by Layla Nash
And there was always the bounty itself. Maisy wanted to laugh as her thoughts circled into hysteria as Vaant just looked at her and the silence stretched. Maisy could always turn herself in to the Alliance, get the bounty for herself, serve her time, and then go out to a neutral planet. Or maybe she’d just learn to survive without oxygen and just go floating through space until she drifted into a black hole. Either seemed equally possible.
Vaant’s frown deepened and his muscles bulged as he folded his arms over his chest. “Vrix informed me that the Sraibur requested volunteers to accompany them on a short mission. And Isla said you volunteered.”
Maisy nodded, not wanting to react. It took all of her willpower and the training from medical school when they had to practice giving terrible news to patients and their families, but she hardly blinked. “I volunteered to go. They need a doctor, and we have two. I’m happy to assist the rebellion with this.”
“It’s not about the rebellion,” Isla said. She lurched forward a few steps, but Vaant gently caught her arm and brought her back to his side. The fiery redhead’s fists clenched and she leaned forward, like she could fight Maisy right there and wrestle until she gave up. “You can’t do this, Maisy. It’s too dangerous. They’re criminals. This isn’t about the rebellion or helping fight the Alliance or anything. It’s just about stealing and exploiting innocent ships.”
The doors to the bridge opened and Frrar and Faros entered. Frrar retreated to stand near the comms station, something about his posture making Maisy think he was about to go on a murderous rampage. She couldn’t look at the pirate, particularly since he was still bleeding and had undone whatever good she’d done with the regenerators. It would serve her right if the pirates didn’t even want her to go with them anymore, since she couldn’t fix what was pretty standard damage.
Maisy still didn’t look at Isla. So much for her wanting to support all the women on the ship. Isla didn’t mind Griggs or Jess racing off into danger, and Maisy would have put even money on the interpreter not blinking if Rowan or Violet wanted to join a pirate ship or invade an uncharted solar system.
Not that the engineer and the lawyer seemed particularly inclined to take those kinds of risks; Rowan would blow things up and come up with machines to take over the solar system, and Violet would no doubt spend a lot of time looking for cases that established precedent for whatever she wanted to do after she took over the solar system, but they’d still get to do what they wanted to do because they weren’t Maisy.
She hardened her heart and only looked at Vaant. “They’re on a mission that will further the rebellion’s goals. I’m aware of the risk of joining the crew of a pirate ship, even for a short period, and I’m willing to take that risk.”
“You can’t know—” Isla started, though she cut herself off as Vaant squeezed her arm.
The captain’s attention went to Faros, and his expression darkened. “You get one chance to explain yourself, warrior. I’ve heard enough about you to question your character and the veracity of your claims about the neutral ship you happened to be stealing from. I’m not going to let any of my crew go with you unless I’m certain of two things: that they will be safe and returned to me unharmed, and that the risk will be worth it for the rebellion.”
Faros took a deep breath and turned from a man who’d been fighting with his brother to a rebel captain addressing a peer. “We were en route to a mission when we were overtaken by a neutral ship, though it used Alliance tactics to attack and then board us. We allowed them to board and subsequently killed as many as we could, stranding the rest on a mostly neutral planet.
“As we departed the area, I sent part of my crew on the captured ship—including my engineer and the medic—onward to a rebel base so the ship could be repainted and re-flagged, and to take some wounded to a clinic.
“We continued on our mission to obtain a weapon system on behalf of the rebellion and were confronted by two neutral ships. They attempted to attack, but we evaded them. That’s what brought us here. We are short on time to get to the deal so we can obtain the weapons system, and we need an engineer to verify the system is fully operational. We need a medic because we anticipate some... challenges getting into and out of the mission unscathed.”
Maisy held her breath, looking between Vaant and Faros. Even if Vaant refused, in theory Maisy could just go. She hadn’t sworn any oaths to obey Vaant or the Xaravians or the rebellion. She was still on the Galaxos only because she didn’t have anywhere else to go. Maybe life as a pirate would be way more adventurous than even a rebel. Pirates definitely did what they wanted and didn’t ask permission from anyone.
Vaant’s eyes narrowed as he watched the other captain. “And the fact that I’ve heard nothing from rebel headquarters about this particular mission or your role in it?”
Faros smiled, guileless as a newborn babe. “It’s very close-hold. Few know about it at all.”
Frrar snorted and muttered what could have been curses, still scowling as he looked at his brother. Maisy couldn’t quite figure out what was between them, but that wasn’t her business—getting onto that pirate ship was, even if the thought of disappearing into space with a bunch of strangers was terrifying enough to make her knees knock.
“How long will it take and where will we meet up to transfer my crew back?”
Isla scowled at her mate, her fingers digging into his scales, and she hissed something at him that Maisy couldn’t hear. Maisy refused to let hope take hold, trying to keep her excitement down, but her stomach knotted and fluttered all at the same time, and she was sure everyone would see her bouncing on her toes.
“We can meet in two weeks at the market near Kubolz in this sector. That should be enough time for you to take care of your business, for me to deal with our little mission, and we can meet up to switch crew back. If they don’t want to stay with us, that is.”
And Faros smiled, all easy and relaxed, and Maisy wondered if she really might want to stay on the pirate ship. None of them knew her or her history or all the embarrassing stories that all the other Earthers knew. She could be someone completely new.
She could become a pirate.
Maisy bit her lip to keep from squealing in glee at the thought. A chance for full reinvention—starting over as a completely new person, especially if she was the only one from the Galaxos to go. Maybe they’d convince Rowan to go along as the engineer, but at least she was more concerned with machinery than telling tales about Maisy.
Maisy linked her hands behind her back and squeezed her own fingers, not daring to look at Jess as the other woman leaned nonchalantly on the navigator’s station.
Vaant made an irritated noise and rubbed his jaw. “I can’t stop my crew from volunteering to go with you, but I will not force anyone to go. If any do choose to accompany you on this mission, I will require frequent comms with them and your word of honor that they will be returned to my ship.”
“On my honor as a warrior of Xarav, you have my word they will be returned to you.” Faros once again put his fist over his hearts, just like he had when he apologized to her, and her cheeks heated at the memory.
She could tell the Galaxos captain didn’t like it, but he couldn’t ask much more. He shook his head and glanced over at Adhz. “Very well. Make it known to the crew; call for volunteers, if there are any.”
“I volunteer,” Maisy said, proud that her voice didn’t shake. She looked at Faros instead of the others, and took a step in his direction just so they knew for sure that she hadn’t changed her mind. “I’ll go, if you don’t mind an Earther as the doctor.”
Faros nodded, a hint of his teeth showing. “I do not mind.”
She nodded, swallowing a grin of triumph as Isla started to object and Vaant kept her from completely freaking out. Maisy glanced at the doors, then back at the viewing screen where all of space drifted by, then back at the pirate. She didn’t know what to do with herself. “Then I’ll just…go pack. When do we leave?”
Isla made a strangled noise. “You can’t possibly—”
“Later,” Vaant said under his breath. “It’s her choice.”
Adhz studiously avoided looking at all of them. “The call to the crew, sir?”
“They requested an engineer,” Vaant said. His scales rattled as Isla stormed off the bridge, the air blue with her curses, and from the look on his face the captain knew he’d have a hell of a fight on his hands the moment he returned to their quarters. But he didn’t let it stop him. “You can poll the crew and—”
“I’ll go.”
Maisy went still, her heart skipping a few beats before she recognized the voice. Frrar. Frrar?
He still stood next to the comms station and scowled at his brother, but he’d definitely spoken. The other Xaravians all looked at him as if he’d grown another head. Vaant cleared his throat. “What?”
“I’ll go,” Frrar said. He straightened from his lean and took a few measured steps closer to the pirate. “They want an engineer, I’m an engineer. I’ll go, and I’ll make sure they treat the doctor appropriately.”
Maisy didn’t know whether to be offended or overjoyed. At least Isla definitely hadn’t put Frrar up to it, since he looked just as unhappy and surprised at his decision as everyone else on the bridge.
Faros’s eyebrows rose as he studied the other warrior. “Why would I allow you on my ship?”
“If you’re as mission-focused as you claim,” Frrar said calmly, “then you’ll take what help you get. I’m the chief engineer on this ship, and will not allow any of my engineers to go with you. It’s me or no one.”
The pirate frowned, and Maisy held her breath. It would be a little nice to have a familiar face on the pirate ship with her, but there was no telling if Frrar and Faros would be able to keep from killing each other. She’d run through all her medical supplies in under a day at the rate those two fought.
Faros’s eyes darkened. “If you can keep your temper in check, brother, then fine. You may join us.”
“Only if you both swear to stop fighting,” Maisy said. She frowned at them both, hoping she looked like a disapproving doctor instead of a vaguely queasy kid almost too frightened to do anything at all. “Otherwise there won’t be time to do anything else. And we don’t have enough supplies to deal with all that. Got it? No more fighting.”
Both Xaravians stared at her, and as the silence stretched, Maisy wondered if she’d somehow crossed one of the lines those prickly bastards seemed to draw randomly through social interactions. Maybe her career as a pirate would be over before it really began. Isla would be relieved. Maisy scowled as fiercely as she dared. At least she’d go down fighting.
Chapter 8
Frrar
Frrar thought of himself as a completely reasonable, logical engineer. He spent his life with manuals and checklists and the immutable laws of physics. His world had order, even if he liked to make a little chaos within that order. Knowing the rules was important to being able to bend or break them. He wasn’t the same kind of hothead as Vrix or some of the other warriors on the Galaxos.
And yet somehow he’d still volunteered to serve on his brother’s ship.
There wasn’t any explaining it except for temporary insanity. He knew he was out of his mind. He’d hated the sight of his brother for so long that the thought of seeing him every moment of every day made his scales rattle and rise in anticipation of a fight. Frrar had believed, to the core of his hearts, that there was nothing in the known universe that could make him work with his brother again.
Except maybe there was. Maisy.
That delicate Earther with the wide eyes and the tremor of excitement in her chin had no idea what she was getting into. She only saw opportunity and adventure and seeing the universe. She didn’t realize what a bastard Faros was, how poorly his crew might treat her, how dangerous the life of a pirate was... He couldn’t stand by and let her disappear into space with them. He would never forgive himself while Faros destroyed another female’s life.
He didn’t believe he would speak until the words sneaked out from between his clenched teeth, and he volunteered to go.
It was probably the first time in all the years they’d served together that Frrar managed to shock Vaant. The captain might not have said anything, but his scales lost some color and the spikes on his shoulders stood up in alarm.
It hadn’t occurred to him that Faros might refuse, and luckily his brother recognized that Frrar wasn’t fooling around. He grudgingly accepted Frrar’s help and they were ready to get to work when Maisy piped up from where she lingered near Jess. Her demand that Frrar and Faros agree not to fight left them both stumped.
Telling Xaravians not to fight was like telling gravity not to act. Or the triple suns of Xarav not to rise every morning. There were some things in the universe that would not change.
But Maisy, hands on her hips and a fierce look on her face, had clearly never heard such a thing in her life. And she might have had a small point about wasting all the medical supplies on fixing he and Faros up rather than saving them for when they were actually needed to save a life.
Her face lost a bit of color, which was not a good sign with the Earthers, as she continued to watch them and no one spoke. Finally, Frrar decided to be the bigger man and folded his arms over his chest as he glared at his brother. “I will not attack him unless he attacks first.”
Faros’s eyes flashed with dark silver lightning, and he grudgingly inclined his head in Maisy’s direction. “And I will not attack him unless he attacks first.”
“Great,” Maisy said. Her voice sounded thready and weak, like she couldn’t believe they’d agreed, and she started toward the doors. “Then let’s get packed and go.”
Jess, the Earther with all the secrets, grinned as she followed the doctor off the bridge and into the hall, and all the Xaravians stared at the doors as they whooshed shut behind them. When it was just Xaravians on the bridge, Vaant growled and fixed a grim look at Faros. “Listen to me, warrior. Those Earthers are insane. They take risks that are completely unreasonable. They have no armor or natural protection, they only have one heart, and their skin only turns one color, two at most. Do not let that Earther get herself hurt or killed. My mate is very attached to her.”
Faros put his right fist over where his hearts beat. “I swear, I—and my crew—will protect her with our lives.”
“Don’t bother with the oaths,” Frrar said. “He doesn’t mean them and won’t keep to them anyway. I will make sure Maisy returns, Vaant.”
“And you’d better return alive as well, Frrar,” the captain said. “Don’t think you can disappear into space, either. You’re the only one who knows how to keep the Galaxos running.”
Frrar grunted, unconcerned with the hint of warning in Vaant’s voice. “I think the Earther engineer can manage well enough; she’s crazy enough to take the right risks.”
“You’ve got an Earther engineer?” Faros asked, so casual and indifferent that it set Frrar’s hackles up immediately.
Vaant heard it too, and his expression darkened. “Don’t push your luck, warrior.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Faros said. He glanced down at his shoulder and the blood that congealed down his arm, then tilted his head at the door. “I’ll head back to the infirmary to get patched up. We don’t want to take advantage of your... hospitality for long.”
The captain’s teeth showed as he took a step in the pirate’s direction. “If you’re low on supplies, there’s a spaceport nearby.”
“We just resupplied,” Faros said. He smiled back, apparently unconcerned with the increasing irritation of the Galaxos crew, and retreated to the doors. “Enough to tide us over until we meet you in two weeks.”
He left, and when Vaant scowled more, Adhz sighed and got up to follow the pirate back to the infirmary to make sure he didn’t make any more trouble on the way. Which left Frrar facing Vaant.
Before Vaant could speak, Frrar held up his hands.
“I know it’s a terrible idea. But I’m not going to let her go with him and end up dead or heartbroken or worse.”
“Just be certain you come back alive,” the captain said. “I know there is a great deal of history between you and your brother, but perhaps it is time to put that to rest and move on.”
“Never.” Frrar’s anger began a slow boil, his scales flushing with red and orange swirls. “He committed an unforgivable crime and it is not something I can overlook. I will assist him because it means keeping the Earther safe and alive, but beyond that... I will not go out of my way to aid him.”
Vaant glanced at the massive viewing screen that showed the slow drift of stars and space outside the ship. He hesitated to speak, which was not like him at all, and Frrar braced for the unexpected. The Earther the captain took as his mate had changed him, more than perhaps any of them thought.
“It is not my business, Frrar, and I am generally not interested in the family lives of my crew. But I will say—we live dangerous lives in this rebellion, and piracy is even more dangerous. Perhaps there is some value in hearing your brother’s side of things and understanding where he has been, what he has done, from his perspective. Do not do it for him. Do it for yourself and your own peace of mind. It does not feel like you would regret anything now, but if he were to die and you learn after he is gone that you were wrong or mistaken about something... It is not something to be taken back. Think about it.”
Frrar clenched his hands into fists and started for the doors. “I’ll consider it, Captain.”
Neither of them believed it. There was too much that would have to be undone, and since there was no bringing the dead back to life, Frrar didn’t see a way to forgive his brother. When Vaant grimaced and turned his attention back to piloting the ship, Frrar headed for his quarters to pack. He’d need a separate bag just for the weapons and tools he planned to bring.
Chapter 9