Page 5 of Stolen Fire
The likelihood of a successful negotiation on a 3F station—fuel, fix, fuck—was infinitesimally small. Varik pulled up the receipt and scowled, mainly for Karnek’s benefit. “Where’d you learn to negotiate?”
Karnek sputtered.
Varik stomped up the ramp, grinning on the inside. Never a good idea to give many compliments. Leave your lessers grasping and desperate for approval.
“Run a scan as soon as we launch and clear the quiet zone. I want to know if The Treasure is anywhere nearby.” And blast it out of space, but unfortunately, his ship wasn’t designed for battle. It favored research and steady performance. There were modifications Varik would make to increase the speed, but it would never be fast, which made navigation even more important.
Varik strapped into the captain’s seat, even though there would be no need to punch out of the atmosphere. Once the port doors opened, they could basically float out. Everything on the 3F was in an artificially created atmosphere, mostly underground. Ingenious way to stay beyond the reach of any judicial oversight from a nearby planet. Varik almost wished he’d thought of it first. With the prices they charged, they had to be making a fortune.
As soon as they were outside the quiet zone around the 3F, Varik reminded Karnek to initiate a deep search for The Treasure. They had to be out here somewhere. That bitch who stole his ship was too weak to use ER bridges. “I entered a course for the Cassan space station. You keep an eye on the search.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m going to get cleaned up, unless you can’t handle the ship by yourself.”
“No, sir, I’m fine. Glad you got us off Kolben when you did. I don’t know what I would have done if we’d been stuck there. And thank you for covering my accommodations back there,” Karnek said.
It would come out of his compensation.
“I’ve never had a captain who cared if I was covered when we landed. I know you’re missing Jarn, but if there’s ever anything I can do—anything—just ask.”
Varik grunted approval, but Karnek would never be in his bed. Not with those teeth. Varik liked to bite, and if Karnek decided to bite back… Varik’s insides shriveled at the image.
“Can I ask what your plan is to find more crew on Cassan? I’d like to help any way I can.”
Karnek was a decent communications officer—he’d found the dark site after all—but it wasn’t enough. “We’ll find them any way we can. Crews are always available when you know where to look. To pay them, we have to secure new contracts and make credits. As much as we can.”
Funds weren’t a problem at all. Auvi, his dead lover and former captain of The Treasure, had left Varik plenty, but he didn’t allow anyone to get lazy on his tab. And there was no such thing as too many credits. And if some of those contracts they secured were intended to go to The Treasure? Even better. If he couldn’t blow the ship up, he could at least starve out the crew. Cyra deserved it for stealing what belonged to him.
“Excellent.” Karnek grinned, and his razor teeth made Varik’s stomach turn. One of the new crew members better be attractive enough and willing to see to Varik’s needs. Auvi had never had any trouble securing a willing partner, and Varik was twice the male that weakling had ever been. “As soon as we’re in range, I’ll post on the board for crew and check for any contracts, Captain.”
“Good.” Varik released his harness.
“Captain?”
Varik paused in his retreat.
“I just want to thank you for taking a chance on me. Trusting me. My people get a bad rap as being…well, you know. But you hired me anyway. And now that it’s just you and me, I’ll repay that trust, earn that trust every single moment.”
Varik turned and lifted his lips in a smile. “I’m counting on it.”
Chapter 4
Blaize dragged her hand across her neck under her tied-up hair. A bead of sweat trailed from her forehead down the side of her face. The engine room wasn’t overly hot, but she’d been on edge since leaving Kolben. There was nothing she could pinpoint. After a perfect takeoff, their fuel-burn rate was within normal parameters. She’d checked every system report twice, inspected every manual gauge, and crawled through every crevice of the ship's heart she could reach. Nothing was wrong.
Except for the itchy sensation that wouldn’t leave her alone. The dread that something was about to blow. Maybe it was her reaction to Dez removing a bomb from the outside of her engine and losing his hand. Maybe it was Cyra’s apprehension about taking the ER bridge bleeding into Blaize. Or her threat to add to engineering staff. Perhaps it was the sensation of someone watching her. The eerie foreboding had hit somewhere in the cargo bay and hadn’t left her since.
It was probably just too quiet. “I think I’ll check out the stats on the rotating detonator. You know, the way it’s designed on The Treasure is quite odd.” She wasn’t speaking to anyone, but the sound calmed her. “Emotional energy is transferred from the bridge apparatus through the converter, concentrated, and burst-delivered right to the rotator, causing the spin needed to create the detonation. The RoDRE is technically pretty antiquated technology, but whoever originally designed The Treasure was brilliant. The fuel savings are astronomical. Never having to burn fuel to punch out of the atmosphere is huge, especially with a ship this large. I’m kind of impressed Cyra could pull it off without Dez working her to climax on the bridge. I could die without seeing that. I mean, Dez and the captain are beautiful together, his dark striped skin and hers—that deep blue, nearly purple. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see them together? But not like that. I wouldn’t be able to unsee his dick. I mean, I like dicks, but his dick is taken.”
Was that a snort?
Blaize spun around, searching for the source of the sound.
“Who’s there? Show yourself.”
Nothing moved.
“Approaching the KolFlamm wormhole,” Rhysa’s voice rang out from Blaize’s comm.
