by Dixon, Ruby
Used to be.
The Darkened Eye is gone. She left while we slept, and took Straik and his a'ani soldiers far away.
When Straik said he'd be gone when everyone woke up, I didn't realize he meant GONE gone. I didn't think he'd abandon us here…and I hate that I'm the one that gave him that idea.
Shit. Everyone is going to be so keffing mad at me.
I jog over to Kaspar's side. He's passed out cold, sprawled on the floor. Their bags of clothing and possessions are strewn at the end of the hall, along with mine, as if they were just tossed in carelessly. I see our blasters, holstered and waiting, mixed in with the mess. At least we have weapons. I guess Straik doesn't want to leave us completely helpless. Then again, Kaspar's in nothing but his underclothes, his ass and tail sticking out when I turn him over. He snores, and when I tap him on the cheek, he doesn't wake up. I move over to Mathiras, who's in the same condition, and when neither one rouses, I conclude that they're both drugged.
This…is not good.
I gaze down at my sleeping brothers, wondering if I should try to wake them or go let Jade know the bad news first. Ugh. I rub my scalp, frustrated, because I can't stop thinking about how upset Straik seemed last night. How defeated. I thought he was just bummed. I didn't realize he'd do…this.
Not good. Not good at all.
I nudge my brothers one more time, but when neither one wakes up, I take a steeling breath and decide to try Jade, instead. I jog (okay, I run) toward her quarters and rap on the door. "Hey, Jade? Wake up. Wake up, please."
My knocking is urgent, and on the other side of the door, I hear a crash. I picture Jade falling out of bed, racing toward me, and in the next moment, the door to her room slides open. Sure enough, Jade looks disheveled and utterly terrified. Her soft-looking, kinky hair floats around her head like a cloud and she clutches a thin plas-film blanket to her body. It hides practically nothing, outlining her rather magnificent breasts and the abundant curves of her hips.
"Adiron? What is it?" When I continue to dumbly stare at her chest, she reaches up and lightly taps at my jaw. "What is it?"
"Oh." I shake myself, forcing my brain to stop picturing me peeling that too-flimsy blanket off her delicious body. "We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?" She gathers the blanket around her body, hiding her cleavage from me, and pushes past me, heading down the hall. "Are the others all right?"
"They're not the problem," I say. "It's the other ship."
Jade turns back to me, her eyes confused. "What about the other ship?"
I wince. "It's…gone."
Her chin lowers and she stares at me. "Gone?"
"Left during the night." My tail is flicking, all restless energy. "See, ah…I think Straik abandoned us."
She blinks. Twice. Then she's racing down the hall, toward the distant portal where the ship-to-ship connection once was. I follow after her, my gut clenching in dismay. Jade is going to be so keffing mad at me when she learns it's my fault. That I was the one that gave Straik the idea to abandon us. But how was I supposed to know that if I said "Gee, it might have been easier if the ship was never found" that he'd decide that was a good idea and leave us all behind?
When I catch up with Jade, she's crouched next to my brothers, pressing two fingers on Mathiras's neck. She glances back at me as she straightens. "Why did he dump your brothers here? Aren't you with him?"
"Well…yes and no."
Jade gives me an impatient look. "Which is it? Adiron, we don't have time for these games."
"We were looking for the Buoyant Star ourselves," I say, and decide the best way to explain is to blurt it all out. No secrets, because they just confuse matters. "We were fishing around for information on a station and Straik got wind of us. He didn't like what we were doing so he captured us and made us abandon our ship. But because we're awesome, we smooth-talked our way into working together with him. Except, I guess we're not that awesome because he dumped us all here. With you."
She looks at my brothers one last time and then gets to her feet, like a regal princess in costly silks instead of a barefoot human in a thin pals-blanket. Jade approaches me, a look of worry on her face. "Is it possible that he didn't do this?"
"Uh…no, because I talked to him last night." I put on my brightest smile. "I might have also put the idea in his head to leave us behind. By accident."
"Oh, Adiron. You didn't." Her tone is full of disappointment.
"I can explain." And I do, rushing through all of it. Of last night's run-in with Straik and how he eyeballed the stasis pods like they were the enemy. How he seemed so melancholy at the realization that his family was slave trading. His realization that he needed to talk to his uncle, and my stupid joke about how it would have been better if we never found the ship. "And then he said he'd be gone before anyone woke up."
Jade puts a hand to her forehead and moans.
"I know. You're disappointed in me. I am, too." Mostly I'm just crushed that I've ruined a good thing for Jade. "I've keffed it all up, like usual, but I'll figure something out. Just…don't hate me."
She shakes her head, then moves forward to pat my chest. "I don't hate you, Adiron. How did you know he was going to do something so ruthless and shitty? Don't beat yourself up, all right?" She sighs and looks down the hall at my brothers. "I guess I should be glad he didn't space us all while we slept, but it's not exactly rebuilding my confidence in there being good space pirates out there."
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm starting to think me and my brothers are the only ones." I cock my head, thinking about Zoey's new crew. "Well, with one exception, I guess."
Jade gazes at the portal, now empty of ship-to-ship passage, and her shoulders slump. I can see the realization hitting her, that she's been abandoned once more. I hate the sight of it. More than anything, I want to fix this for her. I'm going to get her off this keffing ship and somewhere safe if it's the last thing I do, I vow silently.
"I'm going to go wake the others," Jade says in a soft voice. "They need to know that our plan isn't going forward."
Now I just feel worse, because if I'd kept my big mouth shut, Jade and her friends would be safe on Lord Straik's ship. Instead, Straik's turned tail and abandoned us, no doubt rushing off to Risda III to go talk to his uncle. "I'll wait here in case my brothers wake up. They're gonna be pissed." I think about the gas they were probably given and add, "And hungover."
Jade nods, padding silently back down the hall. I watch her go, fascinated by the sway of her hips. I need to focus, but somehow her movements are distracting all of my parts, especially the ones below the belt. There'll be time to stroke one out later, I tell my cock. If we're truly stuck here, there's gonna be a whole keffing lot of time.
I move toward my brothers, nudging Mathiras with my toe as he sleeps, just to see if he's ready to rouse. I notice there's a small crate by the doors, one I didn't pay much attention to before. I move toward it and brush Kaspar's belt off of the crate.
More noodles. Man. Jade is gonna shit herself. I guess I should be glad that Straik doesn't want us to starve, but damn. He could have thrown in some fruit.
"Adiron! Adiron!"
That's Jade. Alarm shoots through me and I stumble over my sleeping brothers in my haste to get to her. I plummet down the hall and turn the corner to see her racing back toward me, a look of sheer panic on her face. "What is it?" I ask. "What's wrong?"
Panting, she skids to a stop in front of me, the blanket about to fall off her gorgeous brown body. The look in her eyes is sheer terror, though. "Ruth. She's not in her room. I think she's gone, too."
"Where?"
"With Straik."
30
JADE
My head is spinning with everything going on this morning. I thought we'd wake up, agree to work with the men to rescue the Buoyant Star, and become part of the crew. We'd hitch the Star's systems to that of The Darkened Eye and let our home of the last three years be towed back to “civilized
” space and take our chances. We're relatively safe out here, but we've known we were living on borrowed time.
Now, though, everything has changed.
Straik and The Darkened Eye are gone. Mathiras and Kaspar have been dumped here.
And Ruth—stubborn, pigheaded Ruth—is somewhere on The Darkened Eye.
"You know she went to go spy on him," Alice says, wiping angry tears from her eyes. "You know that's what she did. She thought her plan was better than ours."
"I know." My voice is soft, my eyes dry. I'm too numb for tears. I've done my best to protect and lead my friends over the last few years and the thought of Ruth in danger and me unable to help her is like a knife in the gut. I know she's an adult and made her own decision, but I still feel responsible. I should have checked in on her again last night, made sure that we were all on the same page. Instead, I was distracted by thoughts of Adiron just across the hall, and what our future might mean if we joined forces with the men.
Well, in a way, I suppose we ARE joining forces. Just…not the way anyone intended.
"There's no sense in beating yourself up," Helen says, dishing up bowls of noodles. She's sprung into action this morning, pressing a kiss of sympathy on my brow and Alice's before deciding to feed us. Everyone's always happier with a full belly, she reasons, and she's determined to stuff ours. "You know how Ruth is. Ruth is always right in Ruth's eyes."
Alice snorts, wiping a fresh round of tears from her eyes. "You think he's going to hurt her? When he finds her?"
"I don't know," I say softly. I imagine Ruth, hiding in the ductwork somewhere on The Darkened Eye, and wonder if she's feeling panicked. If she feels alone and lost, and I just feel even worse.
"He won't hurt her," Helen says, patting my shoulder. "He doesn't want to hurt anyone. Now eat." She bustles toward the control panel and holds down the button we've marked with a smiley face so Helen knows it's the system comm, and calls out in a chirpy voice. "Breakfast is ready, come and eat, male crew members!"
"How do you know he won't hurt her?" Alice asks, curious.
Helen shrugs, happily setting bowls along the table for the three brothers. "He brought Kaspar and Mathiras here instead of tossing them into space. He was on the ship last night and didn't hurt us. He didn't touch the sleepy people." She smiles at us. "He's just sad because he doesn't know what to do so he ran away."
"Like a little bitch," Alice mutters.
"Helen's got a point," I admit, stirring the noodles in my bowl. I'm not the slightest bit hungry. "He hasn't hurt anyone and I guess he could have if he was ruthless."
"He can't get to the stasis pods," Alice says, taking a big bite of food. She can always eat, no matter the news, and I have no idea where it goes considering she's a tiny thing. Me, I sniff the noodles and gain ten pounds on my butt.
"He says it's his ship," Helen says. "That means he can work it, right?" She thumps down next to me, a curious look on her face. “So he can get to the sleepy people.”
Also true. We're listed as cargo and so our options are limited, but I imagine Straik had a way to figure out how to run everything. Hearing Helen's simple reasoning makes me feel better. I picture Ruth's sour reaction when she realizes she's stuck with Straik…and his. "She's really going to make him regret leaving us behind," I say with a chuckle. "Can you imagine?"
"I think he will be very mad," Helen says, giggling. "And make lots of very mad noises."
The door opens and the three brothers file in.
Our laughter dies, and Helen's the only one in a cheerful mood this morning. She pats the table, indicating that the men should sit. "You come sit next to me, Mathiras," she says happily.
The tallest brother shoots us a chagrined look, but does as he's told. When Helen tries to scoot closer to him, he carefully scoots an equal distance away, as if letting us know he's not encouraging her. He doesn't have to. Helen's been sheltered. This is the longest relationship she's had with a man, ever.
And right now we've got bigger problems than Helen's crush.
I study the other two brothers. Kaspar eats in silence, a grim look on his face. To my surprise, big, happy, blustery Adiron just stares down at his bowl. He's hollow-eyed and his shoulders are slumped with defeat. He blames himself, I know. He said as much over and over again as his brothers woke up and realized what happened.
"Well?" I ask, once we're all at the table. "How is the bridge?" Once the brothers woke up, they immediately went to the bridge to see what they could access on the ship.
"Locked down tight," Kaspar says between bites. "Won't recognize anything we do."
"You're pirates, though. Aren't you used to this sort of thing?" Alice frowns at them. "Isn't this what you do?"
"We're limited without our equipment, which I'm sure was part of Straik's plan," Mathiras says darkly. "He's leaving us here to guard the shipment until he figures out what he wants to do."
"Or he's abandoned us entirely and hopes if we sink into the ice field that will hide his family's crimes," Kaspar retorts.
Adiron is silent. It's very unlike him, and I'm a little worried.
"So," I say, taking a deep breath. "What are our options?"
Mathiras appears to consider things. "Our ship is still in this system—hopefully. If we can connect with it, I'm hoping we can override some of the systems here remotely and slave them to the Little Sister…but it's a long shot."
"Slave?" Helen asks, a worried expression on her face.
"Tying in electronics," I explain gently. "Not a real slave."
She nods, biting her lip. "Ships don't have feelings, right?"
"That's right, they don't."
"Just making sure." She glances over at Mathiras again and then takes another bite of her food.
I poke my noodles. "So do you think you'll be able to do that? Hook the controls of this ship up to yours?"
Mathiras hesitates. "It's a long shot."
"A really, really long shot," Kaspar adds. "Probably have to force a reboot on this ship's systems, which might not be a good thing. That means shutting everything down and starting it back up again…and hoping it all comes back up."
"I'm not a big fan of that idea," Alice says, her eyes wide. "What's plan B?"
Kaspar eyes her. "There is no plan B."
I'm not sure I'm a fan of that, either. I glance down the table at Adiron again. He's still wearing that hangdog expression on his face, and my heart squeezes with sympathy. This isn't his fault, even if he thinks it is. If Straik was going to betray everyone, he was going to do it anyhow, I reason. Better here where we have a safe place versus somewhere worse. "Adiron?" I ask. "What do you think?"
He seems to brighten visibly as I mention his name, and I feel warm when he straightens. "I have an idea, but I don't know if it's a good one."
"All ideas are good ideas right now," I point out. "We don't have many options other than just floating along and waiting for the next round of pirates…or hoping that Straik comes back."
Adiron looks right at me. "There's always escape pods."
31
JADE
"Escape pods." I taste the words in my mouth, weighing them. It's not a bad idea. The Buoyant Star still has four of them left, each one capable of holding two people comfortably. There's more than enough for the six of us at this table to get away…but only us. It's a flawed plan because it involves sacrificing those sleeping, or abandoning them to their fates.
"Escape pods?" Mathiras asks. "You guys have escape pods and you've stayed here for the last three years?"
"Where would we go?" Alice retorts. "You think if someone picks up a pod full of women, they'll be all, 'Oh, cool, let me take you to the closest embassy'?" She snorts. "Yeah right."
I reach over and squeeze her hand, because she looks ready to punch someone. "It's something we've considered, but we're safe and comfortable here, and so we stuck with the devil we know." I gesture at them. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, too. There's room for ever
yone."
"But not supplies," Kaspar says. "The amount of food you've got left is going to run pretty low very fast if you're feeding six people."
"And you're still heading for that ice field," Mathiras points out. "You're safe for another month or two…and then what? We're all dead. The ship systems will go into overdrive trying to regulate the temperature to support life, you'll burn through all your fuel, and then you're dead."
Helen says nothing, watching us talk, her expression grave as she absorbs it all.
Adiron finally speaks again. "I think the escape pods are a good idea…if we split up."
"Split up?" Kaspar asks. "How so?" He gestures at himself and Mathiras. "Like send us out to get help and leave the females here? I don't like that idea."
"I'm not a fan of it either," Alice retorts. "And what about Ruth?"
Kaspar grins over at her. "When we find Straik again to kick his ass, we'll get her back. If she hasn't already kicked his ass, that is."
I squeeze her fingers. "Ruth will be fine. She's a survivor." I keep thinking about what Helen said—how Straik didn't want to kill anyone. I think she's right. I think he's left us here until he can figure out what to do with us. He'll be back…eventually. I hope.
"When I said we should use the escape pods, I meant we should pair up." Adiron gestures at me. "One female, one male. So we can protect you."
My face flushes and I can just imagine who Adiron wants to pair up with.
"Are you still thinking with your cock?" Kaspar asks him with a roll of his eyes.
"No, I think he's right," Mathiras says. "The females are recognized by the ship so they would need to be split up between pods. And if something goes wrong, we're there to protect them or to try to override the system. It's really the best choice we have."
"So where are we going, then?" Alice asks. "Where exactly can we escape to? Or are we going to try and meet up with Straik and just hope he lets our pods on board?" Her brow wrinkles. "Because I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to be infested with human cooties."
