Robin H. Pine

In the near future, Zach works as an advocate for an influential family in the Central Territories. His job is to keep his clients out of jail, but they make it hard for him if they can't keep their mouths shut. He manages to convince his clients not to talk, but as he's getting ready to leave the penal satellite, an escaping prisoner takes him hostage. To his surprise, Zach recognizes the man.<br><br>Aron has to consider his next step carefully and quickly. He has to decide if he wants to go for the obvious and predictable, leave the penal satellite as everyone expects him to, or the unexpected but dangerous, stay and wait out the search team. But a familiar face from his days at the Academy makes his choice for him and he decides he's going to take a hostage.<br><br>There are a lot of obstacles between Aron and Zach, from Zach's loneliness but fear of commitment to Aron's lack of communication. And if that wasn't enough, their behavior is unfamiliar and they realize they might not be the same people they were in the Academy. Why isn't Zach working for the Marshal's Office as his moral code seemed to dictate? Is Aron more than an escaped prisoner? Will they manage to find a way to find those answers without also destroying what they've got?

Without a Paddle

“You are not being asked to say if an assassin killed an innocent man. We have heard the crimes the man had committed,” Zach says. And he’s right. It was a ploy by the Marshal’s Office to get them out of the way so Zach wouldn’t expose the victim’s past. He would have shown that the man wasn’t the stereotypical victim and done much to lessen Lena’s crime. Only, Zach hadn’t mentioned them.


Gyll knows that but she can’t say it. Her turn is up. She probably considered how the whole debate would go and neglected to recalculate its abrupt end when it looked like they were winning.


Chapter 9