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

God, so slow. How had she never noticed it was so slow? She heard yells outside. A man grabbed at the rising end of the ramp and tried to climb on. A shot discouraged him, and he let go to drop back to the ground.


“Keep them out,” Taya ordered. “I’ll get us in the air.”


She ran, opening the inner airlock door, dropping her coat as she went. It hit the deck with the same thump and clatter as last night, and Barb’s mind warred with the incongruous images of sex and battle. Taya climbed the ladder to the top deck, and the hatch banged back down.


Chapter 16