On a Barbarian World (Phoenix Adventures #7)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

It was the prettiest thing she’d seen the entire trip.

Aurina Phoenix touched the controls of her small scoutship and whizzed past a small, rocky moon. Her gaze was on the large gas giant ahead. It was covered in stunning bands of blues and purples. She smiled. Beautiful.

But her destination was beyond the planet. She spotted the deep-space convoy, and her smile widened. It was a rag-tag line of starships of all shapes and sizes. A group heading off into uncharted space, pitting themselves against the unknown in the hope of finding a new life.

She zoomed closer and adjusted the Ariel’s course to the largest ship at the head of the convoy.

The Sky Nomad. Home.

Some might argue that a starship couldn’t be considered home, but for Aurina, that was definitely the case.

It was certainly a world away from what passed as “home” during her childhood.

Her fingers stilled on the controls. Yep, she’d come a long way from the overcrowded, dirty manufacturing world where she’d been born.

As the deep-space scout for the Phoenix Convoy, she got to see some incredible things. On every trip she discovered something new. Most people would think she had the best damn job in the galaxy. Or technically, out of the galaxy, since they were beyond the galaxy’s edge.

They’d be right.

She figured life didn’t get any better.

So why, despite being happy to see her brothers, did she feel like something was…missing?

Aurina wrinkled her nose and shook off the melancholy feeling. She had an interesting job she was good at, a bank account filled with e-creds, and the opportunity to frequently indulge her little obsession—collecting shiny, sparkly gemstones.

Okay, so she didn’t get to wear her gorgeous jewels much out here in the middle of space.

She wiggled her toes in her practical boots and glanced down at her dark-blue flight suit.

It didn’t matter, she loved collecting polished stones and shiny gems. Some she found herself on planets out here in the middle of nowhere, and others she bartered for ferociously.

After her next bonus, when they got back to the Galaxy’s Edge space station, she was nabbing herself a Lumina sapphire she’d spotted in the station’s jewelry shop on her last stop.

“Ariel, I’ve opened the hangar bay door for you.” The smoky, feminine voice filled the cockpit. “Welcome back.”

Aurina adjusted her controls, aiming the Ariel for the hangar bay on the Sky Nomad. She could see the door was open, and caught a shimmer of the purple huma-field that covered the entrance—keeping the atmosphere in the ship, but allowing solid objects to pass through.

“Thanks, Nissa.”

Nissa was the Sky Nomad’s pilot and captain. She was also the wife of the youngest of Aurina’s brothers, Justyn. “Did I miss anything while I was away?”

“Only Dare reprimanding one convoy idiot who decided to head off on a little joy ride to see a volcanic world up close and personal.” Nissa snorted. “Your big bro can be scary.”

Yes, he could. Dare Phoenix, Convoy Master extraordinaire, had control down to a fine art, especially when it came to obeying the convoy rules.

His rules. Anyone who stepped out of line was swiftly reprimanded.

Out here, they all depended on each other for their survival, and one wrong move could spell disaster.

“Sorry I missed it. Okay, I’m on approach now.”

“Aurina, you’re coming in too fast.” This voice was deep, masculine, and terse.

Aurina rolled her eyes. Rynan, her middle brother, was in charge of convoy security.

She liked coming in a little fast, while Ry liked everyone to follow his safety rules to the letter.

He was all about minimizing risk. Even in his personal life.

He never let the same woman spend more than one night in his bed, and never let emotions get in the way.

“I hear you, Ry.”

“So why aren’t you slowing down?”

“You’re breaking up a bit there. Say again.” She grinned. He really hated when she did that. She touched the controls and did a slight course correction.

She whizzed inside, activated the reverse thrusters, and slowly touched down in her usual spot. Well away from Rynan’s prized security cutter, the Pathfinder. Stars help her if she ever scratched his pride and joy.

The bay also held several shuttles, Justyn’s new runnership, the Smooth Trader, and a few personal ships owned by people who had taken passage aboard the Sky Nomad for the convoy trip.

She unstrapped her harness, and pushed out of the cockpit.

She loved her little ship, she liked flying, but she also liked to stretch her legs.

Occasionally, she felt a twinge of claustrophobia.

Nothing drastic, just that buried urge to breathe fresh air, see the sky overhead, and have space around her.

She certainly hadn’t had much of it on the overpopulated Vashon V where she’d grown up.

She and her mother had lived in a tiny, shitty box of an apartment.

The streets had been teeming with people just like them—too busy working in the factories to enjoy life, and only making enough to scrape by.

Aurina slapped a hand against the electronic lock to open the ship door. She hurried out, breathed in a lungful of recycled air, and left her crappy memories behind. The past was the past, and she’d left it in the dust years ago.

Rynan was waiting for her, arms crossed over his broad chest. He was fit, muscular, with a rugged face, dark hair, and a scowl. “There is nothing wrong with your comms. You can’t take risks when you land. You not only risk yourself, but the lives of everyone aboard?—”

Aurina smiled and sashayed up to him. She smacked a kiss to his cheek. “Missed you, too.”

“Aurina—”

“Ry, how many times have I landed the Ariel in here?”

His scowl deepened. “I don’t have the precise number. Thousands.”

“How many times have I come in too fast?”

He heaved out a breath. “Thousands.”

She patted his muscled bicep. “See my point?”

“Yes, but I still don’t like it.” He grabbed her strawberry-blonde braid and tugged it.

That was Ry’s way of saying hi, love you, and you’re forgiven. He wasn’t a man of many words. “Come on.” She looped her arm through his and started out of the hangar. “I need to debrief you guys, then I want a shower.” She sniffed herself. “I smell like I’ve been dancing all night in a sauna.”

“You smell fine.”

Men. “Ha, you would say that.” Her face turned serious. “I do need to head back out shortly, though.”

“You just got back.”

“I didn’t make it as far as I wanted, and I know we need a planet to land on to rest and take on supplies. I haven’t found one yet, but a couple of possibilities did show up on long-range scans. I want to get back there and take a better look.”

“Can’t keep you grounded for long, can we?”

She winked at him. “Too much to see, my brother. Why would I want to be stuck in one place?”

“Maybe because you find ship-board life a little confining. You like rocks and animals and plants. The kinds of things you don’t find on a starship.”

She frowned. Damn, the man was too perceptive sometimes. “I love being a part of the convoy.”

He patted her arm. “I never said you didn’t.

Some people are made for life in deep space, for others, it’s just a short-term adventure.

Besides, someday, some guy is going to finally get a good grip on you…

and I don’t mean those young, pretty boys you occasionally play with at the space stations.

Someone you can’t wriggle away from with a wink and that beautiful smile of yours. ”

Aurina tossed her braid over her shoulder and shook her head. “That will never happen. I don’t need some man bossing me around, getting me knocked up, then swaggering off to his next conquest.”

They turned into the corridor heading to the bridge.

Ry was quiet for a moment. “You know it isn’t always like that. Look at Justyn and Nissa.”

Yes, those two were completely in love and they…

fit. Justyn clearly respected Nissa’s skills as a captain and pilot.

They seemed to give each other the support the other needed to flourish.

It was the first time she’d seen a relationship like that.

Growing up, she’d seen worn-out women like her mother, juggling work, raising children, and taking care of their homes, while the men headed off for drinks at the pub, or who just took off and never came back.

Nope, Justyn and Nissa were the exception to the rule.

The uncomfortable sensation in her gut made her voice sharp. “This is all impossibly rich coming from you. You are hardly the person I’d listen to for relationship advice.”

Rynan grunted.

“Maybe some woman will sweep you off your feet and convince you that you want to keep her around for good?”

Another grunt.

Aurina knew that was Ry’s “not going anywhere near that subject” response.

“Or maybe you’ll see what makes you happy is right under your nose.”

Ry blinked, staring down at her with his silver-gray gaze.

The man was crazy smart, but he could be obtuse when it suited him. She shook her head. “Here we are.” The double doors to the bridge slid open with a hiss, and she strode inside.

The Sky Nomad was a large ship, but it didn’t require a huge crew.

Her brothers had decked it out with some of the best tech available.

As a result, the spacious bridge was manned only by a small group, and in the center of that, seated in the captain’s chair, sat Nissa Phoenix—formerly Captain Nissa Sander of the Galactic Security Services Patrol.

She’d spent several years patrolling the galaxy’s edge, keeping law and order, and usually chasing Justyn’s smuggling ass around.

She’d never caught him, but eventually, after years of being in love with her, he’d caught her.

Now, she was captain of the Sky Nomad, which had freed Dare up to be an even bossier convoy master.