His mouth sagged open. In disbelief? Surprise? Shock?
Chanda reached up and pushed his jaw back into place. He snorted and recovered somewhat, but he still seemed puzzled.
“I thought a company called VineLaunch ran the game.”
“It does. That’s me. It was fictional at first, and then I filed to make it legitimate in the eyes of GalCon. That costs money too.” Chanda grimaced.
“Have you decided whether you’ll take on sponsors yet?” someone asked from the side. Ankari.
Chanda jumped. She hadn’t noticed Ankari come over. How long had she been listening?
Chanda forced a smile, though her heart rate had just tripled. Even though she’d suspected before that Ankari had guessed her ruse, now she’d as much as admitted it out loud.
Ankari merely raised her eyebrows. Waiting for an answer to her question?
“I’m not sure. I don’t want to make the game less fun for people to play by forcing them to watch ads before logging in or otherwise bombarding them.”
“Maybe you could do something more subtle. I’d pay to have Microbacteriotherapy, Inc. worked into the storyline. Some of the viable strains we’re using now come from Grenavinians on the ship, you know.” Ankari pointed over at Captain Mandrake.
“I didn’t know that, actually.”
“I’d heard of your game before I looked you up, and I’m not a game person, so I figure it must have tens of thousands of players.”
“More than three million people have made accounts, and there are about a million active users across the system now,” Chanda said.
“Huh. I’d pay a lot to have Microbacteriotherapy, Inc. worked in. Others would too, I’m sure. I have contacts I could put you in touch with. We can crunch some numbers later.” Ankari tilted her head. “Now that I understand why you’re really here.”
Chanda flushed. “I just wanted to learn, not take advantage or pitch you or anything.”
Kor rested a hand on her shoulder and gazed down at Ankari, as if he was some bodyguard there to protect her. She almost laughed. Hadn’t she and Ankari been talking about him in such a context earlier? Even though Chanda would be embarrassed to think she couldn’t handle her own problems and that she needed a bodyguard, the warmth of his hand on her shoulder sent a tingle through her.
“I understand,” Ankari said, merely quirking an eyebrow at the looming Kor. “I grew up on the streets. I’m a schemer and a scrounger from my earliest memories. I see nothing wrong with trying to put yourself into advantageous positions, and it’s not as if I have any complaints about you as an employee so far.” She looked down at the quashi. “You’ve even had some good ideas.”
Chanda’s cheeks still felt warm, but it was more from the praise now than from embarrassment at her own actions. “I’ve just tried to be helpful.”
“That’s at the core of being a successful entrepreneur, you know,” Ankari said.
This time, Chanda arched an eyebrow.
“Helping people. Solving problems. If you can do that, people will always be willing to lay aurums at your feet.”
“I just created a game. I don’t solve anyone’s problems.”
“Yes, you do,” Kor said firmly and squeezed her shoulder. “Some of your subscribers just want to be entertained, I’m certain, but for others… having something to do in the dark quiet hours of night when their dreams keep them from finding a peaceful sleep… Trust me, you’re solving a problem. Or at least giving a man a distraction, a way to deal with it.”
Chanda met his eyes, and the intense feeling there surprised her. So far, he’d only hinted at being haunted by his past. For the first time, she got a real sense of how much it affected him. She also thought she sensed something else in his gaze, an interest that had grown brighter since she made her confession. She wasn’t sure if it was his intent, but it started making her think about kissing him. And more.
“We’ll talk more later,” Ankari said, perhaps noticing their locked eyes and feeling like an outsider. “But know I’m happy with what you’ve done here so far, and Viktor is too. Even if you decide you don’t want to be my assistant and collect coffee for the rest of your life, you could likely do the work you need to do for your company from here. It’s all through the network, isn’t it? So, if you chose, you could stick around for a while.” She glanced at Kor. “If you chose.” Ankari patted the quashi. “Do you want me to take this back to its cage? So you two can, uh, go get dinner?”
“This is Roberta and she would like that.” Chanda offered the creature to Ankari. She hadn’t been thinking about dinner, but if Ankari was willing to pet sit, she would happily take Kor somewhere.
“Roberta? You’ve named them?”
“Just that one. She was instrumental in foiling… has the captain figured out who planted the fake one?”
“Viktor has some people working on it, but we may not find out until we can return to the station and apply pressure to people in person. In the mercenary way.” Ankari made a face. “There are a few bounties on his head, though, so he suspects it was someone trying to take Mandrake Company out of the galaxy.” She looked toward the engineering equipment.
Chanda shivered to think how close that had been to happening.
“But since Roberta was instrumental,” Ankari said, “I’ll be sure to give her an honored place in an uncrowded cage.”
“All she needs to be happy is an apple.”
A soft agreeable trill sounded.
“It must be nice to be an animal and have such simple needs,” Ankari said, gathering Roberta in one arm, then lifting a hand in farewell before heading out.
“I have simple needs too,” Kor murmured softly, the words for Chanda alone. He lowered his hand from her shoulder.
She turned, finding that he still stood close. Their chests almost bumped.
“Oh?” she asked.
His eyes still had that intensity in them, and electricity seemed to crackle in the air between her and Kor. He brought his hands to her waist, resting them lightly there, then leaned down and kissed her. His warm lips definitely held a charge, sending tingles of energy through her. She leaned her chest against his and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, delighted to have found someone who appreciated her work, who appreciated her. And if she could in some way, through her game or through herself, make his nights a little better, she appreciated that too.
“I didn’t think the doctor could do that,” someone commented, reminding Chanda that they were in the middle of Engineering.
She drew back slightly, her cheeks flushing with heat again.
“Would you care to go somewhere more private?” Kor murmured, gazing at her and ignoring the commentator.
“Your cabin, perhaps?”
“To play games?”
She squeezed his hands. “Whatever you like. Perhaps you can explain this monk celibacy thing to me.”
He grinned. “I can explain that I’ve retired from monking to work among the stars again.”
“And play games among the stars?”
“Most definitely.”
They walked out together, holding hands.
THE END
Afterword
Thank you for checking out my Mandrake Company series. I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know these characters.
As I put this bundle together in 2020, it’s been about four years since I wrote the last installment in the series, so I consider it complete, but I do occasionally think about coming back and writing a couple more novels in this universe.
If that’s something you would like to see, or you’ve just enjoyed the books and want to help get the word out, please consider posting a review for the Mandrake Company bundle.
If you want to read more science fiction romance from me, you can check out my Star Guardians series.
Thank you!
Also by Ruby Lionsdrake
The Star Guardians Series
Book 1: Orion
Book 2: Treyjon
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Book 3: Sagitta
Book 4: Hierax
Book 5: Zakota
Book 6: Ariston
Frost Station Alpha
Stars Across Time
Unchained
Dragon Bond
Mandrake Company- The Complete Series Page 182