At least he didn’t look at her like she was diseased.
“Good morning, Miss Carrizal.” He smiled as she climbed the stairs to his cockpit.
“Call me Renna, please.”
“Then what brings you my way this fine morning, Renna?”
She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think I’d exactly be welcome on the bridge after my little fight with the captain yesterday.”
“I heard about that.” He chuckled. “I’ve never seen the guy lose it, and I’ve served with him on three missions now.”
“Yeah? How long have you been with MYTH?” She studied the holoscreens and consoles in front of him. He might look young, but he had some serious skills to run this complex navigation system.
“Four years. They recruited me straight from the academy. Been with Captain Finn almost the whole time. He’s one of the best.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Kojima gave her a sly look. “It’s got to be your reputation that’s got him up in arms. It’s not every mission we get to host the Star Thief.”
Her face went carefully expressionless. “What are you talking about?” By the stars, had Dallas told everyone?
“I know everything that happens on this ship. Including all personnel files. Don’t worry, I’ll never tell. But if the rest of the crew knew…”
“They’d put me in the brig.” Or even worse, turn her in for the billion-credit bounty on her head.
He smiled but didn’t deny it. “So what was it like? Being on Treze? Stealing the sapphire?” He tapped at his console before turning back to her. “Those aliens are weird, right? Four arms? Gills and scales?”
She leaned against the hatch frame. “The Trezian military is unlike any other in the galaxy. It puts MYTH to shame. I mean, what could you do with four arms?”
Kojima slanted a glance at her from the corner of his eye as he adjusted one of the nav points on his screen. “So how did you do it?”
A small smile curled her lips. “Sorry, that’s classified.”
“Come on, just a hint?”
“Sorry, kid, some secrets are best kept.”
“Hey, you’re not that much older than me.” He sounded pouty for a moment before he realized it and grinned. “Fine. But next shore leave, the guys and I are going to take you out. Maybe after a few drinks, you’ll spill.”
“I can drink you under the table,” Renna said with a laugh.
“What the hell are you doing up there, Flight Lieutenant?” Captain Finn’s voice cracked through the intercom, and Kojima jumped. “We’re on approach to Krooss. Have you radioed for our landing berth yet?”
“No, sir. Doing that now, sir.” Kojima turned back to Renna. “You’d better get out of here before I get in trouble.”
She took a deep breath and steadied her nerves. The Athena wasn’t that big. She was going to have to see Finn sooner or later, and putting it off made her feel like a coward. And that pissed her off. Renna squared her shoulders and marched to the bridge.
Finn sat in the captain’s chair watching the holo as the Athena approached Krooss. His gaze flicked to her briefly as she stood at the railing, but he said nothing. Together they watched the spaceport appear and the Athena head to her berth on the west side of town.
“We’ll be here for three hours. I expect you to stay on board while we refuel.” Finn still didn’t look at her.
“I thought you wanted me off your ship.”
“I want you to do your job,” he said, slamming his fist down on the arm of the chair. “And that means following my orders.”
Well, well. The supposedly unflappable captain was still angry at her. Interesting. Men usually only stayed that angry for one reason: injured pride.
“Whatever you say, Cap. You’re the boss.” She wandered away, hands shoved into her pockets and her shoulders relaxed. Wouldn’t do for him to see how annoyed she was. She had no desire to see the dirty spaceport, but damn she’d wanted to argue. Just to prove to him that she didn’t do blind obedience.
Instead, she walked to the officers’ quarters and woke Myka to get some breakfast. Miss Mary already had food ready and waiting for him when they got to the mess, but she wasn’t as kind to Renna. She had to dish up her own plate of rubbery-looking scrambled eggs and some dry toast.
Mary’s gaze lingered over the boy as she lowered her large frame into the seat across from them. “How’d you sleep, Myka? Is your berth all right?”
Myka nodded, too busy stuffing himself with breakfast.
Mary smiled at his obvious appetite. “The Athena is the best ship I’ve ever served on. And that’s been quite a few.”
Renna paused, fork halfway to her mouth. “Don’t you have a family? Children?”
Mary’s gaze dropped to the table, and her fingers traced a gouge in the steel. “My Harold and I didn’t have children. And now it’s just me. It’s why I joined MYTH. Figured I’m the best cook out there, why not cook for those’ll appreciate me?”
“Noble sentiment.” Renna paused. “Have you been with MYTH long? I thought they were top secret.”
“You’re not the only one they recruited. I’ve been with them six years now. And I must say their offer came at an auspicious time. I’d been planning to leave Logaaine anyway. Things were getting a bit too hot for me to take on any more jobs.”
Renna felt her eyes widen. “You were a mercenary?”
Mary nodded. “In my younger days. Left it all behind me when I was with Harold. He was my moral compass. After he died, it was easy to slip back into the old ways, but I’m getting a bit too old for it now. Wish I’d saved more for my retirement.” She looked wistfully at the boy, then heaved herself to her feet. “MYTH’s been good to me. I’d hate to see anyone double-cross them.” She pinned Renna with a cool stare before returning to her kitchen.
Renna watched her go. Would that be her in another twenty years? Cooking or cleaning for someone else just to scrape by? Slipping back into mercenary work if nothing legal came up?
The weight of her empty life made her chest ache. She flitted from planet to planet, never getting attached to anything or anyone. She’d been working toward retirement from the day she’d run away at thirteen, from the day she’d realized this business would kill her just as drugs had killed her mother.