Chapter 10 #2
"Oh no." Melgara held her hands up. "I simply read the files during my time with Horizon and found them fascinating background when I worked on JACK drives.
The chance to meet a helivore and potentially work alongside one is something of a pipe dream that I can't believe I'm getting the opportunity to live out.
I promise you I will not endanger such an opportunity.
" She paused. "And even if you had not consented to work with me, I wouldn't dare harm the captain. "
Lily bristled. "What does that mean?"
"It means the captain and his ship are currently the perfect place for me, given my present situation. I would not endanger my home." Melgara went back to the blaster.
"Finish up with the incubator, and we'll leave. I assume while there's no power, you can't perform the necessary experiments,” Lily grumbled.
Melgara tapped several wires together, twisting them, and the little incubator flickered back to life.
It was roughly the size of both of Melgara’s hands cupped together, and they had no idea what would hatch from it.
It was another curiosity. Perhaps it could be a good experiment to watch Lily update genetic information.
A helivore… Melgara couldn’t help the curve of her lips. Fascinating, and to bond with a human male against all odds. She couldn’t wait to see what would become of the two of them.
“Ready?” Melgara asked, pulling Lily’s attention away from the egg. The helivore had fixated on it for a moment, and she wasn’t sure what that meant.
***
"Well," I said, as we sat around the table in our current lodging. I drummed my fingers, jotting down a few of the numbers from my tablet.
We had managed to find a few odd jobs. We were able to convince someone that Lily was strong enough to work as a bouncer at a rowdy club. Unfortunately, they docked her pay for the table she’d broken.
“The problem was they didn't want to take the captain, and I refused to work without him.” Lily finished the story to the group.
I sighed. "Yes, that." I gestured at Lily, who shrugged as if it wasn't her fault and began swiping on her device.
"Well, good news is I've managed some verifications on my end, and I might be able to access my accounts before the ship gets here," Tiri offered.
As she said those words, I couldn't help but notice Lily and Melgara trade a strange expression.
"I suppose we could go into debt to you," I said to Tiri, not liking those words one bit. But if that's the way the crew could still eat, then so be it.
"We'll certainly have other options," Melgara said, trying to reach a compromise.
I grunted and nodded, not entirely believing it myself.
Our situation was looking worse than I had expected.
We were barely covering food costs with these odd jobs, so while we weren’t sinking into debt, we still wouldn’t be able to get our ship from the shipwrights anytime soon.
The longer this took, the harder it would become.
I started pulling up our account to double-check the numbers, and Brick perked up.
"Hold on a second, Captain." He stopped me, and I frowned at Brick.
"Everything okay?" I asked, pausing and looking up from the account statement.
Brick froze. "Don't worry about the money. I took a little out to get some tools," he said. I wasn't exactly an expert on everything when it came to our group, but it was blatantly obvious to me that Brick was lying.
"Is there something I need to know?" I asked, looking down at the tablet, feeling shocked as I saw that we were far lower than we should have been.
I started to say something, and Brick pounced on me.
I hadn't been expecting it, and grogax were bigger than they looked.
That weight added up, especially with a surprise tackle.
I flinched back, but it didn't matter. He caught me all the same.
It was just that he wasn't able to apply any pressure, because a moment later Lily was in front of me, picking him up by the scruff of his neck like he was a six-hundred-pound kitten.
His fingers were curled around my arms, trying to take the tablet from me.
"Unhand the captain, or I will end you," Lily said, hovering above him.
By this point, I knew something was clearly wrong, and I turned to the rest of the group, hoping they understood.
"Brick, you didn't," Tiri said sharply.
"It wasn't like I meant to lose," he snapped, far more irritable than I'd seen Brick before.
"Wait. Didn't mean to lose? Holy shit, Brick, did you gamble this much?" I said, looking at the number and struggling to believe that it was all now lost.
"They gave me 15,000 free to gamble with, and look. I won big on the first try. But I couldn't withdraw it until I had gambled at least four more times," he answered.
I was still blinking, reconciling the facts.
"Brick." I rubbed a hand against my forehead.
"You're smart enough to know. That's not how gambling works.
And even worse, whatever this is"—I waved a hand through the air, referring to the lawlessness around the city—"we both know that they're going to be dirty as shit about this.
In fact, I would almost bet the ship that you were given your first win practically on a silver platter. "
"No," Brick argued sharply, offended that it might not have been his skill. There was a lack of rationality in his eyes. It reminded me of tweakers I used to see on the streets.
I rubbed my forehead, realizing we had a very significant problem on our hands. "Okay. So let's pretend you had won some of the money… What were you going to do? Just going to put it back in the ship's account?"