Drifters' Alliance, Book 3 (16 page)

She shrugs. “You might want them there one day. They’re there if you do, not if you don’t. They’re so light you won’t even know they’re there otherwise.” She moves in closer and takes my hand. “Never underestimate the power of your femininity, my dear. Trust me on this. It could save your life one day.”

“Okaay.” She’s close enough to kiss me now, so my heart rate increases uncomfortably. I don’t want to insult the woman who gave me this incredibly cool gift, but I also don’t want to start a make-out session either.

Unfortunately, my thoughts aren’t strong enough for her to read them. She leans in and kisses me quickly on the lips before backing away, leaving traces of fruity and flowery scents behind.

Her kiss wasn’t nearly as awful as I was imagining it would be. Of course it wasn’t meant to get me riled up, either. I suppose if she wanted to do that, though, she could. She is a professional, after all.

“So … time to go home?” She turns sideways and gestures for me to step out into the corridor.

Thankful that the almost awkward moment between us has passed, I allow my mind to move on from its preoccupation with kissing. “What’d I miss while I was out?” I take a few experimental steps toward the door and find my legs are working just fine.
Sweet.
On my way out, I snag my boots that are lined up just inside the door and dance around first on one leg, then the other, putting them on. The girls walk by me, assuming I’ll catch up.

“We’ve worked out the details for our plan. Sorry you had to leave the meeting early. If it makes you feel any better, Beltz wasn’t in any shape to continue either.”

My boots are on and I’m behind the two women as they move down the corridor. “How is he now?” I’m worried I might have gone a little too far with the whole strangulation thing.

“He’s fine. His head is a little smaller, and we all thank you for that.”

Talking to Alana’s back is way easier than talking to her face. “What’s the story with you two?”

“Noticed the tension, eh?” She turns and shares a smile with me.

“I would have to be deaf and blind not to.”

“We’ve never been intimate, if that’s what you want to know.” The way she says it makes me nervous.

“Want to know? Me? No, that’s okay. You don’t have to tell me your business. I was just curious.”

“You like him.” She stops in the hallway and turns to stare at me. Olina waits ahead of us.

“Like him?” I shrug, trying to play it cool. “Sure. He’s a smart guy. Helpful.”

“He’s strong, pigheaded, and sly as the Devil himself. But if you like that kind of thing, I think you could snag him.” She starts moving down the hall again.

“Snag him?” I laugh. She makes it sound like I’m a hunter and he’s my prey. “Like, lay a trap for him?” I find the idea not completely unappealing, which is kind of scary. I’ve never wanted to trap any guy for any reason other than to take him down, and definitely not into a bed with me.

“In a manner of speaking. If you ever want lessons on luring the harsher sex, you know to come to me, I hope.”

What does a girl say to a whore who’s offering her man-trapping lessons? “Uh, yeah. Sure. Okay. Thanks.”

“You shouldn’t be afraid of your sexuality,” she says as we round a corner that will lead us to the airlock.

“I’m not.” Actually, I’m not even sure I’m clear on what she’s talking about, but I’m more worried about her elaborating than about not knowing.

“Good. Because in all the years I’ve lived in this galaxy as a drifter, I’ve found no greater, more powerful currency than what’s between my legs. It has brought me far, and it will bring me farther than most of the people in our Alliance could ever dream of.”

“I think you’re undervaluing what’s between your ears,” I say, feeling a little sorry for her. I’d hate for my hootie to be the thing I was depending on for survival. If that were the case, I’d be dead tomorrow. Before I got my body busted up by Beltz, Alana was proving herself to be pretty sharp in that meeting, so I don’t know why she thinks her womanhood is her best asset.

“Not at all. That’s the beauty of using other parts of your body for currency. It opens the door for your brain to do the real work of diplomacy and negotiation. You can’t negotiate through a closed door.”

Not only is she making sense, she’s making me worried that she’s a lot sharper than I am. If she decides to come after me some day, I’m not sure I’ll see it coming. “Good thing we’re on the same side.” I’m wondering if her little speech is some sort of warning of her future plans.
Is she planning on taking over the OSG, one penis at a time?

She stops just before the cargo area and turns to smile at me. “Yes. It is, isn’t it?”

I have a feeling her little comment is loaded with secondary meaning, but I really don’t have any idea what it is. I nod, waiting for her to elaborate or share more girly secrets with me. I don’t get to share girl talk very often, and it’s always enlightening. I’m starting to think I’ve been guilty of underestimating the fairer sex my entire life.

Her voice softens and she comes very close to me. If I’m not mistaken, she’s trying to make everyone standing around watching think that we have something hotsy totsy going on between us, when what she’s really doing is making sure no one but me can hear her.

“Watch your back. Trust no one. Be smart. Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut.”

I nod.

“We’re going to Centurion 4 together. I’m going in first while the rest of the Alliance crews help get your ship together. Then you’ll arrive. I’ll have my crew in place. You’re to go to the bar where you won the ship and await further instructions.” She reaches up and smoothes down the front of my jacket just above my boobs. It’s an intimate gesture, but it doesn’t bother me. I know she’s being a sneaky bitch right now, and I’m cool with that.
Us bitches have to stick together.

“Our goal is to get the story behind what Tremblay planned to do with the schlafhammer.”

“Sleephammer,” I say, smiling.

She pinches my cheek. “I adore you.” She leans in and kisses me on the mouth, only this time, it’s more intimate than before. I can feel the softness of her lips, and it’s not entirely horrible. I freeze in place, worried that any move on my part will be taken as the go-ahead to make this a bigger deal than it is.

She backs her head away and smoothes my cheek with her fingertips. “I would love to get you into my bed. I could teach you so much.”

I put my hand over hers and wink. “Probably not in this lifetime, but I appreciate the compliment for what it is.”

She leans back and laughs, letting her hand slide out from under mine as she takes a step into the cargo bay. “She’s ready to go,” she calls out to the crewmembers standing around. She pads over on bare feet to join her bevy of beauties standing at the base of a set of stairs. I have to admit that there’s a very small piece of me that wishes I were joining them. They look so happy and self-assured, comfortable in their own skin.

The people from my ship slowly filter over to meet me in the middle of the room. Olina peels off from the group and makes her way over to her parents. Lucinda is the first one in front of me.

“You feeling better?” Her eyes scan me from my boots to the top of my head and linger there. “Nice ‘do.”

“Yep. Better than ever.” I make a quick scan of my crew. Lucinda is standing stick-straight, looking at the airlock as if it’s the only place in the world she wants to be right now. Macon is staring at the whores, his mouth hanging open. Gus is right next to him, and his face is back to normal, although I’m not sure he has as many freckles now as he had before; but at least he doesn’t have the burns and open sores anymore. Jeffers is standing off to the side with Baebong talking softly. The only one not here is Tam. “Where’s our shadow?” I ask no one in particular.

“
Tam
is on the ship,” Gus says. “He didn’t feel comfortable here after you told everyone his business.” There’s an accusation there that I’m not going to address right now. There’ll be time for a come-to-captain meeting when I’m back where I belong.

“Fine. You guys ready to head back?”

Jeffers nods. “Yes, we are. The crew of the DS Osiris has been very hospitable, but we’re all anxious to be home.”

“I’ll bet they have.” I grin knowingly at him.
 

He clears his throat and drops his gaze to the floor.

“Not as hospitable as you’d expect,” Macon mumbles.

Poor Macon. Can’t even get laid in a whorehouse.
I manage not to laugh at his misery.

“Home,” I say. “That sounds good to me.” I lift my head and catch Beltine’s eye. “You ready to take us back?”

“Yep.” She flips her cowboy hat up onto her head and strides across the cargo bay to the airlock.

Before following her, I walk over to the captain of the DS Huna and his wife. After bowing at the waist for a moment, I stand with my hand on my chest. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking care of not only me but my crewman as well.”

The captain puts his hand over his heart in return. “It was our pleasure. I hope you are not too angry with me for removing your scars.” He looks at my arms, but he doesn’t seem too broken up about his mistake.

I don’t want to sound ungrateful, so I try for a smile. “It’s no big deal.” I turn my attention to Kimo. “I told your daughter Olina that I have space on my crew for a healer, and I have a slant-eye who could use a little excitement in his life. He’s single, and while I can’t speak for his hand in marriage, I can provide all the opportunity Olina would need to get his attention.”

“Thank you, Captain, for your offer. She did mention this to us, and we have agreed to discuss it.”

I nod. “Great. So … how much do I owe you for the MI services?”

“It has already been taken care of,” says Kaiholo.

“Lucinda?”

He shakes his head. “Beltz.”

I lose my smile. “He paid you for both patients?”

“He did.”

“He had no right to do that.”

“You can take that up with him. I needed the parts for my ship, though, so I’m grateful to him for the trade.”

“Well, I’m paying him back.” I hate that people are going to think I’m beholden to him.

“That is your decision,” Kimo says, “but if it were me, I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to do that. He is the reason you were hurt, and he has accepted that responsibility. To pay him back that debt would be the same as saying you either want war or a closer relationship.” She pauses. “Of course, if you do want either of those things, no one would blame you …”

I shake my head. “No. That’s fine. I’m good. I’ll just … leave it.” I’m going to discuss this with Jeffers later. I have a feeling he’ll be able to make more sense of it for me than I’m able to myself. “Anyway, thanks again.” I bow once more and back away as they nod and smile at me.

I have to jog to catch up with my crew who’s almost all the way through the airlock and onto Beltine’s PC. Even though I owe Beltz a debt I’m not sure how to repay, I still feel like a million credits. In the back of my mind I’m a little sad that Beltz didn’t see me leaving here looking like it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

THE ACTIVITY ON MY SHIP reminds me of a beehive. There are people everywhere, each of them being very industrious. After a full twenty-four hours of rest for everyone, all but the most critical crewmembers from the other Alliance ships have arrived to clean my hull, remove the disturbing devices that were installed by unknown entities, and work on updating our systems.

“Romulus,” I say, pulling the old man aside as he’s working on pulling out unnecessary and outdated equipment from my cargo hold, “I hate to talk finances, but I’m worried about payment for all this work that everyone’s doing.”

He straightens and massages his lower back. “Not to worry. We discussed it when you were otherwise occupied in the medical bay and agreed that our Alliance is only as strong as our weakest link.” He pauses to look around. “No offense, but your ship, the way it’s limping along and bound to break down at any moment, is definitely a weak link. And with the OSG looking for you over that schalfhammer incident, we can’t have you defenseless. It’s a liability for everyone, not just you and your crew.” He pats my arm. “One day you’ll do the same or similar for me and my crew. I’m not keeping score.”

“Wow. Thank you. Thanks to everyone here.” I find myself a little choked up and can’t continue. I’ve lived so long fighting for what I need, it’s almost overwhelming to be gifted with so many things. A dark part of me is telling me I’m not worth it, that all of these people will regret being so nice to me in the future. I try to ignore that voice, though. Now is not the time to be engaging with my darker side.

He goes back to working without another word, and I leave to find Lucinda. I know Romulus said that all of this assistance was supposed to be a favor to me, but I can’t just take all of this labor and effort for nothing. Heck, they’re even giving me parts. It’s too much. I feel the strong need to shower them with gifts from my biogrid.

I find our green goddess —as everyone has taken to calling her— in her green palace, messing with the door’s keypad.

“Trying to figure out how to lock me out?” I ask. We still have the issue of her grandfather to deal with, but as far as I can tell, he hasn’t spilled the beans to her. I’m relieved, because I already have too much going on to deal with a moody green goddess.

She scowls without removing her attention from the door. “No.”

“Listen, I was hoping you could do me a favor. Actually, it’s for all of us, not just me.” I figure I have a better chance of getting a yes by presenting it this way.

Her hands go still, but she keeps her eyes on her work. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ve been told that all the work going on right now is gratis, but I’m not cool with having that big IOU hanging over my head. Is there any chance … ?”

“… That I could put together some offerings to compensate them for their labor and parts?” She looks up at me for a second before going back to her lock problem.

“Yes. How’d you know that’s what I was going to say?”

“Because. It’s exactly what I would say in your position. Owing people in the Dark is dangerous. I’ve already gathered most of it. I just need to fix this door and then I’ll be ready to finish.”