Gambit of Dares: An Interstellar War Story (The Essence Wars Book 2) by Paul Heingarten

Author:Paul Heingarten [Heingarten, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Decatur Media
Published: 2021-04-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

"You've gotta be kidding me." Ket sat on a crate outside of the depot on Wenzo talking with Selina while Dub watched as well. Their quick escape, thanks to Selina's help, had gone off pretty well, but that left them with this hot device that was an easy mark for them to be ambushed and something they had to keep secret.

"I said I need to get back to Zormad, flyboy. This device I got here isn't coming out just yet. You want your big prize, help me first."

Ket knew he had a few options that didn't involve Selina, but he wasn't ready for thinking about them. He could've arranged something with Dub, but he just didn't see that happening either. He'd felt something from the moment he'd seen her and that hadn't gone away. If Dub was any kind of clairvoyant, he'd have assumed it involved Ket's groin area aka Ket just having the hots for her. Maybe it was just that, but Ket thought it went further. Ket saw flashes of it in Selina's eyes, the way she looked sometimes. Xeno as a race were loners in Ling Galaxy; since they arrived they had scraped for whatever existence possible. When Ket was a child growing up, he had Osten Chavis as a benefactor, but Xeno just had whatever deals they made with strangers, and the hope those arrangements were legitimate. Xeno's survival depended on the worth they proved to people and how accurate their trust was. Ket admitted at least with Chavis, he had a mentor who was already invested in Ket's growth, even if it was because there was a steady take in it for Chavis.

"What's so damned important on Zormad you gotta rush back there?" Ket asked. "You want my help, why don't you start with telling me what Zormad and NewEarth means to ya."

"They're my family, all I have left. You probably don't know, I'm sure you've got plenty of people you can depend on. My mother's there, and she isn't well; I can't just let them die."

Selina bowed her head and slumped down to the ground. Ket got off the crate and sat down beside her. She watched Ket with pleading eyes.

Ket's survival instinct swiftly kicked in and pushed aside the growing feelings he had about helping Selina. "Look, I'm a smuggler. I'm not in anything for the greater good unless it's my own. But the more I see these fights happening, the more I'm thinking if things don't settle, soon it's gonna be impossible to get anything done. Tell ya what; I don't have much of a family, but what I got I know I'd do anything for. You want to get back to your world, we'll help you. Give me that Tracker back when I get there, and we call it a deal?"

A tear snaked down Selina's face. "Deal."

#

The Transient Warp Drive repair on the Crimson Lance took a day to complete, but the ship was then ready and back to its infamous glory.

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