Chapter 9
Cyra stifled a yawn.They’d been sitting at the Bucket for hours without conversation beyond a few males trying to hit on them. As soon as she tried to talk to them about a job on her ship, they laughed and walked away. She pushed her chair back and stood. A pale, almost translucent female caught Cyra’s eye. The woman darted between tables, eyes locked on Cyra, mouth frozen in a determined line. Cyra sat down again, wide awake.
“Captain Maejzur? I’m Blaize Dreheer. Doc Maretine sent me.”
Oh wow. It was the first time a stranger addressed Cyra as captain and it was like she’d drunk three Rings of Saturn cocktails. But the caffeinated alcoholic rush of that beverage had nothing on being called captain. She barely managed to keep a huge grin at bay. “Have a seat.”
Blaize dropped into the empty chair and introduce herself to Veda.
“So what do you do, and why are you looking for a job?” Cyra didn’t feel like wasting any more time.
“For the past few galactic years, I’ve been contracting as an engineer. In between jobs, I pick up environmental systems maintenance work on the station. Not the most glamorous work, but it keeps me in food and shelter.”
“Why short-term contracts?”
“At first, I thought I would be able to captain on my own ship again. Short-term contracts pay pretty well, and I saved as much as I could. But there are long periods in between.” Blaize brushed her deep red hair back over her shoulder. “I thought I would earn credits faster and build a network of crew members who would want to work with me. That didn’t exactly go as planned either.”
Cyra stiffened. Why would a talented engineer who had been a captain want a job on The Treasure with an inexperienced commander? Did Blaize plan to grab the ship out from under her? “You were a captain?”
“Right out of a ninety-cycle boot camp. I had a small inheritance and spent it on a shiny new ship for me and the person I thought was my mate. It was a crazy plan. I didn’t even know enough to know better. He convinced me we could be successful. I hired some other classmates and somehow got a commission to provide transportation for the Galaxy Exploration Division. But, they didn’t renew.”
Cyra’s biggest fear was her story would end like Blaize’s. To taste her dream and then lose everything would be worse than never being a captain, assuming she could even get a crew and get off the station. She’d get every detail she could get from Blaize so she wouldn’t repeat the woman’s mistakes.
“My lover, was a complete lying bastard. He hated that I was a better engineer than him. He sabotaged things and told lies about me to the crew. It’s possible he’s still sabotaging me.”
Cyra set her jaw to keep from interrupting. Why did some males have to be so deceptive and competitive? Doc wasn’t like that. Captain hadn’t been either, at least not maliciously.
“He thought if he made it look like I wasn’t doing a good job, he would be able to take over. He fucked me over literally and figuratively. Then I found out, he was fucking his best friend, the Communications Officer, too, the rotten asshole.”
Cyra nodded, encouraging Blaize to continue.
“I ended up putting a lien on my ship to pay the crew. When I didn’t get another contract, I lost it.”
Veda winced audibly.
Blaize glanced at Veda and nodded. Then she turned back to Cyra. “The man who fucked me over? I think you may know him.”
“Me?” Cyra flinched. She hardly knew anyone who wasn’t a member, well, former member of The Treasure’s crew.
“Varik?”
“Varik?” Her outburst betrayed her shock that it could be the same person attacking them both. Was this a setup? “Your lover was Varik Pectori?”
Blaize grimaced with a slight shrug.
What a complete asshole. It hadn’t been Cyra’s relationship with Captain Auvi that made Varik act out. If what Blaize said was true, he’d ruined her life too.
“I’d heard he had hooked up with the infamous Captain Auvi Thenal and was acting as the ‘launch assistant’ in addition to being the Engineer.”
Cyra nodded, her cheeks heating and her stomach souring. She was never an official crew member. She’d never been on a ship before Captain Auvi rescued her. She had no idea that he was infamous, or that strangers looked down on what she did for him, or that anyone knew what it took to launch The Treasure, beyond the immediate crew.
“I want to join your crew. I have experience on all kinds of ships, and systems of all ages.”
Blaize would be a dream come true if she wasn’t sent by Varik. “Varik emptied the accounts. I can’t pay you.”
Veda chimed in, “She means, we can’t pay you right away. Our credits are tied up in the current shipment.”
“I don’t care. I want Varik to suffer. Making sure he doesn’t get his hands on your ship is a start. Making sure we all make a fortune would be even better. I want to be a partner.”
“A partner?” Cyra’s gills flapped under her hair. She took a slow breath and searched Blaize for signs of deception, ticks, nervous movements. But the woman met Cyra’s gaze directly.
“I have credits. Not enough for my own ship but plenty to chip in. Give me a contract for this delivery. If you aren’t happy, pay back my credits and drop me back here on the station and we call it good. If you are happy, I’m an official partner and get a split of the profits once we have profits.”
Cyra glanced at Veda who stared back with wide eyes. Cyra could almost hear Veda screaming, “Do it,” in her head.
“Alright, one delivery and we’ll renegotiate at the end of that. Meet me at The Treasure tomorrow at mid-cycle. We’re in dock alpha, bay sixty-eight oh one. We’ll finalize the terms and put them in writing.” In the meantime, Cyra would search up anything she could find to corroborate Blaize’s story. If Varik had sent her?—
“Got it. I’ll see you tomorrow, Captain. Nice to meet you, Veda.”
Blaize left the bar and Veda released a quick squeal.
Cyra wasn’t quite ready to celebrate, but she would if Blaize proved to be honest. “Let’s get out of here.”
“One down. One to go,” Veda said as she followed Cyra out of the bar and back on to the ship.
“Captain Cyra, Veda.”
Cyra startled. Dez stood statue-still at the top of the entrance ramp. “Dez.” She tried to slow her breathing. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, Captain. No issues to report.”
That voice and those eyes—not to mention the man himself—completely distracting. But she couldn’t afford to be distracted. “Thank you. Uh, Veda can you, uh, get Dez whatever— I have some work to do. Excuse me.”
“Sure,” Veda replied, her tone suspicious.
Cyra didn’t have any answers or even a bad explanation, but she hadn’t lied. There was work to do, so she didn’t hesitate to disappear into her quarters and open her data screen.
After hours of research, confirming most of what Blaize had shared, Cyra escaped to the water chamber and stripped. Finally she could find some relief. Her tears would only add to the contents of the pool. No one would have to see how sad and scared she truly was.
On the good side, they’d possibly found an engineer who was seemingly committed to making the business work, if for no other reason than to make Varik suffer. But on the downside, Cyra would be responsible for the wellbeing of another crew member. She didn’t know how to take care of herself, much less command a ship.
And she still had to find a navigator, get the ship refueled, pay the dock fees, restock the food stores, and figure out how to get paid for delivering the damn spiders. She hated spiders—particularly big and nasty spiders. Spiders that could kill. And then there was Dez. The man destined for Kolben, where lifespans were notably short. Maybe she’d acted rashly when she’d run from being married with babies on her home planet. Being captain was everything she’d wished for, but the reality was dreadful.
“Why?” she screamed into the liquified gel. Why did Auvi have to die on her? She wasn’t ready. Not only did her heart miss him, her body did too. Tears streamed down her face only to be absorbed by the medium in the tank. She still swiped at them, angry with her weakness. Captains didn’t cry. And tears wouldn’t pay a crew.
She wallowed in her missteps and cursed the fates that had placed her in the precarious position of having everything while being on the brink of losing it all. Swimming until exhausted, she left the chamber and returned to her cozy quarters to rest before facing another challenging cycle. Every cycle that passed while stuck on Cassan brought her closer to failure.
She lay on her bunk, staring up at the curved ceiling and forced herself to count her blessings. A habit her mother had instilled in her as a child.
Veda, a trained medic, cared for the spiders without hesitation and would remain on the ship. Her loyalty was unquestionable.
Doc committed his last days on Cassan to helping her find the specialists she needed. Already, she had an engineer who didn’t just want a job, she wanted a partnership.
If she could get a navigator and a communications officer, the ship could function. Even just a navigator would get them off the station. But how long would it take to find one?
And Dez? He’d saved them from the spider outbreak. He’d watched over the ship. But he was a complete mystery, and what he did to her body without even trying was dangerous. She didn’t need another risk to her leadership.
Cyra, Veda, and Dez sat at the small galley table the next morning eating the meal Doc had prepped. Dez’s yellow gaze burned into Cyra every time she glanced up from her tray as if he could see the dirty dreams she’d had about him. Her cheeks heated, and she locked her gaze downward, pretending she couldn’t feel his eyes on her like a caress. Like his fingers hadn’t slid deep into her, coaxing an orgasm from her that left her thighs wet and her body aching. If her door hadn’t still been locked when she awoke, she would have accused him of coming into her room uninvited. Instead, he’d invaded her thoughts, which was so much worse.
An odd noise disrupted Cyra’s shame cycle. “Did you hear that?”
Dez stood. “I believe someone is hailing you from outside.”
Cyra was surrounded by the other three as she made her way to the open ramp.
Blaize. For a little thing, she had a set of lungs on her.
“What are you doing?” Cyra asked as he lowered the ramp the remaining way to the deck.
“Sorry for the hollering, the stupid security people would let me call you,” Blaize explained somewhat breathlessly as she entered the ship.
“I should have notified them you would be coming, but I didn’t expect you until later.” Cyra had half-expected Blaize to back out after finding Blaize’s school records and the deed to her lost ship. The woman was truly brilliant and had been a captain in her own right. She hadn’t exaggerated at all.
“I could hardly sleep, thinking about joining you. I hoped for a chance like this. It isn’t quite the same as owning my own ship, but in some ways it’s better. I’m a better engineer than I ever was a captain. I think that’s why Varik was able to turn my crew against me so easily. You know? I just think if I had bought the ship and then hired a captain it would have lasted a lot longer. It isn’t easy being a leader. But, you already know that don’t you. I mean, it seems like you haven’t been the leader long, but you already know all the problems that come with being the captain. The finance and the hiring and the other stuff. Oh. I’m talking too much again. Sorry. I talk when I’m nervous.” Blaize clamped her jaw shut and tightly crossed her arms.
“How do you do that without breathing?” Cyra could go days without saying more that a few words. Blaize had just blurted a weeks worth of words at light speed. “I mean, I have gills, and I still breathe more than you do.”
Blaize laughed. “I’ve worked with all males. I got used to telling them everything really quickly, so I could get it all out before they interrupted.”
“I’ll learn to listen fast, and I promise not to interrupt.” Cyra smiled at Blaize, happy to have her on the crew. “This is Doc.” Cyra gestured to the man beside her. “He’s already started editing a standard contract template so it would have a partner clause.”
“Excellent. Nice to meet you.” Blaize shook Doc’s hand.
“You know Veda.” Cyra paused as they acknowledged each other with a nod. “She’s taking over Doc’s position as Chief Medical Officer.” Blaize made noises of approval. Cyra hesitated with the next introduction, but it had to be done. “And this is Dezmuhnd Cuocua, he’s a…our guest.” She couldn’t introduce him as cargo but wasn’t sure guest was the right word either.
Blaize held out her hand. Dez clasped his hands behind him. “You may call me Dez.”
“Hi, Dez. Nice to meet you.”
“You as well.” The smile he gave Blaize should not have prickled in Cyra’s chest, but it did.
“I’ll take you to the galley.” Cyra picked up the pace, trying to out run her odd reaction. “You can Doc can work on the contract there. Add whatever details you want with him. After you’re done, Doc’s continuing the hunt for a navigator. And I need to see about provisioning the ship for our journey.” Which would take a miracle since she only had her tiny savings account.
“I would be happy to accompany you, Captain,” Dez said from the back of the group trailing her.
“Veda’s going with me. We’ll be fine.” Cyra planned to get some distance from the man who set her on edge and invaded her dreams.
“Do you mind if I stay here, Captain?” Blaize asked. “I’d like to spend as much time with the ship as possible before we take off.”
“That’s fine.” Did Blaize recognize leaving her on the ship alone, or practically alone, was a test? Would she pass? Or was Cyra being a complete idiot? Better to know before they left the station if Blaize wasn’t trustworthy.
“I would be happy to help you,” Dez offered.
Cyra clenched her jaw and quickly forced herself to relax. Jealousy? Really?
“I work better alone. No offense, but I’m better with no distractions.” Blaize smiled apologetically. “No conversations. Can you add me to the systems so I can look at everything?”
“I’ll do that before I go.” Cyra paused in the corridor where it split, ignoring the wash of relief that Blaize didn’t want Dez to help her. “I can probably answer any questions you have about The Treasure. But Varik was the last engineer and, although he thought he was going to get her, I don’t know if he took the best care of everything. Or if he left anything surprises behind.”
“And what would you have me do, Captain?” Dez asked at the entrance to the galley where Blaize and Doc were already getting settled.
So many things. No, bad Cyra. “Um. Nothing? You’re not crew. You’re cargo, so I guess just relax until we can take off again.”
Dez stepped back as if she’d slapped him.
Crap, that cargo thing hadn’t come out right. She opened her mouth to try to fix it.
“Yes, Captain.” Dez turned away before she could summon better words.
Shit. He didn’t deserve that. He’d dealt with the spiders. Been nothing but helpful and respectful. She’d fix it later because she still had so many urgent tasks ahead of her that she couldn’t worry about a temporary passenger’s emotions. She was having enough trouble dealing with her own.