Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  “At very least it’ll be interesting,” he answered. At her glare, he added, “I’m not in the habit of letting my people get hurt you know. Have a little faith.”

  “For the man who thought ‘I was teaching her to shoot a gun’ would actually work?”

  “You’re lucky you’re gorgeous enough to get away with that. Anyone else and I’d be forced to challenge them to defend my honor.”

  “You have none to defend,” Rick cut in as they approached the cockpit. “Now, be firm, be polite, don’t let him access video, and don’t get us killed.”

  “I can do that,” Leo said. He entered the cockpit and sat in the pilot’s chair, leaning over to press a button on the dashboard. Annie and Rick hung back.

  “Don’t worry,” Rick murmured. “He’s actually very good at this.”

  “I’m just afraid ‘very good’ isn’t going to get very far against Strathmore,” she answered quietly.

  “Hello, Appomattox,” Leo said in a firm, agreeable voice that Annie recognized from the beach. “You are speaking to the captain of the ICS Breakwater. How may I help you?”

  “Hello, Captain Ingram,” Strathmore said, voice as chilly and distant as ever. “I believe you have something of mine. I’d like it back.”

  “Sir, I assure you that all cargo on my ship was gotten through a trusted supplier. I doubt—”

  “Feigning ignorance will gain you no mercy. We both know I mean the girl,” Strathmore interrupted. “Anyanka, are you listening in? I imagine you are, since your new friends haven’t seen fit to allow a video call. How are you? It doesn’t matter. No matter what the answer is, it’s so much better than you’ll be once I have you again, you dim-witted bitch.”

  Annie shuddered and Leo’s hands clenched so tightly on the edge of the dash she was afraid he might dent the metal.

  “And why, exactly, should I give her back to you after that?” he asked through gritted teeth.

  “I’d have thought it was obvious. I’m giving you the chance to earn the right to continue living. My sorry excuse for a bride in return for the lives of your crew. It’s an excellent deal.”

  “With all due respect,” Leo said in a tone that made it very clear exactly how much respect he thought that was, “I think this is something I should discuss with my crew.”

  “And give you time to plot? I think not,” Strathmore said, sounding bored. “You decide now, Captain. Is whatever the little whore’s been doing for you really worth risking your life over?”

  Leo went rigid. “I think this conversation is over, Captain Strathmore,” he said in a voice ironically similar to the other man’s. “Fare well.”

  He cut the connection and thumbed a few switches on the dash. Rick swore.

  “Hold onto something,” he told Annie. “He’s about to get us out of here fast.”

  As soon as he finished talking, the ship seemed to tilt. The artificial gravity compensated for the sudden burst of speed, but Annie still felt the nausea roil in her gut as the ship suddenly jumped to warp 8.

  “What the fuck was that?” someone (Annie thought Hyde) bellowed over the intercom.

  Leo slammed his hand down on the talk button. “Family meeting, kitchen, five minutes,” he growled. “We’ve got some shit to discuss.”

  Annie wobbled to the kitchen, leaning heavily on Rick.

  “Is it always like that?” she asked him, struggling not to vomit.

  “I’m going to go ahead and let you in on a secret,” he said, smiling at her. “The answer to that question will always be ‘yes, but you’ll get used to it,’ unless you’re asking about Custer singing in the shower in which case the answer is ‘no, actually, it only gets worse from here.’”

  “Good to know,” Annie said as he helped her into a chair. She leaned forward and shut her eyes, trying to relax enough to let her stomach unknot. The effect was ruined when Custer and Hyde barged in.

  “What’s happening? Are we running from pirates again?” Custer asked excitedly.

  “Not… exactly,” Rick answered. “I’ll let the captain explain.”

  “No, I think you wanna tell me now,” Hyde said, nostrils flaring. He pushed the bandana keeping his dreadlocks out of his face up to glare more effectively. “Look at Custer. How does he look to you?”

  “He looks happy,” Rick said in a resigned voice.

  “Exactly. And do you know what the leading cause of that psychopathic little shit being happy is?” Hyde said, barreling on before Rick could answer. “You and the captain pulling some stupid shit that the rest of us have to handle. Now, there’s a girl at our table who Strathmore—the Strathmore—is looking for and Custer is smiling like he just got a puppy for Christmas, so maybe tell me why we’re flying like our ass is on fire because I am leaping to some very disturbing conclusions.”

  Rick hesitated. “It’s exactly what you think it is.”

  Hyde nodded, took a deep breath, and then released a series of expletives of such variety and creativity that Annie felt the urge to take notes. Custer laughed.

  “What’s going on?” Dominic asked as he walked in. “I need to get back to engineering. Captain’s gonna pull our girl apart if he keeps overworking her like this.”

  “Stupid motherfucker just went to war with Strathmore,” answered Hyde, his head now resting against a wall.

  Dominic looked hard at Annie, his already blank gaze somehow managing to become even more expressionless. He pulled out a chair and sat.

  “I’ll just wait until Leo gets down here, then,” he said calmly.

  From what Leo had told her, she didn’t want to see him when that calmness faded away.

  Leo walked in after a moment of tense silence.

  “I take it Rick’s filled you in on the situation?” he said when he was greeted by two glares and one manic smile.

  “A bit,” Custer said. “Care to fill us in.”

  Leo sighed explosively and ran his hands through his hair. “At the moment, we are currently at odds with the good Captain Strathmore. He demanded Annie’s return, I refused.”

  Hyde threw his hands up and tossed out a few more choice swears.

  “So what do we do now?” Dominic asked.

  “You can’t take it back,” Annie said, her voice thin. “He doesn’t give second chances. There was probably a bounty on this ship the minute you cut the line.”

  Hyde snorted. “Who do you think we are? We’re not in the flesh trade.” He looked at Leo. “I’d say space her, but that wouldn’t solve our problems, would it?”

  “Not as such, no,” Rick said. “We need to run.”

  “I wasn’t aware we could outrun Strathmore,” Dominic said. “The Appomattox isn’t the fastest ship, but if there’s a bounty on us we’re not just going to be dealing with one ship.”

  “Custer? What say you?” Rick asked.

  “I say we just kill Strathmore,” Custer replied.

  “Great idea, idiot, we just waltz up to the best guarded man in the galaxy and shoot him. No way that gets us killed,” Hyde said.

  The crew continued to argue amongst themselves, but Annie was finding it hard to pay attention. She was scared, she was tired, and she was horribly aware that she was on the verge of tears.

  She started as a warm, tan hand landed on her shoulder and squeezed.

  “I’m going to go check the controls, make sure we’re good,” Leo said. “You guys keep brainstorming.”

  With that he tugged Annie out of her chair and down the hallway.

  They stopped at the entrance to the cockpit. Leo turned to face Annie and tilted her head up with a gentle hand.

  “Hey, we’re going to get out of this, okay?” Leo said. “We’ve got people all over the galaxy. Don’t worry.”

  Annie was about to point out that she’d have to be an idiot not to worry when a blinking light on the dash caught her attention.

  “I can’t promise it’s going to be fun,” Leo went on, “but hey, we’ll make it out okay. Strathmore’s power
ful, but he’s not omnipotent.”

  “Leo—” Annie started.

  “Just one more thing. I said I’d protect you, and I don’t go back on my word. I want you to know that,” Leo said softly.

  “That’s great, but Leo, look,” she said, pointing.

  Leo straightened when he saw the light flashing.

  “We’re being hailed? By who?” he said, stalking over to the dash. “No one who we don’t know should be able to hail us. Strathmore clearly had the resources to get through anyways, but there’s no way anyone else is getting through.”

  He hit a button and a holoscreen flickered to life. Leo blinked in surprise as he looked over the information. “What the… that’s the Honorable’s signature. I wouldn’t have thought Captain Lurk was the type to work for Strathmore.”

  “Captain Lurk? You mean Josephine Lurk?” Annie asked incredulously.

  “That’s the one. You know her?” Leo said, turning back to her.

  Annie nodded. “She traded banned whisky to bars around where I lived for years when I was a kid. My mom was a ship mechanic, helped patch up the Honorable a few dozen times.”

  Leo raised an eyebrow and accepted the call.

  Seconds later, Josie Lurk was peering at them through the holoscreen. Annie felt an unexpected rush of relief course through her at the sight of the familiar captain, taking in the dark skin and curly black hair of the woman who brought her a model SK-class Destroyer for her ninth birthday and told her that one day she’d be piloting one as her mother squawked in outrage. She smiled.

  “Hey, Jo,” she said.

  “Hey there baby doll, Captain Ingram,” she said, nodded at them. “So I just got a bounty for a truly ridiculous amount of credits in exchange for your heads on pikes. A sum which Captain Strathmore has generously offered to double for you to be given to him alive.”

  The story poured out of Annie, from coming home from a twelve hour shift to find her father waiting for her to Strathmore calmly detailing exactly what he’d do to her if she resisted him to her escape. At some point, Leo grabbed her hand and held on tightly. She threw a grateful smile at him and continued. Josie looked calm throughout the entire explanation, but Annie recognized the tightening of her jaw.

  “I think,” she said after Annie had finished, “that I’m going to kill your daddy.”

  “That doesn’t really help anyone,” Annie said, shrugging. “Otherwise, I might have tried myself. As it is, I yelled at him until he ran off to get him out of the way when I ran. I just hope Strathmore hasn’t been able to find him.”

  “Goddamn.” Josie shook her head. “Layla was one of the good ones, you know? It’s not right for her daughter to end up like this.”

  The panic had receded to the point where Annie was able to think again and an idea slowly began to take form.

  “In that case, do you want to help us get out?” Annie asked.

  “You know I want to, but I don’t know what I can do to help you get away from Strathmore,” Josie said.

  “Oh, I don’t want you to get me away from Strathmore,” Annie told her. “I want you to give me to him.”

  She looked around at the dash as Leo and Josie let out a startled “what?” at the same time. She found the button she wanted and pressed it.

  “Can you hear me?” she asked over the intercom system.

  There was a brief pause, followed by Hyde’s voice coming over the line. “We can hear you. Something happen?”

  “Yes, but I have a question first. When Custer said we should just kill Strathmore, you said that was a bad plan because there was no way to get close to him. But if there was a way, would it be possible?”

  “Yeah, as long as we could get back out without dying horribly,” Hyde said. “I’m assuming you’ve got a plan?”

  “I think so. It depends on if Captain Lurk is in. Jo, can you arrange a meeting with Strathmore? Tell him you tricked us or something, but now you have us all in custody. He’s horrifically prideful, he wouldn’t imagine anyone daring to cross him,” Annie said.

  “That’s because crossing him is suicidal,” Josie said.

  “Tell him to meet you planetside somewhere so you’re on neutral ground. His guards are trained better than freelancers and pirates and he knows it. He’ll agree to humor you, and then we’ll have the advantage.”

  “Only if—Custer, back off I swear to God—only if there wasn’t footage of the captain and this nutjob shifting to deal with the guards on the beach. You’re going for the element of surprise, yeah? That’s not going to work if they know.”

  Annie shook her head, excited despite herself. “That’s one of the things I looked at when I was figuring out how to get away. The comm system for the guard teams works as an open link. It’s like any comm call, it’s constant. But they have to contact the ship to check in, so if they didn’t have time to do that—”

  “—then no one knows about us. Huh,” Hyde said. “That still leaves getting away without dying. Even if we kill his whole ground team, someone on the ship could still come after us.”

  “We could come down in a pod,” Annie said. “Have one person left on the Breakwater and land her somewhere close, somewhere we can reach her but that Strathmore’s people won’t see her. I don’t know. But the rest of us port over to the Honorable and act as prisoners. Then once Strathmore’s dead, the Honorable can take off to distract the Appomattox. Hopefully they won’t realize there were two ships until it’s too late.”

  “But where can you land a ship that’s got enough cover Strathmore’s won’t stop it but is still open enough to be able to maneuver?” Josie said.

  “A lot of places, actually,” Leo said, breaking into a wide grin. “Annie, have I told you why our bird is called the Breakwater?”

  “You have not,” Annie said as she quirked an eyebrow at him. “Please, enlighten me.”

  “It’s because she has a special talent. See, smuggling requires a--” Leo began grandly.

  “She can go underwater. It’s because she can go underwater,” Hyde said. “So we leave someone on board—Dom, I’m assuming that’s going to be you—to get her underwater, then go down in a pod, kill the son of a bitch, and book it. That could work. It could also get us killed horribly, but it could work. We’ll get the ship ready, you two figure things out with Captain Lurk.”

  The connection cut off, and Annie turned back to Leo, who had visibly deflated at not getting to reveal the ship’s secret, and Josie, who had a faint smirk on her face.

  “There’s a Destroyer out there with your name on it whenever you’re ready, baby doll.”

  Annie laughed. “I’d get bored.”

  The three of them figured out all the details they would need to get in order to trick one of the most powerful men in the galaxy. There were less than Annie imagined. She’d thought there’d be precise scripts, hours of minutia, and exact calibrations. In the end, it was going over a general idea of what to do, agreeing to talk it over with their respective crews, and bidding each other goodbye so Josie could contact Strathmore and Annie and Leo could prepare.

  They ended up back in the kitchen. Annie wasn’t hungry, but Leo had insisted she not have an empty stomach for what was about to happen. She choked down the noodles without tasting them, her mind going over a thousand ways everything could go wrong. She was caught somewhere between hope and abject terror and the contrasting emotions were making her dizzy. When Josie checked in to let them know everything was ready, it was almost a relief. Meeting Strathmore again might kill her, but the wait was torture.