“Farming? You?”
She threw her head back and laughed in her singsong voice that tingled up my spine.
“What’s so funny?” I said.
“Look at you!” she said. “You have the muscles and temperament to be a gladiator. You were born to fight. What are you going to fight in the fields? Corn?”
“I’ll fight the wind and the rain, and bad crops when they happen. I’ll never have to ride another ship, never have to worry about anything except bringing in my crops.”
Alice continued to shake her head in disbelief.
“Just because I was born to be something doesn’t mean I have to follow the trail fate chose me for,” I said.
She ran a thumb along my chin. “No, I suppose not. I’m just surprised. Happily surprised.”
“And to buy a good farm on Arcturon Prime costs fifty thousand credits.”
“How much do you have now?” Alice said.
“Not fifty thousand.”
“Are you close?”
“I’m on my way.”
She kissed me on the lips and peered deep in my eyes. She made me begin to stir and grow hard again.
“I’d like to see your farm one day,” she said.
“Until then, let me show you something else…” I growled and leaned forward—
A knock came at the door.
I leaped to my feet and placed Alice down gently. She grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around herself.
“Who’s there?” I said.
“Stryder,” he said on the other side of the door.
“Come,” I said.
“What?” Alice said, aghast. “No!”
She dived to the floor on the other side of the bed. Humans could sometimes be very strange creatures.
Stryder entered and looked me over. He paid no mind I was naked. When he glanced at the bed, Alice’s head popped up from the other side and quickly sank back out of view again.
“I’m here to inform you of a… surprising turn of events,” Stryder said.
I glanced outside and noticed Rattigan scratching his chin. His eyes flicked toward the bed and he licked his lips. The thought of him or his tongue anywhere near Alice made me feel sick to my stomach. I wanted to paint the walls with his blood.
“I’ll see you on the flight deck,” I barked.
“I’m afraid this can’t wait,” Stryder said. “The crew… well, they’re issuing you with a direct Challenge for leadership, sir.”
The news took me by surprise. The Challenge wasn’t supposed to happen until tomorrow.
“There must be a mistake,” I blurted.
I needed another full day to recover and gain my full strength. Even with the bonding, I wasn’t strong enough yet.
“They insist you come right away, Captain,” Stryder said, his voice tight in his throat.
“Who will I be fighting?” I said.
“Horn Tusk, sir.”
It wasn’t surprising. Horn Tusk was the biggest and strongest among the crew, even if he wasn’t the best fighter. Even though I’d been expecting it, anger flooded my throat.
“Very well,” I said. “I’ll meet you outside my quarters in five minutes—”
“Not in five minutes!” Rattigan said. “Now!”
“Do you expect me to fight naked?” I said, glaring at Rattigan. “I will dress in my uniform and meet you outside my quarters in five minutes. I am still your captain.”
The rat growled and hissed under his breath. “For now.”
Stryder shot me a look of concern before stepping outside. I slammed the door behind him.
It took me a moment to process what was happening. “Get dressed. We don’t have long.”
Alice stood up with the blanket still wrapped around her and got dressed without a word. With how she’d reacted at me letting my crew in, I thought she’d explode with fury.
We both got dressed. I glanced at her. It seemed a shame to cover up something so beautiful. I needed to focus. Our lives depended on what I said next.
I kept my voice low in case Rattigan pressed his ear to the door. “My crew have already Challenged me.”
“I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen until tomorrow?” Alice said.
“They appear to have moved it forward a day,” I said.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they think I’m already weak enough to defeat?”
I wasn’t sure of the reason but something had made them take action earlier than expected.
Something was going on.
I took her by the shoulders. “Listen to me. There’s something I need for you to do. Yesterday, we responded to a distress beacon. We took the survivors captive. They’re being held in the pods in the docking bay. Don’t look at me like that. I’m a businessman. They’re merchandise. Go down and release them. Tell them I’ll grant them their freedom if they help me fight my mutinous crew.”
Alice looked afraid. “What about you? You haven’t recovered yet. What will you do?”
“I’ll fight them for as long as I can,” I said, strapping on my weapons. “But you must hurry. I’m not at full strength and I can’t hope to beat them all. I’m counting on you.”
I pressed my lips to her forehead and tasted her for what might be the last time. I hugged her and prayed everything would work out. If I failed, I died. But that wasn’t what concerned me.
If I failed, a far worse fate awaited Alice.
I marched ahead of Stryder and Rattigan and had to keep reminding myself not to rush ahead. I needed to appear weak and easy to beat—even though doing so went against every fiber of my being.
I walked slowly, limping every few steps. It was protocol for the captain to walk ahead. Both Stryder and Rattigan had to follow. There was another benefit to moving slowly: it gave Alice more time to reach the docking bay and release our captives.
I should have been pumping myself up to unleash my full indignant anger out on the mutinous Horn Tusk and his cohorts but I couldn’t do it. I was too busy letting the previous few hours wash over me. At least I got to enjoy her once, had held onto her tight, two souls becoming one.
I didn’t know if humans felt the bond as deeply as Titans did.
