by Debra Jess
Stratos was a mining operation that grew large enough to become a colony. However, it still relied on Manitac to import most products needed for its day-to-day. When anti-Manitac agitators arrived to try to convince the colonists to break free of Manitac’s grip on their economy, Manitac pulled its ships out of the system and closed the slipstreams overnight. Hundreds died as a result of violent outbreaks at the sudden shortage of food, medicine, and other supplies. The terrorist organization Shadows was born out of the ashes of that rebellion.
Out here, close to the far edge of the Calypso arm of the Andromeda Galaxy, threats from the Shadows were minimal because ninety percent of Manitac activity occurred closer to the Unity Homeport. An outpost here and there were relatively easy to destroy, but pirating exploded as Manitac expanded the number of colonized worlds. Hence, her career as a Manitac pirate hunter, which gave her the experience and contacts needed to survive after Manitac slammed shut any possibility of searching for the Majesty of the Stars.
Still, why would a pirate have puppets on his ship in the first place? To the best of her knowledge, Hart had no ties to Stratos or the Shadows.
The annunciator chimed, catching her off guard.
"Queen of Hearts, delete last order."
"Order deleted."
The images of the puppets disappeared.
"Queen of Hearts, open door."
The door dissolved. Hart stood on the other side.
Zap.
"Miss me so soon?" She tried to make the question sound casual, but her curiosity was piqued. There was so much about Hart she didn't know, which made the situation more dangerous.
"Like an apidux stinger stuck between my toes."
She'd been compared to worse over the years. Rather than let the silence continue, Kelra decided it was time to toss Hart a bone. "The kid wasn't entirely wrong."
"I'm aware of that."
More silence. She understood Hart's position. On one hand, he brought her here only because she had info he needed, but on the other hand, she'd disrupted the ship's operations. He had to sideline a crew member because she'd become an intolerable irritant. If the rest of the crew felt the same as the kid but had more faith in their captain's plans, she would have to work around their animosity. At the end of the day, the pirates believed in their captain.
So why didn't the kid have that same blind trust? She motioned for Hart to sit next to her. Having him so close reminded her of how long it had been since she'd been able to sit next to someone and remain comfortable, if not relaxed. Her impression of Hart inched up a notch.
Hart's continued silence meant he thought it was time for her to give up the information she had on the Majesty of the Stars location. Except it was too soon for her plans. But did she have a choice now? While the Queen of Hearts had raided outposts and ships that required a great deal of patience in the planning stages—and Hart knew she would hold back the information until she’d secured a deal to keep herself safe even after they found the ship—she suspected that the kid's actions bumped up Hart's timeline. The Queen of Hearts’ crew might be loyal, but they weren't military. They would only tolerate so much stalling before they took action themselves.
That didn't mean she would give the information away for free.
"Tell me who you bribed to find out what my favorite foods are."
Hart scratched his chin, considering her opening gambit. "I don't think so. You assumed that I would rescue you off Ruintalos, so you still owe me. First tell me where the Majesty of the Stars is located, then I'll consider giving you a name."
Beast. She'd always known opportunists rose through the ranks faster, and she was guilty of cutting a few corners here and there, but to betray someone she cared about? Never. She commanded with all due fairness to those who served under her. It wasn't that difficult to outmaneuver those who plotted behind her back. She must have missed a clue somewhere, overlooked a disgruntled opportunist who was more ruthless but just as smart when it came to playing Manitac's games.
Yet Hart wasn't wrong. No matter how well she'd carried out her operation, no matter how many clues she planted, Hart had followed her bread crumbs. She owed him for playing his part in her machinations.
"The Majesty of the Stars is inside the haunted nebula."
A brief flash of shock followed the downturn of his eyes as he calculated what this information meant. Memories began to overwhelm her as they always did when she talked about the Majesty of the Stars.
This would be easier if I had a drink.
Despite a tiny warning signal from her practical side, she left Hart to his musing while she explored the small collection of bottles discreetly stored in a cooler near the holo-viewer.
"Of all the damned places for that ship to wind up," he whispered to himself.
His comment summed up the few scraps of information she'd been able to access over the years. She returned to the sofa with a bottle of brandy, expensive enough to impress a guest but not so rare that a connoisseur wouldn’t waste it on a target.
Target or not, her body talked more than her brain when she sat closer to Hart than she intended. His shoulder brushed hers, setting off an electrical pulse that tingled all her starved pleasure circuits. Human contact. Nothing could replace it, and she'd had so little of it, not just because of her time on Ruintalos, but also because of her position within Manitac.
Loneliness was a choice as far as she was concerned, but she also hadn't chosen her lovers very well—not if one of them was feeding personal information to someone like Hart.
Beast.
She'd track them down later and make them regret turning on her. No matter what they had done, it was nothing compared to what happened to her parents on the Majesty of the Stars.
"Why that nebula?" Hart didn't lean any closer to her, but he didn't pull away either. "It makes no sense."
This was the difficult part. Remembering something that happened so long ago hurt, but it was a familiar pain that she could manage.
For now, and with a shot of brandy for extra courage.
"I've always remembered the words my parents said, the hushed conversations when they thought I was focused on my toys, and the announcements they broadcasted to their passengers. It took me years to parse out what they were up to. I grew up on that ship—I didn't know a 'home world.' The ship's operations were background noise to my life.” She paused to take a drink of brandy to help wash down the lump in her throat.
Hart’s body turned slightly toward her. She had his rapt attention.
"This time though, it was different. The rhythm of the ship's cycles was off, and there were arguments and fighting among the passengers. It wasn't until I was older, did my own research, and asked questions of the right people, that I could piece together what my parents were trying to accomplish."
"And that would be?"
For a guy who had his own torture chamber hidden somewhere on the ship, he was being unnecessarily gentle with her. Still, she needed time to get her mental notes in order, as well as her equilibrium. All the emotions that ebbed and flowed along the waves of her life poked through the hard surface where she'd buried them while on Ruintalos.
Maybe she wasn't as ready as she thought she was to give up the Majesty's location. She decided to stall. "What do you already know?"
Hart turned toward her, his eyes guarded. She could practically see his mind. Knowing Hart, he was calculating how much of an advantage she'd have over him if he identified his informant.
How did the two must untrustworthy people in the galaxy learn to trust one another? The light in Hart's eyes shifted from a flickering uncertainty to the steadiness of a decision. He would tell her because the hit to his reputation for betraying an informant was outweighed by the amount of booty the Majesty of the Stars carried, not because he trusted her not to betray him.
"We located the ship's manifest and itinerary. We know who was sailing and what they brought with them."
Kelra almost choked on her
drink. She acquired that information because she had access as an officer, but Hart would have had to bypass security so complex it would take an insider find it.
Maybe the same individual who gave him information about her?
She regrouped her thoughts to keep the interrogation flowing under her direction. "I assume you also saw the ads for this particular cruise, so you know why everyone was on board."
He nodded. "I figured that was a given. For all its extra opulence, your family's ship was no different from any other cruise liner, except yours was filled with enough rare jewels, art, and money to fuel the Queen of Hearts for years. The extras left over would give my crew more booty than they could obtain through raids out here in the Calypso arm. Not to mention the ship itself has value."
"So you’ll give up pirating once we find the Majesty of the Stars?"
His smile flickered, a moment of indecision, but then he smiled again, all charm. "Not a chance."
"Didn't think so." The look he gave her could melt her in ways the brandy couldn't, but she made a mental note that he was lying about giving up pirating. "The rest of what I know…you have to understand, I was six years old. It took me years to translate what I saw and heard into what it meant, and even then it's a best guess."
"We can work with best guesses."
The tone of voice meant no more stalling. "My parents sold the cruise for a year-long exploration of 'firsts,' each 'first' designed to heighten the experience of traveling. The passengers would be the first to step foot on Iquinerlos, the newest Manitac colony in the Callisto arm."
"With options to invest in the operation." Hart sipped his own drink.
"Of course, but I didn't know about any of that at the time."
Hart nodded.
"They followed up with a tour of the Sancity asteroid as it passed through the trailing tip of Calypso, also with options to invest in mining operations there."
Hart rolled his eyes. "So much work for so little output."
"Not so little. Unity lied about the amount of raw ore compacted into that tiny rock." The brandy settled in her stomach, the sweet sensation making the memories flow faster. The captain in her knew she should slow down on the alcohol, but the ex-prisoner in her who had been deprived for so long took another sip anyway. "That one asteroid could provide enough metal to keep Manitac's fleet in fine fighting shape for the next century, at least."
"If they don't get raided by pirates."
Kelra snorted. "If you want a list of targets, I'll give them to you."
"Really? It's sometimes difficult to keep up with all the new outposts Manitac has planned."
There. She’d planted the seed, a reason to stay around after they found Majesty of the Stars—if she managed to kill the alien. She knew Hart would never give up pirating, and if she revealed the targets one at time, then with each successful raid, she could work her way into becoming a permanent part of the crew. Pirating asteroid mining operations would dwarf even the riches on the Majesty of the Stars and create a challenge Hart wouldn’t be able to resist.
"We'll talk after we find the Majesty of the Stars." There was no room for distraction, and Stars be damned, she wouldn't let Hart wander off course, not for some dirty mining op.
"Agreed."
An image flashed in her mind's eye—her and Hart standing side by side on the Queen of Hearts, partners and pirates, raiding Manitac facilities for everything they were worth.
A romantic notion for sure, but it was impossible. Until now, when she was so close to getting what she wanted, she'd never considered what she would do after she'd gotten her revenge. Not to mention there could only be one captain of a ship. Chances of either her or Hart conceding to the other—it would never happen.
Shaking her head to shed the image wasn't one of her better moments. The room spun as her desire to sink into the alcohol haze increased. She placed the glass onto a coaster next to the sofa before she could end up spilling the precious liquid.
"Lost your tolerance for alcohol?" Hart stood, giving her space. "I'll get you a glass of water."
"Thank you." If she continued to work with pirates, she'd have to build up her tolerance again. Some things never changed even from ancient days—hard drinking was one of them.
When Hart returned, he tried to hand her the glass, but she missed it the first time.
Hart laughed. "You should slow down."
"Oh, give me a break."
He pulled a 'fresher from his pocket to sop up the spill.
Even the 'fresher seemed too heavy for her to handle, but she pressed it against the stain on her leg. "Six months of drinking tasteless bile masquerading as water—it makes me sick just thinking about it."
Tossing the 'fresher next to her shot glass, she made another grab for the water and succeeded this time. Most of it went down her throat, but some of it wound up on her shirt. Good thing both the shirt and pants were black.
"Oh, Stars, I haven't been this sloppy since I was a kid."
"Relax." Hart handed her another 'fresher he'd snatched from somewhere. "We're not in a rush, not tonight. I'll start putting together intel on the haunted nebula. You need to go to bed."
She tossed the wet wad over her shoulder. "Good idea."
Without considering the consequences, she reached up, grabbed Hart's shirt, and yanked that handsome beast on top of her.
Chapter Six
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong, but oh so right. Making out on a sofa might not be the most comfortable place, but Stars, if Hart wasn't everything she'd assumed after their first encounter. His lips tangled with hers and tasted like dorsala mixed with ale, a whole meal she could consume right now if she wanted. Every muscle pressed against her rippled as she ran her hands down his shirt toward those too-tight pants. With a twist to her fingers, she popped the release, giving her access to…
“Enough." Hart pulled away.
Nope, not for her. She made a grab for him again.
"I said, enough." Hart removed her hands and cupped them in his.
"C'mon." Kelra tugged him back into place, even as she tried to catch her labored breathing. "Don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing every time I chased you down."
"No lie there." Despite that, he slid off the sofa, resealing himself inside his clothes. The moment was spoiled, so she let him go. "But you're drunk, and though I may be a pirate, this isn't conduct I permit on my ship."
A wave of dizziness washed over her, proving his point. Still, the comment about behavior not permitted on his ship stuck with her. "Perhaps we should continue in the black room? What's down there anyway? Could be fun."
He paused, but only answered with another question. "Are you always this insatiable?"
"It's been a year and a half. You've probably had more contact with my exes than I have."
"Perhaps."
Not quite the confirmation she'd been looking for.
"You need to sleep this off." Hart dissolved the door and walked out it. "Comm me when you're sober."
The door reformed, leaving her alone with her thoughts, and what thoughts they were. Hart was right, however. No matter how drunk she was, there was no excuse for molesting the man. She'd have to apologize the next time she saw him, until then…
Her body needed release, but it also needed sleep. Both warred for control, but her mind was stronger than her body, and she fought to keep her eyes open. Mission first, then sleep, and then she'd see what Hart was made of underneath the pirate.
Despite the alcohol still in her system, she ordered the Queen of Hearts to display the images of the puppet crew again. While the images floated in midair, she drank another full glass of water along with an extra nutri-pack. Her stomach would hate her, but the faster she sobered up the better, and the nutri-pack would counteract the alcohol. She flicked each record aside until she got to the puppet who had served her dinner.
Missing details had derailed more than one Manitac officer, so Kelra made a point of studying personal details
about her direct reports. This puppet bothered her the more she stared at the cheerful face. The fact that she was on board the ship in the first place…
Hart would hardly be the first pirate to have kidnapped puppets to serve as sex slaves, yet his words indicated that this wasn't the case on the Queen of Hearts. Puppets could perform all sorts of practical functions if given specific instructions with a demonstration. If the function was repetitive, even better.
She had clamped down on the intimate use of puppets on board the Silt, but most other Manitac officers didn't care one way or the other. Another reason for her having a reputation as a hard-ass because treating puppets as people was rare.
Images could never tell the same story as seeing someone in person, however, and details could be missed.
"Queen of Hearts, where are the puppets located?"
"Question not understood."
So Hart didn't have these records tagged as puppets. Why?
"Queen of Hearts, where are the crew quarters?"
"Crew quarters are located one deck below current location."
Hart hadn't yet gifted her with an ear jack, so she’d have to manually program the compression gate. Puppets obeyed without question, and once set to task, they completed as quickly and efficiently as possible. In an odd way, having puppets on board could complicate her plans. Understanding how normal humans reacted to an unexpected change of routine was easier for her to work around than a puppet. Breaking a puppet’s routine could lead them to freeze in place until given further orders or send them in circles, not understanding what they were supposed to do next. Predicting the predictable wasn’t something she’d considered when she started this operation.
No one else was in the hallway as she exited her quarters. Not a surprise. Even pirate ships needed around-the-clock care.
The compressor window dumped her one deck below. The puppets on board the Silt usually stayed in their quarters when not working. All of them had enough functionality to care for themselves without assistance, but not memory capacity to engage in casual conversation, play a game, read a book, or watch a holo-drama. They worked their shift and returned to their quarters with no fuss.
