Page 14 of Havik: Warlord Brides
“Two hundred.”
Not enough. Not even close.
“This is worth a grand, and you can sell it for five times that. Don’t insult me,” Thalia said.
“Insult you? Don’t insult me by dragging trouble to my door. Nicky is going to be looking for you, and when he shows up, I don’t want him to catch me holding the goods.” Despite Joyce’s firm tone, she didn’t shove the bottles back into the bag, so that meant she intended to buy but wanted to make Thalia sweat first. “Is there something wrong with my tea?”
Thalia took a swallow of the bitter tea without thinking. How anyone liked the stuff she would never know as green tea always tasted a bit metallic to her. “Nicky doesn’t know about the pills. I was careful. Five hundred.”
“I’m an old woman living on a fixed income.”
Thalia nearly snorted tea out her nose. “Don’t screw me on the price.”
“If you want a better price, you’re free to try your luck with Dirty Donald.”
So not happening and Joyce knew it.
“Four hundred,” Thalia offered, the low price cutting into her wiggle margin. She’d have to make quick cash when she got to her destination, wherever that was. “You know it’s important. I wouldn’t haggle with you otherwise.”
Joyce’s gaze softened. “You’re a sweet girl. Dumb. I wish you never got mixed up with that Nicky.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice.” Get mixed up with a bad man or starve. Those were the options.
“Three-fifty and you can crash on my couch. Tomorrow night, you get on a bus and you never come back. Deal?”
Thalia nodded. That sounded like such a good idea. Sleep had been elusive the last few days, what with the worrying for her life and planning her escape. “You know where I’d like to go?”
“Don’t tell me that.”
She had never seen the ocean. Her entire life, she lived less than seventy miles from the ocean, and she had never been. Fuck, she never set foot outside her city. Tomorrow, she could be on a bus headed to the shore. That appealed to her so much. “I'll send you a postcard.”
Thalia stood up from the table and grabbed the edge, her legs no longer able to support her weight and her head swimming. “What did…the tea…”
“I’m sorry, sweetie, but Nicky is looking for you and I can’t afford to be on his bad side. Just go to sleep. It’ll be over when you wake up.”
Thalia struggled to keep her eyes open, but every part of her body felt heavy and sluggish. Sleep seemed like such a good idea.
She slipped under.
Havik
Ren’s week stretched into two, then three, and ultimately lasted for two months. They lived and slept in the ship, despite it being less than suitable for habitation. The water had an alarming rust color, despite replacing the filtration system. From his bunk, Havik could hear rodents scurrying the ventilation overhead. Also, from his bunk, Havik could hear the discordant chimes and bells Ren used for meditation. Still, better to get used to close quarters while he had the opportunity to go outside when Ren wore his patience thin.
Not that being outside the ship offered much in the way of escape. They were still in the junkyard. The ship could barely lift off the ground, much less clear orbit, and they needed parts. Camping in the junkyard offered convenience if nothing else.
Problems plagued the ship from stem to stern. Rodents that disturbed Havik’s sleep had made a nest deep in the ventilation shaft. The kumakre proved useful in eliminating the rodents, but Havik worried the young beast would grow too rapidly. Since kumakre slept buried in the sand, he constructed a sand enclosure in the cargo hold. The creature would not outgrow the habitat. The power grid proved unreliable and had to be replaced before a surge fried all the delicate computer components. And the ship’s onboard AI had grown…eccentric in its old age.
While not a true AI, the operating system interface presented as an assistant. Typically, these systems were unobtrusive and nearly invisible unless triggered by keywords or actions. The computer constantly had corrections for Havik’s work, everything from the way he held a wrench to the distance he preferred the pilot’s seat from the console.
Ren found it amusing and refused to reinstall the AI.
With the last major repair completed, Havik took the ship out of the atmosphere and barely felt any turbulence as they left the atmosphere. They docked at an orbiting station because Ren had a craving for fried sea bugs, and they had some time while the ship refueled.
“Try one.” Ren pushed the plate forward.
Havik frowned at the breaded and fried sea bug. “No.”
“It’s a delicacy.”
