Her fingers wrapped around my wrist and pushed my arm down.“You donotwant to transport cows, Dax.Trust me.Fortuna’scargo hold is not configured for that shit.And I mean literal shit.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling dumb.“How did you learn all this?”
She shrugged.“Experience.”
Once again, I had the feeling she was leaving a lot out.I pressed another dot and watched the data expand.
Lacy cleared it quickly and keyed in more data.Two purple dots appeared on the screen, farther out than any of my crew, though they weren’t far from one of the blue dotted lines that represented one of our potential routes.“Layla’s last known locations, based on the geotags on the data chip.”
“Lacy—” I started, but she held up her hand.
“You said to show you my plan.That’s what I’m doing.”She poked her finger at the map and three dots lit up orange.“There are three planets out near her last coordinates: Justin, Kottke, and Pignum.They’re so far out, it might as well be a different galaxy.I think she’s on one of them.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but she hurried on.“I can get you cargo all the way out there.You’ll be able to make money, pick up your crew, and help me out.”
“That’s days of travel, Lacy.”I wanted to help her but by the time we reached hell-and-gone space, her sister could be gone.“It might be a wild goose chase.”
Her jaw clenched and she didn’t reply at first.Her voice was tight and controlled when she finally said, “It’s days of travel anyway to pick up all of your crew.”A long, tense pause.“Okay, tell meyourplan.”She shoved her hands in her pockets, her expression slightly taunting.
I stepped closer and studied the map.This was supposed to be easy—pick up cargo then start picking up my crew.Based on the way the dots had lit up when I told her the rendezvous points, Burn was first.
“Pick up Burn here.”I pointed to the closest green light.“Then Finn.”The next closest green light.
“Where are you getting cargo?”
On its face, it was an obvious, innocent question, but I was pretty sure it was a trap.I studied the pink lights.The closest option were the cows that she’d told me to avoid.I’d take that advice.I pulled up the data for the next pink dot.“What the fuck are thermo-blinders?”Whatever they were, there was good money in hauling them.
“Netting that blocks thermal scanning.”
Well, that sounded easy enough.And the payment would keep us in the air for a while.“We’ll get cargo there.”Maybe this wasn’t so hard.
“Where are they going?”Lacy asked quietly.
I studied the data again.“Caldon.”Where was it on the map?
While I was searching, she lit up the dot.It flared orange, its glow nowhere near any of the other colored dots.
“That’s a ways away,” I said.
She nodded.“You’ll probably need to get fuel here or here, based on what we have now and our current burn rate.”Her finger lightly touched two dots in the middle of that route.
“How do you know all this?”
She huffed out a sigh.“I’ve been trying to tell you.I grew up with this.I know space.I know cargo.Most important, I know this ship.”She stepped closer, getting right in my face.“It’s easier and a lot less expensive to learn the ropes from someone, rather than trial and error.”
She laid a palm on my chest.“You need me for this.And I need you to help me find my sister.It’s a win-win.”
I looked down at the hand on my chest, then back up into her eyes.Hoping I was doing the right thing for my crew and not being influenced by her touch, I agreed.“Fine.”
19
Dax
After explainingeverything to me several times, Lacy had finally gone to bed.Her story hadn’t changed and by the third time through, I believed her.As much as I hated to admit it, her plan to pick up my crew—and visit her sister’s last known location—made sense.
Left alone on the bridge to stew, I stared glumly at her map.The colored dots flickered among the white stars and planets, mocking me.Her competence with my ship and everything related to it was preying on my insecurities.In the space corps, I’d known my role and I’d been damn good at my job.Lead a squad or turn a bunch of recruits into a cohesive fighting machine?All day, every day.Arrange cargo and transportation?I hadn’t felt so lacking since my own recruit days.It sucked and I didn’t like it one bit.
In the space corps, there had been three types of cargo: marines, munitions, and supplies.Everything else was just details.
