My emotions regarding Dax were all over the place.He said he would fight for me and I believed him, but with what Burn had just told me, it was two against one.And he either couldn’t or wouldn’t override them as captain.
I shoved that mess to the back of my mind.Mooning over him wouldn’t help me come up with a plan.
Staring at the computer screen, at my sister’s image, I realized that Layla always started with research.Dad and I were more of the do first, ask questions later variety.Layla was the opposite, more like our mom had been.
Research.Was that the answer?
Dax hadn’t mentioned anything about cutting off my access to the ship’s systems.He’d just asked me to stay in my room.
Taking the seat Burn had vacated, I closed out the data disc and lay it carefully on the desk.I practically had it memorized, but I would need it for the last set of coordinates.She’d met up with a guy from a forum.A guy who said that he had physical proof from theQueen of Stars.The data chip had been sent from a service near their meeting point.But I was betting on her being taken back to his planet.Back to either see this proof or to combine their research.
“What have you got for me, baby?”I whispered as my fingers practically caressed the keyboard as I carefully explored my computer access.
Yes!Turned out, all of my access was still in place.I slipped into the cargo job database and looked at the options from Harrier, the mining colony.However thin, it was the start of a plan.
36
Dax
The atmosphereon the bridge was tense as we approached Harrier.Burn sat to my right in the navigator’s chair and Finn was hunkered down in the engine room.I would have been more comfortable with Lacy up here on the bridge with us, but that had been vetoed by the others, no matter how hard I argued for her expertise.
Finn was still adamantly against her involvement with anything to do withFortunaand Burn seemed to be supporting Finn, albeit reluctantly.I had convinced them to let her listen in on our communications with Harrier, in case we ran into any problems.And I’d spent several hours with her going over what we needed to know.
She had still been generous with her knowledge, but her eyes had lost their sparkle and her expression lacked her usual animation.It was like the spark had gone out of her.
Even before I’d told her of the crew’s decision, she’d known that we would be leaving her on Harrier.I’d felt like the world’s biggest asshole asking her about our destination, but we couldn’t afford a mistake, not with such dangerous cargo.
The comms crackled to life.“Unidentified craft, please be advised that you are entering Harrier airspace.State your name and business.”
“Harrier control, this isFortuna.Be advised we have a load of stupid shooters from Rigel Naught.”
“Well now, that’s useful cargo.’Course, if you’d said you had fresh fruit, we mighta had to throw you a parade.”
That surprised a laugh out of me.“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”
Burn waved to catch my attention.Next time?she mouthed.
Why not,I mouthed back.Regular, well-paying cargo would be damned handy.Depending on how this delivery went.
“Appreciate it,” the gruff voice on the radio responded.Then it turned business-like again in the next breath.“Land at the auxiliary spaceport and we’ll offload that cargo for you.”
“Auxiliary?”I asked.
“We keep those stupid shooters away from the main populated areas.Those things don’t mess around.”
“Got it.”
I verified the coordinates after Burn entered them into the navigation system.“Course is laid in.”
“Roger.Fortuna, you are cleared for that flight path.Safe flying.”
“Thanks.Appreciate the assistance.”I signed off, wishing Lacy was on the bridge with us.Her experience would be invaluable.
“Next time?”Burn asked again.
I shrugged.“If we’re gonna run cargo, it never hurts to start making connections.This could be a valuable run.”
“That makes sense.Holy shit!Would you look at that?”
