undercut Rios Mi Treton!”
Mi Treton. I recognize that name. I don’t know exactly who it is, but I know it’s a big shot family from Epsilon Eridani. You’ve got to be shitting me. How did Thraxa not figure out this guy was here when she made up our cover story? If I pull this off, she should lose more of her cut for dropping the fucking ball this badly.
“Mi Treton,” I say, “pleased to meet you--”
“I’ve never even heard of you, Mi Eukarion, and yet you can afford to move such volume?”
“Mi Kiorus wouldn’t have made an agreement with both of us if he didn’t have enough wine,” I say. “There is plenty for--”
“You idiot! You know it’s not about whether he has enough wine! How dare you insult me like this.”
Right. I used to do import/export, just never on an interstellar scale. Mi Treton was going to bring the best wine in the galaxy into Epsilon Eridani. As the sole distributor. He’d control the supply completely. Now he’ll have competition. Each bottle will be worth less. Or it would be worth less, if I was a real aristocrat from Epsilon Eridani.
“When are you going back?” I ask him. “I’m not leaving for at least ten years--”
“Liar!” he shrieks.
A small group of people have stopped talking to each other and are pretending to not watch us.
“I looked you up. You’re going back in three years!”
Great work, Thraxa. You built up our backstory so well that you’ve hard-locked me into competition with this asshole. I wish I could just tell him, and him alone, that I’m full of shit and can’t even afford a single case of this wine. He would rat me out for sure, though, so that’s not an option.
“Okay,” I say. “This is fine. Let’s talk price fixing then--”
“Price fixing! You insult me, Mi Eukarion. You insult the entire Mi Treton tradition!”
Maya and Catherine are back now. I didn’t even notice them come over to us.
“What’s going on?” Catherine asks, grabbing my hand.
“Ah!” Mi Treton says. “And you’ve given in, too. So you undercut me and undercut our race, as well!”
People gasp. Only pirates would say something like that, not aristocrats. It’s a huge insult, one that an aristocrat would never let stand. He’s goading me. Lucky for him I have no real honor to protect here, the only thing I have to worry about is that if I let him walk over me too hard, Mi Kiorus might think I’m weak and go cold on me. I might not see the spear in time.
Mi Treton points right down at Catherine, at her breasts. “Those things are worth it, are they?”
Alright. Now I’m personally offended. Blood rushes through me as I clench my fist.
“Human whore--” he starts to say, but it’s enough for me to lose it.
I go to punch him, but he’s ready. He was just baiting me.
He blocks with his forearm, parrying the punch away. He tries to swing back, but I catch his arm. I twist the arm back.
“Stop!” Gethros’ voice booms.
I’m holding Mi Treton in a death grip. I could rip his arm off right now. He’s just as weak as he looks. Maybe even weaker.
“Let him go, Mi Eukarion,” he says. “Now!”
I do as he says.
“Mi Treton,” he says. “You’ve insulted his human and his honor. You’ve insulted me, as well.”
I hold back a grin. Looks like I’m--
“Wipe that smile off your face, Mi Eukarion!”
I force my face back to neutral.
“You threw the first blow, Mi Eukarion.”
He stares us down for a long time. Everyone is looking at us and at Mi Kiorus. Fuck, he’s going to refuse to sell to me now.
“You both will agree to a duel to the death,” he says. “The winner will be given exclusive export rights. The loser will die with honor.”
“I accept,” Mi Treton says, not a hint of hesitation in his voice.
I have just enough time to see Catherine’s eyes, pleading me not to.
No, my weakness toward her already got me into this situation. I won’t let her puppy dog eyes play me like a fiddle. I am a swarm pirate, and I am strong. I can beat this weakling in a duel. Just because I’ve “given in” doesn’t mean I’m as weak as they think.
“I accept,” I say.
31
Catherine
It takes every ounce of self-control I have to bottle everything up until we’re back home.
I explode on him when we are.
“A duel to the death? Are you kidding me?”
“I had no choice,” he says. “He’d never