Taking Command Read Online Free PDF Page A

the com panel. Muscles flexed in his broad shoulders and tapered torso, but blood still smeared his flesh.
    “Safe from whom? The Tri’Neith? I don’t think they’ll give up that easily.”
    “You’re right. But BioOne will keep us safe enough until we make our rendezvous.”
    “And when will that be?”
    “A couple weeks?”
    Weeks? Weeks with a pirate who scared her as much as he intrigued her. She folded her hands in her lap. “Is that when you’ll let me go?”
    “I haven’t decided if I’ll let you go.”
    ****
    Fuck. He needed sleep, and he needed to eat. Hours had passed while Tarik ran through checks on BioOne. Through it all, his thoughts continued to revolve around Shon. Scenarios played through his mind, contingencies and repercussions should he risk involving her. None ended well. She was too appealing, too inquisitive and too dangerous to the long-term viability of BioOne. The outcome wouldn’t be good for him either.
    Shon sat in the captain’s chair, the damn body suit hugging every one of her seductive curves. She had drifted off to sleep a few times. Now, she watched him. Nipples prodded against the tight fabric. She’d lowered the zipper, revealing a teasing amount of cleavage. He didn’t think it intentional, but she was distracting the hell out of him.
    “Are you hungry?” he asked, turning in her direction. “I’m starving.”
    A slow innocent smile curled her lips, but beneath the appeal, he realized she could be dangerous. Both were letting down their guard. But he’d come too far, risked and lost too much to forget those sacrifices now. “You’ll eat,” he stated.
    Her brows furrowed. “I wasn’t going to argue.”
    “Take 32D to the galley.” Captain Javis wouldn’t settle for field rations. The galley would be stocked with everything from exotic delicacies to Etan local fruits. “The bot can prepare whatever you’d like.”
    Shon nodded as she stood. “What do you want?”
    “Anything. I’m not particular.”
    While she was gone, Tarik accessed the ships central database. “I want a list of every person scheduled to be on this ship. Start with Shon. Who is this woman?”
    There was no record of anyone with the name Shon. “Reconfigure. Female names.”
    Names began to scroll over the monitor. Military personnel, and according to the list, those invited by Captain Javis for entertainment purposes.
    If she wasn’t on the manifest, she shouldn’t be on board. “Who is she?”
    “Why do you talk to the ship?” Shon asked, reentering the command center.
    “Because she listens.” His lips quirked. “Unlike another woman I’ve recently met.”
    She carried a tray of food. 32D trailed in behind her, arms laden with several trays, more than a human could carry. “All ships respond to voice command.”
    “BioOne is intuitive. She’s sentient,” Tarik explained, helping her to set the food on one of the consoles.
    “That’s impossible. That would make the ship alive. It doesn’t have a life force.”
    He chuckled. “A field medic and an engineer?”
    Fruits, meats, and soft creams filled one of the trays. Tarik plucked a sweet from the tray and popped it into his mouth. Shon piled meats onto wafers. She had to be as hungry as he was the way she eagerly picked at the food, eating a bit of everything almost all at once.
    “No, I’m not gullible.” She handed him a piece of small flat bread covered with a brown paste.
    “What is it?” He sniffed the bread. Spicy with a hint of fermented meat.
    “Some type of pâté.”
    Keeping his eyes on hers, he slowly took a bite.
    “Are you scared I might poison you?”
    The thought had crossed his mind. “You need me to fly the ship. And you’re eating it.” He took another bite. The strong taste of Etan range beast blended with the sweetness of the fruit. “I trust you not to kill me…yet.”
    “But not enough to trust me with information.” A moment of silence passed. “Like why you’ve taken this