Page 21 of Veiled Vixen

Veila huffs.

Crux turns to me. “So our only fucking way out of this mess is Luck. Do you understand me, Valor? If he doesn’t take us through that spin node we’re fucked. Because we have no way to keep this station going. Our resources are already stretched to the limit. The goddamned princess rebellion took out a lot of critical infrastructure and no one is working right now. Everyone is preparing to fight. Think about it. OK? They are criminals. The most violent people in this galaxy who had nowhere else to go. They want this war, Valor. This is their dream. This is practically why they’re here. Let’s just say we won’t have to worry about living a hundred and thirty more years. We’re all gonna die of thirst in less than ten spins. So I get it, Valor. You hate her.” He nods his head towards Veila. “We all hate her. But she’s right. We need Luck to open that node and get us the fuck out of here. Because in a few spins, when everyone figures out there’s no more water being made, the people around here? They’re gonna get really unpleasant. This whole station is filled with nothing but murderous criminals who were only kept in line because ALCOR scared the shit out of them. And that Baby?” Crux shakes his head. “He’s no ALCOR.”

“I can hear you,” the Baby says, his voice coming from above us somewhere.

“Good,” Crux says. “Now we’re all on the same page.”

“Are we?” I ask.

He locks eyes with me for a few seconds. And right in that moment I don’t really recognize him.

“What happened?” I ask.

He draws in air and looks at Veila.

I catch something between them, but I’m not sure what it is. Some kind of understanding. “What the hell is going on?”

Crux looks my way but doesn’t meet my gaze. “Ask her,” he says.

Then he spins around and walks away.