Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Elaine

“ H ey! Come back here,” I shouted at Onyx as he soared away, my Meat Flavored Protein Product hanging from his jaws. Who thought giving a cat wings was a good idea? If I ever find out who it was, I’ll give them such a smack.

I looked at my plate, nose wrinkling. Without the slab of meat protein, it looked even less appetizing than usual. Vitamin Slurry A, Potato Substitute with Cheez, and a glass of Drink, all of which somehow tasted worse than their names implied. In the glamorous life of an independent hauler, this counted as a quality meal. I pushed my plate away.

Sometimes I wondered if I was in the right trade.

“Fuck it.” My announcement fell flat in the empty mess, the only communal room aboard, not that I shared it with anyone apart from that thieving bastard, Onyx. “You aren’t getting away with it this time, you little shit.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love that black-furred bundle of trouble, but I had to budget my maker-credits until I got paid for this delivery and refused to give Onyx the most expensive item on my menu whenever he felt like it.

So I pushed myself off the metal table and out into the central corridor of the Dashing Rogue. No sign of Onyx there, and nowhere to hide. A tube of metal with only regular hand holds breaking up the monotony ran the length of the Rogue from the bridge at the prow to the engine room aft. Between them, it passed through every level of the ship. In theory, Onyx could be anywhere with his feast.

That wasn’t the issue it sounded like. With four of the five crew quarters sealed, and the last one mine, the residential level was safe. Aft of that, the gym had a level to itself, but it was bare, offering no hiding places. Then came the utility rooms, which scared Onyx. He’d have to choose between frighteningly wet (the showers), uncomfortably loud (life support), and his least favorite, the room that smelled wrong (medical). So he’d be in the cargo bay.

In better times, finding him among the cargo would have been impossible. Back then, the hold was always full. Now? A half dozen crates, some spools of industrial monofilament, a small hydroponics shelf holding sad, droopy flowers, and a sack full of packages to deliver to the postmaster on Harry’s Moon when we arrived.

“Come on out, Onyx, you know I’m going to catch you.” My voice echoed in the emptiness.

“No! Elaine Not Find Onyx. Not.” The faintly robotic sound of Onyx’s translator sounded smug. I prowled the perimeter, trying to follow his artificial voice.

“You know I will, Onyx. I always do.” I realized I was smiling as I stalked him. Was he being annoying to get me to play with him? He played the lovable idiot fuzzball so well it was hard to say.

“Always Have,” he corrected me. “Oynx Due a Win.”

I sighed. “Why did I build you that thing, anyway? Just so you can torment me?”

“Yes.”

His flat delivery shouldn’t have been that funny, but I dissolved into helpless laughter, sinking to the deck and hugging my sides. Maybe it was hunger, maybe loneliness, or perhaps Onyx had an unappreciated gift for comedic timing.

With an effort, I pulled myself back together and wiped my eyes, ready to sit up. Except, from my vantage point on the floor, I saw two green eyes shining back from under the hydroponics tray.

“Oh No.”

“Got you.”

We spoke over each other, and I lunged for him as he bolted out the far side, launching himself into the air in a flurry of black feathers and laughter. I picked myself up and threw myself after him with wild abandon. Around and around we went until I had to stop, panting for breath and holding my sides. Onyx landed on top of the largest crate with a thump and looked down at me, his enormous eyes wide.

“Elaine Cannot Catch Onyx.” The winged cat spun around on the spot until he tottered and fell on his side. “Onyx Dizzy.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I’ll catch you, don’t you worry. And since you ate the only edible bit of my dinner, when I catch you, I’ll eat you.”

The threat was a running joke between us. His response, as usual, was a horrified squeak. “No! Onyx Is Not A Food!”

He scrambled back from the edge. The chase was back on.

Except this was a short chase. I dashed around the crate but saw no sign of the cat on the far side. Had he gotten clever? I tried thinking about the hunt from his point of view and grinned. There was a hiding place he might have chosen, one I’d almost overlooked.

He could have stayed on top of the crate. A wooden cube over ten feet on each side, it gave him ample hiding space. I leaped up and caught hold of the top edge, pulling myself up to look. No cat.

But a half-eaten protein bar told me he’d been there, beside it… fuck.

A gap in planks of the crate. Small enough that no one could get inside, easily overlooked. Who’d have expected a cat? I grabbed a ladder from the wall and scrambled up the crate. Yep, it looked like plastered-on documentation had covered the gap. Someone had clawed it up, though why Onyx had done that, I had no idea.

An independent ship’s captain needs to decide early on — are you going to pry into what cargo you’re shipping, or are you going to stay in business? I was careful about my clients, as careful as I could be, and they all knew there were things I wouldn’t touch. I trusted them to keep that off my ship, they trusted me not to invade their privacy, and we all won.

“Help Onyx.” His tiny voice rose plaintively from inside the crate, and I swore. Swore in every language I’d picked up a few words in, and that’s a lot.

Dad always told me, list my choices. Okay.

One, I leave Onyx in there. Either he gets out alone, or he gets delivered to whoever the Vaher cartel is shipping giant boxes to. And he doesn’t think he can get back out.

Two, I break The Rule and open this up. See what I’m shipping, and hope it’s not anything too nasty.

I closed my eyes, rested my forehead against the crate, and sighed. Yep, that was no choice at all. I couldn’t abandon Onyx, so in I went.

###

The tamper-proof lock proved to be anything but. Apparently, whoever was in charge of the shipment did their shopping on the cheap. It took me less than five minutes to open it in a way that wouldn’t show. However, opening the container a crack didn’t result in Onyx zipping past me.

Nope, that would be too easy. “Onyx? You’re safe now. Come on out.”

“No.” Onyx yowled. “Danger. Danger. Stuck.”

I pursed my lips and counted to five. Nothing changed. I hate it when that happens.

Nothing for it, then. Swinging the crate door open, I stepped inside and stopped dead. Complex circuitry covered the back wall of the container, connectors gleaming in the light. At their base was a sarcophagus-style pod, large enough to give the biggest human who’d ever lived that extra legroom feeling.

Somehow, Onyx had gotten himself tangled in wires about halfway up the wall. Enormous eyes stared at me, pleading, and I shook my head. “I hope you didn’t damage any of this gear, Onyx. Repairs are coming out of your share of the pay.”

His ears drooping, Onyx endeavored to look innocent and upset that I trusted him so little. I snorted, blew stray hair out of my face, and looked at the pod. Gold decorations on black ceramsteel, a clear panel where a face should be, and scenes of battle inlaid into the lower surfaces. If it hadn’t been for the cabling running in from above, it might have been the burial site of some alien god-king.

If so, I was about to commit sacrilege. I clambered up on the chamber to reach Onyx and disentangle him from the wires. What happened next was an accident, pure and simple. My foot slipped on the smooth black surface, and I fell. The impact was hard enough to sting my hand and my knee, and I found myself looking through the glass panel, face to face with him.

Prince Karkonar Arisran, heir to the black throne, son of King Tragorar Arisran, etc., etc. A week earlier, I wouldn’t have recognized him. Now? He’d been all over the news — journalists talked about ‘The Kidnapped Prince’ and you could hear their hope that his aging father passed away so they could use ‘The Kidnapped King’ instead.

He looked exactly like the holos the Arisran royalty showed. Powerful muscles, corded like steel cables, under deep red skin with dark, vine-like tattoos winding around him. A mane of hair, black as the darkness between the stars, spread out around his head like a dark halo, and two thick horns swept back from his brow, thick and intricately ridged.

The face they framed was, by any measure, gorgeous. A hint of fine stubble shadowed his sharp, aristocratic jawline, and his full, firm lips seemed to call out for a kiss. In the holonews, he looked like a glamorous, swoon-worthy playboy. In person, he was dangerously hot, with the looks to get a good girl to make bad decisions.

He laid there, frozen in time. Whatever this sarcophagus started out as, someone had modified it into a bootstrap stasis pod. The perfect way to ship a prince without attracting suspicion.

And here I was, inches away from him. I’m not sure how long I stared through the glass before Onyx’s squeals demanded my attention again, and I reluctantly turned to help him out of the trap he’d made for himself.

“Free,” Onyx exclaimed, hopping out of my hands as soon as I’d disentangled him. He landed in an awkward tumble, then did his level best to pretend it was what he’d planned to do. “Free Red Man, Too?”

“Don’t be stupid, Onyx,” I said, getting an annoyed hiss back. That raised the question of what else I would do with him. Again, I listed my options.

One, I reseal the container and pretend that nothing happened. Don’t get involved, take the payment, fly away. Pros: it’s the safe option. Cons: it’s a coward’s way out, and the cartel might not let me live even if they didn’t spot my tampering.

Two, I change course for Aris, return him to his family, claim the reward. It would make me powerful enemies, but powerful friends as well. Pros: lots of profit, and new friends. Cons: I’d be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.

And three. I open the stasis pod and wake him up.

Who am I kidding? I’d known what I was going to do from the moment I saw the prince’s face.