Page 5 of Sway’s Peace (Delivery Service #2)

But Garnet also took care of them. She cleaned Sway’s space, she made sure Vytln ate, she nurtured Rok.

She was a comforting, pleasant presence unlike any they had known before.

It was almost like Sway was around his own mother again.

Something so distant in his past, he didn’t even remember her face or voice.

But he knew the feeling, he could remember that very clearly, and that was what Garnet evoked in him as she fretted over his and the others’ wellbeing.

And Goldie as well. Garnet’s twin sister might not act like a mother to them, but she was working in the medbay now, learning how to use the mediring and the medicines within.

She wasn’t an expert yet, but Sway could not condemn her for that when he didn’t think he counted as an expert in his field either.

Certainly not when he first joined the crew.

She could heal minor injuries and illnesses, and she was actively learning more.

Her presence alone would have been an invaluable addition.

Those two were their weakest crew members, but they were the most precious.

Sway wasn’t the only one who thought so either.

While some of the others wouldn’t admit it, he knew that all of them shared the same feelings.

The twins, Sorbet and Tebros, were protective over them.

Rok looked out for them. Trove respected them.

Even Vytln, for as taciturn and unfriendly as he was, treated them nicely – well, nicely for him.

They were so important now. The fact that males like them, Rik-Vane Station scum, could even be around such sweet females was itself a miracle. One that they were all careful to cradle and care for to the best of their abilities.

For that reason, the upgrades were incredibly important. Things that they had been delaying or didn’t seem all that pressing before were suddenly vital because it could affect those two.

Was this what normal people were like? Was this how a male was supposed to feel?

This sense of accomplishment and pride in taking care of a female.

Even if she wasn’t his, they were females that relied on his support.

Something that they all provided in their own ways.

A touch of softness and normalcy that they had gained by abandoning Rik-Vane, their old identities, their old ways, and becoming a delivery company.

Humble Delivery Company. A name Tanin chose because he wanted to make sure no one would consider them a threat.

They specialized in delivering dangerous things to dangerous places for a large fee.

And their crew of seven – eight, if you counted the twins as two separate people, which they themselves did not – were experts at dealing with anything dangerous.

Thanks to living on Rik-Vane, deliveries were almost too easy in comparison.

Yes, they had come a long way. From a band of criminals and murderers gathered and forced to work together to a well-established, profitable company that was even able to enjoy the presence of females in their space.

So, why was it the memories of that place still assaulted Sway so deeply?

Why did he return there every night in the most horrible, banal ways possible?

Why, though he hadn’t killed or harmed a person in years, did he still feel so terrible about himself?

Why did he sometimes still smell blood on his feathers?

Why could he hear their screams and dying breaths in the silence? Why couldn’t he sleep at night?

Why did he still feel like such a monster?

“ Docking permission has been granted, ” Alred said, sharply ripping Sway from the thoughts that were plaguing him.

“ We’re to make our way to docking bay eleven.

There will be guidelights directing us in, and a member of Uver Prime will be contacting us shortly to go through everything we need to do.

Sway, Tanin said he can leave that to you since you will be doing all the supervision of the upgrades while we’re there. ”

“That’s fine,” Sway said, fixing a smile on his face as he focused back on the small light form. “Are you heading into your core yet?”

“ No. I’ll wait until we’re just about to dock, but before they can connect. I’m setting up all the instructions for the ship’s AI to follow right now, so you won’t need to do anything but navigate the ship itself. ”

“Thank you.”

Alred grinned at him, his new smile wide, before he winked out of existence, leaving Sway to look through the docking instructions Uver Prime sent over.

Alred was a technologically based person, but he was, in fact, still a person.

Calling him an AI would not be entirely accurate, as he was not fully artificial.

He was a recall. The recorded and recalled memories of what had once been a biological person from a species long extinct.

There were many of his kind left – undroitt recalls.

But for one of them to perform as an AI in the way Alred was doing required special permission that they, the Humble Delivery Service, simply didn’t have.

For that reason, Alred hid himself whenever there were strangers around the ship.

If they were there temporarily, he would behave like a real AI, acting more artificial than sapient.

However, since the ship would be undergoing upgrades, he was going to retreat from the ship entirely and lock himself in his hidden core so he couldn’t be detected.

In there, he couldn’t be found by any sort of scanners going through the ship’s technology, but he also couldn’t act as the ship’s AI. He couldn’t even see what was going on. They had an actual AI that he overrode when he was out of his core, and that would take over while he was hiding.

Though, it wouldn’t get much use. Once they were docked on Hir-Fallow station, Uver Prime would take over. The engine, life support, everything would get switched off. All their power and life support functions would come from the station itself while repairs and upgrades were done.

Uver Prime was one of the biggest companies in the universe.

They were starship builders, colony founders, planet terraformers.

They could, quite literally, move worlds.

Hir-Fallow Station was created by them specifically for the purpose of being a place where starships that could not come down to a planet due to their size could undergo repairs.

Because Hir-Fallow had the might of the wealthiest, most powerful, most well-known company in the universe behind it, the process of landing and connecting was well honed, practiced, and simple.

Honestly, after putting the docking command into the ship’s navigation, there wasn’t much more for him to do.

Sway still monitored the process as Tanin came down from the upper bridge. He and Garnet spoke for a moment of their plans once on the station before leaving the bridge together. They were going down to meet with the others.

It was already too quiet. Alred had probably gone into his core by now, leaving Sway alone as he maneuvered the ship backwards towards the docking bay. Usually, when docking, they’d connect to the secondary rear stowage door. One that was smaller and off to the side.

However, this time, they were connecting the larger main stowage bay doors. They rarely had opportunity, or reason, to use them. But the larger opening would make things easier for the workers to do their job, and Hir-Fallow certainly had the capability and space to make use of those massive doors.

As Sway was taking the ship through the procedure of locking the main stowage doors onto the dock, an incoming alert caught his ear. The signature identified them as being with the Uver Prime administrative staff.

He connected the comm, greeting them calmly, “This is Sway, navigator of the Humility.”

“ Greetings, Sway, ” came a beautiful, melodious, female voice.

The sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

Pure music that stole his breath.

That voice, that clear, bell tone voice, made a shiver go down his spine. His crest started to rise, his tail feathers tried to spread despite sitting in a chair, his heart skipped a beat as something dark clawed at his lower belly.

Sway couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t even think. The sound of that voice, sweet and soft and feminine, was blasting through his brain like an explosion. It left him too stunned to form anything like a coherent thought, much less respond.

What was that ?