Chapter 13 #2
Mal barely resisted rolling her eyes to the ceiling. “Boys. We’re asking them for help, so I suggest we all try and be nice.” She waved down a server. “Ales, please. For everyone.”
With a nod, the woman strolled away. Moments later, they all held icy mugs filled with dark, frothy ale.
Dathan took a sip of his. “Mmm, nothing quite like Beduan ale.”
“It’s always smooth,” Justyn agreed. “I like smooth.”
Xander simply ignored his drink, his focus on Dare.
The tension had dropped a notch, so Mal waded in. “Dare, we know Technis passed here several months ago. We were hoping you might know where it went or better yet, where it is now.”
Dare sipped his drink, his gaze thoughtful. “This is important.”
“Yes.” She glanced at Xander’s closed face. “Xander’s planet is under attack, and something was stolen, something important. He needs to find it in order to save Centax.”
Justyn whistled. “Centax under attack?”
“Who’s dumb enough to attack Centax?” Rynan asked.
“A Centaxian on a power trip,” Xander answered darkly.
Dare sipped his drink. “So this ‘something important’ is on Technis?”
“Yes,” Xander said.
“Technis is not a nice place.” Dare took another measured sip of his ale.
“You’ve been there?”
“No. Heard from people who have.”
And Mal knew Dare heard lots of interesting things. Perks of being a convoy master. “We know its surface isn’t hospitable—”
“I’m not talking about its environment.” Dare lifted his drink and looked at Justyn.
Justyn tapped his fingers on the table in a quick rhythm. “Technis is run by a guy called Forge. He calls himself a technomancer.”
“A what?” Mal asked.
“Technomancer. He’s quite proficient with tech and engines. He apparently makes syndroids. Not like these.” Justyn gestured to the bar. “I’m talking big, old-fashioned robots. Rough and raw. He enjoys having them fight each other…and sometimes his guests.”
“Nice.” Dathan took a big swig of his drink.
“Do you know where Technis is?” Xander asked.
“It passed by here four months ago,” Dare said. “On our last convoy run, we spotted it by Rabati Han.”
“Rabati Han?”
“A cavanserai. A small moon that offers respite to convoys. It’s a few hundred million kilometers out of Galaxy’s Edge.”
“Any idea where Technis is now?” Mal asked. Please have an answer.
“I can make a few educated guesses.” Rynan pulled out his palm-sized Sync. Seconds later he expanded it so it covered most of the table. Everyone moved their drinks out of the way.
The screen lit up with a starmap.
“Here’s Galaxy’s Edge.” The space station was clearly visible.
“Here’s the edge of charted space.” Rynan traced one long finger across a curved blue line.
“And here’s our main convoy route.” Another line, this one bright yellow and not straight at all.
“This is Rabati Han and where we last saw Technis.”
Xander leaned forward, brow creased. “Based on its trajectory from Galaxy’s Edge, it’s likely headed in this direction.” He added a new line linking the known locations of Technis.
Dare shrugged. “Maybe. But rogue planets are notoriously difficult to track. They wander, get affected by other space objects, change direction, and can end up anywhere.”
“It gives us an area to search at least.” Xander circled what he’d obviously calculated to be the likely area Technis was located.
Dare studied the area. “That’s a two month trip at interstellar speed.”
Mal’s chest hitched. So long?
Xander slammed a fist onto the table. “My planet doesn’t have that much time.”
“There’s a way to cut the trip down to four days,” Justyn said.
“How?” Xander demanded.
“You can take the Via Maris Bridge.”
“No way,” Nik said. “That bridge is out of charted space. The bridge portals aren’t maintained by the GED like the ones in the central systems.”
Mal had never travelled on a bridge. There weren’t too many stable versions of the distortions of space-time that could be used to take shortcuts between two known points. They required correctly calibrated bridge portals that oriented a ship entering the bridge.
Rynan crossed his arms over his chest. “The portals are maintained, by deep space convoy members.”
Dathan snorted. “Right, by hacks who fancy themselves bridge engineers like the Galactic Engineering Division. Who knows where you’d end up taking that bridge!”
Rynan’s eyes narrowed. “There are plenty of qualified people out here. We don’t need the GED or any other central government pushers poking their interfering noses into our business.” He shot the off-duty Patrol officers at the bar a significant look.
Justyn grinned. “Oh, I don’t know. A few of them have quite nice noses. I don’t mind them attempting to keep the law and order out here on the Edge, as long as I can outrun them.”
Rynan shook his head. “Just because you have a certain female Patrol captain gunning for you doesn’t mean the rest of us enjoy their unwanted presence.”
Justyn gave a mock shiver. “The delicious Captain Sander is welcome to chase me anytime.”
Dare raised a brow. “You’ve been taking her on a merry chase for three years. The last time she caught you, she almost found your illegal shipment of Gluk’sol wine. She would have happily thrown you in the brig.”
Justyn grinned and let out a gusty sigh. “Yep.”
“Uh, that was a lovely story, but can we get back on track?” Malin asked.
“We’ll take the bridge,” Xander said.
“Wait a minute, we need to discuss this—” Dathan said.
Mal shook her head at her cousin. “Not now, Dath.” She turned back to Dare. “Technis and this Forge…what else do you know about him?”
“He’s insane,” Dare said.
Justyn ran a finger over the condensation on his glass. “And he likes to party. When he’s anywhere near civilization, he likes to throw these balls and invites people he finds interesting, or wants to kill. He gives the coordinates to Technis, and well, his parties are legendary for their excess.”
Suddenly Justyn trailed off, his gaze looking over Mal’s shoulder. He leaped to his feet.
Mal looked back and saw a tall woman in a Patrol uniform entering Moonrakers.
Wow, she was stunning. She clearly had a reptilian in her family tree—her caramel-colored skin shone with a golden sheen, her shapely head was bald, and a gorgeous, bronze scale pattern was visible on her forehead and cheekbones.
Mal envied her the toned curves that filled her navy-blue uniform.
The woman scanned the bar, her attractive face dominated by yellow eyes with dark, elongated pupils, and a generous mouth.
When she spotted Justyn, she stiffened and strode his way. Her long legs ate up the distance.
“Phoenix,” she growled.
Mal blinked. The woman also had a beautiful voice. Deep, smoky, and as smooth as expensive whiskey. She sounded like she should be singing in a jazz club, not working Patrol.
If she were a ship, she’d be a modified Trandlan scoutship. All spit and polish on the outside, but with secret modifications that gave the unexpected.
Justyn smiled and lifted his arms up, palms flat. “Captain Sander, a pleasure seeing you here—”
“Cut the crap,” the captain bit out.
“Now if I’m not mistaken, you’re off-duty and I’m not currently engaged in anything…of the less legal variety.” Justyn’s smile stayed in place.
The tension pumping between them was so thick Mal felt like she could reach out and touch it.
“It was you in that little ship of yours that I just chased at the quadrant border three hours ago. You were carrying illegal weapons, my sensors picked them up.”
Justyn tilted his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Captain Smooth.”
At the nickname, Sander’s yellow eyes narrowed. “You are full of shit, Phoenix.” Then the tension dropped away and the tiniest hint of a smile flickered. “And you’re right, I’m off-duty and need a drink. It’s been a hellish day.”
Justyn leaped forward. “Let me buy you one.” His grin was set to megawatt charming as he sidled up beside the captain. “I think maybe I owe you.”
Captain Sander snorted. “You owe me about a hundred, Phoenix.”
Mal knew that out here on the edge, the lines between the law and those who skirted it got a little blurred. Besides, it was an unwritten rule that in a bar like Moonrakers, rank and file were left at the door.
The captain glanced at the table. “Sorry to interrupt.” Her gaze touched on Justyn’s brothers and she inclined her head. “Dare. Rynan.”
“Nissa,” Dare acknowledged. “Have that drink. It makes him easier to handle.”
“He drives us to drink as well,” Rynan added.
Nissa Sander’s wide mouth moved into a real smile. “And here I thought he reserved it just for me.”
“Captain Smooth, I keep a special brand of crazy just for you.”
She rolled her eyes at Justyn before spinning and heading for the bar. The captain’s wry “Why am I not surprised” drifted back and made Malin smile.
Xander shifted impatiently. “Can we get back to Forge?”
Dare sipped his ale. “Sure.”
“What else do you know, apart from his party-planning skills?” Mal pulled a face. “We aren’t planning to party with him.”
“Well, I heard this morning that invites went out for a ball.” A small smile played around Dare’s lips. “It includes the exact coordinates of Technis and a way to get through Forge’s pretty slick security.”
Mal felt Xander’s muscles tense.
“You have an invite?” Xander asked.
“No.”
Mal’s shoulders drooped.
Dare’s smile widened. “But I know someone right here on Galaxy’s Edge who got one.”