Torran’s expression didn’t change. “Why not?”
I had many problems with the contract, but I listed the worst first. “It gives you the right to take over my ship and my crew in the event of an emergency—an event you can define however you like. So if I refuse to do something I think is stupid or dangerous, you can declare that to be an emergency and take over. If I continue to refuse, you can lock me—and my crew—up. Any captain who signs that contract is not qualified to be called captain. If that is what you expect, then we’re done here. Find someone else.”
Torran stared at me for a long moment, but I didn’t feel the telltale brush of his mind against mine. We were closer than we’d been earlier, and I could see hints of copper and teal in addition to the silver in his irises. If he thought he could cow me into agreeing by staring at me, he was about to be disappointed.
“I don’t appreciate being jerked around,” I said when he continued to hold his silence. “This does not bode well for our future working relationship, and I have serious doubts about our ability to work together. So here is my offer: we start with my boilerplate. I will give you an hour of my time to modify it until it is satisfactory to both of us. If we can’t reach agreement in an hour, we’ll go our separate ways.”
Torran pulled the slate closer and tapped on the surface. The text changed and he slid it back to me. “These are the modifications I require.”
My clenched fists tightened. We desperately need this money. I had to keep reminding myself or I’d tell him exactly where he could shove his modifications.
I pulled the slate toward me and started reading. It was my standard contract, modified in a few places with some of the changes we’d discussed in the landing bay. The modifications were not unreasonable. I glanced at Torran, who sat staring at a second slate.
Without his eyes on me, he was handsome, in a harsh sort of way. His features benefited from the fine bone structure common to Valoffs, which kept his face on the attractive side of brutal. He looked like someone who could take a fist to the face without breaking stride.
Right now, I would very much like for someone to test that hypothesis.
I returned to the slate, modifying Torran’s changes until I was happy with the resulting contract. Before I slid it back to him, I had to ask, “Why did you start with the other contract if you already had this one ready?”
His gaze met mine and I fought the urge to look away. “If you had signed the first contract, you would’ve proven that you were the wrong person for the job.”
I scoffed. “No one would sign that contract.”
Torran’s mouth thinned. “You’d be surprised.”
It took us another thirty minutes to nail down the minutiae. But at the end, I had a signed contract, a promise of initial payment later today, and a start date of tomorrow morning. Torran had pushed for starting today, but I still had a few things to finish up before we left.
Tomorrow, we would head directly for Valovia with a single stop to pick up Lexi, if she could join us, which meant I had less than twenty-four hours to resign myself to the fact that I’d be hauling around a squad of Valoffs for the next two months.
Lucky me.
Chapter Three
We returned to the ship and Kee met us in the cargo bay, her eyes bright. “Lexi is in. She has to finish up a job and will meet us at the Bastion station.”
“Good.” Bastion was the last human system before Valovian space. We’d have to travel through it anyway, so it was a good place to meet. But I wondered why Lexi was so close to the border.
Kee clasped her hands in front of her and sent me a pleading look. “Now that we’re getting paid, can I order a new processing unit?”
“How much?” I asked.
“Forty thousand.”
I couldn’t quite suppress my wince. That would be almost a third of our initial payment, and I still had to pay Lexi and hire a mechanical engineer or two, at least temporarily. If we were heading into Valovian space, then I wanted to ensure that we would make it back out again, no matter what happened.
“It’s top-of-the-line,” Kee wheedled. “It usually goes for over twice that, but someone special ordered it and then ghosted, so my contact is willing to cut me a deal. It would be a huge upgrade for every system on the ship—including nav and defense.”
I moved the numbers around on my mental spreadsheet. I could make it work. It meant we wouldn’t have as much cushion as I would like, but we’d make do. We always did.
“Can you get it up and running by the time we pick up Lexi?” I asked.
Kee bounced on her toes, hope shining on her face. “Yes!”
“Then order it—after General Fletcher’s payment goes through.” Kee nodded and turned for the main part of the ship. I called after her, “And find me some mechanics who’d like a temporary job and can serve as muscle in a pinch!”
She gave me a thumbs-up over her shoulder as she disappeared through the hatch.
“You’re a softie,” Eli accused with a grin.
I laughed. “You try saying no to that face. I’ve been putting it off for years, and this is probably the only time we’ll have the spare capital. I hope you weren’t planning to retire soon.”
“Early retirement isn’t in my plans. You want me to help you screen the mechanics?”
“Would you rather do that or go back and get more supplies? We’re going to need more food. We’ll do a final stock up in Bastion, but we’ll need supplies to get there.”
Eli’s nose wrinkled as he thought. “Supplies,” he said at last. “Should I get anything special or just our usual?”
Valoffs could eat human food as easily as humans. It might not be their first choice taste-wise, but if they wanted something special, they’d have to provide it themselves. “The usual. And restock the medbay. Double up on bandages, medicine, and trauma kits. Wait for the payment to go through.”
Eli left to check the medbay’s current stock of supplies, leaving me alone in the cargo bay. I sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out. I felt like I was getting ready to go to war.
And perhaps I was.
I spent all afternoon interviewing mechanical engineers. A couple of them had been very promising, but they’d balked when I told them our destination. I rubbed my tired eyes. Taking a crew of four into enemy territory wasn’t my first choice.
“You Captain Zarola?” an unfamiliar voice asked.
I’d turned the cargo bay into my impromptu office. A woman stood at the base of the cargo ramp. She was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and curly black hair, cut short. She wore a green tank top, long black pants, and thick boots.
At my nod, she said, “I heard you’re looking for a MechE.”
“I am. It’s a temporary position and we’re heading into Valovian space. I’m looking for someone who can also fight if circumstances call for it.” Three interviews ago I’d decided to lead with the information most likely to terminate the interview. And all three candidates had thanked me and moved on.