Page 85 of Tempting Cargo

As theDorimisacame in closer, I made out jagged peaks that rent the land, steam and lava rising from vents in the cracks. The shiny, rounded, silvered buildings on the flat top of one of the mountains seemed incongruous.

We got closer still. Sharp red crystals cut through the domed elegance, exuding an ominous light that made my skin crawl.

I didn’t know what type of people inhabited this beautiful city in its barren landscape, but I was glad I was staying on the ship.

“Looks like we’ve beaten theDawnhere,” Shohari said once we’d landed.

The only other ship in the five-bay dock was a cruiser class ship, her dark hull patched with lighter repair panels and bearing the telltale scars of blaster fire. Cargo crates floated in an automated line towards one yawning bay door.

“That’s kri’ith writing.” Paiata raised his wrist-comm, zooming in on the ship. “Kri’s locked balls.” He turned, his normally impassive face slack-jawed. “That’s theCrown of the Void.”

The bridge fell silent apart from the hum of the vents and the howling wind cutting round the corners of the ship.

Shohari opened a comm. “This is Captain mai Tasra of theDorimisa. Why are you loading my shipment onto another vessel?”

We marched down to the cargo bay, and I didn’t catch the reply. When the ramp opened, the smell didn’t shock me, at least. The sulphuric, molten tang rushed into the bay with a stifling bloom of heat that made me want to gag, and it was a relief when the door closed again.

Shohari and Paiata marched across the platform, intercepted by some of the planet’s inhabitants. They were obscured through the film of dust on the window, but I made out tall sapients, all wearing curious-shaped capes on their backs. I realised my mistake when one unfurled their ‘cape’ into impressive bat-like wings. They appeared to be humanoid in every other way, but everything was alien even so.

Yet again it struck me how small I was.

Muzati, Tokki, and Daiytak watched with me, and their comforting familiarity was amusingly ironic. Had I once thought kri’ith—and by implication, the shaa’ith—were the most monstrous, the most alien of aliens?

Shohari appeared as confident as ever with them. For a person who grew up in an isolationist society, it never ceased to amaze me how easy she could be with other people. Surly, sure—but that was because they were people, not because they were aliens.

And I’m one of the few people she likes.

I pushed the thought away. “What are these folk like?”

“I do not know. The ydouir do not leave their planet often, and I’ve never had cause to visit here before,” Daiytak said.

Ee-dwaar.Yet another name, one I probably wouldn’t need to remember.

Muzati squinted through the window. “Is that… Saris?”

“Who?”

“Saris dai Yakri. Captain of theFortune’s Dawn.”

Shohari was out of sight, gone into one of the nearby buildings.

“I thought you said that was theCrown of the Void?” Daiytak asked.

“I did.” Muzati sprinted up the ramp out of the cargo bay, and her footsteps thudded overhead. In less than a minute she raced back in, straightening the tools in her knot of headspines. “I’m going to talk to her.”

“I’m coming too.” I surged to my feet, but she put a hand to my chest.

“You can’t. She can’t see you.”

Shit.

“I’ll leave a comm line open,” she said. “That way you can hear. And I’ll record it.”

She reached into one of the many pockets in her overalls and pulled out a small, flat device. “Wrist-comm wouldn’t know subtle if you smacked it round the screen. But this?”

She activated it, I accepted the call at my own wrist, and her voice echoed in concert. “This will do nicely.” She patted her breast pocket and flashed a winning smile. “I do like it when I get out to play.”

The shaa’ith and I watched the exchange, disembodied audio coming from my wrist-comm.