“I love how you make it my fault that you’re a big, snooping, pathetic eavesdropper.”
“Pathetic?”
She swatted him on the chest. “Extremely so.”
“What do you think…” His contemplative expression returned to his face again.
“Yes?” she prompted, wanting so badly to urge him to choose a route that wouldn’t involve taking on the Alliance, that wouldn’t force her to choose sides, that wouldn’t force billions of people to choose sides.
“I felt good about what we did on Fourseas.”
“Yes?” she said again, remembering how Masika had said something similar. Jelena, too, was pleased that they’d been helpful there in the end.
“As I’ve observed numerous times, the Alliance hasn’t done much for the border worlds.”
Jelena braced herself, expecting scathing remarks about the fact. He would no doubt point out that the empire had done more to take care of those worlds, whether their presence there had been wanted or not. The rule had been draconian, but people had experienced more security, and Jelena was beginning to believe there had been less true poverty and hunger. But the Alliance was only ten years out from fighting a massive war. It just didn’t have the resources to police the outer half of the system.
“The Alliance might not even care that much if someone stepped in and tried to create an empire—or maybe a federation—out in the border worlds,” Thor continued.
“Oh?” Jelena sat up straighter.
“The mafia bosses, petty dictators, and exploitive independent nations might protest, but if someone came along with an army behind him and some momentum in his favor, and if he made a few allies along the way, maybe he could establish a government that would make those planets and moons better places to live.”
“I like this idea.”
“And then once he had them all united, if the Alliance looked at him cross-eyed, he could always lead his planets into war against them.”
“I liked the idea up to that part.”
His eyes glinted.
“You’re teasing me, I hope,” Jelena said. “Because up until that last, it sounded like a noble goal.”
“I always wanted to be noble.”
She started to make a joke, but realized that even though he was smiling faintly, he wasn’t joking. He meant it. Assassinating people was a strange way to start a quest for nobility, but maybe it had made sense to him. He’d been born as royalty. They were all half-spaced anyway. All that inbreeding.
“I think I would have preferred a joke,” he muttered, eyes closing to slits.
She smiled at him. “You have my support, inbred spaceman or not.”
“Oh? Are you going to fly me around while I gather my army and convince petty tyrants that they want to join a federation under my guidance?”
“Well, I’ll be flying freight. I suppose we can visit planets with petty tyrants. If we get past those Starseers waiting for us to come out of the asteroid belt.”
“I’ve already taken care of that,” Thor said, “in case you didn’t notice that we were getting close and there weren’t any alarms going off.”
“I did wonder why they weren’t swooping in to detain—or annihilate—us.”
“I told their captain that I’d give the artifact to that Litton woman and that you would drop her off, presumably along with Abelardus and Brody, on Dalaran 5.” He didn’t mention Zhou, and Jelena chose not to bring him up. “I told them Brody was responsible for the deaths of their Starseers, but if they insisted on blaming the Snapper, that I was in command of the ship at the time.”
“But—”
He halted her protest by pressing a finger to her lips. Jelena lifted her eyebrows and was on the verge of telling him that a finger wouldn’t shut her up, but he spoke again first.
“I don’t want you to be ostracized by the Starseer community. Also, I don’t want Leonidas to hunt me down like a Delgottan Cheetah stalking and pouncing on a rothrat because he thinks I got you into trouble.”
“Leonidas knows well how good I am at getting myself into trouble.”
“I believe that.”
“Thanks. I think.”
Thor smiled and lowered his finger.
“You’ll actually give the artifact to the Starseer woman?” Jelena looked down at the glowing thing. He’d been so obsessed with getting it. Had the destruction of the bacteria changed all that for him? Even if he decided to fly his colony ships to another star, surely such a tool would serve him well along the way.
Or—she frowned at him—had he been forced into giving it up in exchange for the Snapper’s safety? For keeping the Starseers from coming after the ship? After her.
She opened her mouth to ask, but he shook his head and rushed to speak first again. “It would be too tempting in my hands. I’m not certain that handing it over to the Starseer government is the best thing to do, but I judge that it’s the least unappealing of my options right now.”
He nodded once, as if to say the discussion was over. She wasn’t sure if she believed him fully, and she hoped he wasn’t giving up a valuable tool just to keep her safe. She also hoped that handing it over to the government didn’t mean that it might somehow end up in Brody’s hands. She did appreciate him caring about her and wanting to keep her safe.
“Always,” he said quietly, his eyes intense, almost fierce, as they met hers.
The expression made her insides quiver, and she remembered the brush of his lips on her neck, the warmth of his breath, the masculine scent of him.
“Thanks,” she said, and it seemed wholly inadequate.
She touched her hands to the sides of his face, feeling the roughness of his unshaven jaw, and kissed him. She meant it to be a quick thank-you-for-caring-and-for-changing-your-plans-to-make-war-on-the-Alliance kiss, especially when she sensed his surprise, but he recovered quickly, returning the kiss and lifting a hand to the back of her head.
Once again, his raw emotions tumbled over her, but they weren’t full of pain and regret this time. His keen interest and desire surrounded her, and she sensed that his words hadn’t been true, that he’d wanted this since he first saw her through the flames in the trees on Upsilon Seven. Her body heated in response, her pleasure startling her with its intensity, and she pushed her hands past his ears, curling her fingers into his hair and deepening the kiss.
A knock sounded at the hatch, and Thor jerked back, releasing her.
Jelena blinked. She wouldn’t have minded ignoring the knock and staying where they were. Though admittedly, for kissing times, she would prefer a better nightlight than that artifact. Healing device or not, it was still creepy to her.
“It’s the Starseer woman,” Thor said, picking up the artifact and rolling to his feet. “She’s in contact with her ship, and if she thinks I’m going to go back on my word and hide this in a vault somewhere, they’ll swoop down on us like hawks.”
“Right.” Jelena stood up, too, wondering if Thor was going to acknowledge the kiss or pretend it hadn’t happened.
He had locked his mind down, and she couldn’t get anything from him now. Even though he’d only shared his emotions for a few moments, she missed the insight into him. The intimacy. The truth. Had he realized he was sharing so much, or had it slipped out?
Thor opened the hatch. “Lady Litton.”
Without another word, he offered the artifact.
The woman stared at it, then at him for a long moment before accepting it. “Thank you for honoring your word.”
“Watch out for Brody.”
“I will. He’s a chasadski.” She looked at Jelena, as if everyone had known that fact for ages. “He never should have been allowed onto your ship,” Litton added.
Jelena folded her arms over her chest. “If anyone from the Starseer community ever talked to me, maybe I would’ve known who’s chasadski and who’s not.”
The woman opened her mouth to respond, but Thor shifted to block her view of Jelena. He didn’t
tower the way Leonidas did, and he certainly didn’t have the tree-trunk-sized arms, but he still managed to do intimidating well. Especially since he’d changed out of the glittery spacesuit and back into his own clothes.
The woman inclined her head and walked away.
Thor stepped to the side, his hand on the hatch, and faced Jelena. Was that an invitation to leave?
She sighed and headed for the corridor. She ought to check on the rest of her crew and passengers anyway, and make sure there weren’t more pirates zipping out of the asteroid belt after them.
“Zhou,” Thor said quietly, making her pause in front of him, “would be a better choice for you.”
“The kiss was that bad, eh?” she asked, too stung to make anything other than a flippant response. She wasn’t sure why she bothered. It wasn’t as if he wouldn’t know her feelings.
“You know it wasn’t.” He lifted his hand and brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “But I don’t want to endanger you. I never have. My fate, no matter which star I launch my ships toward, will be full of armies and assassins gunning for me—and anyone standing next to me could be collateral damage. I never should have joined you on this ship. It was selfish. A moment of weakness. I missed having a family, having someone who understood, who didn’t want anything from me. Who wanted things for me.” He smiled sadly and lowered his hand.
“Well, I’ve got news for you, your royal highness. You don’t get to choose who I want to kiss. Neither does Leonidas or my mom. And you’re going to need a ship to take you all around to these planets and moons that you want to recruit for your new border-worlds-empire, so you should probably just sit down, buckle yourself in, and enjoy the ride.”
“I’m sure I could find a ship of my own,” Thor murmured, but he wasn’t protesting very strongly. Good.
“A freighter is the perfect cover for you to fly around in. Nobody pays attention to freighters. We can slip into various space stations, moons, and planets, I can drop off or pick up cargo, and you can scout out the political situation. We’ll be a great team.”
“Team? Jelena, you don’t understand. I want you someplace safe, not—”
“Too bad.” She prodded him in the chest. “I make my own decisions. Didn’t you hear that part? And if I want to put myself in danger, then that’s my choice. I go where I want when I want, got it?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t this your parents’ ship, and don’t you have to fly it where they want?”
“A minor obstacle. You stick with me, Thor, and we’ll improve the broken part of the system and make people’s lives better. Your karma is wrecked. This sounds like a good way to fix it. I’m glad we thought of this new idea together. Are you ready to get started?”
“I… am not sure what just happened.”
“Don’t worry. You’re smart. You’ll catch on.”
Jelena walked out, leaving him to contemplate her words, and hoping he didn’t decide she was spaced and that he’d be crazy to stay on her ship.
She turned the corner to head into NavCom, but almost ran into Zhou, who was crouching in the hatchway. Alfie was on her mat on her back, her legs crooked in the air while he rubbed her belly. The dog seemed to have recovered from the traumatic asteroid experience.
“Oh, there you are, Jelena.” Zhou smiled and stood up. He wasn’t carrying his microscope and slides around anymore, but he did have that recorder from the Kirian captain’s cabin in his hand. “I listened to this. Did you know the Starseers were sent to destroy that radio tower to keep the bacterial civilization from continuing to transmit an S.O.S. out to the galaxy?”
“I did actually, though it’s good to have some evidence to match the story the bacteria gave me.”
Not that it mattered now. She closed her eyes, distressed anew at the loss of a civilization.
“Are you all right?” Zhou asked and peered in the direction of Thor’s cabin.
“I will be.”
He patted her shoulder, and she remembered that she’d been meaning to have a chat with him, a discussion to let him know that they were not dating, even if she hadn’t officially broken it off back on Arkadius. She probably should have had that discussion with him before kissing Thor.
“Uhm, are you planning on going back to Dalaran 5 with Abelardus and Brody, or did you want to be dropped off somewhere else? I haven’t spoken to my parents yet, so I’m not sure where our next cargo pickup will be, but I can’t promise it’ll be any closer to civilization.”
“Oh, I suppose the station makes sense. I’m sad that we flew all the way out to that asteroid, and I only got to spend a few hours inside investigating. It seems like we were there such a short time.”
“Isn’t it funny how two people can have distinctly different impressions of the same event?”
He smiled. “I don’t suppose you’ll be swinging by Arkadius any time soon? Or can you stay for a while once we reach the station? I haven’t gotten a chance to buy you a drink.”
“You did bring me the sazz-razzle berry vitamin packets. We could share one in NavCom together.”
“Sazz-razzle berry powder, how romantic.”
“Ah.” Jelena hated hurting anyone’s feelings, especially the feelings of those she liked, but that had been a good lead-in. She cleared her throat. “About that…”
“You’re desperately in love with Thorian and aren’t interested in sharing drinks with other prospects?” His mouth quirked at the corner, and she couldn’t tell if he was joking and didn’t think that a likely possibility, or if he had figured out it was a very likely possibility.
“Er.” She let her senses brush over him, trying to get a feel for his thoughts. “Desperately in love is a strong way of saying it.”
Surprisingly, he did seem to think it a likely possibility. Huh.
Zhou clasped her hand with his free one. “I knew coming out here that it was unlikely that such an adventure-craving free spirit as yourself would even remember spending time with a stodgy student who prefers researching in laboratories to dodging fire from pirates, Starseers, and vengeful bacteria with long memories.”
“Stodgy? Zhou, you’re not even twenty-two yet. That’s too young to be stodgy. And you were having fun out there collecting samples. You don’t have to stay in a lab. Maybe you can be a nomadic microbiologist.”
“Oh? Do you have an opening for one on your ship?”
“Uh.”
He smiled again and squeezed her hand. “I thought not.”
“Well, it’s a cargo ship, not a science vessel. That’s all.”
“Of course. I understand.”
“I really like you, Zhou.” She resisted the urge to add “as a friend,” since boys never liked hearing that, and besides, he already got it. “You’re right. If I wasn’t quite so… I don’t crave adventure. I just want to be someone and to make a difference.” She decided not to tack on her litany about wanting to be invited into the Starseer community, especially since she was starting to doubt that would ever happen. Maybe Thor was right that she wouldn’t truly want it to happen if she knew everything about that community. “And I can’t do that on Arkadius. Out here is where I belong.”
“I don’t think I quite believed that was true when I first came on board, but after seeing you in action, I shall agree.”
She grimaced. “None of my actions were that impressive out here.”
“Your ship is intact, and we’re all still alive. Given the circumstances, I find that impressive.”
“That’s only because you’re someone who is impressed by small things.”
He grinned. “Micro-small things, yes.”
Alfie murmured a protest from her back—she had noticed that her belly rub had ceased. Jelena patted Zhou’s arm and stepped into NavCom. She crouched to pet the dog before taking her seat. She could feel Zhou watching her for a moment, but he eventually headed to his cabin.
Alfie stood up, hopped into the co-pilot’s seat, and curled up in a ball with an eye on Jelena.
“What do you think, girl? Are you ready to help Thor change the fate of the border worlds?”
She flapped her tail on the chair.
“You’d answer the same way, no matter what I asked, wouldn’t you? Like, do you think Erick should clean his cabin and get all the smelly laundry off the deck?”
Alfie flapped her tail approvingly.
“I thought so.”
THE END
Afterword
Thank you for following along with the Sky Full of Stars stories. I haven’t yet decided how many books I’m going to write in this series, so if you’re enjoying Thor and Jelena’s adventures, please leave a review to show your support for more books.
If you haven’t already, please sign up for my newsletter to get the free prequel novella, Smuggler Ship, along with goodies from the original Fallen Empire series.
Also, if you haven’t read Fallen Empire, the series that introduced this universe, along with Alisa and Leonidas (and, ahem, Abelardus), you may want to pick up the first one, Star Nomad.
If you need something else to read in the meantime, you can check out my fantasy novels (The Emperor’s Edge and Balanced on the Blade’s Edge are free).
Thanks for reading. You can find me on my website, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
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