Star Streaker Boxed Set 1 (Star Streaker Series)

by T. M. Catron

  “Very funny. Yes, I had friends. But I parted ways with many of them when I went to the Flight Academy.”

  “Moira was one of them?”

  “Yes. She wasn’t a bad sort, just a typical, pampered princess.”

  “Like you.”

  Rance grinned and looked at her friend. “I was pampered, James, but never typical.”

  “So what are we going to do?”

  She tapped her fingers against her armrest. “We know we have to leave Ares, anyway. Moira will pay us—she’s good for it. And we just lost our last fifty in the market.”

  “Lost?”

  “Long story. Ask Solaris. Speaking of—”

  Rance pressed a button and called the CO up to the cockpit. As always, when he emerged into the tiny space, Rance was reminded of just how small the cockpit was—Solaris was a good two inches taller than she. He barely fit.

  “Alright, CO,” she said. “What do you think about a trip to Prometheus?”

  “You mean as a pleasure trip? A family vacation?”

  “Ha, ha. I meant on a mission.”

  Solaris smiled, his first actual smile in a week. “You mean a mission where we’ll get paid?”

  The grin was infectious. Rance smiled back. “Yeah. A friend of mine wants to pay us to get her off Prometheus.”

  “What’s wrong on Prometheus?”

  James pulled up Moira’s video and played it for Solaris. When it was done, Solaris frowned. “Do you know her well?”

  “I agree it’s weird, but we can’t just ignore her.”

  “It worries me that something is happening on Prometheus that we don’t know about.”

  “James,” Rance said, “Let’s check reports from Prometheus.”

  James spent a few moments in his chair, checking for any unusual activity from the Core planet. When he didn’t find anything, he turned around and shook his head.

  Rance looked back at Solaris. “If we need to disguise the ship, can you still do that?”

  Solaris had been exhausted after the last time he’d had to disguise the Star Streaker.

  “I can. Let’s be careful, huh?”

  “Always,” Rance said.

  “What is that?” Rance asked.

  She stood at the top of the stair, looking down into the cargo bay. They were about to leave. Rance was going over her last checklist before takeoff. Harper, James, and Tally were looking at something in Abel’s arms—something furry and squeaking.

  They parted, and Abel turned toward the captain, sporting a black eye. A small, furry bundle of ginger fluff sat in his large hands. Strange, high-pitched noises emanated from it.

  It was a cappatter.

  “No,” she said.

  “Aww, boss, they were going to throw it into the river for the lantess.”

  James snickered. “Looks like they tried to throw you into the river too.”

  “Yeah, well,” Abel said, looking sheepish. “I had to fight them over it. Then they threw the little guy at me and walked off laughing.”

  Rance stomped down the stairs, letting her heavy magnetic boots clang on the metal a little louder than necessary. “We are not bringing one of those onboard. They get into everything.”

  The little creature squirmed in Abel’s hands. It looked like a fuzzy ball. When she reached Abel, the cappatter opened sad, blue eyes and looked accusingly at Rance.

  Then, three little hairless arms shot out from where they’d been hiding in its fur. They reached for Rance, and the cappatter wiggled three little fingers on each tiny hand.

  “See, boss? It likes you.”

  Rance crossed her arms and glared determinedly at Abel. “No pets.”

  “It’s not one of the rules, Captain,” Harper said.

  Rance scoffed. “It’s a given rule of space travel! Pets on a spaceship are a nuisance. They get underfoot. They wreak havoc with the cleaning systems. And they distract crews from their work.”

  “Nobles travel with them all the time,” Abel said. “I saw them on Triton.”

  Rance’s nostrils flared. “How many of them were smugglers—”

  “Anonymous transporters,” James added helpfully.

  “Anonymous transporters,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “We won’t let it be a nuisance, boss,” Abel said. “Promise.”

  The cappatter squeaked again, and three more arms appeared. Then, it hopped out of Abel’s hands onto Rance’s shoulder like some sort of round, hairy spider.

  The critter was light, its fur soft and silky. It nuzzled Rance’s ear, tickling her earlobe. She refused to look at it.

  “We’ll keep it with us,” Harper said. “You won’t even know it’s here.”

  The cappatter rubbed a smooth, hairless hand over Rance’s cheek, petting her. She swatted its hand away. “No. Cappatters are pets for children.”

  Tally sniffed. “Well then, it’ll be right at home,” he said, looking pointedly at James.

  Abel’s eyes glazed over with a dreamy, nostalgic look. “I had one as a kid. It was blue, not ginger. Used to sleep with me every night—until my older brother stole it and gave it to his girlfriend. My dad wouldn’t buy me another one. He said I was too old for another pet.”

  The cappatter wrapped four of its six arms around Rance’s head as far as they would go. They squeezed her while one little hand grabbed her nose. Its hand was hot and smelled like warm cinnamon.

  “No,” she said again, this time with a little less enthusiasm.

  “Didn’t you ever have a pet, boss?”

  Rance gripped the creature with both hands, trying to pry it off her face. “My father didn’t allow them. He said pets made nobles weak.”

  “But you’re not a noblewoman anymore,” Harper said. “And, you aren’t like your father.”

  Rance sighed. “That’s a dirty trick, Harper. You know I’m not like him.”

  Harper grinned and shot James a look that said, got her.

  Rance finally managed to tug the creature off her shoulder and held it up to look at. It wriggled, trying to get back to her face.

  “Hold still, fur ball.”

  It obeyed, training its soft eyes on her again, holding her attention. With its blue eyes and ginger hair, it almost looked like—

  Rance burst out laughing, and the cappatter squeaked happily.

  “It looks like Solaris!” she said. She laughed harder, bringing the CO out of engineering.

  Solaris walked over to the group, grinning, anticipating a good joke. “What looks like—no.”

  Then, he sneezed violently.

  The cappatter squealed in fright.

  James grabbed it from Rance and held it close. “You scared it, Solaris! Don’t do that!”

  Solaris sniffed and said, “I’m allergic to those things.”

  “I guess that settles it then,” Rance said, with the tiniest twinge of regret. She squashed it down. “We can’t keep it.”

  “Oh no, Captain,” Harper said. “I’m sure I can come up with something to alleviate his allergies. That’s not a problem.”

  Solaris turned his own pleading eyes on Rance. “Please no,” he said.

  But now that Rance had made the connection between the cappatter and Solaris, she couldn’t get the resemblance out of her mind.

  “Harper says she can help. And the thugs were going to throw it in the river.”

  Harper, Abel, and James let out whoops of joy. The cappatter squeaked happily again. Tally scowled at all of them with his large, green eyes, like the crew members were out of their minds.

  “Keep it out of the engine room,” he ordered Abel. “I don’t want to find hair everywhere.”

  Then he turned and stalked over to the fold-out crash chairs in the hold. Everything was ready for the Streaker to leave.

  “What are you going to name it, Abel?” James asked as the cappatter nuzzled his hands.

  “Henry.”

  Solaris snorted.

  Abel glared at him and took Henry
away from James. “It’s the name I had for the one when I was a kid. Hey, little Henry.”

  Henry blinked at Abel and then wound its arms through his fingers.

  The sight of Abel’s wide, powerful, tattooed frame cradling the fluffy ginger ball was more than Rance could handle. She stifled a snicker. Then she accidentally caught Solaris’ eye, and they both had to hurry upstairs to the cockpit before they burst out laughing.

  “I didn’t have the heart to tease him about it,” Rance said when she’d calmed down.

  James followed them to the cockpit, and they all strapped into their seats.

  Before they could complete take-off procedures, Henry found them. He climbed the ladder, scuttled across the floor, and wrapped himself around Solaris’ leg.

  Solaris sneezed again. And vainly tried to shake the cappatter off.

  “Abel!” Rance called.

  Abel appeared to pry Henry off Solaris’ leg. “Sorry, boss!”

  “He’s cute,” James said, “but keep him out of the cockpit.”

  “Hear, hear,” Solaris added. Then he sneezed again.

  Although Abel whisked the creature away, the damage had already been done, and they had to delay take off until Solaris’ sneezing fit subsided.

  “Wonder why they were going to throw Henry into the river?” James asked as he guided the Star Streaker out of the spaceport.

  “Can’t imagine why,” Solaris said, blowing his nose loudly. Tears streamed down his cheeks from his red, irritated eyes.

  Rance watched the bright river shrink to a sparkling thread amongst the patchwork of fields. “Abel didn’t say. They’re expensive little things to throw away.”

  “Well, he’s ours now.”

  Solaris moaned and muttered something like “perfect” under his breath.

  Chapter Two

  No one on the Star Streaker was sorry to leave Ares. After two months with nothing to do and little food, the crew came alive with a new burst of energy. So much energy that the five-day hyperspace trip to Prometheus felt like a vacation.

  They used the time well. Without supplies to inventory, they made a plan of action for when they landed and assigned roles to everyone. Since no one knew the situation on Prometheus, all felt a little apprehensive. And yet Rance couldn’t help feeling excited about their destination. Even if Davos was waiting for her at the end of their journey, she was confident they could escape.

  The only person who frequently expressed doubts was Tally. His main concern was being recognized on Prometheus. Rance had been there many times as a teenager. Her family owned a house there. Tally had made frequent trips himself, always as Davos’ servant. For years, Tally had gone everywhere Davos went. And he would be recognized anywhere Davos would be recognized.

  In this case, Rance had the advantage over Tally. She didn’t look like the same person who had accompanied her father on trips to Prometheus, Barton, and Triton. Her features hadn’t changed much except to mature a bit, but without the luxurious clothing, exotic headdresses, and diamond-crusted makeup of Xanthes, she would have little trouble walking around the streets without being recognized. Tally, however, had no such disguises to his appearance.

  So, Rance created a workaround. James, Harper, and Tally would remain on the Star Streaker with the “engines running” while Rance, Solaris, and Abel went to find Moira. Rance hoped once they landed, she would be able to contact her old friend and get her exact location. She knew Moira’s home was close to Davos’ in the towering residences of the politicians and noblemen. A quick call to Moira and they’d be on their way. Once they found her, they’d get to the Star Streaker and take off before anyone noticed they were there.

  “Do you want to relay a message to her now?” James asked later that first day.

  “No,” Rance said. “We don’t know who could be listening. And if it’s intercepted by the wrong people, we don’t know what dragon’s dung will be waiting for us when we arrive.”

  That night when she lay in bed, Rance considered all the possible things that could go wrong on Prometheus. What if they were recognized? What if they couldn’t find Moira? What if she’d already left?

  What if, what if, what if?

  Just when Rance had finally dozed off, something fluffy nuzzled her hand. Startled, she sat up and shook the blanket before she realized it was Henry. He flew across the room, squealing in surprise. Or was it delight? All his squeals sounded the same. A soft, muffled thud against the wall, another on the floor. Then, silence.

  Had she accidentally killed it? Rance turned on the light just in time to see a long arm disappear into one of her magnetic boots.

  “Hey, you. Get out of there. How’d you get in here, anyway?”

  A ginger tuft of hair appeared at the top of her boot, and Henry’s blue eyes peered back at her.

  “I mean it—out.”

  When Henry didn’t move, Rance got out of bed and grabbed him. He resisted, holding onto the inside of her boot until she shook him. He let go of the heavy boot, and it fell right onto Rance’s big toe. Shooting pain ran through her toe and into her foot.

  “Son of an asteroid worm!” she yelled, dropping Henry to grab her foot.

  The cappatter fell to the floor, unharmed, while Rance nursed her sore toe. Within seconds, it swelled to three times its normal size, and she couldn’t move it without gritting her teeth in pain. Her eyes watered.

  Henry whimpered and stretched out its arms to be held.

  “Get. Out.”

  A knock, and then, “Captain?”

  James.

  “Come in,” she called.

  The door opened, and James peered in. His normally tidy hair looked bristly and stuck up on one side.

  “You have the worst bedhead I’ve ever seen,” Rance said. She wasn’t feeling too humorous at the moment, but teasing James was better than thinking about the pain in her foot.

  James swept his eyes over Henry, Rance holding her foot, and the magnetic boot on the floor.

  “You swore so loudly I think they heard you on Triton.”

  “Get this menace out of here.”

  “Aw, Rance—”

  Rance glared at him, cutting him off. “I think I broke my toe. It’s Henry’s fault.”

  “How’d he get in here?”

  “How should I know? All I know is I was accosted in my sleep.”

  Henry’s eyes changed from soft blue to bright and watery.

  “You’ve made him cry, Captain!”

  “I’ve made him cry? Get him out and help me get down to the med bay.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  James picked up the doleful creature and cradled it like he would cradle a child. The action was slightly disconcerting for Rance, who always thought of James as an adult-sized child.

  He walked out, his bare feet ringing softly on the metal floor all the way down the corridor.

  Then, Solaris appeared, looking only slightly less disheveled than James.

  “What’s up?”

  “Glad to know you’re quick on your feet when there’s trouble,” she said with as much sarcasm as she could muster. “I was attacked.”

  Solaris sneezed before saying, “What?”

  “Henry.”

  “Henry attacked you?”

  “No, my boot. Help me up.”

  He walked over and put an arm under her shoulder. Rance stood, gingerly placing her right foot down on the floor, testing her weight.

  “I’m confused,” Solaris said. “Why does your room smell like cinnamon cappatter?”

  Then, he sneezed again. Since he was holding onto Rance, she shook with him. He gripped her tighter, which wasn’t too helpful since it forced her to put her weight forward onto her sore toe.

  More tears sprang to her eyes.

  “You know,” she said when he had recovered, “I’ve had worse injuries than this, but there’s something more annoying about a broken toe than any other broken bone.”

  “I can think of more annoying t
hings. Would you like me to list them, Captain?” With the prospect of having a paying job, some of Solaris’ easy humor had returned.

  “No. I’m in too much pain.”

  “Are you going to whine all night?”

  “It’s my toe. I’ll whine if I want to.”

  Solaris looked at her, his eyes meeting hers a moment longer than necessary.

  “I think we’re breaking a rule,” he said.

  “It’s not a rule if someone needs help.”

  “Does that apply to the other rules too?” Solaris asked mischievously. “For instance, if I see you need help, and a swear word accidentally slips out because, you know, you’re in danger, would that be okay?”

  “Let’s not test it.”

  “You never actually told me what the consequences were for breaking the rules, Captain.”

  Rance was tall, and her room had never been very big. With Solaris’ height, he seemed to take up the rest of the space. Suddenly, with his proximity, and the tiny room, her quarters felt small indeed.

  Feeling a bit disconcerted, she pulled away. “I guess if you’re going to stand here joking instead of helping me get to the med bay, I’ll hop down there by myself.”

  Solaris let go and then sneezed again. “It’s a fair question.”

  “We’re not breaking a rule, Solaris. You’re not my companion.”

  “Oh?”

  “The rule says no companions in quarters.”

  “That could be interpreted in a number of ways. But ah well.”

  Rance pushed past him and hobbled out into the hall.

  James was climbing the stairs, looking disappointed. “I gave Henry back to Abel.”

  “Abel needs to make a box or cage to keep him in. That fur ball is going to mess something up if he’s left to roam the ship on his own.”

  Sensing Rance’s stormy mood, James had the good sense to stay quiet. His eyes flicked to Solaris, who was now standing in the corridor behind Rance. After exchanging glances, the two men moved to help her at the same time in a flurry of false chivalry.

  She waved them off. “I’ve got it. Just make sure I don’t fall down the stairs and break my neck, too. Something tells me that would be worse than a broken toe.”

  “You said nothing was worse than a broken toe,” Solaris said. She couldn’t see him, but she almost heard the wink directed at her.