“Shadow’s good. We haven’t gone in to see him yet, but Dad said he just pushed it too hard in the bush.”
“He was in the outback that whole time?” With a chuckle, Jack stretched his arms up, folding them behind his head. “That’s so Shadow of him.”
Sonya’s jaw dropped in an unwilling smile, and she turned her head away to hide it. He nudged her, and she caught his teasing grin in her peripheral vision.
“Yeah. So, we’re good here. Unless you need your colonel for something?” She didn’t want to be short with him, but it was easier to be sharp these days. He was a full merc now, and even when they’d been younger, bounding through the complex, he couldn’t have been anything else but a friend.
“You just worried about your brother, or something else going on, Furface?” He nudged her again, a wide Human grin on his face.
“Shut your skin flaps, Hewers,” she retorted, wrinkling her muzzle. “Just kid stuff. Nothing a merc has to worry about.”
“Sunny.” His voice leveled into seriousness. “You haven’t been a kid in years. What’s going on?”
“Ripley met a Zuul today.” She hadn’t meant to say it, but the words spilled out. “Dad told us some stuff about how he—how they brought us back, for the first time. Shadow fell off a roof. Been kind of a weird day.”
“Huh.” Jack blew out his breath, noting his agreement of her assessment. “The Zuul Ripley met, did they know your, uh…parents?”
“Don’t be a shite. You know Zuul have parents, like Humans do.” She shoved his arm, though he didn’t lose his balance nearly as easily as he used to. Better than thinking about how little she knew about Zuul family structures. GalNet had some information, but nothing truly helpful—Zuul had been part of the Galactic Union for a hell of a lot longer than Humans, and had spread throughout the galaxy accordingly. The resulting settlements had so much variety, it was hard to pinpoint what Zuul standard might be, and they couldn’t begin to narrow down what Zuul world they’d come from. Regardless, they were fairly certain she and her siblings hadn’t been grown in pods, so yes, they had parents.
“And?” he asked, unrepentant.
“And no, she didn’t seem to know our parents.” No one had ever heard of their people, given what their dad had said, nor had her parents mattered enough for anyone to reach out for them. “Did you really think that could be a thing? All Zuul just…know each other?”
“You know what they say.” Jack dropped his arms and spread them wide. “For such a big world, it’s a small world.”
“That’s not true of the whole universe, ya goose.” She lifted her lip in a half-hearted snarl.
“Is that why you’re upset? Do you wish she knew your parents? Or…do you want to…go with her?”
She was saved from answering by another footfall. Drake’s snarl was not nearly as half-hearted as hers, and Jack knew better than to linger.
“Glad to hear Shadow’s doing better.” Though he moved reluctantly, he moved, nodding to Drake. “See you all soon.”
Drake watched him go, eyes steady on the slightly older Human until the merc disappeared around the building.
“Let’s go back in.”
“I’m good here.” She closed her eyes once more, hoping her brother would make it easy and walk away.
Of course she knew better.
“Sonya. Shadow’s about to come out.”
“Drake.” Her voice rumbled in her chest, not quite a growl. “He’ll come out, and we’ll go home, and I’ll spend plenty of time with him. If he can disappear to the wild for weeks, I can sit outside for a few minutes.”
“And talk to the Human?” Drake scoffed, turning away.
Her eyes snapped open, and he paused at her glare, staring back.
“Ripley ready to talk about the Zuul she met?”
Drake shrugged, breaking eye contact. “She asked if you were coming back in.”
She muttered a curse and stood, then fell into step with him without saying anything else.
They both preferred it that way.
* * * * *
Chapter 4
Karma Station, Karma System, Cresht Region, Tolo Arm
Chuuz floated through the transfer lock and into Karma station. She was immensely glad to be away from the Humans’ filthy planet and back to civilization. Of course, the first beings she saw as she moved into the promenade were…a group of entropy-cursed Humans. One nodded to her, and she gave a little snarl in reply as she floated past.
She met the cargo master and received her personal gear bag. To her surprise, a pair of humanoid, four-armed Lumar were running all the bags through scanners, under supervision of a Veetanho.
“What’s going on?” she asked the Veetanho.
“All cargo coming out of Earth is to be inspected,” the Veetanho replied.
“Why?”
“Orders of the Mercenary Guild.”
Chuuz had many more questions. She didn’t ask any of them. In the aftermath of the campaign against the Humans, a lot of collateral damage had occurred. She’d only heard about the direct incidents, such as shortages of combat-capable starships, and many merc companies abandoning their soldiers on Earth and its colonies. She should have known there’d be other side effects.
Everyone knew the Veetanho were in charge of the Merc Guild in all but name. While General Peepo had been forced into an armistice by the Peacemakers, she hadn’t been defeated. Chuuz had heard all manner of stories about the general. One said she was gathering forces to oppose the Peacemakers. Another said she’d been jailed by the Peacemakers. Still another said she’d been viciously murdered by the Depik in retaliation for crimes against their race.
Regardless of any truth to the rumors, Chuuz was nothing more than a freelance shuttle pilot licensed as a merc. She had no intention of pissing a Veetanho off. A
