Countdown, John Walker [online e book reader txt] 📗

like. I thought…” She turned away. “But no. No, I think I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

Zem nodded. “That’s a fair point.”

Ronnie cleared her throat to break the tension. “So… we pulled this off, huh? Got Rita back… stole the cool pirate ship… I do have one question though. What about those twin guys? The ones that tried to board the vessel when we were leaving?”

“Oh, we’ll deal with them,” Zem said. “Even if that’s a final private job, I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my days.”

“Good,” Dora replied. “They sounded creepy.” She turned to McCully. “You’ve been quiet, Ellie. What’re your plans?”

“I’ll be lucky if I don’t get a court-martial,” McCully replied. “After following Whitaker’s orders, I wouldn’t be surprised. But if not, then I’ll try to serve on the Morrigan I think. With whoever’s in charge after this is all over.” She smiled. “I’m not ready to get out quite yet. I’m with Torrence in that regard.”

“I’m heading over to the other ship now.” Torrence shook Dora’s hand then Ronnie’s. She saluted McCully then found herself standing before Zem, looking him in the eye. “We did work together, you weren’t kidding.”

“If you ever change your mind, you’ll know where to find me.”

“Maybe that’ll happen.” Torrence looked away. “When I’m over what happened to Nostros.”

“He knew the risks,” Zem said. “He was a soldier. A badass one that charged into some shit danger. Probably saved our lives.”

“At the cost of his own. One of us should’ve gone with him.”

“You know better than to second guess a battle like that.” Zem touched her shoulder. “I know you’re pissed but you have to know, that wasn’t any of our faults.”

“I’ll come to terms with that.” Torrence backed away. “For now, I’m glad we worked together. I really am. So…” She shuffled her feet. “See you when I see you.”

“Indeed you will.”

Torrence hurried to the shuttle Captain Markel arrived on. The soldiers lingering around were all privates, men and women she hadn’t met yet. She stepped aboard, intent on introducing herself when a pang of sadness gripped her heart. When tours ended, she always felt at loose ends…until the next assignment swept her up.

Something told her this one would stick with her for a long time. The relationships she forged, the friends she made and lost, the sights she’d seen… no one could say she had a boring time. This had been the greatest adventure of her professional life.

A shame it feels like it’s ending on such a painful note.

A few days would be all the salve she needed. Then she could jump into the work again. Until then, she wanted to be alone. Just… acclimate. Accept. Embrace. After all, they’d just stopped a war with an alien race. No one said she had to be one hundred percent after such an event.

***

Borden sat in the cockpit, tapping his knee. They’d been hovering around a functional buoy for the better part of ten hours. The system he’d taken them to had been a halfway point for merchant vessels, a stop off where they could take a break, initiate repairs if need be, or even lay low after an encounter.

It worked great for them.

“You okay?” Hayes asked. “What’s going on up here?”

“I’ve got the comms open,” Borden said. “Waiting for any sign from our friends. Anything at all for that matter.” He looked over at her. “We could be at the end of a war… or the start of a big one. Feels weird, you know?”

Hayes took a seat. “So… Erris paid me to come along but I’ve ended up hanging around with you the whole time.”

“Sorry about that?”

“I didn’t mean…” Hayes blushed before whacking him on the arm. “I like working with you. My point is that I have a job with Erris. She paid me to be a pilot. I can go to MerCon.”

Borden nodded. “Sounds like a good deal.”

“Do you think so?”

“Legit, pays a lot, rules… but hey, if you’re okay with those, you’ll be fine.”

“That’s just it. I… think I’d rather something… I dunno… less rigid?”

“You want to be a crook?” Borden grinned.

“Do you?”

Borden had to think about the question. The last few days proved he had a heart still… which surprised him, in all honesty. He figured he’d lost that when he left the military. Then a bunch of potentially heroic shit happened leaving him in a position where stealing felt like an asshole thing to do.

“Probably not,” Borden replied, “no.”

“Cause… I was thinking… maybe we can freelance. Take some jobs from MerCon to help ends meet but be our own bosses. Fix this tub up. Do cargo runs. See the galaxy. Hang out together.” She shrugged. “What do you say?”

“Yo! Vic!” Borden shouted. The man hurried up.

“Is there a problem? Are we in trouble again?”

“Nah! We’re fine. Just sitting on our asses still.” Borden gestured to Hayes then told him their plan. “What do you think? You want in? We could use a computer specialist maniac with a knife guy. And I don’t think you’ve got any other prospects lined up anyway. Not after everything you did.”

Vic huffed. “Nice way to put it. Work on your pitch, huh?”

“I’ll be doing the pitching,” Hayes said. “He’ll do the flying and other stuff.”

“Yeah, I’m not good at selling things.”

“No.” Vic took a seat behind them. “Hell, why not? I don’t have a ship, pretty much lost everything I own. I might as well earn it back a legit way for a change, huh?”

“New team!” Hayes cried, putting her hand out palm down. The others stared at it. “You’re supposed to put your hands on top of mine.”

“Why?” Borden and Vic asked at the same time.

Hayes pulled it back.