Stowaway by Becky Black Page A

unnoticed under his baggy kitchen togs, stripping it off and hiding it with the rest. The tricky part was going to be to get a bag of some kind down here to hold it all. But maybe he could lay his hands on one of those duffel bags, the ones like a big-ass sausage skin with a drawstring on the end. He could wrap that around his body, and as long as nobody looked too close, he’d get away with fetching it down here.
    He still had to figure out a way to get some working cash and once again wondered where Raine had put his confiscated money. He’d need fake identify documents for working or traveling, and he’d need cash to get hold of them. Well, he’d figure it out. He always did in the end. But getting off this ship was the first step.
    From his pocket, he slipped the laser scalpel he’d filched from the infirmary earlier and put it with the rest of the stash. Perhaps he could sell that on the station. He hadn’t intended to take it with him; he needed it for only one job and would have left it behind. But it was possible someone would pay him cash for it.
    It felt good to get it out of his pocket. It weighed a couple of hundred grams at most, and yet it had felt like carrying a boulder. At every step, he expected Raine to jump out in front of him and demand to search his pockets. Though Raine searching his pockets had been quite enjoyable the last time. He smiled at the memory. Most distracting.
    Replacing the lid of the crate, he headed back to his cart to finish getting the rest of the galley supplies.
    The plan was coming together.

Chapter Five
     
    “So today’s the big day,” Gracie said as Kit arrived for breakfast duty. He started guiltily.
    “What?” How the hell could she know?
    “The ore take-on. Believe me, everything changes from here on out.”
    “Oh.” He hid his sigh of relief as he pulled on an apron. “But we don’t have anything to do with those guys once they’re aboard, do we?”
    “No, but the ship is different when they’re aboard. It’s hard to explain.” She grabbed a stack of plates. “Grab that tray of cups, will you?”
    Kit finished tying the apron and grabbed the big tray of white mugs, all sparkling from the washer, and followed her to put them on the serving counter. The aroma of bacon wafted from the kitchen.
    “You look tired,” Gracie said.
    “Didn’t sleep well last night.” He hadn’t, worrying about today. Worrying he’d forgotten something. He’d made a list—on paper, not in his Link in case Raine went poking around. He’d checked and double-checked it. Everything was in place. He’d be off the ship by lunchtime.
    “Get some coffee in you,” she advised. “It will be a long busy day. In fact, about three long busy days in a row.”
    “Good idea.” He took two of the mugs from the tray and headed to the coffee urns. “So these ore workers. Fun guys? Like to party?”
    “Too much. We stay away from them. They’re kind of rough, most of them. Not exactly polite to women. They aren’t allowed anywhere in the crew sections, but there’re always some who’ll try it. Then there’s the pilfering.”
    “Pilfering?”
    “Their food isn’t as good as ours. They get plenty of it but nothing exciting. So sometimes they’ll sneak into our food container and swipe stuff.”
    “Cheeky,” he said, handing her a mug.
    “Keep away from them, I’m telling you.”
    I plan to . Kit’s Link beeped in his pocket, and he slipped it out.
    “Love letter?” Gracie asked.
    “Yes. The captain is proposing marriage to me.”
    She giggled. Damn, he’d miss Gracie. And he couldn’t even say good-bye to her.
    “It’s from Raine.”
    “Oh, so it is a love letter.”
    “He says they’re all much too busy in Security today to waste their precious time on asking me about all the exciting stuff I did yesterday, so I don’t have to check in this morning.”
    “That’s pretty much an ‘I love you’ from the chief.”
    “I consider us engaged.” He slipped