Aeron tried to stop walking when Riona would usher her through the crowd. “I have a ship that can get us off planet, but—”
“Yeah, yeah, tell me all about it in flight, sis. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up in space.” Riona tried not to think about her massive loss. She felt the eyes of the crowd on them, watching. It took all her concentration to smile and act unconcerned.
The crowd was the usual mix of disreputable lowlife creatures one would expect to find in Madaga. Riona knew to stay away from the hired guns and slave traders. However, the pirates, bounty hunters and crooked business men made for decent enough conversation. Though she doubted Aeron would feel the same way. Her sister jerked away from a group of aliens. They looked mostly human but with thick ridges across their foreheads and cheeks. They fanned their webbed hands in front of their faces to create a breeze in the crowded area.
A set of three very hostile eyes met hers. The Pha’n had bet on her to win. One eye stayed on Riona as the other two moved meaningfully to an unsuspecting Aeron. The race had a quick temper, which usually ended up with body parts being dumped in all corners of the galaxy. Riona gave a meaningful nod to the Pha’n woman and then pointed two fingers briefly to the artery in her neck, indicating she was handling it. The Pha’n made no move to follow, but it was clear the restraint took much unnatural effort on her part.
“There’s my soldier,” a humanoid man in a feather dress said to Aeron as they passed. “Come back to conscript me?”
The blue-skinned creature next to him laughed heartily in a high-pitched whine. “Con-strip you!’
“I see you’ve been making friends,” Riona drawled wryly under her breath, eyeing her sister’s uniform. Sometimes she didn’t think it was possible they came from the same mother.
“I didn’t. They harassed me when I came in to find you and—”
“Yeah, you better keep that affronted-military-voice thing down. Pirates don’t take kindly to the law,” Riona warned. Aeron was always so literal. Was it possible they even came from the same parents? “You’re lucky there was a costume ball tonight and that Federation dress is raging this year with the personal entertainment crowd or you’d have been lynched before you could step through the front door.”
“I can assure you, Ri, I didn’t want to come here. I didn’t have a choice. And I can take care of myself.” Aeron gasped. “Personal entertain—did you just say I look like a prostitute?”
“What? No,” Riona lied, “you misheard.” She saw one of Range’s thugs following several paces behind. “Well then, let’s not make you wait around here too long. Where’s that ship of yours, sis? I can’t wait to see it.” She tried to hurry Aeron along while smiling for the benefit of Range’s men. Joner, a hulking piece of roughened manmeat, had a little bit of a thing for her, but that was one disc this gambler didn’t want to have to throw.
“Where are you staying? Don’t you need to tell your ride that you have other arrangements? Or is there luggage we need to pick up?”
Riona thought of her clothes and meager belongings. Everything she had that was worth fighting for she carried on her person at all times. If she managed to give Range and his men the slip, her room is the first place they’d plunder. Besides, thanks to Aeron’s untimely interruption, Riona didn’t even have the money to pay her room bill—not that the rusted metal hole in the wall could be considered a real room. “I only flew in for the tournament and didn’t bring much with me. I’m all yours. Now where’s that ship?”
“What is with you?” Aeron demanded, trying to slow down.
“I’m hurt. My sister comes here after how many years and asks me for my help and now you suspect I’m up to something because I drop everything to help you?” Riona sighed, shaking her head in disapproval. “It’s not like you ask me for favors. The least I can do is take you seriously when you do.”
“Well, ah, thank you,” Aeron said, nodding slowly. “That is very adult of you, Ri. I can see things have apparently changed with you.”
“Riona!”
Riona flinched. Range had apparently changed tactics and decided to follow her himself. They had just walked onto the docking platform where all the ships were parked along an open clearing of concrete. Rows of various travel vessels lined up in assigned squares, packed snugly together to maximize the use of the space. A few people milled about, mostly couples in risqué positions and drunken crewmen trying to find a place to pass out now the gambling was winding down. In the main complex behind them, the party raged on and would continue to do so for several more days. That was the beauty of deep space travel. All the travelers were on a different time schedule, and one person’s morning was another person’s evening, so when they all gathered together time blended into one long planetary party.
“Should we stop? I think someone’s trying to get your attention.” Aeron tried to point at the main complex.
“No, I think we should go. Is this your ship? The Federation Military vessel? Subtle, sis, very subtle.”
“Riona! I know you’re not trying to renege on our bet,” Range yelled, the sound of his heavy footfalls coming faster.
“Hey, I think that guy—” Aeron insisted.
“We should really get going, as in now,” Riona said, grabbing her sister’s arm and jerking her the last several feet to the ship.
“You’re in trouble, aren’t you? I knew it. I knew you hadn’t grown up. You’re just using me! I was an idiot to think I could—”
“Do you think we could continue this lecture later? That guy isn’t trying to ask me out on a date, if you know what I mean.” Her words were punctuated by a warning laser blast aimed in their direction. It whizzed past before fizzling into nothingness.
“Are they shooting at us?” Aeron screamed in surprise as she jerked violently to the left to take cover. “Are they insane? What are they thinking? This is a Federation ship. I am a Federation civilian employee!”
Riona actually laughed at her. How could she not? “Where I come from, that’s a reason to shoot. No one will care if you’re civilian or military bred. Besides, they’re only firing warning shots. They’re too far behind us to do much damage to the ship. They just want me to know they’re not going to forget the debt so easily.”
To Aeron’s credit, she hurried to press the security code into the ship’s panel to open the entry hatch on the bottom. Instantly, a door slid open and a ladder came down from above. Leading the way, she said, “I can’t believe you are so careless with money. I should make you go down and face him.”
Riona tolerated the lecture as she followed her sister up the ladder. Only when Aeron stopped to take a breath, did she insert, “Unless you have a bag full of space credits you’re willing to leave with me, I’m going to have to beg you not to do that. Besides, you give me a lift and I promise I’ll help you with whatever you need.” Riona wasn’t too worried. Her sister’s sense of adventure ran toward a really hard logic puzzle, a cup of hot grog and an auto-warm blankie. How much help could the woman really need?
“How much do you owe?” Aeron demanded, hands on hips as she stopped short of going into the cockpit to start the engines.
Riona hit the control button to make the hatch seal shut. “Don’t worry about it.” She passed her sister to take the pilot’s seat and automatically began initiating launch protocols. A viewing screen popped up to show movement on the outside of the ship as a warning before initiating thrusters. Range was there, slamming his fist into the metal side. His anger reverberated loudly from below. The viewing screen sound was off, but she could see his lips moving and didn’t need to hear what he was saying to know what he was saying.
“Hey, this is my ship. I’ll do the flying.”
“Ever out fly an angry pirate?” Riona arched a brow. Aeron gave her a dubious look. “That’s what I thought, analyst. Why don’t you just strap in and let me handle this boat? The sooner we get out of here, the better our odds of losing him before the chase even starts. And if I know
Range, he’ll give chase.” As if to prove her point, the pirate stopped hitting their ship and turned to run down the docking lot. He disappeared from the viewing screen.
“We come from the same place, you know,” Aeron said.
“What are you talking about?” Riona started up the engine, doing a mental check of the buttons and switches as she readied for flight.
“You said where you come from being Federation is a bad thing. That’s not true. We come from the same place.” Aeron’s literal take on life worked well with her militant pursuits…not so well when trying to relate to other humanoids.
“Yeah,” Riona drawled absentmindedly, jerking the controls, “a giant minefield of floating rock.”
“Our home world was lovely,” Aeron defended.
“Until it exploded into a thousand pieces,” Riona answered. “I flew near there a few years back. Nothing but blackness. Even most of the meteors seemed to have floated away.”
“How can you talk about it like that?”
Riona didn’t answer as she brought up the map of Torgan. Three rings spun at odd angles around the brown-gray planet. Grabbing the communicator, she said, “Torgan Ground, this is, ah—” Riona glanced around trying to find a name and then settled for, “—a ship and we’re about to take off, so if you don’t want us exploding over the docking platform you better clear the air.”
“Riona!” Aeron scolded.
“A ship this is Torgan Ground. We need a little more…” The communicator’s words faded as Riona turned down the volume and concentrated on getting out of there.
“What?” She feigned innocence as she began the final phases of departure procedures. The ship was a little different than she was used to, but at this point she could fly just about anything as long as it wasn’t a giant cruiser or space station. She wasn’t too worried. She knew enough about Torgan to know they wouldn’t want a ship exploding over their docking lot. They would be liable not only for ruined ships and damage to their facility, but they’d have possible authoritative inquiries into the incident.
Aeron grabbed the communicator and turned the volume back up. “My apologies for the rookie, Torgan Ground. She panicked. This is Federation ship class three cruiser number six-nineteen-twenty requesting you open for an emergency takeoff.” Glancing at her sister, she said, “We’ve got a level nineteen prisoner onboard that we’d like to get out of your sky.”
“Federation class three, understood. Clearing sky traffic. You have an open shot into deep space. Scan protocols being activated and ships are being locked down.”
“The Federation thanks you for your cooperation, Torgan Ground,” Aeron said, shutting the communicator off.
“Level nineteen prisoner?”
“Possible toxic contaminate,” Aeron answered.
“Wow, thanks for that,” Riona drawled sarcastically, realizing her sister had likened her to infectious waste. Though she had called Aeron a prostitute earlier, so she guessed they were even. “I love you too.”
“I just did you a favor. Whoever is chasing you will have to wait for contamination clearance. Standard protocol whenever there is a possible onworld level nineteen contamination.”
The ship shook as they began to move. “I’ll have to remember that. Thanks for the tip.”
“I didn’t tell you that so you would—”
Riona purposefully jerked the ship, jarring her sister to the right and then left to get the woman to stop talking. It worked. Aeron stopped lecturing her. “Try to hold on there, sis.”
Lights began to blur on the viewing screen and the ride became smoother. She relaxed some as the surface view faded from the sensors.
“I can’t believe you, Ri,” Aeron said through gritted teeth. “I’m with you for two seconds and we’re already being chased off a planet because you owe money to a space pirate…”
Blarg. Blarg. Blarg. Riona moved her mouth, silently mocking the lecture and not really paying attention to it. She pushed several buttons before turning away from the control panel to let the ship guide itself. “Okay, you got me out here. We’re in space. What’s so important you had to slum it with the lowlifes?”
“I need your help. I have to get to a planet on the outer edge of the Y quadrant. I can’t keep this ship.”
Riona arched a brow.
“The planet is called Qurilixen. The Federation has no authority there, and quite frankly little interest in it or the people, but for their mining operations. The Draig and Var people who inhabit the planet keep to themselves and by all reports live quite primitively. About five months ago, I intercepted some data that leads me to believe the people there might be in trouble. The Federation refused to get involved. So long as they get the ore mined on the planet one way or another, they’re keeping their hands clean of the whole situation. But after seeing our home world explode, I can’t stand by and watch another race of people get wiped out—especially over something like mining rights. If something happened and I did nothing—”
“So let me get this straight,” Riona interrupted. “You left work without permission and you stole a Federation ship, which you now need to ditch because you’re heading to a primitive planet in the Y and don’t want the military tracking you. And you need my help to get you there.”
“Yes.” Aeron bit her lip and nodded. “Will you help me?”
A slow smile spread over Riona’s lips. “Ah, little sis, I’m so proud right now I might start crying. Of course I’ll help you break a bunch of Federation laws.” And the fact Range wouldn’t dream of looking for her in the Y was a bonus. “Besides, you know me. I’m always up for a little mischief and adventure.”
Riona wasn’t sure if her sister’s resulting expression was grateful or an attempt to hide her disapproval.
* * *
Finding a ship that was going immediately to the outer regions of the Y quadrant, to a primitive planet called Qurilixen that rarely allowed anyone to land on its soil, and a ship that also happened to be landing on the half of the planet that was inhabited by the Draig and not the half inhabited by a race called the Var, proved to be surprisingly easy. One hacked database search later and Riona had such a ship. It was taking passengers. It was close enough for them to reach in the stolen Federation cruiser and if they flew smart they would have enough fuel to land. And, best of all, it wouldn’t cost them a single space credit to get onboard the luxury craft. If she believed in the gods of fate, she’d say they were smiling at them right now—or they really didn’t like Range.
Glancing to the chair next to her where her sister insisted on sleeping, she frowned. Unfortunately, there was one very big, very un-Aeron-approved catch. In order to hitch a ride, they had to be contracted as potential brides.
Assured that Aeron slept, Riona pulled up the Galaxy Brides advertisement she’d found in a magazine chip and read to herself, “Wanted: Galaxy Brides Corporation seeking 46 fertile humanoid-compatible females of early childbearing years and A5+ health status for marriage to strong, healthy Qurilixian males at their annual Breeding Festival. Possibility of royal attendance. Must be eager bed partners, hard workers. Virginity a plus. Apply with official health documents, travel papers and IQ screen to: Galaxy Brides, Phantom Level 6, X Quadrant, Earthbase 5792461.”
The Earthbase was close and, by the departure date listed on the screen, they could just make it. Luckily, the corporation seemed more worried about filling a quota than the actual screening process. They accepted the forged documents Riona transmitted to them from her counterfeit ID papers. Pulling up her sister’s documents proved to be a little trickier, but she managed. A forged signature later and they were in business. Within seconds, Galaxy Brides confirmed their booking with a long welcome letter and assurances they’d made the right decision for their future happiness.
Riona thought it best not to mention the details to her sister until it became an unavoidable conversation. There was no reason to get Aeron all worked up about the trip. She would never admit it, but the m
oment Aeron had mentioned the possible destruction of a planet, a knot had formed inside her, constructed partly of memory, partly of fear and partly of an overwhelming sense of helpless need.
Riona had witnessed the end of her home world, and since Aeron had showed up, the nightmares of it had come back. She looked at her sister, wishing more than anything the woman had kept her distance. But now that Aeron was here, Riona couldn’t turn her away. If there was a planet in trouble, she couldn’t ignore it. Aeron wouldn’t approve of Riona’s methods, but it was the only way she could think of to help. And maybe, just maybe, if she helped stop this disaster the nightmares of her past would never come back.
* * *
Galaxy Brides spaceship, six weeks later.
“Oh, come on! Seriously, why else would the Qurilixian men call their wedding ceremony a Breeding Festival? It is so laughably obvious. It has nothing to do with love and everything to do with a planet full of horny males, with no females of their own, who need to find release,” Olena announced, continuing her ongoing monologue about their future husbands. The more Olena drank, the funnier she became. Riona liked her. A lot.
The woman had the most brilliant flaming-red hair—much brighter than Riona’s auburn locks, the sides of which were pulled up into a center knot to cascade down her back in curls. Riona had admired the hairpin sticking out of it, only to be told that Olena used it to handle her business—code for the hairpin was tipped in poison. It was then Riona knew they were of the same mold.
Unlike her stuffy sister, who hid out in her luxury room for most of the trip through the stars, Riona had found a small group of potential brides that were a little more her speed. If she didn’t know better, she’d say this Olena Leyton was much more than she let on. Riona didn’t care. The woman was allowed her secrets, even if they were of a piratical sort.
They were lounging on the floor of her luxury suite on the Galaxy Brides spaceship. The rest of the prospective brides were getting ready for the official docking the next evening. The women were quarantined from the crew to ensure nothing unseemly happened, which caused some of the women to jokingly refer to their quarters as the harem.
The Impatient Lord Page 2
