The Starlight Lancer

Chapter 125: Shipbound With the Enemy

"The Tralgon Cartel must take priority in CID investigations... [we] have seen violence before in the Underworld and frequently so, but theirs is bold and unshackled by rule or convention. For too long the Synatorium's law enforcement agencies have turned a blind eye to the activities of the Big Five of Tedano... how long did they think it would take for a group to come along and take advantage on a systemic scale of the lawkeepers' willingness to look the other way?"

—CID Report 10003-2Bh4.009812247 on Organized Crime within the Modern Nova Rim

Zaina sat straight up with her arms crossed, not taking her eyes off Reida for a moment. Baeus told them they'd have to skip through three dimensions in the Void, so the journey would take a bit longer than the ride to Calkhor. There was nothing to do but make sure Reida didn't cause trouble.

The pirate met Zaina's gaze and smirked.

"What?"

"You're staring."

"I'm making sure you don't—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. That's real smart," Reida replied, then leaned in. "So what's all this for, anyway? What kind of mission are you on?"

Zaina scoffed. As if she'd share anything with her. "The need-to-know kind."

"Ah. Must be exciting."

"Sure."

"It does beg the question, though, of why you have a scholar with you. They tend to stay away from the exciting ones, don't they?"

Zaina glared. Even when she thought she wasn't giving Reida anything to work with, the damned pirate figured something out. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Reida sighed. "I want to know what you're after so I know how I can expect the rest of the mission to go. And so I can work around what you need."

"Yeah, right."

"It's true," Reida replied with a shrug. "Listen—we both know how this is going to go. In the end Kazlo is leaving with me. You know that, don't you? So it's really a matter of whether or not you get what you need from him before then. So if it really is important, something need-to-know, I need to know."

Zaina shook her head. "You really think I'm going to let you take him?"

"In the end, it won't be up to you," Reida said, a charming smile coming over her face. "So if you need him for a long time, it's better to say—that way I know to wait a little bit. If I'm in the dark in terms of timeframe I'm going to err on the side of making my move earlier—I've got a captain to impress, you know."

"You're such a piece of shit."

Reida didn't seem bothered. "For a pirate, I think I'm actually being quite nice."

Zaina didn't bother responding. Once we've got Kazlo, we might have to make a stopover at the CID. Then we'll see what she has to say.

"Plus," Reida continued, much to Zaina's chagrin, "you never know—could be useful to have a friend in my line of work. The shifting winds of the galaxy touch us first."

"You're not my friend."

"Well, what would you prefer? Contact? Acquaintance? Partner?"

Zaina sighed, not wanting to litigate. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Call it what you want. It's not like we'll see each other again once this is over."

Reida shrugged. "Never say never."

"Well, I can hope, can't I?"

When Reida didn't respond, Zaina looked into her eyes—there again was a flash, a glimpse of pain beneath the surface. Zaina almost felt a little bad. Instead, her anger redoubled—how dare Reida ploy for pity after all she'd done.