“We’re going to head out to Rigel’s Banter and request emergency repairs—and then we’re going to leave the wolves and their shuttles in the hangars, and fly the Marie right out of there.”
I turned, and there was Mack, standing in my doorway, holding a suit of light armor that was way too small for him, and another extra-protective under-suit.
“I thought you couldn’t get to those, because they were down in the armory,” Tens said, and Mack smirked.
“They were down in the armory, and I decided a rebreather would do the job, if I masked up okay.”
“Abby’s going to have your hide if you’ve let any of her precious gas escape.”
“Abby helped me do it,” Mack told him, and then added, “and I got you a couple of things while I was there. They’re in your cabin.”
I caught Tens sudden excitement, and then he clamped down on the link between us, and vanished out of my head.
“Come on, boy. You’re sharing my cabin until we get yours fumigated.”
Fumigated?
“Rohan was bunking down in the armory,” Mack explained watching as the pair of them walked away, their movements so similar it was like watching a Master and Apprentice stalk down the hall.
“He seems to be recovering well,” I said, following Mack’s gaze.
He handed me the gear.
“I left this year’s boots by your bed,” he said, and I felt a sudden spark of joy.
He hadn’t forgotten!
“Don’t tell Tens.”
But not even the thought of what Tens would make of it could dampen my happiness. I took my gear, and leant up to lay a quick kiss on Mack’s cheek.
“You going to see if they fit?” I asked, my thoughts bordering somewhere else, but Mack shook his head.
“No time, girl,” he said, taking several hasty steps back. “We’ve got a repair to organize and an unwanted cargo to dump—and then Case tells me we’re gonna want to be in pods for what she’s got lined up to wreck our trail. I need you in the command center in ten.”
Damn, well, then we really didn’t have time.
I hit the control panel beside my door and waited for it to slide open. Mack didn’t wait; he just turned and hurried away, as fast as he could go without running. Anyone would have thought he was trying to get away from me just as fast as he could.
The door opened, and I stepped through, trying to ignore the fact that Abby was laughing fit to burst inside my head.
“You have got it so bad!” she giggled, and I scowled, even though I couldn’t see her.
And then I saw the boots, and I forgot Abby.
These things were the absolute bomb!
“You’ve got three minutes,” Abby said, when I’d been sitting on the edge of the bed, holding the boots in my hands for way too long.
“Three!”
Shit! I hoped these things were good to run in.
12—Dumping Cargo
“Happy birthday, Cutter,” Mack said, when I came walking through the control center door.
“Yeah, happy birthday,” Tens and Case echoed, and then they spotted the boots.
“Holy shit!”
And Tens had glared at Mack.
“Just kitting her out, huh?” he demanded, “Because I saw how many pairs of boots—”
“These are different,” I cut in, not caring what he might think. “I really needed a pair like this.”
“Me, too,” Case said, and I couldn’t tell if she was being serious, or just yanking Mack’s chain.
Mack ignored her, either way. He shot me a smile that said he was glad I liked them, and then got right down to business.
“Cutter, you’re on nav and weapons, when we leave. We’re keeping pretty much everyone in stasis until we hit clear space, and then we’ll do a full muster and see how everyone is. After that, we start hunting down whoever put that contract out on us.”
“Any ideas?”
“Could be any one of a coupla hundred,” Tens said. “Mack’s pissed off a lot of people.”
Case smothered a snort, and made a point of keeping a very close eye on her boards. I decided to just get down to business.
“What about Abby?” I asked, and Mack smirked.
“Abby’s flying with us for a bit,” he said, and I got the distinct impression that Abby was flying with us by sheer dint of the fact she was somehow locked down in the Shady Marie’s shuttle hangar.
“And she’s liking it,” he added, a slight hint of defiance to his tone.
“Something about him not appreciating me borrowing you and—and I quote—making him chase me half way across the galaxy to where a bunch of wolves could get on board and make his life a misery,” Abby added, but she didn’t sound a bit worried by the fact she couldn’t leave, or the fact Mack might be just the tiniest bit unhappy with her.
I liked Abby.
“Like her all you like, kiddo, but she screws with my teleport system one more time, and she’ll need a whole new set of circuitry.”
Wow. And I thought Mack was pissed. Tens, now….
“Man has his reasons,” Abby cut in. “I may have to beg, before he’ll forgive me.”
The way she said it sounded downright dirty, and Tens face flushed ten degrees of red. Mack groaned.
“We don’t have time for this! Bellyful of wolves, remember?”
“You.” He pointed at me. “Plot me a course.”
Right. I was on Nav. That meant it fell to me to get us to Rigel’s Banter. I checked the fuel reserves, and pinged Case to see how much she needed me to leave for the maneuvers she was planning to use to get us out from under wolfish eyes when we were done. The number didn’t give me much room, but I worked with it.
“Rigel’s Banter,” I said, and laid in the course for Case.
“Nice,” she said, and I felt the Marie power up around me.
Mack said nothing, and Tens’s hands worked a fast tattoo across his console.
“What?”
“You do know how close that is to Star Eater territory, don’t you?”
I shook my head. I didn’t even know who
