Page 27 of Claim
Over time, the Dastard had transformed the old ship into a place where the raw materials of the universe were transmuted into the foundations of civilizations and societies.And if the Dastard took his cut of every transaction while demanding a revel and wearing a crown while he did it… Well, maybe Mag had a new appreciation for the theatrics as well as the finances of command.
While the generation ship had since been altered to accommodate a multitude of docking ships and shuttles, its core still held memories—not to say phantoms—of the beings who had traversed the dark on whatever unknown journey.The core was a vast hollow, the ceiling lost in a haze of condensate moisture, generating its own weather, the air so rich and heady that Mag’s antennae curled in the humidity.His wrist datpad confirmed the atmospheric mix was breathable for orcs and Earthers, but some beings converging in the core were wearing rebreathers or full exo-suits.And they too were ornamented for this gathering.
To think he would’ve stomped into this gathering still dusty with the day’s ore processing, utterly oblivious to the subtle ceremony and likely resentful of the spectacle.As apex of his struggling little crew, he would’ve been dismissive of all this posturing and pretense…if not for the IDA explanation that dating was actually just the first step to a deeper connection.
Once again he glanced back at June.Her cloak wasn’t as fancy as some of the others, and she wasn’t displaying any of the sung stones.She didn’t even have the pigments radiating from ultraviolet to infrared.Yet somehow she shone to his eyes brighter than any wavelength.
“Bring her up,” Sil murmured.“She’s too short to see anything from back there.”
Before Mag could demur—she was safer, tucked away back there—his brother waved for her.“What do you think, June?How are we doing?”
She was looking everywhere but Mag.“I think you all look like you were meant to be here.This is so amazing.It’s like a high-tech jungle temple with all these plants on top of the neon.”
“The growth is optimized to work with life support to clean the atmosphere and water,” Teq said.“The mechanical systems could handle it all, but the Dastard is showing off.”
“Well, it’s amazing and beautiful,” June said.
Mag gazed at her.Beauty had power; he hadn’t quite understood that before holding his brother’s sung stones.And generosity of spirit had power too.
In addition to the embedded foliage, the core was ringed in balconies, some open, some sealed, overlooking the hollow.As the Luster attendees milled, a shield curtain around the largest balcony parted, revealed a small crowd staring down on them.
“Welcome to the Luster!”
Though everyone present likely had a universal translator, the greeting repeated in a number of languages, each one echoing in Mag’s head.He shifted impatiently.While he might finally acknowledge the uses of such dramatics, he wasn’t interested in indulging it indefinitely.
The center figure on the balcony waved one hand with what seemed to Mag a similar impatience, cutting off the greeting.All around the hollow, datpads twinkled with updating messages.Mag didn’t glance at the distraction, letting Teq review the incoming info.
“New security credentials,” the big crusher noted quietly.“Suggested contacts based on the contents of our cargo hold.And a map of the buffet tables, including potential allergens.”He grunted.“They have dewdrop whorls.”
“The Dastard wants us to know that he knows everything about us,” Mag said.That too was a sort of flaunting, if more subtle.
And a warning.
Sil clacked his tusks.“Let’s find out if he got it right.”
“And let’s make first contact with these potential customers,” Teq said.“Everyone has their subcompanies and objectives.”Their datpads pinged again with the crusher’s orders.“Stay in contact.”
As the crew split according to their earlier plan, Mag’s datpad chirped again.“A response to our complaint against thePratorim,” he told Teq when the crusher hesitated.“I’ll deal with it.You find the best buyer for our ore.”He glanced at his brother.“And you make sure everyone sees those sung stones.This is where we make our fortune.”
He spun around, aware of the personal guard Teq had assigned him stepping in behind him.Birg and Bram were grapplers, the biggest orcs on the crew besides Mag himself, but Bram made the quietest quiver of distress.“Er, Apex…?”
Mag glanced back.To see June tagging along.
He stopped in his tracks and she walked right up to the toes of his big boots.“You stay here,” he told her.
“Since I wasn’t even going to come along, I’m not assigned to any other group,” she said.“So I don’t have anything else to do.Let me come with you.”Her jaw jutted at him, the Earther equivalent of stiff orc antennae.
His datpad chirped, but he ignored it to take her elbow and steer her away from his curious guards.“June.I am meeting with the vreign—the owner of this station.You must stay here.”
“Oh.I just thought…” Eyeing the big grapplers, she dropped her voice to the barest whisper and leaned close, balancing her hand on his forearm.“I don’t want to be in the way, but… You won’t put yourself up as collateral again, will you?You can’t.”
A distracting burn raced through him, part shame but twisted with gratitude that she cared enough to ask.But did she think so little of him?The only reason he was big was so there’d be plenty to give away.
He lifted her hand off his arm—as gently as he could, as if he were disarming a depth charge, and still he saw the shadow that dulled her smoky quartz eyes.“I have to go.”
Her empty hand fisted.“Of course.The ship comes first and last and always, right?”
“Meebu…”
