by Kate Rudolph
“Is she hazing you?” Andie finally asked. “Or trying to─” She cut off that line of questioning, not wanting to reveal too much.
“Or what?” Xandr wasn’t letting her off the hook that easy.
It seemed so conceited to say it out loud, and super paranoid. But Andie had been listening to the intercom lately and it seemed that Xandr mostly got called to the captain when Andie and Xandr were speaking. “It seems like every time we start talking you get called away.” There, that wasn’t exactly an accusation.
Xandr glared at the intercom and he probably would have disintegrated the small box with the power of his mind if it was something his species was capable of. “I never realized how much work Keana did for me,” Xandr admitted, “so it’s a bit of a challenge for both of us to fit into our new roles.” He seemed like he was going to let the other part of her question go, but after a moment he sighed. “I don’t know if she’s doing it on purpose, but I know that I want to find time to spend with you.”
Andie swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat. She felt like a schoolgirl with a crush, and she knew that Xandr returned some kind of feeling for her. A week ago it had been hard to be sure, but while they hadn’t caught much time alone together, they’d both joined the crew for dinner every night and she’d spent plenty of time near him during those group gatherings that she could see he was treating her like someone he wanted to get to know. They played vid games together and shared the details of their favorite media shows. It was nothing too personal, nothing about their histories or their hopes and fears, but they’d touched on that back on Ixilta, and Andie was glad to take the step back. She and Xandr had dived into the deep end with their first meeting. Now it was time for them to remember how to swim in the shallows.
“We’ll find time,” she said. “I’m sure things will settle down eventually.”
Xandr stood and cleared his plate. He turned back toward her and paused for a moment, as if he wasn’t sure how he should say goodbye. But finally he just nodded and took off.
Andie slumped back into her chair. This was kind of ridiculous. Maybe she should just show up at his quarters that night with nothing but a robe on and get this over with. They knew they were attracted to each other, they knew there was a spark, but she couldn’t tell if the weirdly imposed distance was fanning the flames or dampening their connection. She’d never been this confused over a guy before.
Back on Earth things were simple enough. Find a guy, think he was cute, talk to him, kiss him, go on dates, sleep with him, find out he was a cheating loser or a thief, break it off, get drunk, have rebound sex with someone even worse, swear men off, and start all over again the next week. The system wasn’t perfect, but it was one she understood. She’d never had this weird dance where she was forced into such close proximity with a guy she liked but couldn’t do anything about it because of time constraints.
She finished her meal slowly and put thoughts of Xandr out of her mind. She wasn’t going to show up naked at his door, no matter how much her body cried out for release. She couldn’t risk reading the situation wrong when she was still relying on Xandr’s goodwill for her place on the ship. A few chores done for the rest of the crew wasn’t enough to convince them that she was worthy of her spot, and a part of her realized that sleeping with Xandr would complicate things further, even if everything between the two of them ended up perfectly. Did she really want to be known as the woman who’d slept her way onto the crew?
“Crew meeting in fifteen.” Xandr’s voice crackled over the comm and Andie shivered. She wanted that time alone with him, wanted to hear him whisper sweet dirty nothings in her ear as he plunged himself into her. She’d always liked sex, but it had been so long. Opportunities on Ixilta were few and far between. And there’d never been anyone as exciting as Xandr.
Once she was done eating and cleaning up the mess from her meal, Andie headed towards the cockpit. Sayevi always welcomed her company and it was better than scurrying off to her room. She might have waited in the rec area, but she didn’t want to intrude on the upcoming meeting and she was sure Sayevi wouldn’t mind if she hung around the cockpit for however long it took.
The pilot smiled when she saw her and tilted her head towards the captain’s chair. Luckily the crew didn’t stand on that much ceremony and Alleyva didn’t care who sat in her seat if she wasn’t in the room.
“Thank the gods we’ve got a new job,” Sayevi said as Andie made herself comfortable. “There’s only so much maintenance we can do. A week in deep space is way too much.”
“Don’t most deep space flights take months?” Andie asked. Despite being light years from home she had almost no personal experience. Space travel was expensive, and until she’d been abducted her entire life had taken place on Earth. And afterward, she’d been stuck on Ixilta.
“I guess,” Sayevi conceded, “but we’ve got our favorite haunts, you know? This close to the empire we usually stick to more legit shit, but any job that’s legit and lucrative enough to be worth it is highly competitive. And generally boring. So, so, so boring. I hope the captains have something fun for us.”
“Captains?” Andie knew who she was talking about, but it was kind of funny to watch the crew dance around it. They’d have to settle the issue at some point, but there’d been no major issues from the de facto dual leadership the Seventh was under at the moment.
“You know what I mean.” Sayevi scowled. She leaned forward and punched something into one of the dozens of screens in front of her.
“So you’re sure that this is about a job?” There’d been another crew meeting right after Andie had come aboard and that one had been for a job too.
“It’s usually why we have them,” the pilot responded. She unclipped her safety harness and stood. “You ready?”
“I will take care of your baby,” Andie promised solemnly. Then her face cracked into a smile. “And I’ll come running screaming towards you if anything weird starts blinking.”
Sayevi gave her a puzzled look. “No, you’re coming to the meeting. You’re part of the crew, aren’t you?”
Now it was Andie’s turn to be confused. “I am?”
“If you don’t come to the meeting you’ll never know.” She reached down and tugged on Andie’s arm. “Come on.”
Her nerves wanted to keep her in place, but Andie knew that Sayevi was right. She’d never be accepted if she didn’t at least try. She hoped it was okay to leave the ship flying itself, but Sayevi didn’t seem too concerned and as they made their way back to the rec room Andie told herself that it would be fine. This was what she wanted.
She was going to grab her future with both hands and never let go.
“SO SHE CAME.” KEANA sounded impressed when she spotted Andie sitting next to Sayevi on the big couch in the rec room. “I’ll give her credit for determination.”
Xandr grit his teeth and restrained the first response that wanted to leap out. Keana had been making little jabs like this for days, and he knew that responding defensively would only encourage her. For some reason she didn’t like Andie, and even if Andie’s overtures at helping the crew were appreciated, Keana was waiting for something bad to happen. “You wanted her here,” he reminded his captain.
“I thought that was you,” Keana shot back. They were standing off to the side of the room while the rest of the crew made themselves comfortable. Though Keana had given them fifteen minutes to show up, Xandr knew from experience it would take several more to get them to calm down and pay attention. For some reason a band of outlaws wasn’t the most disciplined group.
Keana called them to order and eventually everyone settled down. Xandr took his place at her side and tried not to let it grate too much that he wanted to be the one choosing their jobs and laying them out, assigning roles and setting goals. He’d been doing it for a decade and nothing felt more natural than leading this group. But it was his own lack of discipline that had seen him end up in a dingy cell for months while Keana
had to do her damnedest to keep the group together, and he wasn’t going to pay her back by taking everything she’d earned.
Not yet, at least.
She pulled up the mission details on the holo player and projected them for everyone to see. “We’re hitting a little place called Quordon. They’re an independent planet about two light years out of the official reaches of the Oscavian Empire. That means we can almost guarantee fleet presence, but they shouldn’t be doing anything to protect the planet. Sayevi, we’re going to need to be stealthy.”
“Got it, captain.” The pilot practically vibrated with excitement. She loved a challenge, and staying off of Oscavian radar was the most important thing anyone could ask her to do.
“Quordon’s got a mining operation set up and most of their business is with several minor noble houses in the empire. Shipments go out every third week and our buyer here has guaranteed that the next shipment will need to rely on their backup methods to get off planet as their main transports will be disabled. This is all happening during the local town’s main market week and there will be a ton of people on the ground. Population is mostly Oscavian, but there is enough alien presence that most of us won’t stand out.” All eyes stayed forward, but Xandr was sure everyone was purposely not looking at Malax.
“Local law enforcement will be spread thin between assignments at the market and the shipping. This town has never been hit from space as far as we can tell, and most conflict comes from various mining interests. Sayevi, me, Taryn, Kiran, and Malax will hit the shipment. Xandr and Andie are going to the market to cause a distraction. Hayk will stay on board to deal with any injuries that may arise. Any questions?”
There always were, but Xandr only listened with half an ear. Instead he focused on Andie, who’d gone a bit pale at the news that she’d be included on the mission. But she squared her shoulders and kept her mouth shut, as if she was afraid that saying anything might get her pulled off the assignment. Xandr wanted to reassure her that she’d do great. What they were doing now was far less dangerous than what they’d done together on Ixilta, but he knew she’d have to experience it for herself. The first mission was difficult for everyone.
So he’d just have to make sure that this one went perfectly.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANDIE COULD FEEL THAT something was wrong from almost the minute they set foot on the planet. Sayevi dropped her and Xandr off at a local depot where they wouldn’t raise any eyebrows for showing up from space. But the depot was nearly deserted and the whole area around them seemed two steps from death. When Captain Alleyva talked about a town, Andie had imagined something like Atlanta or Ixilta, a big city filled with millions of people. That was her frame of reference when it came to civilizations, but this little mining town was anything but.
A mag-lev train took them from the depot to the main street and Andie was reminded of those pictures of the Old West that she’d seen in history books. All this place needed was a few cowboys and it would fit right in on the Earth of centuries past. But once they were downtown there were more people than at the depot. It was early in the morning and the vendors for the market were starting to set up, most of them still bleary eyed from waking up early. Andie and the rest of the crew had already been up for hours, but time got funny like that in space.
“I was expecting it to be more crowded,” Andie admitted as she and Xandr strolled through the streets. Their job was to be a distraction... eventually. For most of the morning they were just supposed to walk around and not draw too much attention to themselves. That was something she was great at.
Walking through the streets with Xandr recalled memories that Andie wasn’t sure she knew how to parse. Life on Ixilta had been terrible, a daily grind with low level fear always humming in the background. She’d lost all hope of home, and in a place like that there wasn’t any hope for a future, not one that could be planned or looked forward to. And then Xandr had come into her life like a hurricane, his waves and wind crashing all around her and upending her existence in a way that she’d never expected. Back on Ixilta they’d walked on the streets like this for a few hours. She’d been the one doing most of the scouting then, since he couldn’t risk being seen by the authorities. It had been almost fun when she let herself forget about how afraid she’d been, both of Xandr and potential discovery by Ixiltan guards.
“It should be a bit more lively towards afternoon. There are about a dozen mining towns near here and they all rotate their market days.” They stopped in front of a vendor who seemed to be selling soaps of some kind, or possibly snacks. Andie wasn’t sure and she wasn’t about to make that mistake. Xandr looked different in this role. He was still a hulking giant of an alien, but his face had lost its harshness and he smiled at the Oscavian woman manning the stall and made small talk, inquiring about her family and how often she came to the market. It wasn’t flirting, Andie knew that, but there was still a small part of her that wanted to grab Xandr’s attention and keep it all for herself.
She needed to get a damned grip. She was here to steal things, not on a date.
“I don’t see any security.” Maybe that was what was off about this whole place. Captain Alleyva had made it clear that security was split between the market and the mineral shipment, but maybe that intel was wrong. Or maybe security was much more subtle than Andie was used to looking for.
They continued down the central walkway, meandering from stall to stall and speaking too quietly to be overheard. “There’s a guard station up ahead, the guards are wearing light blue shirts with the stripes on the sleeves. See?” Xandr didn’t exactly nod, but he angled his body so Andie knew exactly where he wanted her to look.
She followed his path and saw the Oscavian guard he was talking about. He had a blaster in a holster at his side but didn’t seem too keen on pulling it out. “Why is everyone Oscavian if this place isn’t part of the empire?” The Oscavian Empire was huge and hungry, gobbling up large chunks of the galaxy and growing by the day. They were just past the edge of the farthest reaches, but she would have thought they were well within the territory looking at all the purple aliens around her.
“Not everyone likes being a part of the empire,” he responded with an odd note in his voice.
Andie wanted to press further, but stopped herself. She got the idea that Xandr didn’t like talking about his past, and that past was definitely related to the Oscavian Empire. This was the first time they’d been alone together for any length of time since making their way onto the ship and she wasn’t going to pass it up. “You know, before I... uh... left home I always imagined that any planet with people on it had to be super technologically advanced. I figured it would be all teleports, flying cars, and skyscrapers. But there isn’t any of that here.”
“Technology is expensive and most planets are restricted to whatever they can produce. Most people, no matter where they’re from, never set foot on a space ship or teleporter. We’re the lucky few who get to see beyond what people were ever meant to see.” He wasn’t looking at her when he spoke and his voice took on a weird cadence, like his accent was shifting to something more formal. But then Xandr shook his head and grinned down at her. “Let’s be glad that not everyone is sitting on the cutting edge, otherwise we’d be out of the job.”
“Yeah.” But Andie wasn’t sure what ‘the job’ actually entailed. Was she really important here? Or could Xandr do this alone? Had he been sent to babysit her? She hoped to all that was holy that she wasn’t slowing the team down. She wasn’t sure how she felt about stealing from these people who were all welcoming smiles as she and Xandr walked through the streets, but it was the path she’d chosen. Besides, they were stealing from the mine, not the people. The mine owner was probably horribly exploitative to his workers. That was how it always seemed to go on Earth.
But she didn’t ask Xandr in case he knew otherwise.
“Comm check,” he muttered and blinked his eyes a second longer than necessary to activate the little dev
ice that was stuck to the skin behind his ear. Andie did the same.
“The skies are clear,” Sayevi said, as loud as if she was standing next to Andie.
“We’ve confirmed that the backup route is active,” said Captain Alleyva.
“The market’s in full swing,” Xandr said casually, as if he and Andie were the only two people in the conversation.
“Hold until my signal,” Captain Alleyva cautioned, and then the line went quiet again.
Andie met Xandr’s eyes. “Want a snack?”
HIS COMPANION LOOKED ready to run away. Andie hadn’t seemed this nervous back when they were actually running for their lives, so he had to wonder what made her so jumpy now. Though it was unlikely that anyone was listening in, they couldn’t speak freely. It would be terrible luck to have a security guard overhear something they’d rather keep quiet. And their comms were on standby and could go live at any moment, and whatever conversation he wanted to have with Andie, he certainly didn’t want an audience.
“Is something wrong?” It was innocuous enough, he hoped. They sat at a small picnic table near several of the food stalls and ate chorwag, a common Oscavian snack that Xandr had bribed people to bring to him when he’d been a child.
Andie picked at the small orbs filled with bittersweet cream that fizzed when they dissolved. “They taste fine, though it’s not what I’m used to.”
He just looked at her with his eyebrows raised.
She tossed one of the balls back into the container that sat between them and slumped forward. “I don’t know. I think I’m just being paranoid. First time jitters.”
“We’ll make it easy on you,” he promised with a grin.
Andie rolled her eyes and then her gaze shifted to him and went molten hot. “Who says I want easy?”
