by E. R. Paskey
That was true. Vik would never have let me go—never let any of us go—if he’d thought there was a hint of chance that Lobai would sell us out. She tapped her knee thoughtfully. “How do you intend to go about finding him?”
Colin grinned—but the expression held far less mirth than it should have. “That’s where the fun starts.”
Anna raised an eyebrow. “Would you care to elaborate?” She was proud of herself for keeping her voice cool and level.
Colin’s grin did not fade. “Way I see it, lass, we have two options. You can tell me where your brother will be expecting you to go and I’ll be more than happy to take you there.” He shrugged. “But, since you seem a bit reluctant to go that route, it leaves us with the second option.” He paused for dramatic effect. “We hunt Lobai down.”
“You’ve already said as much.” This time, Anna did not quite manage to keep the impatience from her voice. “My question is, how?” A sideways glance at Deek told her he was wondering the same thing—but intended to keep his mouth shut about it.
“Good old-fashioned investigative work.” Colin unfolded himself from his seat and rose to standing in one smooth movement. “Come along. We have work to do.”
Chapter 9
THE FIRST THING COLIN DID was set the Galaxy’s Way down on the closest planet so they could get Anna some clothes and other essentials. He also insisted on paying for most of them—which left Anna feeling itchy and hot under the collar. She protested, and she wanted to snap that she was perfectly capable of paying for all of it herself, thank you very much, but she knew the meager funds she had left would not cover what she needed.
Still…his charity made her uncomfortable.
Colin just gave her an amused look. “If you won’t accept it as what my wife is due — ”
Anna’s eyes nearly popped out of her head at that.
“ — consider it an advance against whatever we recover from Lobai.” He waved a hand. “Or an advance against your wages.”
“My wages?” she asked, at the same time Deek sputtered, “Her wages?”
Colin rolled his eyes at both of them. “While you’re aboard the Galaxy’s Way, lass, we might as well put you to work, eh?”
He looked at Anna from beneath sooty eyelashes as he said this, however…and she knew exactly what he was doing. A warm wash of gratitude swelled in her chest, soothing her irritated pride. “Yes. That would probably be for the best.”
“How well do you know your way around a kitchen?” Colin drawled.
Anna almost rolled her eyes at him, but caught herself. His cook is a man, remember? She shrugged instead. “Nobody’s died of food poisoning.”
Colin crooked a smile at her. “How comforting.” He glanced sideways at Deek. “What about ship’s mechanics?”
“Adequate.” Anna shrugged again, feeling an uncomfortable prickle on the back of her neck. “I’m good for emergency repairs, but not anything you really want to last. I’m better at fixing up people.”
“I see. Well, if it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer you not go poking around in the innards of my ship just yet. Or the innards of my crew.”
Thought as much. Anna gave him a casual salute. “The galley it is, then.” There are only three of you, she consoled herself. It can’t be that bad. Not when she was used to cooking for four or five times that on the occasions she had galley duty.
“Cap’n,” Deek began, “are you really sure this is the wisest — ”
Colin silenced him with a flash of blue eyes and a tilt of a black eyebrow. “Seeing as how there are presently no other individuals on whom our charming new companion can work her wiles — ”
It was Anna’s turn to raise an eyebrow in mild alarm.
“ — a position in the galley would benefit us all the most. Understood?” Colin kept his voice light, but there was no mistaking the gravity behind his meaning.
“Aye, Cap’n,” Deek grumbled, resigning himself to the inevitable.
Rubbing his hands together, Colin looked at Anna. “Now then. Off to get you some clothes, lass.”
He is entirely too excited about this, Anna thought wryly. She glanced at Deek to see his reaction…only to find him giving her the same wide-eyed, dubious look she felt on her own face.
She caught Deek in the corridor after Colin sauntered down the landing ramp. “Is your captain sane?” she demanded in a harsh whisper. “He’s reacting awfully well to accidentally marrying a stranger!”
The older man’s face went through a strange series of contortions, as though he fervently wanted to agree with her, but felt that it would be disloyal to do so. He settled for an odd, pained grimace. “I don’t know what to tell you.” He swallowed. “He wants to get Lobai, I know that much.”
“Him and me both,” Anna muttered.
“Are you lot coming or not?” Colin’s voice drifted up the landing ramp.
“Coming, Cap’n,” Deek hollered back. He gave Anna a significant—though wary—look. “I’ll be watching you. Ain’t nobody going to take advantage of the Cap’n on my watch. He’s a good man.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Anna said, mostly honestly. “It’s his sanity I’m concerned about.”
Deek just shook his head and loped after Colin.
Muttering to herself, Anna followed.
~oOo~
They were not gone long. Once they were back aboard the Galaxy’s Way, Anna deposited her new belongings in her cabin and immediately changed clothes. She folded the clothes Colin had lent her and left them on her bunk; she’d have to wash them and return them to him later. She then went in search of the cockpit, where she fully expected to find her new captain.
She was correct.
Colin sat in the pilot’s seat, poring over a holographic star chart. He glanced up at her when she entered, but he said nothing. Nor did he immediately close the star chart.
Deek, Anna was pleased to note, was nowhere in sight. After a slight, awkward pause, she strode forward to claim the copilot’s seat. “Where are we headed now?”
Those impossibly blue eyes darted up to her again before returning the star chart. “Xendria.”
“Xendria?” Anna had heard of that planet, but she didn’t think Vik had ever flown them by it before.
“Ever been?”
“No.” Anna leaned forward to study the star chart with him, propping her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand. “But I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s still classified as a backwater planet, but it’s ruddy beautiful.” Colin shook his head. “Probably for the best. Once ‘civilized’ people get their hands on something, it all goes to hell in a hand basket.” He glanced at her and shrugged. “Saw it happen with Zinzin fifteen years ago.”
“I have been there.” Anna wrinkled her nose. “Terrible place. I feel sorry for anybody who actually has to live there. Is that what happened to it?”
“Aye. Planet’s council thought they’d turn it into a ritzy resort, but didn’t bother actually putting the money into anything else on the planet.” Colin snorted. “It was all downhill from there. They made money hand over fist from the resort, and their people starved.” He shot her a curious, appraising look. “What were you doing there?”
Anna waved a hand. “We’d…uh … acquired a cargo hold full of dehydrated foodstuffs and we had to find somebody willing to take it.”
Colin looked up at her through sooty lashes. “You can’t have made much off that deal.”
They hadn’t, but that hadn’t been the point of the exchange. Anna shrugged. “We needed our cargo hold back.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting this brother of yours.” At her startled look, Colin grinned. “I expect we’ll find we have more in common than you’d think. Speaking of which,” he gestured to the star charts, “we’ll be keeping an eye out for the Iliana while we’re tracking Lobai. Eventually, I hope we’ll cross paths.”
“If Vik gets
a bead on Lobai, that is entirely possible.” Anna rubbed her hands over her face, an ache forming in her chest again. Dropping her hands to her lap, she curled the fingers of her prosthetic hand into a fist. Her brother was probably going crazy right now, trying to figure out what happened to her.
Anna squeezed her eyes shut. There was no point going down that trail of thought. “I just wish I had some means of getting in touch with him,” she said quietly.
She flung out a hand in the direction of the stars studding the expanse of black space visible through the viewport. “Lack of easy communication is the one thing about space that’s both a blessing and a curse.”
“Really?” Colin glanced up from his charts again. “And here I thought it was the fact that a man—or woman—can go right ahead and lose themselves in space.”
“Part and parcel.” Anna slumped back in her seat, frustrated. “Lack of communication is why people can disappear into the far reaches of the galaxy.”
“I was joking, lass.”
Anna shot him a dark look. “I wasn’t.”
Colin met—and held—her gaze until she was forced to look away from the knowing compassion in his blue eyes. She didn’t want or need his pity. I’m not the first person ever to be double-crossed in the history of space-faring voyages, and it’s impossible that I’d be the last.
“Can’t you leave him a message with your ship? I could send one from the Galaxy’s Way.”
A hot flush rose in Anna’s cheeks, a hundred different thoughts colliding in her brain. Anna pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes—gently. “No…not exactly.”
“And why is that?” Colin sounded amused again.
Anna swallowed. “I…uh…don’t remember the Iliana’s comm codes.” She shrugged uncomfortably. “Never had to use it. I think I’m at least one digit off. I have Vik’s comm codes memorized, of course, but they’re no good to me right now.”
“And you’re sure there aren’t any other people you’d trust to get a message to him?”
Anna considered it…and had to shake her head after a moment. A hollow feeling took up residence in her chest. “Even if I thought they could find Vik without turning him in to the Federation, we don’t—we don’t—we don’t trust many people outside our crew.” They were, she was realizing, a lot more isolated than they had ever considered themselves.
Colin shifted in his seat, angling his body toward her. “There’s no one? Not even one person?”
“Not anywhere near here that I’d trust with this,” Anna said grimly. “Not after Bear. If Lobai could turn him against us … ”
“I think you’re giving the man far too much credit, darling.”
Anna shook her head. “You don’t know Bear.”
“Neither did you, by the sound of it.”
“Every man has his price,” Anna muttered. “I guess Lobai just found his.” She switched subjects, anxious to shift her new captain’s laser-like focus away from the raw, gaping wound inside her. “What about you? How many people could you trust to carry a message like that?” She glanced at him again in time to see his expression turn pensive.
“Not many.” He waved a hand. “Of course, when one travels the galaxy as we do, it’s often difficult to remain in touch with people. They move.”
“Or die,” Anna said flatly.
“You are in a mood, aren’t you?” Colin regarded her frankly. “Cheer up, lass. It wasn’t my intention to depress you.”
Anna let out a heavy sigh. “I know. I just — ” She waved her hands helplessly.
“Your crew is your family,” Colin said knowingly. “And when your crew is gone, you realize how little you have outside of them.”
Their eyes met again and Anna was struck by the regret she saw there. The cockpit seemed to dissolve around them, until it was only her and him and this strange bond they were forming. “Is that what happ — ”
“Cap’n I can’t find—oh.”
Deek burst through the door, startling both of them. They sprang back, realizing only then that they had been unconsciously leaning toward each other.
Anna raised an eyebrow at the older man to stave off the inexplicable blush that wanted to burn her cheeks. “Looking for me?”
Deek settled a flat, deeply suspicious look on her. “Yes.” He made a show of checking the time. “Are we going to eat any time soon?”
He wants me out of here. Anna’s eyes flicked sideways to Colin, but his bearded face was suddenly inscrutable. Great. Now I’m going to have to trust that they’ll keep me in the loop. It bothered her more than she wanted to admit; after years of being her brother’s right-hand woman, the idea of not being privy to vital information irked her.
Still, it wasn’t like she could refuse to perform her new duties. Restraining the urge to roll her eyes, Anna rose to her feet. “I’m going, I’m going.” She sauntered out of the cockpit, sliding past Deek without touching him, and paused just long enough in the corridor to watch him hit the door release before he hurried to take her vacated seat.
Great.
Her expression soured. Wonder if Colin will tell me what’s going on? I am his wife, after all. The corner of her mouth twitched at that, and then she shook her head at herself. It hasn’t even been three days yet and I’m already losing my mind.
She made her way to the galley and started poking around in compartments. Neither Colin nor Deek had said what they wanted to eat. Guess that means it’s up to me.
Anna settled on a quick rice stir-fry. She expected she would need to track the men down, but to her surprise, they made an appearance in the galley within half an hour.
“Something smells good, lass,” Colin commented as he came over to lean up against the counter—right where Anna needed to be.
She shooed him aside. “It’s basic. You didn’t say what you wanted.”
“We’re not particularly choosy.”
“Speak for yourself,” Deek said under his breath as he headed for the table.
Anna just rolled her eyes and spooned food into bowls. She carried two to the table—Colin carried his own—and set one in front of Deek. She had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from laughing at the consternated look on his face. “Nobody’s ever died of food poisoning after eating my cooking, need I remind you?”
“I miss Mondego,” he said stoutly, staring balefully at the stir-fry.
“If you don’t want to eat her cooking, Deek,” Colin said lazily, but with an undercurrent of steel, “then I suggest you fix your own food from now on.”
Apparently, Deek wasn’t that suspicious. Frowning, he picked up his spoon and started to eat.
“Speaking of Mondego,” Anna said after a few bites, “you never did tell me when you’re picking up the rest of your crew.”
Deek shoveled another large spoonful of rice and vegetables into his mouth and chewed vigorously.
Colin considered Anna across the table. “No, I did not.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Their time off runs out in a few days. If they want to join our undertaking, I’ll be happy to have them, but if they don’t … I won’t stand in their way.”
Anna tilted her head to one side. This was interesting. “If your crew is as close as they sound, why wouldn’t they want to go after Lobai with you?”
“Because it’s Lobai.” Deek shot her an incredulous look, as though he couldn’t believe she’d actually asked the question.
Anna did roll her eyes at him now. “Exactly. Lobai. Master of over-and-under the table deals—often a stickler for the little details nobody else bothers to think about—but he’s hardly Master of the universe.”
Even Colin looked mildly surprised now. “Are you saying you’ve honestly never heard the rumors?”
“Oh, no, I’ve heard them. I just don’t see how a crew as loyal as you’ve described yours to be wouldn’t go with you.”
To her astonishment, Deek glanced
sideways at Colin. “She’s got you pegged there, Cap’n.” He looked back at Anna. “It’s not that they wouldn’t come.”
“Deek,” Colin said warningly.
Ah. Realization washed over Anna like the crystal clear waterfalls of the tropical world the Iliana and her crew had visited the year before; she had the distinct feeling this was a conversation Deek and Colin had already had. Maybe several times. “You’re trying to protect them.”
A muscle in Colin’s bearded jaw twitched, but he said nothing.
“Don’t you think you owe them a choice?”
“I owe them a responsibility as their captain,” Colin said crisply, “to keep them alive to the utmost of my ability.”
“Uh huh.” Anna pointed her spoon at Deek. “How are you going to keep him alive if something happens and somebody has to fly the ship while someone else patches her up?”
“Anna … ” Colin’s voice took on an edge; his blue eyes hardened. “You are meddling in affairs best left alone.”
“I disagree.” Anna lifted her chin. “I’m a member of your crew, now, right?”
“Until I can get you back to your brother, yes.”
“Well, then it’s my business too.” She made an exaggerated show of batting her eyes at him. “And that’s not even counting the fact that we supposedly got married.”
Deek was very quiet.
Colin pushed his half-full bowl away and rose from his seat. “I’ll consider it.”
Anna and Deek exchanged glances. The first mate almost looked proud, but he said nothing.
“They’ll want to stay, won’t they?” Anna asked, breaking the silence that had enveloped the galley.
“Oh, probably. Mondego barely got Tatiana off the ship for their vacation in the first place.”
Anna wanted to ask more questions about the remaining members of Colin’s crew, but one look at the way Deek clamped his jaw shut—as though he had said more than he meant to and regretted it—stayed her tongue. The first mate left soon after, disappearing off to the bowels of the freighter to do who knew what, and she concentrated on cleaning up the galley.