Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Ten humans, one heartless galaxy
Garrison
I LEFT Ellie to sleep. I wished I could do the same, but I dragged myself back to the cantina. Gaining passage with a bunch of kri’ith wasn’t my favourite idea, but I had to know how Roth had got on.
“They’ve gone!” Zerena was frantic as I approached our booth, and I stared at my friends from under heavy brows until I realised Rayna and a couple of others were missing.
I dragged my hand through my hair. Today could officially do one. “When?”
“In the last hour,” she said. “They left with those pirates who arrived yesterday. We tried to talk to them, but they were determined.”
Too many words swam round my mind, and all I could manage was, “Fuck.” I wasn’t as close with them as some of the others, but to disappear without saying goodbye?
“Did Ellie know?” Did they know what had happened to her?
“No, she went back before they left.”
“We can’t bother her with it today,” I said, and gave them a brief rundown of the altercation.
“And we’re leaving her here with him?” Zerena said.
“I’ll talk to her tomorrow.” I turned to Roth. “What did those other kri’ith say?” It couldn’t be anything to make today worse.
“Yeah, that’s the thing, G. We’re leaving tomorrow.”
I spun on my heel, needing to move, even if it was just to pace the cantina. The events of the day were slapping me in the face so hard and fast I should have had whiplash. “You’ve all decided?”
“We don’t want to hang around in case a better offer comes up because what if it doesn’t?
Captain Shohari offered a good price, slightly under the budget we’ve been given, and she doesn’t mind dropping us at our respective stops.
She’s nothing like the guys we flew out with.
But she wants to leave tomorrow. Early.”
I nursed my drink while the others talked.
How could I leave when I didn’t know where I wanted to end up?
Staying here wasn’t an option. No job, no accommodation.
Even though I’d love to be here for Ellie if she needed it, I knew she could look after herself.
Or the archon could, no matter that protection came with a side of alien brutality.
I should have been grateful Roth had found us safe passage. It was essential, after all. I’d have to tag along with someone; it was always good to have someone extra to watch out for you.
But I needed to know who I was flying with, which meant talking to this captain.
Without asking, I sat at their table, which felt rude but seemed to be the way things were done out here. I glanced at each of them, taking in their harsh faces and glittering eyes. “I’m Garrison Rhea.”
The bigger woman stared me down with the same intensity as before. “Captain Shohari mai Tasra. My crew, Paiata and Muzati.” Her voice was deep and rich, and she sized me up with amethyst eyes that matched her skin.
“I hear you could be our ride out of here,” I said.
“If you want. Your human Roth explained the deal. What’s your destination?” I was still learning to read alien facial expressions, but her clipped tone left little room for doubt.
“I don’t actually know.”
For the first time, she relaxed in her seat and gave me something that might have been a smile.
I couldn’t quite tell—after all, a skull always smiled, and so did an open kri’ith mouth.
But the muscles around her mouth relaxed, her full lower lip softening to reveal her teeth, all pointed like human canines.
“You don’t know. Unusual reason to take a shipride. ”
I shrugged. “Unusual circumstances, I guess.”
Even though she was curt, the captain didn’t seem as if she wanted to get rid of me.
She examined me with an unforgiving stare, so I studied her too, taking in the rows of fleshy spines on her scalp, a richer shade of purple than her skin, and the ridges framing her invisible ears that faded from violet to soft amber and back again.
The whole kri’ith vibe was intimidating; at least the women didn’t have lower jaw tusks.
I had the feeling she was expecting more until she snorted, all four nostrils vibrating. “It makes no difference to me, human. As long as you’re off my ship by the last stop, you can get off anywhere.”
The other kri’ith female, Moo-zar-tee, leaned in, her demeanour far more animated.
“Are you having trouble deciding? I have trouble deciding things all the time. So many choices, so many options, do I want to eat the last of the awmi fruit bars, or do I want to pull the altitude sensor relay out again?” She pulled something akin to a screwdriver from the knotted mass of soft spines on her head and rolled it between her fingers.
“It’s got a recurring glitch, and that pisses me off. ”
Without meaning to, I laughed, even as the male growled.
“Stop eating all the skykking awmi bars. They’re for all of us.” He patted his pockets, scowling as he pulled out an empty wrapper.
“It’s not my fault they look at me like a little baby doorith following its mother. ‘I love you, Muzati. Eat me, Muzati. I’m so tasty.’”
Pay-arta snorted in disgust, swinging his large head to and fro. “Kheh. Whatever.”
My eyes flicked back to the captain, who ignored her crew with seemingly practiced indifference.
“You know what?” I said to Moo-zar-tee, “You’re right. It’s hard. Food, or fixing something. Or finding somewhere to live. All of the above.”
She smirked at her companions. “The human gets it.”
I hated that I kind of liked her.
“Thanks.” I wasn’t brave enough to try to pronounce their names yet, didn’t want to mangle them. “Everyone else either has a career they can leverage or has found a destination they can tolerate the sound of. I’m still searching.”
“Or they’ve run off with corsairs.”
It took a second or two to realise who Captain Shohari meant. “Do you know them? The pirates?”
“She doesn’t.” A rumble built in Paiata’s chest, both pairs of flat nostrils flaring. “And you don’t want to.”
My pulse picked up. “Are my friends in danger?”
“What if they are?” The captain was cool, dispassionate. “What are you going to do about it?” Her glittering eyes trailed across my torso, and I tensed, muscles bunching under my T-shirt and her scrutiny.
Damn, this place was getting to me. Why did I feel like fighting her to prove a point?
Each heave of my breath had me leaning imperceptibly closer to her until I dropped back in the chair and stared off to the side. “Not much I can do. I guess I’d rather know things than not, which might be why I haven’t picked a destination. I don’t know enough about the choices.”
I sized up the captain. If she was bigger than me, I couldn’t see it.
Paiata snorted again. “Doesn’t sound like you’re in a position to be choosy.”
Didn’t I know it. “If I don’t like the shipyard, I’ll go on to Vadias with Imani and Fenn.” It was the first time I’d voiced it aloud, the first time I’d thought in such concrete terms, and while it still didn’t feel like anything I wanted, it didn’t feel terrible.
“You got skills?” Muzati said.
“I was a machinery engineer on a mining colony.”
She gave me a winning skeletal smile, lips split all the way to her ear ridges, and I suppressed a shudder. “I’m the ship’s engineer. Ships are a whole different beast to machines.”
“Hmm, it depends on the machine,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Various core-boring machines are capable of independent flight, and some hold a small crew.” I wished I’d brought my drink.
She bent her head to one side—their equivalent to a nod? “What kind of ships do your people have?”
“Where I’m from, they’re mostly local transport shuttles. Nothing as sleek as out here. But they’re reliable and fast enough. Only the military and government have MagEx drives.” At their blank expressions, I added, “Magnetic explosion. For travelling long distances.”
The engineer slanted her head again. “Interesting. Similar to some non-Alliance species.” She bared her teeth in amusement. “Because they’re too primitive.”
I resisted rolling my eyes. “Well, this species is in the Alliance, primitive or not.” At least, thirteen of us were.
“And you are going to end up on a small agrestic moon?” Captain Shohari crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up, and I forced my eyes away from the swell of apricot skin above her skin-tight tunic.
Damn, maybe I needed to take a leaf out of Ellie’s book and get laid because my dick started to thicken. Definitely because of the boobs and not her scathing tone or the arrogant tilt of her sharp jaw. She just had a great pair of tits, and it had been a while. That was all.
Stop perving on the semi-helpful alien lady. Her pretty eyes are up there.
“Vadias isn’t right for you,” Captain Shohari said.
“To be stuck on a planet to which you’re unsuited is to be miserable.
” For a second, I thought her mind was elsewhere, but she pinned me with her piercing stare.
“The galaxy is heartless to those who don’t demand what they want, so you need to work out what that is. ”
I stared at her, eyes wide. “Thanks, I guess. Didn’t know you cared.”
“I don’t.” Her thick fingers toyed with the hem of her tunic. “Are you coming tomorrow, or not?”
“I guess I am.”
The words were out before I could think them through, but they settled into me, offering more comfort than I’d expected.
Captain Shohari considered me with inscrutable eyes. “The small male has the details. Don’t be late.”
I pushed out of my chair and gave a lazy salute. “Yes, ma’am.”