Profit & Peril

by Charissa Dufour

  He left the conference room and crossed to the bridge, taking a seat at the comm. station, the only other seat on the old bridge other than the pilot’s chair. He shook his head, the desire to buy a new ship growing in his mind as he looked at the old, patched control board.

  But a new ship cost money. More than he had and more than they were getting paid at the end of this assignment. With a deep sigh of resignation, he keyed in the frequency and waited. After an agonizing few minutes, the comm. crackled as the other end received his call.

  “Lenore designation 2517. Come in,” Jack said into the handheld device.

  “Jack? What’s wrong?” asked Douglas.

  Jack grimaced. Leave it to his contact to assume the worst. How had Bit… Jack stopped his thoughts before he could get distracted.

  “I’m afraid there is a problem,” Jack began, trying to ease into it. “The reactor was sabotaged. I’m still…”

  “Is it salvageable?” Douglas interrupted.

  “I’m still waiting on word from the engineers as to how much damage was done, but I wanted to inform you as soon as possible.”

  “Well, what’s the point if you don’t have any information?” snapped his contact.

  Jack wished he could work with Morgan directly, but he understood the risk involved. According to Stellar Repair, Douglas wasn’t even on their payroll. It would be tough to track his contact back to Morgan Reactors, Stellar Repair’s parent company.

  “I wanted to make sure I was keeping you up to date. It may be a number of hours before the engineers know the full extent of the damage.”

  “Well, call me when you do,” Douglas said before ending the call.

  Jack sighed, switched off the comm. device and ran his fingers through his hair.

  After a few hours of trying to help, Bit had given up. Forrest claimed the damage was all repairable, or they had replacement parts stored in the Lenore. Bit couldn’t tell the difference between the broken parts and those still working unless there was an obvious cut across the item in question, but most of the pieces Forrest, Jeremiah, and Zagiri removed from the reactor looked perfectly normal. It was rare to see a gash in a hose or a broken bolt. Bit frowned as they pulled out another zig-zag of metal and tossed it in the pile. She couldn’t tell what it was, much less what the Grounders had done to destroy it.

  “You sure you can fix all this?” Bit asked, eyeing the growing pile of damaged pieces.

  Forrest glanced at her over his shoulder as he knelt in front of the shrinking machine. “Oh yes. They knew what they were doing, but we can get creative in replacing parts. Plus some of them they sent us extras just in case. We’ll be okay, but it did set us way behind schedule.”

  Bit nodded just as Zagiri’s watch dinged.

  “That’s six hours, guys,” she said with a disgruntled sigh.

  The space station had a strict six hour work day, and with most of their actions being illegal already, they stuck to the rule in order to stay under the radar.

  “Did Cap say what they’re going to do about security while we’re off duty?”

  “Yeah. Randal is coming up with some booby-traps for the door. I’ll go get them and bring them back.”

  “How will you get back in after your shift?” Zagiri asked.

  “Oh, I have my ways,” Bit replied with a wink.

  Outside the last check point, Zagiri went her own way while Bit and the engineers returned to the Lenore. Randal waited for them on the main level with a small canister and magnetic device.

  “Rig this above the door, with the nozzle pointing down toward the door entrance. This,” he held up the second device, “attach one magnet to the doorjamb and one magnet to the door so that they’re touching. When the door opens and the magnets separate, the canister will release its gas.”

  “Gas?”

  “It’s a mixture from the hogweed plant that’s been aerosolized. Took me most of the day to find a dealer on the space station. And it turns out Vance is a daft hand at creating poisons.”

  “So it will kill them?”

  “No.” Randal shook his head. “It will burn their skin and keep burning until they get treated.”

  Bit frowned. “Meaning we could find them if they come back.”

  Randal nodded. “Exactly.”

  “Okay. I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

  Bit left the ship and returned to the first check point, the magnets deep in her pockets and the canister tucked into her holster where she normally held extra clips of ammunition.

  “Yeah,” Bit sighed. “I left my pad in there.”

  “You need it off shift?”

  Bit grimaced. “It has my book on it. Kinda dying to know what happens next.”

  “Must be a good book. What’s it about?”

  Bit gave him an embarrassed smirk. “It’s a romance. And it was just getting to the…” She blushed. “The, uh, good stuff.”

  “The sex?”

  Bit blushed darker. The guard was a handsome, muscular man who would have fit in well with her ship’s security team. To heighten her blush, she imagined herself tangled in the sheets with the burly guard. It worked, and her neck burned as a blush seeped up into her cheeks.

  The guard gave her a dirty little grin, suggesting he had enjoyed the same image, before turning to press his thumb against the pad. “I’ll call ahead and tell them you need to get back in for a second.”

  She gave him a genuinely embarrassed smile and ducked through the open door. The next guard gave her a similar look, suggesting the first man had radioed ahead, telling him of their exchange.

  By the time she reached the closet where they worked, her cheeks hurt with a fierce fire. She was tempted to leave the central core by a different route, but she knew it would draw attention to herself and their work if she didn’t leave by her normal route. She quickly snatched up the pad left on the half-built reactor. It was Zagiri’s but she could return it in the morning.

  Bit set the pad on the floor just outside the door as she glanced over her shoulder to be sure no one was around. She attached the canister to wall as high up as she could reach. Compared to most men, she was extremely short and, if she hoped to hit them in the face, the canister needed to be well above her head.

  Kneeling, she pulled the door until it was almost shut, slipped the two flat magnets in place, connecting them to the metal with little sticky pads. They were weak magnets and wouldn’t make it difficult to open the door. Carefully, to make sure she had lined them up correctly, she pulled the door shut the rest of the way.

  Bit grabbed the pad and scurried away, worried she had spent too much time setting up the trap. She nodded to the guards as she made her way into the long corridor connecting the core to the loops. At the other end, the guard grinned at her.

  “Took you long enough.”

  “Sorry. Yeah. It was hidden under a pile of tools. Had to search a little.”

  “Ah. So, I’m off in an hour. You want to have dinner? Maybe tell me about that book?”

  Bit nibbled on her lower lip, her discomfort growing. “Uh… I don’t know if my captain will allow me off ship tonight.”

  “You don’t get shore leave when off duty.”

  “Not always. Things have been kinda… uh… weird since we got here,” Bit said, trying to stay close to the truth.

  “Weird how?”

  Bit shrugged. “I think there’s an issue with a contract or something. I don’t know. I’m not privy to such information. Just a lowly engineer.”

  He smiled. “Well, if your captain lets you out, I’ll be at the nearest lounge in an hour.”

  “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

  Bit reached the ship and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

  “You get it set?” Randal asked.

  She nodded.

  “Why are you blushing?” Jack asked.

  “Little run in with the guard. Got kinda awkward. I think he asked me out on a date.”

>   “What did he say?” asked Randal.

  “Wanna have dinner?”

  “That’s a date,” stated Jack and Randal together.

  “Told him I didn’t think I could make it. Sorry, Cap, kinda made you the bad guy.”

  Jack shrugged. “I can live with that.”

  “Actually, Captain, I think she should go.”

  “What?” Jack and Bit gasped together.

  “A connection in the guards may come in handy, especially if we ever need back in off shift. If she goes to dinner, makes a ‘friend’… It might come in handy.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Bit stood just inside the doorway of the lounge, her stomach tied in notes. This is the dumbest idea they’ve had. And that’s saying something.

  Jack had gotten on board with Randal’s scheme in record time, even going so far as to encourage Bit to dress up. Katrina had joined the fray and tried to force Bit into a dress. She had put her foot down on that score. Still, she was wearing her snuggest v-neck t-shirt, her indentured tattoo well hidden beneath the snug, navy blue fabric. Her trousers, cast offs from Jack’s little sister, were tight and tucked into her scuffed boots.

  They had all insisted she ditch the stained crew jacket, making it impossible to hide her shoulder holster. Still, she had a small dagger hidden in her boot. Besides, Randal had trained her to be a weapon in of herself, or so she hoped.

  Bit scanned the lounge, ready to turn and leave if she didn’t see the guard.

  “Larissa,” called a recognizable voice.

  She battled her features into submission and plastered a smile on her face before turning toward the guard.

  “You know my name.”

  “I look at your I.D. every time you pass through my check point. Of course I know your name.”

  “But I don’t know yours.”

  “Carter Hill. Pleased to meet you,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand.

  Bit smiled, she couldn’t help it. It was easy to like Carter given his generous manners.

  An hour later, Bit sat with Carter over a hot meal. The food was good, Bit admitted, though not as good as Vance’s. She absently wondered if that was because it hadn’t been made by hand, the way Vance still cooked.

  To her astonishment, she was enjoying her time with the big guard. Absently, she wondered if it was because she knew in a few weeks she would fly away. Whatever they enjoyed now, he wouldn’t try to attach himself to her the way Blaine had.

  “Okay,” Carter said as they finished their meal. “I’ve talked too much. It’s your turn. Tell me about yourself.”

  Bit swallowed the sudden lump forming in her throat. “Um… there’s not much to tell.”

  “Well I bet you’ve seen a lot of the universe, flying with a freighter.”

  “Oh. I just joined them recently. Haven’t you travelled?”

  Carter shook his head. “Nah. I came to the Nye when it was first built. I was, like, five. Haven’t been anywhere but the surface.”

  “Oh.” Suddenly Bit felt rather worldly. “I joined the crew of the Lenore on Earth. We went from there to Mars. Stayed on there for a long weekend. Then came here.”

  “Still way more than me. What about before the Lenore?”

  Bit swallowed. She wanted to just spill it all out, but wasn’t sure how Carter would respond to the truth.

  “Look, Carter. I don’t want to start a friendship on anything other than the truth,” she said, plowing forward despite the warnings flaring in her mind. “I’m an indentured servant. I came to Jack’s crew when my debt was sold.”

  Carter laughed. “Funny. No seriously, what did you do before you became a freighter engineer.”

  Bit just stared at him. In all her visions of how this confession might play out with someone, she had never expected them to laugh at her. She felt a tension build in her shoulders and climb up her neck.

  His laughter died away as he watched her. “You’re serious.”

  Bit nodded. “Yes.”

  “You’re in debt?”

  “It’s not mine. My fa—”

  Carter waved her off. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. Um… sadly I have to be up early tomorrow. I think it would be best if we made this an early night.”

  Bit nodded slowly, forcing a smile to her lips. “Of course. Sleep well.”

  “Uh… do you want me to… like, walk you to your ship.”

  “No, no. That’s not necessary. Go on.”

  Carter looked as though he was ready to cry for relief at her response. He rose quickly and walked away, not even bothering to discard his empty food tray. Bit squeezed her eyes shut, willing away the tears and pain of yet another rejection.

  She took a deep breath, only vaguely aware of the people around her, still enjoying their evenings. She had known all her life that people existed who viewed debt as the greatest sin a person could make, and therefore indentured servants as the greatest sinners. Who would possibly be so foolish as to get themselves in debt with the villainous banks?

  No matter what the truth was—and Bit was not the only indentured out there shouldering the burden of someone else’s debt—such people would see her as the fool. And no one wanted to associate with a fool.

  Bit tried to will herself to her feet, but the longer she sat alone at their little table, their empty trays mocking her, the heavier her shoulders felt.

  Dating hadn’t exactly been a part of her life in the past and she didn’t want it to be now. But that didn’t soften the pain of rejection. To her astonishment, she had started to like Carter as he animatedly talked about his favorite pass times here on the space station. Slowly, he had chipped away at her walls with his relaxing presence.

  Why did you tell him? her mind screamed at her.

  If she had just kept it to herself Carter never would have left. But she didn’t want her friendships based on lies or half-truths. At least her friendships aboard the Lenore were real.

  Or are they? Bit began to wonder if they just put up with her.

  She pushed those thoughts aside and climbed to her feet, grabbing the two disposable trays. It didn’t matter. She could be alone and survive. Ever since her sister had died she had been on her own.

  Now was no different.

  Bit walked slowly back to the ship, unsure if she had the strength to endure any questioning about the futile date. Jack had wanted her to make a friend in the guards, and she had managed to do the exact opposite. How was she going to tell Jack? More specifically, how was she going to tell Jack without breaking down?

  She finally entered the ship. Reese was just appearing from the lower staircase, likely coming up from the mess hall.

  “Hey, Bit. How’d the date go?”

  “What date?” came a voice from below the staircase.

  “Shit,” Bit mumbled to herself. “Nothing, Blai…”

  “Jack made Bit go on a date with some guy from the space station,” interjected Reese, gleefully poking the sleeping tiger.

  Bit glared at him as Blaine reached the main level.

  “He what?” demanded Blaine.

  “Nothing, Blaine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “He forced you to go out with some guy?”

  “Blaine,” growled Bit, too emotionally spent to deal with him with any tact. “Do you want a match to that black eye?”

  Blaine hesitated on the top stair.

  “Then drop it.”

  Bit skirted around the two men and dashed into her room, slamming the door shut. She collapsed in her hammock, still fulling dressed. The money Jack had given her just in case Carter didn’t pay pressed into her breast. She dug it out of her bra and tossed it onto the floor.

  It wasn’t long before someone knocked on her door.

  “Go away,” she yelled loud enough for the whole ship to hear.

  She let out a long sigh. If she wasn’t careful they would all know her humiliation and her walls would never be rebuilt. Unsurprising, Oden slipped in, shutting the door b
ehind him.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  Bit looked up at him. It was obvious he was upset, like Blaine, but holding it together. Barely.

  “It doesn’t matter. Tell Jack I wasn’t able to build the contact.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “No.” It was a lie, of sorts, but Bit knew he meant physically.

  “Okay.”

  Bit watched as Oden turned with difficulty and left.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The next morning Bit headed for the airlock, skipping breakfast entirely. She wasn’t interested in being around the crew for fear they would ask about her failed date. Besides, she needed to get to engineering and see if their traps had been sprung. There were bigger issues at hand than some stranger rejecting her for something she couldn’t change.

  “Bit,” called Randal from the doorway of the shared crew quarters.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I hear you didn’t make a strong contact?”

  Bit glanced up at the older man. “No one wants to be friends with an indentured. Lesson learned.”

  Randal didn’t say anything as she punched the release for the airlock. He let her go, knowing she wouldn’t repeat the same mistake again. Bit suspected he also knew there were bigger issues than a bruised ego.

  Bit emerged from the airlock and turned towards the main corridor. At the junction, she found the flow of traffic interrupted by a large mob. They turned, spotting her approach.

  “There she is!” one of them called, pointing at Bit.

  Her steps stopped as the crowd began yelling at her, holding up signs with slogans like “No IS at Nye” or “The Banks Don’t Belong Here.”

  Before Bit could respond, the crowd surrounded her, yelling for her to go back to where she came from. Bit’s panic began to build as they pushed her back and forth. She suddenly felt very small confronted with a crowd of angry locals.