“You went off script.”Dax sounded disapproving.
“I know,” I said.“I was nervous.It seems to have worked, though.”
He was still frowning but he nodded.
“Let’s call it a win then,” I said.
He crossed his arms over his chest and looked everywhere but at me.I tried not to take it personally—he was probably keeping an eye out for trouble—but it still felt like he was mad at me.
I raised my glass and put a smile on my face even though I wanted to scowl back at him.“Pick up your glass and take a sip.Or a pretend sip.We’re supposed to be having a good time.”
“She’s right,” Burn said.
“Thank you.”I could really get used to having her on my side instead of against me.
Dax unwound enough to take a drink.“You’re right.”He raised his glass again, then paused, staring over my shoulder.
I turned my head and caught a glimpse of checkerboard plaid in my periphery.
“You the ones looking for parts?”A gruff older man stepped closer to our table and I got a better look at him.He wore grease-streaked overalls over the plaid shirt.His hands were streaked with grease.His nails were short and blunt and I bet if we shook hands, I’d feel calluses similar to mine.
“Yep,” Dax said.
His abruptness didn’t seem to deter the old guy.He grabbed a chair from a nearby table, flipped it around and straddled it, resting his arms on the top of the back.
“Whatcha need?”he asked Dax.
“Ask her.”Dax pointed at me.“Tell him what we need.”
Although the command made me bristle, these were the roles we were playing.I pulled a datapad out of my pocket and powered it up.It was an old one that we’d scrubbed clean of any usable data.We weren’t taking any chances on this planet.
During the transit from Justin, I’d created a list of parts, starting with common ones that any ship might want to have on hand and then ending with the ones specific toFortuna.I read it off, keeping one eye on the list as I scrolled through it and the other on him to watch his reaction.
“That all you got?”he asked when I finished.
“There’s more.I just didn’t want to waste your time if you can’t handle it.”
“Girlie, you’re wasting my time right now.Give me the whole dang list.I got work to do.”He pulled out a beat-up tablet and set it on the table.
“Sure, sorry.”I transferred the file to his datapad with a flick of my finger.
He scrolled through it once or twice, then tapped his fingers on the screen.“I can cover about 90 percent of that.”He quoted a number I found reasonable and a time of a couple hours from now, so I agreed.
“What about the rest?”
He rubbed his jaw.“That’s some pretty specialized stuff, and well, we’re not a real specialized planet.Can’t you get those parts at your next stop?”
Valid question and I pretended to give it the consideration it deserved.“If we were going somewhere civilized, sure.But they,” I jerked my thumb at Dax and Burn, “think we’ll do better sticking to the edge of the system for a while.We don’t need any of those parts right away, but I don’t want to be caught without it either.Can anyone else here help us out?”
He rubbed his jaw again.“Well...”He drew the word out and the wait nearly killed me.“You may be able to get the parts on-planet, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Bad stock?”
He frowned and shook his head.“Bad guys.”He pointed his finger at me.“If you’re determined to look for those parts, you be sure and take your crew with you.Between the four of them, you should get there and back safely.If you decide to go.Which you shouldn’t.”
The old man was a lot sharper than I’d figured, since he’d put Mercer and Orion with our group.And more honest than I’d expected, since he seemed to be trying to steer us away from the guys who ran the chop shop.
“I’ll take them with me,” I said.“I’ll need someone to carry the heavy stuff.”
