as long as she had. He was a lowly underling for them, a man who’d often been put in charge of guarding her and her sisters, and he’d come in often to sate his sexual urges on them. He and several others had never seemed to have anything better to do, the assholes.
Qin gripped a nearby handhold, suddenly needing the support, as if the ship were whipping about in high-speed maneuvers that would send them all flying. But it was only her mind that felt that way.
She took a deep breath, struggling to push down the memories. She hadn’t realized that he would be there—this hadn’t been her ship—or that she would have to deal with anyone she’d interacted with frequently back then. Or that the thought of fighting those people would trouble her. She hated them, but she’d known them for years. Could she truly shoot to kill? Shoot to rescue her sisters?
Are you all right? Asger messaged, peering over at her.
Yes. Qin forced a quick smile. I just didn’t realize I’d recognize some of them. I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me.
Will you be okay when we come face to face with them?
I’ll make sure I am.
He still looked concerned.
The concern touched her, and she warred with wanting his support and not wanting him to have any reason to doubt her capabilities. She could handle this. She was sure of it. And yet… If we run into that one who’s talking—Groggins—I wouldn’t mind if you poked your pertundo into him for me.
He hurt you? Asger guessed.
He was… a frequent visitor. Qin couldn’t remember how much she’d confided to Asger in the past about how it had been living with the pirates, but he clearly had the gist, for his concern turned into a scowl.
I’ll do more than poke him with my pertundo. Trust me. You just point him out. Point any of them out.
You’re a good man, Asger.
I’ve got your back, okay?
Okay. Her second smile for him wasn’t forced. And I’ll have your back when you need it.
Such as when there’s a hairy old man in a woman’s skimpy robe blocking the way to the lav in the middle of the night?
Absolutely.
“We’re waiting for an acknowledgment, pretty little yacht,” Groggins drawled. “You’re to surrender and let us board you, understood?”
Jemadari leaned forward to answer. “You’re going to board us?” He put a convincing quaver in his voice. “Uhm, didn’t Queen Dya say that she wanted to handle that?”
“We’re going to handle it for her. And charge her an extra fee for the trouble.”
“We’d really prefer that she board us,” Jemadari said.
“Too bad.”
The channel closed, and the pirate ship fired.
The pilot swore. “Trying to reroute more power to the shields, but brace yourselves.”
When the blast hit, the force sent Asger tumbling into Qin. She kept her grip on the handhold and managed to keep from tumbling out of navigation. The lights went out, even the indicators on the console darkening. A long moment passed before everything came back on.
“Shields are down,” the pilot reported. “And we’ve taken damage to the engines. We’re not going anywhere for a while.”
“This isn’t quite how I imagined this going,” Jemadari muttered.
Thankfully, the pirates didn’t fire again. The big warship sauntered closer like a hunter that had already downed its prey and had only to pick it up.
“Start in on repairs,” Bjarke said. “When we get done with their boarding party and collect our people, I want to be able to escape, just in case we aren’t able to completely take over their ship.”
“You’re going to try to take over their whole ship?” Jemadari gaped back at him. Maybe he hadn’t imagined that either.
Bjarke stalked out, yelling to the crushers to ready themselves for combat.
“I have a feeling,” Asger said, peering back at the crushers mobilizing and flowing toward the cargo hold and the airlock, “that the pirates aren’t going to like the look of our women when they come aboard.”
“No?” Qin pushed thoughts of Groggins and the others out of her mind and feigned bravado and nonchalance. “I’m kind of sexy.”
“Yes, you are,” Asger said. “Ready to rescue your sisters?”
Qin didn’t allow herself to hesitate before saying, “Absolutely.”
23
The greenhouse was still standing when Oku, Finn, their mother, and most of the staff, senators, and aides who lived and worked out of Drachen Castle returned to the grounds. Some people, concerned more kamikaze ships would get through the planetary defenses, remained in the Citadel.
Oku had thought about staying behind, but she was