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Chapter 17

“Act natural,” Karnsaid as he walked alongside Billy toward the docking bay. “No one expects us to stroll in and steal a ship. If we play it cool, we can get our hands on what we need.”

Billy nodded and walked with an exaggerated sway.

“What are you doing?”

“Playing it cool.”

“Be like a normal person.”

“This is my normal person walk. The ladies love a swagger.”

“We’re not after a lady. We’re after a ship. We also don’t want to draw any attention from those two guards.” Karn tilted his chin toward the docking bay entrance where the guards lounged.

One leaned against the wall, his hat pulled over his eyes. The other was sprawled on a chair, checking his wrist comm.

Billy stopped swaggering. “What kind of ship are we looking for?”

“Something fast and efficient. A ship that won’t be missed by its owner.”

Billy nodded. “There are a couple of dozen to choose from in here. We’ll find the perfect escape craft.”

“Keep your voice down. Don’t say anything until we get past the guards.”

“I won’t mess this up for you. You’ll be glad you brought me along. I will be useful.”

Karn patted his shoulder. “I know all of that. Let’s focus on the mission.”

They strolled past the guards, who didn’t give them a second look. First challenge complete. Karn acted like he knew where he was going as they walked past the ships. He inspected each one. Most were too large and would be difficult to get onto. He wanted a nice, clean, empty ship. One with limited security and basic systems.

Karn stopped. “That is a thing of beauty.” In front of him stood a Rolon ship. The black disk-shaped hull gleamed, and the overhead lights made the crystalline structure glisten. There wasn’t a scratch on it. He reached out to touch it.

“Isn’t it a bit fancy for our needs?”

“We have to travel in style. This is my dream ship.” With warp drive operational in under ten seconds, plasma blast canons, and a pilot seat that heated and cooled on command, Karn looked at perfection.

“If we take that, we’ll definitely draw attention to ourselves.”

“We should have a go. It might be empty. I’m sure we can find a hack around any security measures in place.”

“It’s a great ship.” Billy shifted from foot to foot. “It’s just that it’s a bit obvious. If we take that one and it gets reported as stolen, we’ll be tracked instantly.”

Karn sighed. The kid was annoying, but he had a point.

“How about this one?” Billy hurried over to a slightly dented, matte gray shuttle.

Karn walked around it, keeping an eye on the guards as he did so. “It’s ugly.”

“It’s what we need. There are thousands of shuttles out there that look like this one. It will be harder to find.”

Karn looked back at the beautiful Rolon ship.

“You know this makes sense. We take the ugly ship and get ourselves a nicer one when we set up elsewhere.”

“I could take that other ship if I wanted to. I could have it.”

Billy grinned. “I know that. You can get your hands on anything you want.”