Page 37 of Igid's Bounty
A muscle in his jaw ticks as Volethos clenches his teeth, overlooking the vast emptiness surrounding us.
“Looks like we’re stuck here,” I sigh.
“I fucking hope not,” Volethos spits, shooting me an angry look before stalking off.
There is no urgency in my steps when I follow after him into the enormous room and we fall into step.
“So, what happened after you and Igid took theShade?” I ask, trying to find a distraction from my increasing anxiety at being truly stranded.
“Why do youcare?” he spins on me, and his last word echoes through the cavernous room. “You’re worse than a nagging female with all your chatter.”
“Do you have anything better to do?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest.
Volethos stops and hangs his head for a moment before finally answering me. “Roygan’s crew was down a member, so they let us join them.”
“And how long did that last?” I don’t miss the way Volethos’ face scrunches up at my question.
“For me? Not long. A rev, I think.” His shoulders lift and then sag. “That was my first taste of freedom. Jarain was a good master. Hell, he was as close to a father as I’ll ever have, but he kept us on a short leash. When I saw everything the universe had to offer…”
“You got yourself into trouble,” I assume.
“No. Not then.” He chuckles and then starts walking down the length of the hangar when his feet shuffle to a stop.
From where I’m standing, he seems to be looking at a flat wall. When he rubs at his chin and looks back at me, I wonder what he sees.
“What is it?” I jog toward him.
Instead of answering, he steps up and cants his head to the side as he examines the wall. When I come up behind him, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Just sheets of composite. Without a word, he grabs hold of one of the larger sheets, and I step in to help.
With a heave, we’re able to shift it to the side, revealing the frame for a…
“Is that another hangar door?” What are the odds there might be a hidden section of this hangar the scavengers didn’t know about?
It takes both of us to clear away everything blocking the door, and then Volethos ends up needing to pick the lock. Being stranded on a deserted station with a criminal has its perks.
The gears are stiff with rust and disuse, and I wonder how long this door has been hidden. We’re both grunting and panting when we finally get the door to slide open. Then, for a long moment, we both stand there staring, because the smaller hangar is filled with shuttles. Or at least parts of shuttles.
“I can hardly believe our luck.” Volethos laughs as we take in the cacophony of parts and tools strewn throughout the hangar.
“I don’t think any of these are in one piece.” I nudge an engine with my toe. Who knows how long it’s been sitting there, or if any of this is even salvageable, but my heart is pounding in my chest at the possibilities.
Volethos leans over a shuttle that looks to be mostly intact, except for the completely empty engine compartment—which might be where the engine I just kicked came from. “Lucky for us,” he looks up at me with a wide grin, “I happen to be a master mechanic. I should be able to piece together at least one useable shuttle with everything in this room.”
I’m certainly not a master mechanic, but I know my way around an engine and have enough of a rudimentary understanding of electronics to be some help.
“Lucky for us,” I stick my head inside the shuttle and get a look at the dust-coated control panel, “I can fly anything you piece together.”
Volethos nods and starts scanning the room, shaking his head. “I can’t believe our luck. They even left their tools behind.” He pushes himself back from the shuttle and gives it a light tap. “We’ll use this one. Do you have any objections?”
“Hells no,” I laugh, “I’ll do whatever it takes to get us off this station.”
“Good,” Volethos says. “Because I don’t plan to stop until we are done, and this looks like a couple rotations’ worth of work.”
“Then let's get started. The sooner we start, the sooner we get done.”
CHAPTER 22
IGID
