Saph stabbed a finger in the air, aiming it a Vril. “You. I want to get something straight with you first.”
“My name is Commander Vril,” he corrected.
“You’re their commander.” She waved a hand toward Zema, Raint and Taun. Then she jabbed at her own chest. “Not ours. I don’t take orders from anyone, including you. I’m the Captain of this ship and while you’re on it you follow my rules.”
“Your rules? How old are you? How long have you been piloting this ship?” Vril chuckled low in his throat. “I’ve had shoes older than you.”
“Listen, I don’t care what or who you are. All I care about is my family and this ship, and if you do anything to jeopardize either, I’ll jettison you into space without losing a wink of sleep. Do you understand?”
Vril held her stare for an interminably long moment then inclined his head. A vein throbbed in his forehead. “Perfectly.”
Chapter Nine
Later that evening, Suni stepped into the dining hall to a cacophony of voices. After Saph had agreed to let them stay onboard for the time being, Suni had assigned them cabins in one of the family wings. With the cabins, they also had access to the dining hall.
She paused at the entrance, blocking the sliding door from closing. It took her mind a few seconds to register the new sounds and bodies in the large space. While the ship was built for multiple families and could seat twenty-five people comfortably, there’d never been more than three people in the area: four on the rare occasions Yovit left his room to join his children for a meal.
Having Taun and his crew onboard was enough to pique Yovit’s interest. He was also in the dining hall, off to the side, and away from everyone else, watching them suspiciously from a table that he had by himself. With his noise amplifier in his ears, from that distance he could easily hear everything from everyone.
Suni took note of where Taun was. He was huddled with his friends at one of the tables. Vril grimaced each time he made a sudden move. His gait was stilted and didn’t yet carry the same confident stride as his friends. The tendons bulging beneath the skin on his jaws told her it was by grit and determination that kept him sitting up to join the others.
Tayan sat at a table with Ised and Aesh while she concentrated on the coil compression set in front of her. Both sent wary glances toward Taun and his friends’ table, as if they were concerned about what they were plotting.
Saph sat at a table by herself, far enough to avoid conversations with Taun and his friends, but close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.
The weight of being watched tugged on her, prickling her skin. Suni turned toward the pull. Taun’s eyes were on her. His gaze lingered, roaming up and down her body. When their gazes collided, a flurry of zings and zaps tapped her senses. Then, a blink later, he turned his head coolly and focused on what Vril was saying. Without words he had dismissed her.
Suni firmed her back and, after picking up a steaming cup of brew from their outdated food processor, she made her way to Saph’s table and took a seat.
“Trouble in paradise?” Saph grumbled as she moved her food tray to the side to make room for Suni.
Suni snorted. From her seat she had a good vantage point to watch Taun covertly from the corner of her eyes. He was engrossed in whatever it was Vril discussed. “What are you even talking about?”
“As of this morning, you were hanging on his every word. Now you’re tensing up whenever you look at him.” She took a bite of her toast and looked at Suni pointedly. “Although he’s nice to look at and has all those bulging muscles, nothing is clicking up top, is it?”
Suni pulled her attention from Taun and focused on Saph. “Wait. Are you saying he’s dumb?”
“We gave them one job, watch over you.” Saph shrugged. “An idiot could do that. I’m just saying.”
Raint growled and Zema chuckled. Suni glanced quickly at Taun to find his jaw clenched with the tendons pronounced under his skin and Vril whispering something to the group.
“Do you think they heard us?” Suni leaned in to whisper.
Saph let out a snort and rolled her eyes. “The better question you should be asking is if I care?”
Some would find Saph’s attitude, bad, crass and unapproachable, but Suni knew it for what it was. A cover up. Underneath her tough shell, Saph was a gooey mess who worried too much about her family and only wanted to keep them safe. If Saph had been allowed to have a normal childhood and come into her own as an adult, she might have shown everyone the Saph that Suni knew and loved. But years of isolation had made her—and all of them—socially awkward and scared to trust.
Suni chuckled and lightly slapped Saph’s arms. “Stop it. They’re our guests.” She took a sip of her tea, well aware that it was nasty, but it was the only source of caffeine on the ship and would have to do.
“Your guests. I think we could do without the extra baggage,” Saph grumbled.
“They’ll be a big help if we run into Kenzi’s team again.”
As far as Suni was concerned, Kenzi was one of the front runners to win the game. Kenzi and his crew were the ones to beat. The people who ran the scavenger hunt sent out a ranking on a weekly basis and although they had been creeping up in the ranks, they were never in the lead and always behind Kenzi. And yet, one small run-in and Kenzi wouldn’t take the target that he had on their backs, off. He was determined to make their lives miserable.
Saph lifted her head to look toward Taun’s table then frowned. “You handled them on your own the last time.”
Suni rotated her right shoulder, thinking about her previous run in with the crew from the Ghost. Since the scavenger hunt was a private game, none of the participants wanted the authorities involved. The game itself wasn’t illegal, but the gamers sometimes went about illegal ways to procure some of the items needed.
The shoulder injury had come about three items ago. They had had to locate a Tesrian ring. The planet Tesra was clear across the galaxy and by the time it took to get there and back they might’ve missed the next items. Tayan was able to find a dealer who confirmed his possession of a Tesrian ring. The ring was an affordable tool used mainly in short range transporters.
In the sector Tayan had identified, the ring was hard to come by and extremely expensive because owning one was illegal.
They had gone to the dealer to purchase the ring. The dealer had ratted them out to Kenzi’s team. That had resulted in a fight, which Suni would’ve won if it hadn’t been three against one. Not only had she lost the ring, but they had had to spend their credits for Suni’s medical care.
“Are you alright?” Saph watched Suni with eyes directed toward her shoulder and neck.
“Yes, yes. I’m fine.”
“Any lingering pain? We can stop on an M-Class planet and have a physician run a scan on you.”
If they could afford a healing tank there would be no need for any of this, but they couldn’t afford the upkeep even if they could get their hands on one. Suni waved Saph’s concern off and straightened her back. The muscles in her shoulders and between her blades ached with the movement. “Just a little tightness. I’ll have X-9 massage my back before bed.”
Suni ignored Taun’s growl. Whatever Vril discussed with them, Taun didn’t seem happy about it.
“So, what do you think about the Commander?”
Saph stabbed her breakfast and stuffed a fork full into her mouth. Anyone who didn’t know Saph would have missed the telltale flicker on her face, but Suni knew better. There was curiosity under that bland expression. “What about him?”
Suni took another sip of her tea. “He’s cute.”
Taun dropped his cup. It clamored to the table.
Saph rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. “Probably as useless as the other two.”
Taun’s table erupted into growls that had both Saph and Suni looking in their direction. Whatever was going on they didn’t like. All of them except Zema wore dark frowns. Zema placed a hand over her mout
h to cover her smirk then laughed outright.
“I can’t wait until they leave,” Saph continued, eyeing the group in displeasure. “When they leave things can go back to normal.”
Suni glanced around the mess hall. “I kind of like having them around. It’s always just been us onboard. It’s nice having other people here. It doesn’t feel so…so…lonely anymore.”
Saph snorted. “I like it when it’s just us. I would like it better if they kept to their side of the ship. We can have their food delivered and I wouldn’t have to see them at all. No extra bodies in the dining hall, including Yovit. If they stay away, so will he.”
Yovit glared at Saph, having heard her clearly even with the distance between them. Saph waved her fingers at him. Yovit humphed and turned away. He wouldn’t let Saph’s attitude deter him from being nosey.
Suni remembered a time when things had been different between them. Saph and Yovit had done everything together. She had looked up to him and strived to be the perfect daughter. Suni had been slightly jealous of their relationship. Their mother dying had changed everything. Saph had gone from following behind Yovit to caring for an infant and despising Yovit.
Saph stabbed more of her food and stuffed it into her mouth. She grimaced and forced it down with an audible gulp. None of them liked the food, but it was cheap and provided the much-needed calories. “Maybe I’ll send them all into space so I can have more room in the dining hall.”
Suni shook her head. “Saph, stop it. We can’t kill them unprovoked.”
“I think Vril will be the first to provoke me. Look him,” Saph narrowed her eyes at him, “he’s probably over there plotting to take command of our ship.”
Suni glanced his way. Vril had his jaws clenched and stared at his food. “I don’t think he is.”
Saph humphed.
“Is that why you’re being so mean to him? You think he can take command?”
“Well, I know he can’t because of the parameters…”
Suni understood now. She placed a hand over Saph’s. “You’re our Captain, Saph. I don’t care who he is or his rank. We would never follow him.”
Saph pulled her hand away and took another bite of her food. “What do you see in him anyway?”
Suni ran a hand through her hair and tried not to let her eyes instinctively roam to Taun. “Who?”
Suni made a noise and stabbed her food again. “Are we really going to play this game? Fine. Taun, that’s who.”
“He doesn’t seem interested in me.” And why would he? Suni was sure that he could have his pick of females. She slumped in her chair.
Saph chewed her food and glared at Taun. “It’s his loss if he doesn’t see your value, but that’s not what I asked. Why are you interested in him?”
“For the record, I agree with your earlier assessment. There’s no future in pursuing a relationship with him. But I…” She glanced Taun’s way and found him stiff as a metal pipe, eyes focused forward and face stern. “I’m attracted to him. I can’t pinpoint why because Ancients know he hasn’t shown one lick of interest in me, but…”
Her voice trailed again as she studied his large frame, trying to figure out why she was so drawn to his appeal.
Though his uniform was torn, he had cleaned and pressed it. It was something he wore with pride. Light brown stubbles dotted his jaw. It grew thicker every day. His hair seemed to have originally be cut really short, but was growing out, now almost long enough to brush his collar. He was handsome which was hard to ignore. His eyes seemed to see everything. She doubted anything escaped his notice.
“I can’t explain it. There’s a pull…a connection that I feel whenever he’s around.”
“So, avoid him. I can send them all back to the transporter bay.” Saph clapped her hands together and wiped them. “Two problems solved at once. They can stop crowding our space and you can stop acting like a lovesick teenager.”
Suni pulled her gaze away from Taun and sighed. “I don’t think that would work. I crave him even when I’m not around him.”
Saph groaned and slapped a hand over her face. “Stop. You’re making me want to throw up.”
Suni leaned toward Saph. “The dreams I have about him…”
Heat crept down her abdomen and pooled between her thighs just thinking about the dreams of him on top of her and spreading her legs wide.
An incoming message chimed on the communicator. “I’m saved. Thank the Ancients,” Saph muttered.
Saph, Tayan, Yovit and Suni opened the message using their comlinks, all reading at the same time. Another item. They were coming one after the other now. Before, it would be one item every week. The game was kicking into high gear.
Suni didn’t mind. It meant they were closer to the end. Hunting in space wasn’t so bad, it gave them something to do and a way to make money, but she couldn’t wait for the end and for what she hoped it would bring. Enough credits for them to finally settle back on their homeworld.
“Tayan!” Saph got up to take her food to the recycler.
Tayan gathered the coil compression and its parts from the table. “I’m already on it.”
Suni watched as her sisters left together. Tayan didn’t need any help deciphering the clue. She had been doing the clues on her own since the start of the game. Neither Suni nor Saph were any good with riddles and puzzles while Tayan had an affinity for both.
She could pick up anything from a kid’s puzzle to an intricate engine part and figure it out. Though Tayan had never been to a regular school with children her age, she attended a virtual school and was way ahead of other children her age. A pang of guilt coursed through her as it always did when she thought about Tayan not having friends her age. One day, hopefully soon, the credits for winning the scavenger hunt would change all of that.
Taun knew he should’ve gotten up and left. His emotions went from stable and even-keeled to off the charts in a span of a few minutes. He was in no state to stay in the same room as Suni, especially when she talked about him being dumb and useless. He was an Elite Cyborg soldier for Ancients’ sake. But she didn’t know about any of that. To Suni he was in fact useless. He had failed at the most basic job.
Instead of leaving and going to his room to reset his emotions and ground himself, Taun slid into the seat Saph had vacated, obviously surprising Suni.
“Was that another item alert on your comlink?”
Suni nodded then glanced toward Yovit. “Depending on the riddle, it may take up to an hour or it could take a day for Tayan to figure out where we have to go next.”
“She’s smart, that one.” It wasn’t a statement made to appease Suni and to smooth things over between them. Tayan was a smart child. He didn’t know many children who could poke around a jumper’s engine and actually know what they were doing.
Suni palmed her cup with both hands and glanced around the room, seemingly disinterested in him. “She is. It would take us longer to decipher the riddles without her.”
Taun slowly nodded as Suni found everything besides him interesting.
“So, about what happened on Stindrol,” Taun offered, when it was clear Suni wasn’t going to add anything else to the conversation.
She raised a hand. “I should’ve explained what I needed better.”
“I know how to guard people,” he grumbled.
Suni lifted her chin and threw back her shoulders. “Really, now?”
He didn’t sit with her to fight. Fighting Suni was the farthest thing in his mind. He wanted to sit with her because her scent called him from across the room. Every time she moved her head by shaking it or running a hand over it, an intoxicating aroma was sent his way. If circumstances were different, he would love to find out what product she used and buy a million bottles to store in his room so he could have her smell near him whenever he needed.
“We, er, I messed up. Some kid came along, and we got distracted. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
She placed a hand on her chest to f
eign surprise. “What? You? Apologize?”
“I know how to apologize when I’m wrong.”
She made a face that he found utterly adorable. “Surprising. You don’t take me as the apologizing type.”
“A good man knows when he’s wrong and also knows when to apologize.”
Suni glanced toward Yovit. “That’s refreshing to hear.”
Taun glanced toward Yovit as well, to find the older man watching them, his face impassive. When he caught both sets of eyes on him, Yovit snarled and, with a flick of a button, the hover chair lurched forward and out of the mess hall.
“Is everything alright between you two…?”
She pulled her gaze from the doorway and focused her attention on her hand clutching the cup in front of her. She brought the cup up to her mouth and took a sip, then made a face. “I forgot about my tea. I’ll heat it up later.”
Taun didn’t miss that she ignored his question. He shouldn’t have asked her about it. Whatever was going on between them was just that, between them. That alone should’ve had him pursing his lips shut. Instead, he asked, “I noticed the way you and Saph look at your father.”
Suni raised her eyes. They blazed with blinding anger. It wasn’t a look he was used to seeing from her. Even when she’d been mad it him, it’d been surface only, never fully reaching her eyes.
“How did you know?”
“That he’s your father?”
Suni gave an abrupt nod.
“The same way I can tell you, Saph and Tayan are related. You all look alike.”
Suni squinted at him. “His name is Yovit.”
“Um. Fine. Yovit. So, what happened?”
“Not your issue. But since you seem talkative, tell me about the ‘CR’ on your faces and the ‘R’ on Ised’s and Aesh’s.”
There was a loud cough from the cyborgs table. There wasn’t a need for him to figure out who it’d come from. He understood the message. Don’t tell Suni anything. “It’s a brand.”
There was a louder cough from Vril, followed by a groan from Raint.
Suni gave him a thoughtful nod. “I figured as much. Why?”
Saving The Cyborg (Cyborg Redemption) Page 8
