“Fuck the rules,” she said. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”
Chapter Eleven
“Atlas. Tessil. To the captain’s ready room. Now.”
That did not sound good. It sounded like inevitability. It had been a week since Jerri and Atlas had returned from Dinavri space, and she was still hungry for him. Fuck that, she was ravenous. He was cautious, as he always had been. She wondered how he had such incredible self-control sometimes, then she realized it was because he was always in control of everything, including himself.
Now, standing before a very pissed-off–looking captain, Jerri was pretty certain that they were absolutely under suspicion. Her gut instinct was soon confirmed.
“It has come to my attention that a relationship of an intimate nature has been established between the pair of you. I do not know if this began before, during, or after your mission. I do know that it is utterly inappropriate. Atlas, you will be transferred to the Intrepid under Captain Zork, as a lieutenant…”
“That’s not fair!”
“Don’t, Jerri,” Atlas said.
“I will. This isn’t fair. We were sent, just the two of us to deal with the Dinavri. They could have made us prisoners. We could have died…”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, Tessil. The reports and evidence I received came from Taylor. He observed some less than professional behavior from the pair of you recently.”
“Taylor?” Atlas repeated the name in confusion. Jerri wasn’t confused. Her heart was sinking fast as the man himself appeared through the doors as if on cue, or, more likely, because he’d been listening for his name from the other side.
“I’m sorry, Atlas,” Taylor said with a smirking tone that indicated he was not sorry at all. “I keep an eye on Tessil. She’s trouble. Always has been. So I noticed that the two of you had been… Well. It’s all in my report. I’m also sorry to tell you that you’re not the first, and in all likelihood, won’t be the last. There’s no male superior Jerri Tessil has not tried to fuck.”
And that’s when Atlas punched Taylor right in his smug, handsome face, hard enough to send him slamming back through the ready room doors, which were apparently made of thin sheets of alloy. Taylor back-rolled out of the ready room with his nose spurting blood and the bridge devolved into pure chaos as people scrambled to escape Taylor’s bloody messy mass, followed swiftly by Atlas’s furious form, unleashing his rage with roars of fury that shook everybody to their core.
Nobody had ever seen the Kitari when he was angry. Nobody liked the Kitari now that he was angry. Atlas looked like a solid, calm, dependable officer most of the time. But in his protective rage, he came bursting out of the uniform as the ridges that usually lay flat against his skin sprang forth with sharp extensions, slashing through the fabric of the jacket. It now hung from him in tattered shreds.
Artos, a security officer, fired a single shot. It hit Atlas square in the chest. Jerri screamed as he collapsed to the floor, stunned. Thank god Artos had set his weapon to less than lethal.
“Enough!” The captain’s voice cut through the chaos like steel. “Take Atlas to the brig. Tessil, back in my ready room.”
“No!” She collapsed onto Atlas’s insensate form, wrapping her arms around his neck. This was the absolute worst case scenario playing out in real time. She knew if she allowed them to split her from Atlas now she’d probably never see him again.
“Tessil! You will follow orders this instant!”
But she wouldn’t. She refused. Nothing mattered more than holding onto the one she loved. Until the crew descended on her and made her obey.
It took three officers to pull her from Atlas.
“Lizard fucker,” Taylor cursed, holding his hand up to his nose in an effort to soothe it, but then realizing touching it would make it that much worse. He had bled all down the front of his uniform and his normally perfectly styled hair had turned to a messy bloody mop.
“Fuck you, Taylor,” she cursed back.
“That is enough, Tessil,” Janus snapped. “Another word out of you, and you’ll be in the brig.”
“Fuck off,” Jerri cursed.
Janus looked at her with a cold machine eye. “Take her to the brig.”
Atlas came to in the infirmary. He felt as though every bone in his body had been broken and set incorrectly. That’s what a stun bolt always felt like, though. He didn’t regret punching Taylor. He did regret not killing him. But there was no time to right that particular wrong.
Janus was standing over him, her arms folded over her chest, her expression grim. “In all my days, I have never seen anything like that before on the brig of an Authority ship,” she began. “You have brought the Audacity into disrepute. You have brought the Kitari into disrepute. You will be transferred from this vessel immediately, following telling Tessil that this affair is over.”