On a Barbarian World (2 page)

Another grunt.

Aurina knew that was Ry’s “not going anywhere near that subject” response.

“Or maybe you’ll see what makes you happy is right under your nose.”

Ry blinked, staring down at her with his silver-gray gaze.

The man was crazy smart, but he could be obtuse when it suited him. Aurina shook her head. “Here we are.” The double doors to the bridge slid open with a hiss, and she strode inside.

The
Sky Nomad
was a large ship, but it didn’t require a huge crew. Her brothers had decked it out with some of the best tech available. As a result, the spacious bridge was manned only by a small group, and in the center of that, seated in the captain’s chair, sat Nissa Phoenix—formerly Captain Nissa Sander of the Galactic Security Services Patrol. She’d spent several years patrolling the galaxy’s edge, keeping law and order, and usually chasing Justyn’s smuggling ass around. She’d never caught him, but eventually, after years of being in love with her, he’d caught
her
.

Now, she was captain of the
Sky Nomad
, which had freed Dare up to be an even bossier convoy master.

Nissa swiveled and smiled. She had some reptilian ancestry, which was displayed in patches of bronze, diamond-scale patterns on her forehead and cheekbones, and a bald head. Her eyes were yellow, with an elongated black pupil. “Welcome home.”

Aurina lifted a hand. The rest of the bridge crew waved and called out greetings.

Justyn appeared, standing at his wife’s shoulder. “How’d it go? Find any profitable worlds, or new civilizations to trade with?”

“Not this trip.” She watched Justyn place a hand on Nissa’s shoulder, his fingers brushing the side of her neck. Such a small move, a tiny thing. But as Nissa leaned into his touch, Aurina realized it was so much more.

A hand descended on the back of her neck and squeezed. Not that same intimate touch, but comforting all the same. She tilted her head, and looked up at her oldest brother, Dare.

“Glad you’re back,” he said, voice deep.

Dare was your typical tall, dark, and far-too-handsome man. He left his dark hair long, framing his fallen-angel face. Add in his mercury-silver eyes, and he never lacked for female companionship.

“Glad to be back,” Aurina said. “But not for long. I still haven’t found a habitable rest stop. Got a couple of possibilities to check out, but I needed to refuel. Me and the
Ariel
.”

He nodded. “Anything else we need to know?”

“Yes. I found a little nest of space pirates. Tech’s old, but they looked relatively well organized.”

“Nissa, call up the maps, please,” Dare said.

“On it.” Nissa tapped on the screen attached to her chair.

The air in front of them filled with a three-dimensional hologram display of their star maps. Aurina took the small, thin glove Dare handed her, and once it was on, she waved her hand through the maps, moving to the location she wanted. “Here. Near this gas giant. The pirates are hidden on the third moon.”

Dare crossed his arms over his chest, and Rynan stood beside him, in much the same pose.

Aurina stared at them for a second. Handsome devils, all three of them. They’d inherited their father’s build and looks. They were only her half-brothers, but none of them had ever bothered with the distinction. Instead, they’d welcomed her with those strong arms of theirs. After her mother’s death, she’d been an angry, rebellious twenty-something, who’d gone gunning for the siblings she’d never known.

She’d assumed they’d lived the charmed life she’d been denied after Flynt Phoenix had spent a few nights with her mother, and left her alone and pregnant.

Instead, Aurina had found out that Flynt Phoenix had been a horrible father, and abandoned his sons as well. Worst of all, they’d ended up with a stepfather who made Flynt seem like Parent of the Year. They rarely talked about it, but she knew that compared to what Dare, Rynan, and Justyn had suffered, she might have gotten the best deal after all.

She cleared her throat. “Ah, I’ve also noted a few possible planets and moons with extensive mineral resources. No life forms, and most are uninhabitable.”

Dare’s lips twitched. “For your future mining enterprise?”

“Yes.” She made no secret of her obsession with geology and shiny rocks. She was keeping a great little record of the planets they’d passed or visited where she could one day come back and start mining. Phoenix Resources had a nice ring to it. “Okay, hang on while I tap into the
Ariel’s
comp system and download the rest of my data.”

She swiped her hands through the air, pulling up the correct commands.

“There. I’ve put the locations of the four possible rest-stop worlds I’m going to investigate.” She pulled off the glove and handed it back to Dare. “But first, I need fuel for the
Ariel
, then food and a shower for me.”

Justyn grinned at her. “I’ll take care of your ship…if you give me one of those Maltan emeralds you hoard away in the safe in your cabin.”

She raised a brow. “Do you know how much they’re worth? More than you can afford, you scruffy smuggler.”

“I’m not a smuggler anymore, remember? I’m a legitimate trader.”

At least he didn’t wince when he said that now. “You can have a Sulphran diamond.”

“Done.” His grin was huge. “They match the color of Nissa’s eyes.”

And it was then Aurina realized her smuggler/trader brother had just scammed her. “You wanted the diamond all along!”

He winked. “A good trader never gives the game away.”

Rogue. “Okay, I’m off to my quarters.”

Aurina traveled down several decks, heading to her cabin. She was going to override the water-saving timer on the shower and take a long one. She’d earned it. The damn thing was mostly mist anyway.

She rounded a corner and nearly mowed down a tiny body. “Hey there.” She grabbed the small girl’s shoulders to steady her.

“Hi, Aurina.”

The girl, about eight years old, had a wide grin on her face. She had skin the color of deep space, eyes that glowed green like the emerald Justyn had said he wanted, and adorable hair that was all corkscrew curls. “What are you doing down here, Tamra?”

The girl’s grin morphed into an annoyed frown. “I’m playing hide-and-seek with Rock. But I can’t find him. He’s too big and he always wins.”

Aurina crouched down to the girl’s level. “It isn’t about size or age, sweetheart. You have special skills that he doesn’t. You just have to use them to find him.”

The girl’s face screwed up as she pondered that. “Like what?”

“Well, you know I’m a scout, right?”

The girl nodded.

“So, I use my observation skills to be a really good scout. You have to look all around and notice the things that other people miss.”

“Okay,” the girl said slowly. She glanced down the hall. “But I don’t see anything, and I don’t see Rock.”

Aurina tapped the girl’s nose. “Don’t use your eyes. Everyone does that. Close them and concentrate.”

Tamra’s big eyes closed.

“Take a deep breath. Notice anything now?”

“It’s a bit cold in here.”

Aurina laughed. “So it is. Dare likes to keep it cool. What else?”

“I can smell you.” Her nose wrinkled. “You smell like daddy does after he’s been working at the factory.”

Sweaty, in other words. Aurina knew Tamra’s parents were from the impoverished manufacturing world of Mancha. Not so different from her homeworld. Tamra’s father was heavily enhanced to make him better at factory work—metallic arms to make him stronger and faster. Knowing their kids were destined for the same, hard menial work and a life of enhancements to keep up with other workers, they’d saved up for passage on the Phoenix Convoy. Hoping for a better life somewhere else.

“What else do you smell?” Aurina asked.

“Flowers.”

The last of Aurina’s perfume. “Anything else?”

“Loxian candy.”

Aurina tapped the girl’s nose again and Tamra opened her eyes. “And who likes to eat Loxian candy?”

“Rock!”

The girl spun, sniffed, and then raced over to a storage locker built into the wall. She yanked it open, and her ten-year-old brother tumbled out. “Found you!”

“Aurina helped you,” Rock said. “That’s cheating!”

“She didn’t. I smelled you.”

Aurina stood and ruffled both the kids’ hair. “I think you might find it a bit harder to hide from her next time. Now, your mother is probably looking for you both. Go.” She shooed them off and they waved and giggled as they ran down the corridor.

As they disappeared from view, her smile dissolved. She’d never played like that as a child. There hadn’t been time. Her mother had always been working, doing what she could to support them. They’d been really poor. Her mother had worked hard—so hard—to ensure they never went hungry and had clothes. And when Aurina had been old enough, she’d had a part-time job as well. There’d been nothing for anything extra or fun. No paints, no pretty dresses, no pretty, shiny things the girls from the wealthier parts of the city had worn in their ears and around their necks. Instead, Aurina had collected rocks she found outside and polished them until they’d shined. They’d been her toys.

Now, she had real gems—invaluable rocks and jewels.

She opened the door to her cabin. Inside, the lights clicked on and she spotted her bowl of polished rocks and her row of potted plants. They were drooping a little, because no matter what she did, they just didn’t thrive in the ship’s ventilation. One day she was going to have a garden. But for now, she was going to grab that long shower, then head out again in her ship.

Her life was good. And if she felt vague little niggles of dissatisfaction, she was just going to ignore them.

Chapter Two

“Safe trip,” Nissa said. “See you soon.”

Aurina sat back in her pilot’s chair, her concentration split between the control screen under her hands, and the viewscreen above. Behind her, the
Sky Nomad
and the convoy were getting smaller and smaller. Ahead, the sprinkle of white stars beckoned. “Thanks, Nissa. Tell Justyn I’ll be up for a game of crossfire when I get back.”

Nissa snorted. “He’ll want to win some of those pretty shinies you have. And he’s damned good.”

“I can take him. I’ll be home in a few hours.”

“Roger that. And Ry said to remind you to watch out for that meteor storm.”

Aurina heard the lazy amusement in Nissa’s voice. “Tell him I will, and I packed clean underwear, as well.” Aurina might complain about the overprotectiveness of her brothers from time to time, but she’d lived without them for so long that now she was grateful she had them.

She plucked a pale-blue stone from her pocket, and rubbed it between her fingers. It was a piece of Perman star crystal, and one of her favorites. It wasn’t worth as much as her gem collection, but the color and the smoothness pleased her. She found it soothing to work it between her fingers.

She focused her attention on the scan data flashing up on her screen. She had four possible habitable planets on the long-range scanners. The convoy needed somewhere to rest and recharge, and it was her job to find it. They needed breathable air, water, and a place to stretch their legs. Food was a definite bonus.

She imagined a nice, lazy stroll through a grassy field, or maybe some trees. Her stomach tightened. She really wanted that. They’d long ago realized that too much time cooped up in starships sent people a little crazy. People started making bad decisions, and fighting amongst themselves. Dare liked to stop the convoy at regular intervals. Near the galaxy’s edge, they had planets and stations they knew that catered to convoys.

But out here—she eyed a multi-hued nebula in the distance—it was uncharted territory. They didn’t know the planets, or what species they might come across. Okay, so which of the four planets to visit first? She repeated a little nursery rhyme from her homeworld and stabbed a finger at her screen. It landed on the image of a large, blue-gray planet her comp had dubbed B1.

B1, it was.

Before long, she passed a small planet with a good-sized rocky moon. Her scanner bleeped. She leaned forward. The planet was uninteresting, and not habitable. But the moon had some fascinating geology. She studied the results. It looked like deposits of nember—a rare and valuable ore that could be made into a dark, heat-resistant metal.

Then she frowned. There were also some strange radiation readings. She tapped her screen. Very strange.

An alarm beeped, and her heart kicked in her chest. Dammit, the radiation was frying her shields. She tapped the controls, sending more power to the shields.

The alarm stopped.

She released a breath. Close call. She had them on occasion. That was part of being a scout.

Over the next few hours, she passed another planetary system with no promising life. One planet was covered entirely by water, and her readings picked up some very large aquatic animals under the surface. She itched to do a quick fly through the water and take a peek, but she was getting close to B1, and she needed to check out the planet. If it didn’t have what they needed, she planned to head to the not-too-distant A1, then the final two planets, before she headed back to refuel and report.

Soon, the blue-gray orb of B1 appeared in the distance. It looked pretty from here, but scans showed it was a fairly rocky world, with small amounts of water. There appeared to be some rocky, mountainous areas with little vegetation, as well as some gentler meadow areas with small lakes and some low vegetation.

Suddenly, lights started blinking on her console. An alarm started an insistent beep.

“Damage to internal systems,” a modulated computer voice intoned. “Multiple system failures.”

What the hell?
Aurina stiffened in her seat and tapped the screen. She pulled up a schematic of the
Ariel’
s systems.

When she saw red lights blinking on just about every system, her stomach did a slow roll. “Computer, what’s causing the damage?”

“Radiation damage to key components.”