Page 75 of Star Bringer
But the screen shows an external view of the ship—exactly what I need to see. Because theStarlighthas grown…wings?
I check the other side of the ship, and it’s the same—two more wings coming off at angles that must make her look like a star now. I peer at them a little closer, and it’s a testament to just how much alcohol I had last night that it takes me a full sixty seconds to realize they aren’t wings. At least not for flying.
TheStarlighthas angled herself toward the sun. Which means they’re actually… “Retractable solar wings,” I murmur. “She’s powering up.”
“Yep,” Beckett agrees.
Make thatveryfew words.
At least now we know what’s powering her—I’ve been wondering that since the first day. But how the hell long is this going to take? I’m guessing a long time, which fucking sucks, but spaceships use a fuckload of energy.
I scrub a hand over my face and try to get the last of my wits about me. “I’m going to rinse off real quick. Let me know if anything—”
I stop talking as a beam of light shoots from the sun straight at us, momentarily blinding me.
“Fuck!” Another goddamn solar flare. And I’m pretty sure this time we’re the ones who are about to go up in flames.
Except…several seconds pass and nothing happens. What the fuck?
I squint at the screen to avoid burning my eyes out. Looks like the beam has narrowed to about two meters and takes turns hitting the center of each wing for a few seconds apiece. Then, as quickly as it began, it’s over. The wings are drawn in, the engine starts, and we’re moving once more.
Beckett grins.
“Fucking cool,” I say, because it is. Alien technology sure is a piece of work.
Since we’re back on course, I find the nearest bathroom and shove my head under the tap. At least we’ve got water again, so yesterday’s trip wasn’t a total clusterfuck.
I grab a towel and scrub the water from my hair. I want coffee, but I have no clue how anything in the galley functions and my brain isn’t up to working it out just yet. I’ll get there. In the meantime…
“Max?”
“What? I’m sleeping.”
“Kick Gage awake, will you? Tell him to get that amazing mind he’s always telling us about but we never actually see working on how to make me a cup of coffee.” Gage might be a lazy bastard, but he did manage to make dinner last night. He’s gotta know his way around the galley by now.
“You woke me up to tell me that? Do it yourself.”
“Don’t make me beg.”
Max heaves a long-suffering sigh.
I grin. Mission fucking accomplished.
I fill a glass with water from the purifier and head back to the bridge. The place is a goddamn mess. Empty bottles and food cartons litter the floor. Someone needs to clean up around here.
Since Beckett is busy scrolling through theStarlight’s screens, it looks like the job falls to me. A captain’s work is never done. Especially since we also need to decide what to do next—and discuss the little matter that someone has offered a lot of money for us all and they don’t care if we’re dead or alive.
What’s with that, anyway?I ponder as I shove all the dirty dishes and empty gerjgin bottles back in the box they were carried here in. Not a perfect fix, but at least it no longer looks like someone went on a three-day bender in here.
As I bend down to pick up yet another pile of used plates, I notice a small bag of brightly colored items discarded near them.What do we have here?The bag is full of bean-like things in all the colors of Askkandia.Looks like some kind of kid’s treat. Certainly nothing I ever ate before growing up. Figuring this is my reward for cleaning up those ungrateful assholes’ mess, I pocket the candy.
After I’m done picking up everything and bringing it into the galley, I move back to my chair.
Beckett is still seated, but now she’s twiddling with a bunch of knobs and pressing buttons.
Does she know what she’s doing? Does she care? Somehow, I doubt it.
“Did you know the ship is an alien artifact?” I mention as casually as I can. I want to add,So pressing random buttons might not be such a good idea because who the fuck knows what will happen—but I don’t want to set her off. Some (rhetorical) buttons even I know not to push.
