The only thing worse than being tasked with one of Ryan’s missions was turning down said mission.It would be less annoying in the long run to just do what he wanted.
For a moment she yearned for the isolation of the shipping container she considered home.She craved the solitude and comfort of her bed.
Alas, that would have to wait.
“What do you want me to do?”Gus asked.
One
Gusstoppedshortatthe sight of what was waiting on her doorstep."That definitely wasn’t there the last time I was home.”
A dead man lay in front of her shipping container.
Such things weren’t exactly a rarity on Titan space station where criminals outnumbered upstanding citizens by at least three to one.
But they didn’t usually turn up on her doorstep.
The pirates and gangs who called this place home preferred to space their victims.
Less messy that way.
Since security’s authority only extended as far as Titan’s airlocks and the local military detachment was woefully understaffed for the area, it was an efficient method for criminals to rid themselves of incriminating evidence.
Not like this—whatever this nonsense was.
For goodness’ sake, there was a trail of blood leading right to her home.So much DNA evidence that even a group as corrupt as Titan’s security would be hard pressed to ignore it.
How did they find this place anyway?
The Tombs were where shipping containers on Titan were sent to languish, forgotten and abandoned.A twisting labyrinth that even Titan's dock workers sometimes had trouble navigating.Hence, Gus's reasons for choosing it as the location for her lair.
She'd gone so far as to ensure the container she called home fit in with the overall ambiance of those around it.Its exterior sufficiently weathered so as to not stand out.Its paint chipping.Its walls dented.
She’d even taken the time to tag it with some graffiti.Colorful dragonflies and pretty orchid mantises.Even a butterfly or two.
Gus was no artist, but she thought it had turned out quite well.
A faint sound brought Gus’s inner tirade to a halt.
Her grip on the pot of Nawana orchids that she was clutching tightened as another groan came from the dead guy.Creeping closer, she nudged his hand with the tip of her boot.
It twitched.
Not dead then.
Internally, Gus groaned.The only thing worse than a dead unwelcome guest was a living one.
Gus took her privacy seriously, and this stranger’s presence had every one of her instincts insisting she take a page out of the pirate playbook and relocate her new friend out the nearest airlock.
Just as she was contemplating which airlock was closest, her unwelcome guest rolled partially onto his back.His hair fell away from his face to reveal the tips of his very pointed ears.
“Shit,” Gus moaned.
There was only one race she knew of with ears like that.The Tuann.A reclusive bunch who shunned contact with other races and mostly kept to their corner of the universe.
“What are you doing way out here?”Gus muttered.
He should be in Tuann space, doing whatever his kind typically got up to.Not here jeopardizing her hard-earned seclusion.
