Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tish could barely keep still. Any second now, her dads would come aboard the ship and she’d finally get to hug them.
It felt like a lifetime since she’d done that.
In some ways, it had been. She wasn’t the same being who had fled Amadox months ago.
She’d survived on her own, discovered things about herself she might never have known if she had stayed, and best of all, she’d found two males who loved her completely.
Mace had suggested she wait in the engine room, but she didn’t want to wait that long. Instead, she was inside the spare cabin, only a few steps from the corridor. The door was open, so all she had to do was walk out, and they would see her.
She bounced on her toes and tried to keep quiet when the hatch finally opened.
“Come on in.” Xaber’s voice carried down the corridor.
“Thank you.”
She smiled as she heard Elias’s voice. He had always been the more personable of her parents.
“Thought I’d bring my partner along. This might be a two-man job. Like I said before, I’m Javid. This is Elias.”
“And I’m Xaber.”
“You running this rig solo?” Javid asked.
“No. My brother Mace is in the galley, and my engineer will be joining us in a second.”
Almost time…
“Why do you need us if you’ve got an engineer on board?” Javid asked.
And that was her cue. Tish stepped into the corridor, beaming. “Because she wanted an expert opinion.”
“Tishna?” Elias gaped at her, relief and confusion written all over his face.
“Hi, Dads.” She ran straight for them, not stopping until she had her arms around them both. Tears streamed down her face as they hugged her back.
“Baby girl! What the fraxx are you doing here? It’s dangerous!” Javid demanded once the initial shock wore off.
“We’re more dangerous,” Mace announced as he came down the corridor to join them.
Elias narrowed his eyes as he looked from Mace to Xaber. “Who exactly are you, and why are you with our daughter?”
“That is a long explanation,” she said.
Mace shook his head. “No, it’s not. We’re her lovers, and we will protect Tishna with every breath in our body.”
Both of her fathers blinked. “Lovers?”
“Yes, Dads. Lovers. As in, I love them. And before you say another word, I will remind you that I am a grown woman who can and will make her own decisions.”
Elias chuckled. “I see a few months on the run hasn’t changed anything. Alright. That answers my first question. Can I ask the second one now?”
“Of course,” she said.
“What the fraxx is going on?”
She told them everything. Then, they moved on to the next part of the plan.
“I want to know why my role always seems to be to wait quietly for something to happen,” Tish complained.
She was, once again, hiding just out of sight. At least this time, Mace and Xaber were with her.
“Because it would spoil the surprise,” Xaber whispered.
“And I really want to see his face when you waltz into view,” Mace added.
Fair point.
They were inside the family shop. Every sight and smell came with a host of memories from her former life.
Even after she’d signed that contract, she’d spent time here.
She’d helped with jobs, caught up on what little gossip there was, and enjoyed the few precious hours she had to herself every week.
Her fathers were both there, moving in restless circles and reaching out to touch each other as they passed. They did not like the plan. More accurately, they didn’t like the fact that she was involved. They wanted her safely tucked away on the True, which would not happen.
For one thing, they needed Hamish so off balance that he said something incriminating. Everyone agreed that if he saw her, he wouldn’t be able to resist bragging about what he’d done. He was cruel and stupid, but even more than that, her former master was arrogant.
Even if she wasn’t key to this step of the plan, she would be there. She needed him to know that, in the end, she had beaten him.
It had been surprisingly easy to get in contact with the insurance company who posted her bounty. Her lovers had simply responded to the contact information on the post. They’d provided their credentials and indicated they had information about her current location.
Once they were connected, a series of carefully phrased inquiries had revealed that the insurance company was more interested in talking to her than having her captured. They had questions about the claim Hamish had filed.
After some negotiations, she did a video statement that detailed her version of events.
It turned out that the company had a branch office in the Drift, so the entire process only took a few days.
Once the company was satisfied, they agreed to suspend the bounty long enough for them to get to Amadox.
They also provided a private contract to Mace and Xaber.
Their job was to bring Hamish to them for questioning, and the bounty for him was even higher than the one they’d placed on her.
No one would take this moment away from her.
The three of them were crouched behind a rack of spare parts. The plan was simple. She’d go out first and try to get a confession. Mace would stay where he was to guard the door in case Hamish tried to bolt. Xaber would circle around, waiting for the right moment to take their mark into custody.
A triple knock on the metal door of the shop made her jump.
“Come in,” Elias called, his expression strained.
Hamish waltzed into the shop with a jaunty step and a leer that made her want to rush out and punch him.
Mace placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. It might have been a warning or a small bit of comfort. Probably a bit of both.
Hamish walked into the middle of the shop floor.
He looked laughably out of place. Her dads both wore their work clothes, and their stained coveralls looked even rougher than usual compared to the finery Hamish had chosen to wear.
The soft fabrics in gaudy patterns were probably all the rage in some other corner of the galaxy.
He stank of cologne, an affectation almost unheard of on a space station where every breath of air was continuously scrubbed and recycled.
Xaber made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snicker. Mace elbowed him in the ribs, and the noise stopped.
“This place isn’t worth much, but it’s probably worth more than your precious little girl. You really willing to trade it to me for her?”
She stood up and walked out of the shadows. “Actually, no. They aren’t. I just didn’t think you’d show up unless we gave you a reason.”
Hamish spun around, his florid face suddenly ashen. “You. You’re here?”
She raised her hands out to her sides. “I’m here. I figured the last place anyone would look for a runaway slave is the place she ran away from.”
Her former master gestured at her fathers, who had both moved a few meters away from the door. “So this is… what? A trap? One call to security and you are all fraxxed. She’s a slave, and you’re hiding her!”
“Not a trap,” Tish lied. “I wanted to have a conversation. You destroyed my life, Hamish. I had less than two years left on my contract. Then you came along and everything went nova. We both know I never stole anything from you. I wasn’t even in your office that day.
You tried to force me to have sex with you, and I hit you over the head.
That’s it. That’s all that happened. There was no theft. ”
Javid spat. “You should have hit him harder. Dead men can’t tell lies.”
Hamish flinched and took a step backward. “I see where she got her temper from.”
“We’re not talking about me right now. We’re discussing you and the lies you told. All I want is for you to admit, out loud, that I didn’t steal anything. I need to hear it. My parents deserve to hear it.”
“Of course I admit it.” He sneered at her, and she had another strong urge to punch him.
“I made up all that shit because I wanted the insurance money. There. I said it. Not that it will make any difference. No one is going to believe these two doddering fools. And you can’t testify against me.
I’m your fraxxing owner. It’s in the rules.
No servant can testify against the holder of their contract. ”
She laughed, long and hard. Of all the responses she’d expected, that hadn’t been on the list. She’d assumed he’d read the contract.
It was obvious he hadn’t, because that was a corporate clause, and she hadn’t signed a corporate contract.
She and Zendi had written up their own version, and it had been far fairer than anything a corporation would offer.
“You’re wrong about that. But as it happens, I don’t need to testify. I’ve got a witness who just recorded your confession.”
“Who?” Hamish demanded.
“That would be me.” Xaber had been in motion the whole time she’d been talking.
He’d stalked through the shadows, recording everything and preparing for this moment.
His grabbed Hamish by both shoulders and shoved him to the deck before slamming a foot down on the small of his back to keep him there.
Mace moved to guard the door, his expression as dark as the void. “Please get back up. That way we’ll have to subdue you forcibly.”
“What is happening?” Hamish wailed. All his bravado was gone. The swaggering jerk who entered the shop had transformed into a whining bug squirming on the deck tiles.
“My name is Xaber. That’s Mace. We’re licensed bounty hunters. And you are coming with us.”
“No! Stop! I’m not the one with a bounty on my head. Take her! There’s been a mistake!”
She grinned down at him. “No mistake. I’ve been in contact with your insurance company. Turns out, they’re more interested in you. My males have a private contract to bring you to them.”
Hamish screamed. No words, just a long, incoherent shriek of rage and fear.
“Fraxx, you, Hamish. You did this to yourself. All you had to do was be a decent human being, and you couldn’t even manage that.”
She walked over to Mace and wrapped her arm around his waist. “I’m going to live a long, happy life.”
“Some life. You’re a slave.”
“Not for long. We’re going to use the bounty on your head to pay off her contract.” Xaber ground his boot into his captive’s spine. “So, thanks for that.”
Javid walked over to Hamish and booted him once in the fleshy part of his thigh. “That’s for what you put us all through.” Then before anyone could react, he stomped on Hamish’s fingers.
As the man squealed in pain, her father leaned down to hiss. “And that is for touching our little girl.”
Mace growled in approval. “I like your dad.”
Javid grinned at her, his eyes bright. “That’s good to hear, big guy.
Because we’re done with this place. If Tishna is going to live on Defiance Station, so are we.
Selling to this fecal stain was never going to happen, but we’ll find someone to take this place off our hands.
That means you’re going to be seeing a lot of us. ”
Despite everything, Tish gave a whoop of joy. A few months ago, she’d lost everything. Now she had it all back and so much more—a home, her family, and two cyborgs who had given her everything… including their hearts.