Stark Pleasure; the Space Magnate's Mistress (The LodeStar Series) (40 page)

Scala laughed, shaking her head as if Kiri were naive. “You’re going back to that dirty planet to mess with a ganger? Girl, cut your losses and consider your luck starry that you ended up on this ship. There’s a lot worse rides you could have landed on.”

“Like what?” Kiri looked around at the scarred walls of the tiny room.

“Slave ships.” Scala gazed at something only she could see, her nostrils flared. “I’ve seen them unloading their sorry cargo in some of the toughest space ports in the galaxy. Pretty young things, boys and girls, herded like filthy, whipped beasts.”

Kiri swallowed hard, as dark memories swamped her.
 

Sibilant voices outside her sleep cubby. Murmuring in oily Galactic. “Here’s a fine one ... bring a good price ... take him and go.” Lying frozen in the light of the glowlamp, eerily cheerful in contrast to the red pool spreading under the door. A whimper, cut off sharply and then only receding footsteps ... and silence.

Her empty glass hit the floor and rolled with a small clatter. “
No
.”
 

She clamped her hands to her head, slammed backward in time as if in a time warp. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. Which was real, that world or this?

“Hey.” A warm hand smoothed her back. Opening her eyes, Kiri came back to the present with a gasp. Scala knelt beside her, frowning at Kiri in concern. “Hey, where’d you go, little Earther?”

“
Slavers,” Kiri choked. “They took ... someone. My brother.”

“Quark, you and yours have blackish luck, eh?”

Kiri tried to laugh. “Yeah, guess so.” And now she understood a little of how Kai must’ve felt when he was taken, as if he’d been ripped from his world and dragged into the void, possibly to be devoured.

Scala squeezed her hands, and then let go. “Well, enough of that skrog crap. You’ll be okay. We’ll get you to Frontiera, good place for the law-abiding. They got a sat-com system now that spots strange ships as soon as they come in range, I hear.”

“Are you staying there?” It would be good to have a friend while she sorted out what to do.

Scala smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “No. Let’s just say I’m one of the ones the sat-com system is supposed to keep out.”

“I’d vouch for you,” Kiri said. “In case anyone wants to listen to a barista.”

Scala gave her an odd look. “You’ve more pull than that, starry girl. Logan Stark is known throughout the galaxy. His ships are famous. Flew on one myself for a few months.”

Bitterness twisted her mouth, but then she moved her slender shoulders as if shaking off a bad memory. “Anyway, you see him again, you tell him Scala helped you out. Maybe that’ll even the score a little.”

Kiri wanted desperately to ask what the woman had done to anger Stark, but it was none of her business. The Serpentian had saved her when the loutish crewmen wouldn’t, so the least she could do was leave her privacy intact. She nodded.

“I will.” If she ever saw him again. If he wanted anything to do with her.

“Tell you what,” Scala offered. “Why don’t you bunk here with me for the rest of the voyage?”

Kiri looked at her in surprise. “You wouldn’t mind?”

Scala shrugged, a sly twinkle in her eyes. “You liven things up, you know?”

“Oh, great,” Kiri muttered.
 

Scala chuckled and Kiri found herself laughing with her. It hurt her throat, but it felt good. Really good.

***

Kiri confronted Captain Argo the next morning, bringing him a carafe of coffee flavored just the way he liked it, along with some bakery treats she’d found in a freezer and heated.

“I can get off on Frontiera, right?”
 

He gave her an innocent look that didn’t sit well on his rogue’s face. “Of course you can. Didja think you were a prisoner or somethin’ like that?”

She sighed, weary and bruised and unwilling to pretend with him. “I know Darkrunner paid you to take me,” she told him. “I just don’t know why.”

He frowned at her over his coffee mug. “Why, to keep you safe,” he said as if she were the stupidest crewman aboard. “From that old flame who was threatening to off you.”

So that was what Tal had told him. “Yeah, sure am glad to be safe from him.” She looked around at the cockpit of the ship. “Listen, say we actually make it to Frontiera, I want to know about another ship that will be landing, the
Orion
.”

He raised his grizzled brows. “Oh, wanting to ride high on the comet tail, are we? That’s one o’ them ships the rich ones ride, girlie. Not the likes o’ us.”

She managed a tight smile. “Yeah, I’m aware. Just need to know if she’ll be docking anywhere near us.”

“Frontiera City, that’s where all the big ships put in.” He gestured to a holovid. Kiri recognized the blue, green and white ball—it was Frontiera. A red laser dot blinked near the coast of the biggest continent. “Right here’s the port. And here’s us.” A yellow dot hung in space near the planet. “We land in four days. They land about … say five hours after us, not ‘cause we’re faster, but because they gotta stop on Cirrius and Indigo.”

He took a big bite of one of the pastries and sighed happily. “Oh, forgot. Darkrunner said to give you this.” He pawed through a pile of items on a desk, and handed her a small object.
 

“My comlink,” she said, holding it in her palm. Her heart lifted. She could link Stark and Taara and Rak—everyone. Let them know she was safe and well. And ask for their help getting home

“Thank you,” she said. Smiling at the captain, she pressed an impulsive kiss to his leathery cheek and then dashed away for the privacy of Scala’s cubby.

Her elation didn’t last long. Her comlink had been erased of all links, except one. When she tried to open the galactic directory, a tattooed face appeared on her screen.
 

 
Kiri closed the link and dropped the com in her lap, clenching her fists to her forehead. Her one remaining link was to the one being in the universe with whom she least wished to speak.

Chapter 36

Finally Kiri peered at the com again, to find the icon indicating a recorded message. Reluctantly, she opened it.

Tal gazed at her. “You got this, star baby, you know I erased your com. Before you link anyone, be sure you want to involve them. This is bad shit goin’ on. Get yourself where you’re goin’ and then link me. We’ll talk.”

Scala walked into the cubby as he was speaking. She stopped dead, staring at the image of the man hovering in the air. “Who in the seven hells is that?”

“The man who shanghaied me,” Kiri said bitterly. “Tal Darkrunner. Ganger lord and all-round black hole of male-dom.”

Scala sank onto the edge of her bed, running her tongue over her lower lip as if to capture the last taste of something sweet. “Huh. You forgot to mention how meteor-hot he is.”

Kiri glared at her.

The other woman spread her hands. “What? It’s the truth.” She disposed herself comfortably in her pillows. “Okay. Tell me what’s new.”

“My com,” Kiri held up the gleaming little unit. “Empty of all the links. And here’s what he has to say about that.”

She played the message again. Scala watched raptly. When the message was done, Kiri waited. When the Serp said nothing, Kiri tossed a pillow at her. “A little help here, please.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. You’re not gonna like this, but I think you should do what he says.”

“I was afraid of that,” Kiri said gloomily. “It’s so damn frustrating. I don’t know what he’s talking about. I don’t even know if I believe him!”

“Can’t see any reason why he’d make a move this drastic if he didn’t want to keep you safe,” Scala said. “He offered to take care of you at his place and you refused, right?”
 

Kiri gave her look for look. “Hey, you’ve met Stark,” she protested. “No contest, far as I’m concerned.”

“Yeah, and it’s a good thing I like you, or otherwise I’d be kicking your coffee-brewing ass out of here. Two of the hottest males in the galaxy after you.”

Kiri’s face heated. “So, you don’t think I should link any of my friends either?”

Scala shook her head. “We’re only five, no four days out. You hang on, wait til we get to Frontiera, then link your friends.”

She played with the tattered trim on one of the cushions. “You could probably link Stark now, if you want. Use my link to access the directory.”

“
No
.” Kiri was as surprised as Scala by her own outburst. She bit her lip, but shook her head stubbornly. “No. I … I can’t. Not yet. Need to sleep on that.” Maybe then she could face him without his callous words hanging between them.

Scala sighed deeply. “Males. Universe might be a much more pleasant place without them.”

At the moment, Kiri couldn’t see a single flaw in that logic.

***

Kiri was treated with new respect by the crew after the fight. It seemed no one, even the burliest men on board the
SixPac
, wanted to mess with Scala, and after hearing the damage Kiri had inflicted on her attackers, even Gravia eyed her with reluctant respect.
 

It helped that she kept them all supplied with strong, hot java.
 

Even so, the
SixPac
was an old scow held together with ingenuity and constant welding, and each day/night cycle seemed to hold a new kind of terror—on their fourth day out pirates were sighted, and all crew members were assigned lasers and flash grenades. Scala showed Kiri how to use both.

“If they can get past the laser cannons, they lock on with a flex-hatch,” Scala said as they crouched in the passageway with other crew. “Then they grind a hole through the hull, and throw in a stun grenade. If that happens, grab the nearest air-mask, and stay with me. I can keep you alive, anyway.”

Kiri nodded, but she could imagine all too well the things they’d have to do to say alive. She didn’t suppose pirates had much respect for baristas, even if she did make great coffee.
 

But the suspicious ship sailed past, and it was back to hard work and not enough sleep, of feeling increasingly grimier despite washing her body, underthings and top every night with tepid water and cleansing wipes.
 

Having survived yet another crisis, Kiri’s confidence grew. Maybe just from utter terror to damn scared, but still an improvement.
 

And despite Rak’s lessons and her years on her own, she hadn’t done any of it on her own. She’d had help, from Gim, from Scala, and from Lottie and Neda. They’d each stepped up to look after her, with no reward but friendship.

Even the first mate, Petr, a lean human with a long braid and an obvious penchant for Scala, smiled whenever he saw her. He’d showed up at Scala’s cubby, looking startled but then pleased to find Kiri there as well. Scala shook her head and told him to forget whatever he was thinking. He shrugged, eyes twinkling, as if she couldn’t blame him for hoping.
 

Trying unsuccessfully to cover her laughter, Kiri left them alone, going to have another cup of coffee in the common room. She ended up playing holodice with Gim and the Pangaean prostitute, whose name was Latal. He pouted when he lost and then winked at Kiri as he offered to pay Gim, the winner, in services. Gim turned a dull red and looked everywhere but at Latal. Kiri started to rise, but Latal stopped her with a sly grin and Kiri realized he’d only been teasing the shy cook.

Scala and Petr strolled in looking pleased with themselves and joined the game. Petr staked Kiri a small sum and they played for credit. By the end of the game, she had enough to repay Petr and buy everyone a salty snack from the vending kiosk.
 

“That was … fun,” Kiri said to Scala as they walked back to their cubby together.

Scala gave her a crooked smile. “Was, wasn’t it? There’re good beings out here, mixed with the bad. Sometimes you have to find your people where you can—when you can’t be with your own, I mean.”

Kiri looked at her with new respect. “That’s what you’ve done, isn’t it?”

Scala raised her dark brows. “Well, haven’t you? You don’t have any family in your city, but you must have friends.”

Kiri opened her mouth to disagree, and then stopped. “I do,” she whispered. “I have Maury, and Illyria, and now Taara.” Although their friendship had barely had a chance to begin.
 

Her dawning smile slipped as she remembered that she’d nearly begun to consider Logan and Rak and even Natan ‘her people’.
 

“And you’ll have more,” Scala said, opening the hatch to her cubby. “Wherever you decide to land. You’re that kind of person, Kiri te Nawa. You gather people around you. Hells, Gim would do anything for you—even stand up to that bitch Gravia, and she ruled the galley with an iron claw before you came aboard. Lottie and Neda like you.” She smiled wickedly. “And Petr too. He’d like a threesome.”

Kiri wrinkled her nose. “Um … no. Not my thing.”

Scala began to undress. “No matter. Anyway, I hope you find that brother of yours. But if you never do, you don’t have to be alone.”