“Meet us down in the common room,” Lizzie said. “I’m going to throw on some warmer clothes before we go.”

Relieved the time had finally come, Jeth waited a moment after the others had left before heading down to the passenger deck himself. He double-checked no one was watching and then slipped into Lizzie’s cabin.

“Hey!” she shouted, as she struggled to pull down a heavy shirt over the rest of her clothes. “How about knocking next time?”

Jeth shrugged. “Why? Not like you might have a boy in here.” He frowned, realizing the joke wasn’t as funny as he’d intended. If she ever did have a boy in here, Jeth would have to kill him.

Lizzie stuck out her tongue. “No, but I might’ve been naked. Ever think of that?”

Jeth scrunched up his nose. There were some topics you should never discuss with your older brother.

“So what do you want, anyways?” Lizzie said, hurrying on.

He stepped closer to her, lowering his voice. “This data cell that Sierra’s got hidden, how difficult do you think it would be to make a copy?”

“Well, it depends. If it’s encrypted it could take me an hour just to access the data. If it’s not, shouldn’t be more than a couple minutes.”

“So we have the equipment on board to do it?”

“Sure.” Lizzie walked over to the desk in the corner and opened a drawer. She pulled out a small rectangular object that Jeth vaguely recognized. She handed it to him. “That cell there should be big enough to hold all the data, and Avalon’s got a couple programs for running a copy.”

Jeth shook his head, amazed by Lizzie’s resourcefulness.

“So, whatcha planning?”

“I want to make a copy of the Aether Project.”

She gave him a withering look. “Put that one together for myself, thanks. But why?”

“To use as leverage.”

She frowned. “On who?”

“Hammer. You heard what that guy Renford said. Hammer might not go through with selling me Avalon. Not if he thinks we’re too important to him.”

A knowing expression crossed Lizzie’s face, and she nodded. So she had thought about it, too. Jeth wasn’t surprised. She might be an optimist at heart, but she’d grown up the same way he had, in a world with few illusions of safety or a certain future.

“I take it you want to make this copy without Sierra knowing about it?”

Jeth ran a hand through his hair, not meeting his sister’s eyes. “Don’t see any way around it.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She sighed. “Still, I hate deceiving her. She and Vince seem really nice. And Cora’s a sweetie.”

“Yeah, she is,” Jeth said, guilt making him antsy. It had to be done, though. He had to do what was best for him and his crew. Taking care of them was his job. His life. “Anyway, do you have any tools or equipment that might help me figure out where Sierra’s got it hidden?”

Lizzie snorted. “You’re kidding, right?”

“What?”

“It’s a data cell, Jeth. You know, just like that one. All it does is hold data. It doesn’t emit any kind of signal or pulse.”

Jeth huffed, disappointed. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

“No worries,” Lizzie said, winking. “We’ll just have to steal the data cell once she shows it to us. She’s going to have to sooner or later. Fortunately, we are the best gang of thieves in the galaxy. Should be easy, right?”

“Right.” Jeth’s heartbeat quickened, his grip on the empty data cell tightening. One last con. That was all. Then he would finally be free.

Chapter 16

TEN MINUTES LATER, JETH PARKED SPARKY INSIDE THE Donerail’s narrow shuttle compartment, and he, Lizzie, and Sierra stepped out into the cargo bay.

Lizzie whistled, surveying the damage. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Not at all,” Sierra said, leading the way across the room to the ladder.

“And you’ve no idea what caused this?” Lizzie said as she followed after her.

“Nope. Happened here just like it did on Avalon.”

“Yeah, only worse.”

They headed out of the cargo bay and down the passenger deck. Fortunately, Lizzie didn’t say anything as they passed the body stuck in the wall. Jeth had warned her about it beforehand, but he guessed her lack of comment was because it genuinely frightened her. The only time Lizzie ever got quiet was when she was scared. But, as predicted, she didn’t freak out.

When they arrived on the bridge, Lizzie let out a sigh. For the most part, the place looked normal, albeit in disarray, with holes scattered through most of the chairs and several of the control panels torn in half, but no random body parts.

“The nav’s over there.” Sierra pointed.

Lizzie crossed the bridge and squatted in front of the nav station. Jeth followed her over, setting down the massive toolbox he’d brought with them. Lizzie selected a couple of tools and then slid under the panel.

“Is there room for both of us?” Sierra said.

“Sure, have at it,” Lizzie said, her voice muffled.

Sierra fetched her own set of tools and then slid under the panel beside Lizzie.

“I’ll just keep watch,” Jeth said, deciding sarcasm was the appropriate response to his sudden feeling of inadequacy.

“Knew we brought you along for something,” Lizzie shouted.