Page 7 of Stealing Mercury
Samantha rolled her shoulders and waited for their bickering to die down. Stars, she was tired. It had been twenty grueling hours of flight prep, getting up to speed on the peculiarities of theDoveand getting them all safely into skipspace—that wonderful state that bent the laws of ordinary physics and made faster than light travel possible.
She’d spent the last four hours walking the ship, doing systems checks, and she needed sleep before she had to be back at the pilot’s station to prep for the first skip-point. At each skip-point the ship had to drop back to normal space for the skip-field generator’s cool-down period before jumping again. TheDovewas top of the line. She could probably recalculate to a 48 hour interval between skip-points. Unfortunately, she had to stick to the standard 36, if she wanted to end up at the rendezvous coordinates on schedule to meet Sevti’s people.
The ship was in tip-top shape, but she couldn’t boast the same. She needed to find a bed and climb in, but first she needed fuel. And she refused to fill her own belly until the Arena Dogs had been fed. Their cages had built-in waste and water units, but no rations. She couldn’t let Drake’s decree stand.
Patience gone, she filled her lungs, ready to shout for their attention. “The Arena Dogs, Mr. Drake. I won’t let them go hungry.”
He flipped the triangular cards through his hands again. “It’s not your concern, Sam.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose and willed away the building headache. “As pilot, the wellbeing of everyone on board is my responsibility.”
Drake set the cards down in a tidy stack. “They aren’t passengers.” He twisted in his seat to face her more fully. “They’re property. Andmyresponsibility, not yours. But, if it will ease your mind, there’s nothing to worry about. Roma engineered the Dogs for endurance and efficiency. They can easily survive without food for the three-week journey.”
That stopped her for a half a minute. He said it so casually and looked at her like he thought it made everything all right. “It might be true, but it’s also cruel. The ship is fully stocked. There’s no reason to let them suffer.”
Resler smirked, then reached over and snagged a chunk of tuber from his plate. “You should tell her.”
Drake shot the man a glare to rival the chill of space.
“Tell me what?” She considered that look and what it might mean. If there was something, anything, she could use to break through his resolve, she’d jump at it and worry about the consequences later. Fisting her hands on her hips, she stepped close enough to tower over the seated men. “I get it. You’re afraid.”
All expression slipped off Drake’s face. “Afraid? Of you?”
“Not me. The Arena Dogs.”
“Ha!” Drake slid off the seat then stood, forcing her to look up to hold his gaze.
Samantha resisted the urge to step back.
He leaned in, crowding her even more. “They’re afraid of me, not the other way around.”
She’d been bullied by bigger men. “You’d have to get close to the cages to feed them. I think you’re afraid they’d make a grab for you.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Did you really think I’d be that easy to provoke?”
She shrugged, impressed that he saw through her ploy. She’d have to be careful not to underestimate him again, but that didn’t mean she was ready to give up. “Prove it then. Feed them.”
The smile tightened, giving him the pinched look of a man wearing a belt synched one notch too far. “I’ve worked with them—no bars between us—for years. If I wanted to feed them, I would.”
Samantha nodded. “Sure. But I bet you had a bunch of guards there to back you up.”
He stepped forward and her muscles tensed in reaction, but he brushed past. The pop of a storage bin opening drew her around as he dug into one of the built-in containers that lined the wall.
He pulled out a protein ration bar and tossed it to her. “If you want to bet, I’ve got a better wager.”
The packaging crackled as her hand tightened. Jaw clenched, she waited for him to continue.
“You get the Dogs to take a ration bar from your hand and I’ll let them keep it.”
She shivered as the memory of the swipe one of them had taken at her flashed her back to that terror, but the memory of the man’s pain was just as clear. And the thought of the one they called Mercury, of his breath against her wrist, created a wave of heat that chased away her fear and left her edgy and breathless.
She held the bar up. “I get one of them to take this... and they all get fed... daily.”
Drake dug back in the bin for two more ration bars, then nodded. “They each get one bar a day.”
“Deal.”
“Not so fast.” Drake shoved the bin closed. “You’re asking for a lot. I think we have to make this more challenging, and I want something out of the bargain.”
