Blastaway by Melissa Landers

Author:Melissa Landers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2019-07-08T16:00:00+00:00

“Cross us again, and we’ll take you to the Council.”

That was what Taki had told me.

And even though I’d pretended not to care, a cold finger traced my spine as I walked up the steps. The Holyoakes had told me horror stories about the Council and their kind of “justice.” Sometimes a Wanderer got out of control—starting fights, or stealing, or acting recklessly in a way that put the whole ship at risk—but nobody wanted to get the Galaxy Guard involved. So the ship’s captain could bind the offender and bring them to trial. When a case came up, the Council listened to both sides of the story and voted on whether to punish the crew member. I guess the sentences they handed down were better than a lifetime of slavery at one of Quasar Niatrix’s prison farms, but in my opinion, the Council had a disturbing way of matching the punishment to the crime.

For example, one time I overheard Taki on a video call to his friends, and they were talking about a woman who’d had her fists electronically hobbled as a punishment for violence. But the hobbles made it impossible for her to defend herself, so when a drunk miner had targeted her at an outpost, she hadn’t been able to fight back, and she’d ended up in the hospital with brain damage. Then there was a rumor about a man who’d stolen from his crew and had to wear I AM A THIEF in holographic ink on his forehead. Another man who had spied on his captain for proof of illegal blasting, hoping to collect a reward from the Galaxy Guard, had been found guilty and blinded with eye drops so he couldn’t spy again.

See what I mean? Disturbing.

I wasn’t afraid of many things, but the Council was one of them. They scared me the way the dark scared most kids. I couldn’t help wondering how they would punish me for what I’d done the last time I was on board the Wanderlust, when I’d stolen the captain’s shuttle and run away.

I shivered and shut down the thought.

It wouldn’t do me any good to worry about things beyond my control. Instead I focused on the scent of onions that clung to the air as I passed the galley. Nonna, the captain’s wife, believed onions had healing powers, so she put them in everything: chili, biscuits, oatmeal, even cookies. That was why the ship smelled so bad. As for the supposed health benefits of onions, I didn’t buy it…unless burping was good for your health. In which case I was probably immortal from the month I’d spent on board the ship.

Kyler’s stomach rumbled loud enough for me to hear. He rubbed his stomach and said, “Something smells good.”

“Then you must love onions,” I said. “Either that or you’re extra-hungry.”

“Or both,” he told me.

We passed three closed doors and entered the last cabin at the end of the hall, a closet-size room with two folding bunks attached to the wall.

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