Galaxy's Way

by E. R. Paskey

  The dark-skinned woman shook her head. “I’m fairly certain most law-abiding citizens don’t.”

  “Let me guess, lass.” The twinkle was back in his blue eyes as Colin glanced at Anna. “Friend of a friend thing?”

  Anna finally cracked a smile. “You got it.”

  Tatiana finally approached the table. “I take it we’re going to this asteroid ring, then?”

  “That would be correct. You want to tell Deek?”

  Holding up both hands, Tatiana beat a hasty retreat toward the door. “Oh, no, Captain‌—‌I wouldn’t dream of taking that honor away from you.”

  She disappeared into the corridor and Anna turned back to Colin. “I take it Deek doesn’t like asteroid rings?”

  “Deek doesn’t like asteroids, period.”

  “Then this should be fun.”

  “That’s one way to look at it.”

  They shared a smile, and then Colin tipped his head toward the screen-table. “Don’t you need to respond?”

  Anna considered it for a second, before shaking her head and closing the inbox with a swipe of her finger. “It’s not worth the risk.” She rose to her feet. “I think we should just head straight to the Polygon.”

  Colin nodded and stood as well, but his face had taken on a grave cast again.

  They were less than a foot apart. Anna touched his forearm, unease prickling the back of her neck. “What’s wrong?”

  He only hesitated a moment before saying, “I can’t quite decide if we should inform your friend Bear as to our destination.”

  Anna sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh. Yeah, I see your point.”

  “Don’t say anything to him yet.” Colin cupped her elbow in one hand. “Let me think about it.”

  “Got it.” Her voice emerged a little fainter than usual; he was only touching her elbow but she could almost swear she felt heat tracks radiating out from that point to encompass the rest of her body.

  One thought, however, penetrated the haze threatening to envelop her mind, driven by the pounding of her heart. That’s not everything. Something else was bothering him; the middle of his forehead was still creased, and worry lurked behind his eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

  Surprise flashed across his face before he masked it. “Didn’t we just cover that?”

  Anna did not budge. “Colin … ”

  “It’s nothing, lass.”

  “Uh huh.” Anna raised a hand to gently brush the crease in his forehead with her thumb. “This says otherwise.” His skin was warm beneath her touch. “You’re going to get wrinkles if you keep it up.”

  She knew the instant he let his guard down; his shoulders sagged as though under a massive weight and his hand dropped from her elbow.

  “My face is all over the news,” he said bluntly. “I’ve had at least a dozen messages from regular clients demanding to know if it’s true, and more have gone ahead and assumed it’s true and are now refusing to do business with me.”

  “Oh, Colin … ”

  He managed a painful smile. “So it’s good that you know where to go now, because my reputation is being systematically shredded.”

  Anna rested her hand on his bicep. “It’s going to be all right. We’ll take Lobai down and the truth will come out. Everyone will know you had nothing to do with Scarlet and Lacy’s deaths.”

  “You don’t understand.” Colin gave her a bleak look‌—‌not something she had ever seen on his face before. “This kind of thing lingers. Suspicion of murder is a stigma that doesn’t go away, no matter how much proof you’ve got”

  “It will,” Anna insisted stubbornly. “You’re innocent. Besides, we’ve got Bear.”

  “Oh, yes,” Colin said wryly, “cutting a deal with the Federation is bound to show people I didn’t do it.”

  Anna couldn’t help herself; she rolled her eyes at him. “Now you’re just being melodramatic. Cheer up. We’re going to get this straightened out. Besides,” she added, struck by a sudden though. “I was with you the whole time. So was Deek. There’s no way you could have done it.”

  Colin passed a hand over his face. “They’ll argue we were in it together.”

  Anna rolled her eyes again and tugged on his arm, propelling him toward the door. “Then I guess it’s a good thing we’re married and they can’t force me to testify against you in court, isn’t it?”

  She savored his astonished expression.

  ~oOo~

  When they reached the cockpit, Colin did not waste time mincing words. “Deek, we’re headed to the Hellion Asteroid Ring. Check our prisoner and then start prepping the ship.” His first mate’s jaw dropped, but he was already turning back to Anna. “Take Tatiana and disable the comm relay, and then open the bay doors for us. You can do that, right?”

  “‘Course I can.” Anna gave him a jaunty salute, before her expression sobered. “It’s going to be close, Colin, but we should be able to get out before the Whirlwind comes back around.”

  “I’m counting on it, lass.”

  As she left the cockpit and hurried down the corridor to find Tatiana, Anna heard Deek demand, “Asteroids, Cap’n? Have you lost your mind?”

  She grinned.

  Less than a half hour later found her tromping across the empty blackness of the hangar bay in search of the control box and the ladder that would take her up to the surface. A curtain of fine gold sand drifted down onto the Galaxy’s Way when the bay doors slid apart, illuminated by an ever-increasing shaft of light.

  Anna shimmied up the ladder while Colin maneuvered the freighter out of the hangar bay and up into open air. He set the ship down on the sand beside the hangar bay doors just as she cleared the top. She hurried into the little cave that held the controls and closed the doors before sprinting across the sand as quickly as she could in her clunky, borrowed spacesuit. The wind blew fine particles of sand against her suit; she knew that without its protection, her skin would be burning. The Whirlwind was growing closer, and the air was full of sand.

  “Open the cargo bay doors!” she hollered into her helmet comm. “I’m almost there.”

  Someone‌—‌probably Mondego, if she had to hazard a guess‌—‌hit the release panel and the cargo bay doors opened with a rush of displaced air. The landing ramp eased to the ground, but Anna did not wait for it to fully extend before she clambered onto it and clomped into the cargo bay. As soon as she was clear, she hit the release panel and the cargo bay doors swung shut.

  “Are you in yet?” Colin demanded.

  “I’m in.”

  Mondego’s voice came through another channel on her comm. “Hold on, Anna. I’ll have you back on board in a jiffy.”

  “Much appreciated.”

  “Hold on.”

  Mondego blew the toxic air out of the cargo hold before pumping in oxygen and equalizing the pressure between the cargo hold and the rest of the ship. Anna swallowed several times to get rid of the popping in her ears and hastened over to the cargo hold door as the cook opened it for her.

  “Thanks,” she told him, breaking the seal on her helmet and tugging it off. She shook her dark braid free and peeled a few sweaty strands of hair off her forehead.

  “No problem.” Mondego turned aside as she shucked off the spacesuit, but he did not leave. “What’s this about a spaceport in an asteroid ring?” He hooked his thumbs in his pockets, staring up at the overhead.

  “You can look now.” Anna gathered the spacesuit up in her arms. “The place is a little unorthodox‌…‌and maybe a little cutthroat at times,” she added hastily, “but I think you of all people will appreciate one aspect of it.”

  “Oh?” Mondego gave her a curious look. “And what would that be?”

  Anna grinned. “The Polygon has one of the best fry cooks this side of the galaxy.”

  “Really?” Mondego’s dark eyes widened; she had piqued his interest. “In a place frequented by smugglers and pirates?” He raised a hand. “No offense.”

&nb
sp; “None taken.”

  They set off down the corridor so Anna could stow her spacesuit back in its proper place and she continued, “It’s fairly brilliant, when you think about it. What’re the three things that make people feel human again?”

  “A hot shower, clean clothes, and something good to eat,” Mondego said promptly.

  “Exactly.” Anna’s grin widened. “Well, his clientele may be a little unique, but Ollie says he makes better money on the Polygon than he does anywhere else in the Federation.”

  Mondego whistled.

  “And, everybody‌—‌and I do mean everybody‌—‌likes his food so much that only a couple of people have ever dared to attempt to rob him.” Anna paused for dramatic effect. “They regretted it, let me tell you.”

  “Wow.” Mondego looked faintly starry-eyed. “All that for a cook. Wait ‘til I tell Tatiana.”

  “Yep. Never underestimate the power of a good cook.”

  They shared a grin.

  Anna was still smiling when she made it back to the cockpit‌…‌only to stop short in astonishment.

  Bear occupied the flight seat behind Deek, though he appeared to have been tied to it.

  In lieu of handcuffs or other restraints, Colin and Deek had used rope and ‌…‌ Anna canted her head to one side. “Is that space tape?”

  Colin grinned at her over his shoulder. “Of course. Works in a pinch.”

  Berenger’s face was less swollen, though no less bruised, which allowed Anna to read his long-suffering expression.

  She gave him a flat look that clearly stated she had little sympathy for him and came up to stand at Colin’s elbow.

  “You might want to strap in, lass. Things are about to get a little bumpy.”

  Anna obligingly dropped into the flight seat behind his and fastened her safety restraints.

  “Well,” Colin said lightly. “Here we go.” Deek shot him a dour look, but did not comment.

  Chapter 25

  WHILE BERENGER WAS IN THE cockpit‌—‌which was the duration of the nine-hour trip to the Hellion Asteroid Ring‌—‌no one mentioned their destination. They spoke around it, in vague enough terms that Anna could see her former friend’s frustration mount. For his part, Deek’s face grew more puckered by the hour, his mind no doubt conjuring up all manner of ways for the Galaxy’s Way to end up a grease smear on a couple of asteroids.

  Colin remained as cheerfully charming as he had been since the moment they met, but Anna knew him well enough now to catch glimpses of a grim, almost desperate undercurrent‌—‌though that couldn’t be right. What possible reason could he have for being desperate in this situation?

  She shot Tatiana a questioning look at one point, when the mechanic popped into the cockpit to give Colin a status update on the integrity of their deflector shield generator. Like Deek, Tatiana was not exactly enthused about heading into an asteroid ring, but unlike Deek, she was more optimistic about their chances of making it through alive. The dark-skinned woman took one look at Colin and her mouth pursed. She only shook her head at Anna and walked out.

  Well, that’s helpful, Anna thought scathingly, flopping back into her flight seat, but eight seconds later, guilt set in. She could almost hear the older woman’s voice in her head. What did we talk about earlier regarding Colin, Anna?

  Grimacing, she pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, automatically adjusting the pressure on her right eye to keep from hurting herself with her prosthetic hand. He can’t be worried about meeting Viktor. Or me going home. That’s ridiculous. It was an accidental marriage, for crying out loud. We’ll find Lobai, get the Federation to clear our records, and then we’ll go back to Plimus and file paperwork. Done. No muss, no fuss.

  “Something bothering you, kid?”

  Anna dropped her hands long enough to fix Berenger with a sideways steely look. He had spoken quietly enough that his words were a low rumble against the hum of the engine and the low murmurs of Colin and Deek going back and forth about coordinates in front of them, but the last thing she wanted to do was draw any unnecessary attention. “No.”

  Berenger gave her a patented look of disbelief. It was so familiar, so‌…‌normal‌…‌that she almost gave in and spilled her guts. Just like every other time he’d given her that look in the past couple of years. Her stomach fluttered with the remnant of the terror she’d felt in that freefall drop to a cavern lake, however, and the urge to confess passed.

  “It’s none of your business,” she said softly.

  “ … fair enough,” Berenger said after a lengthy pause. He leaned his head back against his headrest and closed his eyes, deliberately disengaging.

  They did not speak again until the Galaxy’s Way dropped out of hyperspace in the Hellion System.

  “You brought ‘em to the Hellion Asteroid Ring?” Berenger shot Anna a frankly disbelieving look. “Really?”

  She rolled her eyes at him, aware of the way Colin and Deek had both shifted in their seats to look at the two of them over their shoulders. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  Berenger pretended to consider this. “Gee, let me think ‌…‌ Maybe because you’re not a pilot and you don’t have the coordinates to give him to get us in without turning us into an asteroid smear?”

  Anna opened her mouth, a scathing retort springing to her lips, but the genuine fear in his voice gave her pause. “It’s not that bad, Bear.”

  “Not that bad?” He snorted, loudly. “Captain, you honestly think you can get us through that?”

  Colin had put them on an approach vector to the asteroid ring. He frowned at Berenger, but it was Deek who spoke. “The Cap’n can fly pretty much anything anywhere.”

  “Nobody’s that good,” Berenger retorted. “Even her brother,” he tipped his head toward Anna, “isn’t that good.”

  “Oh, give it a rest.” Anna rolled her eyes again. “If it was as hard as you’re making it out to be, there’d be a lot pilots wrecking ships than there are.” She leaned forward to pat Colin’s shoulder. “Don’t listen to him. He’s not a pilot — ”

  “Neither are you,” Berenger cut in.

  “ — and I don’t think he’s ever been here in anything smaller than the Iliana.”

  Colin gave her a sharp look. “You came here in the Iliana?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Anna sat back in her seat. “The asteroid ring is much bigger than it looks. You’re a good pilot; we’ll be fine.”

  Deek shot her a slightly wide-eyed look before trading glances with Colin‌…‌and Berenger. “I hope she’s right, Cap’n.”

  One corner of Colin’s mouth tilted up in a smile. “I have a feeling she is.” His hands danced over the controls. “Now, lass, where is this Polygon of yours?”

  “Not far. And it’s not too far in the asteroid ring‌—‌so don’t worry about that.” Anna smiled reassuringly at Deek. “From what I’ve heard, they wanted to build it deeper inside to keep it safe from the Federation, but they were concerned about making it unreachable if somebody crashed a large enough ship and set off a chain reaction that moved a bunch of asteroids around.” She waved a hand to the dead world inside the ring of debris. “There’s enough of a gravitational pull to keep most of the asteroids in place, but they didn’t want to take too many chances.”

  Deek just shook his head.

  Colin let go of the controls long enough to rub his hands together. “This should be fun.”

  With Anna to guide him, he flew the Galaxy’s Way along the outer edge of the asteroid ring until he found a gap between asteroids large enough to be an opening.

  “Good deflector shields are a must,” Anna cautioned. “Nobody’s been able to do anything about the little asteroids.”

  Little being a figure of speech‌—‌they ranged from human-sized down to microscopic rock particles that could nonetheless tear through metal like tissue paper at high enough speeds.

  “It does look like a space lane,” Colin commented, turning the freighter up on her side to squeeze th
rough a narrower gap between two asteroids that were easily four or five times the size of the Galaxy’s Way.

  A moment later, Anna, who had been keeping her eyes peeled for the first glimpse of the Polygon, pointed toward the viewshield. “There it is.”

  “Are you sure?” Deek squinted in the direction she was pointing before dropping his gaze to the readouts on the control panel in front of him. “Because I don’t — ”

  The comm abruptly crackled with an incoming signal.

  “It’s there,” Anna said. “Trust me.”

  “Hit the comm, Deek,” Colin commanded.

  Deek obeyed, and a crackly voice filled the cockpit. “Unknown freighter, state your purpose for being in this system.”

  Colin glanced over his shoulder at Anna before replying, “Visiting the Polygon. Heard good things about the food. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”

  The voice ignored him. “Unknown freighter, identify yourself.”

  “You first.” Colin did not alter his devil-may-care tone.

  Something on the control panel beeped alarmingly. Deek hit the comm button to mute it. “Cap’n, somebody’s got a missile lock on us.”

  Colin shot Anna another look; she offered him an apologetic shrug. “They don’t recognize us.”

  “Friendly bunch.” Colin unmuted the comm. “Point taken. This is the Galaxy’s Way, captained by myself, Colin Dupree.”

  “Never heard of ya. Suggest you turn around and head back wherever it was you came from.”

  Anna rolled her eyes. That was fast.

  Colin muted the comm again. “Seriously? They’ve not gotten the memo that I’m a wanted fugitive?”

  Berenger was not amused. “Would you quit clowning around?” he growled, twisting against his restraints. Deek had let him up to use the facilities a while back, but had promptly tied him up again. “You’re gonna get us all killed.”

  “Not if I can help it.” Unfastening her safety restraints, Anna leaned over Colin’s shoulder. “Let me talk to them.”

  “Be my guest.”

  Anna flicked the comm button with one hand, her other resting on Colin’s shoulder for balance. “Is this Harvey?”