Jeridan groaned with disappointment. So this was where it all ended. They had made the tech scavenge of all tech scavenges, something that would put them in the history books, and now Nova was jettisoning them.

He should have known she'd try something like this the first chance she got. It was the only way for her to avoid prison.

So instead of saving the galaxy and retiring as a billionaire on some pleasure planet, he was going to end up as slave labor on Luna's Layover.

What would they be forced to do? Clean the reactor? Mix drinks? Become go-go dancers?

Well, not Negasi. No one would pay to see him dance.

Maybe it won't be so bad. At least I wouldn't be getting shot at all the time, and I could save enough tips to get an Interstellar Bus off this dump.

Luna's voice took him out of his fantasies of being a go-go dancer in a bar full of aliens.

"Care to tell me why your boss would ditch her pilot and gunner?"

"Captain, actually. I'm the ship's captain."

"Whatever. Why is she ditching you?"

Jeridan and Negasi glanced at each other. What to say?

The truth would get them into more trouble than they were already in. It would also give Luna an excuse to take the ship. They couldn't endanger the kids or the mission.

But making up a lie that Luna would believe? That was a tall order.

And not answering at all would keep them in this cacking situation.

Come on, Negasi. Think of something. You're always pretending to me smarter than me.

Negasi just sat there with a helpless look on his face.

Dumbass.

"Well?" Luna prompted.

Jeridan and Negasi both started talking at once.

It would have been nice to have been saying the same thing, but they weren't.

At least they talked over each other enough that Luna couldn't hear either of their bullshit stories.

She waved her hand in an impatient gesture, her gemstones blinding them again.

"One at a time, please."

Jeridan looked at Negasi. Negasi looked back at Jeridan.

"Well, go on," Jeridan said.

"You're the captain," Negasi said.

"Never mind," Luna said. "I'm obviously not going to get anything out of you without torture."

"Torture?" Negasi squeaked.

Wuss.

"Don't you think torture is a bit extreme?" Jeridan said, trying to keep the rising level of despair in his heart from making his voice waver. "I mean, it's a personal dispute between us and our employer."

"A personal dispute that shot up my station."

"Like that's never happened before!" Jeridan faked a good-natured laugh, hoping for some camaraderie between criminals.

Luna's deepening frown showed it wasn't working.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Do you want to know what I did to all the others who shot up my station?"

"Um, not really."

Luna's console chirped again. She looked at the screen and her eyes widened.

"Your ship's AI is informing me that you took over the ship using a number of different captain's protocols and that Nova Bradford doesn't have the authority to leave you here."

"Which AI?" Jeridan blurted. Negasi kicked him.

Luna stared. "You have more than one AI?"

"No. What makes you think that?"

"Never mind. What the hell did Nova do?"

What didn't she do?

"She broke several interstellar laws."

"Then why is she on your bridge communicating with me?"

"She's still an essential member of the crew."

"None of this makes any sense."

"I've been saying that for several months now," Jeridan agreed.

"Me too," Negasi added.

"And she just tried to ditch you here."

"Yup," Jeridan and Negasi said together.

"I guess you want to get back to your ship and handle that."

"You bet," Jeridan said.

"Righto," Negasi agreed.

"That's my line," Max said.

"Oh, cack, I forgot you were still here!" Jeridan said.

Max shrugged and gave him a yellow-toothed grin. How much was the little monster going to sell this intel for? And to whom?

Jeridan pointed at the alien.

"This is all his fault. He told Bruno Flashback we were here. If he hadn't sold that intel, none of this would have ever happened."

"If you hadn't come here in the first place, none of this would have ever happened."

Jeridan shrugged, trying to look casual. "We have as much of a right to travel as anyone else."

"Yeah," Negasi grumbled, "and where does this little runt get off squealing on us?"

"That's my role," Max said.

"You're the station's professional squealer?" Jeridan asked.

"Professional informer," Max corrected. "For a price."

Jeridan raised his hands in frustration. "None of this makes any sense!"

"That's what I've been saying about your story," Luna grumbled.

"No, I mean, why would you let Max run around the station causing trouble between your customers?"

"He has his uses."

"Target practice?" Negasi suggested.

Jeridan gave his buddy a high five. Not a bad plan.

"You guys are funny," Max said. He didn't sound sarcastic.

To Jeridan's surprise, Luna's next frown was for Max. It was nice to see someone else getting frowned at for a change.

"Max, you should have cleared this with me."

"It was time sensitive!"

"You could have used the private emergency comm."

This little guy has a private emergency comm to the sector's biggest criminal?

Jeridan looked at Max with new respect and a heavy dose of worry.

Then he remembered Bruno Flashback was still running around and he felt even more worried.

"We need to get off your station," Jeridan said.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Do you? And how do you think that's going to happen?"

"We'll pay for damages," Jeridan offered.

"Actually, Nova will pay," Negasi said.

"Right," Jeridan agreed. "Nova will pay."

"And why would she do that?" Luna asked.

"Because she wants to leave too."

"For this mission she's an essential member of," Luna said.

"Yes."

"Even though she's technically a prisoner."

"Sure."

Luna rubbed her temples. "You two are giving me a headache."

"It's mostly Jeridan," Negasi said. "Women often complain about headaches when he's around."

"So tell me more about this mission," Luna said.

"Sorry, that's personal."

"Would you find it personal if I had my guards beat you to an inch of your life?"

"Oh, yes. Definitely."

"Then spill."

Jeridan jabbed a thumb in Max's direction. "Does he have to be here?"

Luna looked at Max. Max looked at Luna. After a moment, the little alien nodded and Luna made a gesture for the door.

"See you guys later!" Max said cheerfully, walking out.

Wait. Who just made that decision?

Before Jeridan could think that through, Luna turned back to him and demanded he actually answer the question.

Jeridan decided to tell part of the truth. It sounded more believable that way.

"Nova hired us for a tech scavenge. While we were on it, we discovered she was … endangering the crew."

Jeridan had almost said "endangering her children" but hadn't. Why not? That was the truth, wasn't it?

And yet for some reason he didn't want to share that, not with someone like Luna.

"Endangered? How so?"

"Dangerous working conditions," Negasi said, no doubt thinking about that uranium slug thrower he had been in close contact with.

"Very dangerous working conditions. The ship is a mess. I'd stay away from it if I were you."

A perfectly plucked eyebrow made a curious arc. "Would you now?"

"Oh, yes. A flying health hazard."

"From what?"

"Oh, everything from radiation leaks to a plague of nanolice."

"Nanolice!"

"Yeah. Been a pain to get rid of them. We have some spare medikits with fumigator spray. We could see you some if you're worried."

Negasi nudged Jeridan. What? Just because it had the reverse effect on Beta Enari and gave the entire population a bad case of scratching-in-private-places syndrome didn't mean the things wouldn't work a second time. Maybe medikits improved with age, like wine.

I could use some wine now. Or vodka. Or tequila.

Anything, really.

"If you two give me nanolice, you're history," Luna growled. Her console chirped again. She studied the message for a moment.

"Someone from your ship named Helen says she's coming over. Claims she can explain everything."

Jeridan and Negasi gave each other another helpless look. Why was Helen getting involved in this? She was Nova's ally. Would she sell Luna some line and convince her to keep them here indefinitely while the Antikythera was free to go?

Helen could probably pull it off.

Damn, I better start learning some dance moves.

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