I laughed as Icaan finished recounting his tale. We were sat at the dinner table, both of us finished. We'd been talking for what felt like no time at all and hours at the same time.
More than once I'd marveled at how relaxed he was and how his face lit up when he talked of the things he'd done when younger. His childhood hadn't been perfect, even as royalty, but it had been more idyllic than mine.
I tried not to feel too jealous. It clearly hadn’t been plain sailing since. And he’d mentioned that his parents had preferred his older brother. It was only as I was thinking this that I realized he’d told me two different stories.
The second day he’d taken me he’d told me that his brother hadn’t made a will and his parents had opted to give him the ship. He’d also made out he hadn’t known hi
I woke alone again, not entirely sure I wanted to be awake again yet. Yet another day was gone and I was another day closer to not being with Icaan on his ship. The last two days had passed amicably, the two of us continuing to get to know each other and make our way through space. And that left us with just two more before he was likely to sell me.Tomorrow evening. That was when he expected to arrive. It wasn't a happy thought, but I knew what I needed to do. Icaan couldn't be persuaded to keep me and I couldn't be accused of squandering what little time we were getting together. We'd spent more time chatting and fooling around in bed than we had anything else.His ship had held up, and mine was still being towed behind but we had one more dangerous section of space to get through before we reached the market. Icaan was pretty sure we'd get through it no problem, but
Again we dodged as the ship chasing us tried to hit us with a full barrage. And yet again we lost shield charge, unable to avoid all of them and the debris all around.We'd been forced further and further up into the field of parts and were suffering the effects."Go right," I called, seeing them trying to push us the other way, several shots only just going past us.As Icaan turned, I fired. The plasma caught them before they could do anything else, but they kept coming as we'd lost speed while I'd shot and not been helping reroute power around the ship."We can't do this," Icaan said, only eighteen percent left in the shields.""Go down and get me whatever shots you can," I replied. Our current tactics weren't working. There was only one alternative. to shoot at
"There," I said, putting the final screw back in place and tightening it up. "The ship is about as ship shape as it will get with the parts we have. Consider her fully serviced and cleaned up.""Thank you," Icaan said. "You really didn't have to.""I know, but it's something to do and you clearly needed the help." I got up, beginning to feel my chest tighten and tears threaten to do more than just make my eyes prick.I walked into the kitchen and focused on getting a drink to help myself calm down a bit. Icaan could so easily decide not to sell me, but I wasn't going to push. Anything I said or did now was going to only make Icaan angry. If his own conscience didn't stop him now then nothing would.Although I wasn't sure what Icaan would do, I hadn't expected him to follow me, but he did, coming rig
I'd wanted to avoid Icaan for the rest of the day, but alarm bells started blaring within minutes of me finishing my breakfast and I soon found myself rushing to the cockpit regardless. If there was trouble then I wanted to help even if I didn't like Icaan right now.Icaan was already there, a blanket to one side of the small room showing that he'd slept in there overnight. I felt a pang of guilt that he'd felt like he couldn't return to his bedroom, but it was fleeting."What's happening?" I asked when Icaan appeared to be calm but the radar continued to show that there were nearby ships."We've found a Frentin patrol around the inner section of occupied space," he replied. "That's all.""So why all the alarms?" I asked, not sure I believed the calm I was seeing when every other beep or noise the s
The rest of the day had passed in a sort of uneasy truce. I stayed with him and he didn't make any more remarks about selling me. The path wasn't hard to fly through, but we spent most of the time in the cockpit anyway.Although I'd never have admitted it, I wanted to get an idea of the route we were taking and how busy it was. If lots of people were flying this way it was going to make it harder to escape later, but it hadn't been as busy as I'd feared. Ships flew along the route, but they hurried on their way and didn't even hail us.At least until we got close to the market. When we were about an hour away more and more ships appeared, flying in every sort of direction. It was clear that the market was a massive hub for the Frentin race and many were coming to make trades of some kind or another.I tried not to let my fear overwhel
"We should hurry," Icaan said as he climbed up the nearest set of steps and pulled me along with him. "We need to get all of the trades done before the end of the day ideally."I considered demanding to know who he was going to sell everything to and where we were going as well as sentimental thoughts about if it would be prepared, but he'd promised me that he'd see it into safe hands as well as he could, even trying to get whoever bought me to buy my ship as well. Neither of us mentioned how unlikely we thought that would be.As we neared the end of our set of docking bays I noticed there was an area where cargo could be placed and then fed into a sort of machine. Icaan placed his crates there and scanned something in his hand. A moment later it assigned the contents of an unmarked metal box to him and it was held on the end of something a bit like a conveyor belt.
Before anyone could do anything else I stepped up to the counter and drew the shop keeper's attention. He may have just bought my ship but he wasn't getting to keep it without appreciating what it meant to me. And Icaan had clearly forgotten his promise."Can you hold onto it for a little while?" I asked. "I want to try and persuade whoever buys me to buy it. She's been my ship from the beginning."There was an awkward silence and the shopkeeper glanced at Icaan. The ex royal frowned but nodded."I did promise her that I'd ask you to," he said with a frustrated sigh. I couldn't be sure if he was annoyed at me for bringing it up or annoyed at himself for not saying it sooner."Well, I won't turn down a good offer if one comes along, but I won't be listing it until it's repaired either. It would buy y
I tried not to fidget as I sat down on the chair beside Icaan and watched as the two Frentin entered my details into some sort of slave database. I was interviewed briefly about my capabilities and I did my best to provide them with useful information as if I was eager to find a buyer who appreciated me.Mostly I focused on every detail Icaan had told me about what people might be looking for, but I also made a point about being a good mechanic and pilot. If nothing else it meant there was a chance someone would come along who wanted me for what I could do rather than how good I was to screw."I must admit," the guy said as he sat back, "this one is a lot calmer than they normally are. And not as unraveled by being close to us.""No, Jet has a better understanding of her situation and she seems to be able to resist the more subtle eff