Page 7 of Relyn
Relyn sat across from Thred and held his cards close to his chest. It was a losing hand, but perhaps, if he played it right, he could actually turn his luck.
Xeron stood at his back, no doubt, trying to glance at his cards. He and Thred were notorious cheats and had gambled their way out of being welcome on more than one ship. How they’d not been shoved out an airlock before now was probably due to Xeron’s excellent bribery and negotiation skills. He possessed the brains of the pair.
“I’m waiting for an answer,” Relyn prompted. Thred had obviously been trying to push the bet, not being too aggressive, to avoid scaring Relyn away. But Relyn had swiftly matched his last bet, without hesitation, and that had made Thred nervous. He kept looking up at Xeron, who was waiting impatiently for Relyn to accidentally reveal his cards.
“I’m going to raise,” Thred said tentatively.
Relyn let a slow smile creep onto his lips and he reached for his chips, even before Thred announced the amount for the bet. Yes, that shook Thred’s nerve. He faltered and then shook his head.
“No, I’ll stay. Push. Show me.”
Relyn laughed and quickly shoved his cards back in the deck. “Fold,” he said as he picked up the chips in front of him and walked away.
“Wait, what? What did you have?” Thred asked. “What did he have,” he asked Xenon. “I thought he had something. Did he have anything?”
Hopefully now the pair wouldn’t peg him as a target for their incessant gambling and cheating scheme. Ever since he’d come aboard a month ago, they’d been dying to get him to sit down at a table and play.
Relyn rarely gambled, and when he did, it was more for watching, learning tells and gathering information than it was for actually trying to win. He only played with the money he had and could spare to lose, and never went into debt to anyone. It was a tool for fitting in and nothing more.
He went back to his quarters and closed the door. Looking around he saw only a few personal touches, and those were of Rel, the Sangrin shady muscle for hire aboardAlana’s Misery. Officially the Misery was a cargo vessel running under a Georgun license. Unofficially, it was rumored to be one of the couriers of illegal traffic, mainly of slaves. So far, as a new crew member, he’d not been included in that layer of illegal activity. Most of the actions he’d seen aboard were mostly legal. Minor bribery, a few customs violations and a less than accurate flight plan through Mahdfel space didn’t exactly qualify for taking down the entire crew, when there would be bigger charges ahead.
His quarters had a small rucksack with clothes, a larger one full mostly of knives, and a top of the line laser rifle. He carried a pistol strapped to his hip, as did most of the crew. The knives were mostly for show, as they were not his weapon of choice, but Relyn was good with them.
He stared into the mirror for a moment. Rel wore Balcore’s face, but his frame was slightly smaller, slightly taller, to hide his Mahdfel origin. No, he was simply a Sangrin, a fit and muscled one, but not genetically altered to be a soldier. That would make him too threatening. This particular branch of the trafficking ring was smart. Other Mahdfel agents were unable to penetrate their inner circle, and Caldar had warned him. The previous two Mahdfel that had tried had disappeared without a trace. Rel would succeed where the others had failed.
There were rumors that there were direct Suhlik links at the end of this ring, which was another reason he chose to honor Balcore. Relyn would embed and slow play his way into the inner circle, but first he needed to catch the eye of the captain, which had not been an easy thing to do.
There were over a hundred crew on board and to seem overeager to meet personally with the captain would make him seem suspicious. No, he needed to keep his head down and ears open until the right moment came along. Caldar had taught him that patience brought the greatest rewards, even though sitting around, being ordinary, was sometimes quite tasking.
The captain and his closest subordinates were all Georgun, an odd species that resembled Relyn in some ways. They were jelly-like, and could form their body into whatever shape they chose, but could not change the color or texture of their mass. Most chose to emulate the bipedal species that were the most popular in the galaxy. People tended to be more at ease when talking to something that walked and talked like they did, rather than talking to a pool of goo on the floor. There were no Mahdfel Georgun, which caused Relyn to speculate that perhaps he had once been Georgun, until the Suhlik had played at switching around his genes.
Georgun females were not suitable genetic matches for Mahdfel, so they kept their distance in a loose association withthe Mahdfel. There was a treaty of assistance in case of an invasion, but not active protection. It was sort of a I won’t bother you, if you won’t bother me type of arrangement, which made them the perfect go betweens and couriers.
Relyn studied the face in the mirror. Dark brown eyes framed by strong cheekbones and a equally strong chin. He wore his hair long. It was a purple so deep it bordered on brown. He could change the length at will, but this was the length that most females found attractive. Most females seemed to find everything about Balcore attractive. Perhaps that’s why Relyn chose his face more than the others he had collected. Female attention was useful when gathering information. They liked to talk a lot more than most males, who often felt they had to compete against him.
There were no female crewmates on board Alana’s Misery, and Relyn suspected that had something to do with Alana. He had yet to find someone who would fill him in on the full story, though. He just knew a ship full of lonely and undisciplined males led to plenty of fights and lots of alone time in their quarters, seeing to their own needs.
Relyn had negotiated his own quarters on board as part of his salary. Others had to share and listen to each other pleasure themselves from their bunk. Not that Relyn needed to pleasure himself. As Rel, he could perform the act, had done so on multiple occasions, but it was only for show. He had no idea if he was even capable of reproducing, of finding a mate.
Caldar had reassured him that all species of Mahdfel had the same drive. It tied them all together. When they found their mate, instinct would take over, and they would claim their female as their own. Surely, as a Mahdfel, he would have this same drive, when he was ready. Relyn had purposefully not applied for a mate for two reasons. First, living a life of lies and deceit, even for a noble purpose, was no place for a mate.Secondly, despite Caldar’s words, Relyn feared that he would be the one Mahdfel that could not have a mate. After all, he didn’t even have a true face. How would a female feel waking up each morning, each time to a different face, or worse, a pool of purple black goo?
No, it was best to put off thoughts of a mate to later, much later, when his years of dangerous service were in the past. He could then settle on one face, and live the rest of his years in peace.
Now was the time for action. His com said as much. Apparently the captain wanted to see him.
Chapter 4
Nora
Gena wasn’t in class the next day, but that was not surprising. The lottery generally took a good part of the morning, and the school treated it as an excused absence. She was tempted to call, but didn’t know if she could take bad news today.
The surprising thing was that Marco was not in class. He wasn’t in detention either. And that was worrying because she’d checked the computer and he’d shown up for homeroom and Period 1. Marco was not the type to cut class in the middle of the day. She drove home, taking a slow roll past his house, but his porch was empty and there was no sign of him inside.
Nora pulled into the drive and then got out of her car. She grabbed her bag and then noticed something on the porch. It was a tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice. All the alarm bells went off in her brain as she picked it up and went inside. She closed the door behind her and dumped her bag. She logged into the school system and searched for Marco’s number.
It rang for a nerve jangling long time before he finally picked up on voice.
“Hey, Mississippi, baby, I’m a little busy. Can’t come over and give you a little somethin’ somethin’ right now, if you know what I mean.”
