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jarring during turbulence. “Set him over here.”
    “Are you sure it can hold him?” A guard sounded surprised. “Don’t you have a gravity-plus tank?”
    “No, I don’t. Not on this ship. We’ll have to make due. Tell Mr. Naveen when he wakes up that it was a big mistake not to tell me who and what my retrieval was.”
    “Oh well, so the Kironian breaks loose. It’s not like it’s going to affect the outcome.” Several guards laughed.
    She bristled. “I don’t care for your attitude. This man won’t break loose, and, if he does, I can handle it. By the way, what the hell do you mean 'affect the outcome?' What is that about?”
    A guard looked at her with dull eyes. “You’ll be fine.”
    Whoa! All of Gemmina’s hunter instincts flashed glaring red flags. These guys were lying. Not one of them expected her to succeed. Considering she’d been hired as an expert in her field, this was highly disturbing.
    “What’s going on here?”
    “You better be on your way. We’ll transfer those universal credits right now. They’ll be deposited in your account as soon as the authorization clears.” The guards exited the skimmer and walked inside the building and closed the bay door. The faux rock wall and foliage glided into place. Once again the complex resembled a simple cliff covered in palms and tropical brush.
    “That was weird. I can’t say I’m sorry they’re gone.” Gemmina turned to face Syan. Once eye contact was made his dark gaze locked onto hers and wouldn’t let go. He was a breathtakingly handsome man. The slightly exotic set of his eyes reminded her of a tiger. The more she looked, the more she liked what she saw. Long moments passed as she stood frozen and stared into the depths of his eyes. Suddenly there was no sense of time. The seconds simply faded away. External thoughts did not exist. Syan was her sole focus. Her eyes started to feel dry, but looking away was impossible. So was blinking. Her pulse beat softly. She knew something wasn’t right, but she felt powerless to do anything about it. A dreamy state overcame her as if she were swaying carefree in the breeze like a palm frond, unable to think or resist being drawn deeper.
    “Stop it!” It required colossal effort, but she broke eye contact with the Kironian. She feared he was using some sort of mind control technique. “I don‘t know what you’re up to, but I’m not falling for it.” With force she brought the body cage over his shoulders and locked him securely into the seat. “The restraints are made of light-weight diamond-matrix carbon. Big guy or not, I doubt you can break free.”
    “I am not a murderer. You are in no danger from me.”
    Gemmina immediately checked the silence collar. It was in place with its tiny green light pulsing.
    “How did you do that? How did you speak? I can telepathically track an individual based on where they are and how they feel. I know if they’re injured, in pain, or lying to me, but I can’t read minds. Not this clearly. What’s with you?”
    His lips remained still . “Kironians are telepathic in certain situations of arousal or stress with chosen individuals. We are compatible.”
    “I can’t say I’m pleased to be compatible with a monster like you.”
    “You’ll soon see I’m not a monster. I did not do what I’m accused of. I need your help.”
    She sat in the captain’s chair and watched him from the corner of her eye.
    “You need to be quiet and stop trying to manipulate me. I hear denial all the time. Everybody’s innocent. No one does anything wrong. I’ve been a bounty hunter my entire adult life. I’m immune to this crap, so don’t even start.”
    He shifted restlessly in the seat as much as the body cage would allow. “You’re not immune. You can hear my thoughts. Do you know how rare and special that this?”
    “No, I don’t. Would you please settle down and stop the mental chatter for a few minutes while I do a pre-flight checklist? Once we’re