Galaxy's Way

by E. R. Paskey

  Some of Colin’s cheerfulness faded into steel. “And why is that?”

  Galaxies, Anna thought irritably, kicking herself for saying anything. She went for a deliberately casual shrug. “He’s had quite a bit of practice lying lately.”

  That was true enough.

  Anna was suddenly keenly aware of how close they were standing, practically nose to nose, with one of his hands still curled around her shoulder. If she moved forward another three inches, she could hug him‌—‌or kiss him. She cleared her throat awkwardly. “We’d better get back or Deek is going to wonder what we’re doing in here.”

  Anna regretted those words as soon as they left her mouth. She didn’t wait to see Colin’s reaction, but moved jerkily away from him and whirled toward the door, her cheeks burning.

  She all but fled back into the main living compartment.

  ~oOo~

  Berenger gave her a sharp, searching look when she returned, Colin trailing behind her, but she merely fixed him with a glare fueled by a fresh wave of anger. After she took a seat on the couch again, the anger changed into guilt. Except this time, the guilt sprang from a completely different source. She glanced at Colin out of the corner of her eye as he took a seat on the couch beside her. Bear may want me to keep his being a Federation spy a secret, but Colin deserves to know.

  He was her captain, her husband in name, if nothing else‌…‌and he was already up to his ears in this mess with Lobai anyway.

  I’ll tell him as soon as I get a chance, she decided. I don’t owe anything to Bear. Her eyes narrowed with grief. Not anymore.

  Before Colin, Deek, or Berenger could break the awkward silence, she said abruptly, “If we’re going to head to Ydris, we’d probably better leave now.”

  Colin glanced at her sharply, surprise washing over his face before he schooled his features into casual interest. “You don’t want to wait for your brother?”

  It hurt to make this decision‌—‌it felt like she was giving up on Viktor, and that was something they’d promised each other they would never do. Anna shook her head. “I don’t think he’s coming here. The Whirlwind was only for dire emergencies.” Her eyes flicked to Berenger, who had the grace to look ashamed.

  “He probably does think you’re with me, Anna,” he said gruffly.

  “The only hitch is the warrant out for my arrest.” Colin grimaced. “I, ah, forgot about it for a moment.”

  Anna shut her eyes in consternation, feeling like she was falling through a black void into that cavern lake again. “I did too.”

  “Warrant?” Berenger’s good eye narrowed with suspicion. “What for?”

  Colin did not miss a beat. “Murder.”

  Berenger gaped at him. “Murder?” His head swung toward Anna, his mouth opening, but she held up a hand.

  “Not a word. He didn’t do it, and it’s your fault anyway. Scarlet probably wouldn’t have died if you hadn’t double-crossed us.”

  All of the blood drained from her former friend’s face, making the bruises on his face stand out in ugly relief. “Scarlet’s dead?”

  “An’ Lacy, her assistant.” Deek shifted on his feet. “An’ since we were apparently among the last to see her alive … ” he trailed off, looking menacing.

  Berenger’s gaze drifted past them, taking on a far-away cast as though his mind was a dozen star systems away. He came back to himself when Anna snapped her fingers impatiently in his face. “We have to go to Ydris. Don’t worry about the arrest warrant‌—‌just go.”

  “Well, now that I’ve recalled it,” Colin said sarcastically, “I’m afraid it’s a bit too late to think we’ll just be able to waltz in.”

  Berenger shook his head. “Leave that to me. I know a guy.”

  “On Ydris?” Anna raised her eyebrows at him. “Really? Four years on our crew and you’ve never mentioned this before?”

  “Not Ydris.” Berenger shot her a warning look. “One of the places we’ll have to stop before we get there.”

  “I hate to say this,” Deek said, “but, Cap’n, do you really believe a word this man says?” He shot Anna an incredulous look. “Do you, after what he did to ya?”

  Not looking at Berenger, Anna chose her words very carefully. “I believe he has a son he’ll do almost anything to get back to.”

  This time, Colin was the one looking incredulous. “And yet you’ll trust him not to screw you over again?”

  Anna flashed him a sharp-toothed smile before rising to her feet. “I didn’t say that.”

  ~oOo~

  She left a note on the table for her brother.

  It was brief and to the point, without going into any real detail. Anna smiled grimly to herself. Viktor will hate it. She didn’t tell him where she was going, or with whom‌…‌and he would understand.

  After all, the entire purpose of coming to the Whirlwind is because we don’t have anywhere else to go.

  Colin read the note over her shoulder. “That should set all his worries at ease.”

  Anna elbowed him gently. “I can’t tell him more.”

  “Didn’t say you should.” She heard the grin in his voice. “Would rather put the whole brother-in-law introduction off as long as possible anyway.”

  “It won’t be hard to explain.” Anna glanced over her shoulder at him, a teasing smile quirking the corner of her mouth. “It’s all Bear’s fault anyway.”

  “I heard that,” Berenger said loudly, from the other side of the room, where he was climbing to his feet under Deek’s watchful eye.

  “I meant for you to hear it,” Anna shot back, turning around to lean against the edge of the table and fold her arms across her chest. She glanced up at Colin. “You’re sure you’d rather stay aboard the Galaxy’s Way instead of in here?”

  “Quite sure, lass.” Colin inclined his head in a decisive nod. “I don’t fancy being caught away from her, should our friend,” his eyes flicked to Berenger, “have revealed your safe house’s location to anyone.”

  It was Anna’s turn to nod. “Yeah.” She lowered her voice. “But, Colin, if we don’t stay here, we’re going to have to find someplace to lay low for a few days while we hammer out a plan for Ydris.” She swallowed, her mouth suddenly very dry. “You weren’t planning on rushing in without a plan, were you?”

  He looked offended at the very idea. “Of course not. At the very least, we need a semblance of a plan. Whether we stick to it or not is another matter entirely.”

  “Okay.” She exhaled in relief. “Good.”

  Colin shook his head slightly, his blue eyes somber. “There’s a time and a place for rushing in unprepared, but I don’t believe this is it.”

  Anna managed a weak smile. “At least not with an outstanding warrant for murder, right?”

  His expression did not change. “Precisely.”

  ~oOo~

  They made an odd procession heading back through the mining complex to the freighter. Colin commed Mondego in advance to let him and Tatiana know they would be bringing a guest back with them and to tell them to get the medkit out. Berenger went first, with Deek right behind him, and Anna and Colin behind both of them.

  When the airlock sealed shut behind them on the Galaxy’s Way, it released tension Anna did not even realize she had been feeling. Her shoulders relaxed, and if she’d had time to think about it, she would have laughed at herself for thinking this freighter felt more like home than the Whirlwind. As it was, she was already setting her jaw and stepping forward to help patch Berenger up.

  Colin’s dark eyebrows rose slightly; he gave her a long, searching look. “You sure you want to do this, lass?”

  Anna nodded once. “Yes.” Softening her voice, she reached out to brush his arm with the tips of her fingers. “Thank you.”

  Colin glanced back and forth between Berenger and Deek as though arguing with himself before he said, “Deek, go with Anna. Keep an eye on him.” He indicated Berenger.

  “Aye, Cap’n.”

  With one last fle
eting look at Anna, Colin turned and headed up the corridor.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she watched his broad shoulders disappear from sight. She then turned back to Berenger to find him wearing a sour look. “Now what?”

  Berenger just shook his head, still grimacing as though he had eaten a lemon. “Your brother really is going to kill me.”

  “And after what you did part of me thinks you deserve it.” Anna flapped her hands at him, waving him down the corridor. “Come on, this way.”

  Deek shot her a flat, disbelieving look. “Just part of you?”

  She only rolled her eyes and continued shooing Berenger toward the compartment they used as an impromptu med bay.

  Once she had ascertained that the only open wounds on his body were a few scrapes and lesions, the first thing Anna made Berenger do was take a shower. Once he was clean, Deek reluctantly helped him into pants and Anna set about seeing to his injuries.

  Her stomach churned uneasily as she catalogued everything. Regardless of his recent actions, up until a few weeks ago, Berenger had been her friend, and it made the part of her that wasn’t still angry sick to see what had happened to him. He had several broken ribs, his right arm was indeed broken beneath the bad swelling, and he had multiple contusions and deep, deep bruises on his torso and legs. That he had fought back was obvious, but it clearly hadn’t been enough.

  “I don’t suppose you’ll let me have any kind of pain meds.” Berenger remained motionless on the bench, his good hand gripping the edge of it tight enough that his knuckles had turned white. He tried to smile, but it ended up a twisted, pained grimace. “Haven’t been able to sleep since this happened.”

  Pity swelled in Anna’s heart; she swallowed, shutting her eyes against a rush of memories. The weeks she had spent in a near-constant state of pain while her amputated arm healed. The pain involved with her body adjusting to the prosthetic arm she’d had grafted to her truncated bone. She fought the urge to rub said arm and glanced at Deek. “We’d better give it to him now. I’m going to have to set his arm.”

  Deek nodded. “Yeah. Don’t give him the best stuff‌—‌Cap’n prefers to keep that for dire emergencies‌—‌but we’ve got other meds.”

  Anna fished out several pills, which Berenger dry-swallowed. Then his good eye focused on Anna. “Do your worst, kid.”

  Setting his arm was the worst; his unintentional cry of agony when she popped his bone back into place sent a rush of nausea through her. Deek shifted uncomfortably on his feet, but did not speak. The only sounds after that were Berenger’s occasional hiss of pain and her reluctantly murmured apologies.

  By the time she finished, Berenger was clearly exhausted. His bruises made it difficult to see the dark smudges beneath his eyes, but Anna could read his fatigue in the lines of his body. She glanced at Deek as she stripped off vinyl gloves and dumped them into a trash bin. “Where are we putting him?”

  Deek tipped his head to the side. “Portside cabin. Don’t have a brig, an’ Cap’n’s goin’ to want him locked in.”

  Anna nodded; she was fine with that. “Need any help getting him there?”

  “Nah.” Deek waved a hand. “He ain’t in any condition and you’ve done enough.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Why, First Mate Deek, is that an actual compliment?”

  He shot her a wry smile. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  Once Deek and Berenger had left the compartment, Anna set about cleaning things up and putting the medkit back to rights. When she finished, she stood for a long moment with her hands braced on the bench Berenger had occupied. A fresh wave of guilt riddled her. He probably shouldn’t, after what he had done, but Berenger still trusted her.

  He trusts me not to tell Colin everything. She raised her head, her mouth set in a grim, straight line. But I don’t trust him‌—‌and Colin needs to know.

  Because if the Federation didn’t figure out who was responsible for murdering Scarlet and Lacy, Colin was still facing murder charges.

  And if Bear’s in the position to offer Viktor and me a pardon, he can extend one to Colin too.

  She’d see to it personally.

  Chapter 22

  DINNER THAT NIGHT WAS A muted affair. Mondego made up a plate of sandwiches to be fed to Berenger, while the rest of them ate stew. Colin had clearly already given the cook and his wife a rundown of the situation; they asked only a few questions over the course of the meal.

  Anna forced herself to eat, though she did not much feel like it, between the shock of finding Berenger and the knowledge of her impending chat with Colin. For his part, her captain husband was quiet, his usual good humor absent. More than once, however, she felt his eyes on her, his gaze assessing.

  What he was trying to learn escaped her, but she figured she could ask him later.

  He and Deek left the galley as soon as they finished eating and holed themselves up in the cockpit.

  Tatiana watched them leave and then turned back to her nearly-empty bowl with a faint frown. “Think they’re plotting coordinates?”

  “Probably.” Mondego tore off another hunk of bread and swiped it around the bottom of his bowl to soak up the last remnants of stew.

  “I’d like to know how he thinks we’re going to get in,” Tatiana huffed.

  Anna let out a puff of tired laughter. “You and me both.” Shoving her bowl aside, she rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands.

  Tatiana reached across the table to touch the back of her hand. “Are you all right? That can’t have been easy, finding him here.”

  “It wasn’t,” Anna replied in a muffled voice. It had been almost as much of a shock as waking up to find she was missing her arm from just below her elbow.

  “You think he’s telling the truth?”

  Anna peeked between her fingers to find Tatiana’s gaze fixed on her, the other woman’s dark eyes full of curiosity‌—‌and trust. Something twisted in her gut. I’ve got to talk to Colin. “More or less.”

  It’s the less I’m worried about.

  Because if Berenger was Federation‌—‌former or otherwise, it didn’t matter‌—‌she did not believe for a second that he had actually told her everything.

  ~oOo~

  Anna’s chance came later that evening. She had hung around the living compartment for a while, playing with the screen-table and hoping Colin would come find her, but several hours passed by with no sign of him. A quick peek at the cockpit revealed it was devoid of people‌—‌even Deek seemed to have retired for the night.

  We’re not leaving tonight then, it would seem, she thought, frowning as she retraced her steps. That could be bad, depending on how quickly the Whirlwind came back around.

  Colin wasn’t in the galley, or anywhere else she could think to search for him on the freighter, which left his cabin as her last resort. Probably should have checked here first, Anna thought wryly, but in the back of her mind, she knew why she’d deliberately saved this for last.

  It was just a living compartment aboard a ship, no different, really, from any other living compartment aboard any other ship, but it was his, and their situation was already awkward enough without her encroaching into potentially sensitive territory.

  She stood outside his cabin for several moments, one hand poised to knock, while she furiously debated the merits of actually knocking. He needs to know. It’s just a cabin. It’s not like you’re actually going to do anything.

  Not to mention, the longer she stood out here dithering, the greater her chance of Deek suddenly wandering past and catching her. Anna did not want him thinking anything that wasn’t true. She might be a pirate, but she had a reputation to maintain.

  Swallowing, she plucked up her courage and rapped sharply on the door.

  Several seconds passed, and then the door abruptly slid aside. “What is it?” Colin asked gruffly, before his eyes caught up to his brain and he realized who was standing in the corridor outside his door. “Anna?”

>   “I need to talk to you,” she said in a rush, slipping past him into his cabin.

  “Well, by all means, lass, come in,” he said belatedly, palming the door release and turning to face her. “What’s on your mind?”

  For a second, Anna had the irrational notion that the door sliding shut had just cut off all the oxygen in the room. Oh, no, said her brain helpfully, it’s just the fact that your husband isn’t wearing a shirt.

  Colin had clearly just stepped out of the hygiene unit; he was dressed in a pair of dark gray sleep pants and nothing else. Anna’s eyes skimmed over an expanse of skin over firm planes of muscle and curly dark chest hair before she dragged her eyes up to his. “ I ‌—‌uh, I — ”

  “Like what you see?” He arched a dark eyebrow at her, amusement and something else lurking in his blue eyes.

  All the blood in her body seemed to have rushed to her face. Anna resisted the urge to slap her hands to her flaming cheeks and forced herself to breathe. “I need to talk to you.”

  “You said that already.”

  Can people actually die of embarrassment? Swallowing, Anna tried to keep her focus on his face. It didn’t work.

  Huffing, she ran a hand through her hair and turned away, waving her prosthetic hand at him. “Could you maybe put a shirt on? This is important.” It was easier to form words when she was staring at the bulkhead instead of him.

  “That distracting, eh, lass?” Now he was laughing at her.

  Anna gritted her teeth together, feeling her cheeks grow even hotter. “Aren’t you cold?”

  “No. Are you?”

  “No,” she said shortly, hunching her shoulders instinctively and then catching herself and forcibly relaxing. ‘Cold’ was probably the farthest thing from what she was at this precise moment.

  She heard the rustle of clothing, and then he said, his voice still full of laughter, “You can turn around now.”

  Anna did so, and a little of the tension in her small frame relaxed. “Thank you.” Colin had pulled on a white shirt that did absolutely nothing to hide his physique‌…‌but at least it was a little less distracting.