The young girl turned toward Jaxon and smiled from across the room. As soon as they made eye contact, Jaxon thankfully realized that his mind was playing tricks. It wasn't her. He'd convinced himself that it was, simply because he was so powerless to help her. And, until they completed the mission, he would remain useless.

Jaxon drew his attention to the table closest to them. He wanted the image of his daughter out of his mind. Just the thought of the possibility that his daughter could be lost in a place like this caused his heart to race. He sat up and took another drink of his beer. He could feel his skin flush with anger.

"Jaxon, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's ... I'll tell you later."

Forcing himself to recover, Jaxon looked at the woman on the near table more closely. She was a tall blonde, with enormous double E breasts. Not at all his type, but they needed to make headway. He pulled out his credit stick and laid it on the table next to his beer, certain that she noticed his action. Jaxon winked, and she smiled in return.

Jaxon leaned back and noticed that Camille was watching his every move. He leaned into her and said, "The bait is set," nodding to the voluptuous blonde that had just finished her dance set.

No words were spoken for several minutes as they waited for the stripper to approach. As predicted, she arrived at their table once she had gathered all the tips scattered across the stage.

The dancer, now redressed in a red, sequined mini-dress and crystal-clear, six-inch spike heels, smiled.

"Hi there, I'm Misty," she said. "Are you two looking for some company?"

"Absolutely," Camille said eagerly, then slid out the empty chair across from her and Jaxon.

As she sat down, she continued to eye Jaxon's credit stick lying on the table before them. "Are you two here for business or pleasure?"

Jaxon was about to respond when Camille cut in.

"A little bit of both. We had a conference earlier, but now we're out to have a little fun, before ... returning to our significant others back home," Camille said. leaning in close to Misty as if sharing a great secret.

Jaxon was taken by surprise at Camille's quickness in drumming up a believable cover on the spot.

"Hey now," Jaxon protested mildly. "Let's not share too much personal information with Misty. We just met her, and who knows who she might tell?" He winked.

"Don't worry, mister. I've heard it all. Your secret's safe with me," Misty said, returning his wink. Then she looked back to Camille, who had clearly captured her attention. Seeing a woman in such a male-dominated environment was not the norm. "Have you been to Alpha Station before?" she asked.

Camille answered Misty's questions as they settled into a nice conversation. As the ladies talked, Jaxon's training took over, and he proceeded to scan the club for questionable characters and exit pathways. It had been a few days since the last assassination attempt, and he wasn't exactly sold on whether or not they were out of danger.

Before returning his attention back to the girls, he noticed a new dancer stepping up onto the table where Misty just left. Jaxon's heart nearly burst at the sight of yet another young teen dancer. Jaxon was dumbfounded because this one looked almost younger than the first girl they saw on the other table.

"I don't want to sound too forward," Jaxon said, interrupting the girls' conversation. "But, is there any chance we can get a ... private performance?"

"Absolutely!" Misty said with excitement. "For you, or the missus?" she asked.

"Both," Camille said as she weaved her fingers into Jaxon's hand sitting on the table.

"All right," Misty said. "Just so you know, I'll have to charge a little more, seeing as we're making this a threesome, but I'm sure that won't be a problem, right?" she asked, her eyes falling on Jaxon's credit stick once again.

Jaxon was more than happy to dial up the extra credits on his device before tapping it onto Misty's credit receiver, which was disguised as a necklace pendant around her neck. Her tip jar, so to speak. Jaxon would've paid twice as much if it got his mind off of his missing daughter.

Misty smiled gleefully as she led Jaxon and Camille past the velvet curtain, practically dragging Camille by the hand. Jaxon followed and noted the light dimming as they stepped into the other room.

The atmosphere was similar to out front, but privacy and seclusion were prevalent. She continued leading the couple to the first unoccupied booth and motioned them in. Once they were in the booth and sitting next to each other on a tall back leather sofa, Misty stepped in and pulled the drapes closed.

The music could still be heard from out in the club, but it was much more subdued, allowing conversations to be carried out with ease.

"Okay, you've paid for one private dance, which lasts the length of one song. If you'd like to extend the dance, feel free to tap my pendant any time during the performance. Also, touching is frowned upon," she said, first looking at Jaxon and then shifting her gaze to Camille, "but I won't tell if you don't."

The previous song ended, and the next track started up. Just as the rhythm began to vibrate through the floor, Misty began writhing about. Within moments, her mini-dress had dropped to the floor, exposing sparkling body glitter that had been rubbed on her breasts. She turned around and bent over at the waist, touching her hands on the floor and shaking her bare butt in sync with the music.

Camille leaned over and whispered into Jaxon's ear. "Um, do you think we should stop her, and ask about the real reason why we're here?"

Jaxon chuckled. "What? And deprive her of performing her civic duty? She's a paid woman, Cam. We should wait-"

Camille shoved her elbow into Jaxon's rib cage, interrupting his chauvinistic thoughts before regrettable words were said.

"Ouch, I mean, Misty. As wonderful of a job as you're doing here, can we stop you for just a moment?" Jaxon asked.

Misty stopped her gyrations and turned to look at them quizzically. "It's your dime, mister."

"It's just that, our real reason for bringing you back here was to see if we could, I don't know, score a little medicinal entertainment?" Jaxon asked.

"What makes you think I have anything to sell?" Misty asked as she stood in front of them, completely naked save for her high-heeled shoes.

"Obviously, we'd never assume that you'd be the seller," Camille said as she reached out and caressed the side of Misty's thigh. "But if you could point us in the right direction, to someone who might have what we're looking for, I'm sure we could thank you properly." Camille slid her hand up and across Misty's abdomen, then in between her ample breasts, before she flicked her pendant.

Misty moaned softly. "Ooh. I like how you think, sexy woman. What is it that you're looking for? I might know someone that can help you two out."

"We'd like some Whitetail. Some for now and enough to bring home for later," Jaxon said, fighting the erotic distraction from all the touching between Camille and Misty.

Misty's enthusiastic smile and flirtatious demeanor changed instantly. Frown lines deepened on her face and she took a step back, dropping a hand in front of her pelvis as if to say this entry is closed. "I'm sorry. I ... know nothing about that. Perhaps you two should look someplace else."

Before they could protest, Misty picked up her dress and bolted from the private booth.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" Camille asked.

Jaxon shrugged. "Beats me. She seemed pretty shaken up at just hearing the name. If I had to guess, she's probably running out there right now, telling some bouncer named Guido that we've been inappropriate with her. I think we should get out of here while we still can."

"Agreed," Camille said, stepping out of the private booth.

Once past the velvet curtain, they headed straight for the exit, not even pausing to see where Misty might have gone.

35.

Francisco and Oliver walked into the control room of the ship and found Jaxon and Camille sitting next to each other on the flight couch.

"You two have any luck?" Jaxon asked.

"That's a negative, boss," Oliver said. "Found just one dealer in the entire two hours we were there, and he clammed up like a nervous oyster the minute we said Whitetail."

A curious look passed over Jaxon's face. "Strangely, same result with us. We had a lead on a seller, but as soon as we mentioned what we were looking for, she ran out of the private booth as if it was on fire."

Oliver's brow rose. "Private booth? Are you holding out on us, boss?"

"Not at all. Just running down our best options. Let's undock and get out of here, and then we'll regroup."

The team dispersed, and minutes later, they released the docking clamps and headed for their next stop.

"We're about two hours away," Oliver said as he engaged the autopilot.

"Great. Let's gather on the Observation Deck and discuss the next station," Jaxon said before he and Camille left the cockpit.

Thirty minutes into the flight, the team had concluded their abbreviated mission briefing and were each researching information at their own computer terminals. As the objective remained the same-gain information on Whitetail-the discussion was cut short and independent research prevailed. As Jaxon read through various details and capabilities of Beta Station, the ship's sensors picked up a disturbance directly in the path of the ship.

"Hey, boss. What do you make of this?" Oliver asked.

Jaxon closed the file he was reading and brought up the ship's sensor array. On the display, there were a series of small spacecraft, around seven in the thirty-meter range, directly in their path.

"Can you tell who they are?"

Oliver tapped at his control panel. "No, sir. It's like they're ghosts. No information whatsoever about their origination or their class."

"Just plot a new course. We don't need any more trouble right now," Jaxon said. "Is the stealth device still active, babe ... Cam?"

All eyes focused on Jaxon as the flight deck drew quiet. Jaxon could feel his skin heat up because of his Freudian slip.

"Yes, puddin'," Camille said with sass. "The code randomizer that Clay and I created is working as planned."

Jaxon swallowed hard. It wasn't like him to flub any part of the mission, but this was no ordinary situation. Having Camille thrust back into his life was something that he'd never have anticipated in his wildest dreams.

"All right. I'll be in my quarters until we arrive if anyone needs me." Jaxon stood and practically ran out of the control room to avoid any uncomfortable questioning.

Beep, beep.

Jaxon was lying on his bunk, reviewing Camille's personnel file for the fiftieth time, when the intercom call interrupted him.

"Go ahead," Jaxon said, flicking the switch on the wall panel.

"Hey, boss? We've got a small problem up here. Care to join us?" Oliver asked.

Jaxon closed the file on his commPad when he saw the time. They were twenty minutes out, according to Oliver's latest estimate. "I'll be there in a minute," he said, dropping the tablet to his bunk. He was thankful for the distraction, as he was beginning to think his obsession with Cam was verging on the unhealthy side. He slipped his shoes on and headed for flight control.

When Jaxon walked in, Oliver was sitting at the navigation console. He glanced at tactical but Camille was nowhere in sight. Francisco sat opposite Camille's station, no doubt scrutinizing some random chemical compounds.

"What do you have?" he asked Oliver.

"I called in for docking procedures a bit ago, and they said that they were full up and that we can't stay docked at Beta Station for longer than ten minutes; long enough to drop off or pick someone up."

"Completely full? Really?"

"It's what he said. I gave him our IMO number, and that's when he told me it was a no-go."

Jaxon's eyes narrowed. "What are our options?"

"We've got two, boss. We can stop the Buddha in orbit around the station, and they can send a tender for us. Probably twenty minutes, round trip."

"Second option?"

"We could dock long enough to unload part of the team, but somebody would have to stay back to pull the ship away and wait."

Jaxon contemplated for a moment. He knew that if the whole team was on the station at the same time, they could cover twice as much ground. The drawback was that if something went awry, there wouldn't be an immediate means of escape. They'd have to wait for the shuttle to tender them back to the Buddha. At least with the second option, all they would have to do is call the ship and have Oliver pick them up if things went sideways.

"How far out are we?" Jaxon asked.

Oliver projected the navigation computer's readout to the main screen. "Twelve minutes to dock."

"All right. Miles, you and Camille will stay with the ship. Clay and I will do a quick pass of the station. I'm not comfortable splitting the team up right now, but this is one of the smaller stations compared to the others on the list. If it wasn't on Evans' list, I think we'd just pass it up."

"Roger that, boss," Oliver said.

Jaxon looked back toward Francisco, who was still engrossed in his computer terminal. "Clay?"

There was no response.

"Clay!" Jaxon said, raising his voice several octaves.

"Wuh ... what? Did you call me?" Francisco asked, rubbing his eyes clear.

"Yeah, change of plans. It's going to be just you and me on the station. There's a problem about docking, and only two of us are going. Camille and Oliver will stay back and come get us when we're through. Grab your gear and be ready to go. About ten minutes."

"Yes, sir," Francisco stood and walked out of the control room.

"Well, this will be fun," Jaxon muttered.

"Eh, the kid's not bad. He's a little nervous, but he means well," Oliver said.

"Yeah, it's that nervous thing that worries me," Jaxon said. "Can you fill Cam in on the plan change?"

"Yeah, sure thing, boss."

Jaxon left the cockpit and went to grab his own gear from his bunk.