Page 7 of Savage Union (Brutal Universe #2)

6

TURK

I was looking through the crowd, wondering where the navigator I was supposed to meet was, when he finally showed.

“Captain Turk?” I heard a deep, burbling voice say.

I turned and saw a perfectly enormous Galafruxian standing there. He had green skin and greasy brown hair that hung around his ears, which poked out as small convex pods from the sides of his head. His purple eyes bulged and his teeth were brown—probably from eating Sherpla root, which the Galafruxians claim helps them see into the nothingness of space and avoid blind spots when they navigated.

I didn’t much care for the look of him—or his smell, which was rank and rotten, like fish left out in the sun. But Galafruxians were known to be the best Cross-Dimensional Navigators in the galaxy. I was willing to put up with a hell of a lot to not get killed during the jumps The Illyrian would have to make traveling back and forth across the Triplex Cluster.

“I’m Turk,” I said, holding out a hand to him before I remembered—to my deep regret—how Galafruxians greet strangers.

He spat in his hand—a brown, gooey mess—and clasped my fingers, squeezing tight until the brown phlegm oozed all over my palm.

“Gurflug at your service, Captain,” he burbled in a voice that sounded like someone gargling with mud.

“Fuck!” I growled, withdrawing my hand and wiping it on my trousers instinctively. I would have to get my uniform cleaned later.

Gurflug frowned.

“Are you offended by my greeting? I came to your call in good faith. Perhaps you’d rather I left again. Maybe you can make your own jumps to the Triplex System.”

“No, no—don’t go,” I said unwillingly. Galafruxians can be such Prima Donnas—they know they’re the best at what they do, which means they can charge a ridiculous fee and walk off the job if they don’t feel “appreciated” enough. Goddess of the Four Faces, it was enough to make a male shoot someone!

“Well… maybe I will stay. If the price is right,” Gurflug said, smiling broadly to show his brown-stained teeth.

I clenched my own teeth, thoroughly irritated already by the smarmy fuck. But he had me in a tight spot and he knew it. He was the only one who had answered my call for a Cross-Dimensional Navigator so he could pretty much name his price.

“What were you thinking?” I asked, prepared to start the haggling—though I had zero leverage to do so.

“Oh, say…thirty thousand credits?” he said casually, raising one greasy brown eyebrow.

“ Thirty thousand?” I nearly choked. Even for a dangerous Cross-Dimensional trip, that was outrageous.

Gurflug shrugged his slab-like shoulders, his baggy brown vest puckering with the motion.

“Or I could just go.”

“You know you’re dealing with Clan Savage, right?” I growled. “If I wanted to, I could force you to come aboard and do the job for nothing!”

“Yes, you could,” he acknowledged calmly. “But then you couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t jump you right into the middle of a gas giant or a black hole. We Galafruxians do not mind dying, you know—we reincarnate immediately into an even better life than the one we left. So really, if I die, it’s a win-win situation for me.”

I ground my teeth together, trying to fight my irritation and the urge to pull out my blaster and shoot a hole in his guts. I needed him and he knew it, the smelly bastard!

“Thirty thousand credits is your price then?” I asked, feeling resigned. That was my entire budget for a navigator, plus the bonus I would get for a clean run. There would be no cushion left—if we ran into any trouble or got raided by the Imperium and lost some cargo, I would be making it up out of my own pocket. Still, what could I do? The Galafruxian had me backed into a corner and he fucking knew it.

“Thirty thousand and not a credit less,” he said, giving me that brown, shit-eating grin of his again.

I was about to grudgingly agree when a voice shouted,

“I’ll do it for half of that.”

Startled, I jerked my head to the left and saw a young male, barely more than a boy, standing by my elbow. He must have crept up when I was talking to Gurflug.

“And who the Hell are you, boy?” I growled. I didn’t like being bothered when I was doing a deal and he didn’t look like a serious contender. He was too young for one thing and there was an air of innocence about him—as though this was his first time out in the big, bad world. I didn’t fucking need anyone aboard my crew I had to baby-sit.

The boy lifted his chin.

“I’m a student of Grr. Horstauf,” he said. “I heard you were looking for a navigator, so I decided to come apply for the position. I’m trained in Cross-Dimensional Navigation and I have no blind spots.”

That was a big brag—especially coming from someone so young. I took another look at the boy.

He was slim and not very tall—the top of his head barely came up to my shoulder. He had short brown hair that curled around his ears and wide, amber eyes with spiky black lashes. His skin was a smooth brown and he was wearing baggy clothes that didn’t quite fit him right. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t say exactly who.

“Grr. Horstauf, hmm?” I said, frowning. I knew the name—he was a famous navigational teacher who only took the most promising—or the richest—students. Either this boy came from an extremely wealthy family…or he really was some kind of prodigy.

But I had forgotten about Gurflug. The big Galafruxian was still standing in front of me, fuming at the way I had stopped paying attention to him.

“Anyone can say they are trained in Cross-Dimensional Navigation,” he snarled, glaring at the boy with hate in his bulging, purple eyes. “But I say he is a fraud—he is too young!”

“I’m the youngest student Grr. Horstauf ever trained,” the boy said coolly. I liked that he didn’t lose his head, even with the enormous Galafruxian glaring down at him. “But I’m also his best. He was the one who said I have no blind spots and I can prove it—let me use your nav band to plot a course and you’ll see.”

“Ridiculous!” Gurflug burbled. “Captain, you cannot trust this little snot! He is clearly lying to you!”

“Well, we won’t know until we try, will we?” I said.

I have to admit, I was interested in the boy. It took guts to approach a Captain of the Four Families and make such an audacious claim. I had never heard of a navvie with no blind spots—it would be interesting to see if he could prove his words. At the very least, I might be able to use him as leverage to bring down Gurflug’s price.

The boy brightened at my words.

“Just give me a chance to show you, Captain—that’s all I ask!” he exclaimed in a high clear voice that was somehow familiar. I frowned—did I know him? But no—that was impossible. He must sound like someone else I knew. Come to think of it, he looked vaguely familiar too, which made no sense—I was positive I’d never met a boy like him before.

To be honest, the conundrum only made him more interesting and I wanted to see if he could prove his audacious claim.

“All right.” I beckoned towards The Illyrian’s loading ramp, which was currently down. “Follow me. You, too,” I added, speaking to Gurflug. “Might as well try both of you.”

Gurflug took offense at this.

“You’re going to test me? Captain, I am a Galafruxian! Our navigational skills are beyond reproach!”

“Then you won’t mind me checking them out,” I said blandly. “Even the best navvie can make a mistake—my last one flew twenty straight missions aboard The Illyrian before he nearly got us all killed. So you’ll pardon me if I want to be sure you’ve got the goods before I pay your ungodly price.”

He still looked highly offended, but when I turned and went up the ramp with the boy at my side, he lumbered after us, the ramp creaking from his weight.

I had to test them both—but I had no idea which one would become my new navvie.