She came to a stop beside me. “You need to leave,” she said by way of introduction. Rude. Although she did speak perfect quadrant dialect with only a slight accent. Surprising, considering how long these people must have been out here, isolated.
“Is that so?” I asked lazily, giving a little tug of my line. It felt as if something was nibbling.
“Yes, that is so,” she snapped back. “Get back in your ship and leave this planet—and us—in peace.”
“Why? You don’t own the entire planet.”
She did not like my response. “Because your kind brings nothing but trouble.” She moved directly in front of me and pointed a finger at the center of my chest. “I’m telling you, you cannot stay here.”
I reeled in my line slowly, secured the hook to the pole, and turned my gaze down to hers. Up close, I could see fire sparking in the prettiest set of green-gold eyes I’d ever seen. Long green hair that had gone dusty mostly at her temples and sprinkled in amongst long, thick, twisted coils, fell most of the way down her back. Her skin was a lustrous gold with a flushed tinge on the tops of her cheekbones. Her brows arched high over those eyes that threw flames at me. The only thought that came to mind was:Interesting.“And what do you know ofmy kind?”
She sniffed and jutted her chin toward my bare arms and upper torso, where the tattoos denoting my mercenary guild membership were on full display. I was surprised she recognized them for what they were. It was good luck that I’d put on pants today, otherwise she would have gotten an eyeful. “You’re a mercenary. Someone who kills for fun.”
Right then and there, I saw the flash of fear. It was the only one she had revealed so far, and I didn’t like seeing it cross her features. For many sun years I’d been feared, and I was too tired to find that useful anymore. I stuck the handle of my fishing rod into the sand and set my hands on my hips. “Iwasa mercenary,” I explained. “I am retired. That life is behind me. You and your people have nothing to fear from me.”
She blinked once. “You expect me to believe you? Just take your word for it?”
“And furthermore,” I said, irked by something she had said earlier, “I never killed for fun and I never slaughtered innocents. I’m not going to start now.”
“Again, you expect me to take the word of a killer? One who waspaidto kill.” She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I don’t know which is worse. Killing for fun or killing for money.”
Silli had abandoned his ground adventures and came over to sniff the boot of one of the males who had arrived with this female. They didn’t appear…incapable, exactly, but they were very clearly not warriors. They were strong-enough looking, for Runams, but neither of them looked thrilled to be there. The male nudged Silli away. It wasn’t a kick at all, and it certainly didn’t hurt the little creature, but Silli made a noise of displeasure and scampered over to me, looked up, and began chittering away in offense. I reached down and drew him up to my shoulder, were he sat like a little sentinel—likely with far more of a bite than these two awkward-looking males who held spears they had surely never used.
“Killing for fun ismuchworse,” I replied sagely.
She waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter which is worse. I’m just saying, go somewhere else. It’s a huge planet. Find another location to retire to.”
The way she saidretireindicated to me that she didn’t believe I was, in fact, retired. Which was funny, because no self-respecting active mercenary would be caught standing on a beach, barefoot, catching fish—unless they were recovering from an injury. As if she couldn’t look at me and see the gray hair, the scars, and the world-weariness etched onto features that looked not much older than her own.
“Look, I’m sorry, but this is where I’m staying. You don’t have to like it. You won’t even know I’m here. I just want to fish and live out my days in peace.”
“This is all that we want, too,” she said.
“Excellent,” I drawled. “So glad we see eye to eye on this matter.”
“Except we don’t.” The bite was back in her voice. I wasn’t sure it had ever left. “There can be no peace with a mercenary two clicks up the beach from us. Do you understand how hard it’s been for my people to find peace? I won’t let an interloper ruin everything we have built here.”
I ran a hand through my hair and scratched behind my broken horn. “Do you have a name?”
She looked surprised by the question, as if civility was not something a barbaric mercenary like myself would possess. “My name is Maive,” she replied. “And I don’t wish to know yours, because you won’t be here long enough for it to matter.”
I took—not even a step—ashiftforward. Invading her space just a little bit. Just enough to make my point, not enough to scare her. If I wanted to scare her, she’d be running away screaming. “My name is Gilrox,” I said quietly. “It’s nice to meet you, Maive. I’m very sorry that my presence here has caused you distress.” I held her gaze, taking particular delight in her struggle to hold mine. She would not be the one to break eye contact. But it was obvious how desperate she was to do so.
“However, I suggest you remember it, as I’ve chosen this spot for my new home and there is nothing you or your farmers with sticks can do to change that.”
“We’ll see about that.” Her chin rose up a notch. Her nostrils flared. “You cannot stay here.”
“Oh,” I said with a smile. “But I can.”
Chapter
Four
Diversify your diet
Wasit practical to start my ship-to-house renovations with the deck that faced the ocean? No. It wasn’t. But I was more excited to sit on it than I was to reconfigure the landing pads or remove the upward thrusters. The plasma welder was quiet, even though it let out the smell of melted tack alloy, and occasionally needed a solid whack on its compressor compartment to start up.
After two weeks, I was pleased with my progress. I’d crafted a functional, if not particularly aesthetic, back door onto the deck, and I was debating whether or not I wanted railings or just a completely unobstructed view. A tumble off the side of the deck would result in a few bruises, but a tumble off the front—well, that would take you down the sloping cliff face onto the jumble of boulders that sat between the cliffs and the beach. I’d never thought about things like safety rails before, but out here on my own, perhaps I needed to.
