by E. R. Paskey
The big question, she thought, staring mindlessly down at the table she was supposed to be wiping, is what I’m going to do when the Galaxy’s Way’s real cook gets back.
They didn’t need two cooks—particularly not when one of them was vastly more skilled in the area than the other—and with a crew this small she couldn’t imagine Mondego needing an assistant.
Research, she thought suddenly. I can start doing research. Colin did say we’d be doing some good old-fashioned detective work.
Anna itched for her datapad, which was, no doubt, still sitting in her cabin aboard the Iliana. It’s just as well, she tried to console herself. If you’d actually had it on you, either Bear would have taken it, or it would’ve been ruined by the cave lake. She cast an uncertain look in the direction of the cockpit, biting her lip. Maybe Colin’s got one he could lend me.
It was either that or she needed to find herself some old-fashioned paper and a pen.
Chapter 10
GALLEY RETURNED TO ITS PREVIOUS state, Anna went back to her cabin to rummage through the compartments in search of a pen and a scrap of paper. She found nothing. It was hardly surprising—Who uses paper these days? she thought sarcastically—but it was still frustrating. Guess that leaves my dear husband.
Anna made a face; the words were strange and alien, even in the privacy of her own mind.
Colin was hunched over a star chart again when she poked her head into the cockpit, but he was aware of her presence before she had even spoken a word. “What is it?”
“I was wondering if you had a spare datapad I might be able to use.” Anna found herself awkwardly balancing on one leg, her other foot tucked behind her calf.
Something that looked like real regret passed over his face. “Not at the moment, I’m afraid. However, you’re welcome to use the screen-table in the living compartment.”
“You have a screen-table?” Anna blurted out, before she could stop herself. Last she had checked, they were expensive. A sudden image of the living compartment flashed in her mind’s eye; there were two possibilities.
“Oh, yes. My wife, she — ” Colin cut himself off, a shadow flickering in his eyes before he forced his expression to smooth out again. “We used to use it a great deal, but not so much these days. You’re welcome to play with it, but I’m afraid I can’t give you unfettered access to the ship’s computer.”
Anna narrowed her eyes—she had no intentions of playing with it—but managed to keep herself from blurting out more words she would probably come to regret. “Thank you.”
Turning sharply on her booted heel, she stalked back the way she had come and veered left into the living compartment. She didn’t exactly need the ship’s computer yet. For now, I can just put down everything I know and then sweet-talk him into cooperating with me later.
Deek probably wouldn’t approve, but after the brief—but prolonged—time she had known Colin, she thought he would be interested in what she had to say.
Anna headed straight for the smaller table first, but it was just an end table. Frowning, she swung around to regard the larger table, which had been pushed into a corner between the bulkhead and a viewport. That’s a bigger screen-table than I was expecting.
Colin apparently had not been kidding when he said the Galaxy’s Way did all right.
Either that or they have their ups and downs just like everybody else and he couldn’t bear to get rid of it.
Anna moved over to the screen-table—which was made of a dark wood she thought was probably cherry—and touched its glassy surface. The screen came to life with a soft glow that gradually grew stronger until it resolved itself into its usual configuration: a homescreen showing the underside of a pale green leaf with only a few icons scattered about.
Well, Anna thought, discreetly checking for anything stored in the screen-table’s memory, either Colin and his late wife are minimalists, or he’s wiped this. She’d bet her replacement arm it was the latter. Clean wipe too, by the look of it. That generic wallpaper probably came with the table.
She shook her head at herself. Doesn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that she had access to a screen-table—and now she could start making sense of all of the information swirling around her brain.
Opening a text app, with a tap of one finger on her real hand, Anna used her prosthetic hand to feel along the rim of the table for the built-in styluses she was sure were there. Aha. Got you. She popped one out and set about scribbling down everything she knew about Lobai and his business dealings. She was the one who dealt with people; Viktor might have his own connections, but she dealt with them when it came down to it.
She dragged everything concerning Lobai to one side of the table, and pushed everything concerning the components Colin’s crew and she and her brother’s crew had gathered to the other side. Then she started asking herself questions and writing them down. Things like why Lobai had double-crossed them in the first place went to the top of the screen.
Time passed; she had no concept of how long. Anna had sunk deep into the depths of her mind, retrieving every scrap of information she could remember that might possibly have any bearing on this.
“You’ve met Sarkin?”
Startled, Anna jolted in her seat and dropped the stylus onto the screen-table. She had curled her hands into fists, ready to defend herself, and twisted sideways before she realized it was only Colin.
He raised an eyebrow at her over the two cups of steaming tea he held in his hands. “A little jumpy, are we?”
Anna would have loved to have been able to deny it, but all evidence pointed to the contrary. Her heart was still pounding. She settled for a shrug. “Didn’t hear you come in.”
“No, I expect not.” Colin handed her one of the mugs and glanced at the neatly organized lists of information scattered all over the screen-table. “You were so engrossed by that, I believe you wouldn’t have heard Deek come through with a marching band.”
That prompted a smile, albeit a small one. Anna took a grateful sip of hot tea, briefly closing her eyes in pleasure at the way it slid down her throat. When she opened her eyes again, she found Colin studying her. “Thanks for the tea. Didn’t realize I was cold until just now.” She also hadn’t realized how cramped her hand was getting and flexed her fingers.
“You’ve been in here for three hours.”
Three hours? Her dark eyes widened in shock. “Really?”
Instead of answering, Colin nodded to the screen table. “What are you working on?”
Anna glanced down at her ramblings, suddenly unsure. “I—ah—I’ve been compiling everything I know about Lobai and the people he’s rumored to have dealings with.”
“May I?” Colin gestured to the table.
We’re in this together, Anna reminded herself, and nodded.
Instead of taking a seat at the opposite side of the table—although in hindsight she realized how silly that was, since everything would be upside down—Colin pulled out the comfortable chair beside her. He was close enough that their arms brushed, and she was aware of his crisp, clean scent.
“Lobai knows Scarlet Rhyn?”
Anna glanced sideways at him, struck by the evident surprise in his voice. “You know her too?” She ignored the tiny spike of something she absolutely refused to identify as anything that could possibly be jealousy. Scarlet was a middleman—but she was very good at matching service providers with people who needed things done. She was also gorgeous.
“Aye. Taken a job or two for her.” Colin tapped her name, bringing up the further details Anna had included, but it seemed to be nothing he did not already know. “She’s good, but I wouldn’t have thought Lobai ran in her circles. They tend to be…how should I say it? Less than legal at times?”
“And you’re such an honest businessman,” Anna retorted.
He flashed that devastating grin at her again. “Precisel
y.”
Anna looked down at the table to hide the flush threatening to rise in her cheeks. “Scarlet’s how we got the job. She put us in touch with Lobai and things went from there.”
“You weren’t at all concerned?”
“Sure we were, but everything else aside, he’s never had a reputation for going back on a deal. Viktor thought we could chance it.” Anna glanced at him out of the corner of her eye again. “How did you get your job?”
Colin waved a hand. “Friend of a friend.”
Anna narrowed her eyes. “Was he looking for you specifically, or just somebody who fit whatever profile he’s using?”
“I could ask you that same question, lass.”
“He was looking specifically for us, which is why I asked.”
They stared at each other again; Anna was acutely aware of his proximity.
“He wasn’t looking specifically for me.” Colin paused, his voice a quiet rumble as he added, “At least, I don’t think so. I just happened to fit the criteria for the job.”
“Which was?”
“In this case?” Colin smiled again, but it was sad, weary expression. “A reputable pilot with a small crew unlikely to go telling tales to the authorities.”
Anna rested her elbow on the edge of the screen-table and propped her chin in her hand. “Thought you said you were law-abiding.”
“I am. The job seemed above board.”
“Right.” Anna shifted her attention back to the screen-table, her voice and mannerisms turning brusque. “Here’s the dilemma I ran into.”
“I’m all ears,” Colin murmured, conveniently draping an arm along the back of her chair.
She did not deign to look at him, but continued as though he had not spoken. “Given our respective cargos, I think it’s likely Lobai hired other people to find things for him too, and he’s probably double-crossed them as well.”
“What’s the dilemma?”
“I’m getting to it,” Anna said testily. “Do we go looking for them to see what they know and tell everyone Lobai cheated us, or do we go looking for them and not say anything?” She scowled. “Because let’s face it—Lobai could have killed us, taken his stuff, and disappeared.”
Colin was already shaking his head. “He couldn’t have killed us. Not without bringing down a heap of trouble on himself. Cheating pilots like me and pirates like you out of possibly questionably-obtained goods is one thing, but killing them? The Federation won’t be able to ignore that.” He smiled wryly and reached for his tea. “Besides, lass, you’re forgetting how fast that kind of news spreads.”
“He cheated us,” Anna insisted, “and then didn’t kill us. Does he honestly think that kind of news isn’t going to spread? Nobody’s going to want to do business with him if they can’t be sure they’ll actually get paid.”
“Oh, I’ll warrant there’s more to it than that.”
The uncharacteristically dark edge to his voice brought her up short. “Like what?”
“Drink your tea before it gets cold,” Colin said, not unkindly.
Anna reached for her tea and took a hearty swallow, but did not remove her eyes from his face. “Like what?” she asked again.
Colin was silent for several moments. He stared into the depths of his mug, thinking. Anna waited, accustomed to such prolonged silences. Viktor did this all the time. I don’t usually have the urge to stare at Vik, though, she thought wryly.
Finally, Colin roused himself and waved a hand to the screen-table. “Have you stopped to consider what Lobai plans to do with whatever components he’s gathering?”
“Of course I have.” Anna spread her hands, her arm brushing his again in the process. “But we’ve only got two pieces of the puzzle, and without net access I haven’t the slightest idea what you could make with what we know he’s got.”
“Has it occurred to you that Lobai might be working for someone?”
That brought Anna up short. “I thought he was at the top of his particular food chain,” she ventured at last, a little uncertainly.
“His food chain, perhaps, but there are others.” Colin gave her a significant look.
Anna combed her hands through her hair in frustration, before twisting it into a knot on the top of her head and jamming her stylus into it to hold it in place. “I don’t know where you’re going with this.”
Colin’s eyes dropped from her hair to her face. “It may be nothing.” He snorted softly. “Probably is nothing. But with so little information to go on, we can hardly afford to discard anything until we can prove its uselessness.”
“Good point.” The realization left Anna achingly exhausted. She leaned forward to fold her arms on the table and pillowed her forehead against them. In any other situation, she would have never left herself so potentially undefended, but she was just so tired, and Colin had already had the chance to abandon her on a little backwater planet and hadn’t. “So what do we do?” she asked in a muffled voice.
Silence hung between them for a moment, and then Colin replied, “We find the other people Lobai’s double-crossed and we use them to locate him. But in the short run, we pick up the rest of our crew.”
Anna shut her eyes. “You don’t need two cooks.”
“Aye, that’s a true statement.”
Amusement laced his voice, but Anna still did not move or even respond. She almost jumped out of her seat when a warm hand flattened itself on her back, between her shoulder blades. The heat from Colin’s hand seeped into her skin, traveling right into her spine. Her heart began to beat a little faster.
“We’re in this together, lass. You’re going to help me find Lobai.”
She nodded without lifting her head. Her voice seemed to catch in her throat; she wasn’t sure she could form words. She was acutely aware of every square centimeter of his hand against her back.
“Might I suggest you retire for the night?” he continued in that same husky voice. “You look like you’re about to fall asleep in your chair.”
That’s not far from the truth, Anna thought with a mental sigh. Her eyes did feel gritty. She nodded and finally lifted her head. “That might be a good idea.”
Colin dropped his hand; she missed it immediately—and scolded herself roundly for even thinking that. “Sleep well. We’ll be picking the rest of my crew up in the morning.”
“Good night.” Anna turned back to the screen-table and ran through the process of ensuring her data was saved before she shut everything down. At the last second, she recalled the stylus in her hair and pulled it out. Her hair tumbled down around her shoulders.
After a moment, she glanced sideways at Colin; he had not moved. “Was there something else?”
Was it her imagination, or did he start a little? “Ah, no.” He slapped his hands on his knees and rose to his feet. “That was everything.”
Frowning, Anna watched him depart the living compartment. That was strange. She gave a mental shrug; she didn’t have the spare energy to devote to puzzling out what was going on in his mind.
She stood as well, wincing and groaning a little as her body protested having been forced into one position for so long, and picked up her mug. She snorted softly when she realized Colin had left his as well. Typical male. Vik had a tendency to forget his dishes too. Gathering it up, she took both mugs to the galley before heading to her cabin.
It felt wonderful to have a real bunk to sleep in instead of a chair, or a lake, or anything else she’d experienced in the past two days. Her eyes fell shut as though lead weights had been attached to them. Her last thought, before she fell asleep, was to wonder if Viktor was worrying about her.
~oOo~
Anna heard the rest of Colin’s crew before she actually met them. She slept far longer than she realized, and when she finally dragged herself out of bed, dashed through the hygiene unit, and made her way out to find Colin and Deek, she discovered that the Galaxy’s Way had already landed on Xendria.
Her first clue was the unusu
al silence. Besides the absence of the comforting sound of the engines, a ship at rest had a completely different aura than a ship forging its way through the vacuum of black space. Curiosity propelled her forward—and she refused to be intimidated by anything or anyone.
Head held high, she made her way through the freighter’s corridors until she heard raised voices. She paused long enough to assess them before she barged into the compartment and possibly blundered into a situation for which she was ill-prepared, but they sounded less angry and more incredulous.
“ — telling you, that’s what happened,” Colin was saying, sounding weary and just the slightest bit defensive.
“If it’s any consolation,” this from Deek, “she seemed about as horrified when she found out as I was.”
“As you were?” an unfamiliar male voice asked with a laugh. “It’s not you who’s married her, old man.”
“I can still whip you,” Deek shot back, “an’ don’t you forget it.”
“This I have to see,” declared a woman. “Where is she?”
“Probably still sleeping,” Colin said hastily. “Yesterday was not a good day.”
Anna figured that was her cue. She approached the door and stepped over the threshold. “Good morning.”
At the sound of her voice, everything stopped, and she found four sets of eyes zeroing in on her.
“You must be Anna,” said a tall, solidly-built woman with dark skin and a mop of curly black hair. Her expression was friendly enough, but her chocolate eyes remained guarded.
“You must be Tatiana.” Stepping forward, Anna extended a hand. Her eyes darted to Colin for a split-second; she wondered if he had told Tatiana and her husband about her prosthetic. Get a grip, she scolded herself. What does it matter if he did? You’re still you.
They shook—politely, but firmly—and then Tatiana jerked her head toward a shorter man with skin a lighter shade of brown. “This is my husband, Ferdinand.”
“You can call me Mondego. Everyone does. A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Dupree,” he said with a straight face, bowing gracefully over her hand.