Krimson Princess: Rystar and the LASSOs Book Two

by Jack Archer

  “You were ready to bust up my ship for this Hoop thing,” Rystar said, standing up slowly and pointing a finger at Na’gya. “You don’t even know what it is?”

  “Okay, I sort of know what it is,” Na’gya backtracked, “but I don’t know where it is or who is there. It’s somewhere in the Outer Bands, one they’re using for the rebellion. It’s not much, but I know I need to get out there if we’re to get our rights back.”

  “I could give a damn about the rights of a bunch of feathery assholes,” Jorge hissed through the receiver, making all three of them blanch. Rystar had heard Jorge upset before, but this was a whole different level. Sure, their systems were important, but ‘for the greater good’ and all that usually struck a chord with him.

  “Jorge,” Rystar began, sitting back down on the bed and cocking an eyebrow at Shea, “if he’s right and he does have the money, why don’t we just take him to the Hoop? It’s not like I can go anywhere without my LASSO right now anyway.”

  The voice that came through the comms was not one that Rystar had ever heard from Jorge before, and it made her heart crumble. “Rystar, listen to me. If that money isn’t in our account in two days, and Mr. Vasilev back with his parents, I will personally come out there and deliver him myself, and that will be your last day at the FDDS.”

  Even Na’gya looked sympathetic as the heat in Rystar’s face rose, and her chest tightened. Shea pursed his lips and furrowed his brow at her, and she let out a breath, looking to him for moral support. He had a little and shrugged it at her along with a small smile.

  “We’ll do what we can, Jorge,” Rystar said before taking the comms tablet and hanging up, standing from the bed and facing Na’gya.

  “We need to make an attempt to bring you back to your parents,” she said.

  “But if you just—” he started before Rystar held up a finger to him.

  “I’m doing this for the bounty,” she said, “not for whatever the hell it is you all have going on. I need to at least make an attempt to bring you back to Chantakor so that when the Sustris do overpower us and drag us to the Hoop, it’ll look like we had no choice.”

  “So you are helping us?” Na’gya said, his eyes lighting up.

  “I’m considering it,” Rystar said, gesturing for Shea to follow her out of the room.

  Back in the hall after the door shut, Rystar turned to Shea, who held up his hands.

  “I think we should help Na’gya,” he blurted, and Rystar turned around, eyebrows up in her hairline. “I know being a bounty hunter was something I wanted so bad, but this is bigger than us, Rystar. This is bigger than the FDDS or Earth.”

  “But the FDDS and Earth is our home,” she countered, folding her arms across her chest. “This isn’t. We don’t know these people. We don’t owe them anything.”

  “I think you’re making a mistake,” Shea said, letting his hands fall and moving away down the hall to his bedroom.

  Rystar narrowed her eyes after him. It was the first time he had ever truly disagreed with her, and it didn’t sit right in her stomach.

  Chapter Three

  Rystar Umara: Glasport 2, Nitran, Omyuch System

  Lupende Perl, a name she learned later, was one of the best pilots in the Bubble. Nitran, on the other hand, was the fucking worst planet ever.

  Wreathed in snow storms and ice, Nitran sat on the very edge of the TRAPPIST system, as humans called it. The Sustris called it Omyuch, an unfortunate name for a regrettable system, Rystar thought. The Sustri’s native planet was the first in the system called Braluria, a tidally locked planet that was either in constant day or eternal night.

  Nitran was locked in an eternal night no matter what side faced the sun. The constant roll of clouds blocked any incoming light, and snow swirled around in an endless parade of blue. They were all on the bridge, and Rystar noticed Na’gya standing behind Shea and herself with his wings outstretched like he was protecting them. She smiled.

  “Negative, my friend, we just need docking for two days,” Kyran said again, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. The radio squeaked again.

  “Nitran is following new security protocol. Your stay must be either over three weeks or under two days.”

  “That’s insane. I don’t understand what the point of that is,” Kyran said, throwing his arms up and turning around. Since the chase, he had donned something a little less flashy, and Rystar quite liked the sight of him in a pair of ratty jeans and an old shirt. She looked over at Shea and nudged him. He had been tired from their chase and all the jumps. The Mach IVs were a lot easier to pilot through the portals, but the jumps were still killer if done in a small amount of time.

  “Well,” Enzo began, pointing to Kyran, “these security protocols are in place because of people like us who want to take advantage of—”

  “Will you hush?” Kyran snapped, holding his hand out severely to Enzo. Rystar couldn’t help but laugh. In the short time she had known the crew, she could already see that the security person was the least liked on the team, no matter how friendly or approachable they were. “I don’t care who the security protocols are protecting. They’re messing me up now, alright?”

  Enzo merely shrugged. She could tell he was used to this sort of treatment and fell back into silence, a smirk on his face.

  “Give us a day and a half, sound fair?” Kyran slapped a hand on the console and looked thoroughly displeased with the entire situation but resigned to his fate.

  “Thank you, Mr. Skylock. Enjoy your stay at Glasport 2.” The sarcastic voice on the comms left, and Kyran rolled his eyes.

  “I don’t know a single god damn person who’s enjoyed their stay in this dump,” Kyran grumbled and pushed off the comms console to swagger his way back to the seating area.

  “You make it sound so nice,” Rystar said, pulling a coy smile onto her face and turning around to join Kyran in the seating area. Lupe’s hands flew around the control panel and began to fly them into the hangar while everyone else went back to their stations.

  It took forever to dock, and as soon as they did, Kyran was in the airlock, depressurizing and tapping his foot.

  “For someone who hates this place, you sure are in a rush to get out there,” Rystar said, pulling on her grungy coat and following him into the airlock, Shea close behind her.

  “I’m starving,” he grumbled, popping out his coat collar and sliding his giant pair of sunglasses on before exiting the airlock.

  “Well, can we come with you?” Rystar asked, making him stop and turn around. “Or are we prisoner on your ship even here?”

  He flashed that stupid grin of his and shrugged his jacket before turning around again. “You can come with me if you want, sugar. Ever been on an alien planet before?”

  “How green do you think I am?” Rystar grumbled and rolled her eyes before beckoning Shea to follow her. He had donned a pair of cargo pants and a heavy coat with a fur lining, his arms drawn up around him in an attempt to keep warm.

  They walked close to each other through the customs gate and into a large room that bustled with people and arms vendors, but not much food.

  “So what’s there to eat around here?” Rystar asked.

  “Nothing you’d like, I’m sure,” Kyran scoffed and headed off down a hallway lined with various meat stalls. “Since you like to call us vampires, I’ll give you three guesses what we eat.”

  Rystar took a closer look at the stalls and noticed bottles of blood stacked up neatly on display, canisters of raw meat slapped on ice blocks. Her jaw dropped for a moment before she caught herself. “Yeah, you’re going to have to cook that for me.”

  “Ah, I’m sure we can find a Terran place around here,” Kyran said and ducked around a corner, pointing to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and motioning for them to follow. “Like right there.”

  “I can’t believe there’s a Terran place to eat here,” Shea muttered, looking around at the decor.

  “Why not?” Kyran scoffed as a server led
them to a booth in the back and handing them menus before walking away. “You humans are damn near everywhere. Why not Nitran?”

  “Just a weird place to be, I guess,” Shea said and shrugged, picking up his menu.

  “There’s a lot of Sustri food here, but I’ve heard this place has the best Indian food in all the Bubble, except of course India itself,” Kyran said, pushing his menu away. Rystar assumed he had been here many times before and scanned the menu, not recognizing any of the dish names. When the server returned, they ordered drinks, and Rystar hesitated when it was her turn to order.

  “These two are going to have the chicken tikka masala,” Kyran ordered, shooting them both a wink and leaning back in his seat. She had opted to sit next to Shea, partially to keep an eye on Kyran and partially because she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. Ass.

  “Oh, is that what we’re having?” Rystar’s eyes widened, and she smirked as the server took their menus away and left. She picked up her drink and sipped, one eye closing as the sour taste permeated every molecule of her mouth. “What the hell is this?”

  “I ordered us some Glasport Gringers,” Kyran said and took a sip of his own, pulling a face not nearly as dramatic as Rystar’s. “I talk a lot of shit about this place, but they know how to make a Gringer.”

  “You talk like I’m supposed to know what that is,” Rystar grumbled, taking another sip. It was cold going down and smacked her in the ribs with a lead pipe, but it also gave her the feeling of floating on air.

  “What does it matter?” Kyran waved a hand at her and looked down as his comms tablet lit up. He slid the earpiece from its sheath and shoved it in his ear before pressing a button on the tablet. “What’s up, Enzo?”

  Rystar perked up at Enzo’s name and sat forward, noticing Shea doing the same thing. Kyran hummed and ‘yeah’d’ a few times before nodding and pressing the button on the earpiece. They leaned forward expectantly, and Kyran looked between the two of them, narrowing his eyes. “What?”

  “Well?” Rystar asked. “What was that all about?”

  “What’s it to you?” Kyran huffed and sat back with his drink, fumbling for the straw with his mouth.

  “The faster we get to this Hoop thing, the faster I can get my bounty and go the hell home,” Rystar said and jutted a finger at him, pulling out her Cortijet to take a drag.

  “Oh, sweetheart.” Kyran clucked his tongue and tilted his head, his eyes a sympathetic shade of red. “You think it’ll be that easy? This bounty is officially out of your hands now.”

  “Let’s say that’s the case,” Rystar said and banged her glass on the table, anger rising in her chest, “that Na’gya is officially a part of your crew, and that bounty is gone. Why the hell do you need Shea and me here? Why not just let us go?”

  “One,” Kyran began as the server came back with several plates of food, setting it down in front of them, “you wouldn’t have had a chance to try chicken tikka masala. And two—” he downed his drink and set it on the table before spreading his hands “—you’re god damn good. You have connections, and from what I’ve seen, you’re a passionate fighter. We could use someone like you on our team.”

  “Whose team?” Rystar said through a mouthful of food. “Holy shit, this is good.”

  Kyran tucked into his bowl of what looked like deep red soup that Rystar tried to convince herself was tomato. He grinned up at her. “The Sustri’s team. The Ya’ados’ team.”

  As they ate, Kyran stopped for a moment and gave her and Shea a strange look, strange because it was soft and warm, and she could have sworn his eyes were the tiniest bit glassy. But he looked back down at his soup, and the moment was gone.

  Rystar pushed her empty plate away and took another drink before folding her arms and leaning back. “I’m still confused. What is the Hoop? What do you want me to help you with that is worth more than six— no, twelve million credits?”

  “How about Ya’ados’s freedom?” Kyran said with a calmness. “How about millions of Sustri and Terran lives? There’s a war going on, and you all seem to have turned a blind eye to it.”

  “A war?” Rystar asked, furrowing her brow.

  “On Aurum.” Kyran was suddenly very serious. His normal flippant demeanor had vanished, replaced with a frightening sternness that made his eyes cold despite the bright red irises. “Or do you only care for the folks on your dying Earth?”

  “Don’t you dare talk to me like I don’t care about those poor bastards on Aurum,” Rystar hissed, slamming her drink down and leaning forward. “What right do you have to think that I—”

  “Listen, Rystar, I barely know you, and I already put more faith in you than I have with any of the jackoffs I’ve worked with at Aurum and even on Earth,” Kyran said, cutting her off, his voice low and commanding. “Whether or not your government believes there’s a war on Aurum doesn’t mean shit because there is one, and there’s been one for a hundred years.”

  “I’ve never even been to Aurum,” Rystar muttered as the server came back by, and they paid for their food. She stood up and downed the rest of her drink. “But it’s nice to know you’re such royalty that you’ve stepped foot there.”

  She stood up and motioned for Shea to follow her, watching the two men stand up from the booth and head outside after her.

  “I’m not royalty. I just…” Kyran snapped but cut off, his voice wavering for the first time since Rystar had met him. “I told you they didn’t want me there.”

  Rystar relaxed at his hesitancy. Clearly, the Sustri had been through some hard times. Maybe she should go easy on him. “So, what were you doing there?”

  “Another story for another time, darlin’,” he drawled, some of his old fire coming back. Rystar rolled her eyes as they meandered through the vendors and busy streets, back into the main spaceport foyer. They stopped for a moment, and Kyran pressed the button on his earpiece to call for Enzo. A moment later and Kyran smiled.

  “What do you got for me?” he said, putting a hand behind his back and scuffing at the ground with his boot. “Uh-huh. Wait, nothing? At all? Well, check again. Did you get those other records for me? Great, thanks. No, I don’t care how many firewalls you have to crack or whatever. Yeah, I don’t care what they’re called. Bye.”

  Kyran pressed the button on his earpiece again and looked up at Rystar and Shea with the fakest grin Rystar had ever seen before, waving them on. “Back to the ship. Let’s see how everyone’s doing.”

  Na’gya was happy to see them as they approached the central dining area. Lupe sat in their normal spot next to the open stove and cooking table, reading a book while Cobalt and Na’gya chatted away at the table. Na’gya smiled at the sight of them, and Rystar couldn’t help but notice he was still shirtless. Any shirt he had didn’t have space for his gigantic wings.

  “We got to find you something to wear, prince,” Kyran said as he approached, throwing himself in a chair at the table. “Not that I’m complaining.”

  Rystar’s eyes widened, and she and Shea exchanged looks before sitting down at the table with the rest of the crew. Maybe Kyran was just thirsty for everyone he saw. She couldn’t really blame him. Na’gya had the kind of good looks you wouldn’t know what to do with if you had the chance to play with them.

  She shook her head and made small talk with the crew before Kyran’s comms tablet lit up. He took the earpiece from his ear and set it on the table before pressing a couple buttons to answer the call.

  “Enzo, friend, you’re on speaker,” he greeted, and they all leaned in, including Lupe, who had put their book down and headed over, hand resting on the table as they stood stone still.

  “I might have fucked up,” came the reply on the end of the comms.

  “Well, that’s certainly not a good way to start a conversation,” Kyran said, his brow furrowed with worry. “What happened?”

  “There’s nothing on the Hoop,” Enzo crackled, his breathing ragged like he was running. “I got the other stuff, but they caught me
before I could get anywhere further with the Hoop. It was a god damn honeypot.”

  “What’s honeypot?” Cobalt asked, his voice rough around the edges. He didn’t talk enough, that was for sure.

  “Oh, a honeypot is a—” Enzo began, but Kyran cut him off.

  “Fuck off with the security lesson, Enz,” he snapped, picking up the tablet and pacing towards the elevators, “do I need to get the ship started or not?”

  “Yes, I would say get the ship started immediately,” Enzo replied, his even voice more harried now as the sounds of yelling came from the background.

  “Well, lead with that next time!” Kyran spat and hung up, turning to Lupe and barking orders. “You heard him, get this thing up and running. Cobalt, I want you at the airlock in case Enzo needs help getting back in here, alright?”

  “What can I do?” Na’gya asked, standing up. Kyran’s eyes softened.

  “You just stay here and be safe,” he said in a more gentle tone, turning to Rystar and Shea. “You two as well. Keep your heads down. We need you.”

  “I can help. I’m a good shot,” Rystar said and stood up, already heading towards the elevators with Kyran.

  Kyran turned to her with steely eyes. “Oh, now you want to help.”

  “Is now the time to do this?” Rystar set her hands on her hips.

  “Fine, follow Cobalt. I’m sure there’s a spare pistol up there somewhere,” Kyran grumbled, and they all headed to the second floor. Kyran and Lupe broke away to the bridge while Cobalt and Rystar headed toward the airlock. When he turned around, Cobalt grunted at the sight of her and flicked his head near a locker where she found an old pistol. Another grunt signaled for her to follow him, and together they came out of the airlock and onto the causeway. They hid behind two pillars and waited for the sound of footsteps on the metal grates before sighing as Enzo came into view.

  He was running stiff as a robot, and Rystar snorted. The guy was so uptight, even when being chased by the Glasport 2 Police Department.