looks—the bounty hunter of today is all business. Her hair is braided tight against her scalp and woven through her horns, crisscrossing like a weird net that's spangled with tiny, glittering stones. Her body is covered head to toe in a gray jumpsuit that's bristling with weapons and pouches of all kinds. There are no less than three blasters strapped to her waist, something that looks like a crossbow on her back, and her legs and boots jingle with metal that's not readily visible. She lifts her chin at us. "We ready?"
I let out a shuddering breath and look up at Nassakth.
He nods.
Bethiah produces two bracelets. "These are trackers I want you both to wear. It'll help me keep tabs on you if we get separated." As we put them on, she demonstrates the two buttons on the front. "Press these if you get in trouble. The first one sends a ping to my system so I know there's a problem. The second one will call the local authorities and should only be pushed if I'm incapacitated. I won't be, though, so just try not to hit it."
I put the bracelet on, noticing that the slinky metal of it slithers around my skin and fits itself against my wrist. "What's this third button do?"
"Self-destruct," Bethiah says immediately. "Hit that and your arm will explode."
"What?" I squawk, trying to rip the darn bracelet off. I don't want to wear a bomb.
"I'm kidding," she teases, and leans in. "It's a comm channel so you can talk to me…or is it?" She gives me a fanged grin. "Who can say?"
"You're supposed to say, you keffing ass. You're our hired bodyguard!"
"Yes, but what's an adventure without a little danger?" Her hair tinkles like wind chimes as she adjusts her weapons belt. "Shall we go, my precious babies? Time's wasting and I'm being paid by the hour."
"No, you're not," Nassakth growls.
"I could be."
"But you're not."
"No fun," she pouts. "So stuffy. Come on, then. Let's go say hello to the family.“
64
NASSAKTH
Space stations have a particular smell. It's one that permeates the bones, clinging to you like a sticky fabric. It's a toxic mix of old sweat, air that's been recycled too many times, and a low-level garbage stink that annoys my sensitive praxiian nose.
My parents won't be here. There's no way. No praxiian in his right mind would be at this station, where the walls are stained with old filth and bodies press against one another in the narrow, dark halls. It looks like a pirate's den.
Probably because it is. I glance over at Bethiah and pull Kim closer to me protectively. Most stations are unappealing and poor, but this one is arguably the worst I've seen. "This is the place you picked for us to meet?"
She gestures around us, elbowing a helmeted krakenoid out of the way as she strides forward. "Do you think there's anything worth bothering with in this station?"
"No."
"Exactly. Which is why it's perfect." She gestures at a junction at the end of the hall. "Come on, this way."
I can feel Kim's hands clinging to my belt, her smaller frame tucked against my arm as we navigate our way—more like push our way—through the crowd. The docks are packed, and as the hall widens, I notice some enterprising vendors haven't even bothered to head to the bazaar. They loiter near doors, looking furtive, and show me a handful of high-end datapads as I walk past. "Get you a deal? Best prices in the galaxy!"
I ignore them and pull Kim closer. I'm not entirely surprised when I see one of the mesakkah brothers move to her other side. It's the tall one with a dangerous glint in his eyes—Kaspar. He nods at me, fingering his weapons. More security. I'll take it. Five years of life on a farm planet has made me soft. I've forgotten how it feels to rub shoulders with the dregs of the universe.
Bethiah wades in as if she belongs here, pushing aside dirty-looking thieves and patting an urchin on the head between his horns before moving on. She saunters through the crowd with purpose, and sometimes the only way I can still see her is because of her ridiculous net of hair she's woven between her horns and the chiming of the metal hair ornaments. She's far too comfortable here, I think, as she slows beside another bounty hunter and they assess one another. It reminds me that for all her playfulness, this is a female that only pays