Page 18 of Written in the Stars

I snapped out of my thoughts to see a man standing in the doorway of a shop, watching me curiously. No one I knew, but he didn’t look like a gangster. Short, round, and green-skinned, he wore a robe of deep purple and red and had tipped his tusks with gold. That style had to be hard to maintain, and yet his store looked no more prosperous than the rest of the station, so I concluded that this was someone who spent his money on fashion.

He might look ridiculous, but it was by choice and design, and that endeared him to me.

“Yes, that is me. And you are Jyrx?” It seemed likely since he stood in the doorway of Jyrx’s General Goods. He beamed and nodded.

“You have me. Yes. Now if you’re a friend of Megan’s, then a word of warning. I saw some of the Black Hole Gang going into her shop a while back. They haven’t come out yet.”

He wrung his hands in front of himself, and my respect for him went up a notch. I liked this strange little man who’d take chances for his neighbor.

“I am here to deal with them,” I told him, stepping into his shop. It wouldn’t do either of us any good to be seen talking, but I wanted to learn as much about the situation as I could.

The shelves were more or less bare. What supplies remained were shabby, sorry looking things, though Jyrx had done his best to display them to advantage. I frowned.

“What happened here? Where are your goods?”

Jyrx made a sound like a rodent squeaking in outrage, throwing his hands up and shaking his head. “What do you think? Between the Black Hole and the Kings, I’m being bled dry. My latest shipment of goods is on a ship at the docks, but the captain won’t wait long for me to find the money to pay her. It willnotbe easy!”

I frowned, thinking. “That must be true for everyone caught in the middle of this. Neither gang will get their money if they force you all under.”

“If one of them backs down, they have fewer resources to fight the other.” Jyrx practically vibrated with outrage. “So they both take what they can and hope there’s still a prize left to claim when their war’s over. Meanwhile, we get caught in the crossfire.”

“I might be able to help you with that,” I said, mind working furiously. “But right now, I have a more important issue to deal with. I need your help to rescue Megan.”

12

MEGAN

A human in love is like a fire in an ammo store. Spectacular, yes. Beautiful? Undoubtedly. Deadly, disastrous, and best viewed from a mile away? Very much so! To be the object of that love, ah, it is unforgettable. To stand in its way? You could not pay me enough!

A GIRL IN EVERY SPACEPORT,THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NAPHIN PREX, SPACE ADVENTURER

The wait might kill me before the gangsters did. From my seat at the counter, I watched the Black Hole thugs wandering around my shop. Bored and restless, they prowled the aisles with nervous energy. Every so often, one would take a book from a shelf, glance through it, and then drop it or throw it across the room.

I’d protested the first time it happened. A’Lun just laughed.

He had enough discipline to keep some of his soldiers focused on their job. A pair of them were always near the door, and they’d searched the shop thoroughly before settling in to wait for Drask.

A’Lun himself sat across the counter from me, watching me with a nasty smile on his ice-pale face. I doubted it was friendly, and it was a bad omen for my chances when Drask returned. Would the Black Hole really let us go? It seemed unlikely.

They’d named their gang after something impossible to escape. I doubted that was a coincidence.

I’d taken refuge from my worries in a book, the first one that came to hand. ‘A History of the Toppolid Practice of R’Nashan’ wasn’t my usual fare, but it contained some intriguing mysteries. Like who the Toppolids were, and what r’nashan was.

“You have read that same page three times now,” A’Lun said. His voice startled me, and he chuckled as I dropped the book.

“It’s complicated stuff,” I snapped back, but he laughed, a low and mocking sound.

“No, it isn’t. Toppolids marry their spaceships and make a big fuss out of it. The end.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Megan, you do not need to fear anything from us. As long as your Captain Drask does his job, you’ll be free to go.”

He met my eyes calmly as he spoke, voice sincere and even sympathetic. It made him seem very believable, but it wasn’t enough to fool me.

“I can see a trap as well as the next person. You aren’t just waiting here to get the head you asked for, are you? You’ll kill Drask when he delivers.”

A’Lun looked me up and down, examining me closely before answering. “Smarter than some of my followers. I like that.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Perceptive of you.” He leaned back against the wall and fell silent.

---