Rogue Sign

by Elin Wyn

  “I would have beat the bitch,” Aryn said matter-of-factly.

  I smiled and nodded. “I wouldn’t doubt it. So, I, not exactly wanting to give up everything, transferred most of my money into an account my family couldn’t touch. Then I formally broke the engagement and went and bought a ship. Hired a small crew, went traveling and looking for work. Eventually, I met up with Dejar and Aavat, competed against them a bit, then finally joined forces with them.”

  I sat down on the bench next to her, drained. “Her name was Sertya.”

  Silently, Aryn put her hand over mine. I wrapped my hand around her tiny fingers, grateful for her presence.

  “I’m much happier now. One day, I’ll have atoned for my past. One day I’ll have lived among the stars and be ready to settle down. And I’ll bring the lessons I’ve learned from a group of amazing people with me.”

  She squeezed my fingers but said nothing.

  I cleared my throat and looked at her. “Well, that’s my story. What’s yours?”

  She winked at me. “I lied. I just wanted to know what made you tick.”

  I couldn’t help but join in with her laughter. “Yeah, I should have known.”

  Aryn

  When we got back to the compound, it was late and all was quiet. We crashed, Kovor lying down on the floor between me and the doorway without a word.

  As I drifted off to sleep, my mind spun in circles, despite my tired body.

  I thought I was impossible to surprise. Just over three decades of life and I thought I’d seen it all.

  Yet, Kovor managed it.

  It was partially my fault for making assumptions about him.

  Even if I’d been generous in my speculations about his life, his story still would’ve caught me off guard.

  I shouldn’t have judged him the way I did. It wasn’t fair. I’d had to make my own way in the world since I was little. I didn’t think I deserved any praise for that. It was about survival. There weren’t other alternatives.

  Kovor, on the other hand, chose independence when he didn’t have to. A small part of me thought that was a stupid decision on his part. I’d put up with all kinds of bullshit if it meant I had a full belly and a roof over my head.

  Then again, even though my life had been far from easy, I enjoyed my freedom. I wasn’t sure if I could give it up. Kovor obviously couldn’t. He’d rather struggle and be his own person than live in the confines of a life planned out for him long before he was born.

  I could respect him for that.

  At first, I’d hated the idea of him being my partner in all this. Now, I knew I couldn’t do it without him. I might be the face of our operation, but I’d come to value his counsel.

  In the morning, Kovor left the room, giving me a chance to touch up my skin dye and false tattoos in private.

  The bottle I’d brought from the Rogue Star was emptying faster than I’d expected, so I smeared a thin layer over my arms, and hoped today wouldn’t have another round of cleaning.

  When I left the room, Kovor waited on the other side of the door for me.

  “You didn’t have to stand guard,” I told him, but honestly, it was kind of nice. He quite literally had my back. I smiled, just enough so he knew I wasn’t annoyed. Most people assumed I was annoyed by default.

  “I didn’t want to take any chances,” he replied with a smile of his own.

  “Did anyone say anything to you?” I asked.

  “Nope. That bit about me being your guard animal apparently has gotten around.”

  “To be fair, you’re rather menacing to look at.”

  From where I stood, I had to crane my neck up to look into his eyes.

  He shook his head. “Menacing? Don’t try to flatter me,” he said dismissively.

  “Your teeth are starting to get...pointed. That’s pretty menacing, honestly.” I cocked my head, trying to remember the other crew members’ teeth. Somehow, it’d never come up. “Is that normal?”

  He clamped his lips together tightly, covered his mouth with a hand to answer. “I’ve been filing my teeth down since I was a child. It’s considered incredibly rude to have sharp teeth in civilized company,” he explained, eyes wide with embarrassment. “It must be all the chaos in the last few weeks that made it slip my mind.”

  “Even though you’re all born with them?”

  “Even then,” he confirmed.

  I tugged his hand away, laughing. “That’s stupid.”

  “Incredibly,” Kovor agreed. “But we all do it.”

  “What about females?” I asked.

  “Female Shein do not have pointed teeth,” he informed me. “Only males. A holdover from our primitive days.” He waggled his eyebrows obnoxiously. Or adorably. “Women have more precise weapons.”

  That was actually sweet, in an odd, odd way.

  “Just so you know, I like your teeth just fine.”

  “Was that a compliment?” Kovor made a show of being surprised.

  “It was. I only give out one a year.”

  At that moment, one of Skud’s lackeys came around the corner. Our smiles faded, our backs went straight. Kovor fixed him with a glower that would’ve made even me uneasy.

  “Easy,” the lackey grumbled to Kovor. “Skud wants to see the both of you.”

  “What for?” I asked.

  “Didn’t tell me. Just go.” He grabbed my shirt and tried to yank me forward. Kovor reached out and gripped the man’s arm hard enough to make him wince.

  “I advise against touching her.” Kovor’s voice was soft, but his tone left no room for argument. The idiot released my shirt, and I stepped away from him.

  Kovor shoved the lackey away and joined me, staying close to my side.

  “Wonder what this is about.” I tried to hide the fact that I was rattled.

  None of the Enclave members had ever tried to touch me before. I hoped it wasn’t becoming a trend. And there’d been a glimpse of something on his arm. I cursed myself. I should have been paying closer attention, not getting comfortable with Kovor. Instead, I’d been taken unaware, missed a possible clue.

  I strode into Skud’s office in a temper, with an entirely unfeigned scowl.

  “What’s so important that your man felt the need to attempt to drag me here?” I demanded.

  Skud looked me over with glazed eyes, wholly uninterested in the words coming out of my mouth.

  “Enclave members aren’t known for their manners,” he sneered. “Stop whining. I’ve got a job for you.”

  “Oh?”

  “Our merchandise needs to be transported to its final destination.”

  The Mermian women we’d brought back the day before. I wasn’t sure what he meant by final destination, but it couldn’t be good.

  My chest grew tight, but I fought to keep my expression neutral.

  “You want us to deliver them?” I asked.

  “I don’t know what you did, but I’ve never had such well-behaved merchandise before. Maybe it’s a female thing.” His eyes lingered on my body a little too long. I felt Kovor tense beside me and touched his arm so he’d relax.

  “Do you want us to go now?” I asked.

  Skud nodded and passed me a sheet folded in half. Knowing I couldn’t read its contents, I passed it to Kovor.

  “That’s the drop-off point. Hark will go with you, just to make sure there’s no funny business.” Skud narrowed his eyes.

  “Still don’t trust me?” I batted my eyelashes.

  “I don’t trust anyone. Don’t take it personally, sunshine.” Skud winked.

  I resisted the urge to gag.

  “We’ll head out then.” I walked out of the office before Skud dismissed us. It was important that he knew Kovor and I had some bite to us. Bite was useful. Submission was not.

  I assumed the hulking alien near the entryway was Hark. Kovor and I approached.

  “I’ll get the merchandise. You wait here,” Hark instructed. I nodded. It bothered me that Kovor and I weren’t allowed
to know where the merchandise was being kept, but there was nothing we could do but wait.

  Hark returned within minutes, holding a chain that linked all three Mermians together in a line. They looked miserable, terrified, and full of hatred. I wanted to reassure them but I couldn’t do that with so many eyes on me. Other Enclave members leered at them as they moved by. A few reached out to touch them. I wanted to break their hands.

  I felt Kovor’s hand on my back, willing me to be calm. I took a deep breath.

  If we were going to help them, we’d have to be smart. Starting a ruckus in the midst of the compound?

  Not smart.

  “Let’s go,” Hark said gruffly.

  Hark led us to a back area of the headquarters, to a hidden door I hadn’t noticed before. He shielded the keypad as he punched in the code. The door slid open to a hallway lined with exposed pipe, definitely beneath the main floor of the station.

  Hark walked forward, dragging the chain behind him. The Mermian women, keyed up by the leers and catcalls of the other men, resisted, thrashing and shrieking.

  “It’s all right,” I whispered to one of them, trying to coax them forward. They looked at me warily but eventually stopped fighting as hard.

  Hark led us through a maze. There were no distinguishing marks to reference our position. We walked for about fifteen minutes before we came to a small set of stairs with a door at the top.

  Hark opened it and lead us all through. We were behind a building in a rough-looking part of town. Past the ramshackle buildings, I saw several expensive air cars docked on the street.

  No question.

  There were people with money.

  And they were here to buy these women.

  Hark dragged the women toward a side door carved into the building. They resisted once more.

  I could hear the faint sound of music and voices wafting through the air. This seemed like the type of atmosphere that Aavat had described entering prior to the auction he had witnessed.

  Men’s voices called out, loud and crude.

  Impatient.

  A sick feeling coated my insides.

  I knew in my bones that if those women went through that door, I’d never be able to help them. They looked at me, their huge eyes shining with terror.

  I looked around, desperate for a way to help them, their fear inflaming my own into panic.

  “Come on, you bitches,” Hark snapped, jerking the chain again. And I saw it, clearly branded into his wrist.

  The same mark that had been on the bounty hunter who had invaded the Rogue Star. The bastard who had nearly killed us all.

  My gaze settled on a big chunk of discarded metal. Before I could think twice, I grabbed it and flung it as hard as I could at the back of Hark’s head. I hit my target with a sickening crunch. As he crumpled to the ground, blood leaked from a fresh gash in the nape of his neck.

  “Scro, Aryn!” Kovor hissed. He crouched over the limp body.

  He said more than that, but I’d stopped listening. I picked up the hunk of metal, now stained with blood, and motioned to the Mermians. One by one, I struck their cuffs until they cracked.

  “Run!” I shoved what credits I had on me into the closest one’s hands. I didn’t need to tell them twice. They bolted. Only one looked back, a quick nod between us before she fled. Unexpected tears welled in my eyes. “You could’ve given me a heads up!” Kovor exclaimed as he rolled Hark to the side.

  “I didn’t know I was going to do it until that moment,” I said by way of apology.

  “You should’ve stopped to think about it!” Kovor snapped. “We could’ve taken them to the Rogue Star and pressed them for information.”

  “Right, because that worked out so great last time,” I shot back, beginning to shake.

  “You can’t be so reckless!” Kovor roughly grabbed my shoulders. “You might’ve ruined everything we’ve built with Enclave. Skud will kill you if he finds out.”

  “We’ll make something up,” I mumbled.

  “I don’t understand-”

  I cut him off before he could finish.

  “I couldn’t let them go into that building!” My voice felt raw. Tears blurred my vision. “I can’t be responsible for leading those women to auction.”

  Kovor relaxed his grip on my shoulders, then folded me into his chest, his strong arms wrapping around me, blocking out everything that was wrong with the whole damn world.

  “Okay,” he said softly. “It’s okay. You did the right thing.”

  I only nodded, too rattled to say anything.

  Kovor looked at Hark and sighed.

  “But we’re going to have to do something about him.”

  Kovor

  Well, kout.

  I had never anticipated precise Aryn, queen of hiding in the shadows, going rogue and nearly killing someone.

  Not sure where exactly we were, I wasn’t sure where we were going to be able to hide Hark’s unconscious form where he wouldn’t be found.

  Of course, there was the other issue. If he regained consciousness, freed himself, and returned, we’d be dead. “Are you sure we want to go back after this?” I asked.

  “We have to. We don’t have enough information.” Aryn was doing an admirable job of trying to keep her wits about her, but I could tell she was still a bit shocked at her own actions.

  The fact that she had hit him in the back of the head with that chunk of metal and knocked him out in one blow was impressive.

  The fact that she had acted without thinking was not.

  Something had to be done.

  “Okay. Look around for something we can tie him up with,” I said. A quick search found some discarded straps from a delivery in a trash bin a few yards away.

  I took them from Aryn, tied Hark’s limp form up as tightly as I could, then hefted him up onto my shoulder. “We need a place to hide him,” I said, grunting under his considerable size. He was bigger than me and smelled like he hadn’t bathed in weeks. “Hurry.”

  Aryn looked around, then decided on the trash bin she had found the straps in. “It’s the only place around where we won’t be walking in the open,” she argued when I arched my eyebrow at her. She had a point.

  “Fine,” I nodded. “Make sure no one is coming down the alley and I’ll dump him.” She jogged to the end of the alley as I walked over to the trash bin. It was big enough to hold him, and since it was situated under a trash chute coming down from the top of the building, he’d be covered fairly quickly.

  As Aryn looked away to check the street, I quickly dumped Hark into the bin, carefully aiming him head first. There was a sickening crunch as his head moved farther to the side than normal, but it shifted back into place as the rest of his body settled in. I dumped some extra trash on top of him and quickly made my way towards Aryn.

  “He’s taken care of?” she asked.

  “Dumped in the bin and covered,” I said. “He won’t be going anywhere for a while.” Or ever. “We need something to tell Skud.”

  “We can say that Hark ordered us to the ends of the alley so he could have his way with the women, then they attacked him and ran,” she suggested.

  “Then how did they get away if we were each at the ends of the alleyway?”

  “Um,” she thought for a moment, tapping her foot. “Oh, well, since there were three of them, they ran towards me and I wasn’t able to stop them.”

  I didn’t have a better idea at the moment, so we decided to run with that. Luckily, Aryn had been paying attention to the route through the maze. We managed to find our way back to the building and knocked on the door. We were ushered in and taken to Skud’s office.

  “Where’s Hark?”

  “Well, about that,” Aryn started. “He…”

  “It’s my fault,” I cut in before she could continue. Everyone looked at me, Skud and Laz in curiosity, Aryn in shock.

  “Hark had ordered each of us to go to the ends of the alleyway to make sure no officials were in the area.
Since he outranks us, we followed orders. I wasn’t paying attention, so I was already at the end of the alleyway when the girls knocked me down. They took off before I could see where they went.”

  Skud growled as he stood up slowly from his desk. “You let them escape?”

  “To be fair,” Aryn cut in. “It was Hark that screwed up the delivery, not us.”

  “SHUT UP!” he yelled. My ears hurt, and I couldn’t help but squint in pain as he did. He pointed at Aryn as he spoke, spittle flying from his lips as he did so. “You, I’ll deal with later. You’re just a female, you couldn’t do anything. But you,” he snarled as he turned his attention towards me. “You’re supposed to be a fierce Shein male, and you let three women knock you down? Why didn’t you stop them?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t hit women. It’s sort of against my code.” I held my position and didn’t flinch when he grabbed something from his desk and threw it past my head. Whatever it was shattered on the wall behind me, but I stayed still.

  Angry at me meant he was less likely to look at Aryn.

  “You don’t hit women.” He said it as statement, not a question. “While that’s normally something I might admire, this time you should have done something. Where’s Hark?”

  “I don’t know,” I continued lying, pleased that, for once a lifetime, acting unconcerned about anything and everything had at least provided for a comfortable, useful habit to fall back into now. “He was bleeding from the back of head when I went to check on him, but he pushed me away and took off after them. He yelled something about us coming here to tell you.”

  Skud was breathing hard, trying to keep his temper in check. “So, he’s out there trying to find them?”

  I shrugged. “I’d assume so.”

  He looked between the two of us. I hoped that Aryn had fully recovered her game face. If she flinched in any way, we were in trouble. “Something tells me you two are lying,” he said.