Page 30 of Life-Debt

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True to his word, Carthello had taken all of his trackers with him, although he’d left a few gifts in the form of information regarding the crystals I had taken from Delta’s ship, supplies for the kit, enough food for the Veloc hatchling to last her through a siege, stored in nice cargo container I wouldn’t be giving back. A few presents, gift wrapped with my name on them, made me roll my eyes. The insanity of black market operatives giving presents amused me, and I opened their offerings to discover a variety of lingerie in my sizes.

Bastards. I’d keep the lingerie, as it was expensive on a good day, but the taunt over the bounty would never end. I would never live down the day a bunch of idiot black market operators had gone lingerie shopping for me.

I gave it even odds that they’d send a receipt to the Veloc to add to the chaos.

The last present included a necklace, bracelet, and earrings fashioned from rainbow black shiftgem crystals, unsuitable for anything other than baubles. That would have been something Carthello would have acquired, knowing my fascination with the stone.

I would appreciate the set, aware the days of debt were over, setting us both free from the weight of obligation.

I put the jewelry box in my personal safe in my cabin before hauling my new fox kit to my navigation room, where the hatchling still slept and Pandora stood guard. I crouched, whistled for Pandora, and opened the cage. “Meet your new friend, Pandora. Carthello got him for you.”

Pandora’s eyes widened, and she sniffed in the cage. After a few more sniffs, she wagged her tail so hard I worried she might fall over. The kit made a soft whining noise, but he emerged from his cage and crowded Pandora, seeking shelter against her.

I couldn’t blame him. The poor baby likely missed his mother, barely old enough to be weaned. I’d supplement his meat diet with milk just in case he’d been taken too early.

“You need to comfort him in your nest, okay? If he makes a mess, I’ll clean your nest. We’ll teach him to use the box, but for the next while, things might be a little rough.”

It always amazed me how much Pandora understood. She spent a moment grooming the kit before picking him up by the scruff and carrying him to her nest in our shared cabin. She eased him inside, and I buttoned the entry hole in case of a rough takeoff. I made a point of petting them both.

The kit sniffed me, and while he whined, he accepted my touch without overt signs of fear.

Carthello must have worked with him already.

I returned to my captain’s chair, opened a communication link with Carthello, and said, “Thank you. Pandora has her new friend in her nest for takeoff, and the little one is adapting much better than expected.”

“We’ve had him for a week, and we’ve been passing him around. He’s great outside of his cage, and I already box trained him, so you won’t have many problems on that front. The cage scares him, but we needed to transport him safely, and it has a shield, gravity, and life support. In case of emergency, toss your foxes in there, activate everything, and you’ll buy them three weeks of air on the setup. I know you have a suit for Pandora, but it takes time to have those made. And you can use the cage for other species.”

“Bill me for that cage and put in an order for three others like it. I’ll make a wall in my cargo bay for animals. I’ve the space, even with the stasis chamber.”

“I’ll bill you at cost for the cages but not a penny more.”

“Deal. The rainbow black jewelry set is beautiful. Thank you.”

“You deserved something beautiful and impractical, and we’d already heard about the cargo you’d rescued that captured the attention of the Veloc. It takes one hell of a stalwart soul to pass up an opportunity to make off with that load. We valued it out of curiosity.”

“How much?”

“A billion for all the crystals on board—and not the core shiftgems. I did some research.”

“Are we on a secure connection?”

“We’re secure.”

“How did a planet of evolved homo sapiens get a billion tokens for that many shiftgems? Why? That’s ridiculous. I thought perhaps the low hundred millions.”

“The tri-color set you installed in the engine is worth fifty million on its own.”

I slumped in my seat. “I ruined a fifty million dollar install?”

“You didn’t ruin the shiftgems. You installed them, and the ship is working great. Your work just turned that freighter into a dream ship. Word on the wire is they want you to tune the engine more. They’re in love with your install.”

“I paid nowhere near as much for my set.”

“Your set was paid for in part by a life-debt, Viva. They footed the majority of the bill and you paid what you could afford.”

Damn it. “Again?”