Page 60 of Devin
“Done. So what’s in the box? Just so you won’t cheat me out of my seven percent.”
“Mahdfel stem bolts, see?” Bright hit a button and the box whirred open, except the light didn’t pour in on them like Val expected. There must have been some sort of false top that was full of stem bolts, whatever those were. Bright closed the box again.
“That’s not very exciting.”
“I know. But I’ve had this box cluttering up my spot in the hold for almost six months and I finally found a buyer. Do you know how hard it is to offload Mahdfel stem bolts to anyone who isn’t Mahdfel?”
“Then why did you acquire them in the first place?”
“They were part of a bundle. I think the asshole that sold it to me was trying to get rid of them too. I wouldn’t be surprised if this same box has been traded around half the system without anyone using a single bolt.”
Lysh laughed and must have stepped aside, because soon they were on their way again.
A few minutes later and the box tilted to one side. Val bit her lip to keep from groaning as Grena’s weight shifted into her. It was only for a moment, but when the box righted itself, Grena was still pressing against her, not willing to risk shifting her weight and creating a jiggle or noise.
“Shargo, what are you-”
“You think Rutra doesn’t have an eye on every ship in his hold?” A voice interrupted. “Plus you got your timings wrong. The cameras went off five minutes ago.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“You, trying to sneak off the ship, with your cargo. Without giving Rutra his cut,” Shargo said.
“It’s just some stem bolts. I didn’t think he’d be interested. Honestly, there’s only enough here to pay for fuel costs and a nice bottle of Benuvian whisky. This is more about clearing out space than the actual deal, now that I finally found someone to offload this crap on,” Bright said, not sounding the least bit panicked at getting caught.
“The captain always gets his cut,” Shargo said.
“Can’t blame a girl for trying. But you know, Rutra wouldn’t respect me if I didn’t try,” Bright said.
“Which is why he’s sending me and a few other guys along with you instead of shoving you out an airlock. If the score is as small as you say it is, then we won’t have a problem.”
“If you’re banking on me making a ton of cash off these stem bolts, you are going to be disappointed. But it’s your time to waste. I hope Rutra’s paying you out of his cut, because I’m not paying you out of mine.”
The box came to a stop and Val heard the sound of thrusters being fired up. Whatever ship they were in was leaving the bigger pirate ship. That was a relief at least. Even if they weren’t out of the box, there were far fewer aliens here if there was going to be a fight. Bright sounded like she hadn’t been expecting guests, which meant she’d most likely didn’t expect them to spend so much time in the box. And Val’s muscles were cramping. It was getting harder to breathe and worst of all, she had to pee. She was pretty sure the aliens would know something was up if the container of metal bolts started to smell like urine.
Minutes passed and Val could vaguely hear Bright making small talk with the aliens. Val searched for any indication that they would be let out of the box soon. To pee, or not to pee, that was the question. Just as she was about to let loose her bladder, Grena started snoring.
How could she be sleeping at a time like this? Honestly, if Val hadn’t been ready to explode, she might have been tempted if it would pass the time more quickly, but she was cramped, and every joint in her body was aching to be flexed.
“What’s that?” A voice called.
Val prodded Grena, but her snoring just increased its intensity.
“I don’t hear anything,” Bright called. “Are you guys hungry yet? I was going to break open my special surprise. I might be willing to share it if you ask nicely.”
The top of the box whirred off, but it was dark, just like before. The pirate had to be staring at the stem bolts. He wasn’t satisfied with that, however, and after a few shakes and rattles, light poured in and a dark orange alien peered in. He was ugly. His face was circular but flat, kinda like one of those cartoon characters that you see after someone hits them in the face with a frying pan.
“Okay, fine, you caught me. I wasn’t selling stem bolts,” Bright said with all the coolness of a child being caught in a white lie.
Figuring the game was up, Val squirmed out of the box and stood up, a bit shaky on her feet.
“I’ve got to pee. Like now. Where’s the bathroom?”
“Over there,” Bright pointed to a cubicle to the left. Val turned and strode toward it.
“Now wait just a-”
“Unless you want to be cleaning up a little puddle, get out of my way.”
