She could see him whenever she wanted by going down to the passenger deck, but she hadn’t done that last. Adrian didn’t deserve to have his privacy invaded.
“Perhaps you might spend the night down here, too. I would introduce you to a friend of mine, Tra Brenna. She recently moved to Grensel from the country.”
“I’m quite okay,” she told him.
“She would enjoy meeting someone from off-planet.”
“I said, I’m okay.”
Tro Vremen backed off. “Of course.”
* * *
Blue Powder
Haida Gwaii grew in the front screen as Blue Powder drew in to New Brittain. Telford suspected that it remained there to help Castle Lines adjust to its new status. The passengers bound for New Brittain, whom they had picked up at Rossiya and Pelgraff, had filed out of the acceleration lounge, leaving only the two of them behind.
“Well, Mary, it seems your vacation and mine end at the same time,” Telford said.
She touched his face. “I had a wonderful time, Adrian.” She wrinkled her nose. “And we both know that that’s all, don’t we? I hope you had a good time, too.”
So, he hadn’t fooled her in the least. But she kept up pretences well.
“We do. And yes.”
“Thank you.” She suddenly laughed, and he raised his eyebrows. “I would have preferred to not get shot,” she said, “but, all in all, it was worth it. And you can tell your employer that Pendleton Industries will use Yrden Lines from now on.”
She looked out through the lounge window to the planet below, and sighed. “I think I have put Raymond to rest. We do such foolish things when we are young. I thought the money and prestige worth the price of my youth.”
He squeezed her hand. “Youth doesn’t disappear at fifty, Mary.”
“No, I suppose not.” She shook her head. “No, definitely not. You taught me that. And this ship taught me something else.”
“What’s that?” Soon the InShip Broadcast would call her to her shuttle.
“An efficient ship can also be a happy ship. I don’t think Pendleton Industries employees will recognize their boss when I get back – and that’s a good thing.”
A happy ship? Perhaps once. But Blue Powder no longer fit that category. It still mourned the loss of captain and friends. The wound hadn’t healed.
The InShip Broadcast called passengers to the shuttle.
“I’ll see you off,” Telford said.
“Not necessary.”
“I want to.”
She touched his face again. “In that case, I welcome your company.”
He gave her a last kiss just before she entered the shuttle. “Take care of yourself, Adrian,” she whispered in his ear as she hugged him.
Yes, I should take care of myself. But someone else needed him, and as soon as the hatch to the shuttle closed, he turned to seek out that someone.
“We paid our debt,” he said, after she welcomed him into the Captain’s Day Cabin. “She’s going down to the planet, happy.”
Her eyes, when she looked up at him had his guts twisting. He should have seen this coming, shouldn’t have left her alone up here. She had needed him, and he had let her down.
“I can’t do this any more, Adrian.”
CHAPTER 32
New Brittain
Colleen looked up at the stars from the enclosed yard of Frank Yrden’s house on New Brittain.
“How long will we stay with Uncle Frank,” Brian asked her. David had already gone to bed.
“I don’t know.”
“We can’t kill Korsh if we stay here.”
She hated that he talked of killing. But he had heard his father’s final words before Korsh had shot him, and believed him dead. She remembered her own vow of vengeance so many years ago, and prayed that they would find Clay before that lust to kill became a part of her son.
“Time for bed, Brian.”
“You can’t keep me down here forever,” her son said. “I’m going back to space. I’ll find Korsh and kill him.”
“Not if I find him first.”
Brian sneered. “You’re not even looking.”
“You heard your mother, Brian. Time for bed. We’ll find your father; make no mistake about that. And we’ll find and deal with Korsh. Now, in you go.”
She hadn’t heard Adrian Telford approach, and that said something else. She had lost her edge along with her hope.
Thankfully, Brian obeyed the command. She just had nothing left within to argue with. She couldn’t even give a mother’s order to her son.
“Will we, Adrian? Will we?”
Her bodyguard walked over to her, and followed her gaze up to the stars. She heard him breathing, wished for him to say something, anything.
“Yes, Ms Yrden, we will.”
Tall, solid. Adrian Telford stood like a wall between her and everything bad that the universe had to throw at her. And, like a little girl, she hid behind him.
“Everything in life is a trade, Adrian.” Light streaked across the night sky. Meteor? Shuttle? “On Erin, I traded my innocence for vengeance, and three men died because of me.”
“They deserved to die.”
She smiled wanly. “But it cost me. Oh, how it cost me.”
Night insects began to buzz.
“And then I traded my planetary existence for one in space, my newfound freedom for marriage to Clay. And what did that get me?”
“It got you a husband who loves you.”
His words sent a warmth through her. Bless him for using the present tense and not the past.
“It got you two wonderful children, a name that others reckon with. It got you a family, friends, people who would give their lives for you, knowing that you would do the same for them. It got you family.”
“How did Jenna take it?”
Adrian moved his hands in a gesture she couldn’t follow. Colleen wondered at her cowardice: sending Adrian to Jenna and Tamm to explain how she, Colleen, had lost them their son.
“Your mother-in-law wants you to take the time you need. She understands your pain, your need to heal.”
A sob caught in her throat, and horrified her. How had she come to this? “I’m running away, Adrian. Running away.”
“Taking time to heal.”
“How can I heal? I’m trading Family and friends and a life I used to love for exile. What must they think of me?” Tears started to form in her eyes. “They must feel disappointment. I’ve let them all down.”
She turned to him, and almost fell into his arms. He held her close as the tears started to flow.
“I let Korsh onto Blue Powder. I suggested it.”
Adrian didn’t say anything, just held her close. The sobs started to wrack her body. Space: it had cost her everything. If she went once more, she would sacrifice the safety of her children, set Brian on a course that could only corrupt him. She couldn’t bear the thought. No, never again would she go into space.
“We thought we were so smart. A new route; trade with a new species. We traded safety for danger, and that danger took my Clay. I risked everything for that one trade.”
She looked up into his expressionless face.
“The trading ends here. I made one trade too many.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review. Thank you.
I hope you enjoyed “One Trade Too Many”, Book 3 of the Yrden Chronicles. Book 4 will take us up to Pelgraff (which will become Book 5).
Other Books by D.A. Boulter
Not With A Whimper Books:
Not With A Whimper: Producers
Not With A Whimper: Destroyers
Not With A Whimper: Preservers
Not With A Whimper: Survivors
Yrden Chronicles Books:
Trading For The Stars (Book 1)
Trading For A Dream (Book 2)
Other Amazon Books by D.A. Boulter
Courtesan
Pelgraff<
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Pilton's Moon / Vengeance Is Mine
ColdSleep
The Steadfasting
Prey
Enemy of Korgan
Ghost Fleet
In The Company of Cowards
A Throne At Stake
D.A. Boulter’s blog: http://daboulter.blogspot.ca/
D.A. Boulter can be contacted at: mailto:[email protected]
One Trade Too Many Page 27