Ransomed by Kashatok Read online

  Kashatok shook his head and rubbed two knuckles along the creature’s forehead on either side of its horns. “Though sometimes I wonder.”

  His gaze shifted to her for the first time since she’d bumped into him. Her breath caught. She’d never been particularly attracted to bad boys, but this pirate’s attention made her quiver low in her belly. “Um, where should I put my stuff?”

  A muscle in the side of the captain’s jaw twitched and his copper skin darkened with a slightly blue-green tinge. He took a long drink from the bottle in his other hand. “Bunk room’s down that corridor behind you.”

  Bunk room? Joy’s throat grew tight. Passing for a guy would become exponentially more difficult if she was sharing quarters with a bunch of other men. What if they took communal showers or something? She hadn’t thought this through very well. “I don’t get my own quarters?”

  “You could.” The first mate’s voice startled her from behind. She jumped, nearly stepping on Kashatok’s toes. “A private room’ll cost you your share, though.” Aleknagik leaned against the corridor exit, arms crossed over his chest.

  Relief flooded her. Little did they know she didn’t need the money. In fact, she’d pay extra for a private room if it wouldn’t blow her cover. But she was supposed to be a greedy pirate here, so she pretended to pause and consider. “My entire share?”

  “Actually, two shares.” Kashatok’s voice at her back held a note of warning.

  She swallowed, feeling trapped between the two men. “But I only get one share.”

  “Exactly.” Kashatok glowered over the top of her head at his first mate. “Aleknagik shouldn’t get your hopes up.”

  Aleknagik pushed himself off the wall and took a step closer. He was just as big and copper-skinned as the captain, although instead of keeping his hair pulled up into a queue, he’d braided it into several rows along his scalp, leaving the back portion as wildly unkempt as the vast beard covering his chest. ”Syndicorp’s breathing down our necks, captain. We don’t have time to find a new mechanic.”

  Joy clutched her satchel tightly against her chest. They needed a mechanic, and that gave her leverage; a real pirate would probably ask for more at this moment. Calming her breathing so she could speak, she squeaked out, “I want three shares.”

  Kashatok lifted an eyebrow, and she swore she saw a smile lurking at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t push your luck, kid.” He took another long drink, then once again pierced her with his dark eyes. “One share, and you can sleep in a storeroom by yourself. Fair enough?”

  Wondering what he’d look like if he really smiled, Joy nodded. She’d pushed enough to appear genuine, and she’d gotten what she really needed to make it to the next port without blowing her cover.

  Kashatok spun without another word and strode down the nearest corridor, surprisingly steady for someone who’s just consumed almost half a bottle of rum.

  “This way,” Aleknagik said, walking toward the opposite corridor.

  Joy jogged after him, glancing over her shoulder toward the corridor the captain had taken. Before she left this ship, she was going to get the captain to smile for the camera. He was going to make a fabulous centerpiece for her exposé.

  Kashatok leaned back in his desk chair and stared out the view screen at the scatter of ships coming and going from the berths as the Kinship pulled away from the station. The sporadic burbling from the hydroponic garden at one corner of his sitting room did little to calm him. He pulled another bottle of Kantarellian rum from his desk drawer. He hated the exposure of the docks and itched to hit the burn drives. He preferred the empty coldness of space. If he didn’t need to offload goods and pick up Intel or let his men blow off steam, he’d be happy to never leave the confines of his ship.

  He took a long drink to calm his anxiety, relishing the heat hitting his stomach. Another thing that made him edgy was that new shuttle mechanic. Something about the kid had Kashatok’s mind going places it shouldn’t. Like the idea of him sharing a bunk with the other members of the crew. In lieu of female company, his two human crewmen were not above scratching each other’s itches. As far as he knew, it was consensual, but who knew what might happen with the introduction of someone as young and fresh as Joey? A core part of him had been relieved to offer separate sleeping arrangements, even if some of the crew might grumble about preferential treatment.

  Needing to stop dwelling on the new crew member, he dug in his pocket and retrieved the data chip his cartel contact had handed him on his way out of the cantina. While most Denaidans were ex-troopers, he’d been with the cartel since long before Syndicorp had terminated Denaida-daru. The cartel hadn’t cared that his people considered him a monster. That he’d left his world in shame. Only now, with his race all but extinct, had his Denaidan brothers accepted him back into the fold.

  Or perhaps they didn’t remember.

  Whatever the reason, it hardly mattered to Kashatok. For a fee, he shared his cartel information with the rest of the fleet, keeping the top-level Intel for himself. The chip he held now was fresh off Syndicorp’s servers, not even on the darkweb yet, and should hold information about some decent scores. Plugging the data chip into his desk monitor, he perused ship stats, gauged distances and travel times, and calculated the value of the posted manifests.

  He crossed off passenger ships and colonist charters, preferring to target ships transporting commodities or bulk electronics, which were easier to cash out. One ship on the list looked promising, a K-class freighter routed between the mining strips within the Brandton asteroid belt. Problem was, it was at least three burn cycles away. He sighed. Denaidans could do the jump in a single burn, but his posungi gunner was extra sensitive to long burns and his two—now three—humans wouldn’t respond much better. Plus he wanted to break the new mechanic in slowly.

  Sending the coordinates to the bridge, he glanced out the view screen at the thinning traffic. The ship would take another hour to clear the station’s burn buffer. “Think our new crew member’s settled in, Jhikik?”

  Kashatok didn’t usually fraternize with his crew, but events of late seemed to be pushing him to pay more attention. First, he’d caught his previous mechanic performing sadistic acts of pleasure with a woman in the ship’s weapons locker—while they were in port, no less. Kashatok suspected some of the men had even known, but he couldn’t prove it. The way some of them talked about females made him queasy. But as long as things didn’t happen aboard his ship, it wasn’t his responsibility; everything and everyone aboard this vessel was.

  His mind returned to the crew’s most recent addition. Ellam Cua, his fucking men better all be getting along.

  Grabbing the rum in one hand, he held out the other. A little more attentiveness by the Kinship’s captain was long overdue. “Come on, Jhik.”

  The netorpok scurried up his arm and settled on his shoulder.

  Exiting his stuffy cabin, Kashatok headed toward the galley. The smell of broiled kemeg wafted down the hall, and Chignik’s laughter echoed from the galley’s open door. Good. He’d been correct assuming that’s where they usually gathered. He hoped laughter meant everyone was getting along.

  As he passed the door to engineering, Joey stepped out, almost colliding with him. “Oh!” The kid drew up short, blinking at him before attempting a smile. “Hi, Captain.”

  Jhikik chirped and scurried half-way down Kashatok’s arm toward the new crewman, long tail twitching.

  Hindered by the bottle in one hand, Kashatok snatched at the creature. His crew tolerated the netorpok, but the men could be less-than-gentle on the rare occasions Jhikik chose to interact with them—usually because he was running away with one of their socks.

  Joey opened both hands to catch him, but Jhikik scurried over the kid’s head, his tail forcing Joey to scrunch his eyes closed. “Always wanted a pet.”

  “He’s more of a companion than a pet.” Kashatok surprised himself with his own jovial candor. He was accustomed to protecting Jhikik from a
disgruntled crewman and occasionally dodging a cantina female. Joey was neither, yet the netorpok seemed to like him. Score one for the kid. Kashatok’s mouth twitched into a wry smile. “And he’s usually far more loyal.”

  Joey laughed and pulled Jhikik’s tail away from his mouth. “He’s just curious.”

  Aren’t we all? thought Kashatok. But one thing he’d learned during his years with the cartel was not to ask questions. Questions led to questions, and Kashatok had no desire to provide answers about himself. “Crew usually gathers in the galley between burns. You coming?”

  Joey nodded emphatically. “Gassy went on ahead. Said he needed to soften the crew up before I got there for a game of cards.” He chewed his bottom lip. “But I’ve got nothing to wager.”

  Distracted by the kid’s bottom lip, Kashatok turned toward the galley. “Never admit that. A pirate must always bet more than he has.”

  “Got it.” Joey hustled to keep up beside him. “I’m gonna use that line someday. So, what should I bet?”

  Kashatok immediately thought of several bawdy suggestions and bit his tongue. Bad enough the kid would get it from the crew. He didn’t need to be ribbed by his captain as well. “You seem fairly proficient with a spanner. How about I float you a loan, and you can do some maintenance on my hydroponic system? Know anything about those?”

  The kid shrugged, loosening Jhikik’s tail from its stranglehold around his neck. “I know pumps and thermostats. That’s all hydroponics is.”

  “There you go then. I’ll front you a few credits.”

  Joey grinned at him and Kashatok suddenly needed a drink. Luckily, he still held the bottle in one hand. He took a couple of swallows and avoided looking at the kid until they reached the galley.

  Inside, Gassy, the ship’s grizzled Denaidan engineer, sat at one end of the U-shaped table slapping down cards with Ekwok and Chignik. Chignik threw his cards down and leaned back in his chair, crossing his copper-skinned arms over his chest. “Anaq, you beat me every time, Gassy.”

  The engineer swept his gnarled copper hands out to gather the cards, tapping them into a pile. “Benefits of age and experience, my friend. Your deal, Ekwok.”

  Shaking his buff-colored mane of hair, Ekwok took the cards and glanced toward the door. When he spotted Kashatok, he half rose from his seat. “Captain? Something wrong?”

  From the cushioned seats in the entertainment alcove, Aleknagik twisted to look over his shoulder. Manopup’s orange-tentacled face rose above the back of another chair. “Captain?”

  Skin heating, Kashatok moved forward and set his bottle at an open spot among the gamers. “Just thought I’d make sure the new crewman’s fitting in. Deal me in.”

  The crew blinked at him for an uncomfortable heartbeat before settling warily back in their seats. He’d come to keep things settled. Hopefully his presence wouldn’t rile them up instead.

  Gassy looked past Kashatok toward Joey and tapped the tabletop next to him. “Saved you a seat, kid. Know how to play Ongaru Flip?”

  Joey raised an eyebrow and sidled over. “Used to beat my supervisor all the time back on Tenben.”

  As the kid took a seat, a small part of Kashatok surged with jealousy at the easy camaraderie. You shouldn’t be surprised. These men work together. He also shouldn’t be a stranger on his own ship.

  Ekwok dealt the cards, and Kashatok handed a few credits to Joey to start off. That got him some raised eyebrows, but no one said anything. After several rounds, Joey’d won eighty-two credits and Chignik’s promise to take over Joey’s next shift cleaning the bathrooms. Gassy tossed in his hand and rose. “This old man’s out. Going to catch a few winks before we burn.”

  Jhikik bounded across the table as if chasing him away, sending cards fluttering to the floor in his wake.

  “Little tunrak,” Chignik swore. “Go find some socks to chew.”

  The netorpok chittered and disappeared into the hallway ahead of Gassy.

  Ekwok shoved his cards to the center of the table. “Gotta go, too. It’s my shift on the bridge. Good playing with you, Captain.”

  Kashatok scooped a few cards from the floor. He had to admit, this was more fun than pacing his cabin and watching Jhikik try to pull naujiar leaves through the hydroponic cage. “Chignik, Joey, you still in?”

  Chignik shook his head. “One turn cleaning bathrooms is enough for me.”

  Joey remained seated. “I’ll do one more round.”

  Suddenly nervous, Kashatok glanced at the entertainment alcove. “Aleknagik, Manopup, either of you in?”

  No answer but a snore.

  With only two players, the game became more difficult, and in the first two hands, Joey lost everything except Chignik’s writ to clean the bathrooms.

  Kashatok settled back. “Looks like you’re out of currency. And Captains are exempt from bathroom cleaning.”

  Joey chewed his bottom lip, a habit Kashatok was still trying hard not to notice. “We never actually talked about a price to fix your hydroponic system. What’s it worth to you?”

  Kashatok plopped his rum on the table, realizing he hadn’t finished the bottle. “You like rum?”

  “Ordinary rum?” Joey rolled his eyes. “For my extraordinary skill and effort?”

  That made Kashatok laugh. “All right. How about I cover the first payment for your private bunk?”

  “Now you’re talking.” Joey snatched up another card.

  Smirking, Kashatok countered Joey’s next flip.

  Joey hit back with a double reverse and closed out his hand for a winning blow. “Ha! That means at the end of this job, I get two full shares!”

  “Two?” Kashatok tossed the remainder of his hand on the table and crossed his arms. The kid was nothing if not tenacious. “I’m pretty sure we agreed to one.”

  Joey lifted his chin, crossing his own scrawny arms. “A private bunk is worth two, you said.”

  Kashatok held back a smile. Two shares certainly wouldn’t break him, but he couldn’t appear to give in too easily. “Tell you what, you fix my hydroponics, and I’ll give you three shares at the end of this job. How’s that sound?”

  “Deal.” Joey thrust out one hand.

  Taking the kid’s small palm in his, Kashatok grinned. Assuming Joey really could fix the hydroponic system, Kashatok’d gotten the better end of the deal. He wondered what else he might be able to get Joey to fix.

  Chapter Three

  “Up and at ‘em, kid.”

  Joy opened her eyes at the first mate’s gruff voice, nausea rising in her throat. Two burn cycles in rapid succession were more than she was used to, and Gassy told her there would only be a short break between this one and the next. She pulled one arm free of the chair’s compression cavity and rubbed her eyes. These seats weren’t exactly the first class modules she was accustomed to. Her mother’s private transport seldom traveled long distances, and the charters Joy’d used for longer journeys provided two or even three days between each burn to allow passengers time to recuperate.

  Blinking to engage her camera, she glanced around at the rest of the crew. Of the ten other crewmen, seven of them were the same species as the captain—Denaidan. She wondered why she’d never encountered their kind before. There had to be a story here. As soon as she had a private moment to access a comm, she planned to pull up some Intel on Denaidans. She pushed the chair’s frequency modulators off her temples, recalling Kashatok leaping three meters into the air to a ledge no wider than her hand. Her female demographic would go gaga over that bit of footage.

  Beside her, the single posungi crewman stumbled out of his chair, facial tentacles flushed more vibrantly orange than she remembered. The wiry human on his other side shoved a flexible container toward him. “Keep it off the floor this time, Manopup.”

  The posungi snatched the container and shoved his face into it just in time to wretch violently. Several crew members laughed, but Joy’s stomach roiled as the putrid stench of vomit wafted her way.

  “New
-boy’s looking a little peaked, too, Cooper. You got a bucket for him?” the second human commented, looking down his crooked nose at her. He was almost as tall as the copper-skinned crewmen, but his bald, tattooed head was a distinct contrast to the shaggy-haired aliens.

  “I’m fine.” She loosed the chair’s restraints and pushed herself upright. She had to pee, but could hear the voices of other crewmen in the lavatory. Although she slept in the storeroom all by herself, she still had to share the other common rooms, and had needed to be very careful with her personal grooming over the last couple of days.

  “Come on, kid,” Gassy called from the doorway. “We need all systems optimized before the next burn.”

  Feeling a headache beginning, she turned off her camera and wobbled toward the door, leaving the gagging posungi and the two humans behind her.

  In engineering, the air felt like a sauna. Gassy sent her into the twisted piping and thick conduits he called “the jungle” to manually adjust the burn drive’s coolant system. Squeezed in among the valves and pipes, the air was even hotter and the hum of pumps and fans drowned out all other sound. Sweat poured between her breasts, soaking the under-wrap that kept her chest flat. God, she felt like she was suffocating. What she wouldn’t give for a shower right now. But she doubted she’d get enough privacy for a shower anytime soon.

  At least the job was interesting, reminding her of her days with emergency services. She adjusted some valves, then ducked out to a nearby console to verify that the gauges matched the ship’s computer readings. Everything was within tolerances. She shot a glance over her shoulder. Gassy was busy at the main engineering station and Moore’d just exited pushing a cart of supplies. Now was her chance for a quick bit of research without anyone looking over her shoulder.

  Turning back to the console’s comm interface, she typed a query about Denaidans. Several suggested spellings popped up, plus a few personal profiles on people with the name Aiden, but no Intel. Strange. She tried a different spelling. Deneyeden. Even fewer options. Den—eye-don. Nothing.