Chapter 19 #2
“Bez’s pod may not be as socially accepted among the Tuann, but they have the skills to back up their position,” Finn said.
That was no idle compliment since Maksym was in the top ten percent of Roake’s fighters.
“Has Pye woken up?” Kira asked.
Finn shook his head. “He’s the same as before.”
Hanging on, but barely. With every hour that passed, his prognosis became increasingly grim.
“Maybe the station will have something to help him,” Kira said, not holding out much hope.
Tuann healing was much different than a human’s. They required access to plants and nature. A healer versed in the application of ki would be ideal. Neither of which was likely to be present on a human run station.
Kira rose to stretch out the kinks from sleeping on an uncomfortable pallet. “I’m going to check in with Jin.”
Raider claimed her spot, settling onto his back with a sigh. “Since we don’t know what we’ll face when we arrive, I’m going to get some shut eye while I still can. Wake me when we’re an hour out.”
“Will do,” Kira said, leaving the cargo bay.
Finn accompanied her as she made her way into the hallway.
“I guess I don’t have to ask where Jin is,” Kira observed, seeing Dylan standing outside the ship’s command room. His presence as good as a proclamation of Jin’s whereabouts.
“Stop bothering him and get in here” Jin called.
Kira ducked into the tiny nook that served as the ship’s command room. “What’s got you in such a tizzy?”
The nook was cramped. Painfully so. Monitors and control panels encroached on what little room there was. If Jin hadn’t been the size of a child, she wasn’t sure they’d both fit.
As it was, Finn was forced to remain outside with Dylan.
Jin twisted the pilot seat to face her. “I’m assuming you don’t want to set foot on that station without at least some kind of plan.”
“You’ve got that right. Any of our old contacts still in the area?” Kira asked.
Humans changed so quickly. There and gone like a fleeting dream. Especially the people they knew. Salvagers and those on the less savory side of the law. None of whom had particularly great life expectancies.
“The Beckers moved their operation a few months ago. They’re now out of O’Riley.”
“That’s surprising,” Kira said.
The Beckers were a father/son duo who operated a repair and supply shop on Titan. They were a slimy pair known for cutting corners. Once, they’d sold Kira a faulty oxygen valve that would have killed her if Jin hadn’t discovered the leak in time.
“O’Riley is a lot more stringent regarding its quality control. If they try some of the crap they pulled on Titan, they’ll end up in a brig. Permanently.” Kira glanced over Jin’s shoulder. “Anyone else?”
“The Sweet sisters.”
“Anyone but them.”
The Sweet sisters were anything but. Backstabbing. Conniving. Opportunistic. All appropriate adjectives.
But sweet? Never.
Those two had zero loyalty to anyone and would steal the last credit from their own grandma if they thought they could get away with it.
“We’re not exactly rolling in options,” Jin pointed out.
“Do I need to remind you what happened last time we worked with them?”
They stole their salvage and nearly destroyed the Wanderer’s engines. Kira and Jin had drifted for two weeks before they could cobble together enough Tsavitee tech to limp back to port.
“Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“What about Dallas or Zip?” Kira asked.
“Dead.”
“Both of them?”
“Misjudged the defenses of a Tsavitee Goliath.”
“Damn.”
Kira had attempted a salvage on a Goliath exactly once.
It was the closest she’d come to death post war.
The extensive defensive measures built into every ship made them notoriously difficult to salvage, to the point they were considered something of a white whale by many in the business.
Successfully recovering tech from one guaranteed you a certain reputation.
Not to mention the reward you could earn.
One that was commensurate with the level of danger you braved.
It was enough to set you up in a nice retirement.
“The Sweet sisters aren’t an option. Not even as a last resort,” Kira said. “Keep looking. Everyone can’t be dead. Someone has to be there.”
They’d spent several years in and out of Titan and Omega. Plenty of time to cultivate a healthy number of contacts. Granted, Kira wasn’t the friendliest of individuals, but she hadn’t lived under a rock either. There had to be someone.
“I’ll look again,” Jin said in resignation.
“Thanks. Update me when we’re ready to dock.”
Jin grumbled but was already in the process of turning back to his search. “What will you be doing? I can’t be the only one always working.”
Kira slung an arm around his neck and gave him a light squeeze. “You won’t be. I promise.”
She let him go and straightened. While he ran down their old contacts, she had a very important task of her own to attend to.
This was disgusting.
Kira tried not to gag, wishing for a hazmat suit as she dug through the mound of discarded clothing covering the floor of the captain’s quarters.
Her skin crawled with imaginary bugs as she pinched an item between two fingers and held it up to examine.
A mysterious white substance stained the front.
“So gross.”
Kira dropped the top, resisting the urge to wipe her hand on her pants. She didn’t want that shit on her clothes. It would never come out.
“Tell me what we’re looking for and maybe I can help,” Finn offered.
Kira side-eyed him, her expression saying more than words ever could.
Finn’s expression remained politely inquiring.
“Clothes, Finn,” Kira said on a sigh, giving up. No one ever won against an oshota. “I’m looking for clothes.”
“Why?”
“Why else? To wear.”
Alarm grew on Finn’s face. “Who?”
“You know.”
“I don’t,” Finn insisted
Oh, this was going to be fun.
She pointed at him. “You.” She swiveled her finger to aim it at herself. “Me.” She waved her hand to encompass the rest of the ship. “Everyone.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Like it or not, they needed disguises. Negative sentiment toward the Tuann was at an all-time high.
Particularly on stations like Titan where human trafficking was still a very real and ever present danger.
If they walked off this ship decked out in synth armor, there was a chance they would be mobbed. Kidnapped. Maybe even killed.
Not to mention Kira had enemies. Many, many enemies who wouldn’t mind claiming her head for the bounty the clans had placed on it.
Furthermore, their presence on this station couldn’t get back to the human authorities or the Tuann. They needed to get in and out as quickly and quietly as possible. Hopefully without starting any wars.
“You want us to wear this?” Finn looked ill. “On our bodies?”
“Where else would you wear it?” Kira gave him a strange look. “Since you’re volunteering, come help me sort through this.”
“Do I have to?”
“Nope.”
Of course, those who didn’t help wore what she gave them.
Finn must have understood that on some level because he moved toward the pile on the bed. Or maybe he saw her eyeing the top she’d discarded earlier and put two and two together.
They worked together quietly, sifting through the clothes until they had a small pile that Kira thought might work.
“Nixxy, we’re about to start the docking procedures,” Jin announced through the ship’s comms. “Everyone else—finish what you’re doing and prepare to disembark.”
There was a crackle as Jin cut the connection from his side.
“That’s our cue,” Kira told Finn.
He’d never looked so relieved. He stopped what he was doing and stepped back as Kira gathered up the pile they’d created and carried them back to the cargo bay where the rest of the group was already in the process of gathering.
“What’s this?” Bez asked, taking the dock worker’s jumpsuit that she handed him.
Maksym looked curious as he held up the large garment Finn gave him. It was bright orange with a hood and a twin to the one Finn kept for himself.
“You stand out.” Kira passed Az a jacket and skull cap along with a long sleeved shirt and pants for Arly. “That’s not a good thing. These will help.”
Roderick waved away the garment she tried to hand him. “As you instructed, I made sure to bring something nondescript.”
“What are you talking about?” Finn demanded.
“The briefing she gave Liara. She indicated that I might need to go incognito at some point and to bring garments that would aide in that endeavor.” Caution finally caught up to Roderick as he noticed the increasingly dour expressions on the faces of those around him. “I thought everyone knew.”
The muscles in Finn’s jaw worked as he gazed at Kira. “No—somehow she forgot to mention that.”
“I didn’t warn you?” Kira asked.
“No. You didn’t.”
“Must have slipped my mind.”
Finn’s jaw ticked as he leveled a narrow eyed stare on her.
Kira gave him a sickly smile, trying not to feel guilty. If he was this upset about Roderick getting a free pass, he really wasn’t going to like what was in Kira’s bag. Her own jacket, brought all the way from Ta Sa’Riel for this exact purpose.
Bez frowned and plucked at the fabric of the jumpsuit he’d managed to get into place over the rest of his clothes. “It doesn’t fit. It’s bunching in weird places.”
“That’s because you’re not supposed to wear it with other clothes,” Kira said, the effort required not to laugh at what had to be the universe’s largest wedgy was immense.
“I will not let this offal touch my skin,” Bez declared with an offended dignity that nearly broke Kira’s composure.
“It’s not that bad.”
“It smells.”
Yes, it did.
“You’re welcome to stay here,” Kira offered.
“That’s not an option,” Bez protested.
“Then I guess you know what you have to do.” While she was on the subject, Kira swept a glance over the rest. “I want to be clear before we set foot off this ship. No one knows we’re here and it needs to stay that way.”