Pay Me, Bug!

Chapter 40

WHEREIN Our Hero, Lacking Compelling Alternatives, Resorts to Plan B

Grif ran his hands over his newly restored face carefully, examining his reflection in a mirror.

"It looks like me, right? I mean, it is my face, right?"

"Yes, Grif," Morgan said. His voice was muffled from the bandages that still covered his face, but it was obvious he was tired of the question. "It looks just like you."

Amys peered at him and frowned.

"What?" Grif looked at his face again. "What? What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but it's not right."

"Dammit!" Grif swore. "I knew it."

"Oh, that's what it is," Amys said. "No stubble."

"What?" Grif ran his hand across his chin. "Oh. You're right. Well, that's a relief." He peered at his chin worriedly. "It will grow back, right? They didn't, ah, do anything to damage it, did they?"

Amys rolled her eyes.

"Christ, Grif, you are so damned vain," Morgan grumbled.

"Hey," Grif protested. "You didn't wind up looking like Hu Mavis for more than a month... actually, I'm sort of surprised you want your old face back..."

Morgan muttered darkly.

Grif grinned. "I'm going to the bridge," he said.

Amys fell in step beside him.

"How soon till we can jump to tach?"

"Soon," Amys said. "I need to check, but I think an hour, hour and a half."

They entered the lift, and Grif keyed the sequence for the top deck. "And those ships?"

"Only three moving to intercept, it looks like. A frigate, a scout ship... and Centurion." Amys grinned. "They're not going to make it in time."

Grif laughed. "It's a shame... you know, he's never going to know for sure it was me. So unfair."

The lift door opened, and they stepped out onto the bridge. Bennet was there, manning communications, and Cyrus--his head wrapped in bandages, just like Morgan's--was sitting up at the pilot's station.

"Any news?" Grif asked.

Cyrus pushed the pilot's seat back into the bridge proper and got up. "Nope."

Grif sank into the chair and pushed it forward, sighing happily. "My face, my ship. Life is good."

Amys sat down at her station and checked their position. "We can jump to tach in 30 minutes," she said.

"Excellent."

"Guess I'll head down to the main gun," Cyrus said. "Just in case Mavis pulls a fast one. Grif, I want you to know that I've put down quite a bit of money on us getting away with this."

"You bet we will get away with this, or we won't?"

Cyrus grinned. "You know me."

"Good man. And may I hazard a guess as to the identity of the poor fool who bet against me?"

"Not much point in guessing," Cyrus said. "Same two and a half meter tall bug that always does."

Grif shook his head and punched the intercom. "Ktk, you realize that if you actually win this latest bet with Cyrus, we're all going to die, right?"

Ktk replied that every time it had lost a bet it had also survived, and that it really considered the process less of a gamble, and more of a tax to ensure its survival.