For some reason, that makes a knot form in my throat. “No, I’m good.”
Unlike the others, I don’t have anything I miss “from home.” I don’t have foods that I crave, or scents that remind me of things. It’s clear Alice and Jade are having a delightful time, and I don’t want to ruin that time for them, so I smile and pretend to look interested in things.
“So we’re leaving tomorrow, Adi?” Jade asks as she picks up a dusty-looking paperback and flips through the pages. “So soon?”
“So soon? We’ve been sitting here for weeks, love. We’ve got a belly full of fuel and the Sister is ready for her next adventure.” Adiron slings an arm across Jade’s shoulders possessively. “If we’re going to get to the bottom of things, we have to get started at some point.”
“I know.” She sighs. “I just like the downtime. I wish we could stay here another month or two.”
Alarmed at the thought, I set down the box of…whatever and sidle closer, eavesdropping on their conversation. Adiron will give Jade anything she wants, but he’s not going to make us stay for another two months, is he?
“The right thing to do is to track things down and put an end to all of it, love. And we’ve finally got a lead. But Mathiras will explain everything in the meeting tonight. So you listen in and take notes, okay?”
She turns her head, giving him a skeptical look. “Why do I have to take notes?”
“Because I’m going to be too busy staring at how pretty you are and thinking about how lucky I am.” He gives her a foolish, besotted smile. “Kinda like I do in every meeting.”
Jade rolls her eyes but I can see a smile tugging at her mouth. She pretends his compliments don’t get to her but I think she likes it. It’s like she’s afraid to encourage him, but I think it’s cute. Jade’s always looking after us, so it’s good that someone—even goofy Adiron—sees through that and takes care of her.
“What kind of meeting?” I ask, chiming in. Eavesdropping. Ish.
Adiron turns, as if surprised I’m still there. “Oh. You know. Go over attack plans for all the ships. Things like that.”
My eyes widen. Oh wow. We’re attacking? I look at the tables, trying to find something that would work as a weapon. “I think I’d like something after all,” I say, and hold up a metal tube.
“A rolling pin?” Jade asks, giving me a quizzical look.
Is that what it is? It looks perfect to hold and hurt someone with. “Yes,” I say. “For holiday pies. And for on the ship. For safety.”
Jade and Adiron exchange looks and then shrug.
CHAPTER 2
MATHIRAS
I cannot sit still this day. I pace up and down the halls of the Little Sister, preparing. Making sure everything is ready. Making sure nothing has been overlooked. We leave in the morning, and we need to make sure every gun is loaded with a fresh blast-clip, every fuel tank is topped off, every comm frequency masked, every bit of food stocked into the mess hall’s dispensers.
Preparation is key, and since my brothers are irresponsible and distracted by their mates, it falls to me.
I tap the logs on my data pad again, going over inventory, engine checks, anything and everything I can think of. I’ve set up a meeting tonight to discuss a plan of action with my brothers and their mates, along with the crew of the Darkened Eye, Lord Straik sa’Rin’s ship. I’d prefer if just the Sister were setting out on this venture, but sa’Rin has connections and deeper pockets than we do, and his ship is faster. We might need him, but I’m keeping that in my list of options. In addition, Zoey and the crew of the Jabberwock will be comm-linking in to see how they can help. I’ve sent out a request for Jerrok and Sophie to comm in as well, just in case we might need their assistance. Jerrok’s a surly keffing bastard but he knows how to fix just about everything, and he’s got scrapping connections all over this end of the galaxy.
We might need all of it if we’re going to find this slaving ring and take it down.
I head down another one of the Sister’s halls, kicking one of Adiron’s shirts out of the way. I don’t get how one male can make such a keffing mess. Does Jade not have a problem with it? Because I sure do. He—
The comm beeps, indicating a message, and I practically jump out of my skin.
I swear to myself, feeling foolish. I have no idea why I’m so wound up. This is a dangerous situation, and grows more dangerous with every person we include, but we’re used to that. We’re used to risking our necks on risky gambits. It’s just that…this is a big operation and sometimes I feel like I’m the only one that’s paying attention to the risks.