by Dixon, Ruby
Corsairs: Adiron
Corsair Brothers Book 1
Ruby Dixon
Copyright © 2020 by Ruby Dixon
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Image: TheCoverLab.com
Cover Design: Kati Wilde
Edits: Aquila Editing
Mistakes: Ruby Dixon :)
Created with Vellum
For everyone that struggled in 2020.
(I’m pretty sure that’s all of us.)
Contents
Corsairs: Adiron
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Epilogue
Author’s Note
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Corsairs: Adiron
It’s not easy being a space pirate…
Actually, wait.
Yes it is. It’s keffing awesome.
The three va Sithai brothers — that’s us — cruise the universe looking for abandoned ships, treasure, and other pirate ships to rob. Right now, we’re on the hunt for the Buoyant Star, an abandoned cruiser rumored to have a massive treasure inside. The ship’s been found at the edge of an ice field at the far reaches of space.
That treasure? About to be all ours.
But the ship's not all that abandoned. The Star is crewed by a few lonely, attractive human females who are thoroughly grateful at being rescued…
Actually, wait.
They’re not grateful at all.
They’ve set us a trap, and their leader, a beautiful human female named Jade, gives me a smile just before she captures me.
It’s official. I’m in love.
1
ADIRON
It's so noisy in the V'tarr cantina that I can barely hear myself think. Not that there's a lot going on between my ears regularly, but there's a reedy instrument wailing just over my shoulder that's making it hard for me to concentrate. I kind of want to reach over and shove it down the musician's throat. I mean, my brother Mathiras wants us to create a diversion, but I'm not sure attacking an innocent musician will do anything other than make me look like a keffing ass.
A music-hating ass, to boot. And there's a lot of things you can be in the universe, but if you hate music, people look at you funny.
I scan the busy cantina for my other brother, Kaspar. He's still at the bar, leaning against it, trying to look oh-so-casual as he nurses a beer. He looks pissed, too, and I suspect that's my fault. We're not sitting together because we're trying to blend in with the locals on V'tarr Station. That's proving a little tricky considering we're the only two mesakkah in the entire damn cantina…
Our eyes meet and he gives me an impatient look.
Right. Diversion. We're supposed to create a scene without drawing attention to ourselves. Cause a little chaos in the cantina so the authorities will show up here and Mathiras can do some light-fingered work on the local records in search of mentions of the Buoyant Star, the long-lost ship we’ve been chasing these last two months. V’tarr's the biggest port in this far-flung system, and the most convenient re-fuel spot. If the V’tarrians haven't seen that particular ship, it means our search area is narrowed down by quite a bit. We’ll find our ship through process of elimination if nothing else.
Mathiras has the hard job—hacking into the V'tarrian systems and extracting the records without being noticed. Me, I just have to sit here and make a scene.
It's something I should be pretty good at. I'm not the brightest out of us three, but I'm pretty good with my fists. So, as I sit in my booth, I look for something to hit. Someone ugly. Doesn't matter the species. My fists are equal opportunity. I look around the place. It's dark, a little smoky, and crowded. The booths are spaced a good distance apart, allowing people to walk freely between them, and the bar curving along the far wall is shoulder to shoulder with males of every species…with one blatant exception. My brother, the mesakkah. Among them, Kaspar stands out like a sore thumb, and that's going to make it difficult for us to quietly make a scene and slip out.
"Hello there, handsome," a female voice trills.
Uh oh. I look up, and one of the cantina girls is smiling at me. She's one of the locals—the bird people with delicate yellow down covering their skin and legs that bend backward. Got a nice rack, though, and I smile at her. "Well hello to you."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kaspar make a face and turn back toward the bar, no doubt thinking I'm distracted again. He should know me better, though. Females are nice to flirt with, but I'm not buying company. If I wanted to purchase the affection of a female, I'd be with Shaalyn at this moment.
The avian female beams at me, sliding into the booth to sit at my side. A friend sits across from her—another cantina girl, judging by the filmy outfit that leaves nothing to the imagination.
"You look like a male with a lot of credits," the avian female trills, brushing one of her breasts against my arm. Her hand touches mine, where I'm holding my drink, and it takes everything I have to keep smiling.
"Looks can be deceiving," I say easily, picking up my drink and shaking off her hand. I do a mock-toast to the ladies. "Mine is an empty wallet."
"Mmm, I don't think so." She leans over me, her breath smelling like ooli brew. Her tits are definitely pushing against my arm, no matter how much room I try to give her. On the other side, the female scoots around the circular booth and moves in my direction.
Trapped.
"A mesakkah on this end
of the universe? You're not broke." Her friend giggles and touches my other arm while I shift uncomfortably. "You're a pirate, aren't you?"
I scoff. "Me?"
"Mmmhmm." They both eye me. "And pirates are never broke. You can buy a round." The one on my right taps the table, bringing up the drink request system.
I guess I can. I let them order, sipping my drink. Maybe I can find some interesting stuff out from them. Maybe they know something about some of the ships that come in. I glance over at Kaspar, who's still glaring in my direction, and I get a different idea, one for a diversion. "So, do you ladies entertain or do you just drink up a male's credits?"
They both giggle, the sound a bit more like shrill cawing than I'd prefer. "You interested in entertainment?"
"No, but I know someone that might be." I wonder what Kaspar will think if he suddenly gets two avian females all over him when he's trying to pick a fight at the bar. He'll probably kill me later.
I bet it's still worth it. I pull out a few credits and slide them across the table. "See that blue male at the bar? I bet he'd like company."
The first female leans over my shoulder, giving me a sultry look. "But we want to stay with you." She taps a long, spindly finger on my cheek. "You seem like fun."
"I really am," I agree. I'm definitely the fun one. Also the dumb one, but who cares about smarts when you're having a great time? And right now, I'm starting to enjoy myself. I could send these two over to Kaspar, get him all riled up, and when he's distracted, I can start a fight. There's a fat merchant with a few bodyguards in the corner—and a few more of the avian females at his booth—that looks like he'd be ripe pickings for a fight. I do know that I can't really start anything with two females hanging off my arm. I don't fight with females.
Well, unless it's Zoey. But she's my sister, so it doesn't count.
I gesture over at Kaspar. "They say you can get to know a man by the company he keeps," I say.
"And what does that say about your friend, who is alone?"
"It says I have to pay pretty females to talk to him." I give them a grin and throw another credit on the table. "Will you go and make his day better?"
"Eventually," the one on my left says, and clings to my arm. "Maybe we like the view here at the moment."
Flattery is always nice, and I've got a few minutes. "I admit, I am pretty good to look at."
"And soooo modest." They giggle. The handsy one on my left clings to my bicep. "So what brings you to V'tarrian space? We don't see your kind much around here."
"Oh…" I don't have a good excuse, so I stare at my beer and try to think something up. I lift my drink, trying to play this off all casual. "This and that? Wrecked ships and uh…other stuff."
"Do you know Lord Straik, then?"
I spit my beer all over the table. Uh. Do I know Lord Straik? That's an absolutely random name for a female to bring up. "Like…Lord Straik sa’Rin? From Homeworld? Why do you ask?"
She shrugs and drags a finger down my cheek, and I wonder if she'd be offended if I asked her to use plas-film? I don't know where her fingers have been, after all, and this cantina isn't exactly clean. "He's been buying weapons around here."
I shoot a worried look over at Kaspar, coughing loudly to try and get his attention. My brother, meanwhile, is arguing with the male seated next to him, no doubt looking to start a fight and get that distraction going. We have bigger problems, though, if Lord Straik is in this region. He’s a mesakkah with deep pockets, an army of clones at his disposal, and a massive chip on his shoulder. If he's hanging out in V'tarrian space, he's not doing anything good. "What's he buying weapons for?"
The clingy one pouts, holding her hand out.
With a sigh, I put a credit in her hand.
She pockets it, her smile returning. "I heard he's buying weapons for his private army…because they're going to take over a ship."
"Take over a ship?"
"Find a ship," the other one corrects. "They're looking for some lost ship. Came in here and asked a thousand questions about shipping lanes and such." She rolls her eyes and drinks the last of her ooli brew, then eyes the ordering system. "Can you buy us another round, friend?"
"I think I have to go," I say, and get to my feet.
The females pull me down again, just as Kaspar grabs his barstool and slams it over his neighbor's head.
2
ADIRON
"I can't believe you two keffing idiots," Mathiras rages as we race onto the bridge of the Little Sister, several V'tarrian guards hot on our heels. "What happened to ‘create a diversion to peel off the guards and sneak out’?"
"How are we supposed to sneak when we're the only mesakkah in the entire V'tarrian system?"
"You could have tried a little harder." He pauses to shove Kaspar up the ramp, since our brother seems determined not to leave without finishing the fight.
I automatically grab at Kaspar's shirt and shove him through the Sister's door, something we've gotten down to a science. Most battles end like this—us knowing when to pull out and Kaspar too stubborn to do so. So between Mathiras and myself, we've become experts at hauling Kaspar's ass out of danger.
And they say I am the dumb one.
"We're not done here," Kaspar complains, trying to aim his gun around my horns. "We can take them—"
"You're our navigator now," Mathiras reminds him, easing up the ramp with his back to me as I hover in the doorway. He keeps his eyes on the V'tarrians who are no longer racing for us but for a control panel—no doubt to trap us before we can take off. "Go and keffing navigate! We've got to get out of this place!"
Kaspar growls, then turns and races for the nav panel. Mathiras continues to back up, shooting. The enemy is pinned down behind a crate, but I see someone race ahead and I know it's just a matter of time. In his way, Mathiras is just as bad as Kaspar in never wanting to leave a fight. So I grab him by the collar and haul him backward onto the ship, then slam my hand on the hatch release, the door zooming shut.
Mathiras glares at me, putting his blaster away. "I was coming," he mutters.
"Sure, sure." We both head for the bridge.
"Why do you smell like ooli brew?" Mathiras asks, glancing over at me. "And why are you all wet?"
I just grin. "You said you wanted a distraction. I jumped into the bar fight that Kaspar started. And I might have made the bartender angry."
He sighs.
"And a few barmaids." I pause, considering. "And some cantina girls. And a patron or two."
"I told you to blend," he complains as we move onto the bridge and slide into our seats. "Fighting with everyone in the cantina isn't blending."
"Neither is being blue, but we didn't realize that was a problem until we got there," I point out. "We stood out no matter what." I flip switches at my seat, running checks on the landing gear and initiating the ship's protective shields as the engine fires up, whining as we begin to lift off. "Weapons systems?" I ask, my hand hovering over the next panel.
Mathiras shakes his head, concentrating on his controls. "They're trying to detain, not destroy. I don't think they realized that I hacked their records. It's probably just about the bar fight."
"Then we did good." I grin broadly…and then sniff my clothes. Whew. I do smell bad. Like I rolled around in an ooli's armpit.
Kaspar glances over at the two of us as the Sister lifts off, heading for the rapidly closing gates on the station. "Did you get what we needed, then?"
"Yes and no." Mathiras shakes his head. "I got in, but I couldn't find records of the Buoyant Star. If she came through this system, she never made it here. It narrows things down…but not by much."
I grunt, scratching at my damp, itchy tunic. "So what now?"
Mathiras shoots me a look, as if I'm an idiot for asking. I'm used to that sort of look, though, so it doesn't offend me. "We worry about getting away from the authorities, first. Then we figure out our next steps."
"Nag, nag," I tease, but I double our shields as
we zip narrowly out of the gates. Just in case.
* * *
A short time later, I'm in the shower, washing off the stink of sour ooli brew and thinking about the Buoyant Star. And Zoey. And Sophie.
Sophie's gonna be so pissed that it's been weeks and weeks since we left her with my buddy Jerrok, and we're still no closer to finding the Buoyant Star and all its fabled riches. She seemed forlorn and unhappy when we left her behind, and after a month of being in Jerrok's company, I can only imagine how mad she is. Jerrok's a trustworthy sort, but he's not exactly friendly. Or clean. Or pleasant. If Sophie doesn't give us a verbal lashing that scours years off our lives, I'll be surprised. I should send her a comm, but I can't exactly give away our position in space. We're currently hiding the Little Sister on the dark side of one of V'tarr's far-flung moons. Once the coast is clear, we'll head out again, moving in a different direction as we send out a tracing signal for the Buoyant Star. It's pure luck that we found the records—and the private frequency ID—that the Buoyant Star was using before it disappeared. That means we're the only ones that will be able to pick up a distress signal, no matter how old. And if she's active (for whatever reason) we can just say hello. With the frequency ID, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, as Zoey would say. Without the frequency ID, it'd be like looking for a needle in an entire field of haystacks. At least we can narrow it down, bit by bit.
