Chapter 17 #2
"We need to go," I said, grabbing Tiri by the shoulder and pulling her to her feet. I cast Brick a meaningful glance, and the grogax swept in to take her from me. Meanwhile, I put my hand on the blaster holstered at my hip, my eyes up and scanning for anyone else coming to fight us.
Violet was pulling a wounded man from the wreckage while the stellarie did her best to administer first aid.
Lily stayed clear of the fire, and instead, she physically bristled.
I watched as our ship, not far away, seemed to shift.
It was as if her mass inside was preparing for something.
Lily's eyes scanned the horizon for any more fire.
However, it seemed as if the intended hit job was done.
Either we weren't the targets or their job wasn't to kill us and simply to keep Tiri grounded.
"We can help him," Melgara said, tying a tourniquet on the kikai's leg, "but it would be best if we got him to the ship's medical bay. Brick, would you?" Melgara glanced up at the grogax, who kept one hand on Tiri and moved quickly.
His other three scooped up the wounded kikai, doing his best to keep him stable. Violet was peering into the wreckage to see if there were any other survivors. Her grim countenance told me the answer she found.
"Ship. Now," Lily ordered, keeping her body between me and any potential exterior threat. Our cargo bay was open from repairs, and I hurried up the ramp. Lily didn't relax until everyone was inside, and she trailed in after us.
"I don't understand." Tiri was a mess, pulling at her hair. "Why would they shoot them down? What have they done? It was me, wasn’t it? I was supposed to get on the shuttle."
"It's not your fault what other people do." I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, what the captain said," Brick was quick to agree. "Besides, who says they were after you? Lily said you fell victim to bandits. Members of your company could have crosshairs on them as well?"
"The pirates were bad luck, not some scheme against me." Tiri rolled her eyes. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have accepted money to let me go."
Lily shrugged as we made it up to medical, where Melgara quickly got to work. The rest of us circled around with a sudden lack of anything to do.
"Lily, is anyone approaching the ship?" I asked.
"Nope," she answered firmly, arms crossed. "Not even the mechanics, though the kikai who wants us to pay him is watching from not far away."
"As long as all he does is watch, that's fine. Though I think we need to rethink what we're doing on this planet." The ship was still powered down, so we couldn’t do much with it. But the fact that Lily’s other half was embedded in it might make it the safer place to sleep.
"For those of us who can't read your mind, would you like to go ahead and lay out your thoughts?" Melgara shifted slightly, glancing up from where she was working on the survivor, blood beginning to coat her hands.
I bowed my head. "We're here, we're playing by the rules, and we're trying to get some jobs and earn some money to pay for the neutron core.
" I gestured downward in the direction I knew engineering was located.
"Yet while we're playing by the rules, we've been at the other end of blaster fire several times.
And that's not even counting what I consider an attack on Brick.
" I scowled. "Now someone comes and meets us to fly off, and their shuttle is shot down.
" I shook my head, looking at everyone. "We might have to start treating this as a hostile planet full of people who don't want to let us leave. "
Lily's face became grim before a grin crossed it. I could have sworn for a second her teeth got pointier, but that was perhaps my mind playing tricks. "What would you suggest, Captain?"
"I think right now we have to assume that we're under attack. Sentar Spaceport and the shipwrights are most likely legitimate. It's a business that spans more than just this place." I glanced at Tiri, who still looked beside herself.
"Yeah, it's a fairly large company," she agreed.
"Alright. Then we don't make enemies there. But this Perez company..." I frowned. "Lily, I'm going to move figuring out what they're doing at Violet's master's old home to the top of our priorities."
Lily nodded slowly. "It'll go just below keeping you safe."
I smiled. "I suppose there was a fat chance of me getting anything above that."
"Have I ever mentioned how wise you are, Captain?" She batted her lashes at me.
"No, but if you'd like to do it more often, it certainly wouldn't hurt."
Lily smirked, and our little meeting continued.
"I think it would be pertinent to have a new rule that we only go out in groups of two or more," Melgara offered before glancing down at her patient. “After he’s stable we should transfer him to a hospital.”
"I couldn't agree more." Lily crossed her arms. "And we need to figure out who is after us.
" She pointed at Brick. "Obviously, this Perez company went after Brick.
As far as I'm concerned, that's where we should start.
" She glanced around the room. No one spoke, which I took to mean there were no better ideas forthcoming.
Tiri pulled herself together long enough to look up from the patient on the bed to the rest of us. "I would like to hire you again." She seemed firmer this time. "I would like your protection, until I can re-establish myself at my company."