Page 11 of Relyn (Warriors of Etlon #6)

Relyn

L ess than a day later, Relyn’s gamble paid off. A message appeared on his com. He was invited to a meal at the captain’s table. What he did not expect was to see the crate, blast dust and all, to be parked in the corner the moment he walked in.

Rutra’s quarters, the captain’s quarters were spacious and airy, the way that most on the ship were not.

The ceilings were tall, and the windows provided a panoramic view of space as they flew by.

The force shields on those alone cost more than a lifetime’s wages for some.

Interior design was not Rutra’s forte. The whole room had been done up in a deep red and a garish purple that clashed with his own current skin color.

The floor was covered in thick plush shaggy carpets with rings upon rings of the same two colors.

Everything was highlighted with touches of kalite, a crystal that glowed bright white when charged.

Relyn had never been in Rutra’s quarters before, but he knew the layout after studying the plans of similar models.

On the left coming into the door was his sleeping area, and off of that the master bathroom.

On the right was a second bedroom, designed for guests, and an office, but both of those doors were closed.

The middle of the suite was a flexible space that could be transformed for large gatherings, small intimate dinners, or whatever Rutra had programmed.

Currently, the right side had display cases full of objects that Rutra treasured, though without directly inspecting, Relyn could not tell what they were.

In the center of the room, the floor sunk down and a large table was laid out with a plethora of shiny dishes and enough alcohol in the center to drown even Ketle’s sorrows.

Rutra sat at one end, apparently having no qualms about starting his meal before his guest.

“Come in, come in. Sit down,” Rutra said.

Relyn proceeded down the steps to the chair opposite Rutra.

As he sat, he noticed that the chair was built in such a way so that his seat was slightly lower than the captain.

He was tempted to adjust his height as the captain had, to put them on equal eye levels, but he resisted.

Let the captain win at his own game now, to lose later.

“We waiting on anyone else?” Relyn said casually as he helped himself to the bottle closest to him.

He had no intention of giving Rutra the satisfaction of reaching across the table for the good stuff, all of which were positioned closer to the captain.

His body didn’t really process the alcohol, anyway, so while Rel the Sangrin would enjoy getting drunk, Relyn would be clear headed no matter how much he drank.

It was quite convenient for getting information out of pirates trying to drink him under the table. It was also rather fun to play drunk.

“I wanted to speak with you privately,” Rutra said.

“You want to know why I didn’t throw your nephew to the ravenous hordes,” Relyn prompted.

“In part. I hired you without doing much in the way of background,” Rutra said.

“There ain’t much to tell.”

“Then tell me about Grom.”

“He’s not ready for command. He stood up to Lysh and Ketle okay, I’ll give him that, but he parked us right in front of their guns. And when the shooting started, well, it’s a good thing we didn’t bring him for muscle.”

“He told me that you actually killed the two in the ship.”

“Even that. You see, he’s a little too honest for his own good. Admirable trait in a farmer, that.”

“Horrible trait in a pirate, a cargo transport negotiator. I told his mother as much,” Rutra said with a flubbery sigh. “But you helped him save face back, which in turn prevented me from having to shove someone out an airlock. And good muscle is so hard to find these days.”

Relyn took another sip of the ale he’d grabbed. Honestly, even the bad stuff was pretty good. The captain had taste in that, at least. He raised his glass in appreciation and took another sip.

“Just wondering why your last employer let you go,” Rutra stated, circling back to the question Relyn had avoided early on purpose. Making them work hard for the information was part of his tactics. If he gave it over too easily, it became less believable.

“Let’s just say we had a slight disagreement over personal differences.”

Relyn tasted one of the food cubes on the tray in front of him. High quality in both taste and texture. He would have expected no less.

“He wasn’t willing to pay you enough?”

“Nah, he seemed to think that I should be required to mate his daughter without, you know, mating with his daughter. After he found out she’d made things more permanent than he’d planned, I thought it was prudent to put as much space between us as possible.”

Rutra nodded. “Bloody Mahdfel,” he muttered. That might be another trap. Spies were often too quick to agree. Besides, Mahdfel never had daughters. Only sons.

“I’ve got nothing against the Mahdfel, mind you. They got some swell orphanages. Taught me how to fight. But I haven’t found a rich man yet who didn’t think he could buy his way out of anything.”

“So you don’t like rich men?”

Relyn laughed. “I want to be a rich man, so I can buy my way out of anything. It’s not like I’m sentimental about Sangrin or anything, but it would be nice to be called by my own name once in a while.”

“So Rel isn’t your real name?”

Relyn leaned forward. “Is Rutra yours?” He knew for a fact that it wasn’t.

“I see your point. We’re not exactly in the business of full disclosure.”

“Another reason why you should just pick a nice planet and buy a big farm, or maybe a ranch and give it to your nephew to run. That ship we just got you should more than cover it. And having a few legitimate family businesses comes in handy once in a while.”

Rutra laughed and shook his head. Both of them knew the ins and outs of laundering funds.

“If you’d claimed three kills, that would have been a hundred and fifty. That would be quite a good nest egg.”

“I don’t like claiming bounties for people I kill. I’d rather Lysh be alive than have the money sitting in my pocket.”

“You and Lysh were friendly.”

“No. Think I spoke five whole words to him before the mission. Just, it’s like you said, good muscle is hard to find, and he seemed competent enough.”

“Except he let his pistol misfire.”

“True, and he would have done better to run for cover instead of charging those two, but I don’t like to speak ill of the dead.”

“I get that.” Rutra said. He seemed satisfied in Relyn’s story, and they lapsed into a bit of a silence while each man pondered the other.

“I may have another opportunity coming up. And let’s just say I do not intend to put Grom in charge.”

“I’m interested.”

“Good. I’ll let you know when the details are more… finite.”

Relyn nodded. A few moments more and Relyn perceived it was the end of the conversation.

“Thank you for the hospitality.” Relyn held up his glass and downed the rest of it in a toast.

Rutra nodded. “Take the bottle.”

“I think I’ll do that,” Relyn said, taking a hold of the neck of the bottle. He stood up lazily, with the looseness of someone who’d just enjoyed alcohol on a mostly empty stomach and walked toward the door. He paused, looked at the cargo container and turned back, taking a chance.

“Okay, curiosity is eating me up. What’s in the crate?” Relyn asked.

“Honestly, I have no idea. But I found out who the end buyer was, and if Alana wants it, I’m bloody well keeping it.”

“You aren’t gonna open it?”

“That would ruin the surprise.”