Perhaps she was aware and was handling it. But why wouldn’t she have mentioned it in her status reports?
“What about Lieutenant Commander Brack? Have you seen her? Did you report it to her?”
Miranda nodded. “I’ve seen her in the unit a couple of times. She said I was mistaken. As an archivist, I maintain accurate records and chronicle events. I deal in facts and data. I wouldn’t report people as missing unless I was absolutely sure they were.”
“What do you think happened to them?” He was curious to hear her theory.
“I think somebody abducted them and took them off the ship.”
After what she’d suffered on Verde Omega, paranoia could be forgiven. He chose his words carefully. “You have done your research. While your conclusion the colonists are not on the ship is logical, the likely explanation is that they are on the Crimson Hawk somewhere. If by some infinitesimal chance they had managed to steal a highly guarded space pod or were forced onto one, it wouldn’t be without anyone noticing or without them leaving a computer signature. I would know if someone had left the ship. They have to be here somewhere.”
“How did they get past the guards stationed outside our unit?”
How indeed. “I’d like the answer to that myself,” he replied and tapped his commlink.
“Yes, captain?” his first officer responded.
“Please do a headcount of the New Utopians. Verify that they’re where they’re supposed to be.”
“There are two hundred twelve, sir. They are in the quarantine area.”
“Count again. A few of them may have strayed. You can start by locating Mr. Ochoa, also Althea Withers, Carolinda Haverson, Benjamin Yves…” He read from Miranda’s list.
“Anything else, sir?”
“When did you meet with Mr. Ochoa last?”
“This morning.”
Miranda was shaking her head.
Dante didn’t know what to believe. Well, actually he did: Miranda was wrong. She’d sneaked aboard a robot with a dangerous malfunction, and after promising to keep it powered down, switched it back on, allowing it to attack a colonist. She’d further violated the rules by accessing the liaison’s terminal without authorization. Why should he give any credence to her concerns? Because he was attracted to her? If anything, his inappropriate, futile interest offered reason not to believe her. Personal feelings should not factor into a captain’s decision.
However, her earnest manner and honesty in coming clean convinced him of her sincerity. She genuinely believed something was amiss, and she’d readily confessed her rule violations.
Besides, it was possible the colonists had managed to leave their section. The survivors had proven their craftiness by outwitting the Tyranians for a month and a half. “Do a complete manual head count and report back to me ASAP,” he ordered Brack.
“Yes, sir.”
The commlink closed.
“When I hear something, I’ll let you know.” He handed the tablet to Miranda.
“Thank you,” she said.
They were seated side by side, their knees almost touching. An odd expectancy hummed through him. Blood rushed in his ears, and he imagined he heard her heart racing. Impossible. His cyborg hearing was acute, but not that sharp.
She dropped her gaze. “Well, I’d…uh…I’d better let you get back to running the ship.” She slipped off the stool.
Don’t let her go yet.
“You’ve gained weight,” he said. Of all the stupid things to say! His conversational skills with the opposite sex had rusted from lack of use.
“The food on the ship is very good,” she said. Her lips curved with a small smile. “And I’ve been eating a lot of it. Besides hunting down the colonists, the Tyranians destroyed our food stores to ensure any surviving stragglers would die of starvation.”
She’d endured a harrowing experience, fighting for survival for six weeks until the Crimson Hawk had arrived on Verde Omega. If the ship had been any farther away, every single colonist would have perished. If Miranda had become a little anxious, paranoid even, well, it was understandable.
“How’s your leg?” she asked.
“Good as new.”
“I’m so sorry about what happened.”
“Don’t worry about it. With my nanos, the bite wound had healed by the next morning, and all traces had disappeared the day after. Just give me your word you’ll keep the bot deactivated.” He’d healed fast, but if the K9-500 bit a human, the outcome wouldn’t be so good.
She crossed her heart. “I learned my lesson. I had assumed when you grabbed me to keep me from falling, it triggered protective programming in Sparky, but he hasn’t been performing to spec lately.”
“He needs to be inspected.”
“I intend to do that when I get to the space station. Sparky was a gift from my father. Dad gave him to me just before he left on a short-term assignment—but he never came back. He got killed.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sparky saved my life, when he bit one of the Tyranians.”
No wonder the bot was so important to her. “Maybe I could examine him?” Dante offered.
He needed to avoid this woman—not find ways to spend time with her. A relationship between the captain and a refugee passenger would be inappropriate—not to mention short-termed. Once the ship docked, they would go their separate ways, as they should. And if he already ached at the idea of never seeing her again, how much worse would it be if he got to know her better?
But he wanted to help her. Nothing could erase what she’d suffered, what she had lost, but he might be able to fix the bot so she could use it for the remainder of the journey.
“There’s an android lab aboard the Crimson Hawk. I’m no coding expert, but as a cyborg, I run diagnostics and install upgrades on my own programming so I know a little something about AI software. I can examine…uh…Sparky for glitches and possibly repair them.”
“You’d do that?” Her face lit up with a beautiful, glowing smile. He felt as if he’d been punched in the chest. He tried to remember what it had been like to be with a woman before becoming a cyborg, but the memories had faded. There had to have been desire, but he couldn’t recall feeling so off-balance. Certainly he hadn’t felt as if all his circuits had lit up. He didn’t have circuits then.
He nodded. “I’d be happy to. I need to speak to my first officer and get to the bottom of the disappearances. Then I’ll arrange to inspect Sparky. I’ll be in touch.”
Chapter Four
“Captain!” Miranda was surprised to see Dante so soon. She’d only spoken to him yesterday. He had to be a very busy man; she’d expected it would take several days before he contacted her.
He stood straight as a soldier at attention, his chiseled expression forbidding. Bad news? Or not? He projected an unapproachable demeanor, and she had yet to see a real smile from him. His imposing presence caused her stomach to flutter—and not only because of nervousness. His features were too rough, too hard, for him to be deemed handsome, but that only enhanced his masculinity. He was the most male man she’d ever met.