Page 6 of Saving the Space Pirate

Chapter Two

Killian

Shit.

I stared at the knife embedded in the wall, and then back to the man who’d spoken. For a few seconds, I didn’t recognize him. It had been a long time. Twelve years, and he’d changed in that time. A new scar ran from beneath his nose to his chin, bisecting his lips, turning his expression into a perpetual scowl. Otherwise, he looked a lot like me.

“Got nothing to say to your old uncle Joe?” he said, stepping into the cave. His gaze strayed from me to Ruby, who was sitting naked in the sand, her arms wrapped around her knees, staring from me to Joe. Her eyes were wide and worried. I’d told her we were safe, and now she clearly didn’t believe me.

And in all truth, I had no clue whether we were.

Joe and I had never been friends. In fact, I hated his fucking guts.

I got to my feet, ignoring him for a moment, and crossed to where my shirt lay on the sand. I tossed it to Ruby. She flashed me a small smile and shrugged into it, dragging it closed across her front. I pulled on my pants, then sat on the sand and tugged on my boots. I picked up my holster, strapped it on, felt a little better.

I paced the floor a few times.

I was in no hurry to talk to Joe. Though what the hell was he doing here? Last I’d seen, he’d been a slave in the mines just like me. Though he’d always talked a lot about insurrection and breaking free from the oppressors, he’d never actually done anything about it. He’d tried to recruit me once, when I was fifteen, for some group he claimed he was part of and who were going to change the world.

Fat chance. He was all talk.

Except here he was, with his ragtag band of rebels. They were all badly dressed, no real weapons that I could see, though they looked healthy enough. They must be surviving somehow.

I crossed the cavern, pulled the knife from the wall, and headed back to where he stood. I handed him the knife. “You should be more careful,” I said. “You could hurt someone with that thing.”

He might have been aiming at me, or maybe even actually aiming for the wall, but he could have hit Ruby, and that was not acceptable.

Behind me Ruby scrambled to her feet. She came to stand next to me, pressing close to my side. Her hand slipped into mine.

“Aw, isn’t that sweet?” Joe said. “Kill’s got a girlfriend. But then he was always one for the ladies. Thought he was better than us.”

“KnewI was better, more like.”

“Yeah, the fucking great helldiver. And then you died, like all the rest. Not so great. Except here you are, still alive, with your fancy gear and your fancy girlfriend. Pretty little thing, isn’t she? Are you going to introduce us?”

Was I? I’d really rather not, but before I could decide what to say, Ruby stepped forward and held out her hand, a sweet, if slightly forced, smile on her face.

Joe’s eyes widened, but he took her hand and shook it as though surprised into good behavior by her action.

“Hello, I’m Ruby Robbins.”

“Joe,” he said. “Joe Sharpe.”

“You’re related to Killian?”

“He’s my uncle,” I replied. “My father’s brother. And you can let go of her hand now.”

My father had been a helldiver like me. He’d died a month before I was born, so I’d never known him. Everyone told me I looked just like him. My mother hadn’t lasted much longer. She’d succumbed to a blood infection only hours after my birth. Women who bore children in the mines didn’t look for happy endings. There weren’t any.

Joe finally released her hand. “So how come you didn’t die?” he asked me.

“Caught a ledge near the molt. Found a way out.”

“And a way off the planet. How the fuck did you do that?”

“It’s a long story. But I met someone who helped me. Actually, we helped each other. Stole a ship.”

“So what are you doing back here?”

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