“Less attention,” he said without looking up from his pad. I hadn’t asked him anything, but he must have guessed.
“She’s lovely.”
This got his attention. “The ship?”
I pointed at her. I couldn’t see Malice all that well anymore. Without the false light of the shuttle, space had grown dark again. That was when an obvious truth dawned on me. “I can’t see her all that well. She’s lit up inside. Why can’t I see her light?”
River gave me a half-smile. “Jordan will love that you asked that question. The light refracts off an outside barrier. Pure energy. It surrounds the ship at all times, unless we turn it off. I couldn’t have gotten off Malice if it had been on. We would have blown up. Hit it enough times, and it goes down. It has two principal functions. The first is the one you noticed—it keeps us dark. The second—extra line of protection.”
“Is that standard?” I really knew so little about space travel. If I was going to make this work, I was going to have to learn quickly. I wondered if I could ask to borrow a tablet and read up on some basic ship information.
He outright grinned. “No, Jordan invented it about a decade ago. He could make a fortune selling the tech to the highest bidder and probably will someday. For now, it’s just ours. I’ve never heard Malice described either as a she or as lovely. I like both of those words when it comes to our ship.”
River leaned back. “Nothing to do for a minute. They’ll get themselves set up, and then we’ll pounce forward if the Hansen vessel dumps cargo. You’d think by now they’d have better methods.”
“Or they’d hide a bomb in it and blow you up.” I opened and closed my mouth twice after I spoke those words. I didn’t even know where they came from, and I certainly didn’t want River to think that I was suggesting that he—or in this case—we might get blown to bits
His laugh shocked me. “You have a bit of a dark mind, don’t you? I love it. Don’t worry on that regard. We have a scanner. I don’t bring it inside until I’m certain it won’t hurt us.
That was good. “I’m not usually so twisted.”
“Well, we get to be who we really are in space. Eventually, the endless expanse of it all wipes away the bullshit. All the conditioning fades away until we hone it to truth. Maybe you’re the kind of person who plots things—like blowing up ships.”
Maybe I was, because I had another question. “What about people? Has anyone ever shoved a person in the box?”
“A person?” He swiveled around, his attention now fully on me and not the board. “Why would someone put a person in there?
I rubbed the back of my neck. “If I was on a ship and some people were coming who I didn’t want there, the most important thing to me would be the people I loved. I’d put them in the box. If it wouldn’t kill them.”
He raised both his eyebrows slowly. “I’m sure someone could rig boxes that people could live in for a period of time, maybe in stasis, inside. We aren’t interested in their people. If everyone behaves, the whole thing is painless. Also, the crews of these ships aren’t in love with each other. I’m not robbing mom and pop ships. That ship we’re going to board? It’s a crew paid to bring things back and forth. I suppose it’s possible that some people on there have formed a relationship.” He waved his hand in the air. “I’m losing track of this. I could see expelling a person, or persons, if it were a small family ship. In this case? They want us gone as fast as possible. They’ll hide cargo.”
That made sense. I kicked my leg gently against the console. “Bo and Jordan won’t talk about you. Not really. I asked them if you were somehow related to Sandler space, and they said I would have to ask you, or something like that.”
He nodded. “Long story very short, I am the youngest brother of Garrison Sandler.”
River pronounced that as though I was to know exactly who that was. “I’m not sure…”
“You don’t know him?” He twisted his chair until he spun in a circle. “That’s a first. Well… Hold on. Time for work.”
River pressed some buttons, and an infrared picture of Malice appeared in front of me. My father had one for security at our house or I wouldn’t have known what I looked at. Malice rushed in front of another ship, almost colliding with it. I must have gasped, although I was transfixed and hadn’t realized, because River put a gentle hand on my back.
“That’s on purpose. Bo is a good pilot. We’ve dealt with this company before. The trick is to not take too much. Other pirates don’t realize that. We never make ourselves enough of a problem that they come looking for us when we’re not looking for them. Pirates like Xavier, they always have such a high bounty on them that it’s worth it for every jackass around to hunt them down.” River winced. “I’m sorry for the language. Once, I knew better.” He pointed at the screen. “And there it goes.”
Sure enough, the ship in front of us expelled something from a rear hatch. A container drifted away from the ships. River tapped furiously on his tablet. “Anything I can help with?”
I didn’t particularly love sitting around with nothing to do.
“Nope. I’m scanning for explosives. Maybe a little extra carefully.” He winked at me. “Tell you what you can do? You’re good with your hands.” He cleared his throat and shook his head. “Um, right. So when this thing comes in, the claw on this shuttle will drag it on board. We’re fine. There’s a separate room that will depressurize then re-pressurize. See? Right through that door. Don’t open it.
I raised an eyebrow. I might be new to all of this, but I wasn’t an idiot. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Good.” He was looking at his tablet again. “When I give you the all clear, go in there and get it open.”
I stood. “How do I get it open?”
“Figure it out.” He lifted his head, and I could only think that there was a challenge in his gaze. His clear blue eyes seemed to be searching me for something…
One second, River was charming and sharing, the next he dared me to fail. Figure it out? “I see what you’re doing. I’ve had too many siblings to not. My older sister was queen at this. Thing is, I’m going to do it, I’m going to figure it out, and not because you’ve thrown down a gauntlet to see if I can manage. I can. This is for me. Not you.”
A ding sounded, which I took to mean the cargo was now inside. A second boom must be the door closing. I walked over to the door. “Safe to open now?”
“Sure is.” He swung around. “I don’t trust people. I have good reason not to. I want to know how smart you are, how much we’re going to have to do for you.”
“It doesn’t make me smart, River, or not smart to not know how to use this equipment. I would guess that if I sat you down on my farm, you’d have no idea how to do a lot of things there. This is petty on your part. And beneath you.”
I kept my head high. I didn’t really know if this was beneath him or not. But he was being an asshole, and I’d been raised not to use that word.
The cargo looked quite different than the one Bo had been banging to pieces on Malice. This was a shipping container that looked similar to the ones my father used to get when he received medical supplies for the farm. They were sealed tight to let no oxygen in. I actually knew how to open it. At home, we had a device that suctioned the lid off the darn things.
Bo’s machine came down from the ceiling, and although I could be really off on this one, I had to believe that the system would work similarly. Sure enough, on the ceiling was a lever that looked like it could suck the top right off the box. The question was how to get it down. I suspected there was a simpler maneuver to lower it from the ceiling of this shuttle than to climb up there and ride the thing down like I might a horse.
I swung around, doing a quick scan of the room. There it was. A control panel. He wanted to know how smart I was? His completely disrespectful question left me seething. I took a deep breath. I was strong and steady, that didn’t, however, mean that I couldn’t get myself into a good temper. First, I
was going to show myself I could handle this, and then I was going to shove the lever straight where the sun didn’t shine, to quote my father. He called it an old Earth expression. Some things, particularly anger, could span time and space.
I pulled open the panel and rolled my eyes. They’d labeled the damn thing. I didn’t even have to think about it. I chose the right one. It came down, and with another flick of the same button the machine took over the process. Soon, the box was open.
River leaned on the door watching. When the lid was off, he met me by the container to stare down at their new find. He examined the contents, a slight smile taking over his otherwise serious face. “It’s gems. Uncut. If we open them up, this is going to be a killing.”
“I’m so happy for you.” I passed behind him to head into the cockpit of the shuttle. “You’ll bring me back to the ship as soon as they’re done, yes?”
He turned to regard me. “I’m hard on people. I get it. My way isn’t for everyone. But we’re a family. I have to know if you can think your way through a problem. You obviously can. Feel free to challenge me anytime.”
I laughed, the sound was hard and very un-me. Maybe I’d had enough for the time being. “Don’t pretend that your so-called challenge wasn’t anything more than you feeling threatened because I dared to suggest that the box might explode. Or that someone could be in it. You don’t like being questioned, River. I get that, now. You’re right. We have to get to know each other. I just learned a ton about you.
Back stiff, I reclaimed my chair. I wasn’t wrong, but I was also stuck on this shuttle with him and didn’t know how he’d respond to my anger. Granted, he’d helped save me. But a smarter woman might have remembered he could easily put me in the room that decompressed and send me out to space to die in a horrible way.
River returned to the pilot’s chair. He hit some buttons, and we altered course back toward Malice. Although he wasn’t speaking to me, I at least got over the idea that he might kill me for not taking his attitude.
After we docked on Malice, he opened the doors. River remained entirely quiet. I could have kicked myself. I really liked Jordan and Bo, could even see myself with time coming to love them. I’d never expected that. Couldn’t I have just—I didn’t know—dealt with River a different way? They were a package deal. If River wanted me gone, and after this I was sure he would, then that was what would happen.
I had to find out about this place where they offered to drop me off and what my options were. I rubbed my eyes. It was really too bad. I had loved snuggling with Bo—getting to know him in the process. I had craved his kisses. Jordan made my heart flutter and my imagination soar with his words and his kindness. I could listen to him forever. And, before he’d turned sour, I’d wanted to make River smile.
A knock sounded on my door, rousing me from sleep. What now? After I’d left the shuttle, I had walked straight to my room and lay down in my bed. It was early and I’d skipped dinner. Only sleep was going to restore my equilibrium at this point.
I rubbed at my eyes on my way to the door. Coldness shot up from my bare feet all the way up my spine. I needed to make a mental note that the floors on Malice were chilly.
I opened the door. Shock, followed immediately by dread, settled in my stomach. River waited. Was this where he told me I was gone?
A million thoughts raced through my mind, the things I’d been wondering until I’d fallen asleep. Had he just brought up the consent thing as a means to get rid of me when his friends had wanted to try? Were they all playing with me? What did a person with nowhere to go and nothing to do end up having in their life? Would I ever have a family that actually loved me?
“Hi.” River ran a hand through his brownish-blondish hair.
I nodded. “Hello.”
He shifted his weight slightly. “Are you okay?”
“Sure, I was sleeping. Did you need something?”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Oh, I’m sorry to wake you. I, um, I owe you a really big apology.”
Well, I hadn’t expected that. “River, look…”
He shook his head. “Please let me give it. I’m so used to being at war with everyone. I have been since I was born. There were eight of us, all boys. My brother Garrison, he’s a maniac, trying to conquer the universe. After our brother Quinn died, he started throwing us out. I knew I’d have to make my way on my own. I always understood that. My brothers told me I was a burden and treated me as such. My mom and dad couldn’t have cared less. He kicked me out when I was eighteen. Took me two years to get here, and I only thought about the Dark Planets because all my other brothers had found their way to this sector. I’ve still never run into any of them.”
“That’s an interesting story, I’m not sure why it made you test me like that or be so rude.” I was interested in his background, but if he expected me to use it as some sort of explanation for what had happened. He was going to have to be more explicitly clear.
He was silent for several moments. “Good things don’t happen to me. They just don’t. I have to push and push. Even getting Jordan and Bo together with me to live this very unusual life took maneuvering. I’m having a hard time not believing you’re going to murder us in our beds.”
He couldn’t have surprised me more if he’d sprouted wings and taken to the sky. “River, I’m just a girl with the good luck to have been rescued by you. I’m not going to murder you in your sleep. If anything, I was concerned today you were going to put me out the airlock.
“I’m not a nice man. I make huge mistakes. I break the law every day. If they caught me and dragged me off to earth, they’d kill me. But I’d never hurt a woman. You’re safe with me. And, by the way, you were totally right. I don’t like to be questioned. It makes me feel… threatened. I had a hard time with Bo and Jordan at first, too. Now, it’s second nature. Forgive me. It won’t happen again.”
A piece of his hair fell over his left eye. He pleaded with me, his blue-eyed gaze begging me to forgive him. I could make him suffer, but I didn’t want to. I wanted peace and the chance to see if all of us might have a future together.
“I beat your test.
He grinned. “You really did. It didn’t even take you any time either. And I’d be lost on a farm. You’d have to save me.”
I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. “Okay, I forgive you.”
“Thank you, Priscilla.”
With our fingers joined, he tugged me to him for a hug. He was awkward at the motion, and his hands didn’t seem to know where to go on my back for the embrace. Still, we stood there together just breathing.
“Did you eat?”
“I didn’t. But I’m not hungry.”
He pulled back to look at me. “You never eat. You skip meals. That’s not healthy.
I stepped a bit away. “Do I look like I’m starving to you?
River furrowed his brow. “You look beautiful. I’m not sure what else you mean.”
Okay—River was definitely worth the effort.
5
Heated Days
The next week was the happiest of my life. I didn’t have a lot of joyful memories to draw upon, but I knew if I ever had to find a blissful time to remember, it would be my first week on Malice. It was funny to know how I would remember something even as I experienced it. A surrealness to it all.
The first thing that happened was that Bo finally got his container open. An alarm sounded all over the ship, and I stopped what I was working on in the laundry room to go see what was happening. Were they—we—taking on another ship?
Instead, I found all three guys standing over the container. Bo had a hand over his forehead when I arrived. “All okay?”
Jordan extended his hand, and I took it. He tugged me to him. River watched us, his gaze following my hand in Jordan’s then the tug into an embrace. I couldn’t read him all that well, but he didn’t look upset, more like… interested, as though the easy interaction fascinated him more than anything else.
“
Yes,” Jordan answered my earlier question. “We’re just a little overwhelmed by what we found.”
I looked down in the opened bin. “What is the big deal?” As far as I could tell, it was a bunch of tablets. Everyone had one, even my parents on their farm. Procuring a tablet wasn’t that big of a problem.
River bent over. “It’s not what they are”—he picked up a tablet—“it’s what they have on them. They’re password protected, but that’s no problem for our Bo.”
Bo held up one in his hand. “They are meant for their legions of people who think they run things in the Dark Planets. It basically has their plans for the next three years. We’re going to make a killing. And even more so, it looks like they might be mining two planets past the protocol, so they’ll be officially stripped.”
“No wonder they shot this out the back.” It would be a disaster for someone to have this for whatever company this is. Or, I guessed in our case, it was a good thing they had. I was really having a hard time with pirating. What was a downside for the rest of the world benefited us. I’d get it, eventually.
Maybe.
With that behind them, the guys set out to reach the planet—where I was to make my choice about whether I wanted to stay or leave. They’d decide the same thing. Two weeks to go, and it felt like a lot longer time than it actually was.
Jordan liked to play games. He pulled out a card game I’d never heard of before and slowly set about to teach it to me.
“Do you play cards a lot?”
Jordan sat across from me in the kitchen area on the newly balanced table. If the guys were noticing the slight improvements to things, they weren’t telling me. I didn’t care. I felt much better about my living space. They’d been happy with their furniture slanted for years. I guessed it didn’t matter to them.
“Used to.” Jordan smiled at me as he leaned back in his chair. “When we first got together, we used to try to fill the nights. Now, we don’t. But I want to, with you. Do things. Remember that life is fun. You make me… hopeful.”