Without waiting for an answer, Blaize ran for the toolbox in her engine room. She grabbed the huge wrench she’d used for securing the shelves and lights with Veda and ran out of the ship. On the way, she called Bodi on her comm.
“What?”
“Send me Dez’s tracker info. He can’t go by himself. He has one hand.”
Dez had barely survived Varik’s last attack. If Blaize had to break rules and crack skulls to protect her captain’s mate, then she would.
It had nothing to do with Cifer being at risk. At all.
Chapter 23
Varik settled into his captain’s chair. It was the most comfortable spot on his ship, which he didn’t dare leave, even to rest in his rented room. Everything was going to plan. The cargo had been loaded. The next step: figure out how to get the crates of whiny kids on Cyra’s ship. Shouldn’t be that difficult. She seemed to have no trouble getting contracts. When he’d last spied on her, there had been a crew offloading pallets from the Kolben Mining Company. The fact that she was getting jobs so easily only served to motivate him even more. That bitch would pay for stealing his ship and for whatever she’d done to Jarn.
“Captain,” Karnek interrupted. “Something’s got the little fuckers agitated. They’re squirming around and acting weird.”
Varik crossed to the display at Karnek’s station. “What’s going on?”
The door to one of the crates opened. Varik ran toward the small cargo hold, Karnek close behind.
One of the brats ran and dropped from the open cargo door, not waiting for the ramp to lower. How the fuck had that opened? The rest were screaming.
“Check the locks.” Varik lurched toward the nearest crate.
Karnek fell back with an audible rush of air. Varik caught movement from the corner of his eye. He pivoted and swung his fist in an arc, connecting with flesh. A male materialized out of thin air. The same male that had exited The Treasure instead of Jarn. Cifer. That was the name Corvus had given him. Too bad he hadn’t mentioned the fucker could go invisible. A fist knocked all other thoughts from Varik’s head as he reeled back, balance lost.
Cifer’s limbs shot out, and his eyes widened before he dropped into a pile of flesh and bone, barely blinking.
“Got him.” Karnek grinned, holding up an electric stunner.
Varik reflected his grin and kicked Cifer in the gut. “Put him in the crate.”
Karnek lifted Cifer’s piss-covered legs, and Varik latched on to the invader’s shoulders, dragging his still-twitching body into the empty crate. Not a horrible trade, but he’d have to rethink moving the crates to The Treasure. A passel of whiny brats that didn’t speak Galaxian was one thing. A fully grown male who could identify Varik presented an entirely different challenge.
“Find the next flesh auction. Make sure Kolben Mining will be there. But not just their auction. I’ll have to offload the brats too.”
Karnek answered as he left the cargo. “Aye, Captain.”
“Wait.” The faint sound barely reached Varik’s ears. He turned his head toward Cifer.
“You don’t want to do this.” His eyes were wide, breath coming in pants. “I’m worth more than a single auction price. I have skills.”
For a grown man who recovered quickly from electrocution, he seemed panicked to be in a cage. He’d create more of a fuss than the brats if left as he was. Varik went to a cabinet and retrieved the sedative that hadn’t been necessary for the kids. He doubled the dose and held the injection wand down by the side of his leg. Careful to stay out of arms reach, he neared the overstuffed crate. “What skills are those?”
Cifer drew a large breath. His chest heaved, and his eyes closed. Varik had something that would calm him faster than any breathing technique. He jabbed the wand between the bars and nailed Cifer in the upper arm. Perfect hit. The rapid injector finished delivering the dosage before Varik could retract the device. A split second passed. Cifer’s eyes went wide, changing color to white with black lines, and then his lids shuttered and his body slumped.
Varik whistled a tune as he stored the injection wand. One of his smarter purchases, even if he had used it in an unplanned way. He left the softly crying kids huddling in the corners of their crates. Sometimes an example was more effective than punishment. He’d have no more problems with his cargo.
Chapter 24
Based on the speed at which Blaize was losing Dez, he had to be in a sled. She flagged down a transport.
“Where to?” the robotic voice asked.
Blaize checked the tracker. The only logical place Dez could be headed, based on the map with his glowing dot, was the remote garbage docks. The ones used mainly for offloading nonrecyclable waste to distant, uninhabitable planets. She voiced the command. Of course, Varik would be hanging out in what amounted to a dumpster.
She dug her fingers into her thigh to stop herself from rattling her foot against the vehicle platform. There was no way to make it go faster. The wrench rested on her lap. She clutched her data pad in the other hand, each moment making her more certain of Dez’s destination. Would have been helpful if Cyra had told her where Dez was going. But it wasn’t like she’d given the captain a chance.
Finally, the sled stopped at the entrance to the dumpster docks—the same place Dez had paused. He’d moved much slower since that moment. Blaize authorized the credit transfer and raced to catch up. As Cifer had explained, she wasn’t able to hide, so she might as well barge in. She caught up to Dez talking to a crying child, huddled behind a foul-smelling clunky ship that had probably been transporting the worst kind of waste for galactic years. Blaize swallowed back her gorge.
