I carefully placed my utensils on the table next to my bowl, waiting for the explosion that was sure to come.
“You stole our ship?”Finn practically bellowed.
Someone should teach him about inside voices, I thought randomly.I didn’t say anything, just waited to see what Dax would do.He’d created the problem—well,we’dcreated the problem—so I was going to let him take the lead.He knew his crewmates far better than I did.
“Well,” Dax said, rubbing his neck.“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”
“Gosh, that makes it okay, then,” Burn said sarcastically.
“What.The.Fuck.Happened?”Finn asked.
I watched Finn carefully, not at all sure that he wouldn’t resort to violence.He seemed on that edge all the time.
The silence around the table grew longer.More tense.
Fuck it.I owned my mistakes.
I started at the beginning.“Then after the men broke into my apartment, I ran.I was looking for a safe place and ended up at the docks.I just wanted to hide out for a while, so I boardedFortuna.When I saw the men searching the docks for me, I panicked and launched the ship.”
Burn seemed to be mulling over the story, but Finn was sending me a death glare.
“And what?You just let her take off with our ship?”
Pink tinged Dax’s cheeks.“I was asleep,” he admitted.“We were already off the station when I woke up.”
Finn lurched up from the table with a scowl.“I told you she was a fucking Blazer thief, but no one wanted to listen to me.”
I had to give it to him.He was 100 percent right, just not the way he thought.
“I want her off the ship.Now.”
Burn and Dax looked alarmed.“We’re not going to space her, Finn.That’s not how we do things,” Burn said.
“Then let her off at the next stop.She’s got no business being on our ship.”
Fuck.
If they dropped me off on the mining colony, it could be weeks or even months until I could get a ride on another ship.I’d never learn what happened to Layla.
Burn turned to me, hurt and betrayal in her gaze.“Was it all a lie?The story about your sister?”
I clenched my fists under the table.Somehow, I had to convince them to keep me on board.The truth was a place to start.“No,” I said softly.“That all was true.The only lie was how Dax and I met.We met on the bridge when he came to see why the ship had left Elegium.”
“Why didn’t you just turn the ship around?”Burn asked Dax.
I winced and answered that too, even though she’d asked him the question.“I’d called in an emergency so that we could get priority takeoff.Because of that, they wouldn’t let us back.”
“So that’s why Dax couldn’t pick up cargo on Elegium Station.”
“Yes.It was my fault he couldn’t make his meeting.”I leaned forward, trying to convince her of my sincerity.“That’s why I’ve been working on getting you well-paying cargo runs.To make up for it.”
“Bullshit!”Right on cue, Finn was there to cast doubt on my every word.“You’re here for Blazer, aren’t you?You want to steal our ship, steal the cargo and leave us hanging.”
“I don’t work for Blazer.”I spoke slowly, constantly studying his posture, his movements, so I could be prepared if he attacked me.“I’m not here for your cargo.I just want to find my sister.Dax said you all would help, but you needed cargo too.That’s all.”I held my open palms out in a placating gesture.
Finn ignored everything I said.“I vote we drop her off with the cargo on Harrier.”He turned to Burn.
She sighed.“I don’t know, Finn.I see your point.But if she’s telling the truth, she’s done nothing to harm us since that night.”
