Chapter 30 Dax
Dax
This had been a mistake. It wasn’t the first time I’d had that thought as we approached this meeting. Wouldn’t be the last.
I stared at the three men—probably pirates—who awaited us at the designated meeting spot, a game room at the back of the bar.
A fourth man had ushered us into the room, then closed the thick metal door behind us, cutting off the noise from the main bar area.
The hum of the lights was the only sound as we studied each other.
If only I’d been able to bring Burn and Finn. We wouldn’t be outnumbered. But Moya’s instructions had been clear. And I couldn’t afford to lose another cargo.
The man in the middle—the one I assumed was Bolton—was maybe six foot and slender. I didn’t for a moment confuse slender with weak. Wiry guys could be deceptively strong. He wore his hair in a bun and a smirk on his lips that made me want to punch him in the face.
The two men on either side of him could have been from Mercenaries-R-Us.
Slightly taller than the middle man, slightly wider.
The only difference between them was a scar that ran across one man’s right cheek.
Their aggressive postures made me want to roll my eyes.
It was possible to be a threat without needing to be so obvious about it.
Busy sizing up our opponents and wishing I had a weapon, I didn’t notice Lacy pull out a chair at the game table until it was too late.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” Lacy said as she pushed her hood back and took a seat at the table. “I’m Lacy. This is Dax. Moya said you could help us with a shipment of stupid shooters.”
“Bolton.” The man in the middle confirmed my guess. He took a seat opposite Lacy. The other two stood at his shoulders, watching me with what I was sure were supposed to be intimidating glances.
Whatever. I took a position behind Lacy. Expression neutral, I crossed my arms over my chest. I had her back and would do whatever it took to keep her safe. Walking hand in hand through the tunnels with her had tugged at something fiercely protective down deep.
“After my conversation with Moya, I asked around about your ship—the Fortuna, isn’t it?” There was that smirk again. “No one has worked with you. In fact, no one on Rigel Naught has ever heard of you. So why would you be looking for such dangerous cargo? This isn’t a kiddie toy.”
The downside of my position was that I couldn’t read Lacy’s expression. On our way to Sub3, she’d asked me to let her do all the talking. Which was fine, except . . . what if there was a time she needed me to speak up? I’d have to trust that she knew what she was doing.
The realization that I did was like a kick to the chest. It couldn’t have come at a worse—or maybe it was better—time. I trusted her to do right by the ship. By me and my crew.
“You’re right,” Lacy said in that smooth, confident way of hers. “Fortuna is new to running cargo. However, she has a capable crew, including someone who has hauled stupid shooters in the past as well as even more dangerous cargo.”
When she paused, Bolton’s eyes flicked up to me. I shook my head.
“Me,” she said. If it bothered her that the men had assumed it was me, nothing in her tone gave it away.
Bolton and his men laughed. “You can’t expect me to believe that a pretty little thing like you would be dealing with such big, dangerous bombs. Where would you learn something like that?”
“Eternal Nocturne,” Lacy said quietly.
Their laughter died the moment she named Orpheus Blazer’s ship.
“No shit,” Bolton said after a long pause. His gaze turned speculative. The same way Moya’s had.
What was I missing?
“Now that you know my credentials, what do you say?” Lacy kept the conversation on business.
“Not so fast,” he said. “Maybe I should do some due diligence. Reach out to Blazer and verify your claim.”
Lacy’s back stiffened. “Be my guest,” she said coolly. She pulled out her comms device and slid it across the table. “You can even use mine. Need the code?”
Damn, she was impressive.
“No, no need.” Bolton’s gaze flickered from her to me again.
I kept my face impassive. I still hated that she had been part of Blazer’s crew. Orpheus Blazer had made his name as a smuggler decades ago. Rumor had it, he worked for whoever could afford him. He wasn’t number one on the space corps’ most wanted list, but he was in the top ten on any given day.
Interestingly, none of the crimes he was wanted for were violent ones. I’d always assumed that was because someone was covering up for him. Now that I knew Lacy had crewed for him, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the truth.
Seemed unlikely. No one had such a long career, had so many people willing to protect him, by charm alone.
But the legend of Orpheus Blazer wasn’t why we were here today. Valuable cargo was, so I tuned back in to the negotiations.
“What’s your cargo max?”
Lacy launched into Fortuna’s specs. I understood most of the stats, but I wouldn’t have been able to rattle the numbers off like that.
I stifled a sigh. Another thing to learn. Maybe I could convince Lacy to become our cargo master if Finn took on the role of mechanic.
Even as that thought took hold, I realized it was unlikely.
Lacy was in her element in the engine room.
Finn had been the one to keep our gear working on missions, but would he be able to keep a ship the size of Fortuna running?
The biggest projects I’d ever seen him work on were repairing vehicles when we were on missions, cobbling together fixes so we weren’t stranded planetside.
“Do we have a deal?” Bolton asked.
“We have a deal.” Lacy extended her hand.
Bolton shook it, then they touched their comms devices together. “That’s the contract,” he said. “Funding will be released upon delivery. Successful delivery.”
“Got it.” Lacy scrolled through something on her comms. “Looks in order. We’ll see your team for loading tomorrow morning.”
She stood from the table. “We have a few other arrangements to make. Pleasure doing business with you.” She nodded to each man then left the room without a backward glance.
I backed out of the room, keeping my eye on Bolton and his crew, still not sure they were trustworthy.
“You’re damned lucky to have her on your ship,” Bolton said before I reached the corridor. “We wouldn’t be doing business with you without her.”
I nodded to show I understood, then met Lacy in the hall. The door closed behind us.
Ducking my head low, I leaned close and asked, “Back to the ship?”
“Yes.”
I placed my hand on the small of her back and escorted her through the crowd.