How had we managed to get ourselves buried so deep inside it? I wanted to berate someone and assign blame but that wouldn’t exactly help. I needed to solve the problem. Fast.
“Damage report,” I said.
“Minor damage to the hull,” Horn Tusk said with a snort. “Nothing serious.”
But even a single shard could spell disaster for a ship if it pierced the engine’s fuel cells. I’d seen it happen many times over the years.
“Shall we plot a course out of here, Captain?” Rattigan said.
“Negative,” I said. “Put a map of our location onscreen. I want to make sure we’re not treading on anybody’s toes.”
When you were a smuggler, you were never the fastest or the strongest. Our strength lay in our skill to avoid confrontation in the first place. We carted items of a… delicate nature across the galaxy. The only thing worse than being late for a delivery was getting caught.
We were already criminals, so we might as well break a few minor laws while we were at it… like passing through contested territory to save time, for example.
The map on the screen showed we were in a band of contested space between the Trongrox and Vestroil. They’d been at each other’s throats since before they even had a word for ‘war.’
“Take us out on the Vestroil side,” I said.
“But that’s further away, sir,” Rattigan said. “It’s much easier to traverse a course to the Trongrox side.”
“The Trongrox are far more aggressive,” I said. “If they find us, we’re as good as dead. At least the Vestroil will listen to us before they blow us up.”
“But—”
“Since when did this become a democracy?” I barked. “Do as I say. Now!”
Rattigan glanced at Stryder, who nodded, before turning to his terminal and plotting the course.
I didn’t like my authority being questioned. Once this was over, I was going to have to have a quiet word with Rattigan about whose orders he followed. I’d let him get us out of here first.
The image on the screen shifted back into the asteroid field. The ship took another blow and knocked us off course before Rattigan righted us again and weaved between the larger asteroids. A narrow gap opened up between two large asteroids.
“Go through it!” I ordered. “Now!”
A huge asteroid that might once have been a chunk of moon sailed forward to fill the gap.
Rattigan took us forward.
A third asteroid as large as a space dragon flew into view. Rattigan ducked the entire ship before pulling up and squeezing through the gap on the other side.
The crew whooped for joy, relieved we’d made it. They clapped the pilot on the back for a job well done.
I got up from my chair and approached Rattigan. The fool grinned at me before I belted him across his furry face, knocking him to the floor.
“Don’t you ever question me again!” I bellowed, standing over him. “When I give you an order, you follow it, do you understand?”
Rattigan glared at me and wiped the blood from his split lip. He nodded. Barely visible, but it was there.
I straightened up and glared at the others. They respected strength. It was about the only thing they did respect. I stepped back and felt that squirming gut-wrenching sensation in the pit of my stomach.
The sickness was upon me and delivered a gut punch that made me stagger to one side. I gripped a console before I fell sprawling to the floor. A high pitched whine rang in my ears as Stryder approached, reaching to take me by the arm. He spoke but his voice was distant.
I shrugged him off. “I don’t need your help!” I glared at my crew. “The next time you idiots steer us into an asteroid field, I’ll do you the favor of slamming head-first into the first meteor I see.”
I marched toward the door. “Stryder, you have the deck.”
I held my head high, my strides long and powerful. The only thing worse than being destroyed by an asteroid field was being killed by your own crew.
And I feared the chances of that happening increased day by day.
I marched off the deck and returned to my room. The instant the door slid shut behind me, I fell to my knees and emptied my stomach across the floor. My arms shook and I could barely keep myself from falling in it.
It’s getting worse, I thought. The sickness was overtaking me. It first struck almost three weeks ago when I visited Earth to find a set of six sexy human females for customers willing to pay my prices.
I shoved the bathroom door open and fell to my knees, throwing up in the toilet bowl. My stomach heaved, bring up lumps of—
Ugh. I didn’t even want to think about it.
The sickness gripped me the day I entered that Earth bar and began my scout. It was the sight of that girl on the dancefloor putting a hand to her mouth as she rushed toward the nearest exit that pushed me over the edge.
I ran into the backrooms and barely managed to find the male toilets before falling to my knees and praying to the god of ceramics.
I must have caught something. Easy to do when you traveled as much as I did. I was a transporter, which meant I was a glorified mailman. I ferried cargo from one place to another. Anything, really. So long as the price was right.
But there were other services I offered too, such as scouting for merchandise. I charged a premium but it was always worth the extra effort. I always liked to deliver the highest standard when it came to service.
I was getting on with the human female too, the one who approached me. What was her name again?
Alice.
That’s right. A tasty little number. I knew right away she was exactly what I was looking for.
Sometimes I got lucky and the fish swam directly to me. A shame I got sick. I wouldn’t have minded a little taste myself…
I emptied my stomach in
