continue, and now I’m the one raising my hands and enlarging a particular spot on the screen. I zoom in on a small planet, no more than an isolated rest stop just outside League Space. “It’s not exactly a welcoming place, but we’ll be able to resupply there.”
“Kyvos,” Varia reads from the map. “It doesn’t show on the League’s registry.”
“That’s because it isn’t exactly a part of the League,” I explain. “The League has some influence there, sure, but it’s minimal. Mostly, the people there run the colony as they see fit.” I don’t say it, but Solair immediately picks up on the hidden meaning behind my words. Kyvos is a lawless colony. Going there won’t be a walk in the park.
“We goin’ somewhere?” Appearing behind Solair, a tangle of cut wires in his hands, Montier narrows his eyes and looks at the screen. He might be a brilliant engineer, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to read a map to save his life. “Kyvos, huh?”
“We’re planning a supply run,” Solair explains, and Montier knits his eyebrows together.
Pursing his lips, he gives himself a little nod. “If that’s the case, I think we should get a new auxiliary battery for the engine core.”
“Has the one we have started to crap out?” I read his last maintenance reports just a few days ago, and everything seemed fine then. A new auxiliary battery at this moment in time seems like an overly cautious move, which isn’t exactly Montier’s style.
“A new auxiliary battery for a ship this size would be costly,” Solair speaks up, and it doesn’t take much to know he’s doing the ship’s accounting in his head as we speak. Despite a run of successful jobs these past few months, we’re not exactly swimming in it. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Well, uh, not exactly necessary, but…” He trails off, and I notice him glancing at Varia. Solair picks up on it too, and he’s quick to give Montier the push that he needs.
“You can speak freely,” Solair says. “Varia knows what I know.”
“Well, we’ve been doing just fine with the one auxiliary battery that we have,” he starts to explain, “but I think having a spare is a good insurance policy. In the event we’re engaged in a firefight or for whatever reason we have our main engines go offline, we rely on the auxiliary batteries for power. We don’t want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere, especially considering we’re carrying more than a hundred of the IHC’s most wanted criminals. Besides, if there’s ever a need for it, I can take the extra battery and hook it up to the main engine core for a boost.”
He doesn’t say it outright, but it’s obvious what he means. He’s worried about the Queen having to make a run for it. If that happens, he wants to be ready. A new auxiliary battery will strain our coffers, but Montier is right. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
“Very well,” Solair says, reaching the same conclusion I have. “We’ll stop at Kyvos to get whatever supplies we’ll need and look for a new battery, too. Do you think that’ll be a problem, Grantian?”
“No, we should be able to get our hands on something,” I reply.
I’ve only been to Kyvos a couple of times, back when I was running with the Hael Hounds, but from what I remember, a lot of shady merchants are willing to do business… just as long as you have the money.
“It’s settled then,” Solair nods. “I’m going to pick a team, and we—”
“I’m going too,” Varia cuts him short.
“I’m sorry?”
“I’m going, and I’m taking a few of the women with me,” she continues without a moment’s hesitation. Determination is etched on her face, and she isn’t wavering. “I know it’s dangerous, and that we’re all wanted criminals, but we’re not going to sit inside the Ancestral Queen while you guys stick your neck out for us. We want to earn our keep. If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t be in this mess of a situation.”
“Varia, I can’t let—”
“We are going,” she repeats, and I immediately know Solair’s going to cave. These women might be smaller and weaker than we are, but they balance it all out by being brave and obstinate. Whenever they want something, they go after it with all they have.
“Very well,” Solair sighs. Straightening his back, he glances at the map once more, a slight frown on his face. “Lokyer, set