Chapter 2
Amina
“What are you doing here?”
Amina looked up to find an Ugarian towering over her. This Ugarian was dressed in the same uniform as her, and the way her ears were facing outward and folded down told Amina she was upset.
Sitting up from where she’d been hunched over an open panel, Amina turned the information square in her hand to show the diagnostic data displayed there. “I just finished checking the flow regulator. What are you doing here?”
“You know that’s not what I meant,” Helmen said, crouching down next to her. “You don’t usually do these runs. It’s too close to the Talin Empire.”
Amina rolled her eyes. “Don’t you start! We’ll be in Hulg territory; that’s not even close.”
Helmen’s ears flipped back with frustration. “As your elder cousin and the captain of this ship, I have the power to put you on the next transport back into Ilgorian space.”
“You have the power, but not the crew,” Amina countered. “Gregoris is still recovering from that fall. Hismus is on break—he just got married, remember? Everyone else that could be spared is crewing the new ship. What are you going to do if you send me home, hire a stranger?”
“I could find someone here,” Helmen said, rubbing a hand through the dark blue fur on her head.
Helmen’s fur color was rare among Ugarians—most of them were a lighter blue or shades of brown—but she had the typical build, tall and lean, with a pronounced snout, and long, elegant ears at the top of her head.
Amina raised an eyebrow. “You’d hire a Hulg?”
As expected, her cousin’s ears fluttered back and forth, a clear sign she was thinking about something. Probably trying to figure out how to run the ship without Amina because there was no way she’d ever hire an outsider, even temporarily.
Their ship, Steady, was one of only six that comprised TML Travel and Freight. They were a small, family-run shipping company that didn't hire outsiders. Partly because family came first, but also because they didn’t always work within the boundaries of the law.
“No, I’m not going to hire some Hulg,” Helmen said with a long, frustrated sigh. “But I specifically told Shelsha not to assign any of our human-presenting family on this run.”
That got Amina’s attention. “Why? I’m not in any more danger than the rest of you.”
“Except you are,” Helmen said. “Our next assignment includes transporting a Talin to a remote outpost in Ossiso space.”
That was news to Amina. “We’re traveling inside Ossiso space? Aren’t they in the middle of a civil war?”
“You should be more concerned about the Talin,” Helmen said, a single ear twitching, displaying her amusement. The Talin’s reputation for kidnapping unsuspecting humans was well known to the human communities within the Ilgorian Federation.
“As if any Talin could kidnap me,” she said. Yes, she was human and small compared to other species, but she’d been raised to be tough and resourceful, and she had some surprises no one ever expected. “They must be paying us well if we’re going into a war zone.”
“They are, but we won’t be anywhere near the fighting,” Helmen said. With a grunt, she sat back and leaned against the wall behind her. Amina set the information square down and stretched out her legs with a little groan of relief.
“You don’t sound entirely confident,” Amina said. “What’s going on?”
“Some Talin forces got mixed up with the Ossiso civil war,” Helmen said. “I think the Talin we’re transporting might know someone who knows someone, you know?”
Amina chuckled. “The only reason I understood that was because we grew up together and I speak fluent Helmen.”
Making the snorting sound that was the Ugarian version of laughter, Helmen tried again. “I think a faction within the Talin Empire wants to use the Ossiso war to start their own civil war. The guy we’re transporting is supposed to be able to keep that from happening.”
“One guy is going to stop an entire civil war? That sounds farfetched.”
“I agree, but you know we have to help if we can,” Helmen said.
Their small shipping and transport company had been started hundreds of years ago with one purpose: help where possible.
Occasionally that meant breaking some laws, but that never bothered Amina. She loved working for TML Travel and Freight because they always did the right thing in a universe that rarely cared if anyone lived or died.
Along with doing good, the risk could be thrilling, not that she’d tell Helmen or anyone else.
That was a quick way to get labeled “dangerous to herself” and sent home.
Ismas had made a few bad calls, put himself in one too many dire situations, and was reassigned to work at their homebase on Ineeko.
Thinking of Ismas made her lean forward and put a hand out to pat Helmen’s leg. “Maybe after this run you and I could both take a little vacation. When was the last time you had a break?”
Helmen blinked a few times and let the tips of her ears droop in confusion, acting as if having difficulty processing Amina’s words. “What do the words vacation and break mean?”
Amina chuckled and gave Helmen’s leg a little slap before sitting back up.
“Let me enlighten you. We could dock the ship at Dilsin Station, then all of us could jump on a transport over to Oristia. I’m sure the entire crew would love to spend a few days swimming in the ocean, napping in the sun, and eating food that doesn’t come out of the reconstitutor. ”
Helmen sighed. “That sounds really nice. What we’re getting paid for this run isn’t that much, but we’ve been promised a massive bonus if the guy is successful and we get him back alive.”
Amina raised an eyebrow. “Is there any doubt he won’t survive his meeting?”
“My contact didn’t say anything directly, but I got the impression the hard part is going to be talking him into getting back on the ship when everything's over,” Helmen said.
“Is it because of you?” Amina asked. “We keep telling you regular bathing won’t make you shrink.”
Helmen let out an Ugarian laugh-snort and kicked one of Amina’s legs with hers. “I’m mystified as to why no one has asked you to marry into their family yet. You’re so sweet and charming.”
Pretending the kick hurt, Amina brought her leg up and rubbed the spot Helmen had brushed with a dramatic sniff.
“Hey!” Amina said. “I’m going to tell the moms you’re hitting me!”
Ugarian families often had multiple husbands and wives. They were large, complicated, and protective of each other. Several years after Amina’s mother died from postpartum complications, her father had married into an Ugarian family.
She’d only been a few years old and suddenly had dozens of siblings and hundreds of cousins, including Helmen, whose family lived next door. It had been the best childhood!
When Helmen went to work for TML there was no doubt Amina was going with her. They’d grown up best friends, and Helmen wasn’t allowed to go off adventuring without her!
When they were teenagers they’d dubbed the mothers in both families the moms because they almost acted like a unit where Helmen and Amina were concerned. You’d think they didn’t have dozens of other children to worry about!
Threatening each other with the moms happened at least once a conversation.
“Careful or I’ll tell the moms you were flirting with a Hulg,” Helmen countered.
“I was only flirting to get close enough to copy the keycodes off his information square,” Amina said, trying hard not to remember how gross the guy had been when pressed close to her. “Those are going to be invaluable one day.”
Helmen jerked up, her eyes going wide. “Wait, was that what you were doing? I thought you were proving a point.”
“What point? That I can control my gag reflex when I smell something horrible?”
“No! I thought you were reminding me you can have sex with anyone you want to,” Helmen said.
“Remember, we had that conversation because the moms were worried you’ve never been in a real relationship.
You said you’d dated a few people, and I said you had fun with them but never dated anyone.
Then you said the moms better not bug you about it or you’d bring a Hulg home. ”
Amina shook her head. “I was flirting with the Hulg because he was a general inter-planetary councillor, which meant he had all the best access codes. Did you see all the coins on his hat?”
“Oh, I thought they were decorations,” Helmen said.
“They mark governmental rank. Helmen, how could you spend so much time in Hulg territory and not know that?”
Helmen crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “I know what I need to know. I’ve got all their trade and travel laws memorized.”
Amina felt bad for upsetting Helmen. The Ugarian had to fill the role of navigator and captain, which meant she didn’t have time to focus on nonessential things.
“Maybe the moms should be more worried about you,” Amina murmured.
Helmen’s ears went sideways and then all the way down, an indication Amina had actually upset her. “That’s a mean thing to say. Not knowing some coins on a hat is important doesn’t mean I can’t do my job.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Amina said, feeling doubly guilty now. “I meant the moms should make you rest more. You’re the best captain we’ve got, but that means you never take breaks. I’m worried about you.”
Her cousin’s ears fluttered, telling Amina the Ugarian was flustered.
“I’m fine,” Helmen said, looking away from Amina. “I can do my job.”
“I wasn’t implying that you couldn’t,” Amina said. “But let’s make the vacation to Oristia happen.”
Helmen’s shoulders relaxed and she met Amina’s gaze. “If we get the bonus, we can take an entire footfull of vacation.”
Footfull was an Ugarian term for the number 18. No one knew where the phrase came from, but eighteen days off sounded amazing.
“I’ll make sure we get that bonus even if I have to hogtie the passenger and carry him back on board myself!”
Amina’s information square chimed. She picked it up to see a message from their youngest crewmate.