Andromeda's Pirate
Page 33
"What do you think?" Darvik rubbed her back, his hand working its way up to her hair.
So many changes so fast, and she still had to get the aliens' power under control. Making so many decisions…now wasn't the time. She needed to sleep and eat a good hot meal.
"I think waiting until we get to Dawn is the best idea. I also think that after we plunder the Majesty of the Stars, we should tow it to Dawn before we auction it off. The Shadows might offer us a better price than the open market."
Darvik grinned. "This is what I love about you. Always thinking two steps ahead of everyone else."
She laid her head against his shoulder, not caring what Fletch might think as she addressed him. "We're going to be on Dawn's Landing for a while. I owe the Queen of Heart's crew my assistance with Majesty of the Stars. If you can wait on us, we'll escort you to Dawn so the Shadows won't start firing on you when you exit the slipstream."
Fletch nodded with a smile and shut down the hollow.
"Thank you," she said to Darvik, who had started to pull away, clicking on his ear jack and getting back to work.
"For what?" he asked, pausing his stylus midair.
"For giving me time to think about what I want." She took his hand into hers, stylus and all. "You know me so well. Rejoining the Silt feels right, but staying with you feels right too. I just don't think you should have to give up the Queen of Hearts. It's your ship. If you want to join the Shadows with me, there's no reason you can't bring the Queen of Hearts with you."
The torn look on his face both made her sad and hopeful, sad because he too had a decision to make.
She would say no more about it. It was his decision, and they both needed time.
Chapter Forty-Two
Two months later on Dawn's Landing
It took over an hour, but Darvik managed to track down Johza on a mountaintop outcrop overlooking one of the colony's habitats. The view was breathtaking; green grass as far as he could see punctuated with flowers of every color. Even the buildings had a graceful architecture to enhance the landscape rather than trample it. This particular habitat circled a lake where parents picnicked on the beach while their kids swam.
What a couple of months it had been. As promised, the Silt stayed with the Queen of Hearts as the pirates stripped the Majesty of the Stars of her material wealth. Kelra transferred over to the Silt during the day cycles to oversee its operations and consult with Fletch about how best to approach their new working relationship. One of the first things they agreed on was to rename the ship. After many discussions, Kelra chose the name of the ship: the Queen of Stars, acknowledging the life she led on both the Majesty of the Stars and the Queen of Hearts.
Watching bits and pieces of the Majesty pile up inside the Queen of Heart's cargo bay had to hurt, even if she denied it. Darvik personally collected all the personal items she'd requested from the captain's quarters to give to her. That first night-cycle, he'd left her alone with her memories, letting her watch old holos of her family by herself. After that first night, she slept with him in his bed. Despite the contentedness of their situation, neither one of them would be completely happy until he decided what he would do with the Queen of Hearts.
He still hadn't decided.
At least her alien power hadn't manifested again, for which he was as relieved as she was.
Getting to Dawn's Landing had been dicier than expected. Even with the Queen of Hearts arriving ahead of the Queen of Stars to warn the Shadows that the ex-Manitac ship was coming through to surrender, the Shadows kept their security tight around the ship. They interrogated everyone on board, wearing the military-grade masks Darvik loaned them, just to make sure none of the crew who decided to defect were spies. The ones who wanted to leave were shipped to Unity on whatever ship they could afford.
Darvik couldn't make a decision until he knew each member of his crew would find a soft landing. Which led him to Johza, the only pirate who didn't have a future.
"It's pretty up here," he said to announce his presence.
Johza scooted over so Darvik would have enough room to sit next to him. "Too pretty."
"How so?"
Johza shrugged. "I always figured I’d die in space, one way or another. My carcass would get shoved into a coffin and fired into a sun somewhere, never to be found, never to be missed."
"I promised you that when Naz first diagnosed you."
"Yeah, you did." Johza coughed for a moment. Darvik noted it didn't have the same violent rasp as before. "Naz is a good doc, but he doesn't have the fancy equipment or the latest treatments."
"I thought you weren't interested in taking advantage of the medical facilities here?"
Johza shrugged. "I met the director while we were working on scheduling the puppets for surgery. She noticed I wasn't feeling well, and we got to talking and…she's a persuasive woman."
She'd have to be to convince a curmudgeon like Johza into see a doctor other than Naz. "She's not bad-looking either."
"Yeah, that too."
Darvik laughed.
"You didn't climb this mountain to ask me about my health."
The knowing look Johza gave him poked Darvik the wrong way. "I'm not allowed to check up on my pirates?"
"I don't know. Are we still your pirates?"
A stone nearby served as ammunition for his frustration, as Darvik tossed it as far as he could. It took a full two seconds before he heard the soft plunk of it hitting the much larger rocks below.
"I've released Ezick from his pledge. He's going to stay here while his sister recovers."
Johza snorted. "Who would have thought one of the most deadly and illegal drugs in the colonies could bring back a puppet's memory?"
"About time in my book. All the Queen's puppets will have their memories restored by the end of this season, but they'll still need a lot of rehabilitation. Ezick needs to stay here."
"Is Rusa going to stay with him?"
Darvik nodded. "Kid needs a parent. I tried, but Rusa was better. She likes him well enough to stay grounded until the situation with his sister is stabilized."
"You'll do fine when your time comes." This time, Johza was the one who tossed a pebble off the outcrop.
"I think you're getting ahead of yourself." Why was Johza so eager for him to start a family?
If Johza had something else to say about that, he kept it to himself.
"Where's Mirin?" he asked instead.
"She's bringing the booty we want to sell to auction. There's a cargo ship the director recommended, Starcatcher, that will bring her to Calypso. She'll return once everything is sold."
"Think she'll stay on the Queen of Hearts once you join the Shadows?"
"I never said I was going to join."
"Yeah, but the director won't charge you for repairing and renovating the Queen of Hearts if you do join."
"The Queen of Hearts is a pirate ship."
"The Queen of Hearts is whatever you want it to be. She's your ship."
Johza echoed what Kelra had said to him. "I can't see Mirin joining the Shadows."
"I'll talk to her."
"And what are you going to tell her?"
"That it doesn't matter." Johza tossed another stone. "The Shadows are going to have you do what you've always done: steal from Manitac. Except instead of keeping all the booty for yourselves, they'll be redistributing it to fund their revolution."
"I don't know…" It sounded too easy for Darvik's taste. Easy meant trouble down the line because details were missed.
"Look,” Johza said. “What made the Queen of Hearts special wasn't the ship itself—it was the group of us working together. Things have changed. We've all gotten older, and maybe our priorities have shifted. Nazaniel has an opportunity to update his skills here. Like it or not, he can't do that from the ass end of the galaxy. Ezick showing up with the Stratos puppets…he changed Rusa because someone had to teach that kid how to survive. Ezick won't abandon his sister. I'm dying, but now I might have
a little longer to live than I thought, but I have to stay here to get the treatments. So even if Mirin wants to stay on the Queen of Hearts, it won't be the same. You'll need new crew anyway."
Darvik said nothing.
"Not to mention, you can run your raids with Kelra backing you with the Queen of Stars."
He knew that's what she wanted. Talking to Johza clarified things for him. He and Kelra had taken some time for themselves. On a planet like this, it was hard not to get lost in the atmosphere of possibilities.
He loved her, and she loved him back, but she'd never pressure him to leave his ship behind. Now, with this plan, he wouldn’t have to. That image of them standing side by side could come true after all. They would be captains of their respective ships. They would have to transfer from one ship to the other every time they wanted to be together, but they would work it out.
As successful as he was with just the Queen of Hearts, with Kelra and the Queen of Stars, they would be unstoppable.
Darvik stood up and brushed some dirt off his pants.
"You going to go tell her?" Johza asked.
"Yes. I'm going to go tell her…yes."
Johza nodded toward the trail. "Well, get going. If you take too long with a woman like that, you'll lose her."
Darvik rushed down the mountain. Once he was in range, he sent a message to the director, telling her to get their facility ready for the Queen of Heart's renovation and repair.
He found Kelra at the spaceport, overseeing the repairs to the Queen of Star's port side. She stood there arms akimbo, hair loose in the wind, still wearing black, but this time to match the Shadows—with her dark eyes filled with gold stars watching a grav-resister lift a new joint into place.
She took his breath away.
"Are you going to keep staring, or are you going to kiss me?"
Of course she knew he was there. He answered with a hard kiss with the entire construction crew as witness.
"I missed you," he said.
"We've only been apart for a few hours."
"I missed you just the same."
She rolled her eyes. "You're such a romantic."
"I've made my decision."
Her smile faltered. He hated that look, so he blurted out his announcement. "I told the director to schedule Queen of Hearts for her repairs and renovations. I'm joining the Shadows."
"Oh, Darvik." This time she crushed herself against him, taking command of his lips before pulling away. "I'm so happy. We'll make it work. You know we will."
Exactly what Johza had said. "I never had a doubt, Captain Kelra Hart."
That caused a nose wrinkle. "I was thinking Captain Darvik Shade had a nice ring to it."
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "How about you take a break, and we'll find a more private place to discuss it?"
"And where would we find such a place?"
"The Queen of Hearts is empty at the moment, and so is my bed."
To make his point, he swung her up into his arms.
"You know how much I love it when you go all pirate on me." She slipped her arms around his neck. "Take me to your ship, Captain Hart. I have some treasure for you to plunder."
***
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Sneak Peek of Love in the Time of Wormholes
By: Jess K. Hardy
The Argosian farmer took up most of the bed, his massive arm slung over Sunny’s waist, pinning her in place like a nova beetle on its back. Surveying his snoring face—and extremely naked body—she wondered, Did I actually fuck him last night? And if so, how? Physically, how was it even possible?
Her Viewchip (VC) comm pinged inside her head, alerting her to an incoming message.
Sunny moaned, then froze as the Argosian stirred.
Gingerly, Sunny scooted back toward the headboard of the Argosian’s bed and sat up. Elanie wasn’t wrong. She was still drunk. Argosian ripple didn’t take any prisoners.
Elanie’s sigh gusted between Sunny’s ears.
A deep and resonant rumbling erupted from the enormous man whose bed, she presumed, she was currently trying to escape.
“My sentiments precisely,” she muttered. “Would you be so kind as to remove your arm from my waist? I’m rather late.” She was also rather worried she might break in two when she tried to stand up if what she feared happened last night actually had.
The Argosian rolled onto his back, taking his arm with him.
Air flooded her lungs. “Much better.” She slid off the bed. “I’ll just find my clothes and—”
“You will not find them,” he grumbled, propping his head on an elbow and smirking sleepily at her. Golden tattoos embellished his expansive chest and firm stomach: a scythe, harvest moons glowing over a field of grain, exquisitely detailed seeds—images meant to pay tribute to the agricultural life that drove his planet’s economy.
“I can see that. Happen to know where they are?”
“You wore no clothes when I found you.” His smirk stretched into a full-fledged grin.
Sunny blinked. “I’m sorry? Can you repeat that?” She enjoyed a wild night here and there, but she had never once in her entire sordid career lost her clothes. Well, unless she counted her shoe, but she’d given that away.
Scratching his chest between his stunning pectorals, he said, “Argos makes a strong drink. Do not feel ashamed.”
“Did we…? Did I…?” Sunny gulped.
He shook his head, rueful. “We did not join. We were not worthy of each other.”
A profound relief buckled her knees. Worthy, on Argos—where males tended to outweigh the females by one hundred kilos or more—referred to the way body parts might or might not fit together between two partners. Sunny offered a silent prayer of thanks to the sweet gods of fermentation who had blessed her with complete amnesia of the evaluation of said worth.
“Apologies, dear man.” She clicked her tongue. “Anatomy strikes again, eh?” Snatching his yellow coveralls—the preferred outfit for all Argosians—from the bed, she wrapped them around her body like a robe.
“No. Those are mine.” His deep voice reverberated through her ribcage.
“Yes, well, I can’t very well walk back to my pod in the nude, can I? I’m sure you understand. I will have my assistant return your garment to you straight away. You have my word.” Her hand reached out awkwardly to pat his big toe, which he wiggled playfully under her palm. She straightened, ran a hand through her hair, and recited her customary closing remarks. “I trust you are enjoying your stay aboard the Ignisar, and I sincerely hope you will look no further than Lu
naCorp for all your future holiday and interplanetary travel needs.”
With a curt nod, she scampered from his room while he laughed at her, shaking his gigantic, golden-tattooed head.
Holding up the too-long legs of the Argosian’s coveralls, Sunny stumbled as gracefully as she could into the elevator, packed full with two canoodling, sunglasses-wearing Ulaperians, one quad-armed guest from Gorbulon-7—two of those arms busy teasing his hair straight up—and one rather handsome Blurvan. The Blurvan, leaning his humanoid torso against the back wall of the elevator while his gelatinous lower half jiggled above a tapping, seven-toed foot, took one look at her outfit and smirked. “Rough night?”
Sunny pushed the button for deck twelve, mumbled, “No rougher than usual,” and wished for the umpteenth time the crew had their own elevator bank.
After passing a party of hopping, one-legged guests from Vorp on her way to her pod, Sunny winced because there stood Elanie, blocking her door, scowling with her arms crossed tightly under her disgustingly perfect bionic cleavage.
“Staff meeting is in ten minutes, Sunny. I hope it was worth it.”
AI with human DNA spliced between the wires, all bionics were designed to emulate the pinnacle of human beauty. Elanie, for example—with her silky brown hair, perfectly straight nose, and big brown doe eyes—always looked as fresh as spring rain. Sunny, on the other hand, felt and likely smelled like the refuse compactor on jettison day.
“Is that a pair of Argosian coveralls?” A look of pure horror overtook Elanie as she realized who Sunny had shacked up with last night.
Always endeavoring to project the appearance of having her shit together, Sunny replied, “It is, and it was completely worth it.” Her brow cocked. “Another satisfied customer, if you ask me.”