Page 34 of Igid's Bounty
“Now what?” he asks.
“Well, the comm room is gutted, and I can’t get a signal on this,” I hold up my wrist, “so I figured we could head down to the hangar and see what—if anything—might have been left behind.”
I’m not hopeful there will be anything. I suspect we’ll need to sit tight and wait for either a crew of scavengers or for Igid to return. In any case, looking around will at least kill some time.
After several minutes of uncomfortable silence and walking, I say, “You might as well finish your story, while we’re stuck here.”
“Hmm.”
When I look over, his eyes are focused on the ground.
“I’d like to hear that not all of Igid’s childhood was terrible,” I say quietly.
Volethos tilts his chin back as he thinks. “We were thick as thieves as kits and always getting into trouble. Jarain was always having to separate us so we could get our work done in a timely manner.” He sighs, and a smile teases his lips.
* * *
Volethos
* * *
Jarain gave us a good life.A purpose. A livelihood. A home.
I’m in the shop when I hear the roar of a ship landing. By the time I get to the bay doors, I see Jarain greeting a strange male like an old friend. He doesn’t look much older than I am, and I wonder if he might be one of the orphans he’s saved.
“Roygan! What brings you here?” I overhear.
Roygan hitches a thumb over his shoulder at his ship. “I took some fire and couldn’t make it back to my base. Barely made it here before the life support died.”
“You’re welcome to anything in the shop,” Jarain tells him, clapping a hand on his shoulder as they start walking toward me. “If you need anything ordered, just let me or Volethos know.”
The male isn’t a species I’ve seen before. He’s tall and broad. His skin is silvery, and his eyes are so blue, they seem to glow.
“Thank you.” He starts to nod, but then those strange glowing eyes widen on something behind me.
I don’t need to turn to see who has caught his attention. I heard Igid’s soft intake of breath a moment before he caught sight of her.
I can’t even blame him for his reaction. She’s lovely. How many times have I caught myself staring, wishing she would see me as more than her friend or brother?
My lips pull back from my teeth, and I let out a warning growl, “She is not for you.”
Roygan pulls his attention from Igid to me and arches an eyebrow but says nothing.
“Do not presume to speak for me,” Igid growls at me, driving her elbow into my side and knocking the air from my lungs.
Jarain just laughs. “Good luck, son. Igid is a barbed fruit. You’ve got to get past her spines before you have any chance at seeing the sweetness within.”
Except Igid wasn’t that way with Roygan.
I’ve never seen her act the way she does with him, or with anyone else. Not even with me.
I know that I’m acting like a jealous fool, but I can’t compete with Roygan, a handsome bounty hunter who works with anti-trafficking groups to protect people like us. I’m just a scrawny Vesen with no prospects beyond being a mechanic.
Roygan is with us for an entire cycle while he fixes his cruiser, and every moment he isn’t working, he is with Igid. So when I walk into the shop one day to find them in an embrace, I’m not exactly surprised. Until I realize Igid is crying.
“I’ll be back for you,” Roygan promises her softly. “You have my comm info; you can contact me anytime you need me.”
“Why can’t I come with you?” she begs. Their hands are clasped between them, fingers entwined.
