I hung the hand wraps from a clip on the wall. They weren’t quite dirty enough to wash yet, but I didn’t want to put them back in the clean basket. I would use them again tomorrow. I needed to get back into my normal routine.
“I am finished,” Torran said. “I will accompany you upstairs.”
I eyed him. “Are you really done or are you just worried that I’ll fall on my face? Because I don’t need a babysitter.”
“I am not babysitting; I am protecting my investment. If you become incapacitated, your crew will not go to Valovia without you, and I do not have time to hire another crew.”
I wasn’t sure that was better, actually, but it didn’t matter. I was his ticket to reclaiming a family heirloom, and he was my payday. We had agreed to a simple business transaction. I needed to keep that perspective.
And if he already saw me as an investment, then my plan to ensure my team and I were considered indispensable before we arrived on Valovia was already well underway.
There was no reason at all to be disappointed.
The next few days passed peacefully as both crews settled into Starlight’s routine. There were no more fights, and three days after he’d insulted her, Kee forgave Varro. She didn’t hold grudges, so she treated him like everyone else, joking with him like nothing had happened. If he remained extra reserved around her, she pretended not to notice.
Kee and Anja had gotten the new processing unit installed, and as expected, it was a huge improvement over the old one. When I’d marveled at the improved nav plotting times, Kee had just smiled smugly and given me her best I-told-you-so look.
Overall, the trip was going very smoothly, which made me a little wary. I’d expected more issues. I felt like I was sitting atop a bulging volcano, just waiting for the eruption, so it was a relief to make it through the last wormhole before Bastion without any trouble. Lotkez followed a few minutes later, and some of the tension unknotted. Maybe I was worried for nothing.
I looked around the crowded bridge. Even though it was after midnight, both crews had stayed up for the traversal. I could see the same relief I felt reflected on more than one face. Wormholes didn’t bother me too much, but the Valoffs seemed much less comfortable around them.
“Everyone should get some sleep,” I said. “It’ll take a couple of hours to arrive, maybe more if their docking department is backed up again. Then we’ll do a quick restock, pick up Lexi, and hopefully leave by tonight.”
“Have you heard from her?” Eli asked.
“Not yet, but the last comm broadcast was yesterday morning. We should be getting a refresh from the station momentarily.”
Long-distance communication was slow at best. Comm drones traversed the wormholes to broadcast messages and news to the next set of drones and ships. In highly trafficked areas, the drones might cross the wormholes six or eight times a day. Out here, it was closer to once a day unless you were sending military or government messages. Stations also kept a two-month queue of received messages, since ships were often out of range.
Urgent messages could be sent via special delivery on high-priority drones, but it got very expensive, very quickly.
“Lexi should’ve arrived late yesterday,” Kee said.
“If I don’t hear from her in the next refresh, I’ll send her a message in the morning. No reason to wake her up now.”
Kee yawned and stretched. “Sounds good. You going to fly us in?”
“Yes, then I’m going to try to sleep until a reasonable hour.”
People slowly trickled from the bridge, leaving Anja and Torran. Anja stopped by my terminal. “Should I pack my things?” she asked quietly.
“Do you want to?”
“No.”
I smiled at her. “I hoped you’d say that. Kee already threatened to mutiny if I let you leave on Bastion and she has to go back to working with Eli.”
Anja looked down. “I barely did anything. And I didn’t get as much done in mechanical as I’d hoped.”
“You did plenty.” And she had. She’d worked her ass off this week. It wasn’t her fault that there were so many issues that needed fixing. My expression sobered. “We are heading to Valovia, likely for weeks. Be very sure that is something you want to do.” I held up a hand to stop her when she would’ve interrupted. “I’m not trying to dissuade you. I want you to be sure, so take tonight to think about it.”
She murmured her agreement and left the bridge, leaving me alone with Torran. Luna had left riding on the improvised shoulder guard Chira had fashioned for her. The burbu seemed to be picking a new Valoff for every traversal, and Chira was tonight’s winner. She had snuggled Luna close as we crossed through the wormhole.
But no matter where Luna spent her day, or with whom, I always found her curled up on my bed every evening, waiting for me. Tonight, she would have a long wait.
Torran also seemed to be settling in for a long wait. He’d made himself at home at the comm terminal over the last few days.
“You don’t have to stay up,” I said.
He glanced at me. “Neither do you.”
I tipped my head at him, conceding the point.
The autopilot would take us most of the way, so I checked the settings, then settled back and put my feet up. I stared at the main screen and let my mind wander. I was mentally working through my third set of backup plans for what I would do if things went bad on Valovia when Torran stirred.
“I figured you would try to stay on Bastion longer.”
“You are paying for my time, and the sooner we get to Valovia, the sooner we can start hunting,” I said. It also meant that we could leave Valovia sooner—and hopefully richer.
Torran hummed in agreement.
“Plus, Bastion is expensive. They have a corner on the market and they know it.” I stared at the web of stars on-screen. “Will I be able to buy supplies in Valovian space?”
“Yes, but only if I barter for you.” At my skeptical look, he elaborated, “You’re human, and worse, you’re infamous. Merchants will not sell to you. They might sell to one of your crew, but it would still be expensive.”
I made a note to stock up with three months of emergency staples. We might not enjoy eating rice and generic protein for that long, but it would keep us alive if we had to leave Valovia in a hurry and needed to take a roundabout route home.
I turned my head sideways on the headrest so I could see him. “Why are you willing to work with me?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“You’re well known in other circles, too. The people who have worked with you say you’re honorable and stick to your agreements. And that you are good at finding lost things.”
Unfortunately, that fame hadn’t been enough to keep us in credits. I was picky about the jobs I took, and the ones that paid the most were often the shadiest.
Case in point: we were heading to a place where people wanted me dead.
“Were you looking for me specifically?”
His lips compressed into a flat line. “You were the first marginally qualified crew I found. I didn’t have time to search further.”
I snorted. “You can be kind of an asshole sometimes—you know that, right?”