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

“You can manage the helmet yourself?” Taya asked.


“Go get prepped. I’ll give you fifteen minutes. Signal readiness, then I’ll bring the power systems back online. Emergency startup so we can take off fast. They’ll be scanning for energy signatures if they are still out there, so we have to be out of this hole fast before they come and trap us in.”


Barb knew all that, but suspected Taya was putting off going to do it. The moment they separated and maybe…


Taya stood on tiptoe suddenly, grabbed Barb’s head in both hands, and pulled her down to a fierce kiss. The suit got in the way, the stiff ring the helmet fixed to pushing them apart. But they stretched for it. Taya tasted sweaty and scared and good. Very good.


“If we die…” Taya whispered, pulling back.


“Then I’m glad the last time was with you,” Barb said.


“Oh, sweet talk.” Taya’s voice was hoarse. “See you on the other side, Peaches. Good luck.”


Chapter 20