Chapter 5

The first thing he was aware of was the steady beeping noise. The second thing he noticed was being warm, if not entirely comfortable. When his mind realized he wasn't feeling any pain. Zhane's eyes shot open and he bolted upright, feeling something fall off him and pool in his lap.

'Whoa, slow down,' a melodic voice told him.

His mouth fell open as his eyes caught sight of the other person in the room. 'Karone?' he chocked, his voice a little raspy.

'You got pretty badly hurt,' she continued, walking over to the patientbed. 'And passing out in the cryo chamber didn't help much.'

'Me hurt badly? You died!'

'But I didn't,' she cut him off. 'Now, before I give you the next dose of pain meds. I've got one question.'

'What?'

'What did you do to my ship?' Their noses were almost touching now. The angry fire in her eyes had Zhane frozen in place. He could feel her warm breath on his lips and nearly lost all coherent thought.

'I… I… I wasn't even on the ship,' he stammered. 'Deca handled the fight with the Dark Fortress. I was down on some planet's surface getting my ass handed to me under the watchful eye of Orion and Ecliptor.'

'Excuses,' she glared. 'Do you have any idea how much work these repairs are going to be?'

'Less work than before now you're back. I've been running and repairing the ship on my own for over a year now.'

Her expression softened a little, a trace of guilt creeping into her eyes. 'Yeah, Deca mentioned something like that. You should've taken a bit better care of yourself though. I had to drag you here to patch you up while my muscles were still weak from stasis. I didn't even have my morpher to help me out. Where is that anyway?'

'The megavault,' he answered. 'Along with the other astro morphers. Deca could've told you that. And you didn't have to drag me here.'

'Yes, I did. Hypothermia was the last thing you needed,' she argued.

Only now did it register that the thing which had fallen off him was a thick blanket. Zhane tore his eyes away from hers and stared at his lap. 'Sorry, it's been rough since the evacuation.'

Karone stepped away for a moment. When she returned there was a shot of painkillers in her hand. Silently she rolled up the short sleeve of his shirt so she could reach the right spot to administer it. Zhane sighed in relieve as the drugs entered his system. He hadn't let it show, but during their conversation, the pain had returned with a vengeance.

'Rest,' Karone ordered, putting away the hypospray. 'We're on course for Eltar to pick up supplies and materials we'll need for the repairs. Not everything is carried on the ship.'

He blinked at her. A giggle suddenly escaping his lips. She rolled her eyes at him and walked back over to force him to lay down.

'You're pretty,' he breathed.

'And you're high.'

Zhane's hand reached out to tug a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She offered him a small smile. Before she had a chance to react, Zhane leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. Her eyes widened and she had to repress the urge to slap him, reminding herself he was high and didn't know what he was doing. Instead Karone put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him away. Zhane didn't protest when she guided him to lay down on the bed and tugged the blanket back over him.

'Sleep,' she commanded as his eyes fluttered shut. 'The Power will heal you faster if you do.'

Her fingers unconsciously touched her lips when she was leaving the infirmary to pick up her morpher. She caught herself and laughed, shaking her head. Zhane was high on painkillers right now. It didn't mean anything.

The lower levels of the ship were a bustle of activity. Foot soldiers were running to and thro, repairs being made all over. But the foot soldiers were never bright to begin with and now distracted by the repair work, sneaking onto the ship became much too easy. A cloaked figure crept through the shadows and navigated with ease to the upper levels. Their feet barely made any sound on the floor.

A noise up ahead warned someone was approaching and she quickly ducked into an alcove, slinking further into the shadows. A smirk appeared on her lips when she was simply passed by without a single glance her way.

The rest of the way to the bridge was clear. No one was even left to guard it. Sauntering over to a console, her fingers flew over it, pulling up a status report of the ship. A grin spread at what she read. This tin can was a sitting duck for at least another three days. After turning the console off, she turned around and walked to a door in the corner of the bridge. It slid open without a sound, revealing a dark corridor. That didn't worry her, she could find the way with her eyes closed.

The next door slid open as soundlessly as the last and she found the one person on the ship she was looking for. He lay fast asleep on his back in the bed, chest bare and the sheets tangled around his legs.

She licked her lips at the sight of him. On tiptoes she snuck across the room, shedding her cloak on the way to reveal her skin tight leather clothing. Careful not to wake him until she wanted him to, she climbed onto the bed.

His eyes flew open when she straddled his hips. The blade of a dagger was pressed against her throat before he registered just who had woken him.

'Astrae.'

'Orion,' she answered calmly.

'Nice of you to drop in.'

'It wasn't that hard. You should really do something about the security of this place. Someone might just walk in and steal something. Even Ecliptor walked right past me. Though, with the shape the ship is in, I doubt it really matters. You don't exactly pose a threat right now to anyone, do you?'

Orion growled at her, which only made her laugh.

'Did you get it?' he asked, deciding to change the subject and come straight down to business.

'Are you kidding me? Mondo got himself blown up by the rangers and is being rebuild still. In the meantime Gasket had shown up, but he was too busy playing with his new red ranger toy and Sprocket and Machina are really too dim-witted to notice a human sneaking around. Getting into their base and stealing blue prints wasn't even half a challenge. It was even easier than getting in here,' Astrae yawned, pulling a datadisk from one of the pouches on her belt.

Orion made a grab for it, but she pulled it out of reach and walked her finger at him.

'You're expecting me to hand it over with this pressed against my throat?' she cocked and eyebrow, pointing at the dagger. 'You know I don't hand good over under threat.'

He shrugged as best as he could in his position and returned the dagger to the nightstand. Astrae handed him the datadisk and watched as he placed it next to the dagger.

'I also found something else that might interest you as I was pocking around their computers,' she smiled coyly. His crimson eyes bore into her golden ones and she knew his interest was piqued. 'I found the tech they used on Klank and Orbus to make their monsters grow. Thought you could make it better. If you want it, that is. Otherwise I'm sure I could find a buyer…'

'I'll take it,' he interrupted her. His hands moved to her hips, fingering the pouches at her sides. 'Where is it?'

She tugged her black hair behind her ear before moving her hands to the top of her bodice. His eyes followed them as she reached in. She felt him stir beneath her when she pulled out the second disk. Bending over him to place it with the other one, she heard him swallow. When she sat back up, his eyes were burning.

'I'm going to hazard a guess you're expecting me to pay for them,' he said, trying to ignore her knowing smile.

'You know I never work for free,' Astrae replied, placing a finger between his collar bones. 'And I expect you, out of all my clients, to pay me quite handsomely,' she continued, trailing the finger slowly down his chest as she spoke.

She smirked when he flipped them over with growl, pinning her beneath him. His hands left her hips and caught her wrists, moving her arms above her head and holding them there. He moved his mouth next to her ear. 'Oh, I'll give you a handsome pay.'