A Freelancer Christmas

Merry Christmas wasn’t something Paul Mitchell heard a lot before joining the crew of the Wayward Stepchild. As a marine in the Confederation Marine Corps, he was more likely to spend his holidays on base or deployed to some wretched corner of the galaxy. As he sat down for dinner with the first true family he’d had in ages, he couldn’t help but remember one of his most memorable Christmases . . . and not in a good way. He'd spent one holiday season dealing with elves, and not the Santa’s little helper variety.