The newly minted duty roster put Eli and Chira on clean-up duty. It was partially as punishment for the fight earlier, because as first officers, they should’ve known better. It would also show the Valovian crew that they weren’t doing anything that the first officers hadn’t already done.
As people started to stand from the table, Kee bounced to her feet. “I got the new episodes of Crash Crush while we were onstation.” She turned to Eli and me. “Rec room in thirty?”
We both nodded. The romantic drama was Kee’s latest obsession. We’d watched the first episode two weeks ago because Kee had randomly grabbed it with her last media download. Then we’d had to wait until we were closer to a distribution server to pick up the newer episodes. Kee was dying to know what happened to the female lead who’d accidentally wandered into enemy territory—and straight into the male lead’s arms.
“I love that show,” Anja said. “What episode are you on?”
“The first one,” Kee wailed. “I’ve been waiting forever to see what happens.” She waved a finger at Anja. “Don’t spoiler me.”
Anja mimed locking her lips.
“Would you mind if I joined you?” Havil asked tentatively.
Kee beamed at him. “Of course not! Are you a fan of the show?”
Havil shook his head with a rueful smile. “I’ve never seen it, but I have enjoyed other human productions. Maybe you could recap the first episode for me before you start the second?”
She grabbed his hand with an excited little hop. He stilled, but she didn’t let it deter her. “Even better, we’ll watch it while the others clean up.” She looked around, skipping straight past Varro. “Anyone else want to join?”
I caught Chira’s brief longing glance before she dropped her eyes to the dishes in her hands and remained silent. Varro’s mouth was set into a firm line as he looked anywhere except at Kee.
I sighed quietly. I swear, sometimes my job was half therapist, half mediator, and half de facto ship parent, with a few other halves left over for captaining, negotiating, and bounty hunting.
“Why don’t we all start over with the first episode in thirty minutes?” I suggested. “I could use the refresher, and Eli and Chira can get caught up, too, if they want to join.”
When Chira’s surprised look bloomed into a smile, I knew I’d made the right call. “Thank you,” she said. “I would like that.”
I drained the last drops of the delicious wine from my glass. “Until then, I’ll be on the bridge if anyone needs me.” I gave Eli and Varro a warning glance. “Stay out of trouble.”
Eli tossed me a jaunty salute. “Aye aye, Captain.” He was not deterred in the slightest when I glared at him.
Varro settled for a stiff nod.
I left them to it. I couldn’t constantly watch them, so they were going to have to figure out how to tolerate each other.
The bridge was dim and silent. Stars dotted the display as Starlight’s Shadow slid through the emptiness of space. After three years, the background hum of the engines was easy to ignore, a heartbeat that was noticeable only when something was wrong.
I dropped into my seat with a deep sigh. It had been a long time since the ship had carried more than Eli, Kee, and me, and the thought was bittersweet. I’d never expected to haul our former enemies around the universe.
Life was funny sometimes.
After checking that everything was truly okay with the ship, I leaned back and put my feet up on my terminal. It wasn’t the most dignified way to sit, but it was comfortable.
While there was always some traffic on wormhole routes, this wasn’t a highly popular—or profitable—one. There were no habitable planets and only a handful of remote mining stations in this sector. The ships in front of us at the wormhole had taken other routes, so the only other ship in sensor range was Lotkez, and they weren’t likely to hail me. I could sit however I liked.
The next wormhole traversal wasn’t until the day after tomorrow, in the early hours after midnight. Then, two days after that, we’d traverse the final wormhole before Bastion and arrive at the station in the early hours of the fifth day.
After we restocked and picked up Lexi, we’d pass through the heavily guarded wormhole that divided human space and Valovian space. Then we’d travel for a day before the final traversal spit us out close to Valovia itself. If everything went according to schedule, we should be on-planet by the eighth day. As far as space travel went, it was almost speedy.
Now if only we could catch the thief as quickly.
Why would a human go all the way to Valovia to steal something from Torran? It didn’t make sense. There were plenty of less risky targets in the human sectors.
The door to the bridge slid open while I was pondering possibilities. A glance over my shoulder revealed the Valoff in question. Torran nodded in greeting and then slipped into the comm terminal. He did a cursory check of the ship’s systems and then settled back in his chair.
“Why didn’t you hire a bounty hunter at Bastion?” I asked. Not only would it have saved him several days of travel, but it also would’ve offered a much better selection.
Torran glanced at me before returning his attention to the comm terminal. “There are too many ears on Bastion,” he said at last. “I did not stop.”
So he really was trying to keep the theft quiet. “What was stolen?”
His gaze cut to mine, and I saw calculation in his eyes before he masked his expression. “A family heirloom.”
“If you want my help—and you appear to, with the amount you’re paying me—you’re going to have to give me more than that. Or we can agree it’s an impossible task, and I can keep the initial payment and let you off on Bastion.”
Torran sighed, and for the first time, he looked worn and worried. “I want your help,” he murmured. “The thieves stole a very old, very important ring. It’s engraved with my family’s insignia, and possessing it gives the holder the right to access the family’s accounts and properties.”
“Shit,” I breathed as the full implication hit me. “Can you invalidate the transactions because the ring was stolen?”
One shoulder lifted. “Perhaps, but it will not be easily done.”
“Have they already accessed your accounts?”
He paused, clearly debating whether or not to tell me the truth. “They tried. I moved the vast majority of our assets into protected accounts as soon as I learned of the theft.”
“How many assets are still at risk?”
Torran stared at the stars on-screen for a long moment. “Enough.”
“If the ring is so important, why wasn’t it secured?”
“It was.”
I snorted. “Then your security sucks.” I talked through the heist. “So a team of—do you know how many thieves were involved?”
“At least four.”