Atrophy by Jess Anastasi

walk away and ignore Zahli, even if it would end up being risky to his own safety. Because he could only imagine the kind of special torture Rian would inflict on him if the guy knew he’d hacked his sealed military records and handed them over to his sister. No doubt Rian had his reasons for not telling Zahli everything, and it probably started and ended with wanting to protect her. He was certainly starting to get intimately acquainted with that particular urge.
    He turned around to see her standing by the table, staring at him with too much hope gleaming in her eyes.
    “I’m not making any promises, but I’ll think about it.” The words pretty much came out of their own volition, because surely, if self-preservation had been in control of his mouth, he would have refused.
    “Thank you, Tannin. I didn’t want to have to use blackmail by reminding you who helped you escape from Erebus.” She sent him a grin, making him think the blackmail thing hadn’t really been on the cards…maybe. Actually, considering who her brother was, a bit of blackmail might not have been all that unrealistic.
    “Well I’m glad I could spare your conscience of stooping to such levels,” he returned dryly.
    She gave a light laugh as she picked up the plate. “Got a sense of humor too, huh?”
    He shrugged as he followed her to the hatchway. “I always had a sense of humor, I just didn’t have much of a reason to use it the last twelve years.”
    At the doorway, they both reached for the control panel at the same time, their hands colliding. Zahli glanced up at him, and it wasn’t until that moment he realized how close to her he’d stopped. Only a scant few inches separated them, and the next half-breath he took in, he got nothing but that rain-storm scent of her.
    And damned if he didn’t notice that smattering of freckles across her nose again. He’d never given freckles much thought—some people had them and some people didn’t. But on Zahli, they made her that much more gorgeous.
    His lungs stalled as he realized exactly where his thoughts had taken him. Obviously he had a death wish. Because that would be the only result of wanting—even for half a second—Rian Sherron’s little sister. He quickly swiped the door open and took a large step back.
    “I’m just going to hang out here. I don’t think anyone will want to see me up there.”
    A frown marred her brow. “You can’t spend the next rotation and a half locked in this room. You just got out of prison. No one expects you to trade it for a different one.”
    He took another step back. “I think your brother might have a pretty strong opinion on that. Besides, I’ve got twelve years worth of movies, music, and media to catch up on. I’m pretty sure the viewer and subspace linkup will keep me entertained for the day.”
    She didn’t look very convinced, but stepped out into the corridor. “Okay, but at least come up for meals.”
    He sent her a half-smile. “I’ll think about that, too.”
    She nodded and waved then headed along the passageway toward the stairs. Tannin swiped the door closed and turned to survey the empty room, somehow seeming starker now that Zahli was no longer here.
    His gaze landed on the crystal screen in the desk, and his mind leaped into action. Truthfully, he didn’t know if he could hack the IPC military. Well, he could definitely hack it, but whether or not he could do it without leaving a trace and getting caught was the real question. But he’d spent a lot of time in the IPC systems on Erebus like a ghost, leaving no remnants. Maybe the military systems weren’t all that different. There was only one way to find out.
    Mind buzzing and fingers all but tingling at the anticipation of the challenge, he took a seat at the desk and tabbed up a subspace link, then plunged into the virtual reality of IPC data streams.

    Z ahli poked at the food on her plate, even though Jensen had cooked it. And when it was Jensen’s turn to cook,