by Layla Nash
Maisy
Maisy wanted to shout with triumph that she was going on the pirate ship and Isla hadn’t been able to stop her. Finally, finally Maisy would get a chance to stand on her own and make her own way without someone else there to try and “help” around every corner. Except for Frrar.
She didn’t mind him going along, since he would probably be completely focused on fixing the ship or fighting his brother. He was awfully attractive and strong and could certainly be distracting when he took off his shirt, but chances were he’d be too busy with the machinery to pay any attention to her. And when he landed on her in the hallway outside the sick bay, his weight had felt so right against her chest and hips…
She shook herself and thought of cold showers. There wasn’t any use daydreaming about that sort of thing. No men chased after the quiet, nerdy doctor.
Jess followed her to her quarters and watched as Maisy dragged her duffel bag from under her bunk and began to fill it with clothes and toiletries and everything else she might need.
“Thought you were only going to be gone for two weeks,” Jess said quietly, though a hint of amusement softened her expression. Being with Trazzak had changed something in her from what Maisy saw; she seemed a lot more relaxed and her laugh came easier than ever before. It made Maisy just a touch jealous. Jess was still Jess, just more... comfortable in her own skin. More Jess. Better Jess.
Maisy looked down at the full duffel and her cheeks heated. She’d packed everything she owned into the bag, like she didn’t plan on coming back. Jess had a point. Maisy cleared her throat and slowly pulled some of her uniforms and scrubs and work clothes out of the bag to stuff back into the drawers under her bunk. “Right. Guess I just got…excited.”
“It’s good to be excited.” Jess moseyed over the closet and peered into the small compartment, then pulled out a mass of dust-colored fabric. “Although you might want to take these.”
Maisy wrinkled her nose as she studied the soft cloth. “Xaravian robes? I don’t think I’ll need a disguise like that, Jess.”
The other woman just shrugged and folded the robes, tucking them into the duffel bag anyway. “Trust me. You might need them on a Xaravian ship.”
Maisy stroked her fingers over the soft fabric, frowning. Trazzak had purchased them during the adventure figuring out what had been poisoning Jess, and gave them to Maisy to wear as they ran around on a hostile spaceport. Maybe Jess was right; it could be useful to sort of blend in on a Xaravian ship, even if she could never pass as a female Xaravian. And since Jess seemed to know a thing or two about adventures and risk and getting into danger and out again without dying... “What else should I take?”
Jess frowned and poked through the closet and the drawers, shaking her head. “Don’t you have a knife or weapon or something?”
“Why would I need a knife?”
“A girl can always use a knife,” Jess said, tone dry. She pulled a utilitarian folding knife out of her uniform pocket and handed it to Maisy. “You can borrow this one until you get your own, but I expect it back, okay? In two weeks when we pick you up.”
It sounded like a threat and a promise, though there was a hint of deeply-buried fear in Jess’s eyes. Her concern, and her willingness to not try to dissuade Maisy, just made Maisy feel a little worse. A knot formed in her throat. She was really leaving. She’d be on the pirate ship alone, without any other women or other Earthers or friends. Just Xaravians and men. Maisy forced herself to smile and slid the knife into her pocket. “Right. Not a problem. I’ll keep an eye out for good knives.”
“I’m sure Frrar can help you pick one out,” Jess said under her breath, and Maisy glanced at her to try and read her expression. What the hell did that mean?”
But Jess said nothing else about it, instead commenting on the new boots that Maisy packed and the different belts and shirts that crowded the duffel bag. Maisy got her journal and some of her battered medical textbooks, hoping they would help in case she ran across anything too strange while with the pirates. She also took the tablet with all the books loaded onto it, even though she preferred the heavy printed copies she’d paid extra for, and the small alarm clock her brother had given her before she went to the Academy. It was a complex model of the solar system, all the planets turning and swinging around the sun, and it would always show her the time of day at home anytime she wanted to know. It made her throat prickle with tears as she studied it.
“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Jess said.
“I’m not changing my mind, and you can’t stop me from going.” Maisy put the alarm clock in the duffel bag, wrapped up in one of her shirts, and straightened so she could zip it up.
“I wasn’t trying to, darlin’.” Jess took a deep breath and pulled Maisy’s jacket from where it hung in the closet, holding it out so Maisy could take it. “It’s your life, they’re your choices to make. You choose the risk, you choose the consequence. Just keep your eyes open, be careful who you trust, and ask for help before you think you need it. Because I know you and I know you won’t ask for help until everything else is going to shit and it’ll be too late.”
“You’re worse about that than I am,” Maisy muttered, though she couldn’t help smiling a bit. “But okay, fine. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good.” Jess pulled something out of her pocket, and handed a small device to Maisy. She demonstrated how to unfold it and activate it, and punched in a code that made the thing hum and light up. “This is a communicator you can use to contact me from anywhere in the universe. Frrar knows how to fix it, so if something happens and you think it’s broken, let him take a crack at the repairs. They’ve built more so that Frrar can call back to the Galaxos if anything goes wrong, but I want you to keep this one for yourself. This is how you call me. If you call me, Maisy, we’ll come get you. There no shame in needing help, you hear me?”
Maisy took the device and concentrated on it rather than the look on Jess’s face. “Right. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure it will be, too,” Jess said. She reached out and squeezed Maisy’s shoulder and her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “But I’ve learned to plan for the worst and hope for the best. So this is us planning for the worst. You call for help and we’ll all come. It won’t even matter what Vaant and Trazzak and the rest of these idiots think. We’ll just put them all in the brig and steal the damn ship. We look after each other, hear?”
Maisy nodded. She’d almost like to see Jess and Griggs and Isla lock up their mates and take over the ship. She put the communicator in her pocket and looked around the small room one last time to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. “Got it. I think…think that’s it.”
“There’s no use delaying,” Jess said. She shoved her hands in her pockets and followed Maisy out of the room, carrying the jacket that Maisy had left on the bed. “I learned that early. Putting things off just gives them more power. So strike out like you’re a hundred percent confident and know exactly what you’re doing, even if you’re shaking inside from the tip of your nose to your toenails.”
“Got it.” Maisy took a deep breath and forced herself to smile, grateful that at least Jess didn’t even try to talk her out of it. “When’d you learn all this, Jess?”
“Training,” she said, easy enough. They continued down the empty halls toward the sick bay, since Maisy needed to pack up more supplies. Jess helped her fill up one of the bins in the empty room, since all three of the pirates had disappeared, and didn’t seem to have any trouble even with the cupboards that should have been locked. “Information officer training.”
Maisy paused, her hands full of regenerator pods, and stared at the other woman. “I beg your pardon?”
“Yeah, I haven’t told most people.” Jess looked just a touch ashamed. “I’ve been meaning to, but it’s.... hard to break old habits. I was an information officer. That’s why they tried to poison me and the Xaravian traitor kidnapped me to sell me to the Alli
ance, and it’s why my bounty was about four times what everyone else’s was. My head was—well, it still is—worth a lot more to the Alliance than a regular head. But it also means that I know what you’re heading into, because I’ve been in a lot of similar situations.”
It took a second for Maisy’s thoughts to stop whirling, staring at her friend and trying to reorder the universe, but eventually it made more sense that Jess was an information officer than it ever had that she was some kind of cultural expert. Maisy nodded and made another circuit through the sick bay, wondering what the hell she needed to stock up on. There was no telling what kind of trouble the Xaravians would get into. She dug into one of the boxes in the back of the farthest cupboard and found some prosthetics that could be used for new scales. Although she didn’t know if Xaravians actually lost scales. Maybe they didn’t fall out but instead just healed over like new skin?
“Then what should I know?” Maisy asked. She concentrated on getting more of the prosthetics, since they could be used as casts and solid bandages for stubborn Xaravians who wouldn’t sit still long enough for the regenerators to work. “From your experience, I mean.”
Jess leaned back against one of the gurneys, fiddling with the sheets. “Like I said, keep your eyes open. Know where you’re at and how to get away, where to hide, where the weapons are. Only trust Frrar, regardless of what the others say. Frrar is a good guy and won’t try to talk you into anything. If you’re unsure about what the Xaravian pirates might say or mean, ask him. He’ll help you understand.”
Maisy nodded. Something about Jess’s calm demeanor and the matter-of-fact way she talked about thinking about escapes and weapons and people talking her into things helped the panicking corner of Maisy’s stomach to settle down. Jess had no doubt done things that were far scarier, and she’d done them all alone if what Maisy had heard about information officers was true. Maisy had Frrar in her corner, and a crew full of Xaravians who were somewhat trustworthy, even if they were pirates. At least they weren’t a hundred percent enemies. And they needed her for something, too.
She cleared her throat a few times until she was sure her voice wouldn’t break, and kept her voice low so there was no chance Isla could somehow hear her from wherever she was on the ship. “And…and did you feel nervous? Before you left for something new?”
“Nervous?” Jess smiled, a bit of a chuckle escaping, and leaned against the wall near the still-dented door. “That’s generous. There were times I was knee-knocking scared. Shit-your-pants petrified. But I still went. The trick is to acknowledge the fear and all the terrible shit that can happen, and wrap all that up in a box and put it away to deal with later.”
Maisy nodded, studying her friend. They’d told them something like that at medical school, for dealing with emergencies and catastrophes and grieving families. Take all your emotions and put them aside, take one step at a time, deal with one emergency at a time. “That makes sense.”
“Yep.” Jess glanced up as a series of tones came over the broadcaster that made it clear the pirate ship prepared to depart. “All right, girl, let’s get moving. I’ll drag that one and you get your clothes.”
“Thanks, Jess.” Maisy swallowed a knot of fear and tried to get her legs to move, even though she’d somehow lost feeling below her thighs. The comfort and safety of the familiar sick bay closed around her and made it even harder to leave. Jess got through the door with the unwieldy box of supplies, then glanced back at her, waiting. Maisy took a deep breath and concentrated on Jess. She could do it. She could definitely do it. Maisy asked to go, Maisy wanted to go. She really did.
Half of Jess’s mouth quirked up. “I don’t know how long they’ll wait, Doc.”
Maisy’s cheeks burned and she managed to shuffle forward. “I know. I’m…it’s just a little...”
“It’s hard to step into the unknown,” Jess said quietly. “But remember, Maisy—this ship was a terrifying unknown for a while, remember? After Witz sold us off the Argo. And now it’s like a home. It’s possible to make a home anywhere in the universe with enough time and the right people.”
She was right. Completely right. The first time Maisy saw the Galaxos sick bay, she’d been horrified at its smallness, archaic equipment, and the lack of real supplies and technology. It was borderline quackery when she first showed up. She whipped it into shape, and she could do so again on the pirate ship. Maisy nodded and straightened her shoulders, pasted a confident smile on her face, and shouldered her duffel bag. “Great. Let’s get moving.”
“That’s my girl,” Jess said. She slapped Maisy’s shoulder and led the way toward the loading dock. “I almost wish I were going with you.”
Maisy shook her head, even though her heart jumped in excitement at the thought. “Probably better if you stay here and keep the others from chasing after me.”
Jess snorted, shaking her head. “You don’t know the half of it. Be safe and smart. Don’t say goodbye. We never say goodbye. It’s just ‘see you later,’ you hear?”
Maisy nodded. She didn’t want to admit that her sinuses burned and her hands started to shake as they reached the loading dock and found only the pirate captain there with Frrar. A few crates of equipment moved through the connecting arm to leave the Galaxos and board the other ship. One of the younger engineers maneuvered the controls for the connector, then nodded for Maisy and Jess to put the bag and box on the conveyor that moved them through space.
Then Maisy had to suck in a breath and steel herself for a goodbye she didn’t want to say. Jess hardly blinked, her expression suddenly impassive and entirely professional. She shook Maisy’s hand. “I expect a full trip report when you get back.”
It was the last thing Maisy had expected. She nodded automatically at the order, almost clicking her heels together from force of habit. “Roger that.”
“Good. We’ll see you when you get back.” Jess nodded, squeezed Maisy’s hand, and glanced past her at where the two Xaravians watched them. The information officer’s entire demeanor hardened, and Maisy had zero doubt left that she was one of the Ministry’s cold-blooded saboteurs. “I’ll have your scales as my floor if anything happens to her. You’ll wish that the haugmawt got you.”
Faros’s eyes narrowed as he studied her, but Frrar at least knew not to mess with her. “Understood, Barnes. Safe travels.”
She grunted and strode back out of the loading dock without another word, and Maisy stared at where she’d disappeared, her mouth suddenly filled with cotton. She really wasn’t brave enough for this kind of thing. She really wasn’t.
But her bag was already on the other ship, and she couldn’t make herself ask for them to send it back, so she just had to hike up her big girl pants and get on with things. Maisy straightened her shoulders and looked at the two Xaravians with what she hoped was something close to Griggs’s cool, impervious expression. “Shall we?”
Faros stepped back and bowed, gesturing at the somewhat rickety arm connecting the two ships. “After you.”
She wanted to demand that Frrar went first, or Faros went first, or anyone else went first—since she had no idea what awaited her other than a pirate crew. But she could fake it. She had to fake it. Jess would fake it. So Maisy arched an eyebrow as she walked past them and ducked into the arm. “Great. See you on the other side.”
And she stepped into space.
Chapter 10
Frrar
She’d taken three steps into the arm before Frrar got his thoughts working enough to form an objection, but by then it was too late and she was far enough into the transfer that it didn’t make sense to turn back around.
Faros frowned as he studied Maisy’s progress. “Does she realize, do you think, that she forgot every scrap of safety gear? Or is this one of those fearless Earther things?”
“It’s hard to say,” Frrar said, his words mostly a growl. He wanted to shake Maisy for taking a stupid risk like that, jumping into space protected only by the thin metal and plastic of the con
necting arm. She hadn’t even bothered with a helmet and oxygen or a suit... Nothing. “They can’t usually explain their actions.”
“Well,” Faros said, shaking his head. “This will be more interesting than I thought. Do you want to go next, or shall I?”
“I don’t want you behind me,” Frrar said. “But I’m not going to let you unhook the arm before I get over there. I’ll go next.” He gave a hard look to Kolzz, operating the arm, and the other warrior nodded to acknowledge the order.
Frrar hadn’t bothered with goodbyes to anyone, since warriors wouldn’t be concerned with something like that, and didn’t want to be out-crazied by Maisy. So he too walked into the connector without any safety gear, even though his engineer’s brain screamed at the stupidity of the risk. If the arm were damaged during the transfer, he had zero chance of surviving without a protective suit and helmet and oxygen.
Still, he couldn’t step into a crew of Xaravian warriors in head-to-toe safety gear after an Earther female popped up without any of it. So he took the same stupid risk she did, though he did it completely aware of all the terrible consequences that could have killed him in the few short moments it took to transfer to the pirate ship.
He clenched his jaw to keep from panting from sheer adrenaline as he strode through the transfer arm, his hands clenched at his sides, and refused to slow down or acknowledge the potential danger of barreling into a hostile crew.
Frrar stepped onto the pirate ship, prepared to confront a rusting bucket of outdated tech, and found instead a half-circle of Xaravians staring at Maisy as she put her hands on her hips and lectured them about cleanliness. Apparently the loading bay wasn’t up to her standards.
Frrar swallowed his laughter and instead grumbled as he caught Maisy’s arm and drew her back, trying to send the signal that she was his and not to be trifled with. Some of the confusion cleared from the Xaravians after her status became less confusing, but there was enough color in their scales and rattling spikes that Frrar knew she’d sparked quite a bit of interest among the pirates.