“There’s a place I know of,” I continue, and now I’m the one raising my hands and enlarging a particular spot on the screen. I zoom in on a small planet, no more than an isolated rest stop just outside League Space. “It’s not exactly a welcoming place, but we’ll be able to resupply there.”
“Kyvos,” Varia reads from the map. “It doesn’t show on the League’s registry.”
“That’s because it isn’t exactly a part of the League,” I explain. “The League has some influence there, sure, but it’s minimal. Mostly, the people there run the colony as they see fit.” I don’t say it, but Solair immediately picks up on the hidden meaning behind my words. Kyvos is a lawless colony. Going there won’t be a walk in the park.
“We goin’ somewhere?” Appearing behind Solair, a tangle of cut wires in his hands, Montier narrows his eyes and looks at the screen. He might be a brilliant engineer, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to read a map to save his life. “Kyvos, huh?”
“We’re planning a supply run,” Solair explains, and Montier knits his eyebrows together.
Pursing his lips, he gives himself a little nod. “If that’s the case, I think we should get a new auxiliary battery for the engine core.”
“Has the one we have started to crap out?” I read his last maintenance reports just a few days ago, and everything seemed fine then. A new auxiliary battery at this moment in time seems like an overly cautious move, which isn’t exactly Montier’s style.
“A new auxiliary battery for a ship this size would be costly,” Solair speaks up, and it doesn’t take much to know he’s doing the ship’s accounting in his head as we speak. Despite a run of successful jobs these past few months, we’re not exactly swimming in it. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Well, uh, not exactly necessary, but…” He trails off, and I notice him glancing at Varia. Solair picks up on it too, and he’s quick to give Montier the push that he needs.
“You can speak freely,” Solair says. “Varia knows what I know.”
“Well, we’ve been doing just fine with the one auxiliary battery that we have,” he starts to explain, “but I think having a spare is a good insurance policy. In the event we’re engaged in a firefight or for whatever reason we have our main engines go offline, we rely on the auxiliary batteries for power. We don’t want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere, especially considering we’re carrying more than a hundred of the IHC’s most wanted criminals. Besides, if there’s ever a need for it, I can take the extra battery and hook it up to the main engine core for a boost.”
He doesn’t say it outright, but it’s obvious what he means. He’s worried about the Queen having to make a run for it. If that happens, he wants to be ready. A new auxiliary battery will strain our coffers, but Montier is right. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
“Very well,” Solair says, reaching the same conclusion I have. “We’ll stop at Kyvos to get whatever supplies we’ll need and look for a new battery, too. Do you think that’ll be a problem, Grantian?”
“No, we should be able to get our hands on something,” I reply.
I’ve only been to Kyvos a couple of times, back when I was running with the Hael Hounds, but from what I remember, a lot of shady merchants are willing to do business… just as long as you have the money.
“It’s settled then,” Solair nods. “I’m going to pick a team, and we—”
“I’m going too,” Varia cuts him short.
“I’m sorry?”
“I’m going, and I’m taking a few of the women with me,” she continues without a moment’s hesitation. Determination is etched on her face, and she isn’t wavering. “I know it’s dangerous, and that we’re all wanted criminals, but we’re not going to sit inside the Ancestral Queen while you guys stick your neck out for us. We want to earn our keep. If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t be in this mess of a situation.”
“Varia, I can’t let—”
“We are going,” she repeats, and I immediately know Solair’s going to cave. These women might be smaller and weaker than we are, but they balance it all out by being brave and obstinate. Whenever they want something, they go after it with all they have.
“Very well,” Solair sighs. Straightening his back, he glances at the map once more, a slight frown on his face. “Lokyer, set course for Kyvos.”
Chapter Seven
Lamira
I can hear voices arguing from within my shared quarters as I round the bend of the artfully burnished corridor of the Ancestral Queen—and none of them belong to my current roommates.
Curious, I creep up toward the portal with my back flush against the smooth, concave wall. I’m careful to keep my still-damp skin from making contact with the metal, but when I furtively peer through the door and see Varia and Marion standing between the bunks, I relax and just walk in normally.
“Hey, guys, what’s up?” My brow furrows in confusion as I take in their shabby dress. I’ve seen refugees from war zones who had more up-to-date clothing in better condition. “And why are you dressed like a couple of space hobos?”
“Hobos?” Marion puts her hands on her hips and scowls in mock anger. “I’ll have you know we’re supposed to be greaser girls.”
I look from her to Varia and then burst into laughter.
“What’s wrong with our disguises?” Varia looks down at herself with worry. “I think we pass muster.”
“You will, once you get dirtied up a little bit.” I shake my head and chuckle. “Smearing a little soot on your cheeks only works in holovid flicks. Think about it, Varia. Does Ilya ever have fingernails this clean?” I grab Varia’s wrist and lift it up so I can show her the pristine nails she’s trying to pass off as greaser.
Marion sighs and exchanges glances with Varia. “She’s right, you know.”
“Why do you guys want to look like engine room girls, anyway?”
They both turn their gazes toward me and Varia looks a tad uncomfortable for some reason.
Marion speaks in her stead. “While Jax is a great cook, humans still need some things nutritionally that he may not be aware of. I was hoping to peruse the Kyvos marketplace and try to cover the bases, so to speak.”
“That makes sense, but is it a good idea to go down to an open port with bounties on your heads? Oh, wait—disguises. Duh.” I put my arms akimbo and take in their weak costumes. “It’s a good thing you ran into good ol’ practical-minded Lamira, then. Isn’t it? I’m going with you.”
“Absolutely not.” Varia crosses her arms over her chest, her gaze as firm as her tone. “Kyvos station hasn’t completely descended into barbarism, but it lies just outside the bleeding edge of League space. Technically, the only laws are whatever the owners choose to enforce.”
“That means the IHC won’t have authority, either.” I grin at her in triumph. “So there.”