Corsairs: Adiron: Corsair Brothers Book 1

by Dixon, Ruby

  "The air smells, but it's not as bad as it should be," Kaspar points out. "I thought it'd smell like your sac when we came in here, but nothing smells that bad."

  I snicker, because that's a pretty good one.

  "But no dead things, and the air's not too bad." Kaspar gets a thoughtful look on his face, his blaster raised at the ready as he looks around. "Someone's here."

  "Hmm." I turn to look behind me and I can't help but notice that Straik and his men are waiting near the door, watching Kaspar and me wander in. I guess we're bait as much as anything else. Lovely.

  I turn back to the front, taking a few steps ahead of Kaspar as he pauses. The hall branches in three different directions, all of them leading to new long corridors and myriad closed doors. There's a lot of places for someone to hide.

  Kaspar turns back to Straik. "You have a schematic, right? Which way to the bridge?"

  As my brother speaks, a pale face peers around the corner.

  My heart skips a beat in my chest. Keffing ghosts. I was right. Before I can scream like a child, though, the pale thing steps forward and I realize it's not a ghost.

  It's a pale human.

  I fire up my blaster, the cartridge whining as it comes to life, and instantly, Kaspar is on alert. He turns at my side, his blaster pointing in the same direction as mine.

  "Don't shoot," the human calls out, raising her hands in the air. For a moment, her voice sounds so much like my sister Zoey's that my skin prickles. This female doesn't look much like Zoey, though. They're about the same age, but this one's got pale yellow hair falling around a small, heart-shaped face and bright green eyes. Her expression is one of pleasure as she takes a few cautious steps forward, and I can't help but notice that she's small. Where Zoey was short but sturdy, this one is slender and delicate.

  She's also wearing next to nothing.

  Her clothes are rags, her small feet bare. What once might have been a standard issue jumper (worn by ship crews and maintenance) is shredded. It hangs at her hips in pieces, a skirt that shows far too much pale, peachy-white skin underneath and slender legs. Her top is little more than a few pieces of fabric harnessed together to cover her tits, and the fabric is doing a terrible job. They're practically bulging out of the skimpy little top, and it looks like the fabric itself will give way at a single touch.

  The female takes another wary step toward us, and as Kaspar lowers his weapon, she lets out a tiny sob and rushes forward, flinging herself into his arms. "We're saved!" she cries, weeping.

  My brother looks over at me with pure bewilderment as he strokes the human's hair. She clings to his chest, sobbing, and the sight would be utterly comical if it wasn't so damned confusing.

  "What's a human doing on board my family's ship?" Lord Straik calls out from behind us, marching up to my side. His clones remain a few paces behind, their weapons ready.

  The female just burrows closer to Kaspar, as if he's the only thing keeping her safe. I've never seen my brother look so helpless. Kaspar's always got a plan, a way to figure things out, even if it's an utterly foolhardy, reckless plan. This is the first time I've seen him utterly stymied. Hate to say it, but I'm kinda enjoying the stunned look on his face as the human just snuggles closer to him.

  "Wait a moment," I ask as something else occurs to me. "We? What do you mean, we?"

  "There's three of us," the tearful human says, lifting her face. "Me and Jade and Helen."

  "Where are they?" Kaspar asks, still stroking the human's silky yellow hair. I've never seen him look so instantly protective. Uh oh. That's not a good sign.

  "Jade's guarding Helen." She hesitates, biting her lip. "Helen's…sick. We don't know how to take care of her."

  "What do you mean, she's sick? How did she get sick?" Kaspar asks.

  The human retreats a step and tugs on his hand. "It's something in the air. Please, come with me. I'll show you. You can help us."

  Kaspar glances over at me and puts his blaster back into his belt, letting the human tug him down one of the halls. I glance over at Straik, who seems more annoyed than anything. Probably still pissed that humans are polluting the halls of the ship. Let him be pissed. I like humans. I think of Zoey, who's one of the best people in the universe. She's a human, one we adopted as our youngest sister after we rescued her from a slaving ship. She's smarter than all of us put together, and I miss her every keffing day. She's happy, though, acting as navigator on the Jabberwock, another pirate ship, and is mated to a stiff-necked but decent mesakkah male who treats her like she hung the stars.

  Seeing this small human makes me realize how much I miss my sister, though. Corsairing through the stars isn't the same without the runt to crack jokes with.

  The little female leads us down the hall, and we march after her. "What are you doing here?" Straik asks, his voice full of irritation. "Where's the crew?"

  "They left us here," she says, glancing back, and her eyes fill with tears again. "They got in a pod thing and left us behind. They said there wasn't room for pleasure slaves."

  "My crew wouldn't do that," Straik protests.

  "But they did," the human says, her eyes big and sorrowful.

  "Your men sound like dicks," I mock-whisper to Straik.

  He glares at me and then shakes his head. "I don't understand. They never made it to port anywhere. Never contacted anyone. Why would they abandon a human and then just disappear?"

  I shrug. I don't have the answers for him.

  The human tugs on Kaspar's hand, leading him on. "This way. In this room." She pauses and gestures us all forward. "Jade's in here."

  We step into the ship's med-lab. One of the beds has been replaced with a stasis pod, which is odd, and it's in the center of the room. Standing next to it is another human, and as she turns, my tongue glues itself to the roof of my mouth.

  This new human is more like it.

  She's older than the yellow-haired one, for one. The other reminds me too much of my sister for me to be attracted to her, but my trou feel painfully tight at the sight of this new female. She's probably Mathiras's age, early thirties for a human, and her skin is a rich, golden-brown shade. Her hair is a dark, frizzy puff that floats around her head like a nimbus, and her hips and breasts are extremely generous. She's spilling out of her ragged clothing in every which way, and I can't decide if I love that or hate it.

  This new female looks over at us, and I'm not surprised to see she's got the most gorgeous, expressive eyes I've ever seen. They're more gold than brown, and stand out in her lovely face. She seems worried, her gaze flicking between all of us. "Are they friends, Alice?"

  Kef me, even her voice is sultry. I'd gladly be stuck here if it meant being left with this sort of company. Those males that abandoned her here were fools. "I'm your friend," I volunteer, grinning.

  She gazes at me as if seeing me for the first time, and her full lips curve in a little smile. "I'm Jade."

  And I'm smitten.

  10

  JADE

  This is not going as I hoped.

  I keep up the act, my expression one of a soft, terrified female relieved at being rescued. Alice is in full gear, clinging to the one at the front, her tears wetting the front of his tunic. She's such an incredible actress that even I believe her. The poor alien keeps patting her hair and looking like he has no clue what to do. These are blue aliens—mesakkah—like the ones that brought us on this ship.

  They're still the enemy, though.

  So I bite my lip and pretend to shiver, doing my best to look helpless in my slave girl outfit.

  "Here," says the grinning one, the one who said he'd be my “friend.” He taps the fastener at his throat and it slithers down the front of his tunic. His clothing opens up, showing an expanse of blue muscled chest and tattoos, and my heart lodges in my throat. Am I about to be raped? I—

  I breathe again as he takes the tunic and drapes it around my shoulders.

  I don't have to fake my trembling this time. "Thanks." In a w
ay, that was a good thing. It reminds me that no matter how pleasant someone might seem, they're still the enemy, and they enslave humans. We're better off just robbing them and sending them on their way.

  Except…in the past, each time we've been visited by pirates lured in by our distress call, it's been a small crew. With a little maneuvering, we have no problems outwitting and taking over a crew of three to four aliens. Right now, though, I'm counting six red-hued aliens (red like Helen, I can't help but notice), a blue-skinned important-looking guy in black clothing with ornate horns, the pirate that Alice is crying on and distracting, and my new shirtless buddy at my side. That's nine. And if they're a smart crew, they'll have left someone on board that great big ship in case of trouble.

  Which means things are getting hairier by the moment.

  I'm always cautious. Ruth sometimes chides me that I'm too cautious. She'd look at this as a great opportunity—a big ship has lots of supplies. But I prefer to be safe, because there's more than just my life at stake. There's a lot to consider, and sometimes it feels utterly overwhelming. I don't want to be in charge.

  But there's no one else to do it, and so I force myself to focus on the task at hand.

  The shirtless one leans in closer to me. "Are you all right? Your friend said you were sick."

  He's got kind eyes and a roguish smile, and I'm probably going to feel a little guilt when we rob this one. But I force a tremulous smile to my face, my eyes wide and hopefully damsel-in-distress-like. "I'm okay now that you're here." I touch the pod, which we've covered with a strategic towel over the faceplate. "And I'm not sick. Jade is."

  "You guys can help us?" Alice's voice rises, ever theatrical. "You're here to save us?"

  "I told you we are," the one Alice is clinging to says, and he sounds a little exasperated at her tears. She needs to dial it back a little.

  A voice chirps in out of nowhere. "What about the bridge?" calls another voice. The language is alien, but thanks to the translator implant, I pick it all up. Ten, I mentally count. Ten men, one separated from the rest. Okay. We can still handle this.

  "I'll go to the bridge," the shirtless one says, trying to put an arm around my shoulder. I cringe away, sliding out from under his grasp, and I hope I don't hurt his feelings. Hell, I'd let him grope me if it'd sell things a bit more, but if he's holding onto me, that ruins the plan.

  "You have to help Helen," I say, making my voice sound urgent as Alice detangles herself from the male she's been clutching at. She moves a few steps away, sniffing, and out of the corner of my eye, I watch her creep, one step at a time, toward the door. That's my signal. I give a sad look to the men, leaning over Helen's stasis pod so my tits fall out of the front of my tiny top. Sure enough, that distracts all eyes. "Please. She's been inside this thing so long."

  The one dressed in black—the important one, the grumpy one—gives us an irritable look. "What's wrong with her?"

  "I don't know," I say dramatically. "She won't wake up." And as Alice creeps another step toward the door, stepping back, I pull the cloth off the front of the stasis pod, where Helen is lying down, her lovely pale lavender hair fanned out around her head, her eyes closed as if she's asleep like an intergalactic Sleeping Beauty.

  The moment I do the big reveal, I take a step back. Instead of looking at the stasis pod, though, Shirtless continues to watch me, that hint of a smile playing on his mouth. He's supposed to be interested in the pod, not me, and my smile falters a little, which only makes his grow wider.

  "Kef me, is that a qura'aki?" says one man.

  That draws everyone's attention. The men all move forward now, eager to peer at Helen. Someone whistles. Another man curses under his breath, and I hear someone else suck in. The sight of Helen never fails to make everyone flip their lids, and it's the perfect distraction. I take a few hasty steps backward, moving to join Alice by the door as they all gape at the sleeping woman.

  "Two human slaves and a qura'aki? What exactly were your men up to, Straik?" says Shirtless.

  "I don't know," says the one called Straik, and he sounds pissed. "Why are there slaves on a sa'Rin ship?"

  Boy, he really doesn't know the half of it, does he? Alice waves me forward, urgency in her eyes, and I bolt for the door. We both rush through it just as one of the men leans over the stasis pod and taps on the glass.

  Then, Alice slaps a hand on the door release and they slide shut, lickety split.

  "Ruth?" I call, breathing hard.

  "On it," Ruth's voice pipes over the system. "Nighty night, boys."

  The room we just vacated fills with sleeping gas.

  I stare through the window and notice that while the others are grabbing at their weapons and looking around in anger, realizing they've been betrayed, Shirtless is just watching me through that window.

  And grinning. Like he's proud.

  11

  ADIRON

  What a magnificent female. She's set us a trap.

  The room springs into wild action, men calling out in alarm as gas pours in from the ceiling.

  Jade. I test her name on my tongue, repeating it over and over so I won't forget it. Jade. It's an interesting sound for an interesting female. I can't stop grinning as one of the females peeks through the window in the door, looking back at us as the room fills with gas. It's Jade, and her gaze moves over us in a worried sort of way, until it lands on me. I just grin wider, and she immediately breaks eye contact, flustered.

  Interesting. She likes me and doesn't want to. I can't think of another reason why she'd be so unnerved about looking at me. She feels guilty that she betrayed me.

  And that just makes me all kinds of happy.

  Kaspar socks me in the shoulder. "Told you it was a trap."

  "I figured," I say, a little lightheaded as the room gets smokey with gas. I don't think she'll kill us. Not my Jade. She's too soft. The guilt in her eyes tells me everything I need to know about that. I mean, I might wake up in chains, but it wouldn't be the first time and it probably won't be the last.

  I push my face into the crook of my elbow, but I don't have a sleeve to help my breathing. I gave her my jacket. Looks like I'm going down, but at least I'll go down happily. I look over at Kaspar, but he's scanning the room, looking for a way out. The clones are trying to pry the doors open, and Lord Straik is staring at the pod as if he's seen a ghost of some kind.

  I look back at Jade, but she moves away from the door. A female on the comm is laughing, which just makes Kaspar scowl and bang his fist against the wall.

  I stagger over to the pod, peering down at it. Might as well take a look at what we've been trapped with.

  It's a qura'aki, all right. I've never seen one in the flesh, just on a vid. She was a clone of this one, I think, or a sister to it. This female has bright red skin—indicative of her cloned nature—and pointed ears and the lilac hair indicative of her race. She's also sticking her tongue out and making faces at us from underneath the safety of her pod's glass.

  "We've been outsmarted," I tell Lord Straik, and I can't help but feel a mixture of amusement with my dismay. It sucks, sure, but it was also pretty clever of Jade, and I want to tell her that. I hope I get the opportunity. Something tells me that Jade's the one in charge here. It was the way the little yellow-haired one looked to her, the way she had a subtle hint of authority in her voice as she spoke.

  I liked it. I like her. Not since Shaalyn have I been interested in another female. Maybe my cock only stands up for females that betray me. Heh. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if that was the truth.

  "Why is there a qura'aki on my family's ship?" Straik demands, then coughs again. "What the kef is going on?"

  "You tell me," I say, and I have to lean on the pod to hold myself up. My legs aren't working, and there's a terrible taste in my mouth. I know this gas, I realize. It's one that some of the shadier cantinas use on bar fights…or in Sticks games. It knocks you out and makes you forget everything for the last day or so.

  The re
alization is sharply disappointing. I don't want to forget Jade. I look down at the qura'aki female, even as my vision blurs and fades. They're supposed to be the most beautiful creatures in the galaxy, the most perfect. She definitely is beautiful, but I can't help but think that I'd rather have Jade.

  Everything fades out.

  * * *

  JADE

  I pace in the hall, waiting for the gas to take effect. I don't like how things are turning out, but I'm not sure what else to do.

  "Quit worrying, Jade," Alice tells me as she adjusts her boobs in her tiny top. "They're all going down like lights, just as we planned." She bounds toward the window and peers in. "I see six…oh, no, seven down. Two more to go."

  "And how many more are on the ship?" I worry, chewing on my lip as I pace. "We're not out of the woods yet." There's a lot to do and still so much that could go wrong. The gas is effective, sure, but does it wipe their memories enough that they won't be able to remember the Star? We'll turn off our distress signal for a few weeks, of course, to give them nothing to hang onto, but it's still dicey.

  Once they're all down, we have to raid the other ship. That'll be make or break. By this time, they'll know we're up to no good and they'll be preparing for it. They'll come weapons blazing, and it won't matter that we're cute, helpless-looking human women. If we lose the upper hand, we're fucked.

  "How many are down?" Ruth calls out over the ship's intercom.

  "Nine," Alice yells. "Last one just went down." She knocks on the window and I move to her side, but no one's stirring in the room. They're all collapsed where they stood, though the red-skinned troops are all clustered at the door as if they tried to open it. Shirtless is passed out next to Helen's stasis pod, no doubt drawn in by her beauty. I try not to think about the fact that he took his shirt off and gave it to me. It's easy to be chivalrous when you think your dick's about to get wet, and most of the alien men we run into are nice enough…