Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ninety-four minutes. That was how much time was left before they arrived at Amadox Station.
Xaber sat in the cockpit of the True, staring at the viewscreen as the station slowly became visible. His fingers drummed a steady beat on the console, and he did his best to pretend boredom and not nerves made him fidget.
Mace was prowling the corridors of the ship like an over-vigilant security bot. Tish was tinkering with systems that were already running perfectly. They had different reasons for feeling on edge.
Tish was impatient to see her family again. He understood that. She’d had to flee the station so quickly that they’d never had a chance to say goodbye in person. He knew what it felt like to be torn away from someone without warning.
Getting her reconnected with her parents would be one of the highlights of the mission along with getting revenge on the asshole who had tried to destroy her life.
The engines needed to be tested before they made any long jumps, so they’d done a few shorter ones to be certain. That made their trip longer, but it had given them plenty of time to learn about her. Now they knew the truth, she’d shared details and stories about her life and family.
Those tales made him realize how different her life was from his.
He and Mace had left their maturation vats as adults, their knowledge and behaviors were the result of coding and conditioning instead of a standard childhood.
The only family dynamics he knew were the ones his batch of siblings had created for themselves.
That was why Mace was stomping up and down the length of the ship. Because this was new territory. Neither of them had a fraxxing clue how to interact with normal family. Usually, they didn’t care about shit like this, but this was Tish’s family…and that made all the difference.
He heard her light steps approach the flight deck but didn’t react to her arrival. They’d learned more about each other on this trip, and he’d discovered Tish was more talkative if he let her speak first.
She laid a hand on his shoulder and kissed the top of his head. “You’re overthinking things.”
“I’m not. We’ve got a solid plan. This is going to work, and you’re going to be done with this mess before long.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She moved to stand beside him so she could make eye contact. “It’s not the plan you’re thinking about. You’re worried about meeting my dads.”
He gave her his best blank look. “Not a chance. I’m looking forward to it. Why would you say that?”
“Liar.” She laughed and ruffled his hair. “I talked to Mace. He said you’re both feeling stressed about it.”
He sent a terse message to his back-stabbing batch-brother. “You told her?”
“I had to. She asked why I was wearing a groove in the deck plates. I’m not going to lie to her.”
“A heads-up would have been nice.”
“Sorry.”
His brother did not sound the slightest bit contrite, but that ship had already left orbit.
“I know you’re talking to him right now. Giving him shit for not warning you?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
“You don’t need to worry. My dads are going to love you two.”
He pivoted the chair around and tugged her onto his lap. She curled against his chest without protest, and some of his tension faded away.
“I don’t care if they love me or not. That’s their decision. The only thing I care about is you. The thing is, they matter to you, so all of this matters to me.”
He scowled. “This is why I try to avoid relationships. They’re vething messy.”
“But there are benefits. Like lap snuggles.” She wriggled playfully and then kissed him. “And other things.”
“I am a big fan of all those things.”
She kissed him again, and his mind calmed.
“I love you, Xay. That isn’t going to change if my dads don’t like you or Mace.
You two were my decision. If they don’t like it, that’s on them.
It won’t be the first time they’ve been pissed off about my choices.
That’s part of being a family. It is messy, but for me, it’s worth it.
” She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder.
“I’m more concerned about what happens after I see my dads again. ”
“Don’t be. Hamish has no idea how much shit he’s in, and by the time he understands, it will be too late.”
“And I will be there to see his face when his life crashes and craters.” She smacked a fist into her open hand.
“You will, but from a safe distance, please. If he so much as looks at you the wrong way, Mace or I will kill him.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
“Only to you.”
They snuggled together in comfortable silence until Mace joined them. “Don’t you have a call to make?” he asked.
“Right. It’s about that time.” He tapped Tish on the shoulder. “You need to get out of sight or you’ll spoil the big surprise.”
“I’m going. I’m going. Do you remember what to say to them?”
“I have perfect recall. Of course I remember.” Tish had provided a detailed description of the imaginary problem supposedly affecting the ship’s jump drive.
It had to be complicated enough that both of her parents would come to take a look but not so serious they turned down the job because it would take parts or equipment they didn’t have.
She slid off his lap, planted a quick kiss on his cheek, and left with Mace.
Xaber took a moment to straighten his shirt and smooth back his hair before he told Livy to initiate contact with J&E’s Repair Shop.
He expected to have to leave his contact information and request a call back. Instead, an older male with salt-and-pepper hair appeared on the monitor.
“Javid here. What’s busted?”
“My jump drive,” he answered and then went through the script Tish had written.
Javid nodded and pursed his lips in thought, an expression Xaber recognized. Tish did the same thing.
“Name. Yours first. Then the name of the ship.”
“Xaber. The ship is the Live True. She’s a Falcon-E model from Gyrex Shipping.”
“Good ship,” the man muttered. “How long you staying on the station?”
“As long as it takes to get the engines sorted. I’m not heading back into the void until I am sure I’ll arrive at my next stop.”
“Sensible man.” Javid’s expression softened a little. “We can put her right in a day or so. How far out are you?”
“Ninety minutes or so.”
“That works.” His gaze moved left as he checked something on another screen.
“I’ll make arrangements for a berth near the shop.
I can fit you in about three hours from now.
Might take you that long to get docked. We don’t have decent traffic control, just an automated system with delusions of adequacy.
Do yourself a favor and double-check everything it says.
You’ll save yourself a headache and probably the need for a paint job. ”
Xaber grinned. “Noted. And thanks for fitting me in so fast. I’ll see you soon.”
He closed the channel and spun the chair around. “You heard that?”
Tish popped into view. “I did. I’m going to have a word with him about his customer service. That was a terrible way to answer.” She rolled her eyes. “This is what happens when I leave them unsupervised.”
Then she lowered her voice. “Did he look okay?”
“He looked fine to me. You’ll get to see for yourself soon enough.” He stood up and stretched.
“We’ve got time for lunch before we arrive. Food will be a nice distraction.”
“What’s for lunch?” Xaber asked.
Tish answered before Mace could. “Pizza!”
He grinned at his batch-brother. “She is so fraxxing perfect for us.”
“Agreed. Now come on. Let’s eat.”