Centauri Bliss by Skyler Grant

Author:Skyler Grant [Grant, Skyler]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-08-22T16:00:00+00:00

20

Apart from quickly confirming that everybody had gotten back alive, for the next few hours Quinn didn’t have the opportunity to check on how things had gone. Although forces from the estate hadn’t been able to pursue them, to be safe he’d dodged other vessels in the system all the way to the Runestone. Two extended jumps later he’d put a lot of space between the Kathryn and the Duke’s zone of influence.

They were the Oolo system. The only inhabited planet was the second from the sun. A real hell world only colonized at all because of the presence of some rare elements that made a mining concern worthwhile. Quinn wasn’t even bothering to land. Fuel would be exorbitant and they weren’t that desperate quite yet. This was just a quiet place with no traffic. The sort of system where they could pass the night without concern of who might be hunting them.

Setting an alarm just in case any new ships popped into the system, Quinn went in search of the others. There was quite a gathering in the kitchen. Tamara and Jinx were there. Tamara had a purplish bruise on one cheek but otherwise looked in good health. Kara was stripped down to a sports bra, bandages wound around her midsection.

The scent of nachos was in the air and several demolished plates already on the table, a more recent one still steaming away.

“Is that the good booze?” Quinn asked.

“Surviving seemed like cause for celebration, sir,” Taki asked.

“Hope you’re buying,” Quinn said to Tamara as he took a seat and filled a plate.

“Sorry, Captain. I am officially terminated because of a violation of contract. Accounts frozen and most of my access revoked,” Tamara said glumly.

“We do the right thing getting you out of there?”

“Yeah. But I shouldn’t talk about it,” Tamara said with a look around. “Would just make trouble for all of you. You can let me and Jinx off wherever. We’ll figure it out. Where are we?”

“Crappy little mining colony in the Oolo system. The surface is mostly methane and dust, far as I can tell,” Quinn said.

“Maybe not wherever,” Tamara said.

“Thank you, truly, all of you,” Jinx said.

“Where are you going to go?” Quinn asked.

Tamara gave a pained chuckle. “We’re not going to be safe anywhere. Maybe dropping us off below would be best. Only hope we’ve got is to be as much off the grid as possible and I just don’t have the resources anymore to make that happen anywhere civilized.”

Jinx rested a hand on Tamara’s shoulder. “You were very brave.”

“I gave you my word I’d get you to safety. That place wasn’t safe,” Tamara said.

“Sir,” Taki said, with a pointed look.

Quinn knew what she was getting at—she wanted him to offer them a place aboard. Taki didn’t know what she was asking. He’d never told her who Jinx really was or the trouble these two were mixed up in, although she must have gotten some sense of it.

Dela and Kara at least had skills worth keeping them around.

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