by Layla Nash
Before he could orient himself or otherwise assess the rest of the crew, his brother emerged from the conveyor arm and crowded him out of the way. Frrar ground his teeth and caught a glimpse of his own scales turning red as Faros slid around him and started giving orders to the crew.
Faros left the engineers to unhook the arm from the Galaxos and instead slid his arm around Maisy’s shoulders. “I’ll show you to the sick bay while the quartermaster arranges your quarters. We have not had a female aboard ship so we will make special arrangements.”
“Don’t feel obligated to go out of your way,” Maisy said. Frrar stalked along on their heels, unwilling to let her out of his sight, and gripped the straps of his bag until his knuckles ached. The wide-eyed doctor looked around at the sleek pirate ship’s interior, her steps slowing so she could take in the orderly chaos of a ship preparing to get underway. “I survived the Fleet Academy. I’m sure I could survive being in proximity to—”
“No,” Frrar said. “You need your own quarters. And I’ll need quarters right next to hers.”
Faros gave him a dirty look. “I’m not sure I can accommodate that, brother.”
“You’ll have to,” Frrar said. He ignored the slight scowl as Maisy looked over her shoulder at him, because he damn well wasn’t going to let her put herself in a position for trouble to find her. It was dangerous enough just being on the pirate ship. He wouldn’t sleep a wink if he wasn’t close enough to protect her from the other warriors. “That’s the requirement.”
“I don’t remember agreeing to that,” Faros said. He kept walking, leading the way into the maze of similar-looking corridors, occasionally calling orders to passing crewmembers.
“You both agreed to stop fighting,” Maisy said, scowling at them. “Surely there are two rooms in reasonable proximity that will suffice for both Frrar and me? It doesn’t have to be fancy. I could sleep in a broom closet if there’s a mattress and a sink.”
Faros’s scales showed his irritation, but he smoothed his expression and inclined his head to Maisy, still a charming liar and criminal instead of an honorable warrior. “I’ll make sure the quartermaster knows what to look for. I’m certain we can do better than a broom closet.”
“Good.” Maisy peered at the doors where Faros stopped, then looked up and down the corridor. “Is this sick bay?”
Faros punched a code into the panel on the wall, letting the doors whoosh all the way open before he stepped through and gestured for her to follow. “Yes. State of the art. As advanced as we could manage.”
“Holy crap,” Maisy whispered in awe, staring around her with even bigger eyes. She dropped her luggage as she turned in a circle and took in the full extent of the fancy room.
Frrar wasn’t impressed. It was newer and cleaner and more advanced than the sick bay on the Galaxos, but that didn’t mean anything. Just because it was bigger and had more storage and gurneys didn’t make it better. It was probably all stolen equipment and bootleg medication and regenerators. Nothing of quality, no doubt. More dangerous by far than anything they had on the Galaxos. He scowled as he surveyed the multiple gurneys and some sort of full-body regeneration contraption, though the engineering side of his brain boggled with the opportunities to tinker with all the mechanics.
“Where did you get all of this?” Maisy’s fingers drifted across a complex robot array of some sort as she moved like a sleepwalker through the large part of the room and toward a semi-private alcove near the back of the sick bay. “This is way more advanced than what the Alliance is training on. I saw a schematic for that tissue regenerator last year, but I didn’t think they’d actually built it.”
Frrar didn’t like the awe in her voice, or the way her eyes shone with excitement as she cataloged all the fancy equipment, but he grudgingly had to admit that some of the sick bay was impressive. Somewhat. But he still hated the smirk on Faros’s face as he trailed after Maisy, gloating over the ship and everything else.
The pirate captain leaned against one of the gurneys and studied Maisy a little too closely for Frrar’s liking. “We’ve acquired medical equipment and expertise in our travels across a variety of quadrants.”
Acquired. Frrar snorted and shook his head, raising his voice to make sure Maisy heard. “That means they stole it.”
She waved away his concerns and instead began to inspect the contents of the whole wall of storage, going up on her toes to peer into the very top shelves. Frrar folded his arms over his chest and refused to let the intriguing play of muscles in her calves distract him. He had to protect her from every Xaravian on that ship—including himself.
Chapter 11
Maisy
Maisy had no idea a ship like the Sraibur could possibly have such an advanced medical ward. It was practically more advanced than all the hospitals and clinics she’d been in since leaving the Argo, and even better—as hard as it was to believe—than the Fleet hospitals where she’d trained. Of course, the Fleet deliberately gave them substandard equipment to test doctors’ abilities to work in low-tech situations and accommodate civilizations that were less advanced and wouldn’t welcome the magic of advanced tech. Still. Her heart beat faster and part of her almost wished someone would be injured so she could treat them with all the amazing gadgets.
Which made her wonder... She turned on her heel to frown at Faros. “You’ve got all this amazing stuff and you still need to borrow a doctor? This kind of equipment practically thinks for itself.”
Faros’s smile never slipped, though his gaze drifted away from her for a moment. He turned away from the small alcove, hidden from view, as if to conceal whatever remained within it.
Her sense of unease grew; he was hiding something, and more than just where he got all the fancy equipment.
The pirate captain cleared his throat and gestured for her to leave the sick bay. “We can talk about that later. It’s of no consequence.”
He was too smooth, too practiced. She didn’t budge. “Actually, I’d like to know the answer now. Anyone could figure out how to use this equipment. They come already set up to run every possible procedure. You don’t need me.”
Frrar tensed behind her, a slight growl vibrating in his chest, and Maisy was more than just a little glad that he’d come with her. She’d have been in a whole galaxy of trouble if she’d boarded the pirate ship on her own. Not that she’d ever tell Frrar or Isla or Griggs that. Ever.
Faros folded his arms over his massive chest and scowled as he looked at the wall past her shoulder. “Fine. You weren’t supposed to know yet, but we are where we are.”
Maisy’s heart beat a little faster. What was he hiding? What secrets were about to jump out at her from the small alcove where Faros had turned around? She leaned forward a bit, wanting to meet it head-on regardless of what it was. She’d learned that much in medical school: bad news didn’t get better with age. Even though the pirate ship was on a fast path away from the Galaxos, they were definitely still in range to summon help if needed.
The pirate captain retreated and stood aside, so Maisy could see the expensive containment shield that took up the entirety of the alcove along with more fancy medical gadgets. She peered at it, overwhelmed with the simple amount of lights and tubes and metal arms, and stopped in her tracks when she saw the small figure in the center of it all.
He looked like a tiny version of a Xarav warrior, wearing simple robes, and hopped to his feet the moment he saw Faros and Maisy. The little Xaravian beamed and held his arms up to the much larger warrior who stood over him, saying something in Xaravian that Maisy didn’t understand. She’d never expected to find a child on the pirate ship, and she’d certainly never thought that one would reach for Faros with that much excitement.
It took a moment for her to gather her thoughts. Faros fished the little boy out of the medical equipment and held him in one arm, looking at Maisy and Frrar without expression. “This is my son, Faryl.”
Maisy managed to smile, putting aside her shock, and s
huffled a little closer so she could speak quietly to the little boy. “Hi there.”
He smiled shyly, leaning closer to his father, and patted his hands against Faros’s chest. The pirate grumbled something to the little boy, and translated for Maisy. “He is happy to meet you, but he’s never seen an Earther woman before. So he might be a little shy.”
“That quite all right,” Maisy said. She wished that she’d brought a present or toys or something, though there was surely something that could be made into a game within the high-tech sick bay. She didn’t take her eyes off the little boy, marveling at the different texture of his skin. He hadn’t formed scales yet, and the spikes on his shoulders were little more than nubs. So he looked rather fragile and delicate, or at least defenseless. “Is he…ill? Why is he in sick bay?”
“He was born with health challenges, yes.” Faros didn’t seem to mind as his son tangled his fingers in the warrior’s long hair, playing with the beads and braids. “We do not know exactly what the challenge is, unfortunately. So we have searched galaxy after galaxy to find new technologies and new tests and new opportunities.”
Maisy nodded, turning to study the equipment that formed the containment circle where the boy had been playing with a miniature knife and sword combination. She couldn’t explain the knot of emotion that formed in her throat as she watched the impassive, giant warrior holding his tiny, fragile son. “What are the symptoms?”
“There is some kind of blood poisoning,” Faros said. He bounced his son against his hip, but didn’t take his eyes off her. “He is not often able to fight off diseases, so we must constantly set the scanners on him to see if any germs have gotten hold of him. His joints are not as strong as they should be, and his growth has been slower than other boys his age.”
Maisy winced at the litany of problems, and started to click through the history panel on the different machines so she could review the data the machines had gathered. It was remarkable to have such a litany of diseases that the medical community hadn’t been able to address or even identify. “This may be a silly question, but have you tried any of the Alliance clinics?”
She fully expected him to laugh her out of the room at the suggestion that a pirate would turn to the Alliance for anything, but instead Faros nodded. “Yes. Every one of them.”
Her heart sank. “And none of them could help?”
His expression twisted and darkened. “Yes and no.”
Maisy hesitated, not sure she wanted to know what made his face change like that, and hugged herself just in case it was more devastating news. She’d only worked with adult patients at the Fleet academy, though there had been one semester when they discussed how to treat young civilians they might run across during exploration missions. She’d certainly never had extended contact with young ones. “What does that mean?”
Faros kissed the top of his son’s head and gently put the little boy back into the containment circle so he could play with the knife and sword again, and ushered Maisy a few steps away. “The clinics claimed they didn’t know what it was or how to help him, but there was an undertone... They hinted they could save him for a price. For a very hefty price.”
Maisy shook her head in immediate denial. “No. No, an Alliance clinic would never—”
Faros gave her a chilly look, as if her naivete offended him, and clenched his jaw until the muscles in his neck twitched. “Yes, they would. They did. They’ve turned us away from every clinic. Unless we can pay a ridiculous fee, they refuse to help. For this... they wanted more than the whole of Xarav could pay.”
She wished she could have argued, could have blamed a few bad administrators or power-hungry governors, but in reality... she had to admit that it was possible. It hurt her heart to think that the Alliance and the medical community she’d once been so proud to be a part of would reject patients in need and demand higher fees on the side to do their jobs. They had no right to risk a child’s life because he was from a certain sector and civilization, or because his father didn’t have all the money in the world.
The Alliance had been willing to ignore her old captain’s attempt to sell her and the rest of the female crewmembers to the Xaravians. Why would she expect the Alliance to care about a single sick child?
Maisy took a deep breath and forced herself to smile, picking up her bag to shake a little. “Well. I will do what I can to at least identify what’s wrong and maybe we can figure something out.”
“And now you know why I must have a doctor on this ship, regardless of how fancy the equipment.” Faros nodded but his lips thinned, as if his true regret bled through the tough facade. “I will show you to your quarters, then perhaps you will join me for dinner.”
Maisy, her thoughts already on the different books she could reference to better understand what might be afflicting Faros’s son, almost missed that Frrar still stood near the doors. But she stopped in her tracks when she caught sight of Frrar’s face—pale and shocked. He leaned against the wall and stared at the alcove where Faryl played and sang himself a song. Maisy frowned a bit as she looked at him. It was as if he’d seen a supernova right in front of him. “Frrar? Are you okay?”
His scales had lost all of their color, something she’d never seen before in any of the Xaravians. She reached for his arm to try and take his pulse, fearful for his blood pressure and the working of his hearts.
He ignored her but dragged his attention from the alcove to his brother, and something like grief crossed his expression. “He looks like his mother.”
“Yes,” Faros said, no inflection in his voice. “He does.”
“And does he know you killed her?” Frrar asked in a deceptively quiet, calm voice.
Maisy sucked in a breath and stumbled back, dropping her bag, and nearly fell into a pile of very expensive regenerators. She didn’t think Faros was a murderer, but he was a pirate and he was Frrar’s brother so maybe... All of her went cold. There was no telling what he would do to keep the secret. She wondered how long it would take for her to fish out that strange communicator that Jess gave her, and held her breath as the two brothers stared each other down.
Chapter 12
Frrar
Frrar hadn’t been that impressed with the sick bay, though the Earther doctor looked mesmerized as she gazed at all the equipment and shiny shit. He wanted to get her safely into her quarters so he could regroup and come up with a plan for surviving his brother and figuring out what underlying motives drove the Sraibur through that sector.
And then Faros picked up a youngling inside the sick bay and Frrar’s hearts stopped. The youngling had Saeva’s face. He was clearly her son, and... and Faros’s.
Frrar heard a great whistling in his ears as his hearts thundered and tried to break through his chest. He’d never dreamed that Saeva had a child before she died. Before Faros killed her. And yet—there he was. The living, breathing evidence that Frrar’s true love had been stolen by his brother.
Space reoriented itself as Maisy smiled and cooed at the youngling, and for a wild moment Frrar could imagine her with younglings of her own, perhaps half-Xaravian younglings with long dark hair and their mother’s eyes and bold Earther mannerisms. He shook away the guilt of thinking such a thing while in the same room as Saeva’s young and his murderous brother, and instead concentrated on keeping himself calm, so he didn’t frighten the youngling or the Earther. “And does he know you killed her?”
Faros went still and his scales swirled with a red so deep it was almost black-purple with rage and grief, and his fists clenched at his sides. “I did no such thing. Say it again and we will fight to the death. Brother.”
Maisy went white, which was on Frrar’s checklist of Earther colors as “not good,” and cleared her throat a few times before she shuffled toward the door. “No fighting, either of you. We might be in sick bay, but I’ll not have you kill each other in front of a child.”
Faros never took his eyes off Frrar. “This is a confrontation long in the making.�
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“Yes,” Frrar said grimly.
“No,” Maisy said. Her voice trembled and her hands shook, but she put herself between them and faced Faros, poking him in the chest despite the armor and scales. “Put it aside for now, until after we’re done with this mission. Then the two of you can face each other down and beat each other bloody. But you must remember your child needs us to find a cure for him. Which you cannot do if both of you are dead.”
Frrar folded his arms over his chest, wishing his brother would make a move and justify an immediate showdown. But instead, Faros’s gaze dropped to the Earther in front of him and the muscles in his jaw jumped for a long time before he managed to speak. “You are foolish, little Earther, for putting yourself between my brother and me. Do not do it again.”
But the moment passed and Faros strode toward the door, his posture stiff and his scales still tinged with anger. “This way.”
Maisy swayed once the captain’s attention was no longer on her; Frrar caught her elbow to keep her upright, then picked up both of their bags to follow his brother once more into the corridor. He dragged the Earther along in his wake despite that she pulled at his grip, asking about the youngling. Rage ran through him until he saw nothing but his brother’s back, wanting to slide his dagger right into the beast’s side.
It was bad enough Faros stole Saeva away through duplicity, but he did so knowing that Frrar loved her and she loved Frrar. Faros convinced her Frrar had died on a mission and swooped in to console her, and within a moon or so they were mated. It was too late by the time Frrar returned to Xarav to greet his beloved, and he departed again immediately so he wouldn’t have to see them together. Less than a year later, she was gone and his brother disappeared with a pirate crew and what remained of Saeva’s memories.