Page 75 of The Last Hunt
“This guy - Daik Montrose - is on your starbase,” Aethon says, tapping the tab. “He’s got a Needle-class ship docked below. And no offense, Pelham - but he’s probably fucking some shit up while you’re holding us up here.” He points to his Two Roses crest and Maeve’s. “We’ve been hunting him for weeks. He’s wanted by Brimstone. You don’t want to be the reason Brimstone doesn’t get this son of a bitch, do you?”
“Brimstone Industries?” the guard asks. Maeve isn’t positive due to the guard’s oxygen mask, but she’s pretty sure his face pales.
“Yeah - the mining corp,” Aethon says with a nod. “We need to get this guy locked up.”
“Wait here a minute,” the guard says, holding up a hand. He steps back out of the Archer and taps his earpiece. He mutters something to the person on the other end, turning away from them. The other guards and workers outside are talking to each other now, clearly waiting for orders from Officer Pelham.
Maeve shifts from one foot to the other, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “Do you actually know this guy?” she asks Aethon quietly.
Aethon shrugs. “Never seen him before in my life.”
“You are a master bullshitter,” she says, turning to look him in the eye. “I love it.”
Aethon shrugs and winks. “Thank you, Bladesy.”
The guard turns back and points over his shoulder with his thumb. “You’re cleared to go. I ran the credentials your AI sent over. And we have video of someone of this description with a Needle-class ship entering Scimitar thirty minutes ago, but we can’t tell for certain if it’s Montrose. The ship is registered under a different name.”
“Shut down all ships entering and leaving the starbase,” Aethon demands. “And stop the Lightway from leaving!”
The guard shrugs helplessly. “I’ll do what I can, but if we can’t confirm the identity of the criminal the higher ups won’t like shutting the starbase down or causing an unnecessary panic. Do you realize how many credits they’d lose?”
“Fuck,” Maeve grits out. “Move!”
The guard steps to the side and Maeve and Aethon sprint out of the Archer, wheeling toward the doors to the main area of the starbase.
“We’re going to have to split up to find him!” Aethon says. He skids to a stop in front of the doors and slams his hand on the pad to open them. Maeve edges inside the second they slide apart, Aethon right behind her.
“I know,” Maeve replies. She doesn’t want to leave him, but Daik could be anywhere in the starbase. The tracker was on his ship so it’s useless now, but they know he’s heading to the Lightway.
The doors behind them close and they hear the hiss of oxygen before the doors to the main area of Scimitar Starbase open, spitting them out into a gigantic open floor crowded with people.
This area of the starbase is a food court. Restaurants and fast food joints are located on the edge of the space, and hundreds of tables are spread throughout the center of the floor which is open to the three levels above. Smells of cooking food and barbeque fill the area. There’s a playground shaped like a castle in the very center of the floor. Children crawl all over it, swinging from bars and chasing each other, shrieking with laughter. Adults stand on the edges, talking and watching their children. People are eating at the tables, talking, and playing games. There are so many people. Maeve’s stomach sinks. There couldn’t be a worse place to chase down a dangerous criminal. The possibility of collateral damage is sky high. Maeve notices that there are large escape pods built into the walls, but it would take way too long to evacuate everyone in this area, and it would likely cause a mass panic.
Maeve pushes her oxygen mask off and it retracts back into the portable unit. Aethon does the same. His eyes flick back and forth, cataloging the people and the set up of Scimitar. According to signs blinking from the ceilings of the hall, the Lightway is three floors up and on the opposite side of the starbase from where they are now.
“I’ll take the stairs on the left,” Aethon says, pointing to a clear, enclosed stairwell that climbs all the way up to the floor with the Lightway. “You take the ones on the right.” Maeve glances the other way and sees an identical stairwell to the right. “We’ll meet at the top and if neither of us find Daik before the other, we’ll set up outside the entrance to the Lightway and catch him before he boards.”
“He’s not above using civilians,” Maeve says. She meets Aethon’s gaze and he nods, his jaw tight.
“We’ll have to do everything we can to prevent that,” he replies. “Hopefully Pelham is working on convincing the people that run the starbase that they have a serious situation here. But we don’t have time to evacuate all these people.” He gestures to the hundreds and hundreds of people in front of them.
“I know,” Maeve says through clenched teeth. “We need to go.”
But both of them pause. The moment feels charged, and Maeve is afraid that if she lets Aethon leave her side, she’ll never see him again. She wishes it were an irrational thought, but she knows it’s not. Being a bounty hunter is dangerous. It’s why she never allowed herself to get close to anyone after her parents died. Why care for someone when they could be ripped from her so easily? She wraps her hand around Aethon’s wrist and he tucks a finger under her chin. His eyes flick between hers.
Fuck. She loves him.
“Aethon, I -”
“Not now, Bladesy,” he growls. “Not now. I know what you’re thinking, and you need to listen to me.” He grabs her chin and slants his mouth over hers, the kiss hot, hard, and fierce. He pulls back and meets her eyes again. “We’re going to fucking live.” He grins. “And then you can tell me everything.”
The words they recited to each other over and over again on that escape pod four years ago jolt Maeve back into herself. She nods and lets Aethon’s wrist go.
Without another word, they spin in opposite directions and sprint for the staircases. Maeve weaves through the crowd, her boots squealing on the fake wood floors. She’s so tall and imposing that most people instinctively get out of her way, but she has to bellow at a few idiots who don’t see her coming. She shoulders her way through a group of men and one of them snarls, reaching for her.
“Watch where you’re going, bitch!” he bites out.
His hand catches the back of her neck, yanking the portable oxygen unit off. Maeve feels the delicate chain of her croi crystal necklace catch on the oxygen unit, and the chain pulls at her neck, breaking with a snap.