Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“Best if you don’t ask, sir.”
Cap-tan snorts. “I had better not see that used on the Lady, ever.”
“No, sir.” It chimes, and Trakan grins. “It’s open.”
Both men lean forward as the lid hisses up, and they shine their light-beams there. My curiosity rising, I look, too.
It is full of small boxes. It does not look exciting to me, but one of the men sucks in a breath. Trakan grabs the first box and pulls the lid off. “Kef,” he breathes. “Credit chits. Hundreds of them. These fools crashed with a fortune on them.” He pulls one out and flips it over, then looks at Cap-tan in excitement. “Nontraceable.”
Cap-tan sags in obvious relief. “That is good. That is very, very good.”
“This is your salvage?” I ask. “This is what you want?”
“This is amazing,” Trakan says, grabbing another box. “We’re keffing rich!”
I put a hand on his shoulder. “Good. I need something from you.” Excitement rises through me, and I force my expression to remain calm.
Cap-tan’s eyes narrow at me. “What is it you want? Credit chits are of no use to you here.”
“I want none of this.” I gesture at the cave-ship of the bad ones. “You can take all of it. I said I would take you here, and I did. But I want something in exchange for what you take. It is only fair.”
“Whatever you want, name it,” Trakan says.
Even Cap-tan does not hesitate. He nods. “Speak.”
I choose my words carefully. It is something Vaza and I have discussed, ever since the newcomers arrived and Farli resonated. There is still a chance out there for us. “This ship carried humans.”
“Slaves,” Cap-tan agrees. “Illegal slaves.”
“But there is a way to get more of them and bring them here.” I pause, and then continue before they can object. “I want a mate. There is no female of suitable age for me. Not in our tribe. Not for myself, and not for the four other hunters that still wish for mates. I want you to bring back humans—these ee-lee-gull slaves you speak of—and bring them here. Five of them. We will take good care of them and make them good mates. They will be happy with us, like Shorshie and the others.”
They exchange a look. “What you ask is not easy,” Cap-tan says.
“That is my price.”
He nods. “I will see what I can do.”
Epilogue
MARDOK
“Idon’t feel any different,” I tell Farli as we lie in our furs the next night. We are out in the open, our sleeping pallet piled close to the others. There is no fire, because all of the hunters who came with us are sa-khui and the symbiont keeps them warm.
And for the first time since arriving on this planet, I’m not cold. It’s keffing amazing. The snow doesn’t bother me. It just feels like damp powder, not icy hell. I curl up with Farli under the furs and pull her against me, and she doesn’t feel hot to the touch, just pleasant.
“I like your eyes much better this way,” she tells me, snuggling up to my chest. “Such a nice blue. Not dead like before.”
“Dead?” I say with a laugh. “Really?”
“Very dark and no spark of life in them,” she says with a nod. Her fingers trail up and down my chest. “And I am glad you have a khui.”
I am, too. I thought I would feel strange, but I don’t. I don’t feel much of anything, except for the steady drumming song in my chest that started the moment I woke up and looked at Farli. Resonance. I expected it to fill me with a surge of emotion for her.
I didn’t expect for it to make my cock stand at attention constantly. I guess it’s the symbiont getting me ready to make babies with her. I guess we didn’t try hard enough last night. I grin and pull her closer. I’m willing to give it as many tries as we need. Not right now, of course. Not with the others sleeping close nearby. Plenty of time for that when we return to the village and her cozy little house.
I gaze up at the stars overhead, my mate tucked against my shoulder. Somewhere up there, The Tranquil Lady is soaring away from this planet and toward her shipping destination. My seat is empty. Bron Mardok Vendasi will be listed as missing in space. My flight-suit has been sent out the air-lock by now, and the others will do their best to cover my trail and make it seem like I’m just…gone. No one will come looking for me. Accidents happen in space all the time, and someone like me with a sad history? It wouldn’t be too much to assume that I just went out the airlock while the others were sleeping.
I watched the ship leave earlier, during the hunt. The chaos of the moment and the chase of the enormous, dangerous creature meant that I didn’t have time to focus on it leaving. There was no time to be anxious. No time for my mind to fray at the edges and think back to those awful days on Uzocar. No time to feel like I was left behind, because Farli was at my side, encouraging me to shove my spear—however awkwardly—into the flanks of the sa-kohtsk as it tumbled to the ground.