“Sealing second stowage door,” Alred said, some of his personality leaking back into his voice as the door shut. “I’ve set their flight path to take them far away from here. And also made their ship uncomfortably hot for the duration. Because I can.”
Even from here, Garnet heard the sound of something sealing. The vacuum of space, now safely locked away, was no longer a threat. The ship jostled a bit as something big moved outside.
“They’ve detached, captain,” Alred said, winking into place beside them, arms folded neatly behind his back, looking positively jovial. “Their system was quite nice, actually. Recently updated. Very comfortable.”
“You were in their system?” Garnet asked.
“That’s my job during a fight.” He inclined his head to her. “Since they attached to us, they forged a connection I can use to go aboard and take control of their ship. I don’t do anything too bad. Usually just make sure that they can’t fire on us as they’re leaving and that they do, in fact, leave.”
“Wow,” Garnet mumbled, surprised. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Oh, I can do many things. And speaking of,” he chuckled, his light form seemingly oddly, smugly amused, “may I say, a wonderful showing from Garnet. Who knew a little human could pack such a mighty blow? I’ll enjoy rewatching that vid later.”
“You recorded that?” She sputtered, laughing.
“As if I’d miss it. I’m choosing it as my movie when it’s my turn to pick on our next vid night. The pirates are fleeing, by the way. I’ve sent notice to Rok that he and Goldie can emerge now. I’ll just go run diagnostics, make sure there’s no permanent damage.”
“Good work,” Tanin said, inclining his head before Alred blinked away.
Garnet grinned, crossing her arms. “I just survived my first pirate attack. Cool.”
Tanin turned to face her. “Why didn’t you seek shelter with your sister?”
“I haven’t let someone stand in front of me for a long time,” she said, grinning. “And I promised I was never going to let it happen again. If there’s a fight, I’m going to fight it. And don’t think I didn’t see you down there pulling some impressive moves yourself. That guy you threw had to weigh twice what you do.”
Tanin grunted. “My species is small by Coalition standards, but we make up for it by being the strongest in relation to body mass.”
“You’reconsidered small?” She grinned, looking him up and down. “Not by my measurement. You look just right to me.”
His eyes flashed as he turned to her. “Dangerous games you play, Garnet.”
She snickered, biting her tongue. “I told you. I don’t run, and I don’t hide. I go for what I want.”
He made a sound deep in his throat that made her shiver. He looked her over himself, though his gaze wasn’t really flirty. It was more clinical. Exacting. Like he was searching for something.
She held her head high. Not knowing what he was going to find, but not at all ashamed about what she had to offer.
“You really want to be part of my crew?” He asked at last.
She perked up, beaming. “Absolutely.”
“Are you willing to follow my rules?”
“Get the job done, let you inspect everything, and no killing.”
“No killing without permission,” he corrected.
She inclined her head. “Ah. My bad. No killingwithout permission. Although, now that you’re bringing it up again, if the pirates didn’t find just some ordinary, run of the mill, everyday delivery boys, who exactly did they stumble upon? Why does the no killing thing need to be expressly stated as a rule?”
Tanin leaned over her. Teasing her with his closeness. He was near enough that she could feel his body heat, but not his body, and it was a delicious kind of tease.
“You want to be on my crew or not?” He asked, whispering the words. Ghosting them over her lips as he tormented them both.
“Are you a crew of murderers?” She whispered back, a thrill going through her, because she honestly didn’t know the answer. But she also wasn’t afraid.
‘Without permission’ implied that there was killing, but only if sanctioned by Tanin. And she had no idea where he thought he got the authority to declare murder to be alright, but he was obviously comfortable wielding that power.
And that’s why she wasn’t afraid. Tanin might be a killer, but he was controlled. Like a gun – dangerous but focused, targeted. He wasn’t going to go out killing anyone for fun. Killing was only allowed with permission. And those pirate guys hadn’t earned that permission, even if they wouldn’t have extended that same courtesy in turn.
