Page 48 of Relyn
“We should go to Terra before looking for Alana,” Grom said. “We need to protect them.”
Relyn nodded. “I agree. Like I said, this is just a quick stop for Bright to make some connections that will lead us where we want to go, after we take them home.”
They both felt the jolt of the ship docking with another ship.
“Go to your quarters and don’t come out unless I say. The contact is a little skittish and seeing a Georgun might spook him,” Relyn said.
Grom nodded and headed off while Relyn went to the hatch. The quicker they got the exchange over with, the faster they could be on their way. It would be a relief to hand off that much information. The Mahdfel might no longer need secrecy. They could openly pursue the spies and Relyn could follow his mate to Terra, secure in the feeling that he wouldn’t be abandoning an important mission.
Relyn opened the hatch just as Bright got there. He was not expecting there to be two armed Adrastians on the other side. This was not a Mahdfel warship.
“The fuck?”
“Is that any way to treat a friend,” Bright said, not skipping a beat. She was wearing her pistol strapped to her side and had obviously not been expecting Mahdfel. Relyn’s pistol was sitting in his room.
“Captain wants to see you,” the Adrastian said to Bright.
He was unprepared for an encounter, but there was no way Relyn was letting Bright off this ship on her own. She’d already lied too smoothly to be trusted again. She probably would say that not taking his suggestion was not a lie, exactly. More like an error of omission. Either way, it was dangerous, and put his mate in harm’s way. For that, he was not sure that he could forgive her.
No one objected when he came along. The Adrastians probably figured they had the upper hand. One lone Sangrin was not much of a threat to two armed Adrastians. One Mahdfel was a different matter.
They exited the ship through the tunnel and emerged in one that was slightly larger, but nowhere near the size of the Misery. A ship like this could take a crew complement of twelve to fifteen. None of that would matter if he had not been caught quite unaware. This ship was definitely faster and better armed than Clover’s ship, meaning fighting their way out was a risky proposition unless they managed to kill the crew and commandeer the ship.
The two Adrastians stopped them in the hold. It was about three quarters full of crates of varying sizes. There would be some cover here, but it would be fairly equal to both parties in a shootout.
Relyn decided his best course of action was to again play the quiet muscle, who didn’t act unless his employer demanded it.
A third Adrastian appeared with a female that could have been Bright’s twin. There were subtle differences between their cheeks and nose, and this female was taller, but it became clear who she was the moment she put her hands on her hips and scowled at Bright. How had he not known that Alana was Etlonian?
“I hear you’ve been looking for me,” she said.
“Alana!” Bright said, holding out her arms. “I didn’t realize you’d be on this ship.” The woman didn’t move to accept the hug.
“Gale,” she said with the tone of a person not so happy to see her. It was not unlike how Rutra had greeted her.
“I’ve been looking for you for weeks. Ever since-”
“Or should I call you Bright?” Alana said.
“Bright Gale. That’s me,” she said without hesitation. “My mother had quite a sense for names.”
“Funny how the name Bright never came up.”
“If you were named after a light level, would you bring it up?”
“Or if you were secretly working against me, a Mahdfel spy?”
This was not going well, not at all, and it got worse.
“And is that the Sangrin that killed five of my crew and stole my cargo?” Alana said. “Rutra thinks he is so smooth. He’s got spies? I’ve got real spies.”
“Look, I don’t know what you think you know, but I can tell you that Rel here has been working for me since the beginning. The idiot Rutra sent him with me. And if you’d told me the cargo belonged to you, I would have gotten it for you,” Bright continued, completely ignoring the fact that she’d been pegged correctly as a Mahdfel spy. “But I couldn’t find you. Now that I have, we can-”
“We are not doing anything,” Alana said.
“I’ve got a plan to get the Misery back,” Bright said.
“I don’t need the Misery. I need the cargo. Fuckin’ Rutra can have the Misery,” she said.
