Page 1 of On a Barbarian World

CHAPTER ONE

It was the prettiest thing she’d seen the entire trip.

Aurina Phoenix touched the controls of her small scoutship and whizzed past a small, rocky moon. Her gaze was on the large gas giant ahead. It was covered in stunning bands of blues and purples. She smiled. Beautiful.

But her destination was beyond the planet. She spotted the deep-space convoy, and her smile widened. It was a rag-tag line of starships of all shapes and sizes. A group heading off into uncharted space, pitting themselves against the unknown in the hope of finding a new life.

She zoomed closer and adjusted the Ariel’s course to the largest ship at the head of the convoy.

The Sky Nomad. Home.

Some might argue that a starship couldn’t be considered home, but for Aurina, that was definitely the case. It was certainly a world away from what passed as “home” during her childhood. Her fingers stilled on the controls. Yep, she’d come a long way from the overcrowded, dirty manufacturing world where she’d been born.

As the deep-space scout for the Phoenix Convoy, she got to see some incredible things. On every trip she discovered something new. Most people would think she had the best damn job in the galaxy. Or technically, out of the galaxy, since they were beyond the galaxy’s edge.

They’d be right.

She figured life didn’t get any better.

So why, despite being happy to see her brothers, did she feel like something was…missing?

Aurina wrinkled her nose and shook off the melancholy feeling. She had an interesting job she was good at, a bank account filled with e-creds, and the opportunity to frequently indulge her little obsession—collecting shiny, sparkly gemstones.

Okay, so she didn’t get to wear her gorgeous jewels much out here in the middle of space. She wiggled her toes in her practical boots and glanced down at her dark-blue flight suit. It didn’t matter, she loved collecting polished stones and shiny gems. Some she found herself on planets out here in the middle of nowhere, and others she bartered for ferociously. After her next bonus, when they got back to the Galaxy’s Edge space station, she was nabbing herself a Lumina sapphire she’d spotted in the station’s jewelry shop on her last stop.

“Ariel, I’ve opened the hangar bay door for you.” The smoky, feminine voice filled the cockpit. “Welcome back.”

Aurina adjusted her controls, aiming the Ariel for the hangar bay on the Sky Nomad. She could see the door was open, and caught a shimmer of the purple huma-field that covered the entrance—keeping the atmosphere in the ship, but allowing solid objects to pass through.

“Thanks, Nissa.”

Nissa was the Sky Nomad’s pilot and captain. She was also the wife of the youngest of Aurina’s brothers, Justyn. “Did I miss anything while I was away?”

“Only Dare reprimanding one convoy idiot who decided to head off on a little joy ride to see a volcanic world up close and personal.” Nissa snorted. “Your big bro can be scary.”

Yes, he could. Dare Phoenix, Convoy Master extraordinaire, had control down to a fine art, especially when it came to obeying the convoy rules. His rules. Anyone who stepped out of line was swiftly reprimanded. Out here, they all depended on each other for their survival, and one wrong move could spell disaster.

“Sorry I missed it. Okay, I’m on approach now.”

“Aurina, you’re coming in too fast.” This voice was deep, masculine, and terse.

Aurina rolled her eyes. Rynan, her middle brother, was in charge of convoy security. She liked coming in a little fast, while Ry liked everyone to follow his safety rules to the letter. He was all about minimizing risk. Even in his personal life. He never let the same woman spend more than one night in his bed, and never let emotions get in the way.

“I hear you, Ry.”

“So why aren’t you slowing down?”

“You’re breaking up a bit there. Say again.” She grinned. He really hated when she did that. She touched the controls and did a slight course correction.

She whizzed inside, activated the reverse thrusters, and slowly touched down in her usual spot. Well away from Rynan’s prized security cutter, the Pathfinder. Stars help her if she ever scratched his pride and joy.

The bay also held several shuttles, Justyn’s new runnership, the Smooth Trader, and a few personal ships owned by people who had taken passage aboard the Sky Nomad for the convoy trip.

She unstrapped her harness, and pushed out of the cockpit. She loved her little ship, she liked flying, but she also liked to stretch her legs. Occasionally, she felt a twinge of claustrophobia. Nothing drastic, just that buried urge to breathe fresh air, see the sky overhead, and have space around her. She certainly hadn’t had much of it on the overpopulated Vashon V where she’d grown up. She and her mother had lived in a tiny, shitty box of an apartment. The streets had been teeming with people just like them—too busy working in the factories to enjoy life, and only making enough to scrape by.

Aurina slapped a hand against the electronic lock to open the ship door. She hurried out, breathed in a lungful of recycled air, and left her crappy memories behind. The past was the past, and she’d left it in the dust years ago.

Rynan was waiting for her, arms crossed over his broad chest. He was fit, muscular, with a rugged face, dark hair, and a scowl. “There is nothing wrong with your comms. You can’t take risks when you land. You not only risk yourself, but the lives of everyone aboard⁠—”