Frost Station Alpha 1-6: The Complete Series by Ruby Lionsdrake Page B

want to admit that some young female communications officer had been the one who managed to hurt him. He didn’t want to admit to being hurt at all. Once she was safely tied with the others, he would find that first-aid kit.
    Though Makkon did not ask for it, Zar kept his rifle pointed at her while he removed her TacVest. He finally got her name, since it was indeed on a patch on her uniform. Pavlenko. The rank designs had all changed since he had last dealt with the system’s military, but from her age, he doubted she could be more than a lieutenant. Or she could perhaps be a sergeant, if she’d gone straight into the service instead of to school, but the fact that the brawny veteran had been trying to make sure she escaped made him believe she was an officer.
    He kept his search professional as he dipped into her pockets, though his fingers wouldn’t have minded lingering. He pulled out a small personal computer and dropped it on a table, along with a supply of ration bars. She must have planned to hide out until she could make her way to that auxiliary communications station. He also tossed the weapons he had confiscated from her earlier onto the table.
    “Throwing knives?” Zar’s brows rose.
    Yes, he’d thought them an odd choice for a comm officer. Of course, he carried an ice axe around for close combat—and because he was strong enough to chop through military-grade combat armor that could withstand laser fire—so who was he to judge?
    Pavlenko did not respond. She was staring straight ahead, probably trying to pretend Makkon wasn’t standing so close. He’d spotted her doing a quick scan of everybody in the room when they first entered, her gaze lingering on the injured soldiers, but now she merely focused on a wall panel.
    During the search, he found a compact knife that he had missed earlier, one in a sheath strapped to her inner thigh, underneath her trousers. It took some artistry to remove the blade without removing her trousers—a subtle flap in the material was what allowed her to access it. He supposed he could have removed her trousers, but that seemed an unnecessary indignity. Besides, he got to slide his fingers across smooth flesh in order to unbuckle the sheath.
    Pavlenko’s jaw clenched so tightly, she was in danger of breaking teeth, so he couldn’t pretend that she enjoyed the search. He pulled the sheath out and dumped it on the table alongside several other piles of weapons and personal items that suggested the civilians had already been searched.
    Zar chuckled at the knives. He was watching Pavlenko with curiosity and appraisal that Makkon didn’t like, but he doubted the kid would treat her with anything but respect. He wasn’t much older than she, and he had an earnestness-to-please about him that Makkon couldn’t translate into someone who would maul women. Rebek was more likely to be trouble. He was eyeing her chest instead of her knives.
    As Makkon finished his search, his comm beeped.
    “What?” he answered, stepping back from Pavlenko. “Tie her,” he mouthed to Zar.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “You find that woman, Makkon?” came Brax’s voice over the comm.
    “Just dropped her off with the others.”
    “Took long enough. Get your ass up here to the top gun turret. We’ve got a soldier who’s locked himself in here with enough explosives to blow up half of the station.”
    Several of the scientists straightened in alarm and murmured tensely to each other. Yes, this level qualified as being on the “top half of the station.” Pavlenko didn’t react overtly, though she was probably pleased with the act of defiance rather than worried it would get her killed. Makkon sighed, wondering if his thoughts of winning her over were in vain.
    “I’m on my way.”
    Before leaving, he pulled Zar aside. “I told the woman we’d keep her alive if she cooperated,” he said quietly.
    “Oh? Is she?” Zar quirked his eyebrows toward the now-tied Pavlenko, then glanced at Makkon’s