Chapter Two

The ship’s tour was short by necessity. The interior was built for efficiency, every space dedicated to a specific purpose.

Bay doors and the loading ramp led into the circular central room, dominated by the small galley with its modest multipurpose table and bench seating bolted to the floor off to the side. Storage chests lined the opposite wall.

On one side of the central room, a coded doorway led into the cockpit, pilot and copilot’s seats arm’s length apart with enough room surrounding each for a grown man to stand comfortably.

Ari eyed Orin surreptitiously, amending that to a grown man of average height and build, such as himself. Alright, so admittedly his build was definitely on the slender side of average, but he felt confident in his unremarkable height.

There was nothing about Mr. Stone’s build that was unremarkable.

Ari tore his gaze away from Orin’s broad hands as they caressed the controls on the deactivated dash, clearing his throat to continue the tour back through the galley and into the rear corridor.

The corridor was wider than one might have expected for a modest-sized vessel, but it was necessary for Ari to transport his storage crates of samples to and from the laboratory. The width was also sufficient for two men to stand shoulder to shoulder across. Ari mentally traced the sweeping lines of Orin’s shoulders. It was also apparently just wide enough for one Mr. Stone and one Dr. Aristotle Campbell to stand with Mr. Stone’s shoulders across and Aristotle’s back flat against the wall.

Ari swallowed convulsively at the thought of Orin having him flat against the wall.

On one side of the corridor was Ari’s room, a standard ship’s bunk with en suite head complete with a sonic shower he could barely squeeze himself into.

On the other side was his brother’s room. Theo had claimed the larger captain’s quarters as both his bunk and workspace. Half again as large as Ari’s room, his shelves of books and cluttered desk had dominated the space.

Prior to his disappearance, Theo’s bed had practically become part of his desk, a Theo-shaped blank space the only concession to sleep amidst teetering piles of books and parchment.

In preparation for his search, Ari had cleared all but the bookshelves, carefully packing Theo’s work into the storage crates now tucked beneath the floor panels of both their rooms.

Theo’s en suite was also twice the size of Ari’s, his sonic large enough for Ari to stand in without hitting the walls until he extended his arms past the elbow. He hoped Mr. Stone would be able to fit.

He also hoped he’d be able to stop picturing how Mr. Stone might fit into a shower stall. Stealing a glance at the pilot as he pushed thick waves of brown hair back off his face with a roguish grin, Ari knew it to be a false hope.

At the end of the corridor, another coded doorway led to the laboratory, a clean workspace of floor to ceiling storage panels and long workbench cluttered with equipment and samples.

All experiments had ceased upon Theo’s disappearance, and in his haste, Ari had even mixed samples and destroyed months of work while searching for clues.

He cringed at the disorganization of the lab, but Mr. Stone simply looked it over with an impressed nod before heading back into the cockpit.

The pilot seemed entranced by the state-of-the-art flight controls, carefully pulling panels away here and there to study the inner workings.

Ari called attention to himself by snapping a roll of simulated parchment open across the dash.

Orin followed Ari’s movements as he unfurled the collection of star maps. His gaze flicked up to Ari’s face as he held out another roll of parchment. One broad thumb rubbed across the sharp edge of his jaw as Orin regarded the papers without making a move to accept them.

“What’s all that?”

Ari shook the papers insistently, pushing them further into the pilot’s space until large fingers wrapped around the roll.

“This is the ship’s charter. Navigation is not my forte, so I will need you to check it over and make sure my calculations are sound. The remainder are charts I have fabricated in case we encounter Enforcers along the way, intended to indicate we have fallen off course rather than intentionally jumping the Verge. I attempted to procure emergency licensing, but I was denied. I can delay no longer, hence my need for your services.”

Orin’s eyebrows climbed as he studied the charter.

“Looks like more than a little jump across. Looks like you wanna go pretty far past the Verge. Ain’t exactly easy to get through that big old force field, honey. Won’t be an issue for me, but we’re gonna have to come up with a plan to get you through the barrier. Everything about you screams Core, from the top of your combed-down hair to the tips of your shiny little shoes. Enforcers would never mistake you for a Verge rat like me. You look like you’ve never been out of the interior ring in your life.”

Orin straightened up, turning to Ari with a serious expression, somehow all the more handsome for the shift in mood.

“Gonna have to fabricate more than a couple of maps for this. Besides, there’s not much point to using maps if we’re heading into the uncharted space of the deep dark. Gonna have to rely on my calculations to find our way out of there. You sure you wanna go through with all this? I gotta say, the deep dark just ain’t a place for someone like you, professor. Seems to me you could barely handle our civilized life here in the colonies.”

Ari crossed his arms over his chest, chin jutting defiantly. “An astounding assertion, having barely made my acquaintance. Just who do you suppose is ‘someone like me,’ Mr. Stone?”

Orin’s eyes twinkled, mouth kicking up at one corner just enough to reveal a flash of dimple.

Ari was in no way charmed by it.

Orin took measured steps in a slow circle around Ari, heavy boots clunking against the metal floor in the restricted space of the cockpit.

“Someone like you is someone who grew up with a full belly and a solid roof. Nah, more than that. Bet you had servants, didn’t you, sweetheart?”

Ari shrugged one shoulder, skin prickling as Orin circled behind him, sharply aware of his gaze tracing every line of his body. “We had a modest household staff when I was a child. My brother and I take bachelor’s lodgings while planetside now, with only a housekeeper in our employ. All quite standard for our homeworld, I assure you.”

Orin’s snort was accompanied by the hushed sounds of him removing his heavy greatcoat and tossing it over the pilot’s seat rather than hanging it on the dedicated coat peg as Ari had done upon entering the ship.

“Right. Someone like you is real used to being taken care of, used to having things when you want them, when you need them. There’s none of that past the Verge, professor. Nothing so soft and pretty as yourself out there. Out there, fellas even rougher than me would give a lot for a go at a soft pretty thing like you.”

Ari wrinkled his nose. “What precisely is that supposed to mean? A go?”

Ari’s attention fell to the wide belt loops of Orin’s broadcloth trousers as the pilot hooked his thumbs in them while leaning back to bray with laughter.

“Damn. You are precious, you know that, Red?”

Ari did his utmost to glare menacingly, to little effect. If he was honest with himself, all of these words and endearments were beginning to wear on him. No one had ever said anything remotely like that to Ari before, whether intended mockingly or complimentary. Obviously, none of it was sincere, it was immediately apparent that all of this was some strange affectation or quirk of speech. Perhaps it was common, out here in the harsher colonies. Certainly no one would speak that way back home on Britannia, or any other Core world for that matter.

Still. Hearing such language constantly directed at him was bafflingly impactful. He resolved to give his heart and other interested organs a stern talking-to at the earliest opportunity.

Mr. Stone studied him under his overgrown fringe, shaking his head to get his hair out of his eyes, the heavy waves immediately falling back into place despite his efforts.

Ari dropped his focus on Orin’s hair to find Orin’s regard as steady on his face as a hawk. When he spoke again, his voice was softer, careful and emphatic in a way that held every shred of Aristotle’s attention.

“You sure about this? I wouldn’t blame you if you back out right now, wouldn’t even consider it going back on a deal. Seems like the decent thing to do here is to give you an opportunity to see nothing but my ugly backside as I get the hell off your ship, and you get yourself back to the safety of your little Core world.”

Ari shook his head, chin jutting out in the way that drove Theo up the wall during an argument. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Mr. Stone. My brother has need of me, and I will not fail him. I am also not the sort of gentleman who is willing to go back upon his word. I struck a deal with you, and I shall uphold it.”

The smile that spread across Orin’s face at that lit a fire behind his eyes, glowing softly in Ari’s direction.

He nodded decisively, chucking Ari lightly beneath the chin. “You can put that stubborn little thing away, sweetheart. Deal’s a deal. If you’re so surefire set on this, then I’m not stopping you. First things first, let’s get this pretty lady in shape. Anything needs doing before we head out for supplies?”

Ari rubbed his hand over his jaw, soothing the strange tingle of awareness that spread across his face from Orin’s touch.

“I’ve been having a spot of trouble with getting it up to speed. We’ll need to get a ship’s mechanic to look at the engines as soon as possible.”

Orin shook his head before Ari finished speaking. “Nah, no call for that. I can fix her up better than any crooked Verge mechanic you’re gonna find around here. Where’s her access panel?”

Ari led the way into the corridor, hesitating for a moment before bending to release the catch on the maintenance hatch in the floor.

He remained bent, turning to address Mr. Stone, whose head snapped up to Ari’s face guiltily. Ari struggled to remember how to shove words out of his mouth.

“Do. Ahem. Do you have the requisite tools, Mr. Stone? I’m afraid we only have a basic toolkit aboard.”

Orin had already turned away, trotting down the open ramp and tossing his words over his shoulder. “Sure do. I’ll just fetch my things right quick, be back before you miss me.”

Ari shut his mouth against any reply he might have made alluding to whether or not he would miss Mr. Orin Stone.

He settled onto the bench in the main cabin, taking his pad out of his pocket to make an order for sundries, paying the exorbitant fee for same-day delivery from the local ship supply.

Ari was deep into calculations for amounts needed of dehydrated grain when a metallic thud slammed to the floor beside him.

Mr. Stone released the handle of a large metal toolbox that had clearly seen better days, if not decades. It might have been painted red at some point, but any remaining color was now merely an accent to the dented steel case.

Orin straightened, an ancient duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Ari valiantly refrained from noting the way the weight of his luggage caused the muscles in Orin’s arm to strain and bulge dramatically. Excessively, even. Practically obscene.

If one were to notice such things, which Ari didn’t.

He released a shaky breath as Orin strode down the corridor to toss his bag into Theo’s empty room before returning for his toolbox.

“I’ll get right to it, professor. Have her fixed up before you know it.”

Ari continued to refrain from noticing how the even heavier weight of the toolbox had a similarly obscene effect on the muscles of Mr. Stone’s arm and back and…backside.

An obnoxious beeping alert from Ari’s pad notified him that he had attempted to order three thousand pounds of dehydrated grain, which exceeded the available supply. That would have been a very unfortunate purchase considering they only needed three pounds.

The clunk of the toolbox settling into the corridor brought his attention back to the pilot who now stood with his hands on his hips, considering the small opening of the maintenance hatch.

Ari set his pad aside to join him in staring at the narrow access.

“Perhaps it would be best if I were to enter, and you could direct me in the repairs?”

Orin’s lips curved into a broad smirk, glinting eyes sweeping along the length of Ari’s body before peering again into the open panel.

“Oh, don’t you worry, Red. I’ve got a real talent for fitting into tight spaces.”

Ari spun around to hide the ridiculous blush on his face as Orin slowly and painstakingly lowered his bulk into the hatch.

Ari finished up his order, switching over to a program his contacts in the Information Technologies department had assured him would prove useful in fabricating documents to get across the Verge, painfully aware that his brother’s fate rested in his unsteady hands.

And now, the very steady, very large hands of an unknown pilot.