Stanislav, who hadn’t said a word yet, though he could be communicating with Jelena telepathically, pressed a single finger to his lips. He appeared far more amused than exasperated, but it took a lot to exasperate him. He was the laid-back grandfather who spoiled Jelena and the twins. He sometimes grew stern when telling Jelena that she wasn’t studying hard enough or fulfilling her potential, but he never truly seemed irritated. Erick wondered if he knew about the sand snakes.
“From the looks of it, you should have been paid to take it off the owner’s hands,” Leonidas added. “Is the owner here?”
His eyes brightened at this thought, and Erick sensed him imagining a renegotiation, or even better, he would use his big cyborg muscles to convince the owner that Jelena did not, after all, have the right to negotiate on behalf of the family business, thus making the deal null and void.
“I can fix it, sir,” Erick said, though it pained him to hear the words coming out of his mouth.
He believed they were true, but how long would it take to make the freighter space-worthy again? He would surely miss out on his opportunity to take that job. Even after the overhaul, Jelena would need someone to fly along with her the first six months or more to make sure the ship was working reliably. Still, Erick didn’t like the idea of Jelena’s parents being disappointed in her. Given the funds they’d been allotted, Erick truly believed they had gotten a good deal. Even if the repairs cost a fortune, they would still end up paying far less than they would have for the brick in the used-ship lot. Making this freighter space-worthy again would just require an investment of time. His time.
Though he realized what he’d just gotten himself into, Erick lifted his chin and met Leonidas’s gaze squarely when it landed on him.
“You do?” Leonidas asked, sounding surprised.
“Yes, sir. We’ll have to buy a lot of parts, but it’ll still be more affordable than the other ships we priced.” Since Leonidas looked skeptical, Erick added, “It’s actually a newer ship than the Star Nomad. You and Captain Marchenko must have paid something for that back in the day.”
“We got the Star Nomad out of a junkyard. For free.”
“Er, oh.”
“Technically, Oksana paid for it once,” Stanislav said mildly. And a little wistfully. “Not much, as I recall,” he added with a smile.
Leonidas lowered his head and shook it slowly from side to side. “Why do I feel defeated?”
“Because you flew out here expecting a battle and didn’t get to pummel anyone?” Stanislav suggested, then turned his gaze in the direction of the city.
“No, that’s why I feel disappointed.” Leonidas lifted his head and looked back and forth from Erick and Jelena.
Erick kept his chin up and tried to appear earnest and trustworthy. He could get the ship working. And he would get it working. He stood by that. There would be another job offer one day. He could wait. Besides, if he didn’t help Jelena get her new ship flying—and make sure she stayed out of trouble once it was in the air—he would be a lousy surrogate brother.
“Would a hug help?” Jelena offered.
Leonidas snorted. “It might.”
“Oh good.” She trotted down the ramp and wrapped her arms around Leonidas’s armored shoulders.
He bent down to return the hug, and she kissed him on the cheek.
Erick shook his head. The things that girls got away with just because they were cute…
“Two shuttlecraft are on the way,” Stanislav said, his gaze still toward the dunes—or maybe he was seeing through the dunes. “I believe they are Alliance shuttles rather than representatives of the local authorities. They came down from orbit.”
“Oh?” Leonidas said. “Maybe I will get to pummel someone.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be a loyal Alliance citizen now?” Erick asked.
“I pay them taxes. How loyally I do it is debatable.”
“I’ll talk to them,” Jelena said. “I’m sure they’re just here to collect their cargo, which we bravely protected from dodgy ex-imperial soldiers. They’ll be grateful.”
Leonidas raised dubious eyebrows.
Stanislav smiled again and said, “I’ll make sure they are.”
He waved for Jelena to join him, and they left the ramp, walking out to the spot where the shuttles would likely land.
Erick, left alone with Leonidas, eyed him with concern.
“You really think you can get this rust bucket in the air again?” Leonidas asked.
“I do.”
“And you’ll stick around long enough to make sure it’ll stay in the air?”
Erick squirmed a little under his knowing gaze. Maybe Leonidas had learned about the job offer. Or maybe he just figured that now that Erick had graduated from the university, he would want to go off and pursue a career of his own, a real career.
“I will,” Erick said firmly. “I can wait another year before checking out other endeavors.”
“Good, because if we’re going to let Jelena fly a ship, she’ll need a voice of reason—and an engineer with magician’s skills—along on her team.”
Leonidas thought he was the voice of reason? And that he was a good engineer? One with magician’s skills, even? Erick felt warm at this acknowledgment of his abilities. Then a tendril of doubt wormed its way in. “You are talking about me, right, sir?”
Leonidas’s eyes crinkled at the corners, and he walked off toward the landing shuttlecraft.
THE END
