“Perhaps we can arrange that.”
Hakim and the leaders murmured a few words to each other. Jelena caught, “… south side warehouse wasn’t damaged” before her gaze drifted toward the city gates. Two figures were walking out, each carrying packs. Dr. Ogiwara and Hoshi.
Were they planning to leave the city? Jelena and Thor had jokingly mentioned that they needed a doctor, but she hadn’t expected anything to come of that, especially after Hakim had shared how vital Ogiwara was to their people. However, there weren’t any other ships out here. Jelena couldn’t imagine where else they would be going.
One of the leaders stepped away to murmur something into a comm unit.
“I have a lot to take care of in the aftermath of all this,” Hakim said, “so I need to take my leave of you. Thank you again for your help. All of you.” She nodded to all of them, even though she’d barely met Masika and Erick, then gripped Jelena’s forearm before turning to walk toward the city. Her trusty aide with the tablet appeared and jogged after her.
Hakim stopped to speak with Ogiwara. Hoshi twirled a few times while she waited. That was the perkiest girl Jelena could ever imagine in these circumstances.
“Does this mean we’re not getting paid by them, either?” Erick whispered.
“We never had a deal to get paid by them,” Jelena said.
“No, but I was hoping they might feel inclined to slip us a few tindarks. Your first loan payment to your parents is due soon, and we’re not even on our way to pick up our next cargo yet.”
“We’ll be on our way soon. The payment will just have to be late.” Jelena hated to fail that way, but suspected her parents would be more responsible and would pay it on time. Her tardiness would make things more difficult for them, but she hoped they had the money in reserve. It had sounded like their decision that she would pay them was more because it was the mature thing for her to do, not because they were in dire circumstances. At least, that was how she had interpreted it. She hoped she was right.
“The local currency is the franish,” Thor said. “I believe its value in the system is an infinitesimal number slightly greater than zero.”
“So even if they had offered to pay, we’d still be broke?” Erick said.
“After the exchange fees were factored in, we might even be in the negative.”
Erick slapped Jelena on the shoulder.
“What?” she protested.
“You’re not doing this business thing correctly. Either as a freighter operator or as a mercenary.”
“We did stop a war.” Jelena felt she’d done something right, surely.
“A noble act that apparently pays zilch.” Erick looked at Thor. “Negative zilch.”
“Negative zilch?” Jelena asked. “Is that a real number? Shouldn’t engineers strive for more precision?”
A throat cleared, and Jelena turned back toward the city. Dr. Ogiwara and Hoshi had finished talking to Hakim and both stood in front of her.
“Captain Marchenko, isn’t it?” Ogiwara wore only the saffron robe today with a pale yellow sash wrapped around her waist, and she carried a medical kit as well as a duffel bag for travel.
“Yes, Dr. Ogiwara. What can we do for you?” Jelena looked down at Hoshi—she also wore saffron, but more of a dress than a robe, with a hem that flared outward when she twirled, revealing old sandals with a broken strap. She smiled broadly when their eyes met. Jelena smiled back, feeling a new affinity for the girl now that she knew Hoshi had lost her parents and had Starseer talents.
“Please, call me Kiyoko. And I know you’ve met Hoshi.”
Jelena nodded, tempted to poke into the doctor’s mind. This had to be about Hoshi’s Starseer talents, but Jelena hadn’t spoken to her about it.
“I’ve been chatting with Prince Thorian.” Ogiwara—Kiyoko—nodded to Thor, who nodded back, his face difficult to read. “He said… I mean, I guess there were signs.” She bit her lip and looked down at Hoshi.
Hoshi twirled again. “I’m going to be a Starseer! I can save planets too!”
Kiyoko lifted a hand. “You’re supposed to wait until after we negotiate to presume that.”
Negotiate? The doctor wanted to negotiate with them? For passage on the ship?
They could take on passengers, but if Kiyoko thought Jelena could get Hoshi accepted to a Starseer school, or even knew where one was, that was a mistaken assumption. Unless maybe Thor knew. Of course, she’d thought about asking Grandpa to tutor Hoshi, but Jelena couldn’t assume he would be willing to take on a stranger.
“We’ll find a way,” Hoshi told her sister earnestly. “I’m positive. You said that when you left to go to doctor school, remember? You were so determined. You said you’d find a way because your people needed you.”
“I’m surprised you remember that,” Kiyoko murmured. “Captain,” she said, facing Jelena again.
“Jelena,” she suggested. It felt too strange having people call her captain. That was her mom’s job.
“Captain Jelena. Prince Thorian said that your grandfather has trained Starseers and may be willing to teach my sister. He also said that it’s very important that she receive proper training, which I believe. I’ve lamented how poor even the basic schooling has been here of late.” Kiyoko’s gaze turned sad as she looked back over the bombed city. “He wasn’t certain if your grandfather would be willing to take her on, but I understand that he—and you—are part of a family business and that you may be in need of a doctor. I’d be willing to trade my services for a good education for Hoshi, providing I was able to see her often.”
“I…” Jelena groped to gather some coherent thoughts. She was surprised that Thor had thought to make the offer, that he’d wanted to help Jelena, and Hoshi as well. No, that wasn’t fair of her to be surprised. Yes, he was focused on his own destiny, but it wasn’t as if he was oblivious to friends and allies. He’d grown speculative about how being a mercenary might help him along his path, but she believed he’d mostly come along on this mission—and on her ship—to help her.
I figure I have to be useful, he told her silently, if you’re not going to let me leave your ship. A ship that’s sure to be in danger again from that thug hunting me. You may need a doctor. A good one.
I appreciate that.
And I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt me to have a few more Starseer allies too.
I doubt Hoshi is going to grow up into someone who wants to help you establish an empire.
She can twirl to distract the enemy while I lead our main forces into battle.
“I’m not sure whether to feel hopeful about your thoughtful silence or chagrined,” Kiyoko said.
Thoughtful silence? Hardly that. “I can’t make any promises until I talk to my grandfather, but we do need a doctor, and he has trained other Starseers.”
“Who became good people?” Kiyoko asked, a flash of worry in her eyes. She seemed more concerned about that than whether Grandpa trained people to become powerful. That was probably a good thing.
“Well…” Jelena looked back at Erick.
“What is that look for?” He widened his stance and propped his fists on his hips. “I’m definitely good people.”
“He trained Erick and me,” Jelena told Kiyoko.
“I see. I shall take that as a positive sign then. You seem… exceptional.”
Jelena decided to take that as a compliment. She stuck out her hand. “Welcome aboard, Doctor. Hoshi.”
As they walked up the ramp with their bags over their shoulders, Jelena turned to follow them, but paused when Thor laid a hand on her arm. He nodded toward the city gate. Three big cargo trucks were rolling through it, heading for the Snapper. One of the drivers was familiar, the chatty private who’d spoken to her during the truck ride away from the harbor.
He leaned out the window and waved at her. A familiar dog sat on the seat beside him, the hound who’d sniffed for land mines. Had he been adopted by the soldiers? With a little training, they could teach him to sniff
for explosives even without a Starseer handler.
“What is this about?” Jelena murmured as the trucks rolled closer.
“Cactus pads.” Thor’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Crates of them.”
“I didn’t know cactuses came in crates.”
The trucks rumbled closer, turning their cargo beds toward the ship, and Jelena gawked at the size of the crates inside.
“Uhm, Erick?” she said. “I think we’re going to need a hand tractor.”
Erick was also gawking at the trucks, and it took him a moment to recover and jog into the cargo hold.
“What are we going to do with all those?” Jelena asked.
“Sell them?” Thor suggested.
“Next to our lemonade stand?”
“Erick did say you have a loan payment due soon.”
“Er… yes.”
• • • • •
“It’s possible you look too fierce.” Jelena leaned back in the portable chair she’d set up at the base of the Snapper’s ramp, resisting the temptation to prop her sparkly green shoes up on the table. The passersby on the Hierarchy Station promenade—potential customers for her freshly squeezed and pulped cactus lemonade—might find that unsanitary, especially since she’d just been roaming through the pet park across from their bank of airlocks. The floor cleaning bots did an admirable job of sucking up deposits left by the various dogs, mules, jakloffs, ostriches, and other eclectic animals that travelers kept on their ships, but it wasn’t perfect. “You’re scaring the customers away.”
“Your beverage is scaring the customers away,” Masika said, her bare, muscled arms folded over her chest, a blazer pistol on each hip. “Besides, I told your broody boyfriend that I’d watch your back while he was gone.”
“Is that Erick or Thor?” Jelena asked, though she knew perfectly well who she meant. “Or that fellow who winked at me when he was hooking up our docking tubes? I’m partial to men with missing teeth and ponytails.”
“I thought you were only partial to ponies with ponytails.”
“Not only.”
Masika arched an eyebrow. “Have you actually had a lover? Or even a boyfriend? I’ve been wondering if I should act as a surrogate big sister for you and warn you away from dubious choices.”
“Erick’s been fulfilling that position.”
Masika snorted.
“And I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask one’s captain about her lovers. But for the record, I dated a parentally approved boy when I was on Arkadius last year taking the exams to get my Alliance pilot’s license.”
“Parentally approved? Does that mean boring?”
“Zhou is the nephew—or great nephew, was it?—of Admiral Tiang, a surgeon and medical researcher my parents are good friends with. Zhou gets excellent grades, plays three instruments, won awards for a paper he wrote on chess strategies, and is studying to be a doctor.”
“You didn’t even kiss him, did you?” Masika asked.
Jelena blushed and looked toward the promenade. Now would be a good time for some lemonade consumers to come up. Zhou had kissed her, albeit rather chastely. They’d had a nice time going to the zoo and some local farms, but she hadn’t exactly spent her days pining for him when they’d parted. She didn’t want to discuss the subject further, especially if her revelations might be turned into ammunition against her. Captains should definitely not be teased by their security officers. There was a rule about that, wasn’t there? She would ask Mom.
Jelena spotted Thor and Erick returning from their cactus-selling errand—they’d been attempting to find buyers for the crates rather than hawking cactus lemonade by the glass—and stood up to wave more vigorously than was necessary. It saved her from having to expound on Zhou and kisses. Also, she didn’t have to feign enthusiasm for the wave. Erick and Thor had left with crates on hover boards. They were returning with nothing trailing after them. That either meant they had found a buyer, or they’d been robbed. Given that Thor was looking particularly dark, broody, and dangerous today, with his sword and a pistol affixed to his hip, the latter seemed unlikely.
“Success?” she asked as they strolled up.
“Shockingly, yes,” Thor said.
“It’s not that shocking,” Erick said. “Did you try the cactus pads? They were good even raw and without sauce. There’s a zing that bites the tip of your tongue and leaves an impression.”
“Are you sure that wasn’t one of the thorns?”
“I’m not the only one who finds them appealing.” Erick pulled out his netdisc and swiped his finger through a holodisplay. “I’m transferring you the proceeds of the sale now, Jelena. Of course, it wasn’t quite as much as we could have made if we went to Perun or Arkadius, but I didn’t think you wanted to spend the next six weeks selling individual boxes to restaurants on different planets to make the optimal amount. Hierarchy Station has more than its share of willing middlemen. We did get a good price, though. Thor glowered at them to ensure compliance.”
“I glowered at them because they were thinking of stealing from us.”
“Does that explain why you were openly fondling your sword?”
“Yes.”
“We’re talking about the one that glows, right?” Masika asked.
Thor demonstrated his glower on her.
Jelena’s earstar chimed, so she ordered it to pull up the money transfer notification. “Twenty-two thousand tindarks?” she blurted, then clasped a hand over her mouth.
People were walking past, most squinting dubiously at her cactus lemonade sign and moving on, but she shouldn’t holler that she was the recipient of new riches to anyone listening. Not that the physical money was in a briefcase at her feet, but still, it seemed an obscene amount to her, and it was in addition to what they’d made for picking up and delivering the cargo her parents had arranged. That would cover fuel and repairs from their adventure on Fourseas. All of this could go toward repaying her parents’ debt. Or most of it could. Hm.
With her face scrunched up, she asked, “Do we have to pay taxes on this? Or… how does it work if you make money outside of Alliance territory?”
“I see you haven’t looked at any of those virtual accounting courses I sent you yet,” Erick said.
“We’ve been somewhat busy.”
“I’m sure the Alliance will want its cut,” Thor said, coming to stand beside Jelena. “Unless you’re ready to give up your citizenship and swear your allegiance to the ruler of a new regime.”
“Is that you?” Jelena asked.
“I’ll give you a break on taxes since you’re ferrying me around on your ship.”
“He’s a generous dictator, isn’t he?” Masika said.
“Is he here yet?” came a young cry from the cargo hold of the ship. “When can I meet him?”
Hoshi flounced down the ramp carrying Jelena’s Starseer staff. Jelena, Erick, and Thor had all told her they didn’t know enough about teaching to start her instruction, but they’d given her free rein to familiarize herself with their meager artifacts. Thor had even let her swipe at imaginary enemies with his sword.
“My family is supposed to be arriving soon,” Jelena said.
Her parents had arranged to deliver a cargo to Hierarchy Station after Jelena had sent the news about Hoshi and Dr. Ogiwara. She was excited to see everyone, but especially to see Leonidas back on his feet and back at work. Grandpa had said he looked forward to meeting Hoshi, but he hadn’t committed to anything yet. Jelena hoped he would, both for Hoshi’s sake and out of selfish interest. She’d already gotten used to the idea of having a doctor aboard the Snapper. Kiyoko had helped her remove a shard of metal from Alfie’s back leg that had been embedded there before Jelena rescued her.
“Don’t swing that around like a sword, please, Hoshi,” Kiyoko said, clasping her hands behind her back after bowing to Jelena. She hadn’t shown any disgruntlement at working for an eighteen-year-old captain, which surprised Jelena, but Kiyoko seemed earnest about her promis
e to trade her talents for Hoshi’s education. “You should be on your best behavior for your meeting with Mr. Schwegler.”
Jelena hardly ever heard anyone call her grandpa anything except Stanislav or Stan, so that name sounded funny. She was on the verge of pointing out that Grandpa wasn’t a stickler for formality—but Masika gestured down the promenade, and Jelena grinned instead.
She spotted Leonidas first—his gray hair did nothing to steal the intimidation that oozed from him. At six-and-a-half feet, with shoulders almost as broad, and thickly muscled arms that hadn’t thinned much over the years, he always had space around him when he walked, even on a crowded station. This time, Mom walked at his side with one of his meaty arms around her shoulders. Her arm was around his waist, a finger hooked into his belt. Jelena usually thought it weird to think of them as a romantic couple, because who wanted to think about parents being romantic, but for some reason, she caught herself wondering if she would have something like that one day. Maybe it was because Masika had brought up the topic.
Leonidas lifted a hand and nodded when he met Jelena’s eyes, but after a couple of seconds, his gaze shifted to Thor, who still stood next to her, and his hand lowered. Thor wasn’t touching her or even that close, but Leonidas’s amiable expression turned to a frown, and he murmured something to Mom. Thor must have noticed the exchange, too, because he stepped away from her and to the other side of the lemonade table. Mom waved a dismissive hand, but her eyes seemed troubled. Jelena felt her cheeks warm, even though there was no reason for her to feel guilty or self-conscious. It wasn’t as if she’d been holding hands with Thor. Hells, maybe her parents were frowning at the cactus lemonade, and she was just imagining that they were talking about Thor. And her. Together.
Though the thought of a cactus-lemonade-centered disapproval cheered her, Jelena wasn’t tempted to peek into their minds to check. Resolutely, she smiled and directed her wave behind her parents to where the twins skipped ahead of Grandpa, jostling each other and dripping blue Asteroid Icy juice down their arms. Grandpa ambled at a more sedate pace, peering at the kiosks they passed, as if space stations were still new and fascinating to him after ten years of exploring the system with Mom and Leonidas. He always seemed to be curious about everything, people included. Jelena hoped Kiyoko wasn’t expecting someone stately and normal for Hoshi’s teacher. Grandpa owned a black Starseer robe and a staff, but today, he wore snagor-hide cowboy boots, denim trousers, a long-sleeved pale blue shirt full of pockets, and a hat with a brim so wide that it shadowed his face. If he carried a weapon of any kind, it wasn’t apparent.
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