Pirate's Fortune Page 3

  “She’s a fighter.”

  “As is her daughter.” Kellen touched the screen with a gentle hand, caressing the outline of Rae’s jaw. “You look tired.”

  “I do?” Rae pushed her fingers through her short, fiery red hair again. “I have something slightly unorthodox going on, and if my plan backfires, heads will roll. Probably mine.”

  “What?” Alarmed, Kellen zoomed in Rae’s picture on the communicator screen.

  “Figure of speech, darling, but the piracy situation is setting us back so much, something needed to be done.”

  “I see.” Worried at the look of apprehension on Rae’s face, which she surmised stemmed from fatigue rather than doubt, Kellen adopted a matter-of-fact tone. “Don’t second-guess yourself, Rae. You worked long and hard on this plan, and even if the approach is unusual, it’s still by the book.” Rae was a stickler for doing things the right way. “Remember, you always tell me that you can get away with breaking big rules, if you make sure your poultry are aligned when it comes to the minor things.”

  “Poultry?” Rae looked dumbfounded. “Oh. You mean ducks. Ducks in a row.”

  “As I said.” Kellen knew the saying, but Rae loved the humor her getting it wrong brought to their conversation.

  “I suppose you’re right, darling.” Rae blew Kellen a kiss. “You very often are.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t sound so surprised,” Kellen said, smiling.

  “Ha. I wish. It’s more a rule than an exception. Speaking of ruling, how are Reena and Ayahliss?”

  “Amereena has buried herself in the Gantharian legal texts, which is a lot, and Ayahliss is focusing on her gan’thet training. She’s making progress when it comes to technique, but she’s still hotheaded and hell-bent on vengeance.”

  “Not good. She needs to control herself or she’ll end up killing innocents. Perhaps it was a mistake to bring her.”

  “I don’t think so.” Kellen shook her head. “It was better for her to be with us so I can supervise her training, rather than have her run away and join a pirate ship in order to return.” Ayahliss, the orphaned young woman Kellen had come across when liberating Gantharian prisoners, was a strange mix of street-smart resistance fighter, scholar, and martial arts expert. Only Protectors of the Realm, assigned to guard the Gantharian royal family, were trained in the lethal art of gan’thet, but Ayahliss had learned from monks in a secret retreat during the occupation. She had not, unfortunately, learned the equally important self-restraint that having such skills required. Ayahliss was fiercely loyal to her home world and hated the Onotharians more than anything.

  “And the vibes we picked up on between her and Reena?”

  “They’re doing their best to act casual around each other, but the only ones they’re fooling are each other.” Kellen smiled. Judge Amereena Beqq was twice as old as the twenty-four-year-old Ayahliss, but obviously the intense young woman mesmerized her. “I don’t know what will happen between them, if anything.”

  “I don’t mean to gossip, Kellen, but their unresolved emotions could become a security risk.”

  “Yes. I’ve thought of that also.” Kellen had tried to talk to Ayahliss about Reena Beqq, and in polite but firm terms, Ayahliss had asked Kellen to stay out of her private life and at the same time assured her that Amereena was not interested in her that way. When Kellen tried to determine what Ayahliss meant by “that way,” Ayahliss ended the conversation and stalked off. After that, Kellen had merely observed them.

  “I miss you,” Rae said. “I wish I could go with you.”

  “I—I dream about you every night.” Kellen sighed. “It makes it very painful to wake up alone, without you.”

  “It sure does.” Rae smiled wistfully. “Same time tomorrow, darling?”

  “Yes, henshes.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Kellen felt a stab of pain in her abdomen when the fleet’s logo replaced Rae’s elegant features. She resisted the urge to open another communication channel to keep Rae there a little longer. They both needed whatever sleep they could manage. Kellen scowled at the bed beneath the viewport. It looked uninviting, cold, and empty.

  *

  The Ruby Red leather suit, a present from Kellen when Ayahliss had mastered her gan’thet skills to a degree that she deserved the traditional Protector combat garment, fit her lean yet muscular body. Ayahliss fought an invisible adversary as she whirled her gan’thet rods around her in the ancient, intricate patterns that she’d practiced so many times that she could do them any hour of the day, even if she was roused in the middle of the night.

  She slowed to a deceptively immobile stance, one leg stretched out at a forty-five-degree angle, both arms in defensive positions, holding the rods loosely. A faint sound from the door made her grip the rods tight and whirl through the air while defying gravity. She halted a mere centimeter from the person who’d had the audacity to disturb her session. With the rods crossed before her, the ends surrounding Supreme Court Judge Amereena Beqq’s leonine neck, ready to snap it with a mere twist of her wrists, Ayahliss inhaled deeply and took a step back.

  “This was unwise of you, Reena,” Ayahliss said through clenched teeth. “I was in the zone. I could’ve killed you.”

  “That would’ve been unfortunate.” Reena looked calm on the surface, but Ayahliss, who took pride in finding out what every tiny little shift in Reena’s expression meant, knew she had more than startled her.

  “I’m sorry. I should’ve realized that nobody aboard the Circinus is my enemy.” Ayahliss knew she spoke stiffly, but her words were sincere. She idolized the Supreme Constellations citizens who had accepted her and given her a home. In turn, she relied on their judgment when it came to their faith in the SC Fleet and Military Forces. Ayahliss was grateful that the SC had taken on the Onotharian Empire after all the atrocities the Onotharians had committed against Gantharat and its people.

  “Apology accepted. I just came by to ask if you would be interested in helping me with some translations. I can read most of the modern Gantharian language, but the old dialects are frustrating. Some words sound like a completely different language, not even related to what your language sounds like today.”

  “Like the difference between Premoni and your native tongue?”

  “Yes. Were you surprised when you found out how many different languages exist within the SC?” Reena smiled.

  “I was surprised to find that Earth alone had so many different ones.” Ayahliss decided that she was done for tonight and stowed her rods in their special casing. She hardly dared admit to herself that she wanted to walk Reena to her quarters. “And yes, of course I’ll help you with the translations.”

  “Thank you.” Reena suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Well, I should go to bed. I mean, to my quarters.”

  “May I escort you, Reena?” Ayahliss expected Reena to turn down her offer. Reena had been kind and understanding during the times she took care of Ayahliss and Armeo when Rae and Kellen were on a mission, but afterward, something had changed between them.

  “Absolutely.” Reena smiled broadly, but still seemed ill at ease.

  Ayahliss wished she could say something to elicit the tenderness Reena had showed her before. She had spent countless hours awake during their voyage trying to figure out exactly what had altered things between them. Short of asking Reena, which seemed like the definitive humiliation, one she couldn’t abide, Ayahliss felt completely lost.

  Reena walked briskly through the Circinus’s corridors and didn’t seem open to conversation. Desperate to receive at least a few personal words, Ayahliss ventured into the private sphere. “May I talk to you about something?”

  “Oh. Certainly.” Reena’s smile turned decidedly nervous, which puzzled and intrigued Ayahliss.

  “Kellen doesn’t believe I’m ready for this assignment. She doesn’t trust my ability to harness my feelings and use them in my combat skills.”

  “Is she right?”

 
“Perhaps a little. But I’ve changed. I’ve meditated every day and practiced the techniques for entering the state of bliss that the gan’thet masters must conquer.”

  “You seemed to be in control when you didn’t snap my neck off just now.” Reena had relaxed again and now jokingly elbowed Ayahliss. “Once you might not have been able to stop yourself, especially if you were upset or excited.”

  “This was training, not combat. In a combat situation, I may not have the strength to…well, I guess, pull back.”

  They reached Reena’s quarters and she stopped in front of them, scrutinizing Ayahliss. As usual, her blood-red hair hung in wild curls down her back, her black judge’s cape emphasizing it. “Kellen isn’t the one who really doubts you.”

  “No?” Had Reena heard someone among the crew express concern regarding her? Plenty of them were probably wary of her talents and her intensity.

  “No. You are your worst critic. And that’s not bad, unless it keeps you from evolving and growing both as a person and as a martial arts master.”

  “Oh.” Warmth, unexpected and curious, filled Ayahliss’s chest and spread through her system. “Do you ever doubt me?” she asked before realizing what she meant to say. Groaning inwardly, she wanted to take the pathetic words back.

  “No. I have faith in your intentions and also in Kellen’s ability to teach as well as to reel you in, if you get ahead of yourself.” Reena studied her, but her amber eyes didn’t reveal anything. “But I worry about you.”

  “Worry?” Ayahliss was surprised. “How?”

  “You’re brave, and you wouldn’t hesitate to place yourself in a harmful situation to reach your objective. Kellen is the same way, if a bit more polished, but you warriors…you’re far too willing to sacrifice yourself during a conflict.”

  Feeling criticized, Ayahliss clasped her hands. “And you officers of the court believe in negotiations and diplomacy. That tactic has not gotten the people of Gantharat anywhere in the last twenty-six years!”

  Reena’s eyes changed from a warm, golden glow to a fiery stare. “Is that how you talk to Dahlia, who could’ve ended up in the hands of Onotharian agents? She would’ve died at their hands before she succumbed and revealed anything.”

  Pain, sharp and all too familiar by now, made Ayahliss step back. She had struggled with this memory ever since kidnappers had snatched Dahlia, a woman she idolized and whose poise she secretly tried to emulate, right before her eyes. The fact that Kellen and Rae had rescued Dahlia and that she had nearly recovered completely was of no consequence.

  “You don’t have to remind me whose fault it was,” Ayahliss managed to say with rigid lips.

  “Fault? What are you talking about?”

  “I failed Dahlia. The Jacelons have kindly forgiven me, but that doesn’t change the facts.”

  “You nearly died trying to save her!” Reena looked appalled instead of angry now. “Ayahliss, please. Don’t.” She gripped Ayahliss’s shoulders gently, but firmly.

  The touch scorched through the gan’thet suit. Part of Ayahliss wanted to give in to the comfort Reena was offering, but her own conflicted emotions forbade it. She stepped back again. “You’re right. I spoke without thinking. It’s late. I hope you have a good night’s sleep.”

  Ayahliss didn’t wait for Reena’s reply, simply because she knew how close she had come to throwing herself into the other woman’s arms. Reena was stunning and embodied everything Ayahliss admired, but something else lay between them, something Ayahliss didn’t fully understand. Her sheltered upbringing hadn’t prepared her for social situations and normal family relationships. Dahlia Jacelon had taught her a lot, but nothing of the contradictory emotions that threatened to overpower her when she was around Amereena Beqq.

  “Ayahliss, please?” Reena called out.

  Ayahliss nearly stopped and turned around, but forced herself to keep walking toward her quarters, located at the other end of the corridor. She slammed her hand against the sensor next to the door, waiting impatiently for the nanosecond it took to verify her biosignature. Inside, she threw the casing with her gan’thet rod on a chair and sank down on her bed.

  Hugging herself, she failed to hold back her bitter blue tears, their color indicative of her species. She hated crying, loathed the futility of wasting tears rather than taking action, but right now she couldn’t do anything else.

  Chapter Four

  Weiss had spent her life after the age of ten on one pirate vessel or another, with one exception: When she was thirteen, she stayed temporarily on an intergalactic space station outside SC territory for three months while the ship she usually resided on was being repaired in a space dock. Weiss managed to persuade her guardian to allow her to attend school on the space station, which old Gaskian grumpily agreed to, after making it clear that he viewed it as a waste of time.

  Weiss kept to herself the first couple of days, but on the third day, a girl her age, Toloma, approached her, offering to show her around. Toloma, born and raised on the station, knew every corridor and, more useful than that, every hiding place. They bonded at every level, both space brats, and even if Toloma lived permanently on a station, neither of them had set foot on a planet other than very briefly.

  “One day I’ll have my own ship and be in charge,” Weiss had told Toloma when they hid in their favorite spot in the cargo area. From their vantage point, they could see the bottom of all the moored ships and keep track of all the vessels coming and going. Surrounded by stars and the vastness of space, Weiss loved the impressive view. Even the most beat-up ship looked majestic when it approached the space station, and it wasn’t hard to picture herself as captain.

  “Can I come with you then?” Toloma asked eagerly. “I’ve never been anywhere, and we could be explorers.”

  “Sure.” Weiss regarded her with affection. She had never had a female friend her own age, and Toloma was the cutest girl she’d ever seen. Petite, with rosy cheeks and black curls falling down her back, she looked like a princess Weiss had once seen in a vid-storybook. Toloma was seasoned yet shy, used to fending off tough pirates aboard the station, but also with a very strict father who was the co-owner and manager. “You and I could take turns being captain,” Weiss said generously. “I’m strong, and you’re smart, and between us, we’d be unbeatable.”

  “Oh, Weiss, you’re the best.” Toloma hugged her. “I don’t want you to ever leave. I’ve never had a friend like you.”

  Weiss sighed, returning the fierce embrace. “I know. I hate the thought. But listen,” she said, pushing Toloma away, “I’ll come back. I promise. Once I’ve found my mother, I’ll tell her we must return here so you and I can keep going to school together.”

  “What if you don’t find her?”

  “Don’t say that!” Weiss sat up, her heart pounding. Her one overshadowing goal was to be reunited with her mother. Nothing in her life would ever be right until that happened. “I will find her. She’s looking for me, and I’m looking for her. It’s just a matter of time.” Breathing hard and fast, she stared at Toloma.

  “Oh, Weiss, you’ll find her. I know you will.” Tears clogged Toloma’s voice and she clung to Weiss’s hands. “And I know you’ll come back.”

  “I promise. One day soon. You’ll see.”

  *

  Weiss jerked awake in the dark. Her erratic breathing drowning out the low hum of the Salaceos’s propulsion system, she fought the emotional onslaught of her dream. It had been so vivid, like a true caption of the months she’d spent on the space station all those years ago. She hadn’t allowed herself to think of trusting, sweet Toloma in a long time.

  “Weiss? What’s wrong?” Madisyn sat up in her bed.

  “Nothing.” Annoyed that a damn robot witnessed her moment of weakness, Weiss stood and walked toward the bathroom. “I should say ‘go back to sleep,’ but that’s redundant.”

  “Not really.” Madisyn shifted in her bed. “Lights on, twenty-percent luminosity.”

  Escapi
ng the revealing light, Weiss rinsed her face in the bathroom, wondering why she felt so self-conscious and defensive around Madisyn. Granted, this android enjoyed sentience status, but as far as she was concerned she was artificial, a glorified robot. Weiss glowered at her own reflection in the mirror. She was pale and her eyes a darker green than normal. Recognizing the storm clouds gathering in her mind, she focused on her breathing and stretched her arms. She was her own worst enemy if she let her temper rule unchallenged. She exhaled slowly, finally, and exited the bathroom.

  “Better?” Madisyn sat ramrod straight, her transparent, light blue eyes following Weiss as she crossed the floor.

  “I told you I’m fine.” Content that she sounded matter-of-fact, Weiss glanced at the chronometer. They didn’t have to get ready for their upcoming mission for several hours. After eight days aboard the Salaceos, it was time for Weiss to prove herself to Podmer, as well as to Madisyn. Perhaps that’s why she was so on edge?

  “Yes, you did. It’s up to me to judge if I believe you.”

  “You’re not my babysitter.” Weiss’s annoyance surfaced again. Madisyn’s creator was obviously a genius, having created a BSLF that mimicked human behavior with such aplomb. Weiss had read up on the criteria for sentience status and knew that Madisyn had to pass rigorous tests regarding ethics, morals, empathy, and different levels of compassion.

  “No, that would suggest that you’re a child, which you’re obviously not.” Madisyn managed to sound sarcastic, as if she thought Weiss was acting like a child anyway.

  “We should go back to…hmm, sleep, or whatever you call your resting process.”

  “Why don’t we clear the air while we have time? That might be worthwhile.” Madisyn pulled her legs up, crosswise, underneath her. She looked like a girl rather than a no-particular-age android.

  “That’s not very wise, considering where we are. Who knows who might be listening in?”

  “Ah, but I’ve taken care of that.” Madisyn gestured around the room. “When I first started working for Podmer, I made sure I could have my privacy here whenever I needed it.”