Chapter Thirty-Three
Allie had trouble believingthey were safely back on dock, this time defended by two larger SC ships that had escorted them through the Command blockade of the border. When the SC offered protection, they delivered. Unfortunately, they also expected their new crew to deliver on the negotiated terms of their contract. And that meant a trip back to theMitakuye Oyasin.
“I think your mother gives me recurring nightmares,” Allie said as she walked the crowded docks with Shank. Their little ship, newly christened theUnktomi, had been named after the world’s creepiest spider mythology. Now she sat in a berth two decks down and halfway around the curve of the station. Allie was almost sure the rest of their friends had let Shank name the ship just to get him to stop telling seriously messed-up stories.
Well, that, and it did definitely sound like a family ship name.
“You don’t have the very strange sensation of loving her even while wanting to move to a different dimension, so don’t complain to me.”
“I was looking for some sympathy.”
“Tough,” Shank said. That might have sounded harsh, but he draped his arm over her shoulders as he watched the people rushing to and fro.
The stations in this part of space were busy. Uncomfortably busy, but Allie supposed that was to be expected. This whole sector was still trying to cope with the changes created by the bat treaty. People scrambled for what little power or money they could. Meanwhile the big brokers fought to hold on to all the power and control the common people.
If Anpaytoo would go along with their deal with the SC, maybe the crew of theUnktomicould make a difference out here. Maybe they could knock a few heads together and bring some bad guys to justice. Maybe the miners’ families would have better lives.
Allie had to admit she liked this future better than the alternative, which was to actually become pirates.
Back on the ship, when she had looked in Zeke’s eyes, she could see how much Zeke wanted this. They were the two farm kids, so she figured she understood him better than anyone. In some ways, she understood him better than Shank. That was probably why she found Zeke a little boring. She much preferred her pirate.
Allie wrapped her arm around Shank’s waist. His warmth felt good at her side, especially when she knew the lengths he would go to in order to protect her. It’d been a long time since she’d let herself admit to the bone-deep terror that had come with the war, and now Shank made the fear recede to the point where she felt she could finally relax for the first time in two years.
“Do you think your mother is going to go along with this?”
“I have no idea,” Shank admitted. They stopped where the corridor forked off to the right, and several dark-eyed, dark-haired men leaned against walls in rather unsubtle ways. Shank had seen three family ships all docked in this area, so Allie wasn’t particularly surprised at the informal guard. Shank nodded, and a couple of the guys nodded back as they passed.
“Right now, I think the odds are running about fifty-fifty that she’ll help, or she’ll throw me in the brig until I agree to move back on her ship and stop getting myself into trouble.”
“Great. That would mean she would space me.”
Shank stopped at a blast door that led into one of the larger berths on this part of the dock. “Nah. She’d throw you in the brig next to me.”
“Your mother hates me. She’d love to have an excuse to kick me off her ship.”
Shank shoulder-bumped her so they both rocked side to side. “Hey, my mother believes in letting me make my own mistakes. I mean, she let Claire move onto her ship, didn’t she? Trust me. As long as I love you, she’s going to put up with you.”
Pulling away from him, she gave him a long, hard look. “Are you putting me in the same category as Claire?”
A blush crawled up Shank’s face. “No.” He frowned. “Okay, maybe. That’s not how I meant it.”
“I hope not.” Allie still resented the fact that she’d given up the opportunity to space the woman. “Still, that had to have been a pretty miserable time period. How long did she last on the ship, anyway?”
