Chapter 17
"Ah, Rayden," Tiri said, smiling at me as I rolled up with our group trailing behind me.
"Well, it looks like your people have found you." I smiled, watching the couple of men that had disembarked from a rough but sturdy shuttle. I sensed no ill intention coming from them.
"You must be the captain who recovered our president." One of them stepped forward and held his hand out. "As merchants, we usually say every good has a price. However, with the loss of Tiri, I must admit I find myself realizing there are some things with value that money cannot buy."
Tiri blush-smirked, her cheeks turning rosy at the compliment, a self-satisfied smile curling at the edge of her lips.
"I'm happy to hear you are so inclined with dear Tiri here." I gazed meaningfully at the green-haired kikai. "Although she refused to join my crew, I must say we recognized her talents as well and are simply distraught that she's going to be leaving us."
That self-satisfied smirk of hers turned into something with a little more humility at my words. "Thank you, Captain," she said.
"A thank you is only necessary when I've done something for you. The reality is our ship would be far worse off without your aid.”
“As you said, I'm still happy to assist you with your books from time to time if you would like. And, of course, I'm certain that with all you'll end up doing both now and in the future, there's plenty of business that could still exist between our two parties."
"No doubt." I smiled. "Still, I do feel like it is a sort of goodbye, with you reconnecting with your mercantile company once again."
Tiri had a soft smile on her face, and Brick stepped forward. "I think what the captain means to say is you'll be missed."
"I would expect so, at least from you." She pounded a small fist on Brick's chest. The man gave me a guilty smile, and I chuckled as if I didn't already know. "You and Brick made quite the pair."
I glanced at the men in the shuttle, ready to take her away. "While you all might have known her for some time, I can't say I haven't become at least a little protective of Tiri while she's been with us." I crossed my arms and stared at them. "You'll take good care of her."
"Of course," one of them chuckled.
I saw the moment that Brick and Tiri began to step away to say a more private goodbye. Now there was—I rubbed my chin—some talk of payment for our services rendered. After all, we had saved her on multiple occasions.
"What happened to her?" one of the men who had come from the shuttle asked curiously.
"Well, when we found her, she'd been captured by pirates and stuffed away in the interior of their ship. It sounded like they were preparing to hold her for ransom."
The kikai reared back as if he'd been slapped with that particular reality. "Ridiculous," he said.
I held a hand up. "All we did was pull her out of that mess and bring her back. What you do with any of this information is entirely up to you."
The kikai frowned but seemed to understand there was no sense in arguing.
"It's fine." Another put a hand on his shoulder. "We have Tiri back, and that's what matters most."
The first nodded sharply. "I just can't help but find myself frustrated. It sounds like she's had a hard time."
"Of course she has. She was kidnapped by pirates," the other scoffed. "It's a miracle she's made it back to us." He hesitated, glancing at Tiri, who was still talking to Brick excitedly. "She does look happy with her experiences thus far."
"Captain Valcrest, was it?" he said, hesitating while addressing me.
"That would be me." I nodded.
"Thank you for keeping her safe. Things have been difficult while she's been gone, and I shudder to think what would have happened to the company if you hadn't returned her."
I wanted to remain polite and send her off without too much worry. However, words like that were the kind that might haunt me in the future if something happened to her. "She's been out of touch, I'm afraid. She might not fully understand even what that means."
The man hesitated, looking from side to side. "There's just been a heavy change of leadership." He paused, searching for the right words.
"Talking in such indirect terms isn't exactly my specialty." I frowned. "Care to be a little clearer? After all, I want the best for Tiri, too."
"Not trying to accuse anyone," he said, "but there have been some pressures on the company around the same time she disappeared. It seems some of the new council aren't entirely in love with the mercantile industries around our people."
He was still not being direct enough. "New council?" I asked.
He waved his hands. "Kikai leadership change." He waved away my concern. "The problem is that they're trying to heavily control who can and can't trade in kikai space. As you can imagine"—he gestured around vaguely—"merchants free and able to trade every which direction are hard to control."
I opened my mouth with a sudden noise of understanding. "Thus, control is applied to mercantile companies. And what might happen to those who don't welcome said control?"
The kikai smiled painfully at me. "I think we all know what happens then."
My eyes shifted over to Tiri. "Will she be okay?"
"She'll be better off than most of us. Her father's well-connected. It's unlikely she'll get more than a slap on the wrist and a large check dropped on her with a certain insistence that she accept it."
I frowned. From what little I knew of Tiri, she wouldn't much care for that attempt at control. Then again, she didn't seem to have much of an option. "Can anything be done?"
The man shook his head. "It's not a minor disagreement but a policy shift. Or at the very least, not something anyone in this conversation is going to be able to shift."
I nodded, my eyes tracking Tiri and her excitement as she spoke to what she thought were steadfast, loyal employees. I had no doubt that if there were political pressures bearing down on her, there were going to be a handful that were less than truly loyal.
"Baron Valcrest." Tiri waved her hand at me to get my attention, and I broke away from the man with a smile that she deserved.
"What is it now, Tiri?" I said, hands on my hips, feigning a sternness I didn't quite feel.
"I want to thank you and your crew for the help you've given. Please allow me to pay for some of your repairs at the shipwrights."
She looked like she was back in her element, a merchant with money to spare.
"Of course, and I believe you still owe us for your rescue and the subsequent trip here, Tiri Taptorchen," I told her.
"You're right. Especially if I'm going to keep receiving your wares, it's best that I give you a good deal from the start," she said, though I felt her words were more for her companions than for me.
"Of course," I said quickly, playing the same game. "After all, who knows what wonders we might have to sell in the future."
"And just so—" Tiri lifted her chin. "If you don't mind, however, I'll directly pay off your shipwrights' tab."
I smiled and held my hands up in the air.
"If that's your preference, so be it." I did my best to sound offended, though I was fairly certain I failed at least marginally.
After the troubles with Brick, I wasn't going to complain about a payment directly to the shipwrights.
In fact, that would be the best way to protect it, and quite candidly, it was one thing taken off our never-ending list of things to work through.
She held her hand out, and one of her associates quickly handed her a tablet.
Tiri didn't hold back, sweeping it out of their hands and tapping away.
At least we were going to get some solid deals out of everything that had happened.
While I might not trust most merchants, Tiri owed us enough that she wasn't going to steer us wrong, at least not with the way that she and Brick eyed each other.
Tiri hummed to herself as she worked, all of us standing comfortably.
A moment later, a blaster bolt whizzed past our shoulders. Tiri ducked her head and jumped straight into the shuttle to protect herself. A bad feeling suffused my bones. I couldn't explain what I felt.
But her dive to the shuttle seemed like exactly what an attacker might expect. I jumped forward, grabbing her by the wrist even as several of her compatriots piled into the shuttle and began to power up.
"What are you doing?" she hissed at me, only for Lily and Violet to shield the two of us.
We were at the port with no lack of people, who began screaming and shouting the second blaster fire began searing the air.
"Stay," I told Tiri, even as she struggled against my grip. She frowned at my words; however, her struggles ceased, and instead, her eyes tracked upward.
The shuttle lifted off, only for a large laser bolt to flash across the distance. The blast was close enough that Lily pounced on the two of us, driving us to the floor as heat kissed my back, and the pressure of the explosion washed over us.
"Phil!" Tiri screamed as the burning wreckage of the shuttle crashed down onto the spaceport.
Alarms went off that were far too slow, in my own opinion. And sirens could be heard in the far distance. Tiri lay on the ground beside me, blinking and muttering.
"What? Why?" she asked, dumbfounded.
I could only grimace. "Tiri, I think there are some people who don't want you to return."
She set her jaw, glaring at me for those words.
I could do little more than hold my hands up in surrender. "Don't blame me. I'm just pointing out the obvious."
Despite my words, Tiri still seemed upset. "Who did this, and why?" she ground out, tears squeezing from the corners of her eyes.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "We'll figure this out.”
The strangest part of the attack was that despite the klaxons and the blaring alarms, no one came to deal with the blaster fire. Sure, some people rushed forward with fire extinguishers to put out the flaming wreckage, and others ran out to assess the damage. But no one came with a badge.