Page 47 of Star Bringer
Chapter 17
Ian
“Okay,” I say to Kali as the landing gear locks click. “You’re coming with me.”
She’s still laughing under her breath, which isn’t concerning at all. I’m afraid there really is something wrong with her—and can’t help thinking I should be around if she ends up freaking out or something.
But as soon as I have the thought, I try to forget it. The princess isn’t my responsibility. But Iamthe captain of this ship—for now, at least—which technically means everyone on board is my responsibility. Fuck. I’m notnotresponsible for her, either. Fuck.
This captain shit is a lot harder than I thought it’d be.
“Are you serious?” she asks. “What happened to the whole I-don’t-trust-you-not-to-go-running-to-Mummy thing?”
“No joke. It’sbecauseI don’t trust you that I’m taking you with me.”
“I won’t try to contact anyone. I promise.” She actually bats her eyelashes at me like she thinks that will work.
I roll my eyes in response, then say, “Up.”
“Oh, come on,” she needles, gesturing a hand down over herself. “How can I go out there looking like this?”
I don’t see what the problem is. She actually looks sort of cute, like a really grubby ghost at a fancy-dress party. I do miss the bare legs, though. “Easy. People will just think you’re a nun.”
“I’m a high priestess, not a nun,” Rain volunteers.
“I didn’t ask,” I answer. But I smile to soften it because snapping at her feels a lot like kicking a small, cute prupple. Then I turn back to Kali. “People find nuns nonthreatening, even here. You’ll be totally safe.”
I can almost see her mind working as she considers it. Or, more likely, considers a bunch of plots to give me the slip and run home to Mommy. But the last thing we need is the Empire on our asses, so I’m going to have to make sure she stays next to me.
Eventually she nods, though, which saves me from having to force the issue. I address Max in my head. “You stay here and watch the ship.”
“Already planned on it.”
“Good.” I look at Gage, who is studying the ship’s now blank console like he’s trying to figure out how and why it worked. I should probably spend some time doing that, too, while we’re on the ground, but the truth is I don’t give a fuck. As long as it gets me to Milla, the ship can fly upside down and backward and I won’t care.
“I need you to arrange for the water tanks to be filled,” I tell him. “Go and talk to the port authority—they pump from the lake.”
Rangar is a port city on the edge of a huge freshwater lake, thoughlakeis a bit of an understatement, considering it’s bigger than other planets’ oceans. At least water is one thing there will be no shortage of here—half of Askkandia is covered with it. They ship it out to the inner planets and sell it at an exorbitant price to the poor sods who live there—most of whom can’t afford to buy enough to quench their thirsts. One of the few things I remember about my early childhood is always being thirsty.
“They’ll want payment,” I continue, pulling out what little planetas I have from my pocket and handing them over. “If it’s more, tell them I’ll pay when I get back.” He looks more than happy to take the orange strips of composite carbon and tuck them into his Corporation suit pockets. Typical.
I look around and spot Merrick hovering over his little priestess. Without the white robe, he looks seriously intimidating—which is exactly what I need right now. “You go with Gage. If anyone gets difficult—sort it out.”
He raises a brow but then nods.
Good.
“And what will you be doing?” Merrick asks.
I consider telling him to mind his own business. This guy rubs me the wrong way. Probably because I suspect we may have trouble with him once the more pressing issues of dying of thirst or starvation are sorted.
I decide to play it nice—for now. “The princess and I are going to go turn her buttons into cash and buy some provisions. We’ll see you back here in a couple of hours.”
“Call if you need me,” Max says in my head.
“I won’t need you.”
“That’s what you always say.”
