Myself, I know hunting for a fabled ship like the Buoyant Star is likely going to end up in failure. The stories passed around cantinas could be all wrong. Maybe it's not filled with riches. Maybe it wasn't abandoned on the edges of space. Maybe it wasn't called the Buoyant Star at all, and it was just a merchant vessel that showed up on station on time, offloaded her cargo, and the stories just grew because people get bored in deep space.
But…it's something to do. I've struggled ever since Zoey left our crew to go mate with Sentorr of the Jabberwock. I know she's ridiculously keffing happy and I want that for her, but…I miss having my mouthy little sister around. Feels like there's a hole in the crew and it's sucked all the joy in piracy right out of my system. I suspect it's the same for Kaspar and Mathiras. We're all looking for something to excite us again. The Buoyant Star—for all that it could be a wild chase leading nowhere—is our distraction for now.
I sigh, looking over at the mirror above the sink. If Zo were here, I'd write a stupid message in the mirror for her to find when she takes a shower. Usually I'd leave something like "Your feet smell" or "I stole your snacks" just to make her laugh. There's no one to write a message for anymore, and I feel stupidly empty. It's not the same without Zoey on board.
I miss her. I'm almost as miserable as I was back when I discovered the truth about the female I thought I loved. Shaalyn. I hope her new mate gave her a communicable disease. I hope they're both riddled with sores. Great, big, gross ones.
And then I check my junk, just to make sure the universe isn't going to punish me for wishing something like that on someone else. All's clear, though. I give my cock one last jiggle under the water and then turn the shower off.
The moment I start to towel off, the bridge clicks on over the comm. "Uh, hey…Mathiras?" It's Kaspar.
Mathiras chimes back from the engine room. "What?"
"Did you run into anyone we should know about back on V'tarr Station?"
A pause. "No, why?"
Kaspar sounds tense. "Because we're being approached by another corsair vessel…and I'm pretty sure this one is from Homeworld."
"Homeworld?!" Mathiras sounds puzzled. "What the kef are they doing out here in the Slatra system?"
"Great question. You should also be asking why they're hailing us and demanding we surrender."
"Surrender? I'm coming to the bridge."
Uh oh. I haul the towel around my hips and hit the intercom. "Hey…so uh, you guys will never guess what I heard back on the cantina."
"What?"
I'm not sure which brother it is, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. I click over again. "I might know who that ship belongs to…"
"Get your ass in here, Adiron," Mathiras snaps. "Bridge. Now."
"On my way," I say cheerfully. I mean, if we die, I should go out with a smile. I'd make an ugly corpse with my face all snarled up. I tie the towel around my waist even tighter, then run a comb through my hair. Again, an ugly corpse is not how I want to be remembered. Zoey would be totally pissed to see me looking like shit at my own funeral.
Zoey.
I stare at the fogged mirror, think for a moment, and then soap up the tip of my finger and use it to write a message.
Lord Straik sa'Rin.
There. Even if we don't make it back to mesakkah-space and the Little Sister does, Zoey will know whose ass to kick.
3
ADIRON
"You…forgot." Mathiras's voice is flat. He scowls at me, his hands behind his head as we march through the ship-to-ship hatch over to the enemy vessel. "Are you keffing serious, Adiron?"
I shrug—not an easy task given that my hands are behind my head, too. "There was a lot going on."
"You forgot," he echoes, disgust in his voice. "Well that's just great."
It's not like I've had a moment to think straight since we left the cantina. First there was the bar fight, and then I had to pull Kaspar off of a particularly ugly szzt fellow who looked as if he wanted to remove Kaspar's head from his body. Which…I've been there. Anyone that's met Kaspar has wanted to choke him at least once or twice. But Kaspar's my brother and I've always got his back, so I waded into the fight instead of slipping away and got doused with a dozen drinks. I'm pretty sure I soaked up some of the alcohol through my skin, because by the time we raced back to the Little Sister, I was feeling good and loose. And then we had to race the ship out of V'tarrian airspace, and then there was my shower and then we got hailed by Lord Straik sa'Rin. Since they'd caught us by surprise, there was no time to escape.