I felt his gaze on me.“What’s the name of your family’s ship?”
I swallowed hard.No way I was telling him that.He’d drop me on the next planet.Sure, right now he wasconsideringthat move, but if he learned I grew up on one of the most infamous smuggler ships...Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.
Ignoring his question, I said, “Fortunawas a good purchase.She could probably use some upgrades.I’m happy to give you recommendations.Hopefully you got a good price and have money left for modifications?”
He rubbed the back of his neck.“I spent everything we had saved up on the ship, fuel, and enough supplies to get us to our first cargo run.”He glared at me.“The cargo run I was supposed to start from Elegium Station.”
I ignored the flicker of guilt his words caused.I could—would!—fix that.He just needed to agree to keep me on.“But you got a good deal, right?”
He shrugged and mumbled a price.
I couldn’t have possibly heard him correctly.I repeated the price.
“Yeah.”
“For this ship?”I rubbed the console again, lettingFortunaknow that I wasn’t being judgy.
“Yeah.”
How did you tell a man that he’d been screwed by someone who knew ships better than he did?“Oh.Uh.Wow.”I exhaled.“You’ve, uh, gotta watch those used-ship dealers.”
He frowned and I felt like I’d kicked a puppy.“That bad, huh?”
I thought about soft selling it.Then again, I’d hate it if someone did that to me.
“It’s not great.You probably could have bargained it down maybe a third, more if she has any issues.”
“One of the cargo-hold doors sticks.The dealer raised one to show me the interior.I didn’t think to test the other.”
I winced, couldn’t help it.“I can fix that.”
“You can?”The hope in his voice was promising.
I placed my hand on his arm before I remembered how dangerous that could be.The muscles in his forearm tensed under my touch.“Don’t panic.She runs.Maybe we give her a little extra lovin’ on our way to get cargo.Do you have a job lined up?”He’d obviously been looking for one.I recognized the posting board he had pulled up.
Dax shook his head.
“Okay,” I said brightly, “this is what we’re going to do.”
18
Dax
Based on Lacy’s comments—andher pained expression—I’d fucked up big time and I had no idea how to fix it.The squad had trusted me with Wilson’s savings, sure that I would get us the best ship.And I’d completely blown it.
“Dax, are you listening to me?”
I looked at Lacy.She was watching me with concern in her eyes.Unbidden, memories of our engine room kiss came to the forefront and my eyes dropped to her lips.Then back up.
She smiled.“Everything is going to be all right.”
I didn’t believe her, but since I had no idea how to fix this, I smiled and nodded and waited to hear her plan.
“In its original configuration, the Cyclone class can hold nearly 75 metric tonnes of cargo.More if you install additional cargo mods, but that fucks with the fuel efficiency and sometimes with the ship’s balance.While 75 tonnes isn’t much when compared to the big bulk carriers, it’s a good size for making a living at this.”
Was she some kind of witch?Those were the same numbers that the ship dealer had rattled off when I’d visited the off-planet shipyard.
I spun her chair until we were facing each other.My hands clamped around the arms of the chair.This time I wasn’t letting go without getting answers.“Who sent you?How do you know so much about my ship?”
