As they levered themselves out of the slicers, Sin called, “Hey, Jinx!"
"Yeah, boss?” Jinx's young voice answered.
"Could you get on the com with the station and have them get lunch ready for us? We've got enough time to eat before we've got to roll."
"I'm on it."
"Thanks,” she said, catching Del's eye with wry humor. “I figure I'm not the only one who could use a meal."
He grinned in agreement, pacing her as they followed a quick moving Cassie towards the door. “You ain't kiddin'. I think I'm starving."
"You should be. You worked hard today.” She slanted him a look that speared him down to his toes, a smile playing around her mouth. “You looked really good out there, Del. I'm glad you're with us."
At that moment he wanted to kiss her so badly it was a pain in the back of his throat. Good sense took a back seat to the sudden throb of need in his body and he reached out a hand to draw her to him. But he got no farther than brushing his fingertips against her arm.
Quan startled him out his mist of longing by clapping a friendly hand to his shoulder. “She's right. You were great. Now I see why Cassie's been raving about you."
Still staring down at Sin, Del saw her cast the other pilot a sharp look, a quick frown passing over her features. But Quan didn't seem to notice. Edging by them, he said, “And if you two aren't gonna call second on the bathroom..."
Sin snorted, following Quan through the door. Del was right behind her, wondering why she'd frowned at Quan's comment and trying like hell not to watch her smooth stride or the tempting curve of her bottom. Quan disappeared into the crew's quarters, but Sin continued on towards the control room. Del hesitated, but then reasoned that the bathroom would be occupied and followed Sin.
"Hey, boss,” Jinx greeted her and then grinned at Del. “Hey, man, kick ass moves out there."
"Thanks,” Del muttered with some discomfort as Sin ruffled the boy's hair. He wasn't used to praise. The Core's idea of a reward for a job well done was to not kill him.
"So what's for lunch?” Sin asked.
"It's a surprise,” Jinx answered with a mischievous grin.
She narrowed her eyes on him suspiciously. “It better not be beer and chips again."
"It ain't!"
"Or fish,” she added with a frown. “You know I hate fish."
"Ain't that either. Relax, boss! I was good this time."
Del smothered a grin at the disbelieving eyebrow she arched at the youngster.
"We'll see."
Jinx made a noise in his throat and turned a disgruntled look on Del. “Don't know what's wrong with chips and beer."
"Or fish,” Del responded, grinning when Sin folded her arms and glared from one to the other.
"Fish stink,” she said with crisp emphasis, “and beer and chips are not a healthy meal."
"But damned good goin’ down,” Del said with an unrepentant smirk.
Jinx snickered. “Got that right."
The door opened as Sin rolled her eyes, and Quan stepped through. “Bathroom's open."
Del looked at Sin, but she waved him away. “Go ahead. I can wait—we're almost there."
Del left to see Cassie stepping out of the commons room. She hoisted a bottle and lifted her eyebrows at him. “Water? It's nice and cold."
"Sure,” he said as he approached, and she tossed it to him, passing him on her way to the control room.
"What's for lunch?” she called back over her shoulder.
"It's a surprise,” he answered with a grin as he paused at the door to the crew's quarters.
"Uh-oh."
He chuckled and stepped through the door. Opening the bottle, he took a long swallow as he looked around. There were six wall beds hung two deep to his left and an arrangement of comfortable looking furniture and exercise equipment to his right. It was spacious enough, but he could see by the lines on the walls that more beds could be hung if needed. The beds themselves looked pretty comfortable—they seemed long enough to accommodate his length at least. There was also a door at either end of the long room. The one he guessed opened on the lift to the engineering section and the other was the bathroom.
He made use of the bathroom, which was a decent size, considering it was a ship lavatory. Coming out, he felt a shudder in the ship and guessed that they'd docked. Stepping into the corridor, he saw Cassie at one end.
"We're home,” she said simply.
The words had a strange effect on him. He felt a warm rush of pleasure, followed by a pang of dismay. There was more danger here than getting in the middle of a blood feud. He liked these people, but could he really afford to form ties with them? Were their actions any more right than the Core's, just because they used more subtle means? His brother would say no.
But he had the alarming feeling that it was already too late.
"You okay?” Cassie asked with a faint frown of concern.
"Yeah,” he mumbled, clearing his throat as he approached her. “Figure out the surprise yet?"
She grinned. “Let's go find out."
The surprise turned out to be that Jinx had been very good for once. There were sandwiches and salads, both green and fruit, soups and light desserts. It was simple food, but what it lacked in sophistication it made up for in quantity. There was enough food for about half the station on the tables hovering in the middle of the maintenance bay. Jinx took some ribbing on this point with a good-natured grin.
"Least we ain't goin’ hungry!” was his cheerful response.
Del had no complaints—his stomach cramped painfully at the sight of all that food, and he grabbed a plate, making a beeline for the mountain of sandwiches. Sin was already there, studying the assortment with a critical eye.
"Thought you were hungry,” he commented as he reached past her to snag a couple of sandwiches.
"Just making sure he didn't sneak fish in there somewhere,” she answered with a hint of a smile and a twinkle in her eye. “Or worse...” she added, looking at his plate pointedly.
With sudden suspicion, Del took a quick look inside his sandwiches. “Looks like roast beef and smoked bird."
"Oh, I'm sure it is,” she answered with wide-eyed blandness, that hint of a smile still playing about her mouth.
With a grin, he answered her tacit challenge by taking a huge bite. If it wasn't roast beef, it was a damned good imitation and a satisfying one at that. He lifted the sandwich to her in smug salute, and she chuckled as she slipped one onto her own plate.
"Have you said goodbye to your brother yet? We've got about an hour before we leave."
"Saw him this morning,” he mumbled around a mouthful, swallowing before he added, “Besides, I doubt I'd find him in time."
"Finding him is the easy part,” she murmured, and then raised her voice. “Control, could you locate Nick Givliani, please?"
"Nicholo Givliani is in the vestibule of the Red Sun temple,” the toneless voice answered without pause.
Del blinked at her in astonishment, noticing that she suppressed a smile at this news. “The Order of the Red Sun has a temple here?” The reclusive and militant order was very selective about where they located their temples. Del had never heard of one being erected on a busy commerce station. The gregarious Golden Sun Order was much more likely to settle in the middle of a populated place like this one.
"They believe they have a ... calling here,” she said with studied care, her expression hard to interpret. “Your brother hasn't wasted any time. Are you sure you don't want to track him down?” The challenging gleam in her green eyes was impossible for him to resist.
He shrugged casually and said with as much disinterest as he could, “I'm sure he'll give me a full report when I get back."
She suppressed another smile and tilted her head in acknowledgement. “I'm sure he will,” she said softly and moved towards the garden of salads.
The lunch passed much like the breakfast. The group hadn't seemed to lose much energy in spite of th
e intense drilling. The only difference was that they all dug into the mounds of food with ravenous interest. Jinx got Sunny going on another story while Cassie and Bib had a mini vegetable flinging war across a table, until Kai and Quan chased them with vegetable skewers. Squealing, the women hid behind Lynch who scowled the two stalkers down, arms folded forbiddingly. In the face of opposition, the two men promptly gave up, opting to get something to drink rather than try any further skewering.
Del watched this scene with baffled humor. The feeling that he was witnessing an extended family returned, along with a faint ache of loss and longing deep inside him. He refused to explore what that meant.
Soon enough it was time to go and they all piled back into the haulers. Their exit from the station was a stomach lurching repeat of the morning's performance, but their journey to the star-way was uneventful. They had to wait in a long line of ships to go through the ring. Apparently their solar destination was a popular one. After the ring, their journey to the system that was their supplier of Abantium was just as uneventful and the crew found themselves at loose ends. Quan opted to take a nap, mumbling for them to wake him when they got there. Sin kept Jinx company while Del and Cassie played a series of card games in the common room.
The common room turned out to be part kitchen, part entertainment, part medical facility. Cassie and Del sat across from each other at a long table in the dining part of the room, a deck of hover-cards between them.
Del stared at the cards in his hand with disgust. He was not having good luck. “Hit me."
"Again? You're a glutton for punishment, big guy,” she responded, grinning as he made a face at her.
"That's gettin’ mighty old, Cass."
"Cranky, are we? I suppose you thought this trip would be more exciting. Don't worry, it'll get plenty exciting later on.” She flipped a card over and tsked at it. “High card. You suck at this game."
"You cheat."
She gasped with wounded innocence. “I do not! Play again?"
He eyed her with cynical humor. “Only if I deal."
"Oh, fine,” she muttered, pushing the deck across to him and mumbling something that sounded like “suspicious bastard” under her breath.
With the deck in his hands, his luck improved dramatically, and they were having a lively debate on the merits of cheating when Jinx's voice interrupted them.
"Heads up, crew! We're on approach to the refinery's docking bay."
"Time to make a good impression,” Cassie announced, shoving the pile of cards into a compartment and standing. “Come on. Let's get changed."
"Changed?” he asked as she led the way to the crew's quarters.
"Yeah, it makes a better impression if the crew wears the company insignia."
When they entered the crew's quarters, Sin was already there, dressed in a very professional looking pants suit with a sphinx on her breast, and standing over a snoring Quan with a thoughtful frown on her face. She glanced up when they entered and waved them over. “Water this time?” she asked in a musing tone.
"We did that last time,” Cassie answered, staring down at the sleeping man in serious contemplation. “And the sound blaster in his ear the time before that."
Del felt a pang of sympathy for the unsuspecting man, but couldn't help the smirk of mischief that came over his face. “How ‘bout yanking him out on his ass?"
The two women glanced over their shoulders at him, and then met each other's eyes consideringly. Cassie shrugged. “Haven't done that one for a while."
"Okay, then,” Sin decided. “Grab a leg."
Quan didn't stop snoring until his body hit the deck in an untidy heap. “Hey! Wha—” He struggled to a sitting position, staring up at them blearily.
"Oh, dear,” Sin murmured, squatting next to him with an expression of sublime sympathy. “Are you okay? You fell out of bed."
"Again?” he mumbled, rubbing his face while she patted him on his shoulder gently.
"You should be more careful."
Biting her lip, Cassie grabbed Del's arm and pulled him away, snickering softly.
"Do you do that to him all the time?"
With a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure they wouldn't be overheard, Cassie grinned up at him. “Poor guy thinks he sleepwalks, too. We've moved him all over the ship and he never wakes up. Even stuck him in the pilot's seat once."
"And he's got no idea you guys are behind it?” he asked as she opened a receptacle and pulled out some clothing.
"Not a clue.” She gave him a wicked grin and a wink before handing him a shirt and disappearing into the bathroom.
Del glanced over to see Sin leaving with a bland expression on her lovely features and Quan walking towards him with sleepy befuddlement.
"Hey, man, you wanna hand me one of those?” the smaller pilot muttered as he ran careless fingers through his sleep-mussed hair.
With a smothered grin, Del reached into the receptacle and pulled out another shirt, tossing it to the other man.
"Thanks,” Quan mumbled through a yawn.
They changed shirts, the new ones a soft gray with the sphinx a dark silhouette on the shoulders. Jinx came in, throwing on a shirt, too, as Cassie came out of the bathroom in a neat coverall with the company insignia on her left breast.
"Jinx, who's flying the ship?” Cassie asked, tugging with prissy care at her sleeves.
"Sin took over. She told me to go change while she yakked at ‘em.” There was a soft shudder through the ship, and Jinx nodded as he pulled at his collar with impatient fingers. “And docked."
Cassie clapped her hands and then waved at them, her voice taking on a lecturing note. “All right, crew, let's go look pretty for our adoring public."
Quan snorted, and Jinx rolled his eyes, but they went without protest. Del followed, giving Cassie a wry look that she seemed determined to ignore. They met Sin coming out of the control room. After a sweeping glance, she gave them an approving smile that cut through Del's defenses like they were tissue. Then she led them out the hatch.
They met Kai and the rest of the crew between the two haulers. Sin's brother wore a jacket that matched the somber gray of his sister's suit, his dress shirt sporting the sphinx in silver at its collar. The twins exchanged a quiet word before heading towards their welcoming party with the crew following.
A small group of people in dark green uniforms stood in a cluster behind a stern looking woman in white. At some unknown signal, the crew stopped several meters away from the party, and Del was forced to halt with them, watching the twins continue forward. The woman in white greeted them with solemn propriety, but Del couldn't hear what was said.
"Who's the one in white?” he asked Cassie, more because he was feeling out of place than out of any real curiosity.
"The owner of the refinery,” she replied, her tone curt. Her fine-boned face held a tension that made him frown and take a second look at the imposing woman.
"Is there a problem?"
Cassie cast him a quick look out of the corner of her eye, before her face smoothed into a serene half smile. “Of course not."
She was lying.
Del studied her, thinking furiously. “Why is the owner greeting couriers?"
"Well, they are the Shays,” she answered with a fine layer of arrogance.
Del grimaced, giving her a dour look. “Right, the great and powerful Shays.” She shot him a quelling glare, but he persisted anyway. “How did the owner know they were on board?"
Her expression turned impatient and faintly contemptuous. “They probably announced themselves on approach. Hush up, Del. And quit slouching. We're supposed to be professionals here."
"Watch it, Cass,” he growled, straightening a bit even though he hadn't been slouching. “Your scales are showing."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her glare at him, but he kept his face expressionless even when she clipped him sharply in the ankle. She said nothing though, probably because the twins were returning. Del st
udied their faces, looking for any indication of trouble, but they both looked coolly relaxed.
"Time to go to work,” Kai said with a grin. “They're bringing the canisters around. Make sure everything's sealed before loading ‘em. After, the refinery's got a full spread waiting for us—it's dinner on the house."
The crew cheered, but Sin held up a cautionary hand with an expression of dry humor. “Just remember—"
"No drunken stupors!” the others finished for her in one voice, laughing.
"That's right,” she responded with a quirk to her lips. “We've got a big day tomorrow."
There was a rumbling behind them, and Del turned to see a carryall stacked high with canisters rolling slowly towards the haulers.
"All right!” Kai exclaimed, clapping his hands together sharply. “Let's do this."
Sin glanced at her brother with tolerant contempt, folding her arms and looking him up and down. “Are you going to change first or will you ruin yet another dress shirt and jacket?"
He made a face at her, but headed towards the hatch of the Rock, shrugging his jacket off in one smooth motion as he went.
Sin rolled her eyes and faced the crew again. “We'll be back in a sec. Lynch, will you organize the loading please?"
"My pleasure,” the big man rumbled.
In the next couple of hours, Del learned a new skill. The cargo loaders made getting the canisters up the loading ramp and into the haulers much easier, but the machines were disagreeable. The crane used to pluck the canisters from the carryalls was sensitive and finicky. In contrast, the loader itself drove like a lumbering ox, no finesse at all. It took some getting used to. When they were finished, Del was just relieved not to have destroyed any of the containers, though several had dents from his inexperienced handling.
The crew themselves seemed to take malicious delight in his first time loading. They would scatter when he approached with feigned expressions of terror, calling out warnings to one another. The other loaders would make exaggerated swerves to avoid him and the ones not driving the machines would inspect each canister that he'd handled with elaborate care.
Del took this ribbing with good humor, ignoring them when he was getting used to the loader, and then chasing them when he was confident enough in his handling. Far from discouraging them, his response seemed to inspire more antics. The only one who didn't join in the Del-roast was Lynch, who seemed to regard the whole scene as a breach of protocol. He glowered and shouted orders, treating all of them like unruly children—even his bosses.
Sunscapes Trilogy Book 1: Last Chance Page 19
