Page 8 of Written in the Stars

The engineer watched me warily through thick goggles, clearly experienced at dealing with a warrior’s temper. Stocky, broad-shouldered, with scars on his face that showed he wasn’t afraid of a little pain. His purplish skin shimmered like oil, and he wore a pressure suit patched together from at least three different sources. I’d met engineers like him before, tough and no nonsense. Threats and violence wouldn’t get me anything but a sabotaged ship, which is what I’d deserve.

The filthy workstation didn’t inspire confidence, but Horzul here had two advantages over the other engineers on Talbrek—first, he came with Megan’s recommendation. And second, he had a spare hyperdrive of the right model to replace the burned-out wreck sitting in theCry of Battle’sengine room.

The spare sat in the middle of his workshop, and it was the only clean thing here. Polished to a gleaming finish, I’d have mistaken it for new if it Horzul had dismounted it from the ragged circle of bulkhead cut free from its previous owner’s ship. A healthy reminder that I was dealing with pirates.

“I can offer you half your price, plus whatever you can make from the components you uninstall.” That would take all the CrImp I had left, but with a working ship I’d make more quickly.

Horzul clicked his teeth together thoughtfully, then shrugged. “Can’t do it. I need more than that if I’m going to pay my bills. Since you’re with Megan, I’ll knock off ten percent, but that’s it. I can’t go any lower.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Megan said. After introducing me, she’d kept quiet and let me talk. Now, though, she had something to say. “You know your own business best, Horzul, but I can’t see how your costs can be that high.”

Her words stung his pride, and the stocky engineer bristled but said nothing. Sensible man, not wanting to pick a fight with me. I smiled, showing my sharp teeth, and he backed down.

“Look, you don’t understand. I need to pay protection to two gangs now, and that’s not cheap. Your ship, it will take days of work. Nothing else done, no other jobs, so no other pay. The Stellar Kings will not take that as an excuse when I do not pay up on time, and nor will this A’Lun and his Black Hole Gang.”

“No one will be able to afford these prices, though.” Megan pointed out the obvious flaw before I could, but Horzul shrugged again.

“Some can, some can’t. If not enough do, I guess I’ll die, but I’ll have done what I can to survive. If I fixed your ship for less, I might as well not take your money. I’ll be too dead to spend it.”

With that, he turned away, focusing on cleaning his tools. Our conversation was over.

I growled but didn’t force the issue. Horzul wasn’t taking advantage of my situation—he was in a tight spot, too.

“This A’Lun has begun to vex me,” I said to Megan as we left. “I may pay him a visit.”

6

MEGAN

TheNumenonfaded away, never to be seen again. Most of those who set out after the ghostly ship either returned empty handed, or vanished as completely as their prey had.

LEGENDS OF THE OUTER FLEET,BY VARIOUS AUTHORS

That was easier said than done. I had no idea where to find A’Lun, or even where to start. His gang was new to this level, and no one here knew where they came from, so just going to meet them was futile.

We had a name, the Black Hole Gang, and the name of their leader, but no way to contact them except to wait for them to show their faces. This A’Lun was paranoid.

After our third attempt to get information on them turned fruitless, I saw the change in Drask’s manner. An added tension in his walk, strides lengthening and head turning this way and that.

Watching for enemies, I realized. He’d been wary before, but now he looked for a fight.

“Come on, I should get back to the shop,” I said, trying to guide him away from thoughts of violence. “I can’t just leave it shut, and besides, we need to stop and eat.”

Drask flashed a smile at me, or at least bared his teeth in what could have been a grin. “The enemy is here, now. I must pursue them.”

“You can’t do that on an empty stomach,” I protested. “Come on, oh mighty warrior, you need food, and we need a better plan than terrorizing random shopkeepers in case one of them knows where we can find A’Lun. We can plan back at the shop, where we’ll have some privacy. It’s better than trying to scheme out in the open like this.”

I think that was the winning argument. Not so much the food as the privacy, because we both hadideasabout what to do alone with one another. It showed in his eyes as he turned toward me, a burning flame of passion that made me shiver and freeze like a rabbit in the headlights.

Yes, he’s definitely got something in mind for when we’re alone.It was maybe not the best idea while we were planning to escape a murderous gang, but I could hardly call him out on it, not when my own thoughts were full of him.

Drask nodded his approval and turned back toward Written in the Stars. I followed, trying to keep my eyes on the crossways we passed in case of an intercepting marauder. It wasn’t easy. That brief look into Drask’s eyes had been enough to wake up all sorts of feelings, and images of him swam in front of my vision.

I shook my head to clear it.What the actual fuck, Megan? He’s putting you in the middle of a gang war, keep it together.

It was almost enough to make me laugh. If I might die at any moment, better to grasp what joy the universe offered me while I had a chance. So I told the prudish voice in my head to shut the fuck up, keeping my eyes on Drask as he walked ahead of me. The way his uniform pants hugged his amazing ass made it a sight well worth watching.

Nebula greeted us at the door, swooping down from her perch to demand attention from Drask while I locked the door behind us. Not that the locks would do much to keep a determined killer out, but it might slow them down, and that was a start.

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