The Spiral Path Read Free Page A

High-Ranking Terran, the headline would read. Then her people would be rounded up in camps for sure.
    The door chimed.
    She pocketed the photo. “Open.”
    The door dimmed, but only the hallway’s light shone through the entrance.
    Time to get this over with. “Stop playing games, Mitch, and get your ass in here.”
    A sigh, one heavy step, and Mitch Yoshida, the man Lara once expected to spend the rest of her life with, entered her private lounge.
    “Where are the lights?”
    “Off.” Lara dropped her feet to the floor. “Whiskey?”
    “Are you drunk?”
    “If only.” Lara set the glass down and crossed the room to Mitch. “So you’ve boarded my ship. What now?”
    “Lara, when you left—”
    She held a hand up and walked to the viewport. No way was she going where he wanted. “The past is not up for discussion.” She would not argue with a man who believed her indentured servitude was a good thing. “What next?” she asked instead.
    Mitch caught her gaze. “We go after Rafe.”
    Her brother, the only common ground they had anymore. For him, Lara would deal with a demon. “How? Do you know why liminal space has been flooded with negative matter?”
    “No, but we can compensate for it. The Gryphon has more hull protection than any ship in the Union fleet. Command presumed it would be enough, but maybe with some modifications we can—”
    “Stop. Modifications? What do you want to do to my ship?”
    “Protect it. And us.” Mitch held out his hands, palms up. “No ill will meant here, Lara.”
    From her place at the viewport, Lara looked him over. Black Union uniform complete with leather sleeves, belt cinching a trim waist, knee-high boots perfectly polished. Even as plebes, she’d expected that Mitch would look formidable in the Union blacks. And man, had she been right.
    Going by the bars on his lapel, Mitch had indeed followed the plan he originally set for himself. Lieutenant at twenty, Admiral at thirty. Commodore, minimum, at thirty-five.
    Lara ditched the Academy when it became clear the Union deemed Chimerans useful only as tools. Those first days had been tough. She’d run to Creed, to her mother, only to find they judged their Chimeran children similarly—as weapons against the Terrans.
    Mitch leaned on the desk. “I need to run this ship.”
    “You can try, but my crew won’t follow a Black Jacket of any rank. And I haven’t consented to anything yet, Commodore. No matter what, you’re not booting me out of my quarters. I still own this ship and you are a temporary guest.”
    “Do you want to get Rafe back or not? If the Creed have taken him or taken the Interlace— ”
    “I’ve maintained a peaceful relationship with both Terra and Creed for over a decade. Creed has no reason to go after Rafael’s ship. If they wanted a royal heir such as Rafael to return, our mother could have summoned him. Creed had no part in this disappearance. If you can’t accept that, Mitch, then you can march off this ship right now. Or I’ll throw you off.”
    Mitch frowned. “Fine. I’ll accept that Creed isn’t involved—for now. But if we turn up evidence that implicates them, you have to consider it. Truce?”
    A truce with Mitch meant that the wall Lara had built around herself might crumble, bit by bit. She couldn’t go back to being vulnerable—couldn’t keep the Chimerans safe—if that scared little girl ruled her again. Letting go of what she could never have was what had kept her afloat while finding the money for the Gryphon and the Centaur and while settling Alpha and Beta Havens. Only her people knew the coordinates of those colonies. Even now Cam was scrubbing and firewalling that information in their databanks.
    “You don’t have to hate me forever.” Mitch narrowed his eyes. “It’s more important that we find Rafe.”
    Lara sat in a chair near the viewport. Far away from Mitch. She would set aside her fears temporarily in order to find her brother. “What’s Rafael to