The stranger brought the smell of stars with him. He walked into the taberna like he owned it, a proud tilt to his shoulders and the gait of a warrior. He was hooded and his cloak was damp with melting snow and mud.
He’d travelled a long way. The only snow this time of year should be in the Kingdom of Vindia, but Fox couldn’t tell if the man was Vindian from his nondescript cloak and covered features.
She wrinkled her nose at him, as if doing so would shake off the tug from the Voice whispering in her ear. There was something more to this man that she would do well to pay attention to.
He looked like trouble. Fox gave him the man one last glance before shoving the feeling aside as her contact walked up with a swagger.
“Hello Mex,” Fox said, leaning back on the bench. She flicked her braid over her shoulder and raised a brow as she rested against the wall behind her in a show of relaxation.
Mex was a big man with thick olix-hide armour studded with silver and a deep scar cutting through one eye and down his cheek. If Mex wasn’t willing to deal with her today, he would be trouble number two.
“You! Why’d Kestrel send you? You still owe me twenty sesteri!” He snapped, hands slamming down on the table, making it shake.
“Do I? I seem to recall I got you out of a sticky situation thanks to my natural skill,” Fox said, still sitting with a relaxed posture. It seemed Mex wasn’t willing to deal, but she always expected the worst and he hadn’t killed her with assassins yet. “Sesteri don’t really matter if you’re cold in the ground.”
“Tell Kestrel the deal’s off. I’m not hauling anything if it comes from you,” Mex snapped, fingering something under his coat. Fox slung a silver star at the man before he could pull his own weapon. He dropped like a rock and chaos erupted in the taberna.
Fox leaned back on the bench and groaned, “that was the second one today. Stars, do the skies have it in for me. Hey Pin, time to go!” She shouted the last in the direction of a tall man with a long and thin beard that gave him an impish air. He had been leaning on the bar with a drink in hand, gathering gossip for Fox.
Now he looked toward Fox as she moved toward the exit, eyes no longer half-drunk but sharp, as he caught her gaze. Pin left his drink and shouted an apology to the Bevan, the barkeep as he followed Fox out the door.
Bodies were moving toward them, and shouts were filling the taberna as Fox paused, knocking out three more cronies belonging to Mex with her last silver stars.
“Those were my favourite!” She grumbled, only managing to snag one of the stars off a body as she jumped over the rest and stepped out into the street. Mex was shouting for reinforcements. She’d over-estimated how many people the criminal had bought into his pockets in preparation for meeting with her.
“Didn’t you steal them off Erinad?” Pin said from behind Fox, voice tense as they hurried through the crowds enjoying the afternoon spring sun.
“I won them off Erinad,” Fox said, not looking over her shoulder. Then she added with a smirk, “if you want to be technical I did cheat.”
“Captain!” Pin said with a huff, coming up beside her as they elbowed their way througha market.
“If the sky’s limitless, why should we be limited? I’ll do as I please.”
“Could we not get shot at for one day?”
“Technically, Pin, I slung Mex in the face. I don’t shoot. I’ve got more skill than that.”
“Right, right. You astral-users are all the same,” Pin grumbled, “snobs.”
“Heard that,” Fox said, slowing down at last to walk beside Pin as they got beyond the centre of Davinium and were moving toward the docks. “The next time we need to fly through a storm to escape one of your debts, don’t ask me.”
Fox said this with an edge of humour despite her serious words, but Pin crossed his arms and stopped walking for a moment.
“Captain, seriously. That was close, and for twenty sesteri!”
“Principles Pin. I’m not bending to that jar-mouth. Come on,” she flicked a switch on her wrist guard which sent out a hissing crackle as the analoger turned on. “Hey Midge, Trutch, get the Odyssey ready. We’re minutes away.”
“Understood,” came the crackle of Midge’s chirpy voice.
Fox picked up her speed and began to sprint up the street, knowing Mex’s followers would not be far behind. The day had gone south. She’d hoped to do a quick trade, but it seemed Mex had other plans.
“Captain! They’re closing in on us!” Pin said from just behind her, she could feel his fear. She snorted in response and spoke while focusing on the thinning crowds that made it easier to run as they neared the docks.
“Get used to it Pin,” she said. Pin was the newest member of the Odyssey’s crew, having been picked up only a year ago, cornered between three gangs all wanting the information he’d cut from private communications lines.
For fun, he’d said. He wasn’t a fighter, but he had an eye and an ear for secrets and strategies. Something Fox never bothered with herself, preferring the thrill of going with the flow.
At last, Fox’s feet echoed on the wood slats of the docks and moments later she spied the Odyssey, levitating just above the ground, all sails primed and the low hum of the engine on.
The ship was old; a combination of wood, metals, steam-tech, astral-power and her own stubbornness keeping the mix-matched chebec running. It had started its life as a Druadin transporter she’d stolen the day she’d left the Order. But it was hers and so were the people on it.
Midge popped her head over the top deck, tossing down the rope ladder which Fox grabbed onto with ease, vaulting onto the deck a moment later. Pin appeared and then she heard shouting. Mex’s followers were almost upon them.
“Fox! What did you do this time?” Trutch, her second-in-command said, coming up beside Fox as she laughed and shrugged at the man. He’d been with her the longest and was used to the edge-of-the-sky lifestyle Fox tended to live.
“Trouble probably bringing more trouble. Mex double-crossed us at Bevar’s who’ll probably ban us for a couple months for stiffing him of our tabs,” Fox said, continuing to talk as she crossed the deck for the cockpit. She dropped into the captain’s chair and hit the ship’s radio.
“Pin, angle the sails, Midge, light the crystal, we’re shooting for seventh,” she said over the ship’s com, referring to the atmospheric level up above the clouds. Fox went to yank the lever to take-off when there was the combined shriek, boom and the following shake of the hull as the Odyssey was hit.
“Merda!” Fox swore just as an alarm began to blare. She leapt out of her chair as she heard more of the distinctive whistling shriek. The fire had caught the sails. “Pin!” She shouted as she barrelled back onto the upper deck with Trutch just behind her. “Midge?” She said, hitting her analoger.
“Engine’s still good!” Midge replied. Fox felt one thread of relief for a brief second until the sight of the upper deck tangled it back up again. The sails were all on fire and it was eating at the side of the hull.
Pin was dousing everything in the buckets of dampener they always had on hand, but he was also dodging shock arrows and pulsar blasts. There were at least eight assailants from what she could count, down on the docks. Who knew if there were others hiding from sniping distance.
With a war-cry, Fox charged up toward the edge of the hull and leapt off yanking her storm-sword from her shoulder-sheath. She gave a battle-cry and landed on the ground, ducking as a blast went her way and she felt the swish of air as another shock arrow narrowly missed a shoulder.
She spun, lashed out at two more and suddenly found herself face to face with the stranger from the taberna who was twirling a pulsar in each hand. His hood was down, revealing a man near her age.
He offered her a sardonic grin, as Mex’s crew paused their assault, no doubt shocked by the appearance of an unknown. An unknown who looked like he was more of a dandy noble than any sort of fighter.
“Half and half?” He said, seeming unaffected by the shock he was causing, as he nodded toward their black-clad opponents. Fox frowned at him, still feeling wrong-footed, but she covered it up with a smirk a second later.
“Depends if you’re quick enough to take half,” she said and then she leapt toward one of Mex’s crew who wielded a electro-pike. With that the eight assailants renewed their attack, with a scattering of battle cries tinged with desperation.
Everyone knew how deadly the Druadin could be in battle, even if many of the stories were more myth than fact.
Although Fox had defected, she relied on the legends to bolster her reputation. It kept the irritating low-lifes off her back, even if it didn’t necessarily dissuade the bigger fish like Mex, or the Black Orchids.
Fox slashed at another, while simultaneously kicking one assailant in the face, sending the woman tumbling to the ground. There were three left.
She watched the stranger move with the grace of a Druadin, for all that he was wielding long-range weapons that a kid could build in their kitchen with a handful of parts out of junk shops. The sight was incongruous to the rest of him that looked too-well kept to be handing such cheap pulsars.
“Impressive,” she couldn’t help but say as she found herself back to back with the stranger, slashing at two more men coming at her sides. They went down and the stranger chuckled before kicking the last enemy in the face, followed by a shot to keep the man down.
“That is what most say,” he replied with a shrug. He spoke as if what he’d done was not impressive in the slightest.
“I don’t like owing debts,” Fox said, crossing her arms. She heard a groan from one of the assailants and kicked the woman in the head, sending her unconscious.
“But you seem to have acquired a few nonetheless,” the stranger pointed out, mirroring her crossed arms.
“Perks of piracy,” Fox shrugged. “I’d rather not owe a noble however.”
“Then it is a good thing I am not nobility,” the stranger said. “I require passage out of Davinium. Don’t care where you’re going, but out of here would be preferable.”
Fox squinted her eyes at the man, not buying his bald-faced lie in the slightest. He talked like a noble, he walked like a noble, but did not wish to be known as one. Respecting the man’s choice, but keeping a healthy level of distrust she said, “obviously not if you’re asking the first, random stranger you’ve come across. And I said nothing about paying back debts. I just don’t like owing them.”
“A bit contradictory,” the stranger said.
Fox was about to respond when Pin shouted, “Captain!”
“I’m fine Pin, how’s my girl?” She turned to face Pin who was standing on the top deck of the Odyssey.
“Seeing as we didn’t get shielding up in time, she’s going to need new plating. Midge is patching up the worst right now but we should be good enough to shoot as far as Eukera,” he said with an apologetic shrug.
The city of Eukera was only an hour’s flight south of Davinium, but it was blessedly big enough they could get the needed materials and at least be on the move in preparation for whatever Mex might choose to send once word got back that his assassination attempt had failed.
“To Eukera it is,” Fox said and she clambered up the rope ladder dropped by Pin. He looked at her with a raised brow as she got back on-board.
“Who’s the sleek?” He said, nodding toward the stranger who was following Fox up the ladder.
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about coming on board!”
“You did say something about debts. Consider it owed if you drop me in Eukera.”
“I didn’t say I owed….ugh,” Fox threw up her hands. “Nobles. You are coming on board only because you managed to off a few of Mex’s people and backup means I can nap while we get my girl fixed up. What name are you going by?”
The man climbed over the edge of the hull and landed on the deck with a graceful hop before raising a brow and chuckling. “The stories really don’t exaggerate. How refreshing.”
Fox crossed her arms and waited. She wasn’t going to let the man bait her. The man shrugged when Fox didn’t respond and said, “call me Swan.”
“Captain Fox,” Fox said with a nod.
“I know,” Swan said, a hint of smugness in his tone.
Fox narrowed her eyes. She had a feeling where this might lead and she wanted to catch the noble out. “how?”
“Everyone knows who you are. Rogue Druadin,” he grinned, “you’re broadcast constantly on all the amp channels. Quite the sum on your head.”
Fox frowned at the man and said, “with me, in the cockpit. Pin, can you rig decent enough to get us airborne?”
“Absolutely, Captain!”
“Good, I’d like to be gone yesterday,” she muttered, stomping toward the cockpit. She heard the footsteps of Swan following her, steady but light. Definitely a noble, probably a first son since he was a decent fighter.
She slipped into the captain’s chair, motioning for Swan to take one of the two passenger seats behind her and went through the motions of starting the ship.
It shuddered, groaned and shook, but a moment later the engine was humming. Getting confirmation from Pin that he’d lift the sails once they were high enough, she yanked on the thrust and the Odyssey rose with a jolt.
“The stories never say a thing about this cobbler bucket,” Swan said in a derisive, but tense tone. Fox grinned as the ship lifted, guessing what he was feeling and why.
“Not a frequent flier huh?” She said as the ship broke through the third atmo and she commed Pin to open the sails. They were high enough to level out and she was more concerned about getting to Eukera quickly rather than using the proper sky-lanes.
“I’ve been flying interceptors since I was small,” Swan said with a haughty tone. Fox snorted, imagining his nose to be wrinkling in affront.
“Noble,” she said instead, knowing it would goad him on.
“Captain Fox,” he said with a similar tone.
Fox almost looked back at him, surprised he’d responded to her teasing in kind. She’d not expected that from how stiff and formal he’d been so far. She felt a tug in the astral and she squashed it down again. She did not need meddling from the Voice to tangle up her day any further.
“Anyone on our backs?” She asked Trutch, who was responsible for look-out. He answered with a negative and she leaned back in her chair feeling one bit lighter. They had a reprieve, for now. Mex might have even given up.
It had been just twenty sesteri, although those twenty sesteri had been tied up in a rather public moment of embarrassment for Mex, thanks to Fox. It was likely his loss of face in the criminal community that had him going after her, then it was the actual debt.
“You’ve really flown interceptors?” Fox said after a beat.
“Who hasn’t? I could fly this collection of rusty twigs far better too,” Swan said.
“What?” Fox turned around in her seat, not caring that she’d taken her hands off the wheel.
Swan had his arms crossed and was smirking at her. Fox stuck her tongue out, not caring at how immature the action likely made her look. Swan stuck his tongue out in return. The ship rocked, reminding Fox she’d taken her hands off the wheel.
“What’s a noble doing listening in on the Amp waves?” Fox toggled the ship to automatic and leaned an elbow against the cockpit wall.
“I’m not a noble,” Swan said, raising his hands up.
“I saw you in Bevar’s. You were watching me,” Fox jabbed a finger at Swan who shrugged.
“Who wasn’t?”
Fox narrowed her eyes at Swan and leaned toward him. Even with both of them seated she had to look up just to catch his eyes and she mentally cursed the man for being ridiculously tall and herself for being abnormally short. “Normally I’d have already shot you, but you’re rather handy in a fight.”
“You noticed my training didn’t you?” Swan grinned at her.
“I’m not giving you a whistle for noticing me notice something,” Fox said.
“Good thing I’m not a dog,” Swan grinned.
“Whoa, I am interrupting?” Trutch’s voice broke through the back and forth Fox was having with Swan. She huffed, sitting back in her seat and jabbed a thumb at Swan while she disengaged the ship from automatic.
“This guy is a dog,” Fox said, “his name is all wrong. Take him up to swab the decks or something. This is not a passenger ship.”
“Right, of course, Cap’n,” Trutch said, standing straight and attentive before exiting once more. Fox grinned internally, at the control she could still lever. Swan didn’t matter.
Swan shrugged and stood up. “What did you want me in the cockpit for?” He asked as he walked toward the exit.
Fox narrowed her eyes at the man. “There’s something off about you, Swan. Something that sets my hair on edge. I don’t let things which are out of order, out of my sight.”
“Really? Because it would be preferable to not get off at Eukera. So if you really want me to hang around so you can keep me in your sight, I’ll happily stay on.” He winked and rocked back on one foot.
“I don’t take freeloaders!” Fox stood from her seat, shouting after Swan who hurried up the corridor toward the top deck, laughing. The ship jerked, not having Fox manually directing it and she growled, as she flopped back into her seat.
The man was infuriating, but she’d spoken the truth. Swan was not being completely honest and whatever he was hiding was something Fox, for all that she had standards about who was and wasn’t allowed on her ship, needed to know.
She wasn’t sure why, or what it even was, but the Voice was involved. Anything from her past as a Druadin was worth gambling everything she had to remain wholly free from a past she had not let tie her down for years. She wasn’t about to start letting it do so now.
Besides, the man was a decent fighter and it had been a long time since she’d had a proper sparring partner.
Fox chuckled and pulled on the thruster, pushing the Odyssey a little faster, just for the fun of it. It groaned shook and definitely needed repairs, but it complied. Before her the sky, stretched on and on, a bright blue shot through with string-like clouds.
She had never been able to resist a good gamble.
