shut and surrendered. I closed my eyes, listening to his heartbeat. Levy made me calm, made me feel protected. No man I’d been with had ever made me feel that way. I wondered if what he said was true? That soul mates did exist?
I sighed. I’d never been so confused in my life.
* * * *
There was nothing like waking up in the morning after a good night’s fuck. I was happily sore in all the right places, beat, but feeling strangely relaxed at the same time. Levy was still sleeping when I got up. As a VIP passenger, the bed in his stateroom was as big and comfy as those in the luxury hotel. He didn’t stir as I crawled off his bed. I collected my clothes, got dressed in a hurry and tiptoed out. One of his bodyguards saw me exit the stateroom. The man flashed me a grin.
“He’s all yours,” I told him. “My shift is over.”
He tipped his head in my direction and made a tiny gesture with his hand. He didn’t say a word, but I felt his gaze burn my back as I flounced to the main deck. I went back to my cabin and showered. I’d just finished changing into a fresh uniform when Captain Hawk called me via the holocom.
“We have a problem,” he barked. “My office, now.”
Captain Hawk was in a foul mood when I arrived at his office minutes later.
He pointed to a stack of hardcopies on his desk. “Take a look at that. We have a security leak.”
I sat down and read the file. What I saw made me numb. The security bot had compiled the report during the last data sweep. It said that someone had hacked into our system, mined our data and relayed it to an encrypted source. Azhari, our Senior Cryptographer, had decoded the destination. It had turned out to be an office in the Froste Intelligence Agency. As the Chief Mate of Orient Fevre, this came as a hard blow for me since it had happened right under my nose. Only the captain and I owned the verification code to access the data vault. Truthfully, Orient Fevre wasn’t merely a commercial transport ship. It was also an intergalactic security company, commissioned to deliver classified information from many countries in the Pegasus Arms.
“How did this happen, Cross?”
I cleared my throat. “We need a lockdown.”
“Did that.” Captain Hawk sank in his chair. “I just spoke to the Chereshaz-X Station Master and requested a continuation docking permit until we sort our problem out. He gave us three standard days since this space station is fully booked. We can’t board until we find out who our mole is. Do you have any idea who’s behind this?”
I felt choked because I had an idea who’d stolen that code from me. But I didn’t feel like sharing it with the captain yet, not until I could prove my suspicion. “Give me half an hour to run a cross-data check.”
“You do that.”
“By your leave, sir.”
“Granted.”
I exited the captain’s office semi-running. My mind kicked into high gear as I started to see connections I’d been too blind to see these past months. I went to the aft of the ship where the senior officer cabins were located and headed right to Mac’s. Even though we’d been engaged, we’d still maintained separate living quarters. I punched Mac’s code on the keypad and the door whispered open.
Mac’s room was empty. Like any of the senior officers in the ship, his cabin consisted of one bedroom, a small kitchen, and a common room. I headed straight to his bedroom and started looking for clues. About three standard weeks ago, after he’d misplaced our nuptial agreement documents, Mac had suggested we share a personal vault to store our precious belongings, important papers, money, and work-related data disks. Mac was unorganised when it came to his personal matters. But I should have known. His forgetfulness had only been a cover so he could access my personal vault and steal my secret codes and keys.
The first thing I opened was his wardrobe closet. All of his clothes were still there—his shoes, his personal
I sighed. I’d never been so confused in my life.
* * * *
There was nothing like waking up in the morning after a good night’s fuck. I was happily sore in all the right places, beat, but feeling strangely relaxed at the same time. Levy was still sleeping when I got up. As a VIP passenger, the bed in his stateroom was as big and comfy as those in the luxury hotel. He didn’t stir as I crawled off his bed. I collected my clothes, got dressed in a hurry and tiptoed out. One of his bodyguards saw me exit the stateroom. The man flashed me a grin.
“He’s all yours,” I told him. “My shift is over.”
He tipped his head in my direction and made a tiny gesture with his hand. He didn’t say a word, but I felt his gaze burn my back as I flounced to the main deck. I went back to my cabin and showered. I’d just finished changing into a fresh uniform when Captain Hawk called me via the holocom.
“We have a problem,” he barked. “My office, now.”
Captain Hawk was in a foul mood when I arrived at his office minutes later.
He pointed to a stack of hardcopies on his desk. “Take a look at that. We have a security leak.”
I sat down and read the file. What I saw made me numb. The security bot had compiled the report during the last data sweep. It said that someone had hacked into our system, mined our data and relayed it to an encrypted source. Azhari, our Senior Cryptographer, had decoded the destination. It had turned out to be an office in the Froste Intelligence Agency. As the Chief Mate of Orient Fevre, this came as a hard blow for me since it had happened right under my nose. Only the captain and I owned the verification code to access the data vault. Truthfully, Orient Fevre wasn’t merely a commercial transport ship. It was also an intergalactic security company, commissioned to deliver classified information from many countries in the Pegasus Arms.
“How did this happen, Cross?”
I cleared my throat. “We need a lockdown.”
“Did that.” Captain Hawk sank in his chair. “I just spoke to the Chereshaz-X Station Master and requested a continuation docking permit until we sort our problem out. He gave us three standard days since this space station is fully booked. We can’t board until we find out who our mole is. Do you have any idea who’s behind this?”
I felt choked because I had an idea who’d stolen that code from me. But I didn’t feel like sharing it with the captain yet, not until I could prove my suspicion. “Give me half an hour to run a cross-data check.”
“You do that.”
“By your leave, sir.”
“Granted.”
I exited the captain’s office semi-running. My mind kicked into high gear as I started to see connections I’d been too blind to see these past months. I went to the aft of the ship where the senior officer cabins were located and headed right to Mac’s. Even though we’d been engaged, we’d still maintained separate living quarters. I punched Mac’s code on the keypad and the door whispered open.
Mac’s room was empty. Like any of the senior officers in the ship, his cabin consisted of one bedroom, a small kitchen, and a common room. I headed straight to his bedroom and started looking for clues. About three standard weeks ago, after he’d misplaced our nuptial agreement documents, Mac had suggested we share a personal vault to store our precious belongings, important papers, money, and work-related data disks. Mac was unorganised when it came to his personal matters. But I should have known. His forgetfulness had only been a cover so he could access my personal vault and steal my secret codes and keys.
The first thing I opened was his wardrobe closet. All of his clothes were still there—his shoes, his personal
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