of those again, surrounded by things I don’t understand. In a new situation that has me completely terrified and overwhelmed.
“I can wait a few weeks,” I say.
He shakes his head. “This ship can only support one waking passenger over that period of time. One of us has to sleep, and unless you can run the ship, it’s gotta’ be you who sleeps.”
“You promised me…”
He shrugs. “You can eat something. Get a shower. There’s only one bed in here, though, and I can’t wear this helmet forever. So before I go to sleep you need to be frozen solid. I’ll wake you up when I’m back with the swarm. After I have a…” he coughs. “A list of suitors for you. I’ll make sure you wake up here, on this ship, so it won’t be disorienting. You’ll have your pick of buyer, and then you’ll go on your way. Sound good?”
“Why do you have to keep your helmet on?” I ask him.
The question annoys him. His face loses a lot of his cockiness, and his chiseled jaw clenches up. He looks me over with a more serious, more genuine gaze.
“You smell me,” he says. “And even though you probably hate me…”
My cheeks burn red, and I look away from him.
He laughs. “Let’s just say I don’t want to feel what you are feeling right now. Hating your guts but wanting to…”
He trails off, and he looks almost embarrassed. As if he already wants to.
“So the shower,” I say.
10
Krakon
I get her into the chamber. She looks up at me with those pathetic puppy dog eyes just before I shut the lid.
“You sure the ship can’t handle both of us being awake?”
“One hundred percent sure,” I lie.
The carbon dioxide scrubbers would get pretty dirty by the end of the trip. We’d be in each other’s way the whole time. It would be very uncomfortable...but it could be done. I don’t have to tell her that.
That’s not the main reason, though. I detest humans, and I refuse to be in close quarters with one for a minute longer than strictly necessary.
Humans. The worst thing to ever happen to us. We’d had drug epidemics before. Really addictive stuff that got a lot of people hooked. Still, Cygnians are strong, and we weathered on.
Then humans came. Hundreds of years ago, before I was born, but whenever I read about the times before…
“Are you sure you have to sell me?” she asks.
Alright. Enough. I don’t answer, I just shut the lid on her and hit the button.
She flash freezes. The expression that freezes on her face is wide-eyed fear.
I sigh in relief, and finally I crack off my damn helmet. The stale, recycled air hits my nose. It smells like home.
I am going to hold to my end of the bargain when it comes to selling her. I’ll get a lot of good offers. It will cut into my profits a tiny bit to let her have her pick, but I’m only going to show her the highest bidders anyway.
After what humans did to my life, I’m going way above and beyond what I owe her. I owe her nothing.
Four weeks pass without issue. Well, mostly.
Swarm pirates are used to weathering long trips like this. Almost always alone on their ships. It is common to be among other ships, able to talk to each other over comms, but we’re almost always alone on our own ship.
The cryo chamber is really only there for extreme circumstances. The chamber allows for certain types of tactics that are not otherwise possible. Freezing yourself for a few years to wait someone out for an ambush, for example. Or maybe you are being hunted and have to go dark, kill life support on the ship. Run just enough power to keep the cryo chamber going. Whoever is hunting you gives up and leaves.
The problem with cryo stasis, though, is that you always fall behind. Even if I make a huge score by freezing myself for two years, I come back into the system two years later. Everyone else in the swarm is two years older, and my connections, friendships, and favors are all two years stale. It gets worse if you freeze yourself for longer. Every so often we get someone flying into the swarm who had to freeze themselves for fifty or sixty years. They end up begging for help from children or grandchildren. “Hey, I was your grandfather’s best friend. He owed me.”
It never ends well, and it’s frowned upon