I’ve flown much newer crafts that weren’t as responsive as this piece-of-shit shuttle. It turns out Volethos isn’t just an amazing mechanic but an accomplished co-pilot as well. It’s a tight fit, squeezing the shuttle out of the smaller hangar door, but once we make our way into the main hangar, I’m really able to open the engines up. The throaty growl has me grinning.
“What did you do to this thing?” Looking over at Volethos, I don’t miss the smug grin on his rough face.
“Oh, well, there were some extra parts just lying around, so I may have given it an upgrade.”
Shaking my head as we wait for the bay doors to open, I pull the mesh of harnesses across my body. “Next stop, Kurrahstka’s,” I say as I line the shuttle up for takeoff.
“We finally get free of this place, and your first stop is a pleasure house? I thought you were a happily mated male?” Volethos turns a questioning look at me before shrugging his narrow shoulders. “I mean, it’s fine with me. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a whore, and I could use some female attention.”
“That’s where Igid went looking for the abducted females,” I grunt.
Volethos gives me a smug look and adjusts himself in his pants. “I figured as much. While you’re rounding up your wayward female, I’ll just let off some steam.”
“I couldn’t give two fucks what you do,” I tell him as keys light up across the control panel, and my fingers tap out a familiar sequence. All around us the shuttle’s engine winds up until it’s nearly deafening. Then, like a slingshot, we launch into open space.
The controls switch over seamlessly. Soon we’re out of the station’s airspace, and suddenly all our comms come back online.
My wrist is going nuts with all the missed messages that are suddenly flooding in. Meanwhile, Volethos is calling up star charts and plotting our course to Kurrahstka’s.
“Initiating hyper in three… two… one…” My finger taps the flashing red button, and the drive engages flawlessly, pinning us both to our seats until we reach speed for everything to equal out.
“I can’t believe this piece of junk was scattered across a hangar a rotation ago!” I laugh, hardly able to believe how smooth it’s flying.
“I’m setting a course for the nearestmannedstation,” Volethos tells me as he manipulates the star chart he has pulled up. “We’ll need to refuel, and the shuttle will need a top-off too.”
My stomach growls painfully. “Sounds good to me.”
As much as I hate to stop, neither of us will be any good to Igid if we stumble into trouble half-starved and on fumes. Then, it’ll be a straight shot to Kurrahstka’s.
Along with my hunger, worry also gnaws my stomach. Igid can act uncaring, but she’d never leave one of her crew members behind. So, I can’t help but wonder, what kind of trouble has she gotten herself into in the rotations she’s been gone? Because I don’t want to believe she’d just leave me behind without a thought.
Maybe it’s something like a mate bond—is it possible to bond after a single night together?—or maybe is it just intuition, but I can’t shake the feeling that she needs my help.
After engaging the autopilot, I sit back and start going through my comm messages. Most are from Rovos and Treto, asking for an update. A couple others are from Da.
Calling up the shuttle’s comm, I connect with Pamia. A moment later, the screen flickers, and my father appears in front of me. “Brox, what happened? I’ve been trying to reach you for rotations!” His relief at finally hearing from me shows plainly on his face.
“Sorry, I—” I don’t want to tell him Igid left me stranded. I’ll hear her side before I lay any blame. “I was stuck in a place with no signal.”
My mother suddenly appears at my father’s side. Her forehead wrinkles into a frown as she leans closer to the screen. “Where is theShade?”
I shouldn’t be surprised she would immediately pick up on the fact I’m on the wrong craft. Very little gets past her.
“Igid has it.”
A delicate dark brow arches, and her head cants to the side. “Oh? And why are you on separate ships?”
Beside me, Volethos starts to chuckle, which draws her attention to him.
“And who is tha—?” Her eyebrows shoot into her hair when she recognizes Volethos.
“How did you end up with that piece of shit?” Rovos barks, appearing behind my parents. Fucking hells, why not just get the whole compound in on this! His eyes flash gold as he folds thick arms across his chest. “Where is Igid?”
Well, there is no help for it. I suppose the entire story was going to come out at some point anyway. So I start at the beginning. Well, almost the beginning, I leave out Igid’s heat.
By the time I’ve caught everyone up to speed, Rovos, Treto, and their mates have all gathered around the comm.
Xan and Rovos put their heads together for a moment, and then Rovos quickly nods.
