‘I’m the captain. You should have consulted me first.’
I lowered my head. He was right. ‘I didn’t want to put you in danger. Please go back now.’
‘You overrode my ship’s security and then later Slick saw you in the surveillance feed.’ I was mesmerised by the soft tone of his voice. ‘I think I stopped breathing watching the footage of you spinning, helpless.’
My cheeks were burning. I swallowed, not quite sure how to respond. ‘It was a bit unnerving.’
He swept a stray hair off his forehead. ‘I called you gutless.’
‘You were right.’
‘No, I was out of line.’
‘No, you weren’t.’
He opened his mouth to contradict me. I held up my hand.
‘Let’s not argue, okay? I was a moneyed-up harpy. You helped me to see clearly, made me decide to change myself, find some “guts”.’
He blushed. ‘I didn’t think you would take what I said to heart.’
‘You thought I didn’t have one.’
He shook his head and I lifted an eyebrow. ‘Okay. I did think you were—’
The blush that flooded his cheeks was wonderful. Maybe I wasn’t done with forgiveness.
‘Did you find anything?’ he asked, changing the subject.
‘My sister left me something. A name?’
‘What name?’
‘Inyaface.’
He paled and stepped back.
‘You know this guy? This Inyaface?’
‘Only by reputation. I try to stay away from pirates. Inyaface is a key name. If a pirate says it, you ask how far he needs you to go, or how long he wants your services for free.’
I frowned at him, missing the logic. ‘If you have stayed out of the way, how do you know this?’
He gave me the I-can’t-believe-you-asked-such-a-dumb-question look. ‘Independents talk. Word gets around. We all know that name. I’ve been particularly careful until now.’
‘I can understand that, after what happened with your father. There’s more to your story, isn’t there?’
His bright blue eyes darkened. ‘You know I thought they killed my father. That’s how I got this ship. Another ship came by after a few weeks in response to the distress beacon. The captain had his crew patch my ship and offered me a berth, even though I was underage. But I was too angry. After that ship left, I flew myself to Prima Nova, as it was the closest inhabited planet. It ended up being a good choice. Because the authorities there were so lax, I was able to claim my father’s credit and finish the repairs on the ship.’
I lifted my eyebrow.
He nodded. ‘Yeah, the Robo Chef. They said they couldn’t fix it. Said it must’ve shorted during the attack. I guess the lazy bastards didn’t even check the software.’
‘How long were on you on Prima Nova?’
‘Three years.’
Heavens, three years in that hellhole. I wondered how he’d come out unscathed.
‘That long. So how did you end up with Slick?’
‘It was a hard life on the colony. Lots of things failed. The economy, society, families. Slick was one of the homeless. He tried to rob me, but didn’t. I took him in and fed him from what I could afford to eat. We grew to be friends. I needed to go but I couldn’t leave him behind. I couldn’t abandon him to that life.’
I tried to calculate the age he must’ve been, and Slick would definitely have been underage. ‘But Slick would have been a ward of the state.’
‘Yeah, right. Like I said, I couldn’t leave him there.’
I didn’t know that much about Prima Nova but Thorn’s account pricked my conscience. There were thousands like Slick left behind. Whole generations of grown humans left to fend for themselves.
Thorn moved to the ladder. ‘Come on, let’s check out the ship. Bridge first. I need to see what their scanners picked up.’
We headed up the ladder to reach the bridge. ‘You were saying about Slick?’
‘Right. I had to indenture him so he could get permission to leave. I had no choice. I could have left the spaceport but I wouldn’t have been able to avoid the planetary sensors.’
‘Indenture? Is that even legal? How old were you?’
‘17, but I had my ID forged so it said 18. Because I was from off-planet, a bribe was enough to get the authorisation I needed and we took off. I employ Slick as my deckhand and I pay him.’
‘You were 17 and you saved some kid from a life on hell on Prima Nova and have been piloting a ship ever since?’
They had reached the bridge. Thorn spoke over his shoulder as he checked the readouts. ‘Pretty much.’
I stood in the doorway, arms on my hips. ‘No wonder I annoyed you so much.’
He sat in a chair and looked up from the console, a smile bringing that dimple back. ‘Yeah, maybe. I had baggage and you were plain annoying.’
I lifted an eyebrow, sliding my hand up to his shoulder. ‘Am I annoying you now?’
He locked gazes with me. I saw his eyes drop to focus on my mouth. My heart rate increased. Was he going to kiss me? Just the thought made my stomach boil like lava.
Sudden impacts on the hull sounded like acorns dropping on the bonnet of a ground car. ‘Attack?’
Thorn dived to the ground and took me with him. ‘Damn, the shields are down.’
Sparks flew from the command console.
Thorn grabbed my face. ‘Put on your suit. Hide.’
I pulled my face out of his grasp. ‘I’m not hiding. This is my chance to find my mother. You hide and then follow in your ship. Okay?’
‘I can’t.’
‘You have to. Get your suit on. You can’t leave Slick alone.’
He stroked my head. ‘I can’t leave you.’
‘You have to.’ I’d had the most horrible thought — I was worth something, Thorn was not. Not to the pirates, anyhow.
‘They’ll kill you. They won’t kill me. I’m a moneyed-up harpy, remember? There’s ransom to be had.’
He nodded. ‘What if they kill the ship while I’m on it? I’ll still die.’
‘Look in my mother’s stateroom, there’s an escape pod masquerading as a wardrobe. Put yourself in there. When I leave, come out and get back to your ship. If the ship is fired on, use the pod to escape. It’s rated so it should withstand normal missiles or anything short of nuclear or plasma weapons.’
‘Hide with me.’
‘I can’t.’ I got up on my knees. ‘I sent for back up. If you are still here and you track the ship attacking us, then can you pass the coordinates on?’
He nodded again. I pushed away to leave and he stopped me.
‘Essa!’
I turned back. His eyes had gone soft and a smile lifted a corner of his mouth.
‘You should hurry.’
Tugging on my arm, he drew me forward, his mouth capturing mine. There was an urgency and a desperation in his kiss. Too soon, he broke off, leaving me with just the taste of him.
With a nod to me, he walked back down the companionway. I climbed to my feet, clinging to the console.
It wasn’t long before a voice came over the comms, all rough and snarly. It demanded me to surrender.
‘Who is this? Are you firing on me?’ I put on my most offended, imperious voice.
‘You bet, sweetheart. What’s your name? Quickly now, before I let the big missiles fly and spread your DNA across the galaxy.’
‘My, that’s original. Been watching too many old vids? I’m Essa Gayens and I take it you have my mother.’
There was a pause, a muffled sound like he was muting the transmission while he consulted with someone else. ‘A full house. Prepare to be boarded. Transmit nothing or we’ll blow you away.’
‘Sure you will. Like you’d toss the money you’d get for my ransom.’
‘Look kid, we have the rest of your family. We have all the leverage we need, so don’t go over investing in your ass. Take it or leave it. Cooperate or die.’
I purse
d my lips. I hadn’t thought of that — being unnecessary, superfluous. Before Rae came on the scene, I’d never been superfluous before.
‘I’m not going anywhere.’
There were a few more pings as the pirate worked off his anger firing across the bow. I jerked backwards as the main navigation showered me with sparks and ozone filled the cabin.
Chapter Nine
Being Bait
Two obese pirates came through the docking tube, both wearing respirators. I guessed they thought I’d put a hole in docking tube and try to kill them. Hadn’t they worked out I was here to get my mother?
Thorn’s suit was gone and mine was hanging up next to the airlock. Standing there impatiently, I waited until they noticed me. My pulse was beating fast, but I stood my ground as they bounded towards me. Thorn needed time to hide.
The fattest one darted behind me, grabbed me by anchoring my arms and holding me against his flabby belly.
‘Watch it, you creep,’ I protested.
The other pirate rocked from side to side, grinning. I thought he looked like a drunken sailor until his slap stung my cheek.
‘Where’s your ship?’ he spoke like a bear, all teeth and gravel.
His body odour hit next and his bad breath. I gagged and then breathed through my mouth. ‘I sent it away after I boarded.’
Heavens! I had never smelled anything so gross before. I could bottle it for subversive warfare. I tried to block the smell but my hands were restrained.
Another slap, this once caused a tooth to cut into my lip.
‘Liar. No way you came on your own. We’ll find your friends and we’ll fry them.’
My face burned from the impact of his meaty hand. I shook my head to clear it, giving myself time to think. ‘I’m a Gayens. We don’t have any friends. I came in a single person vessel with auto-pilot. I’m not stupid.’
His gaze narrowed and he leaned in closer giving me a healthy waft of foulness. If he smelled this bad, I wasn’t looking forward to being on his ship.
‘You look stupid to me.’ His gaze centred over my shoulder. ‘You got the scanner, Bub?’
Bub? My eyebrow rose. That mountain of quivering flesh was called Bub? Rae was right. Pirates did have funny names. The smelly one grabbed my face, sticking his fingers into my jaw to open my mouth. He stabbed the swab in, shoving my face back with his whole hand over my face. I fell back against the pirate behind me, wrenching my shoulders at the same time. He hadn’t loosened his hold on me. The smelly pirate was going to pay for that insult. The scanner beeped.
‘Yep, it’s a match.’ He slapped his comms badge on his shoulder. ‘Is the docking tube secure?’
There was a muffle of static and a low, scratchy voice. I saw the receiver in his ear. He nodded. ‘Come on, bring her.’
Quickly changing hold, Bub lifted me off my feet, wrapping his huge slabs of meat under my breasts and bounded out of the cabin.
As I was carried horizontally through the docking tube, I panicked. All the things that could go wrong flashed through my mind. They could blow up the ship with Thorn on it. They could kill me. They could disfigure me, which was even scarier. What if my mother wasn’t where they were taking me? What if they’d been killed?
I started screaming for all it was worth.
‘Shut it,’ Bub said and jiggled me until my ribs hurt.
The other hatch opened and we climbed in. The atmosphere equalised and the tube began to retract. Gravity winked a bit and my stomach felt ready to erupt as Bub put me on my feet.
Smelly pirate grunted. ‘Bring her to the main conference room.’
‘Sure, Pit.’
‘Move it!’ Bub shoved me from behind and I stumbled forward. An alarm sounded above our heads.
‘What’s that?’ I asked, not moving after I recovered from the vicious shove from Bub.
‘Shut up,’ Pit said as he checked the controls on the bulkhead. He talked into his comms unit. ‘Just a malfunction with the docking tube retraction. I’ll sort it.’
Bub held me by the arm. As he was taller, I just dangled there. ‘It happens all the time. Just extend and retract again. That will flush out the airlock.’
Pit nodded. ‘Whatever. Get her to the conference room. I’ll deal with this.’
Bub swung me around in front of him and shoved. I managed to grab the handrails to stop me falling and then I stepped carefully along the companionway. I had no choice but to cooperate.
The design of the ship was alien to me. The corridors were low and narrow with steel mesh underfoot instead of smooth ferrofoam. Through the grating I could see we were walking above a hold, where crates were stacked and strapped to the hull. It looked like some kind of trading vessel.
How did it overpower Mother’s Scout Class ship? She had high-grade, technically illegal weapons. If she surrendered without a fight then there must have been a mole, a turncoat who betrayed her. I discounted squeaky clean Alwin Anton, so that left someone else — the other senior director travelling with them, perhaps.
Bub was none too gentle when he pushed me through the final hatch. My head clipped the table and I dropped. My head spun and I thought I’d bitten my tongue. I was too stunned to move.
‘Be careful with the merchandise, Bub Rugby.’
A hand lifted me and plonked me in a chair. I cradled my aching head, feeling sticky blood in my hair from the cut. I looked around the room and dark blurry shapes stood there. I blinked, desperate to get my eyes to focus.
My stomach lurched but I managed to open my mouth and say, ‘Who are you? Where’s my mother? Where are Rae and Al?’
The sounds I made resembled speech but not the clipped delivery I was hoping for, more like a drunken slur. I rubbed my head again and it didn’t help.
A wave of dizziness hit me and I lowered my head into the cradle of my arms. I was going to throw up.
‘Put her with the others?’
‘Are you sure you want to do that?’
‘She’s a teenager — a spoiled one at that. There’s nothing she can do.’
There was something familiar about one of the voices. I stood up and pointed to where the voice came from. The dark form wavered and blurred in my vision.
‘You’ll regret this. I’m going to rip out your…your…’
A black wave of nothing swamped me and I collapsed with a thunk onto the table.
Chapter Ten
Reunion
The smell of mother’s perfume and the soft stroke of a hand woke me. I opened my eyes, and then shut them quickly as a wave of pain hit. ‘Ohh.’
I was nestled in my mother’s lap.
‘They hit her.’ It was Rae’s angry, tight voice. A marvellous sound.
I struggled to open my eyes a crack. My vision was still blurry.
‘No, I fell.’ My words came out globby, like lumps of porridge.
‘Essa, darling,’ my mother’s voice cooed above me. ‘Open your eyes. Show me where it hurts.’
I lurched out of her lap to sit on the floor against the wall. My head swivelled, making the world spin. Rae held me so I didn’t fall again. My mother rubbed my legs and chafed my hands. I was desperate for a painkiller. I slapped my chest, feeling for my pouch and my handheld.
‘No! They’re gone.’ I was truly naked without my pouch, and more so my handheld. I blinked a few times and rubbed my forehead. My vision cleared. We were in a small room with no furniture, no amenities, nothing. I focused on my family.
‘Mother?’ Opeia looked tired and grubby but essentially unharmed. I hugged her close.
Rae moved to my side and I slid around to face her. She smiled at me, but I could see a bruise on her jaw. I reached out and ran a finger along it. I’d been wanting to tell her off for being stupid and running off, but as I’d done the same, there was no point now.
‘Which one of them did that?’ I asked.
Rae lowered her eyes. ‘It doesn’t matter now.’
My gaze scanned the room, noticing the san unit
, a little niche in the wall. Nothing else. Someone was missing.
‘Where’s Al?’ Gaping, I turned to Mother. ‘Is he dead?’
She bit her lip before answering. ‘No, he’s with the pirates.’
‘What?’ Squeaky clean Alwin was with the pirates? Hang on. I was jumping to conclusions. ‘Tell me what’s going on.’
Mother sighed and sat down next to me. ‘We’ve been looking to weed out pirates in AllEarth Corp. We had a lead on one that led us to those coordinates, but we were jumped. It was all going to plan but we were betrayed.’
‘And Alwin?’
The skin around my mother’s eyes tightened, her gaze flicking to Rae quickly before she lowered her eyes to the floor. This wasn’t going to be good news.
‘When Rae showed up, things got ugly. We tried to get them to let her go, but they wouldn’t budge. We didn’t expect either of you to follow us. I’m afraid Al took it badly that Rae was also caught in the trap. In the end, they took him away.’
Rae’s eyes brimmed with tears and she sniffed loudly. Seeing her hurt wounded me. Surprising myself, I opened my arms. Rae hugged me back.
‘I’m sorry, Rae.’ I rocked her, and a memory unlocked of my mother rocking me. It was vivid and startling. I cast a puzzled look at my mother. Had she held me like that?
‘What do they want? Ransom?’ I asked Mother over Rae’s head.
Opeia shrugged. ‘If it was that simple, they should have let us go before now. They know I won’t deal with them, but they want—‘
‘You to stop hunting them, I suppose.’
If Father had been one of them, then the pirate connection must have gone deep. Alwin’s little cyber blitz must have rattled them badly to have gone to such lengths to weed them out.
Mother nodded. ‘Yes.’ Her mouth pursed up, her fingers held tight against her palm.
‘To turn a blind eye to their activities?’ I ventured. My mother wasn’t that forthcoming, but then, she did think we were children who needed protecting.
She nodded. Yet, there was more. There had to be if she was still held prisoner.
‘To be complicit in their activities?’ I asked hesitantly.
Mother nodded again and sniffed. Her eyes watered and I could see it was a strain not to give into despair. My mother had a soft side but in business she was tough. She might have inherited her wealth and position, but she’d built them up in her lifetime, quadrupled her wealth and the reach of AllEarth Corp. Now, both her daughters were caught in a trap with her. I knew in my heart she wouldn’t agree to any degree of involvement with the pirates.
Rae and Essa’s Space Adventure Page 7