I sighed, again.
I could always run again. Sure, I’d be a lot poorer, but at least it was within reach.
“You’d be a lot deader, too.” Mack’s voice rolled over me, and I jolted out of my seat and two steps away from it before I got a hold of myself.
He was leaning on the doorframe to my cabin, having opened the door without me noticing. I just stood and stared at him. I mean, what the fuck was there to say?
“You could try asking me for a job,” he suggested. “Pay and conditions are reasonable.”
“I didn’t think... I didn’t...”
“Truth is, you’re so used to help not being there, you just don’t bother to ask, anymore.”
He was almost right.
Truth was I was so used to not having help, to having to do everything on my own, that any assistance, no matter how well intended completely overwhelmed me, and I never knew what to do with any help I got—or the appropriate way to say thanks.
“That’s really sad, Cutter.”
“Shut up, Tens.” Mack and I formed a chorus, but Tens was not subdued.
“You make a lovely couple, by the way.”
This time I let Mack answer.
“Don’t make me come up there.”
Tens snickered, but the comms went silent, and Mack turned back to me. To be honest, I wasn’t sure that was any better.
“Well?” Mack said, and I did what I did best.
“So, do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Have any vacancies on crew?”
Mack looked at me, and then smirked.
“I have a great position in Bio,” he said. “The recycling tanks need constant cleaning.”
It wasn’t exactly the offer I was expecting, and I stared. The smirk faded from Mack’s face.
“That was a joke, Cutter. I always have vacancies for folk like you.”
“Like me?”
And the smirk came back.
“Shit-for-brains troublemakers.”
“Well, if you put it like that...” I said, and couldn’t help asking, “Is there a contract?”
“Do you want one?”
I didn’t know, so I didn’t answer, but Mack waved me towards the computer.
“Give Odyssey their money, before your time runs out. Chance like this doesn’t come along very often.”
“But I won’t be able to pay you,” I whispered, and he scowled.
“Pay me for what?”
“For the room, ammunition... you know.”
“I pay for what we use on missions,” Mack said. “That way I have veto rights on what you can take along.”
Oh. Well, that made sense. Mack made most control freaks look easy going.
“Hey!”
“And accommodation?”
“It’s part of the running cost of this kind of ship,” he said. “I pick my personnel, house them, transport them, and feed them. It’s part of the price of making sure they’re available when I need them to be.”
“What if they want leave?”
“They ask,” Mack said. “If I can afford to spare them, they get a break.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, Cutter. Just like that. I’m not as much of a control freak as I seem.”
“What if they don’t come back?”
“Then I retrieve them.”
So much for him not being a control freak.
“Even if they don’t want to return?”
“In that case, I leave them until I can’t do without them.”
“But you’ll still go find them.”
“Yes, Cutter, each and every time.”
Author’s Notes
Mack ‘n’ Me: Blaedergil’s Host was meant to be the first book in this series...but when I got to writing it, it turned out there was a whole novel that came before it, so I wrote that first and discovered where Cutter actually came from. You know, before the flash fiction that created her, Mack and a goodly portion of their crazy universe.
As in, all of it.
Although I didn’t know the pieces were linked together at the time most of them were written. You’d have thought that made it didn’t, and when some of the stories decided to inform me they were linked? Man, now I actually have to keep track of them, and do things like put the little devils on a timeline, and...
You know? It’s kinda fun.
I think, just maybe, I have one of the very best jobs in the world.
You will note that this book was originally published under a different cover. This edition has gone through another round of editing to bring it up to my current speed, and was held back from re-release until this series was complete.
I have also included a list of my other, available or soon to be available, work in the next few pages, and thank you for keeping me company on my writing journey. I’d like to say I know how Cutter’s journey is going to end, but since there’s another series idea spinning around in my head, I don’t—just as I don’t know how the years ahead are going to turn out.
We can only hope for the best, and do our best to make our tiny corners of this world the best places they can be. I wish you all the best for whichever part of the year you’re facing and for your journey in the years to come.
The next book in this series is already available for pre-release, but you can find more news of my work, or follow me as I explore my hobbies or create more stories, at any one of the following locations:
Blogspot: http://cmsimpson.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMSimpsonWriter/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/cmsimpsonauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/simpsoncolleen1
Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCjOK2SvOHoT_ru9rlnlVS-g
Linked In: https://au.linkedin.com/public-profile/in/c-m-simpson-8279344a
The cover art for this book was created by Moonchild Lilja and you can find her work at fantasybookdesign.com
Other Work by C.M. Simpson
The Magic Beneath Paris (with Michael Anderle)
#1 Trading into Shadow
#2 Trading into Darkness
#3 Trading Close to Light
#4 Trading by Firelight
#5 Trading by Shroomlight
#6 Trading into Daylight
#7 Trading into Stormlight
#8 Trading to the Deeps
Mack ‘n’ Me ‘n’ Odyssey
#1 Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins
#2 Mack ‘n’ Me: Blaedergil’s Host
#3 Mack ‘n’ Me: Arach
#4 Mack ‘n’ Me: The Transporter’s Favor
#5 Mack ‘n’ Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9
#6 Mack ‘n’ Me: Diplomacy 101
C.M.’s Collections
#1 365 Days of Flash Fiction
#2 365 Days of Poetry
#3 A Collection of Dragons
#4 Tales of Mack ‘n’ Me
I also have work in the following publications:
The Expanding Universe: Volume 4
Dragonscales Anthology: Volume 2
About C.M. Simpson
Born in Far North Queensland, I ended up being dragged over most of the state before the age of ten—and then into the Northern Territory and back, so that I attended four different primary schools and two high schools by graduation. In a country that inspires the imagination, and in towns that made me dream of worlds beyond my own, I started writing early, and reading voraciously.
In high school, I discovered writers like Anne McCaffrey, Harry Harrison, John Christopher, Douglas Hill and Alan Dean Foster. They kept me company—and semi-sane—through most of my young adult years, and beyond. I’ve done time in the Royal Australian Air Force, worked as a governess and teacher, and been an analyst, and, all that time, I kept writing, and exploring both my worlds and those I was privileged to be invited to share. Now, you can find my stories in ebook form at most of the major distributors. Thank you, for sharing this part of my journey with me. If you
would like to share more of it, you can find my blog, here: https://cmsimpson.blogspot.com/, or sign up for my newsletter. Hope to see you there.
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