Page 101 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

“You know that Kitan and Chloe discovered the body of Miean, the pirate Doc, in the lounge, right?” Ziame asked, putting his datapad down and getting up from his cramped seat.

I shrugged and nodded. I had heard, and I’d made sure I was as far away from any talk about it as possible.

I didn’t need to get involved in that shit.

“Well, Luka is certain it was murder. And it happened after we left Strewn.” My skin crawled at the implications.

There was a murderer on the loose… unless it had been Diamed, whom we’d happily ditched on Sune.

I could see where Ziame was going with this; of course, that didn’t mean I liked it. Not at all.

“Since you said you were a former law enforcement officer before your banishment and subsequent draft into Drameil’s stables, it seems to me you are the man suited for the job of solving this case.

What do you say?” Well, damn it, he didn’t need to be so reasonable about it all.

Now, how was I going to keep out of this?

“Fine!” I bit out. “I’ll solve your damn pirate murder. Just don’t expect me to worry about stepping on anyone’s toes or anything.” I had no patience for careful interviews and polite inquiries. If he wanted me to get to the bottom of this, I would—my way.

Ziame chuckled. “I didn’t expect anything less.

” Then he reached out a hand to his mate, and my stomach clenched.

My heart felt like a lump of stone—that wasn’t jealousy, far from it.

Yeah, I was good at lying to myself. Sometimes, at least…

Turning on my heel, I was about to exit the ready room since I was not a glutton for punishment, contrary to what people might think.

“Hang on, Thorin,” Ziame said. “We’ve decided that since none of us want to, or even have, a home to return to, we’d try and locate my old ship.

I have a feeling it’s still around, and its AI is extremely…

advanced… It could be a useful tool in your investigation.

” I nodded, because what else did he expect me to say to that?

An AI partner? Sure, that would be miles better than my last one. Low bar, though.

“When are we leaving?” I asked, my mind running with what data to gather, rusty muscles stretching themselves as I thought about how to approach this murder investigation.

“Chloe woke up yesterday. After the Doc checks her, probably very soon.” Good.

I’d have one last moment to nip out into the crowded markets of Ravif and get what I needed.

***

Kitan

For the first time in my life, I felt truly content.

It took me a while to realize that was what I was feeling, as it was so foreign to me.

When I noticed, I couldn’t do anything but smile.

My Chloe was safely curled up in my arms, awake and out of danger.

Parts of me were relaxing, unclenching in ways I hadn’t even realized were tense.

Right now, I knew she wouldn’t have her sight back for some time yet.

First, her brain needed time to recover.

The Doc had said it was possible it could still come back on its own; regular treatment to stimulate the recovery of the damaged parts of her brain could do a lot.

I hoped it would work out like that for her.

But with or without her sight, she was the most magnificent, amazing female, and she was all mine.

I couldn’t wait to get back on the bridge with her and fly.

The morning after she’d first woken up, I took her to Luka for a checkup.

That’s when he explained how her eyesight might still return and the options available in the future if that weren’t the case.

Chloe seemed calm under all of that; she mostly just kept smiling, causing a smile of my own in return.

At breakfast, everybody came round to hug her.

Abby welcomed her with tears in her eyes, then took Chloe over to where Tori sat, ensconced in a large chair filled with pillows.

Sunder hovered at her side, his wings flared wide in a protective gesture, while Tori seemed calm and happy, her newborn little girl cradled in her arms.

They told Chloe about the baby and let her hold the tiny infant, much to Chloe’s horror.

Of course, I helped her support the small weight, encircling Chloe from behind to do so.

As I looked down at how our arms cradled that little bit of new life, I felt it all the way deep in my bones.

Maybe, in our future, we’d be holding a little bundle of joy of our own. What would that be like?

Ziame took me aside a moment later to let me know they’d decided on our heading. We were ready to depart the Xurtal Colony, Ravif, where the specialist who had installed Chloe’s new port and repaired as much of the damage to her brain as possible was located.

Soon, I found myself side by side with Chloe on the bridge, for the first time completely free of any kind of trepidation or urgency. At this moment, there was nobody on our tail, and Chloe was robust again, capable of FTL jumps longer than ever before.

As she plugged in, she grinned at me, tears glistening on her lashes.

“God, Kitan, you’re so beautiful,” she said, and with precision, cupped my cheek as if she could see me.

“It’s not the same as normal sight, but…

I can see like this. What a wonder.” Heart soaring with joy, I leaned in and kissed her, ignoring the catcalls from some of my brothers who had followed us onto the bridge to watch the departure.

“Let’s fly, my mate,” I told her, my heart full. With a whoop of pure joy, Chloe and I sent the Vagabond soaring into space, off to find Ziame’s mysterious AI ship.

THE END