Excerpt from The Chameleon Effect #4

Chavez works for The Agency and has been assigned to rescue Kira Rostropovich and return her to Vega Minor, where she resides with her parents. After being in prison and being 'bought' by Chavez in an auction, Kira is not happy about being searched by Chavez. But he finds a tracking device on her right before a mercenary, Captain Maddeson, finds them and demands that Kira be turned over to him. Chavez immediately makes a sudden jump across the galaxy, much to Kira's surprise!

"I'm sorry I couldn't warn you, but if Captain Maddeson knew I was going to do a hyper-jump, then he might have tried to stop me with a tractor beam. That would have torn the ship apart and we would be dead right now."

"We aren't dead, so where are we?" Kira crossed her arms and scowled at Chavez.

"We're at the only place I could think of off the top of my head that would be almost deserted. I didn't want to land on top of, or inside someone else's ship. We're in the Lima sector."

Kira raised her eyebrows and stiffened her body. "Isn't that near slave trading planets?"

"Yes. And you are my slave, remember? At least until we get back to Vega Minor. That is, unless you want to find your own way home?" He raised his eyebrows and smirked at her.

"I don't have a home."

Chavez decided not to press the matter right now. Perhaps he should try to be nice. "Let me show you to your quarters. They aren't fancy, but they're clean." He led her off the bridge through a sliding door onto a main corridor. Pointing to a non-descript door with an entry scanner beside it, he said,

"This is the best I've got. You'll find everything you need already in the drawers along the walls. If you need anything else, let me know. I have to get back to the bridge right now."

Kira looked down the corridor and to the other door across the hall. "Is that yours?"

Chavez nodded. "Yes, but I usually sleep on the bridge when I'm in space. I need to be near the monitors."

"I can help you. I know how to fly a ship."

Chavez shrugged. According to her file she had no knowledge of how to fly a ship. Where did that ability come from? Something isn't right. What else did they program her with?

****

Kira watched Chavez saunter back down the corridor towards the bridge. He was tall and his strong shoulders were accentuated by his curly, black hair that hung in a ponytail to the middle of his shoulder blades. His waist was narrow and his jumpsuit was tight on his buttocks and muscular thighs. Kira gave a nod of approval at the pleasant view she was privy to. Chavez didn't look back as he approached the sliding doors that separated the sleeping rooms from the bridge, so he missed one of the few times that Kira allowed herself to smile.

Kira knew she was on a small, but powerful ship. She'd studied the monitors on the bridge while she was there and with the passwords Chavez had added to protect his ship from theft, it would be hard for her to override them. But she felt compelled to do so. But she let this go for now and turned away from her room and headed down the hall. While Chavez was on the bridge, Kira wanted to investigate the rest of the ship. She found the doors to the lift, stepped in and waited. The computer prompted her to state her destination.

"Lower deck, computer."

"Please specify which deck."

Since Kira didn't know the ship, she guessed. "Level one, computer."

The doors closed and she was whisked to the lower bowels of the ship. She was in a hallway that led to the engine room one way and the other way, there was an observation lounge containing plants and vines growing along the walls, with seats following a garden path. There were strange, rare colored flowers growing among the ferns, and in the middle, a fountain of bubbling water. Kira sat down on a bench and stared at the purple and pink flowers in wonder.

"This is amazing!"

"Thank you." Chavez appeared from one of the paths, startling Kira. She jumped up, glaring at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"This is my ship. The computer always warns me when someone is near the engine room. I wanted to make sure you weren't lost."

"Lost? On this little bucket? I doubt that." Kira stamped off and headed back to the lift. She wanted to get away from Chavez. She had unsettling feelings whenever he got close to her. She didn't understand why she got so angry, but whatever the reason, at least it kept him at arm's length.