"There's just one person and she'll run if she sees you," Priloe explained. "I'm going to try to talk her into coming back with us."
"Back? What's this about, Priloe? Don't tell me I can't ask any questions. We're way past that," Pete said.
"She was abandoned," Priloe explained. "She thinks her mom is coming back for her. But she's not, is she?"
"What's her name?"
"Demetria Borisova," Priloe replied.
"Damnit," Pete swore. "You're telling me they left a child behind?"
Priloe's shoulders drooped. "She believes Loose Nuts will sell her as a slave."
"You know you've broken my rules, right?" Pete asked. "You weren't given permission to come over here. I specifically forbade you from straying from ours or Licht's claim."
"That's why I didn't want you to come with me," Priloe said plainly. "Fact is, you were going to figure it out either way, but I wanted to make sure Demetria was safe first."
"You knew you'd get in trouble?"
"I'll be honest, I was concerned about that, but not for the reason you think," Priloe said. "Before Celina, I'd never had anyone in my life who cared about me other than Milenette. Your punishments are a breeze. Do you have any idea how a gang-boss punishes orphans like me?"
"Then what's your big concern?" Big Pete asked, starting to get annoyed.
"That you and Silver would kick me and Milenette out," Priloe answered.
"So what changed now?"
"Demetria's life is worth more than that," Priloe said. "I was her once and someone stuck their neck out for me. This way, at least I'll know I did what needed doing."
"I think your friend is looking for you," Pete said pointing out of the cockpit. Sure enough, Demetria was staring through the glass of the airlock in their direction.
"Can I go by myself?"
"Go ahead," Pete agreed. "For the record, what you're doing here? It's the right thing. A real man takes responsibility for his actions, no matter the cost."
Priloe exited the craft and bounded across the asteroid, a great weight lifting from his shoulders.
Epilogue
"How much trouble are you guys in?" Priloe asked in the virtual channel he shared with the Licht boys.
Ulran's avatar made a face. "Dad liked Pete's idea of making us clean the septic. Do you have any idea how much of that junk a family makes? He's also making us scrub the atmo filters and every other icky job he can come up with."
"Do you hate me?" Priloe asked. "I'm sorry. I tried to take the blame, but they weren't buying it after Pete tracked all the sled's movements."
"Are you kidding?" Ulran asked. "It was coming one way or another and you might not have noticed..." He chuckled and swatted at his brother, "but we're in trouble all the time as it is. How's Demetria doing?"
"Ask her yourself," Priloe answered. "Part of my punishment is that me, Mouse and Demi are sharing the bunkroom. Mind if I join her in?"
"Sure," Merley said.
"Demetria Borisova has joined the channel," the AI announced.
"You really letting him call you Demi?" Ulran asked. "I didn't think you liked that."
"It is acceptable," Demetria replied, her speech patterns more formal than they were used to. "No one has ever stood up for me before. Priloe may call me what he wishes."
"What are Silver and Pete going to do with you, Demi?" Merley asked.
"That is Demetria to you, unless you would like me to call you Merl," she said. "And, Silver has given me a choice. I may live here and work the claim or she will take me back to Lèger Nuage on their next trip."
"We'd sure like you to stay out here," Ulran said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, we need four people to play pod-ball. That is, if Dad ever lets us come over there again," Ulran said, taking a swipe at his brother.
"We better get to sleep," Priloe said. "Big Pete's got me loaded up with work tomorrow. I'm cleaning out ore containers and fixing welds. Whatever that means."
"Oh, geez," Merley said. "He's still pissed then?"
"I'm not sure," Priloe said. "It doesn't matter, though. He's not making me go back to Lèger."
"That's good to hear," Ulran answered. "I'd hate to have to play one-on-one my whole life. Anyway, talk to you guys tomorrow."
"What's wrong with Lèger?" Demetria asked after the comm with the Licht boys closed.
"Nothing," Priloe answered. "It's a beautiful city. It's just that I want to learn how to do something with my life."
"You think that's mining?"
"Uh huh," Priloe said. "Pete said he thought he had a line on some precious on one of Liam's asteroids. He said we might check it out later this week."
"Sounds fun," Demetria said.
Priloe reached over and turned out the light in the bunk room. Somewhere along the line, Milenette had fallen asleep in the bunk directly beneath him, her light snoring a comforting sound.
"'Night, Demi," Priloe said.
He lay in the darkness, waiting for her to respond. It took a few minutes, but finally she asked, "Do you think I could come along with you and Big Pete?"
"You should ask him," Priloe said.
"I will."
But of course, that's another story entirely.
Acknowledgments
To Diane Greenwood Muir for excellence in editing and fine word-smithery. My wife, Janet, for carefully and kindly pointing out my poor grammatical habits. I cannot imagine working through these projects without you both. And to Roberto Gabriel Garcia, cover artist of extraordinary talent.
About the Author
Jamie McFarlane is happily married, the father of three and lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. He spends his days engaged in a hi-tech career and his nights and weekends writing works of fiction.
He’s also the author of:
Witchy World Series
1. Wizard in a Witchy World
2. Wicked Folk
Privateer Tales Series
1. Rookie Privateer
2. Fool Me Once
3. Parley
4. Big Pete
5. Smuggler's Dilemma
6. Cutpurse
7. Out of the Tank
8. Buccaneers
9. A Matter of Honor
10. Give No Quarter
11. Blockade Runner (avail December, 2016)
Young Adult Fantasy
1. Lesser Prince
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Life of a Miner (Privateer Tales Shorts Book 1) Page 5