, so make sure
you come back.”

  “I will try. Trust me. I have no desire to die.”

  Ching walked Nirvana to the station where she would board the shuttle back to lodge. On the way there, she updated him on their infiltration plans. Before she boarded the shuttle, she gave him another tight hug.

  Zane was sound asleep by the time she got back, snoring loudly. Nirvana smiled and decided to leave him be. She took a long shower, thinking about everything, and nothing in particular. After she got out, she manhandled Zane into a more comfortable sleeping position to ease his snoring, and tucked him in. She plumped up her own pillows and was about to settle in when Zane pulled her into his arms. He buried his nose in her hair and sniffed deeply.

  “You better not snore into my ears,” she warned him with a laugh.

  He didn’t reply.

  Nirvana closed her eyes and joined him in a deep slumber.

  Chapter 39

  Zane was working on his computer when the door to his room opened. He looked over his shoulder and saw a raven-haired beauty enter the room. He breathed out in frustration and ignored her.

  “Your father said you missed work again today, and you’re in need of some rejuvenation.”

  “I’m working from my room. Go away.”

  “Don’t be grumpy. Come to bed. I’ll cheer you up.”

  “Go. Away.”

  “You know I can’t.” She sighed in exasperation. “Be a darling and come here now. I don’t have all day.”

  Zane clenched his jaw and felt the headache coming back. Resigned, he closed the laptop and walked over to his bed. He pulled his T-shirt over his head and stripped his boxers.

  “It’s a real headache, Kseniya. I’ve never faked them,” he grumbled.

  “Who said anything about you faking them?” She laughed and removed her coat, revealing her luscious body, the delicious creamy white skin beneath the red, hot lace.

  “You really don’t have to do this, it’s not like he checks,” he protested weakly as the other parts of his body responded to her approach. He hated how he had no control over his traitorous dick.