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“I doubt it, but at least we only have to put up with him for another day.” He gave her a big grin. “I was able to reprogram the transponder code.”
“You were?” She gave him a big smile. “Oh, Vujcec, that’s great!”
“Yep, the Troubadour is now officially the Celerity.”
That had her frowning. She’d seen what the Celerity looked like, and it wasn’t anything like the Troubadour. “Will it stand up under scrutiny when we land?”
“On Yelmurn, yes,” he reassured her. “It’s not a very advanced planet. It only has a single level of security for identifying incoming ships. The transponder code. They don’t visually inspect ships upon landing.”
“Well, that’s one less worry.” She gave the brand on his face a serious look. “Have you tried to see if the med bed can remove that?”
“The guards said they couldn’t be removed.” He started to rise when her gentle touch stopped him.
“Ranvir said the same thing. That his nanobots couldn’t heal it, but you’re not a cyborg. Maybe the med bed can. It can’t hurt to try.”
Vujcec gave the bed a wary look.
‘“It’s up to you,” she said quietly.
Slowly, Vujcec moved to a bed and lay down after a moment’s hesitation. Quickly going to the control console, Taly activated the bed and waited for the readout.
“What’s it say?” Vujcec asked, wanting to squirm.
“It hasn’t finished yet,” she told him.
In a moment, it had. She held in a sigh of disappointment at the readings. While there was a list of things the bed could treat, the brand wasn’t among them. Still, she pressed ‘select all,’ and the treatment began.
“Taly?”
“Let’s just see what it does,” she hedged.
Unfortunately, the “R” was still on his cheek when the bed finished. “I’m sorry, Vujcec.”
“Don’t be. I didn’t expect it to work.” He gave her a small smile as he sat up and slid his feet over the side of the bed, but she could tell it was forced.
“Still…”
“No, it is what it is.” Getting off the bed, he gave her a quick hug and thought about Ranvir’s concern for her being down here. “Want to go see what’s happening on the bridge? We both know those cyborgs need all the help they can get.”
Taly couldn’t help but laugh. The first real laugh she’d had since this started. Sliding an arm around his waist, she turned toward the door. “You know, I think you’re right. Let’s go.”
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Pike turned from his console to face the other cyborgs. “I’ve been able to locate a source for the power crystals we need for the shields and the weapons to be restocked. The dealer’s willing to deliver both for an extra fee.”
“Why are you saying it like that’s a problem?” Ranvir asked.
“Because it is,” Pike told him. “We can’t get both.”
“And why’s that?” Ranvir queried.
“Because we don’t have any credits,” Pike explained. “So we’ll have to decide which one’s the priority. I vote for the weapons. They’re harder to come by. But once we stiff the arms dealer, we’ll have to take off immediately.”
“Strip something off this pleasure cruiser and trade it,” Ganesha said dismissively. “Problem solved.”
“Excuse me?” a female voice said behind them.
Everyone turned to see Taly and Vujcec walking into the bridge. Ranvir glanced at Tane, who gave him a slight nod after securing the lower deck.
