Rogue Mate, page 8
part #1 of Rogue Star Series
Dead-end job at a dead-end station, or a ride home that had too high a chance of killing you. Somehow, a life of adventure in the stars held a bit more appeal. The murmurs of wanting to go back died down.
“We don’t need to take another job right away,” Aavat argued, again.
“We shouldn’t go too long without income,” Dejar replied, again. This had been going on for the entire morning.
“We could coast for weeks off the profits we’ve made so far,” Aavat snapped. “I say the crew has earned a break. What do you think, Kalyn?”
“I think you should take a few more jobs before slowing down,” I told him, running through the numbers that I’d almost, almost started to get a handle on understanding. “You never know when the next emergency will come along and financially drain us.”
“I think it worked out well last time,” Dejar grinned at me, setting off another round of fireworks in my chest.
“If you’re both going to be practical about it, I don’t see why you need my input.” Aavat rolled his eyes.
“To make you feel useful, of course,” Dejar quipped.
Aavat smirked and shoved Dejar’s shoulder.
“Pick an interesting job this time,” Aavat said. “Any illegal arms dealers hiring?”
“If they were, I don’t think they’d be posting job offers on the main channels,” Dejar replied.
“Maybe not,” Aavat allowed. “At least pick something better than the iron delivery to Pax. That was the most boring week of my life.”
Pax was a tiny planet in the middle of empty space. It was covered in warehouses and factories that manufactured construction tools. From what I gathered, it was the dullest place in Dominion space.
The women and I had stayed hidden the entire week we were there, since workers from the factories came to inspect and unload each bit of metal.
“It was pretty awful,” I agreed.
Dejar looked at me in amusement.
“You’ve just learned there are whole systems you didn’t know existed and you’re already bored?” he laughed.
“I’m not bored with the systems,” I replied. “I’m simply agreeing with Aavat that Pax was a boring job.”
“As any being with a lick of sense would,” Aavat nodded.
“Oh, I see.” Dejar leaned forward on his desk, closer to me. “You’ve committed a minor smuggling job, now you’re hungry for more adventure.”
“I consider myself a proper swashbuckler now,” I preened. “My standards are much higher.”
“A what?” Aavat snorted. He tapped his translator unit. “I’m just hearing nonsense noises.”
“I think it’s a human word for criminal,” Dejar replied.
“A criminal with class and charisma,” I corrected.
“I think the term suits you.” Dejar’s smile brought a blush to my cheeks. I looked away, overcome with sudden shyness.
Aavat looked from Dejar to me and back again. With a sigh of feigned annoyance, he stood up from his seat.
“I’ll leave you to…whatever it is that you two are doing,” he said as he walked out of the room.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dejar called after him.
“Figure it out.” Aavat let the door fall shut behind him.
“What did he mean by that?” I wondered.
“Who knows with him.” Dejar’s laugh sounded forced.
We sat in silence for a few moments. Dejar pretended to look at the delivery contracts on his desk. I examined my fingernails with exacting scrutiny.
“Anyway-”
“I want to-”
We laughed awkwardly. I felt my cheeks flush again.
What was it about Dejar that made me blush whenever I was around him? Now that I’d become accustomed to his metallic gold skin and his abundance of tattoos, it wasn’t that different from talking to a human.
A man.
Dejar was the first male I’d ever gotten to know. I’d even call him my friend.
And maybe...
“You go first,” I insisted.
“It’s nice having you here.” Dejar’s words caught me off guard. “A voice of reason, that even Aavat listens to. Sometimes.”
“Thanks for not leaving us to die in space,” I laughed dryly.
He watched me with a smile on his face, but it was different from his usual, easy smile. This one was soft and made my stomach do a funny flip. I opened my mouth to speak but couldn’t find any words.
His eyes flickered to my lips for the briefest of moments before meeting my gaze once more.
For a moment, I thought about touching him, sliding my hand down the strong planes of his face, learning--
The console on his desk beeped, breaking the spell.
“Looks like another job.” He turned his attention to the console.
I felt like I’d been splashed with cold water.
“A good one?” I asked, just because I felt like I needed to say something.
“A lucrative one,” he replied. I leaned closer to him to look at the screen. Our shoulders touched, his skin radiating warmth. I was gripped with the urge to touch his arm. Of all the times I’d touched his hand, I didn’t know what his skin felt like anywhere else. Was it smooth? Slightly scaled, like I suspected?
His words pulled me back to reality. “Doesn’t give many details, though.”
“I think Aavat would consider that exciting, don’t you think?” I chuckled.
“It’s probably something illegal or morally questionable, so I’m sure he’ll like it. I’ll accept the contract.”
Dejar hit a few keys on the console. The moment he accepted the offer, a chill ran down my spine and I shivered.
“Still cold?” Dejar asked.
My only complaint about living on the Rogue Star was how cold it always was, but I hadn’t shivered because of that.
“No,” I replied. “I just had a strange feeling. I’m sure it was nothing.”
“Humans are strange.” Dejar laughed and shook his head. “Looks like the pickup point is only a few hours from where we are now. I’ll go tell Qal to adjust our course.”
“I’ll go tell the women there’s more work coming their way.” Together, we left the office and parted in the hallway.
The other women were excited about the new job. Even if they didn’t directly help with the delivery, I knew they felt better when the ship was turning a profit.
We all did. It was a certain security in what had become our strange new life.
I stood on the bridge with Dejar, Aavat, and Kovor when we arrived at the designated location. The coordinates provided didn’t match up with any planet in the system, so Dejar assumed we were going to a drifting space station.
Instead, there was just a single ship, three times the size of the Rogue Star, but it looked as if it was made from three smaller ships strapped together.
“Is this a normal occurrence?” I asked Dejar.
“Occasionally, a single ship will hire a delivery vessel for time-sensitive deliveries off their current course,” Dejar explained. “However, nothing in the offer said anything about time sensitivity and those kinds of deliveries are usually placed by a company.”
“Is this ship not part of a company?” I asked.
“If I had to guess, I’d say this vessel was built from commandeered ships,” Aavat commented.
“They could’ve been salvaged from a scrapyard,” Kovor suggested.
“It looks too nice to be scrap,” Dejar said.
“Odd,” I murmured.
“What are the chances that this is a trap and we are about to be commandeered?” Kovor asked.
“I’d say fifty-fifty,” Aavat shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it, boss. I’ve been yearning for a good fight.”
“Strangely enough, that doesn’t make me feel better,” Kovor snorted. “If we are commandeered, any expenses for repairs are coming out of your pay.”
“Noted,” Aavat chuckled.
Despite the lightness in their voices, I was nervous. There was a feeling in my gut screaming for me to abandon this job, but it wasn’t my call.
Dejar and the crew were only taking these jobs to pay for the burden of supporting me and the other women from Persephone, so I tried to ignore the feeling.
When the Rogue Star was properly aligned with the other ship, a docking passage extended, connecting the two at a smaller loading bay. Dejar flicked the cameras for me to watch from the safety of the bridge while the three of them went to meet our new clients.
After an interminable wait, the airlock doors opened, and two orange-skinned aliens appeared, one of them holding a large crate.
“Welcome aboard. We’re delighted to assist you.” Kovor offered a friendly gesture. They ignored it.
“Delivery?” the one holding the crate grunted.
“Yes,” Dejar said slowly.
“Delivery.” the alien grunted again. He thrust the crate forward.
“Allow me,” Aavat offered, barely disguising his annoyance. He took the crate from the client. The crate shifted lightly in his hands. “I expected this to be heavier.”
The client said nothing. The other one turned to Dejar and handed him a small stack of documents. The pair disembarked, and the doors slid shut behind them.
“That was…efficient,” I said through the ship’s comms.
Dejar looked through the papers. “Everything’s in order,” he replied. “That’s a nice change, at least.”
“I want to know what’s in the crate,” Aavat said. “It weighs nothing.”
“Not so fast,” Dejar warned. “There’s a confidentiality order in here, and another one of those bio-locks. We can’t look.”
“Who’s going to know?” Aavat asked.
“We must maintain our professional standards,” Kovor insisted. “Especially if we’re taking a wider range of contacts, our clients have to know they can trust us.”
It made sense, but Aavat rolled his eyes before handing the crate off to be stored in the cargo bay.
Honestly, I wanted to see what was in the crate as much as Aavat did.
I told myself it was nothing, but the twisted feeling in my gut remained.
Dejar
Kalyn didn’t feel good about our latest pickup, and I was forced to admit that I wasn’t terribly happy with it, either.
Everything about it worried me.
However, the pay was worth it, and right now, we couldn’t afford to be picky.
When we had left the pickup point, there was nothing on our scanners, and that was the only thing that made me feel better.
With no Dominion ships in the region, our only concerns were arriving on time and avoiding pirates, and most of the pirates already knew better.
Aavat’s temper was a hassle, but occasionally useful.
Just a smooth, easy trip, deliver the troublesome package, and maybe it was time for that break.
“We’re being followed, sir.” Qal rushed onto the bridge, out of breath, teeth bared.
We checked our instruments, but nothing registered.
I gave him a stern look. “This is not the time for one of your jokes, Qal. We…”
“And this wouldn’t be one of them, sir. Something is out there, and it’s following us.” The strain on his face was enough to convince me. Of course it wasn’t going to be easy.
I motioned him to his console. “Can you get me a visual?”
“Faster than you can say Calixotradinsic, Captain.”
There was the Qal I knew.
He took over his piloting station, clicked a few keys on his screen, and brought up a camera view of outside the ship. It took a few moments, but he eventually found what he was looking for, a darkness blocking out the stars. “That’s it, right there.”
I looked, and while a darkness in the stars was odd, it didn’t look like a ship to me. “Are you sure?”
Without saying a word, Qal quickly pivoted the Rogue Star. It gave us a better view of the blockage, and I could just make out the outline of a ship before it moved to match our new positioning.
“Kout! You were right, Qal. My apologies for not believing you,” I acknowledged.
What disturbed me was that nothing showed up on our sensors. What could do that? And why would they be after us?
I called Aavat up to the bridge.
When he finally arrived, we had already increased speed and adjusted course again, but it was still there. “Suggestions?” I asked when he had been briefed.
“We could try to fold, but since the fold takes time to build up, it would leave us vulnerable if it decides to attack,” he answered. The look on his face showed that he was just as concerned about our sensors not working as I was.
“Agreed.” The process of making a fold happen was complicated, but the short version involved us slowing down considerably as our engines built up the needed power for a fold, leaving us with little to no movement capabilities.
While our shields would still be up, they would also be slightly drained by the power build-up. “
So, options.”
He continued to stare at his screen as he answered, his voice agitated. “We run, we fight, we ignore. Those are the only three options I see.”
He didn’t see my nod, but we had worked together long enough that he knew I heard him. “Qal, adjust course and increase speed again. See if you can shake it.”
“Aye, aye.” For the next hour, Qal did everything he could to throw off our stalker, but to no avail. They matched us in movements, speed, and even when Qal tried some crazy maneuvers, they were there.
“The only thing we haven’t tried yet is staying in pre-fold,” Aavat stated.
Qal looked back at us and shook his head in disbelief.
“That could cause an engine failure if done wrong,” I shot back.
“Good thing it’s my engineer in charge then.”
I hated him at that moment, but his suggestion was all we had left other than fight, because it was terribly apparent we weren’t going to be able to ignore or run.
“Do it,” I said, failing to hide the resignation in my decision. Aavat signaled Qal to push it, and with slightly raised eyebrows, he followed orders.
The ship jumped with tremendous speed, creating streaks across the viewscreen as the stars shot by. Unfortunately, the dark ship was still there, further behind than before, thanks to the sudden burst of speed, but still on our trail.
“I’m going to have to pull us out of this soon, Captain. Engines can’t handle the stress,” Qal called back to us. He was right. This sort of action taxed the engines more than a fold did and wiped out our fuel resources just as fast.
“Do it,” I ordered. Qal slowed us down, then immediately shifted us on a hard course change. The dark ship passed us, then turned faster than I’d ever seen a ship of that size turn.
It was roughly two-thirds the size of the Rogue Star, and the design was something I had never seen before.
It was long, yet compact, and sleek. It was as if there were no edges to it. It turned towards us and began to change. “Wings” opened from its sides, then opened again into three sets.
I wasn’t sure about the rest of the bridge crew, but I knew that my eyes were open wide in shock. I glanced down at my screen, and the sensors still showed nothing there. How could our highly sensitive sensors miss something that was right in front of our eyes?
“Sir?” Qal’s voice had a twinge of fear to it. I looked up. Each tip of the wings began to light up. Kout. I recognized that glow.
“GET US OUT OF HERE!” I ordered while I signaled a red alert. Qal didn’t hesitate, but still wasn’t fast enough. As he turned us to the left, we were struck by two of the blasts that rocked us hard. “Evasive maneuvers. Get us turned so we can fire back.”
Qal was magnificent as a pilot and was capable of making ships move in ways you wouldn’t think they could, even in the vast emptiness of space.
Whoever piloted the dark ship was just as good. We traded shots back and forth. Aavat and Valtic, our security officer, split the weapon controls.
Between them, we put up an incredible fight, but we were taking heavy damage.
“We need to get away from it,” I managed to get out as we took another blow that shook the ship.
Aavat shot me a look as he fired again, striking the dark ship in one of the wings. “We’ve tried everything already.”
He shot again, striking that same wing. With that strike, the wing broke. “Do that again,” Qal yelled, and Valtic obliged.
He targeted another of the wings and managed to cause some serious damage before the dark ship turned and left. As members of the bridge crew shouted in celebration, I got on the comms and called for damage reports.
It took some time, but structural reports came in and while they weren’t good, they weren’t life-threatening, either.
“Talk to me, people. How could that thing hide from our sensors?” I asked.
No one had answers, but everyone had ideas. Several minutes went by before Aavat tapped me on the shoulder and pointed behind us.
“What is it, Shar?”
“Injury report, Captain.” His voice was gruff and shaking.
With a breath, I ordered him to proceed.
“Nearly two dozen injured, sir. Only three seriously, the rest are bumps, bruises, and a few sprains, from preliminary reports. It…” he stopped talking, his voice breaking.
I got up from my seat and approached him. “Just breathe. No matter how bad the news, I need to know it, and I need you to tell me.”
He looked up at me and I could see the tears in his eyes. “Three of the women are dead, sir, as well as six of our own, including my brother, Tambo.”
“How?”
“When section six was hit… it took substantial damage.” He took a deep breath. “No hull breach, but a corridor collapsed, and there was an explosion along the maintenance passage.” He straightened back up. “The fire is out now.”
Kout.
Shar and his brother had been part of my crew from the beginning, so I knew how close they were. I put my hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about Tambo, I really am. There wasn’t a more caring member on this crew. We’ll make sure to care for his body properly, a true warrior’s burial.”
