Page 89 of Stealing Mercury
The hugs were over before his possessiveness got the better of him. He settled as she introduced them to him and to Carn and finally to Lo as he materialized out of the darkness.
As she spoke Lo’s name with her hand resting softly on his arm, Mercury realized he didn’t mind at all if she smelled of Lo. It was their way, but the more time he spent in her world the more he understood how she might have trouble making sense of things he accepted without question.
The humans turned out to be from theGwendella, the ship she’d contacted that afternoon. Samantha had explained that she’d done some of her pilot’s training there. He’d only been expecting this meeting to be with the captain that Samantha had asked to help them. He hadn’t been entirely comfortable with the idea but this was her world and he had to trust her judgment.
The plain door into the building’s back room had no markings and had to be opened with a code. Samantha had explained that customers entered through the front, but the captain had arranged for a private meeting. Inside, dozens of dimly glowing, fist-sized balls lit the interior. Scattered across the tabletops and the counter that ringed the small room, their combined output left much of the room in shadow.
The chairs sat empty for the most part. Samantha led the way to a large table at the center of the room where the room’s only occupants, two females and a male, got to their feet. He recognized the man as Knock, the man who’d thought he had a right to walk into Samantha’s bedroom that morning. He bristled at the man’s presence.
The younger woman dressed differently from the others. She was the bar worker, he realized as she disappeared through an interior door, leaving only the older woman to greet them. The appearance of the woman, who had to be the captain, startled him. He’d seen dark skinned humans before, but none as dark as her. The resemblance to the blue-black skinned Mothers was undeniable, but also meaningless. She was clearly human. Her tightly curled silver hair covered her skull, unlike the Mothers with their slick skulls. And her figure registered as typical human. Her clothes seemed more formal than the others and she wore a shiny silver star on her collar.
“Mercury.” Samantha’s hand rested on his arm as she pulled his attention back to her. “This is Captain Amanda Artane, owner of theGwendella.”
He lifted his chin in acknowledgement and the woman held out her hand. He knew what she wanted, but it was a gesture made amongst humans. She kept her hand out, unbothered by his hesitation, until he accepted the gesture. She shook the hand he offered and gave him a warm smile.
“Good to meet you,” she said.
Mercury released her hand and breathed deeply, subtly searching her scent for deception, but found none. “Samantha tells me you helped her gain her skills as a pilot.”
Lines crinkled at the outside edges of her eyes. “I suppose I did.”
“You have my thanks then.”
The captain’s mouth opened as if she would speak then closed.
Samantha motioned to his pack brothers but didn’t move aside to allow them to approach. “This is Carn and Lo.”
They exchanged nods of recognition and then the captain sat back down and motioned to the chairs nearby. Her crewmembers went to the far end of the table where the young woman had returned with a pitcher of drink and began to refill their mugs.
“It’s good to see you, Samantha.” The older woman crossed an ankle over the opposite knee and rested one hand on her boot. “I was sorry to hear about your father.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Samantha’s spirits no longer darkened as they had before when her father had been mentioned. “And thank you for coming.”
The woman’s lips turned downward, making her face seem sterner. “We were about to leave Sedona when I got your call. Between my respect for your father and my affection for you, delaying departure by a day was an easy call. Especially since I’d seen this.” The captain slid a thin flexible sheet across the table. “This bulletin is bad news. You and your friends are in a heap of trouble, Sammie.”
Knock sat silent on the other side of the captain.
Samantha touched the corner of the sheet, and it lit up with images of each of them and some text Mercury couldn’t read. Samantha huffed and her spine softened. She looked up to the captain. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do about this, but I have a more important favor to ask you.”
“The one you mentioned in your call.”
Samantha nodded.
“Okay, tell me. The whole thing. Even the parts you think I can’t help with. You might be surprised what I can do.”
“First, Captain. I’m sorry, but why is Knock here?”
The captain bristled as she turned and frowned at Knock. “He was waiting at the port when the shuttle brought us over from Sedona.”
Knock leaned forward. “I have almost as many connections in this port as you do, Sammie. I heard you were up to something and I’m here to help. If I can. And to warn you that Shred knows you’re here. He’s prepping theBucketfor departure first thing tomorrow.”
Samantha frowned, but she nodded then turned her attention back to the strip of flexible material. “It’s even worse than this, Captain. Even if I could clear this up, I’ll be losing my pilot’s license. They know I’m part Cerrillian.”
The captain slammed a fist against the table. “If it was that cretin, Shred, I’ll—”
Samantha gasped. “I didn’t know you knew.” She visibly shook off her surprise. “No, it wasn’t Shred. Two of the Roma employees found out the old fashion way. Observation. And if they haven’t spoken up about it yet, it’s only because they haven’t had an opportunity. You can be certain they will when they get the chance.”
“Well,” said the captain. “Looks like the only way to fix this is to get you a new identity and to get your friends here as far away from Roma as possible.”
