more like lush moss than anything synthetic flowing between the spaces. The crushers had all entered a large lounge and gaming room full of pods interspersed with fountains and trees that appeared to grow up out of the carpet. This wasn’t the combat transport vessel Asger had envisioned for his troops.
“She could send a message to the Druckers,” Qin pointed out. “We revealed our plan to her when we asked for her help.”
“Let’s hope she doesn’t have a reason to wish us or Jemadari ill will.” Asger led the way to a pair of empty pods—they seemed to be made from the stumps of ancient logs, but when he sat in one, it cupped his body reassuringly, the same way a normal one did. “She said she has reason to hate the Druckers.”
“I hope so.”
“Do you know something I don’t know?”
“Lots of things, I’m sure.” Qin smiled at him. “You hardly know anything about fairy tales. Which is silly, considering you’re a knight.”
“It’s a wonder you can stand to be around someone so ignorant.”
“I’m willing to educate you on important matters.”
“Like unicorns?”
“Goblins and griffins and mermaids too. Bonita tells me you’re never too old to learn new things.”
Somehow, Asger doubted the things Bonita liked to learn involved fairy tales.
The thrum of the engines coming online reverberated through the deck. The interior doors were all open, and Asger could hear his father, Jemadari, and a pilot speaking quietly in the navigation cabin up front. The pilot asked the station for permission to enter the depressurization area and take off.
Qin leaned out of her pod and reached over to clasp Asger’s hand. She’d painted her claws with purple and pink rainbows for the mission. “Thank you for agreeing to help me with this. I know your Kingdom wouldn’t care and probably would forbid you to have anything to do with this if they knew.”
“You’re welcome.” Asger laid his other hand atop hers. “I don’t think the Kingdom—the part of it that knows what’s going on in this system—cares that much about me and my father right now.” Especially about him. Asger had hoped he might redeem himself with his attack on Dubashi’s base, but they had only partially accomplished their goal, and Ishii might be the only one who knew and acknowledged that he had helped.
The Star Mirage lifted off, and they leaned back in their pods as it flew out of the bay and into the hollowed-out interior of the well-lit asteroid that housed the station. A nearby display showed them zipping toward the main tunnel leading out into space.
“The offer still stands,” Qin said. “If your people don’t let you come home, you can come work with me and the captain.”
“Are you allowed to make that offer?” Asger raised his eyebrows. “It’s Bonita’s ship, right?”
“Yes, but you’re traveling with Bjarke, and I’m positive she would let him stay. She said she likes the dimples in his butt cheeks.”
Asger curled his lip. “I didn’t want to know about that.”
“I thought you might be wondering.” Her eyes twinkled. “Since the robe hid that part of his anatomy.”
“That robe hid next to nothing.” A horrified thought came to him. “I don’t have dimples back there, do I?”
It had been a while since he’d looked at his butt in the mirror, but he’d always assumed it was fine. After all, he’d gotten modeling gigs in the past.
Qin shook her head. “I think you get them when you’re older.”
“Well, he is old. And apparently has ten times my combat experience.” Asger rolled his eyes. “His math has got to be fuzzy. Or he thinks I’m younger than I am. Or he’s way older than I am.”
“That’s probably it,” Qin said, going along with him.
Asger’s father came out of navigation and sat in an empty pod facing him. “That woman—Queen Dya—is following us. Do you know anything about it?”
“Just that she was eyeing us as we departed.” Asger looked at Qin.
“She never spoke to me,” Qin said. “She was far more interested in you.”
“And in my father too.” Asger waved at him. “And anything male and ambulatory.”
“I didn’t see her ogling the crushers.”
“They’re not anatomically all there.”
“No butt dimples?”
Asger’s father blinked a few times, then recovered. “I’ve spoken to Bonita. She’s taking off shortly and will follow Dya for as long as she follows us. She promises to blow her crystal yacht out of the sky if it does anything threatening.”
Asger rubbed his head. “What happens if the Druckers see our odd trio of ships flying