“Salutations,” the bounty hunter said.
“Greetings,” Nojan replied. “How can we help you?”
“I’m looking for a girl,” Kange replied. “A Territhian. Red hair, blue eyes. Supposedly hard to look at, but I’m not sure if I trust my sources on that point.”
Nojan shrugged. “Sorry, pal, haven’t seen her.”
The bounty hunter stared at them. His appearance was unnerving. The skin of half of his face was horribly twisted, scarred by some battle that had left him altered for life. “Is that so? What about you, princess? You seen anyone fitting that description?”
Sanri gave Kange a smile. “An ugly human? I know plenty of them. But I don’t think I’m acquainted with the one you’re looking for.”
“That’s too bad,” Kange said. “I’d hoped you’d be able to point me in the right direction. I’m sorry for disturbing you.”
Nojan let out a deep breath, amazed at how easily the bounty hunter had given up. Perhaps his reputation as the best in the galaxy was artificially inflated.
“Oh, just one more thing before I go,” Kange said, his eyes dark. “Call it curiosity. My readings showed three life forms on your ship when it came out of hyperspace. Now there are only two. Did someone disappear?”
Double fuck. Nojan laughed. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. Your equipment must be malfunctioning.”
Kange nodded. “That could be it. Then again, your ship matches the description I was given of the so-called linen merchant who somehow convinced Rantel to turn the human over to him. I wonder how you did that. Care to share?”
Nojan hit the button to end the transmission. It was no use. Kange knew this ship was the one he was looking for. He also knew Mayra was on board. Talking wouldn’t gain them anything but wasted breath.
“Looks like someone shit the bed on this one,” Sanri said with a chuckle. “Got any other good ideas for getting out of this?”
Nojan shook his head, evaluating their options. His ship had advanced weapon systems, but he doubted they would be much of a match for Kange’s own weaponry. And once this turned into a pissing match, they’d both get wet.
You certainly are doing a great job of protecting her,he thought. You couldn’t even get her to Vartik.
That might be true, but it didn’t mean he was giving up. Even if he had to crawl through space to get to the bounty hunter, he’d tear the man limb from limb if he thought he was going to take Mayra away from him.
