Military intelligence officer Lieutenant Barb Carolus is ordered to investigate Colonel Locke, a rogue officer suspected of selling military weapons on the black market. Colonel Locke is from Barb’s home planet and she knows exposing his crimes will tarnish the reputation of those rare people like her who’ve escaped the poverty and gangs of their home world to become officers. But orders are orders and she always does her duty.<br><br>For the mission she’s teamed with the unconventional -- and in Barb’s opinion, entirely unprofessional -- undercover agent Taya Borovsky. Working with Taya will test Barb’s by the book approach to the limits, especially when attraction overcomes her irritation with Taya. Bitter about upholding standards nobody else does, Barb gives in to her desires.<br><br>When the mission goes bad, Barb and Taya are on the run and outgunned. To survive, Barb must learn from Taya’s unconventional methods and improvise a solution to complete her mission and save their lives.

Loose Cannon

The glasses she liked, giving her a blank shark-eyed stare which kept people away and intimidated suspects.


All in all, she looked like a highly suspicious character—as Taya did. A cop would arrest them on general principles. Good. That was perfect for this job. She turned from the mirror, pushing the sunglasses up on her head. Taya handed her a sidearm in a holster she could clip to her belt.


“We can’t let you use your service weapon,” Taya said. “This is one of my spares.”


It wasn’t quite as big and flashy as the for-show-only pistol on Taya’s hip. It wasn’t as small as the concealed one Taya had drawn earlier. It was a mark 7 plasma pistol, from a no-name, knock-off manufacturer. The kind of cheap tat an independent trader might carry. The kind of cheap tat liable to blow up in the wielder’s hand.


Chapter 5