by Jillian Ashe
Wolfe turned to Jaz and crossed his arms. “What do you propose?”
My eyes flicked between the two captains and my anxiety hit an all-time high. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Ricky, do you have what you need to repair the hull?” the captain asked without a glance in our direction. His eyes stayed locked with Jaz’s.
Ricky nodded. “It’s back at the entrance.”
“Then go, Kat I want you to stay with me. Celeste, I need you to gather up the pirates and put them all in the Rogue’s brig, then help Ricky. Jaz and I need to have a little chat.”
The other two dispersed and I was left with the captain. Ricky gave my hand a quick squeeze before he left. I watched Celeste drag the pirates out two at a time by the ankles, both of her pistols back in their holsters and the mini cannon slung over her shoulder.
And to think I’d been in college at UCLA a few months ago. Well, not months, but it felt like it. When you slept through five hundred years, time gets all mucked up. Now here I was with a space captain and a pirate on a goddamn spaceship. This was my new normal and sometimes it hit me how not-normal it was.
The pirate captain lounged against one of the consoles on the bridge, managing to look nonchalant despite a gushing leg wound and her hands cuffed behind her back. “You single?” Jaz asked as she studied Wolfe from his head to his toes with open appreciation.
I choked a little.
Wolfe raised an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth twitched. “What deal did you want to make? I’m not on the table.”
I wanted to die of embarrassment. The captain was playing with her and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to laugh hysterically or hide in a hole.
Jaz shrugged. “Too bad, we could’ve had some fun. You look brawny enough to handle me.”
Wolfe outright laughed.
Had I entered an alternate universe? Wolfe never laughed.
“I want my ship and cargo intact and for us to peacefully go our separate ways. In the future you leave my ship and my crew alone if we pass through here again,” Wolfe stated. His deep voice commanded respect and attention. The way he crossed his arms over his chest defined every muscle and I could see why Jaz would be interested. He was extremely good-looking.
“I want my damn console to work,” she snapped.
The crystal sparked in the access port and the ship still stuttered on and off. I pulled the crystal out and inspected the burn. Instantly all the lights flickered on and then remained steady. The Rogue had full power once again, but it was doubtful all programs still worked as they should.
“Can we get out of here?” I snapped, not liking this little repartee. The way she looked at the captain bugged me.
“Do you agree?” Wolfe asked her again.
“As long as I am captain I will make sure we never board and steal from your ship again.” Jaz squirmed and her mocking voice grated.
“Make sure you stay captain,” Wolfe said. He kneeled down and pressed his thumb against the cuffs on her ankles. They released her with a click and then he went to her wrists.
A bad feeling hit me and I hesitated. What did I know? This wasn’t my world. Wolfe knew far better than I did. Jaz gave me a wink. The feeling grew but she held still and didn’t jump us as her hands came free.
Wolfe helped her up and the clasped arms. “I expect to never see you again,” he stated cheerfully.
“Sadly,” she said with a wicked grin.
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go.” My stomach was in knots. The sooner we were back on the Wolfegang the better.
“You have another oxygen mask for my friend here?” Wolfe asked as he patted her down, pilfering the rest of the crystals she’d stolen from me.
Jaz jerked her head and Wolfe went over and grabbed some of their emergency masks. “For the trouble,” he told her, tossing me a mask.
I barely caught the damn thing, but managed not to look like a fool and slipped it on. Instantly I breathed better. Wolfe came over and adjusted the mask so I would be tapped in to the crew’s frequency. I watched Jaz over his shoulder, not trusting her one bit. I fully expected her to stab us in the back on our way out.
“Ricky did you manage to keep the tunnel from detaching?” Wolfe asked. His large hand went to my lower back, steering me out of the bridge. I flinched at the pain and instantly he removed his hand. “I’m sorry, Kat. Let’s get you out of here so Ricky can fix you up.”
Painkillers would be fantastic. Wolfe picked up his pace and I jogged to keep up, gritting my teeth the whole way.
The comms in the mask crackled and then Ricky’s voice came through. “I’ve got it jammed. It won’t detach unless she forces it and she will. So get your asses back here now.”
Wolfe ran and I couldn’t keep up. I lagged behind, breathing through the pain and limping behind him. The captain glanced back and jerked to a stop. He grabbed my arm and propped me up with his shoulders. He was so tall my feet barely touched the ground, but it took a lot of weight and strain off my back which helped. I held on as he ran with me, running on the tips of my toes.
I recognized nothing. It all looked the same to me. The knots in my stomach tightened as I heard the engines of the Rogue rev up. Jaz was going to accelerate away from the Wolfegang and break off from our ship.
“How’s that hull breach looking?” Wolfe asked as we got closer.
There was a screech and I wasn’t sure we’d make it. I slowed us down. The tunnel was up ahead and I could see Ricky and Celeste working furiously to close the hull breach from inside the cargo-hold. They were ready with their tools to finish as soon as we made it through.
Wolfe lifted me up and ran faster than I thought possible with me weighing him down. The tunnel shuddered and the sound of metal ripping and tearing sent a piercing pain into my skull. I held on tight as the tunnel jerked again and Wolfe stumbled before catching himself. He made it into the airlock and I could see space between the hull and the Rogue’s docking tunnel. The artificial gravity went wonky for a second and the feeling of weightlessness hit for a split second. We slammed down to the ground a second later when gravity hit full force and the weight seemed tripled.
Wolfe fell to his knees and Ricky beckoned wildly. He planted his feet and pulled me up. We had less than a second. Then the remaining air would be sucked through the cargo-hold and the captain and I would be floating out in space with nothing to ground us. The though terrified me. I never liked the idea of space to begin with. Now I lived in it and I still didn’t like it.
Wolfe gripped the wall of the ship and pulled us through as the force of the air escaping pushed against us like a maelstrom. His strength kept me from flying out of the ship and getting squished through the small crack. I couldn’t have made it through without him. Ricky reached out and grabbed hold of us, adding his considerable strength to Wolfe’s and pulled us into the ship.
Celeste pushed down on the flimsy piece of metal until it covered the inner hole. With Ricky and Wolfe’s help they had it sealed enough to travel. Ricky checked it for leaks; his plex gave the green light.
I laid face down on the floor, my mask pressed awkwardly into the metal floor as I tried to catch my breath. Rolling over onto my back I stared up at the ceiling of the cargo-hold. The scorch marks were everywhere and a few thinner pieces of the catwalks were melted in places. It would take a lot to get everything back to the way it was before.
Wolfe offered me his hand and I started at it for a second before gathering the energy to swing my arm up. His grip on my hand was firm, but not hard enough to hurt. He pulled up gently, mindful of my back.
“What a bitch.” I knew Jaz would stab us in the back. “I can’t believe she did that.”
Wolfe shrugged. “She didn’t promise anything. She technically followed our agreement.”
I eyed the captain as though he lost his mind. “They nearly destroyed the ship, stole everything, and left us for dead. Why aren’t you mad about this?” I asked.
The captain turned
and made his way up the stairs to the second tier. “At least it wasn’t boring,” he called down, disappearing down the hall towards the bridge and the engines.
I looked over at Ricky who was helping Celeste reinforce the panel over the hole with another panel and some kind of welding tool. Ricky grinned back at me and I decided they were all crazy. I needed some painkillers and a nap.
Chapter Eight
The hum of the engines soothed me as I lay on my stomach in the infirmary. Ricky micro-lasered my back carefully; the smell of burning flesh was unpleasant. I blinked sleepily as I listened to him hum some strange and alien tune. It was beautiful. The painkillers had finally kicked in and it was the first time since falling out of bed I felt great.
The hull was mostly patched up and Wolfe had the ship’s power back on. We still limped along through space. The outer hull had to be completely repaired before we could enter hyperspace. The captain was confident the Rogue wouldn’t follow us to the jump point, but I was still nervous about it.
Celeste waited for Ricky to finish. She had to repair the outer hull, but couldn’t do it without his help, and Wolfe had to make sure all the ship’s programs were working as they should. I was stuck with inventory. We were pretty sure the pirates had managed to steal a few boxes of crystals and protein cubes, but Wolfe needed to know exact numbers.
I sighed and picked at my sweater. My hands and feet were still blue, but I’d gotten by without any frostbite. I suspected my altered genes had something to do with it, but couldn’t be sure. “Almost done?” I asked.
The laser felt warm against my skin. I assumed it would hurt later, but at the moment it felt nice. Ricky tapped the surrounding skin, pulling slightly to test the hold. “This should work much better than the bandages. With your quick healing the scar tissue will disappear in a few weeks. Normally I would avoid something so drastic as it damages the tissue, but it won’t matter with your genetics. Still you need to be careful and not strain yourself or bend over too much.” He set his tool aside and pulled my sweater down over my lower back.
I took his offered hand and let him gently pull me up. The skin on my back pulled slightly. It felt tight like a burn, but it was already sturdier than what held it together before. “I need to sleep off the medicine,” I told him, checking my watch. The pirates had attacked in the middle of our sleep cycle. According to Earth time it was four in the morning and I was exhausted. I could do inventory later.
Ricky nodded in agreement. “Make sure you inform the captain,” he warned as he headed down the hall to the common area where Celeste waited for him. “He’ll worry if he doesn’t hear from you.”
I waved to let him know I heard him and went down the hall in the opposite direction to my quarters in the passenger section of the ship. It had only been a few weeks since I’d woken up in an abandoned hospital from a cryostasis sleep that was supposed to last two years. Instead it had been five hundred years, my brother and I forgotten after the earthquake buried us. In my mind I knew it had only been a few weeks, but sometimes it felt like years.
My bed was soft and comforting. I picked up the blanket from the floor and rolled over, asleep before I could remember to comm Wolfe.
***
“Kat?”
Wolfe’s voice startled me and I sat straight up in the dark room. I searched for the source of the voice. My hand tapped the nightstand gently and a warm glow lit up the room. The captain stood in my doorway and peered in at me. Could he see in the dark?
“Captain?” I asked groggily, trying to fix my hair even though I knew it was no use.
“I wanted to check in on you. I received a report from Ricky, but heard nothing after he discharged you from the infirmary.”
Damn, I should have let him know like Ricky had told me to. I checked my watch again and saw it had only been an hour. I groaned and flopped back down on the bed. It was too early to be alive. “I’m fine, thank you for checking, Captain.” Maybe he would go away and let me sleep some more.
“There’s breakfast in the galley,” he said. Then he turned and his broad shoulders filled the doorway before disappearing.
Yeah, Jaz knew what she was talking about. I shoved the thought to the back of my mind and debated if food was worth getting up for. I rolled off the bed and landed on my feet. It would be too hard to fall back asleep and I still had inventory to do.
Wolfe had his fancy coffee. Maybe he would share. I slipped on my pants and stepped into my boots. I buckled them closed and then headed to the galley.
The galley was warm and smelled delicious. There was food on the table. The oatmeal-tasting protein mush and then a variety of things I didn’t recognize. Coffee had already been made from the smell permeating the room.
“Would you like some?” Wolfe asked, turning from the center island with a metal canister. “Don’t worry, this is the java from my office. I know you don’t prefer the one we buy for the ship.” He smiled and handed me a steaming cup.
I smiled back, despite being annoyed at the time and lack of sleep. “Thank you.” I breathed the smell and the steam in. It hit some part of my brain and instantly I felt more awake. A small sip scorched my tongue, but I didn’t care. It warmed me up and tasted delicious. The captain knew exactly how I took my coffee and he always did a great job, not too much milk and not too much sugar.
Ricky sat at the table with Celeste. He had his plex on and it displayed a three dimensional hologram of the Wolfegang. He made a pulling motion with his fingers and the hologram zoomed in, centering on the breach. The blue outlines of the ship were marred by a red square. It must be the patch him and Celeste did while I was asleep. I took the seat next to Ricky and watched him frown at the image.
“Did the repairs go okay?” I asked and sipped carefully at the boiling hot coffee.
Celeste nodded as she sliced fruit piece by piece and then delicately placed one at a time into her mouth. I’d never seen her eat anything other than meat or protein cubes so I was curious to try whatever it was. “It will get us through a jump, but only one. As soon as we land on Ishi we will have to schedule professional repairs on the inner and outer hull.”
The fruit was round like an apple, but it was bright red with blue leaves. I picked one up and smelled it. It was sweet-smelling like strawberries but with a hint of something tart like pineapples. I watched Celeste eat the fruit and she ate the whole thing, peel and all. So I bit into it and the juice squirted everywhere. Then the taste hit my tongue and I had to close my eyes against the intense sour flavor.
It was delicious. I took another bite and then realized Celeste was staring at me. “What?” I asked around a mouthful.
She shook her head. “I’ve never seen a human eat a zuur before.”
Wolfe grabbed one and took a big bite. “I eat them all the time,” he said, sitting down with us. He placed his coffee on the table and took out his knife. He cut the fruit into little pieces and then sprinkled them onto his oatmeal mush.
Celeste continued to eat with a shrug. “You are not exactly human.”
I wish I could figure out why they kept saying that about the captain. Were they being figurative or literal? If it was literal then how was he not human? He had to be, the Federation military didn’t take non-human recruits.
Wolfe grinned as he crunched into his zuur and oatmeal. “Perhaps I simply have a more refined palate than the average human.”
Ricky laughed and grabbed at some little red balls. He popped them into his mouth and chewed happily. I refused when he offered me some. The bread looked better than anything else and I didn’t know how long it would be before we had fresh food on the ship. The canned, dehydrated stuff and protein cubes were awful after a while.
I downed my coffee and ignored the burn. “I need to finish up inventory,” I stated and stood from the table. I wished I could stay and hang out with them, but I still felt like an outsider. The crew was so tight-knit and I’d only been a part of the Wolfegang for a few weeks when they all had
years under their belt.
It made things uncomfortable and awkward at times.
I made my way through the ship and down to the cargo-hold. My plex was in my back pocket. I had to scan each box above and below. Whatever didn’t have a match in the system was what the pirates managed to steal. It took two hours to scan everything above and there only two boxes were missing. They’d been mucking about below so there was no doubt something would be missing from there as well.
The meds we were delivering were already accounted for and set aside to send out as quickly as possible. The pirates and the repairs delayed us a bit, but we would only be a few hours later than scheduled. Even though the Wolfegang was crewed by a bunch of smugglers they filled a hole left by the Federation, and provided an illegal but necessary service. Without a crew like them to deliver medicine through alternate channels, hundreds if not thousands of people would die.
I knelt next to the hatch for the sub-hold and pressed my hand to the panel. The keypad displayed when it recognized my scan. My fingers tapped the code in and I heard the bolt release.
“Here, let me get that for you,” Wolfe said.
I jerked in surprise. He had appeared out of nowhere. I hadn’t even heard him come down, and ever since I’d woken up from my supposed cure my hearing had been better than perfect. “Thank you,” I managed as I moved out of the way.
He lifted up the hatch. Wolfe’s large arms strained against his shirt and I averted my gaze when he turned back to me. “I know your back is hurting so I thought I’d give you a hand.” He reached out for me and I nervously accepted, not sure what he had planned.
With barely any effort he lifted me up and lowered me down into the sub-hold. He released me only a foot away from the ground. My landing was a lot gentler than it would have been on my own. The captain landed silently next to me and then activated the lights.
“Thanks,” I said as I watched him pull boxes out and inspect the barcodes. “You didn’t have to do this.” He was the captain of the whole ship, I was pretty sure he had better things to do.