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she could feel the emotions
coating it as well as hear it in his voice.  “Well, yes.”  She pushed her
tangled grimy hair back behind her ear, all her thoughts on the strange man
before her.  “They would have tried to stop me from seeing any places even
remotely questionable.”
    “Imagine that,” Barnos
muttered, sounding snide with sarcasm.  “Bodyguards that actually keep you
safe.”
    She thought about why he
would feel as strongly as he did on the subject but could find no cause.  “I
have insulted you in some way and you don’t like me; that is why you take
exception to everything I say.”  She tilted her head, her eyes guileless on
his.  “But surely you would never allow someone to dictate where you should go,
and what you should do when you get there.”
    Barnos blinked at the
calm words.  “I don’t dislike you,” he muttered clearly disgusted with the
whole situation.  “You irritate the hell out of me, that’s true, and I would
never let anyone tell me what to do, but then I can take care of myself.  From
what I’ve seen, you couldn’t fight your way out of a schoolroom, let alone
anything remotely dangerous.  And to top that off your damn distractingly
beautiful. How the hell have you survived this long?”  The last was more a
mutter as he looked her over with a scorching look in his eyes that heated with
each word.
    Lara cleared her throat
and hoped he could not see the blush he instigated with that look.  “I’m not a
fighter, this is true.  But I am not a child either to be dictated to.  I’m an
explorer.” She raised her chin in pride at the title she felt she had more than
earned.  “I have found that when you make an effort to understand people, what
motivates them, they are more likely to become friends than enemies.”
    Now Captain Barnos was
looking at her as if she was insane.  Then he looked at Tolan Lark and what
passed between them felt like equal parts humor and doubt.  “She actually
believes that, doesn’t she?”
    Tolan Lark shrugged his
shoulders, the smile reaching his eyes this time.  “The Lady Lara always says exactly what she thinks.  She means it.”  Before Barnos could comment, which she could
see very clearly he wanted to do, Tolan Lark headed for the controls.  “You can
get to know each other once we are back on The Fire .  For now, strap in
and let’s get off this smelly rock.”
    Barnos held his tongue
and so did Lara, even if she did want to take exception to that sardonic gleam
in his eyes. Later she would take him to task for staring at her as if she had
five heads.  Leaving Montrouge sounded wonderful, and she had things to think
about.  Like how she was going to convince the two men that the rescue was not
finished yet.  As condescending as they were, they seemed to know what they
were about in the rescue business.  Plus she was sure the both of them were
just wicked enough to have the connections she was going to need.  She did not
fool herself into thinking she had the power to end slavery and save all those
poor women sold every day on this terrible planet, not until the Alliance took
a broader view on where their protection covered, but Thaos was just a child. 
She had made him a promise, and she intended to keep it.  She knew without
asking that neither man would welcome further involvement, but when she
explained the circumstances and her bond with Thaos, they would have no choice
but to help her rescue him.  At least she hoped that was the case.  When
dealing with scoundrels it was sometimes difficult to understand what motivated
them.
    ***
    They docked with The
Fire without any further issues, and Barnos was free to wonder at the
luscious Lady Lara of Heti.  He knew there were people so sheltered from the
universe around them that they kept that naive belief in the good of all
mankind rubbish, but from what he gathered she had quite a bit of freedom and
had seen much of the worlds, including the slave pens on