Drifters' Alliance, Book 3 (11 page)

“You made it to the party!” His warm breath puffs over my face, and his smile is practically glowing it’s so full of white teeth.

I should probably be mad about the fact that he’s making a spectacle of both of us, but I’m not. I have never walked into a party anywhere and been greeted with this much enthusiasm.
What the hell? You only live once, right?
I reach up and scrub the top of his head with my knuckled fist. “Hey there, Beltz! How’s it hangin?”

“Ha!” he yells with glee, just before putting me down, grabbing me under the armpits, and throwing me up into the air.

I scream in surprise and maybe a touch of fear. One second I’m being hugged like a long-lost relative, and the next I’m floating above everyone, looking down at the tops of their heads. Then I’m back on the floor, and he’s grabbing me for another round of toss-the-captain.

“Beltz, nooo!”

Does he listen?
No
. Of course he doesn’t. I’m once again launched up into the air, my arms and legs flailing around trying to control the world that’s suddenly being yanked out from around me.

I can see the look in his eye on my way down; he means to throw me again. When I land this time, though, I’m ready for him. I catch him in the gut, giving him a jab to the solar plexus with my fist that would put a lesser man in a medical suite for a day or two.

He leans over and wheezes. “Oh, the crazy bitch got me.” He holds out a hand, trying to grab me or maybe hold on to me to keep from falling. I take that hand before he can gain purchase anywhere on my body, and bend it under, using one of my fingers in front and one behind to maintain leverage. I step back to make sure there’s an arm’s length of space between us.

“Keep your hands to yourself, big boy,” I say, slightly out of breath. “I didn’t come here to wrestle.”

“Okay, okay. I will behave myself.” He sounds like whatever excitement he had earlier is starting to work its way out of his system, so I wait a few more seconds and then let him go. My hand rests on my knife, though, just in case he decides to get stupid again.

He stands to his full height, putting almost a half meter of distance between the top of my head and his. His cheeks and forehead are bright pink from the exertion, and his grin stretches from one ear to the other. “I find that I have missed seeing your face.”

I shrug. “All righty, then. Thanks. I think.” I catch Baebong’s bemused expression and then twist around to see what everyone else is doing.

All eyes are on me for a few seconds, and then the rest of the partygoers suddenly move off at the same time, going back to whatever mingling they were doing before Beltz started acting crazy.

“Hello, Captain,” says a voice from my right.

I turn to find Jens there. “Hello, Jens.” I hold out my hand for him to shake. When he grips it, I grab hold and don’t let go.

His expression goes from happy to worried in an instant. He tries to pull back, but he takes me with him.

Once I’m really close, I drop my voice and talk just to him. “You left me a gift the last time you were at my table.”

His eyes widen and he looks for his cousin.

I jerk his hand to get his attention back on me. “Not going to deny it, are you?”

He shakes his head. “It wasn’t my idea.”

I shrug. “I figured. But it was your technology, and I don’t appreciate being spied on. So in the future, remember this: I will remove a testicle for every device you plant on my ship.”

He points to his chest. “My testicles?”

I laugh as I let him go. “Certainly not any of my crew’s.”

He wipes his sweaty palms off on his pants. “Don’t worry. There’s no need for us to do it anymore anyway. You’re a member of the Alliance.”

“And you’re trying to tell me you never spy on your own?”

He shakes his head. “No. Those are the rules. They’re very specific. Trust and act like you trust, or else.”

I nod. “I like these rules.”

He’s opening his mouth to speak but stops when someone walks up behind me. His eyes travel upward.

I sigh. “Beltz, seriously. If you pick me up again, I’m going to stab you.”

A warm chuckle breathes across the back of my neck. “Good thing I’m not Beltz, I guess.”

I turn around and look up into the prettiest brown eyes I’ve ever seen on a man. The eyelashes around them are so gorgeous they’re practically sinful. What a waste on a guy.

He holds out his hand. “Captain Cass, I presume?”

I take his warm hand in mine and smile. “You presume correctly. And you are?”

“Mohamar Hurtu. Shepherd on the DS Arcadia.”

Chapter Sixteen

I DON’T WANT TO TELL the guy that I could have guessed who he was by the smell that lingers on his clothing. You can take the boy out of the herd, but you can’t always take the herd out of the boy. I find it comforting, though, the smell of sheep. And it beats goat stink any day of the week.

“So great to meet you.” I look at his sleeve, admiring the weave of the cloth. He may be a shepherd, but he’s got style. “Nice threads.”

He drops my hand and holds up his arm. “Thanks to my mother. She’s a master at her craft.” He looks over at the food tables. “I hear you have a grower on your ship.”

“Yes, we do.” I point to Lucinda. “There’s our green goddess right there.” I look up just in time to catch a spark in his eye. “Go ahead and introduce yourself. Maybe you two can swap notes. She probably needs some fertilizer and maybe we have something your sheep might like.”

He nods. “Exciting things to consider. Welcome to the Alliance.”

“Yes. Thanks. We’re happy to be here.”

Before I can be accosted again and forced to act friendlier than I feel, I move to the outskirts of the group where I can watch the action for a while. I was never very good at mingling, always preferring to wait until I got the lay of the land before stepping into the middle of it.

Jeffers comes to stand by me after a minute or two, handing me a cup much like Alana was using earlier, filled with a fruity drink that may have something mood-altering in it. I take a small sip and then rest it in the palm of my opposite hand. A smile tics at the corner of my mouth as I watch Beltz wrestle with his cousin. The kid doesn’t stand a chance, but that doesn’t keep him from trying to win. Soon he’s on the ground with Beltz’s knee in his chest, crying surrender.

“Having fun?” Jeffers asks.

“Yeah, I guess.” I look down into my drink. “I was never much of a party person.”

“But, if there were a game of givit going on …” he suggests, looking down at me and smiling.

I grin back. “Then, forget it. I’d be all in.”

He sighs, looking back out at the crowd of party people. The mingling is going well, all of my crewmembers including Lucinda engaged in conversation and drinking some of the fruity stuff.

“Hard to believe you just came onboard a few days ago.”

“I know.” He’s right; it is kind of crazy that I’m actually standing here with a shadow crewmember, bombs onboard, and someone out to get me somewhere out there in the Dark. “My head is spinning with everything that’s happened since I started calling myself Captain Cass.”

“Gus used to complain that life on the Kinsblade was boring. I wonder if he’s feeling differently about that right now.”

“My guess is yes.” I can’t help feeling bad for the guy. I don’t think my kind of exciting was the kind he was looking for. “Tam was free to be whoever and whatever he is with Langlade in charge.”

“As he could be with you … if you’d let him.”

I sigh in annoyance and fatigue. “Please don’t tell me you came over here to press his case with me. Not now. Not here.”

He shakes his head, all innocence. “No, it just came up in the conversation. I’m not anyone’s advocate. I’m just looking out for my captain.”

I take another sip of my drink. “How so?”

He shrugs. “We have very limited resources. And he’s excellent at what he does. He’s not violent.”

“You didn’t see him throwing things around in the engine room like I did.”

“Be that as it may, he’s not violent toward other people. In fact, I’d lean toward calling him gentle in that way. He always does what he’s told. He keeps a handle on his brother …”

“I thought it was Gus who was supposed to keep a handle on Tam.”

“I think it’s a mutual thing. Together they are the perfect team. Separate … they’re incomplete.” I frown as he stares at Tam, the only one at the party who doesn’t look like he’s having a good time. “I can understand why they did what they did, even though I’ve never had anyone as close to me as those two do in one another.” He looks down at me again. “I think losing a twin would be like losing two limbs on one side of your body.”

“Ew. Okay, but ew.”

He’s staring at Tam again. “Everything would be off balance. Nothing would be right again. You’d never get over it. You’d never be whole again.”

“You’re being a little dramatic, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t think so.” He takes a sip of his drink and looks down at me. “I’m off to get some fruit. Care to join me?”

“No, thanks. I think I’ll stay here.”

He moves off without another word, and I’m left to contemplate his philosophies about twins and shadows. It’s annoying that his thoughts make so much sense to me. I haven’t known Tam for long, but I have seen him operate well under pressure. And I’ve also seen him taking care of his brother, being the voice of reason and control when Gus wanted to fly off the range with his craziness. Without Tam there to watch over Gus, where would we be? And without Gus to watch over Tam, where would we be? The answer is clear: We’d be left with half an engineering team at the very least, and dead in the Dark at the most — an eventuality I have to avoid at all costs.

It’s easy to see how much of an effect Tam has on Gus’s mood. With Tam there as a steadying force, Gus is free to be himself. Footloose and goofy. And Gus might be annoying, but his effect on the crewmembers is definitely positive. Heck, he’s been able to make me smile about twenty times already; that has to be some kind of record.

I sigh as I realize I’m talking myself into letting Tam stay on as a functioning part of our team and not as a prisoner in the brig. This is not going to be an easy plan to swing Baebong over to. He’s even more anti-shadow than I am. I take another sip of my drink as a melancholy descends over my shoulders. Why did I think drifting was going to be a carefree, stressless life? It’s just as dark over here as it was where I came from. Life is not brighter on the other side of the Dark.

I’m distracted from my pitiful-me thoughts by flashes of movement off to my left. The clearpanels of the airlock reveal Beltine’s PC pulling up to the Osiris again with the last load of Alliance members. Knowing I’m expected to be somewhat social, I move with a few others toward the portal to await the offloading of the crewmembers from the DS Huna. I sip my drink to keep my hands busy.

Chapter Seventeen

THE FIRST ONE THROUGH THE portal is a very round man with dark skin and jet black hair. I haven’t seen anyone this big since I was with the OSG. Generally speaking, only the Haves enjoy the kind of food that can cause that kind of weight gain. His cheeks are bright pink and very pinchable if you’re into that kind of thing.

“Hello, one and all,” he says with his chubby arms extended wide. “I am Captain Kaiholo for those of you who have not yet made my acquaintance.”

I, along with pretty much everyone else in the room, yell back the same greeting: “Welcome, Captain Kaiholo!” Just this small bit of camaraderie is enough to cheer me up.
Life doesn’t have to be dark all the time, right?
I take another long sip from my cup. The dark red liquid is going down easier and easier. I stare down into my drink and realize I’ve finished over half of it already.

Kaiholo beams a big smile that lights up the room as he steps to the side, gesturing at the people coming into the cargo area after him. “Allow me to present my crew. My lovely wife, Kimo. She and I are fully qualified medical technicians.” He pauses while we murmur our hellos to the slight woman who’s half his size and wearing a plain, dark blue flightsuit. Her black hair is in a bun near the top of her head, making her look older than I think she is.

“These are my two daughters, Olina and Ailani who are in training with us to one day become medical technicians in their own right.” Another pause for greetings. These girls look like younger versions of their mother, wearing the same clothing and hairstyle. “And last, my son. Kekoa. He is … currently seeking employment elsewhere.” His smile slips a little before it comes back half as bright. “So if any of you are looking for labor, please feel free to talk to my wife or me tonight!” Kekoa will be just like his father one day, but today, he’s a husky kid in black, probably about the same age as Jens. His hair is spiked on top and black as the Dark itself.

Kimo steps up to her husband’s side and rests her hand on his shoulder. She nods at the people who’ve bothered to come over and offer her a greeting and some small talk. The children stick together and move toward the food table. Gus catches my eye by moving really quickly toward the girls. He’s zeroed in on one of the daughters, no doubt. Hopefully, he won’t scare them away with his burned face. I turn my attention to Kaiholo, knowing I’m expected to make my way over and greet him. Captains do not have the luxury of remaining invisible at parties like these, unfortunately.

Baebong reaches my side just as I stop in front of the couple, giving me instant confidence for the task at hand. “Captain Kaiholo.” I nod at him. “Kimo.” I nod at his wife. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Cass, Captain of the DS Anarchy.”

I expect Kaiholo to shake my proffered hand, but he ignores it and pulls me into a bear hug. My drink sloshes in my cup and barely remains in my hand, as I grip it desperately to keep it from spilling down his back.

“Welcome to the Alliance!” he booms into my ear, making it ring.

I grunt with the effort of keeping air in my lungs. His embrace threatens to squeeze every last huff out of me. “Thanks.” When he drops me, I take advantage of the sudden freedom and inhale really deeply. My head spins a little with the influx of oxygen. I take another sip of my drink to help steady me, wiping off my mouth with the back of my hand when some of it splashes up and hits my face.