Chapter 16

Sophia had the brief urge to call herself stupid and dwell on the insanity that had overtaken her the moment that she'd seen Bren sprawled wearily in that damn chair. But she knew that if she even thought about it at all, she'd end up leaning against the wall of the lift with a silly smile on her face. So she jigged in place during the brief lift ride and headed quickly across the empty flight deck to the Warlock, determined to finish repairing the life support systems before she was distracted again.

Now there was a seductive thought. Sophia was enthusiastically in favor of being distracted again. Even now she felt her breath come in a bit quicker as she remembered the banked fire in Bren's green eyes.

When she realized she was starting to daydream, she gave a little scream of frustration, echoingly loud in the shadow of the Warlock. She'd never had this kind of problem sticking to her plans before. She shook her head roughly and decided she wasn't going to have any more problems, either. The Warlock came first. The Warlock was safety.

When it was working. Which was why she climbed into the cabin and flicked on the power to the life support system, watching the indicator lights flicker. Some came on and stayed, others went dark again. She made note of the ones that went dark, grabbed a fast protein bar and the punch down tool and got back to work.

So far she was still safe. There had been no signs that anyone had come near the Warlock while she'd been asleep. If anyone in Essex had mentioned her name to Bren, he hadn't told her about it. She smiled grimly as she scraped a blob of burnt Claudia off the wires it had dripped down on. Bren might not tell her that anyone was looking for her at first, but she was fairly confident that she wouldn't be caught unawares if someone was searching for her.

This was the only time where she was vulnerable. Once she got back to Anatoray and said what needed to be said, then it would be done. Until then, she needed to finish getting the Warlock airworthy again. Bren could help her do it, but that was the extent to which she should trust him.

"You haven't asked me about your sister since last night." Bren stood just inside the cabin and propped the canopy open as Sophia went back to what she was doing before she went to let him in. "I should fix this next. We're going to suffocate in here if we aren't careful."

Sophia turned her face away, pretending to concentrate on the wiring. She'd forgotten that Bren had left as soon as he'd given her Esterhazy's name. Now she scrambled to think of more questions to hide the fact that she already had the answer she needed.

"I'm still thinking about what you said." She explained slowly, keeping her voice level.

"You're lying."

Sophia turned back to stare at him. He spread his arms slightly, his eyes as wary as ever.

"You sound sincere, but if there was something else you wanted to know, you would have hounded me long before now. You already did yesterday." His voice was thoughtful. Sophia could tell he was annoyed, but not angry. "So something I said was important. Why didn't you tell me that?"

She gave him a gentle smile, "Have you considered that you might be putting yourself in danger by asking?"

He drifted closer, as if against his own will, "A few times. I'm not really concerned."

Sophia eyed him thoughtfully, then used a tactic that she thought might get her tossed off the flight deck, "What about the danger to the Silvana and her crew?"

That got his attention. His green eyes narrowed, "You've already put them in danger by being here. You're telling me there's more."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, "I didn't say that. I asked if you if you were willing to put them at risk."

Bren growled, and Sophia held still. She could feel that she was pushing him close to the edge, "I put up with ground politicians all day, and now you're just giving me more of the same. I should dump you and the Warlock here at the dock and let you figure out how to get off the ground on your own."

He'd hit on the one thing that she couldn't let happen. But he was annoyed and tired, so as long as Sophia didn't react, she was certain that he wouldn't notice. "You could." She said lightly, "Naylor would be disappointed."

His eyelids lowered briefly, and Sophia breathed a silent sigh of relief. Bren was annoyed at the idea of Naylor getting a date with her. That was a start.

She rose and put her tools away, pursuing the advantage. "I could put the Warlock back together myself. I have once already. He's the best ship I've ever run." She wiped her hands off on a rag and sat at her ease in the navi's chair. Bren stood and watched her, his jaw clenched.

She paused carefully. She had three reasons for Bren to keep her on the Silvana, but none of them were strong enough to stand alone, and if he felt that she endangered his ship or his crew, then she'd be on the ground just like he threatened.

"Of course the newscreens will run some sensational stories about you and another Anatorayen princess, but as long as we both refuse to talk to anyone about it, interest should die quickly."

She looked up at him, outwardly calm. She hadn't said anything that he didn't already know. She hadn't promised him a thing. Anything he took away from the conversation would be based on his own hopes and fears. As long as he took the bait, Sophia would still be free to do as she wished.

Finally he blew out a frustrated breath, breaking the tension. "I came here to work on the Warlock, not to play politics with you."

"You started it." She pointed out, so relieved that Bren wasn't going to put her on the ground just yet that she said the first thing that came to mind. She snapped her mouth shut, but the combined look of amusement and annoyance on Bren's face made her smile, and then laugh.

She stood up and offered her hands. "I am sorry. That was rude to say, and you've had a long day. I should be giving you a beer and a wrench, not making you crazy."

He took her hands and the apology with them. "Parts of the day were good. And I had a beer before I came down here so you can stop worrying."