The treasure hunter spun. Eyed her pistol and Justyn’s double-barreled weapons. He had both his pistols aimed at the younger man’s head.
Solomon raised his hands, then he looked past them. “Looks like Mackon isn’t going to just let you walk out of here.”
Justyn saw the guards coming.Damn.
But Nissa’s calm face didn’t show a flicker of worry. “Hand me the document.”
Solomon swung it off his shoulder. Hesitated.
She stepped forward and shoved the barrel of the weapon in the center of his chest. She held up her hand.
With a deep sigh, Solomon handed it over.
She swung it over her shoulder. “You’re under arrest.”
“You have no jurisdiction here.”
“Maybe not, but once we cross the galactic border, I will.”
“How are we going to get out of here?” Justyn asked. The guards were getting closer.
“I have a plan.” She nodded to the ship. “Onto Solomon’s airship.”
They boarded the cargo cage sitting on the wharf. A quick tug on the chains and the cage lifted off the ground with a rattle.
“Anyone going to fight to help you up there?” Justyn asked.
“It isn’t my ship or crew. I just paid for passage to New Venice.”
Another floating city not far away.
“Then I don’t need to shoot anybody,” Justyn said.
On deck, they stepped out of the cage. The crew had a hardened look, and most of them had mechanical enhancements of some type. They gave Justyn and Nissa’s weapons a brief glance before going back to their work.
A short, barrel-chested man with hair the color of a sunset leaped down from the rigging above. “I was only paid passage for one. I’ll need more coin to take all three of ya to New Venice.”
“We aren’t staying,” Nissa said.
The captain shrugged. “Suit yourself. We set sail in an hour. Be off me ship before then.”
“You going to share your plan to get out of here?” Justyn asked.
Nissa glanced at the bulky timepiece on her wrist. “Not yet.”
“And we’re going to escape the guards who’ll be here in a few minutes, right?”
“Yes.”
“But you won’t escape me.”
All three of them spun at the feminine voice.
Lady Curiosity climbed over the edge of the ship with acrobatic grace and stood on the wooden railing. She held a rope in one hand and her mechanical arm was aimed at them.
Justyn saw some sort of mechanism built into her forearm. It held darts. His chest tightened.Poison.
“You made an incredible mess of my store.” The woman stepped gracefully off the railing, landing with the tiniest bend of her knees. “And I believe you have something my employer was going to buy from the boy.”
