Smugger's Virtue (Lathos Galaxy Chronicles Book 2) Read Free Page A

Getting rid of her father would be simple, but if they were to both die under suspicious circumstances and so close together, questions might be asked. Her disappearance from Lathos with a man they had on camera attacking Xandra’s bodyguards had removed that problem. Her death could now be blamed on him, and the fact that it was General Ragen himself, the oldest and most trusted military advisor to Chancellor Torin, who had fought so hard to return Xandra to her people only to have her die on the journey home would be enough to keep anyone from suspecting him. Kellenar pressed a button on the com unit.
    "How is Miss Torin’s condition?" he asked when the young medic appeared on the view screen.
    "It hasn’t changed since you left," she informed him, "but if she doesn’t get proper medical attention soon, then she will start to deteriorate."
    "Keep me apprised of the situation," he commanded, and then left his office and walked over to the man currently sitting at navigation control.
    "What is our current speed?"
    "Right now we are traveling at half our maximum capacity," the officer said. "I can increase to full power if you like."
    "There’s no need," Kellenar said with a reassuring smile. "Everything is proceeding according to plan."

Chapter Three
     
    A green light on his console began to flash, bringing Matt out of his thoughts. He had been thinking about Xandra, about the first night they met. She had been so eager, so insistent that Matt take her away from Lathos. At first it had all been a game to Matt. The other men at the party that night couldn’t crack her defenses. Matt was going to show them how it was done, how to get this beauty into bed and make her think it was her idea all along.
    He felt guilty about that now. Xandra was different from the other women he had met, and he knew he should have realized it from the start. He wondered, though, what he would have done if he had realized it. Would he have even approached her at all? He knew one thing, if he had been smart enough to realize how special and unique Xandra was right from the start and he had still approached her, he never would have lied to her about who he was. He felt guilty about that, too. She still thought his father’s name and life was his.
    If he really thought about it, Roger Britton was the man Ilyea Kurt was sure she was in love with. That was who she thought she had met, and Matt had refused every chance he had been presented with to set the record straight. It meant that everything they had was a lie, and even though she had been less than truthful, it was still Matt’s fault that the lie was still playing out in her head.
    The green light meant that he was closing on the Lathonian ship. He touched a button on the console above the flashing light and the outer hull slid away from the cockpit window. Matt could see the ship in the distance, and it was huge. It was only a transport ship, but the information that mysteriously found its way into Matt’s database showed that it had more than enough firepower to destroy his ship if it were detected. Matt knew he had to remember to thank Ilyea for the information. Without it he might have gone in guns blazing in an attempt to disable the vessel and cause enough confusion to allow him to land, find Xandra, and get out. He still had to do all of that, of course, but now he knew he had to be a little more subtle about it.
    He wondered why Ilyea Kurt was bothering to help him. There had to be more to it than the fact that the man was a closet champion of true love. If there wasn’t something in it for him personally, there was no way Ilyea would have risked doing everything he had to help Matt in this fool’s errand.
    It had to do with this General Kellenar Ragen, Matt was sure of it. The voice in his head was insisting as much, and it was the only thing that made sense. Otherwise, why would Ilyea go to all the trouble to see to it that Xandra was turned over to the man only to