by Layla Nash
She forgot every bit of it as soon as they stepped inside and into an enormous hangar filled with machines and weapons and guidance systems and a veritable playground of doodads. Rowan nearly ran off to check all of it out. Mrax gave her a look that made clear he knew what she wanted to do and wouldn’t tolerate it for a second, so she hung back and craned her neck to see the fueling and survivability pods.
The Dablonian continued his sales pitch to Mrax about this weapon and that weapon, no doubt upping the price with every semi-interested noise the Xaravian made. Rowan couldn’t take it and wandered off the moment Mrax was truly distracted, peering at the different chassis and means of securing the weapons to the ships, though one of the security guys kept an eye on her.
Something rattled in the back of the hangar and she meandered closer. She figured the security guys would stop her eventually, so Rowan kept walking until they did.
She surprised a couple of Dablonians who argued over an engine in a test-stand. They adjusted components on it and fired it, then argued some more and repeated the cycle. Rowan stood back to watch for a while, mesmerized by what must have been a twentieth-generation engine that would have launched her surface runner into the fastest tier of Fleet fighters without any other modifications. It took her breath away.
And they would burn the whole thing out with just a few internal components out of whack. She couldn’t tell if it was a design flaw or something particular to that test engine.
Rowan muttered under her breath and strode forward, scaring the hell out of the Dablonian engineers. She peered into the engine and pulled out a wrench. “Let’s figure this out.”
An hour later, she and the Dablonian engineers were practically best friends, even if they didn’t share a common language. She’d rolled her sleeves up and used most of her tools, sketched a few repairs, and otherwise made herself at home. She didn’t even notice that Mrax and the salesman approached until the engineers bowed low and retreated. Rowan kept tinkering with the engine, since she was reasonably sure she could adjust the coolant system to lower the firing temperature another fifty or so degrees, which meant they could get—
“Rowan,” Mrax said.
She waved at him absently and checked a coolant receptacle to make sure she wouldn’t burn through it too fast, and dragged a ladder over so she could make another adjustment. “Just a sec.”
“Rowan, we’ve got what we came for. We should get going.”
Rowan frowned as she looked up at him, balanced on the ladder with one foot braced against the massive engine. “I want to get this, too.”
“You want to get this, too?” Mrax repeated, his voice going a little high with incredulity. “We don’t need an engine.”
“Oh yes, we do.” Rowan hopped down, checked the fuel pump, then grinned at him and slapped the ignition sequence to fire it up. “We need this engine.”
The thing roared and blasted, blowing her hair back just from proximity, and Mrax cursed as he jumped back. The Dablonian salesman didn’t blink, although the engineers cheered. Rowan wiped her hands on her pants and gathered up some of her tools before she forgot them completely. “How much for this engine? The whole system?”
The salesman’s eyebrows rose in polite surprise. “I am not certain—”
“I fixed it for you,” Rowan said. She powered down the engine and peered at a unique setup they used with the quantum bridges. She hadn’t ever considered the way they’d joined everything, but she could see the benefit of it. It was just a matter of maintaining a heat shield and sufficient cooling. “Surely I can get a prototype?”
“We have not yet placed these into production,” the salesman said.
His eyes glinted as he studied her, and a creeping sense of danger percolated in the back of her mind. Rowan survived in the Fleet by being unremarkable and avoiding all attention. That she’d risen on the Dablonian’s radar felt too much like a threat. She shook off the concern and instead focused on the engine. If she put that into the surface runner, no one would be able to catch it. She could take it across the galaxy and the Galaxos wouldn’t stand a chance of catching up. None of the rebellion’s craft could touch it. She’d just have to rig up the propulsion system and cobble together some heat shields... She grinned and looked over at Mrax, hoping he didn’t freak out about the possible price, and found him gazing at her with an odd expression.
Rowan blinked in the silence and patted the engine in appreciation despite the heat it radiated. “You should put these into production. If we can come to terms on my compensation, of course.” And she smiled widely at the Dablonian, since she’d heard from Jess that they appreciated a good negotiation.
The salesman’s answering smile mostly chilled her blood and turned Mrax a shade of dark red. The Dablonian inclined his head and torso into a half-bow. “I will need to speak with some of our senior officers, but perhaps there is something we can agree to.”
“Just this engine,” Rowan said. The possibility of walking away with the engine and putting it in the surface runner practically had her bouncing on her toes. “I won’t require anything else.”
The Dablonian bowed from his waist once more and retreated into the hall. The moment he disappeared, the Dablonian engineers returned to gabble and pore over the engine, and Mrax caught her shoulders in a tight grip. “What are you doing?”
“Getting us a kickass engine,” she said. Rowan couldn’t interpret his expression, though. She tried and finally gave up, instead lowering her voice. “What?”
“We have what we came for,” he said. “We don’t need an engine. We should get out of here with what we paid for.”
“But this is so much better than what we’ve got,” Rowan whispered. She didn’t know how to convince him. She could show him, sure, if they could get the engine in the surface runner or something else in the boneyard. “Can’t you…can’t you trust me on this?”
He hesitated, still looking at her with that unreadable expression, and not even his scales changed to help her understand. Mrax took a deep breath and looked like he was about to tell her he didn’t trust her... but the Dablonian returned with another of his kinsman and sent the engineers scrambling away once more.
Rowan put Mrax’s hesitation out of her thoughts as she faced the aliens, and tried to think of how Jess would have handled the situation. She wouldn’t give an inch and she’d never let the Dablonians—or Mrax, for that matter—think they’d gotten under her skin. “Do we have a deal? I can go ahead and undo how I fixed it. I’m not sure your engineers could recreate these modifications.”
The new Dablonian smiled and showed off pointy teeth. “Irik informs me you have broken through the challenges with our new propulsion apparatus. Well done, and many thanks.”
“The only thanks I require is a version of this engine right here,” Rowan said. She smiled just as broadly as the Dablonians, and wondered what they were all so happy about. Since when had smiling become such an effective threat? “I’m sure we can come to an amicable solution.”
The new guy nodded slowly and eyed her from head to toe like the lamb he intended to truss up and slaughter for Sunday dinner. “We are willing to provide you one of the prototypes if you would be willing to provide your expertise to another engineering problem we are having.”
Rowan’s heart leapt. Stars dotted her vision from excitement. She could make an amazing fighter craft that was all her own design. Entirely hers, from the frame all the way to the weapons.
But from the way the Dablonians watched her without blinking, she wasn’t entirely certain it was a good idea. Still though, the thought of a sleek, powerful fighter... All hers. All hers.
Her good sense fled.
Before Mrax could speak, Rowan nodded. “I cannot guarantee I can figure it out, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Excellent,” the Dablonian said. The smile grew impossibly wide. “We will prepare a lab and the prototype. You can return tomorrow to evaluate the problem?”
“Sure,” she said. And she shook the creep’s slightly damp hand. “Let’s load it up.”
Chapter 28
Rowan
Mrax didn’t speak to her as the Dablonians helped load the weapons as well as an unmodified prototype of the engine. Rowan knew exactly how to prepare it for installation, though they kept it in the hold until she could fix it the same way she’d fixed the one in the lab. Rowan hopped into the pilot’s seat before Mrax could, and fired up the old engine to get the surface runner out of there. She still couldn’t believe they’d gotten what they wanted, even if Mrax’s bag of currency ended up empty.
Rowan bounced in her seat as she cranked the runner’s propulsion to the max, wanting to get back to the cabin so she could get to work, and hardly noticed that Mrax seemed grim in the seat behind her. Jess would be so pleased that Rowan got more than just the weapons the rebels needed. If Rowan could figure out how to manufacture the engines... the entire rebel fleet would be transformed. They could defeat the Alliance with those engines and weapons.
She’d just saved the universe from tyranny and exploitation.
Rowan landed the surface runner and could hardly get her harness off fast enough to bolt out of the ship to greet Jess and Trazzak. “We got it. We got it!”
Jess’s eyebrows arched and she started to laugh at Rowan’s enthusiasm. “That’s great news. But... hon? Why does Mrax look like he swallowed haugmawt piss?”
Rowan glanced back and some of her excitement waned. Jess was right—Mrax’s sour expression and dull scales told a story she hadn’t noticed until the other Earther pointed it out. Rowan tried not to deflate completely; what had she done wrong? “But…we got something else. I fixed one of their engines and then got one for us.”
“An engine?” Trazzak looked at his fellow warrior, though his attention strayed to the slowly-opening cargo bay of the surface runner. “What do we need with an engine?”
“Uh, because it’s an amazing engine,” Rowan blurted out. “It’ll match and exceed the speed of any Alliance ship, even the Hawking-class fighters. This engine will transform the rebellion. And we got it. We got it.”
Jess caught her shoulders, still smiling. “That’s great news, Rowan. I can’t wait to see what—”
“Don’t celebrate yet,” Mrax growled. He paced like a caged animal behind her, between her and the ship. “Tell them the price of that engine, Rowan.”
The way he said her name... Rowan deflated the rest of the way. Jess’s expression grew wary and Rowan felt like she’d missed something important yet again. She’d done something huge to help the rebellion—using the best skill she had—and they all acted like she’d done something wrong. Rowan looked between Jess and Trazzak. “They asked me to come back to look at another engineering problem they have. That was the only way they’d give me the engine. And since we already got the weapons... what could it hurt?”
“Well, shit,” Jess said. She took a deep breath and massaged her temples. “Babe...”
“What?” Rowan demanded. “What did I do? I just…I fixed something and then I got something amazing for us and you’re looking at me like I’m some kind of traitor or, or... I don’t know. But don’t look at me like that.”
Jess’s expression cleared and she gestured at the surface runner. “I’m sorry, Rowan. You took me by surprise, is all. Show me this engine. Did you modify this one, too?”
Rowan eyed her, suspicion replacing some of her confusion. Mrax still growled and grumbled near the surface runner and the open bay, though Trazzak eased closer to talk to him in Xarav.
Inside the surface runner, Rowan didn’t bother showing Jess the specifications of the new engine or even the crates full of the weapons they’d purchased. She sat on one of the jump seats and waited for the lecture from Jess. Of course Rowan was in the wrong; she was almost used to that. She always took the blame, even when she couldn’t decipher why things were her fault.
Jess didn’t ask about the engine, although she messed with the panel in the hold until the doors creaked halfway closed and there was no way the Xaravians would overhear their conversation.
Rowan sighed. “Just get it over with and tell me how I fucked up. I just want to work on this and then I’ll go sit in the corner until we leave.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I did something wrong,” Rowan said. Her hands lifted in a shrug as the disappointment stole away her enthusiasm. “Again. So just tell me what I did and I’ll never do it again and I can get back to work.”
“It’s not that you did something wrong.” Jess sat down next to her and sighed. “It’s that the price might be too high.”
Rowan frowned. “What are you talking about? All I have to do is go back and fix more of their stuff. They might even give me a prototype, if I ask. What’s the problem?”
Jess folded her arms over her chest as she leaned back. “Well, what if they keep asking for more? How long would you stay here and fix all their problems? What if you’re fixing things that will go to the Alliance?”
“It’s just one more machine,” Rowan said. Except Jess’s words surfaced a tiny little seed of doubt. “That’s it. And if it’s something that will definitely help the Alliance and we can’t also get it for the rebellion, then maybe I can sabotage it instead of fixing it. Did you guys think about that?”
“Sabotaging something would endanger you too much,” Jess said. “Which is what I think Mrax is worried about—that these Dablonians won’t let you go or they’ll exploit your engineering skills or any number scenarios that endanger your safety.”
Rowan pushed down irritation. “I’ll be fine. You can go with me, or Mrax can go with me or whatever. It’s just part of one day, and I can spend today and most of the night getting the rest of the fleet ready here. You’ll see. It’ll all work out.”
“Let’s sleep on it,” Jess said. “Okay? We can talk through it and come up with all the scenarios we can think of. It’ll be a good game on our girl’s night.”
Rowan frowned and hit the release to open the cargo bay once more. She didn’t have time to argue with Jess, and she sure as hell didn’t have time to coddle Mrax’s ego over him not figuring out how to get the engine himself. She gritted her teeth and picked up her tools. She’d take her time in the boneyard and work alone so she could get her thoughts sorted out. She didn’t need Jess to run through scenarios. Rowan was perfectly capable of anticipating catastrophe.
Chapter 29
Mrax
Mrax nearly lost control when Rowan shook that bastard Dablonian’s hand. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and drag her to safety, and maybe kill the Dablonians on the way out of the building. He didn’t trust himself not to yell as Rowan piloted them back to the boneyard with no concern for her own safety or awareness of the Dablonian double-cross. He gripped the armrests of his seat so he wouldn’t grab and kiss her to make sure she knew he would protect her.
And when she beamed and went up on her toes as she told Trazzak and Jess about the engine... He loved her excitement and loathed the thought of her walking back into the creepy, windowless building alone to face the Dablonians again.
When Jess took Rowan back to the surface runner, after Mrax had crushed all the enthusiasm out of the engineer, Trazzak started scowling. “Don’t you dare piss off my mate. You hear me? I don’t care what else is going on; Jess is protective of her Earthers and she won’t tolerate you being a dick. Keep it together.”
“She’s going back to that damn building to fix something for them,” Mrax said through clenched teeth. “They will hurt her. They’ll trap her with something or distract her with something shiny, and we’ll never get her out of there. I’m not going to risk her safety just for some stupid piece of equipment. It’s not worth it.”
“If she’s right about what that engine can do for the rebellion...” Trazzak’s gaze drifted to the surface runner and the half-open bay where Rowan’s distress echoed. “It might be worth it.”
&n
bsp; Mrax snarled and punched him right in the face. Trazzak took a step back, then dropped into a fighting crouch and bared his teeth. “You get one free shot, warrior. Get control of yourself. You’re not going to endanger my mate.”
“Then stop trying to get my mate killed,” Mrax snapped.
And then froze when he realized what he’d said.
Trazzak eyed him warily as Mrax took a step back. He couldn’t believe what came out of his mouth. Rowan couldn’t be... Mrax didn’t want... He stared off at the boneyard but didn’t see anything. He hardly noticed when Jess and Rowan reappeared from the surface runner; Jess joined him and Trazzak, but Rowan fled into the jungle of ships.
As Mrax remained stunned and silent, Jess spoke enough for all of him. Her face went cold and distant once more. “You watch your tone when you speak to her. She’s hurt and thinks she was doing the right thing. We can talk her out of it, but not if you’re a dick.”
“She’s his mate,” Trazzak said. “And he didn’t realize it until now. I can’t say there’s anything in the entire universe that would convince me to let you walk into the Dablonians’ clutches.”
“Let me?” Jess’s eyes narrowed. “I beg your pardon? You won’t let me do anything. I make my own damn decisions. Got it?”
Trazzak matched her posture and folded arms. “I’ve got that I won’t stand by while you make stupid, reckless decisions. Remember what happened the last time you started coming up with your own plans and running around alone?”
The information officer’s whole face reddened and she puffed up with rage like a juvenile haugmawt taking on a nest of sandsnakes. “Now look, you—”
Mrax retreated before the argument got any more ridiculous, and stormed into the cabin to regain his composure. He had to talk to Rowan. He could explain. Once she understood how dangerous it was, she’d avoid the Dablonians. They could figure out a way to pay for the engine without Rowan going back there. She’d agree with him. Any sensible person would.