vroomed down the corridor, weaving between the men’s legs, looking more like cats playing chase than cleaning appliances seriously tending their duties.
“I’m going to the lav.” Bjarke strode forward, lifting a hand in case he needed to nudge Asger out of the way.
Seeing a man’s wrist and a forearm sticking out of that lavender sleeve was decidedly odd. Asger must have thought so too, because he sprang back. Then he turned and fled into Qin’s cabin, but not before she caught Bonita checking out his ass and giving her a thumbs-up.
As soon as Qin leaned back inside, Asger thumped the door shut. Hard. He put his back to it.
“Are you all right?” Qin hadn’t thought that Bjarke and Bonita had been that clandestine about their relationship, but maybe this had taken Asger by surprise.
“No. I have to pee.”
“There’s more than one toilet in there.”
“I’m not going in there when he’s in there. In that, that robe. What kind of man wears a woman’s robe?”
“One who didn’t bring one of his own? And doesn’t want to catch a chill on the way to the lav.” Qin patted him on the stomach.
Asger appeared more horrified than comforted. “I’m never going to be able to forget that. It’s scorched in my mind.”
“If it helps, the captain may have scorched your butt cheeks in her mind.” From what Qin had observed, Bonita was perfectly capable of admiring one man’s form while she was in a relationship with another.
“That does not help.” Asger cupped a protective hand over one of those cheeks.
“Sorry.” But Qin couldn’t keep from snickering, even if this wasn’t how she’d imagined the end of her first night with Asger going. It was fun. He was fun. That was something she’d never experienced back when she’d been a slave to those pirates.
He managed a lopsided smile and pulled her into a hug. He kissed her on the forehead, but when a clang came from the corridor, he lowered his arms.
“Will you check to see if it’s safe?” he asked.
“Safe? You mean if Bjarke is done?”
“And locked back in his cabin where he belongs.”
“Uh, I think it’s the captain’s cabin that he’ll be locked in.”
“Whatever. Just so I don’t have to run into him again while he’s…” Asger groped in the air with a flustered hand. “Not properly attired.”
“You’re really going to send me, an innocent doe-eyed damsel, out to check on the danger while you hide in here?”
“An innocent what?”
“Doe-eyed damsel. It’s a line in one of my fairy tales. Never mind.” Qin pushed him aside and went to check the lavatory. “It’s safe for you to come out, brave and fearless knight.”
He squinted at her as he passed. “Is that from a fairy tale too?”
“No, that was me teasing you.”
“Meanie.” He swatted her on the way past and didn’t fully commit to entering the lavatory until he’d poked his head in and checked.
A message came in to her chip as she returned to her cabin. It was from Mouser.
She read it with trepidation, worried her sister would ask again for help that Qin hadn’t yet figured out how to deliver. Earlier, when she’d sent a response, she’d said she would talk to her captain and see if anything seemed possible, but she’d tried not to commit herself or sound too optimistic. She hadn’t wanted to get Mouser’s hopes up.
But it was a warning, not a request.
Squirt, I saw that we were close to your freighter the other day—I’m relieved you were gone before our warships arrived to salvage the wrecks. But it looked like you might be on course for Stardust Palace. Is that correct? You know we’re given only limited access to the network and ship’s scanners down here, so I couldn’t be sure, but if so, I am sending a warning. The Druckers, as well as all other mercenaries and pirates in the system, have been informed that there is a meeting going on at the station, and that the majority of the Miners’ Union rulers, as well as other wealthy businessmen and influential government leaders, are there. It was pointed out that if those people were taken as hostages, each one could be worth a fortune. It was also pointed out that they likely had a lot of wealth on their own persons and in their expensive luxury ships. As far as I’ve heard, the Druckers are planning to stay here and finish this salvage and then amble over, perhaps to arrive after the others, hoping the fighting