“Do you know anything about him?” Kldyn asked, his expression one of a devastated brother, looking for any sign of his lost family. “Our mother has been worried sick. Please, if you know anything,anythingat all, I know it would be of great comfort for her.”
Only stewing anger prevented Vytln from scoffing and breaking into mocking laughter. His mother, worried? The idea was foolish to the point of ridiculousness. Mtyn’n was a cold, calculating, vicious beast of a creature. The only thing she cared about between her sons was crafting them into weapons for taking over the family business. And only the one who was succeeding at besting the other deserved her attention. Certainly not her affection, because that female didn’t have an affectionate drop of blood in her body.
But Kldyn knew all the right things to say to manipulate people. And certainly, a regular person would hear of a worried mother and be eager to help in whatever way possible. Not knowing what a heartlesst’tcytshe was.
Tanin, however, wasn’t a regular person, and he knew better.
“I’m sure any good mother would be worried,” he agreed. “But as I said, I do not know any male named J’tll.”
“But you have a lvtl male registered on your crew,” Kldyn pressed, his façade of worry cracking as the sharp question flew from his mouth, like a gotcha he was silently declaring.
“I do,” Tanin nodded once in agreement. “But his name is not J’tll. And I’ve known him for many years.”
“My brother has been missing for many years.”
“And I’m sure your worry for him would cause you to see hope in even the most remote of possibilities,” Tanin returned easily. “But he is not J’tll. Though, maybe I am mistaken. Tell me, how is this J’tll of yours connected to my ship. Was he a client? Or perhaps he worked on my ship at our last repair stop.”
“Oh, I cannot recall,” Kldyn grimaced, basically ignoring Tanin’s question. “I was just so focused when they said he was connected to your ship, I didn’t stop to think. I had to check. Although, thinking about it now, he might have been registered as former crewmate?”
“Hm,” Tanin looked thoughtful. “Then, I wouldn’t know. I bought this ship from the previous captain and none of his crew came with it. I had to build my own crew to replace them. And as I said, none of them were named J’tll.”
“I see. If you will indulge me then, who did you purchase the ship from?”
“A male named Ketavor. I never met him in person. The exchange was done over the subnet.”
“Ah. And this male, Ketavor, where did he come from? Do you know, perhaps? Where his ship may have traveled to or what he might have traded? Supplies or something? What stations he might have visited in his business?”
“I do not, I’m afraid. Our relationship extended no further than the sale and purchase of this ship. I consider what he did to be his business.”
“And what business would that be…?”
“Trading. Like mine. What he traded and where, however, I do not know. I am sorry for your lost brother, but I’m afraid I can’t help you find him. If there is nothing else, I will end the comm now. I have to oversee the pickup of our next delivery.”
Kldyn looked like he wanted to say something else, but Alred, knowing their captain, took the cue to cut the comm right there before he could say something else. An action that, no doubt, would make Kldyn absolutely furious.
But any satisfaction Vytln might have gotten from knowing his captain just disrespected his brother – a male that considered disrespect a crime worthy of maiming or even death – was completely mitigated by the fury he felt at seeing his face. Hearing his voice. Witnessing the absolute gall he had to play the worried brother while no doubt seeking to hunt Vytln down and punish him for trying to escape Rik-Vane.
Tanin turned to face him, and the calmness of his expression helped. But only insomuch that Vytln could finally let out a roar of rage.
“Kvt ty ytk ch’chrc vrk’tsk!” He snapped, the old curses coming easily to his tongue as he resisted the urge to break something.
Tanin just watched, unmoved. “He wouldn’t tell me where he found out about you. But I know that Captain Ikvar did register all of your old names as the previous crew of the ship before their ‘deaths’. He needed an official place and time, and he wouldn’t let me or Grace sway him away from putting you all here. Heinsisted on the connection. I think he doesn’t want us to let it go completely. He is allowing us to move on from our past but not forget it.”
“And now my brother has used that record to hunt me down,” Vytln snarled.
“That was not meant to be easily accessible by the public. Ikvar assured me of that.”
“My family has connections to the peacekeepers. I’m not surprised my brother managed to get that info. I’m more surprised he even remembered me.”
“He let you live,” Tanin reminded him. “Not because he cared. Your life was a trophy he possessed to announce his victory over you. He doesn’t want his trophy to be lost.”
Vytln sneered. It made sense. That’s probably exactly what happened. “Now what?”
“We deal with it as we would anything else,” Tanin shrugged, unconcerned. “So long as he doesn’t bother us, it won’t be a problem.”
Vytln’s teeth were clenched again. If it were a fight between his brother and their family and Tanin, there was no doubt in Vytln’s mind that Tanin would win. If his brother wanted to make this a problem, if he became a nuisance to Tanin, Tanin would end him just like that. And perversely-
“I want him to bother us,” he said, shaking with rage. Tanin only grunted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with his sentiment.
