by M. D. Cooper
Around them, the pirates began to chant, “Feast! Feast! Feast!”
Beatrice gave a toothy grin “I’m gonna eat you for lunch and then use your bones to pick my teeth.”
So, she could talk.
“It’s hours past lunch. Don’t you mean dinner?” Nadine asked and Beatrice snapped her jaws as if to drive the message home.
Nadine punched Beatrice in the face, noting in a detached fashion that her hands were one of the few parts of her body that didn’t hurt.
Beatrice reared back, and Nadine drew her legs out from under the woman and kicked her in the stomach, creating enough room to get the hell out of there. It worked, but just barely. Nadine rolled up to her knees, and when Beatrice turned to charge, Nadine swung her rope out like a whip.
It struck Beatrice in the face and blood appeared on her lip, running down her chin. The beast of a woman touched it, a shocked look on her face.
She growled angrily as she regained her footing.
“Run!” Rogers screamed. “Get the hell out of here, Nadine!”
She glanced at the ring of cheering pirates, wondering where Rogers expected her to go.
Nadine flipped the rope around, quickly tying a slipknot into the end while Beatrice touched her bleeding lip once more then balled her right hand into a fist. The woman’s meaty appendage flew out and Nadine backpedaled, whipping out her rope.
It missed, but luckily so did Beatrice.
“Wanna try again?” Nadine asked, hoping the brute would oblige. Beatrice snarled and punched again and this time Nadine slid the rope over, pulling it tight and yanking forward before running around Beatrice.
Her opponent lost her balance as she spun toward Nadine and fell to the ground. The brute let out a loud ‘oomph’ and Nadine kicked her in the face before placing a foot on her back.
“I win right? What do I get if I win?”
“Nothing,” Beatrice roared and bucked her body. Nadine lost her balance and flipped backward, landing on the ground once more.
Beatrice pounced on her and Nadine crossed her arms, protecting her chest as she twisted side to side, avoiding the large woman’s fists as they swung at her. Once, twice Beatrice pounded dirt, bellowing each time.
Then an ear-splitting whistle cut through the night and Kingfisher stepped into the ring. “Enough. The both of you.”
“But, Captain…” Beatrice glared down at Nadine, her eyes widened with the look of a blood-thirsty animal. “She’s mine. She’s going to lose. I—”
“Get off of her and return to the shuttle, Bea. Your services are no longer required.”
Beatrice mumbled to herself as she slid off Nadine. She pointed at Nadine, her eyes wide and wild. “You’re mine. He won’t be able to protect you forever.”
What had Nadine gotten herself into?
Kingfisher offered Nadine a hand, which she accepted gratefully. “Did you ever intend for her to kill me?”
He shrugged. “If it took only a few hits, yeah. I was wrong about you. You have some moves—you weren’t scared of her at all.”
“Oh, I was terrified.”
Kingfisher laughed. “I’m not surprised. Yet, you held it in check. Can’t ask for more than that.”
“We have a deal then?”
“Perhaps, but we’ll discuss it over dinner. Come,” Kingfisher beckoned her with his hand but Nadine didn’t follow, turning to look back at her friends. She tried hard not to notice their dumbfounded slack-jawed expressions.
“My crew comes too or there’s no deal.”
Kingfisher rolled his eyes. “After everything you just went through, are you telling me you’d throw it all away for a couple of louts like them?”
“Yes. They may be louts but they’re my friends. I won’t go anywhere without them. You’ll need them. Rogers is the finest pilot you’ll ever meet—better than any of yours. I’d wager my life on that.”
“You stand tall and mighty like a princess. Should I take everything you say as if it is law?” Kingfisher asked with a sneer. He leaned in and sniffed her skin. “Talk like a princess. Smell like a junker—no…even junkers probably smell better than you do right now.”
“Well, it’s been a rough day,” Nadine explained. “And yes. Everything I say, you should take as law. If you know what’s good for you.”
Kingfisher clasped his hands together. “I can see working with you will be fun.” He glanced over at the cages. “Escort them to the shuttle. We’ll return to the Barbaric Queen and have dinner, just me and Ms. Devonire. If they try anything funny…”
“They won’t,” Nadine answered plainly. She watched as their cages were unlocked and they crawled out, almost unable to look them in the eyes.
Winter seemed the most surprised of the two, almost as though his entire world had been turned upside down. Rogers looked more impressed, a small smirk on his lips.
When they got back together, she’d have a lot of explaining to do. A new web of lies to spin. She just hoped she could pull it off because she was going to need them both if they were going to get to Kylie.
And double-cross Kingfisher.
He took her hand and kissed it, sending a shiver running up her spine. “You’ll be my treasured guest. Come, let’s work out the details of our…partnership.”
Nadine’s smile was simple and convincing. “I look forward to it.”
* * * * *
No one spoke as the shuttle lifted off, though there were pregnant looks all around. Nadine considered reaching out to Winter and Rogers over the Link, but she feared it would start a conversation that would sap the last of her flagging energy.
As the valleys fell away beneath them, she caught sight of The Dauntless in the pre-dawn glow, its three engines and spherical bridge marking it as one of the more unique ships she had ever seen.
You served us well, she gave words in her mind to the sadness she felt. Rest, be a safe place for baby lizards.
Kylie would lose her mind if she knew her ship was infested with somethingasauruses.
The shuttle cleared the atmosphere a minute later and the endless black of space met them. Nadine was amazed by how many ships were clustered around Jericho. When Maverick had said he was declaring independence he was not bluffing.
It was a warfleet in the making.
She wondered what Kingfisher’s plan was. He may act like top dog, but when Maverick called, he always came. Now that the crime lord was also the President of the GFF, that call would have even more teeth.
She glanced at Kingfisher, who was several seats away, consoling Beatrice.
Maverick would not be happy to learn that The Black Crow was hunting Kylie, intent on trading her in to the Silstrand Space Force. Nadine toyed with the idea of getting a message to Mav, but dismissed it.
She didn’t need a battle between The Black Crow and the GFF, she needed a fast ship to get her to Kylie so that she could complete her mission and kill Peter Rhoads.
And then what? she wondered.
The thought of returning to Petra for a new assignment was a dismal one. But her chances of reuniting with Kylie were even less encouraging.
Maybe there was a hole somewhere she could crawl into until this whole thing blew over.
“There she is,” Kingfisher said as he sat beside Nadine. “The Barbaric Queen. My girl.”
“I’ve seen it around,” Nadine replied.
Though her tone implied she wasn’t impressed, to be honest, she was. The ship had once been a massive cruise liner, fifteen hundred meters in length, and sixty decks filled with every delight one could ever imagine.
Some calamity had befallen it in the past, and the ship had been lost in the void, deep within the fringe. A junker crew had recovered it a century ago, and it had passed through a dozen hands before coming to Kingfisher.
“My dear Ms. Devonire, you speak as though the Barbaric Queen was just another ship, some simple scow like your Dauntless. Well, like your Dauntless was…”
“Hey…” Roger
s said from his seat. “Some of us are still in mourning here.”
Kingfisher ignored him and continued. “We have restored much of the ship to her former glory. The Barbaric Queen is one part barbarian, and nine parts queen. You’ll see.”
They didn’t speak further, and Nadine watched as they approached the ship, wondering what it would really look like within. Kingfisher had a reputation for talking big—though with a ship like the Barbaric Queen at his disposal, she could see why.
The shuttle swung about and Nadine couldn’t see the ship until suddenly the docking bay swallowed them. It wasn’t quite big enough to dock the Dauntless in, but it was close.
When they disembarked, Nadine had to admit that the ship was a lot cleaner than she had expected. Something about the name had always made her think the Barbaric Queen was filled with piles of trash. And orgies. Trash and orgies.
It was a bad visual.
Beatrice and several of the ship’s other crew led Winter and Rogers to an exit on their left, while Kingfisher led Nadine to one on the right.
“Where are they going?” she asked. “I thought they were going to dine with us.”
“They’ll dine, same as us, but the accommodations won’t be quite as nice.”
“You’re putting them in your brig.”
Kingfisher nodded. “It’s a very nice brig—or so I’m told. To be honest its mainly because of Winter. He has a reputation for unpleasantness, and I want this evening to be pleasant.”
Nadine didn’t respond as Kingfisher led her down a long passageway to a lift which took them up to Deck 4C. When the doors slid open, she couldn’t even pretend to hide how impressed she was.
Dark wooden panels lined the corridor—walnut if her HUD’s indicator was correct—and a deep carpet lay underfoot. She felt a moment’s guilt for the dirt her boots were likely leaving behind.
Kingfisher led her past two doors before stopping at a larger portal labeled Executive Cabin 4.
“Nadine, I’ve seen pictures of you where you look divine. However, to be honest, right now you look like shit. I doubt I could take a single bite with you sitting across the table from me.”
“I—uh—” Nadine stammered.
“Trust me, you’ll be as happy as I am to see less blood on your face.”
The door opened, and Kingfisher gestured for her to enter. Nadine gave him a dirty look, turned and strode into the cabin, the door sliding shut behind her.
Nadine turned and surveyed the room. To say it was lush was an understatement. For starters, it was huge. Easily as big as Kylie’s apartment back on Montral.
More carpets, softer here, stretched wall-to-wall; draperies hung along the walls, and a large a-grav bed floated in the middle of the room. There was a desk, a sitting area, and a chill unit stocked with alcohol.
Most importantly, there was a san, and from what Nadine could see, a water shower within.
Even in her weakened state, she was in the shower no more than two minutes later. If not for the bandages around her chest—which she carefully unwound, wincing as the caked blood pulled free—she would have been luxuriating under the hot spray much sooner.
As the filth of the day—two days, really—washed off her, Nadine began to feel more like herself. The last shower she’d enjoyed—if she were to use that term very loosely—was in jail on The Futz.
She inspected her body as she washed it, noting that all of her wounds had closed up, a testament to the top-of-the-line nano The Hand had supplied her with.
Granted, it wasn’t as good as what Lana and Kylie now had, but it was more than enough to put her back together again—physically, at least.
She leaned against the shower wall and drew in the steaming air. Deep breaths still hurt—a lot—but at least her lungs no longer felt like they were burning all the time.
Her deeper injuries were still going to take a couple of days to heal—so long as she didn’t get in anymore fights with brutes like Beatrice.
The shower cycled from water to a light breeze which misted a healing salve onto her skin before drying her off. Nadine hadn’t expected a smart-san, but she wasn’t going to reject its aid. She ran a hand through her hair and smiled as her fingers glided through without catching on a single tangle.
It occurred to her that—excepting Beatrice—getting attacked by The Black Crow in the abandoned buildings may have been the best thing to happen to her and the boys in days.
She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn’t help but notice that she still looked tired. And though she didn’t sport any open wounds, her skin was beet red in some places, and splotchy in most others.
You’ll have to do, she thought to herself.
Nadine turned and opened the door leading back into the cabin’s main room. The curtains on the left hid a wardrobe. She looked inside to see a dozen dresses hanging within.
Entertaining ladies who need a change of clothing often, Kingfisher?
She selected a light green dress that complimented her hair and would downplay the redness in her skin. It was snug, but not tight, which her aching ribs appreciated. The dress auto-adjusted its hem-line to her ankles and she nodded with satisfaction as she found a matching pair of low heels.
Nadine would have preferred no heels and a pair of pants—in case more combat was in her future—but she also needed to be ready for another type of battle with Kingfisher, and this outfit fit the bill far better.
It was still an hour until the proscribed mealtime, and Nadine lay on the bed, glad for the opportunity to relax. She closed her eyes for just a moment, before opening them to a soft rapping on the door.
She rose, feeling only marginally refreshed, and saw that it had indeed been an hour. She checked herself over before signaling the door to open.
One of the crew—who she had seen down on the planet—stood on the threshold. He looked cleaner, and more refined, but still screamed pirate.
“Captain’s waiting for you,” he said, and turned away, walking down the corridor without waiting to see if she was following.
He led her to the end of the corridor where two broad doors slid aside to reveal an ornate dining room. The wooden paneling continued, and Virginis Crystal chandeliers hung over a gleaming red oak table.
Nadine noted that the light fixtures hung straight down, and were perfectly still. Even with a-grav systems dampening inertia in crew areas, most ships produced some wobble when in orbit or flight.
Enough that no one would put hanging light-fixtures in a ship, because even if they moved very little the changing shadows would drive a person around the bend.
These chandeliers didn’t wobble or vibrate a single millimeter.
The Barbaric Queen’s thrust was smooth as glass and Nadine felt at home on such a luxurious vessel, even if she did have to put up with space pirates.
The dining room was a long space with red-and-gold rugs beneath the mahogany table that stretched on toward the captain’s private quarters. Fine white drapes separated the room and a chandelier of candles and crystal hung from the high dome ceiling.
Kingfisher sat at the head of the table and rose as she approached, the crewmember guiding her to a seat at his right hand.
“Now that is a far better sight than what rode up on the shuttle!” he said by way of greeting.
Nadine wondered if he intended to be insulting, or if that was just his usual sate.
She didn’t reply as she sat, noting the fine white porcelain plates in front of each of them, servings of steak, potatoes and gravy awaiting consumption. When she didn’t reply, Kingfisher dove right in with his silverware, skewering large portions of meat and devouring them quickly while gazing at Nadine as though she was something that had also been served up on a plate before him.
Starving, but not happy about feeling like she was on the menu, Nadine played with the
edge of her white napkin and stared the captain down. He pointed at her with his knife. “Try some of your wine. Its vintage is almost as old as this ship.”
“Didn’t your mother teach you it’s not polite to point at your guests with your knife?”
“You’re still pretty mad at me, I see.” Kingfisher smiled and took a bite of his potatoes, which he chewed carefully before saying, “Don’t let a fine meal go to waste, Ms. Devonire.”
“I am mad. I want to know if Winter and Rogers are alright.”
“They are. They’re eating too, same as we are. Stuffed like turkeys by now, I imagine.”
Nadine crossed her arms. “Don’t be cute.”
“I excel at cute, darling.”
“You didn’t need to keep them from me. They’ll play nice.” Nadine resisted rolling her eyes. “They want to rescue Kylie just as much as I do. I can convince them that working with you is the best way forward.”
“Then convince them. It’ll be your job to get them on board or the three of you will be floating home, wherever that may be.”
Wherever indeed.
“If you wouldn’t mind eating your dinner now, I really don’t like it when food goes to waste.” Kingfisher pointed at her plate, this time with his fork instead of his knife.
Nadine sighed as she picked up her fork. She was hungry and it smelled delicious, but she hated doing something because she had to. “Am I a prisoner on this ship?” She gently gathered up some meat on her fork and placed it on her tongue.
“Hardly.”
It was hard not to moan out loud at how tender and delicious the meat was. It had the perfect balance of acid and sweetness to the gravy that made Nadine suspect Kingfisher of kidnapping some top-end chef for his galley.
“Good, isn’t it?” Kingfisher smiled, folding his hands beneath his chin. “Admit it, you haven’t tasted something this good in a long while.”
“It’s amazing.” Nadine gathered her goblet up and sipped the dry red wine. “You know how to treat a lady to a good time.”
“Let us dine then, let us drink, and then let us dance.” Kingfisher raised his goblet into the air. “Get to know each other so we can figure out what it is we’re going to do next.”