Page 33 of Sol Survivor

Her chest expanded when she drew in a deep breath, as if for the first time in a while she could breathe freely.“Any chance I can have one of these lights installed in my room?”She opened her eyes and met Dieter’s gaze.

“Sure.I’ll do it after dinner.”His ogling implied something a little more intimate.

“Thanks.”Not that she would spread her thighs because Ande recommended Dieter, but she was open to it.She did like the smell of the man.

“This is the mess.We take turns at cooking.”

She jerked back.“What?”The Ring’s canteen was fully staffed.Living on protein bars and hydro-gels was the extent of her pre-arena life.“I don’t know how to cook.”

He cringed.“You’ll learn.”

“Great.”She huffed.“Wait, as in real food?Not just gels and bars?”Thembahadbeen eating chicken.

“Yup, we have a stocked storeroom, animals pens, and hydroponics.”

She gaped.“I’ve neverseena live animal, let alone eaten one.”

He chuckled.“Well, now you will.Sorry to say, cleaning the pens and feeding them will be your responsibility.That is until you earn the crew’s respect.”

Taking two mugs out of a cupboard, he tucked them in a vendor.The aroma of coffee filled the air, and she hummed.When she had won her first match, Ande had treated her to her first cup of coffee.TheMula Pesadacrew drank it without a thought to its expense.

Dieter offered her a mug.“Cream?Sugar?”

Gathering her scattered wits, she nodded.Having never had either in her coffee, she wasn’t sure how to respond.He poured a dollop of white liquid, plopped a cube of compacted white powder, then stirred with a steel teaspoon.

Taking a tentative sip, the roasted, bittersweetness coated her tongue.She groaned, casting a smile at him.“I usually drink it black.”

He chuckled.“I can tell.”

She laughed and cupped the mug with her hands.“This is better.”

“I like mine sweeter.Sarg likes his as black as sin.”Dieter whipped his head to the side when stomping along the grated flooring reached them.“Time to meet the crew.”

She downed her coffee, in case she was forced to abandon it, and rose, not liking the vulnerable position of sitting.The first person through the doorway shot bolts of ice down her spine.

“What the farg,” Nikko growled, striding toward her, his shoulders squared, his fingers curling into fists.

“You’ve met?”Dieter sliced glances between them.“This is Vic, our new crewmember.”He shifted, as if he wanted to come to her defense.

With a tiny shake of her head, she held him back.

“Why the farg is the bitch here?”Leah sidled closer to Nikko, pressing her bandaged hand to her chest.

Vic sighed.“There’s still time for me to disembark.It was lovely to meet you, Dieter.”

“Stop.”There Nikko went again, using his authoritative voice to calm her instinctive reactions.“Captain has explained your presence.The debt has been canceled.”His lips curled in distaste.“As much as I hate having to deal with you after the stunt you pulled, your contract states a minimum of two years.Should you leave before then, the debt-paid will reverse.”

“What?Two years?”From one prison to another.Slamming her fist into her palm, she gritted her teeth.She would fargen kill Ande when next she saw him.Sure, it kept her ‘safe’ until he won his deca-match, but still, he could have told her, or better, allowed a loophole.She glared at Dieter.Perhaps if he hadn’t interrupted the captain she might have learned more about her ‘service.’

Leah’s cheeks flushed pink, but her anger couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes.“I ain’t working with this bi—”

“It’s out of my hands, Leah.”Nikko glanced at her over his shoulder.

“She did take us down.”Toothpick-man pushed past Leah to reach the vendor, helping himself to coffee.His gray gaze warmed when he peeked at Vic’s legs.“Cybernetics?”

She clenched her jaw and took a moment to calm her resentment.“Without my permission.”

“Y’know, youdolook familiar.”The boy weaved around everyone to pull a hydro-gel from a cooling drawer.In tight black pants and a matching sweater, the only thing large about him were his boots.

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