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A feeling that something wasn’t quite right woke Liberty from a deep sleep. “Shit. I should have known better.” She grabbed her clothes but didn’t bother putting them on before running out on deck. Fully expecting to find Boy still in the captain’s chair, she was surprised to see a stranger there instead.
His arms were crossed, and the moment he saw her approaching, he smiled, as if greeting an old friend. Shock rooted her in place until she remembered she was carrying her clothes and not wearing them. She hastily slipped them on and buttoned up her blouse as she went over to find out what the hell was going on.
“Who in the blazes are you, and what are you doing on my ship?” Liberty got right in his face and poked a finger in his chest, her assault full of the kind of bluster and bravado she was nowhere near feeling. Too late, she remembered she’d left her pocket gun at the foot of her bed, along with her damp clothes. It didn’t matter. There was no way she would to let this arrogant interloper know she was scared witless. Never before had a stranger been allowed aboard Airus, not until now – and on her watch. Her father was probably rolling over in his grave at this very moment.
He eyed her hair and asked, “You look like you’ve been in a wind storm. When was the last time you combed your hair?”
Liberty reached up and tucked a long curl behind her ear, suddenly uncomfortably aware how she must look to this stranger. “My comb broke.”
He pulled a long, wooden one out of his jacket pocket. “I’d be happy to comb them out for you.”
She took a step back. “Yeah, and cut my throat while my back is turned. You must take me for a fool.”
“Bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you? I don’t even have a knife on me.” He stood and moved closer. “You’re welcome to pat me down and check for yourself.”
She sniffed at the thought. “I would rather have my throat cut.”
The dangerously-handsome, dark-eyed man sat back in the captain’s chair. He lifted an apple to his mouth and took a huge bite, as if Liberty was just a pesky insect. She grabbed it out of his hand. “Is this my apple? How dare you raid my food locker, and how dare you set foot on my vessel without my permission. Who the hell are you anyway?”
He grinned and dipped his head, as if finally acknowledging her presence. “Mender, and I want that back.”
Liberty looked at the half eaten apple. Even though her stomach was tight with fright, she took a large bite out of it, just to show the arrogant bastard she had no intention of giving in to any of his demands. “Get out of my chair.” She swallowed and prayed she didn’t choke to death because her throat was so dry and tense. Luckily, the apple slid down without incident, and surprisingly the man stood and backed away from the captain’s chair. A smirk marred his disturbingly attractive features.
To make matters worse, his voice was a wonderful mix of unhurried pace and deep tones. “For such a beautiful woman, you have the mouth of a gutter rat.” In his pleasant voice, the insult actually came out sounding like a compliment.
Liberty had to work up another head of steam because his voice had somehow spun a strange spell over her. It made her forget he was the interloper and not she. She puffed up and leveled a stern glare at him, to let him know just how much she cared about what he thought about her looks or choice of words. “I’m not the one who is trespassing so I don’t give a gutter rat’s ass what you think. What have you done with my robot, and how did you get aboard my ship?”
Mender crossed his arms before nodding towards the galley. “Your robot is giving mine a guided tour as we speak.” When she spluttered out a protest, he flicked his wrist and rolled his eyes. “Calm down, woman. The last time I saw them, they were happily chatting away like long lost brothers. Maybe you should have left your vessel with a better protector.”
“You’re a pirate and an apple thief. Get off my ship.” It wasn’t easy being stern whilst holding a half-eaten apple, but it was too precious to throw away.
“So that was what I was eating? I’ve never seen or tasted anything like it before.” The damn man actually grinned again.
“Why are you here? No, better yet, how did you get here?” Liberty eyed the altimeter, just to be certain Airus was still in the sky. She remained groggy and confused from her sleep. Maybe this was just a nightmare. “We’re at seven thousand feet. I know you didn’t sprout wings and fly up here.”
Mender pointed toward the stern of the airship. “Actually, it was much easier than that. I simply pulled alongside and climbed aboard. I even requested permission, which your robot gave without any hesitation. He actually seemed to be quite happy to see me.” He looked longingly at the apple. “Can you give that back?”
She hid it behind her back. “I could but I won’t. It’s my apple. My ship. My shit.” She was pleased by how stern she sounded, but then blew it all by adding, “I only have a few apples left and it will be a couple of months before I can replace them. I’ll give you a jar of applesauce if you leave.” That didn’t come out sounding stern at all. Damn. It was a good thing pirates didn’t board her ship every day. “Why are you really here? I know it’s not for my apple.” She took another bite, just to show Mender he wasn’t getting it back.
He shrugged. “I saw your airship and couldn’t believe my eyes. I’ve never seen any others besides my own, not in all my travels. I thought I had the only one. Would you be willing to show me where you acquired your apples? If you do, I’ll show you where I was able to procure my wheat and corn.”
She wrinkled her nose in thought. “Boy showed me photos of wheat and corn but I didn’t know they still existed. What do you do with them?”
He grinned and clapped a hand on her shoulder. “You’re in for a special treat. I’ll be right back.” Mender jogged toward his own ship and jumped across as if the gap between were nothing.
Liberty shuddered to think what would have been his fate had he lost his footing and fallen. Of course, she had no idea in the least why the thought of his death bothered her, not since they had only just met and he was probably going back to get a weapon so he could kill her. Maybe he had an entire ship of men hiding there, waiting to board her airship. She was getting all set to go fetch her pistol when he reappeared and jumped back aboard, carrying a bundle.
Mender wasn’t even breathing hard, but he was grinning when he reached her side. He offered her the small wrapped package. “I’ll trade you this for the rest of your apple.”
Without thinking, Liberty did as he asked, but then laughed at the look on his face when he saw how little was left. She might have apologized if she had been the least bit contrite, but as far as she was concerned, a deal was a deal. After opening the package, she asked what it was.
“Cornbread and wheat bread. Robbie made them yesterday.” He popped the rest of the apple in his mouth and closed his eyes. He smiled as soon as he swallowed it down. “I’ve never tasted anything so wonderful in my entire life.”
Liberty broke off a bite-sized piece of the round yellow bread and let it rest on her tongue for a moment before chewing. It tasted so good she broke off a bigger piece and munched on that before trying the brown one. Without thinking, she smiled. “Do you know what would be good with this?” She didn’t wait for an answer but jumped up and motioned for Mender to follow. As she led him toward the galley, she said, “I bet honey would taste great on both of these.”
Mender fell in beside her. “Honey. I’ve never heard of honey.”
“There seems to be a lot of things you haven’t heard of. I thought you said you sailed an airship.”
He laughed. “I knew about wheat and corn and you didn’t. How come you’ve flown everywhere in your airship and never heard of them?”
“Smartass.” Damn. He had a point. “Who’s Robbie? You said Robbie made the bread yesterday. Are there more people on your airship?”
“Just me and Robbie. Robbie’s my robot. I made him out of whatever I could find. He’s not as good looking as yours, but he comes in handy when I need a second pair of hands. Are you going to let me try this mysterious substance you call honey?”
“Yep. It’s either that or shoot you. I haven’t quite figured out which one to do yet.”
They found their robots in the galley, every drawer and cabinet door pulled open. Liberty turned to Mender. “I’m not cleaning this shit up.”
“I guess I should have kept a better eye on them.” He slipped into the chair behind the table.
“Damn straight you should have.” She smacked Boy on the back of the head before grabbing the jar of honey out of the cabinet. “How could you let this pirate come aboard? I’m never leaving the Airus in your control again.”
Boy had the grace to look as shamefaced as a robot could. “He asked nicely.”
“He asked nicely. It’s good to know you have standards.” She pointed at the cabinets. “Clean this mess up. We’ll talk about your punishment after we throw these two overboard.”
The only sounds that came from Boy were a few rapid clicks, as if some of his gears had been stripped. He finally said, “This is my friend, Robbie.”
For the first time since entering the galley, Liberty focused her attention on Mender’s robot. Next to Boy’s shiny metal and beautiful glass head, complete with metallic eyes, Robbie was an awkward piece of junk. She had actually seen objects in the Forsaken Land in better condition, but in an odd way, the little guy was sort of endearing. The way his legs were connected to his body meant he didn’t stand straight but leaned off to one side, as though any minute he could fall over. Not knowing what else to do, she patted the top of his head before joining Mender.
Liberty sat the jar of honey on the table and swallowed back a laugh. Out of the blue, the entire situation struck her as totally bizarre. She found it impossible to believe she was actually sharing her honey with a pirate, and that two robots now stood on the other side of the galley, trying to figure out what use a fork could be put to.