Pixie Hazard by Archibald Bradford (top young adult novels .txt) 📕

“Don’t know. I’ve been kind of busy.”

The skipper ignored the wry tone in Billy’s voice as she laced up her boots with practiced movements, firmly in control of her emotions again.

“Then let’s go and see if we’re still fucked.”

Minutes later she and Billy stepped into the armoury to find Eniella, all of them keenly aware of the hulking and bloody mess of Maria’s suit sitting on her workbench.

Seeking to avoid the emotional distraction, Donnie looked to Eniella.

“Okay pinky. Talk to me.”

“That’s racist.” The FCO shot back humourlessly; “It wasn’t hard to figure out where it came from.”

With her robotic arm she deftly flipped over one of the supply crates to display the slipspace beacon neatly nestled in one of the grooves in the bottom of it.

Donnie groaned at how badly they had been duped as she took up the crate for a closer look.

“Eva’s wrong, we’ve all gotten sloppy. They barely needed to hide it on us.” She lamented.

“Those phony stevedores that delivered the groceries played me rather perfectly.” Billy agreed sourly; “They were pushing to get on the ship so badly so that we’d be in a rush to get the supplies inside after I chased them off. They had me looking for a break-in when I should’ve been looking for an infiltration.”

The captain nodded sympathetically as she dropped the beacon back on the table.

“I told you not to underestimate Demarco. He knew we had Bryan before we even docked at Mung. Slippery fuck had this thing in place in case he couldn’t get me to deal. Not sure how the drag-queen fits into his plans though.”

“What about Juan Corps and the whole murder thing?” Eniella asked.

Donnie shrugged.

“Fuck ‘em. They’re not a major player in the grand scheme of it, and I picked Lewanna for a reason. No corporation is going to start some shit with a free colony. If they send in papers demanding our arrest, Lewanna’s government will wipe with them before sending them back.”

“Come on man. Gross.” Billy said with a grimace.

“Everybody poops doc, thought you knew that.”

“That’s why I invented nurses.”

Letting the moment of levity pass, Donnie moved on.

“In any case, my biggest concern is still the Iowa Clan. They can’t realistically start any trouble in orbit of Lewanna, but we might need to land to sell the transport. And I don’t feel like having my throat cut by a bounty hunter while shopping for space-bananas.”

“I wouldn’t put it past Demarco to have a hand in that as well.” Billy agreed.

But Donnie shook her head.

“End of the day Demarco is all about business. Despite his bluster he doesn’t do revenge. Though he’d certainly take it if he could profit off it somehow, but he doesn’t have that kind of reach. Big fish in a little pond and all that.”

“We’re still going to be careful when we drop Bryan off though right? Assuming the plan hasn’t changed?” Eniella inquired.

While she spoke she pried the disabled gizmo off with two metal fingers before setting the crate aside.

“Yeah. We’ll linger on Lewanna just long enough to offload the transport, then those who need to can kiss the kid goodbye.”

Billy pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“You’re still set on that?”

“I am. He’s a sweet guy, but we’ve taken enough risks for him. Besides, it will take the Junkers some time to recover from the ass-whooping we just gave them. And with Outerlight busy cleaning up the mess of the prof’s little hideout, he should be fine. How dangerous is it to book a flight home?”

“That’s assuming he goes home, his mother-”

“Has nothing to do with us.” Donnie interrupted firmly; “That’s for the two of them to work out in family therapy. It’s time to cut him loose Bridget.”

The doctor wasn’t happy about it, tension hanging in the air between them for several seconds, but in the end she agreed with her captain’s logic.

She hadn’t enjoyed seeing Maria on the floor any more than Donnie had.

“Fine, but you get to tell my patient.”

“My first stop once she wakes up.” Donnie grunted.

Eniella shook her head ruefully.

“I don’t envy you that.”

“Speaking of which, I should get back to her.” The doctor said before leaving Donnie and Eniella in the armoury.

Silence fell between them for a few moments as the captain looked over the remains of Maria’s suit.

“I can fix it Skipper.” The Hispanic woman promised firmly; “It’ll take a lot of work. But I’ll make her whole again.”

Donnie absently bounced one balled fist against an undamaged part of the suit several times, then nodded.

“Glad to hear it. I felt us come out of slipspace while I was in the shower, we close to the transport?”

Eniella nodded.

“We’ll be within spitting distance in a few hours. Davie’s already in contact with Kyle. Bunny is… eager to be back onboard.”

At the thought of the K’or-Macka, Donnie lips spread into a genuine smile.

“I can imagine.”

__________

After Billy had finished the last of the major procedures that Maria needed, Bryan was sitting at her bedside in the infirmary, his hand limply holding hers as she slept.

He was feeling like absolute shit at the moment.

Though her face was still a bit pale, the skin around her injuries looked much improved, red from the grafts that Billy had performed.

But Bryan still felt like shit.

Because just as the captain had said on the station, Maria was over a barrel because of his complicated life.

Even if it wasn’t really his fault, he still blamed himself.

While he mulled over his culpability for the blonde’s state, Eva came into the infirmary.

Having finished helping in the airlock while Kyle and Bunny came back onboard from the transport, the redhead was keen to check on her friend.

She sucked