Chapter Eighteen

“Nice ride, Stone.”

Ari watched Orin’s hackles rise as the morning quiet of the dock was disturbed by an unfamiliar and unpleasantly nasal voice. Orin set the supply crate down next to the ramp, dusted his hands off on his trousers, and turned to face the shabbily dressed trio of men approaching them across the dock.

“And the ship ain’t too bad neither!” the tallest one continued, throwing his head back with a wheezing laugh before blowing a wet kiss in Ari’s direction.

Ari edged back against the ship, bolstered by the solid metal behind him, trying to press hard enough to inject some steel in his spine.

Orin glanced over at him before lazily stepping closer to the men, blocking Ari from their sight. He hooked his hands in his braces, rocking back on his heels.

“Thought I might’ve smelled y’all coming. Mind standing downwind, Darryl? Do us all a favor.”

The other two men guffawed, slapping their sour-faced companion on the back as he glared at Orin.

Ari started making his way toward the ramp, head down and trying his best to avoid everyone’s attention.

The bearded man to Orin’s left ogled Ari shamelessly, roving from his carefully parted hair to the laces of his boots before turning to Orin with a baffled expression.

“Hey, wasn’t you walking out with a lady friend last I saw you? Didn’t take you for the pretty-boy type.”

Darryl’s laugh had a dark edge of cruelty as he leered at Ari while mimicking Orin’s stance with thumbs hooked in his own dirty canvas braces.

“Oh, you didn’t know? Now see—Stone—he’s anyone’s dog who’ll hunt. Don’t care what they got in the engine room; he’s in that cockpit quick as a whip. Ain’t exactly what you’d call discriminating. It’s all in his upbringing, if you ask me. Too much time around whores like his mother. Never got no proper schooling, but he sure learned how to drop his drawers for half a credit.”

Ari turned to Orin and found traces of hurt visible through the cracks in his impassive mask. A shocking surge of violence rose in his gut, hands rolling into fists as he contemplated how satisfying it would be to disarrange Darryl’s coarse features.

Orin’s hands dropped to his hips, resting there in a relaxed stance, right middle finger absently tapping against the butt of his pistol.

“You know, Darryl, I think we’d all breathe a sight better if you’d just crawl back into whatever puddle of piss you rolled out of this morning.”

The third man started inching away from his companions, bloodshot gray eyes fixed on Orin’s tapping finger. Ari did the opposite, changing course to move closer to Orin, observing the rising tension beneath his casual swagger.

Darryl’s face contorted in an ugly sneer, hands clenching around his braces.

“You owe us, Stone. That was our cargo got dumped when you surrendered your ship to Enforcers like a greenhorn on his first jump. You should’ve stayed in the dark with the raiders. Showing your rusted face round here, bold as brass? Well, seems to me that’s gotta mean you’re prepared to compensate us for our losses.”

His face twitched to Ari and back to Orin, oily sneer oozing across like a grease stain.

“Could cut you a deal, if you’re a few credits short, for old time’s sake. Let us take your fancy new ride out for a spin. Looks like he’d be a screamer, and I like ’em loud.”

Orin’s gun was in his hand before Darryl could shut his mouth, his other arm sweeping around to push Ari behind him. Ari deeply regretted leaving his own firearm on the ship, noticing, with a sinking stomach, the heavily laden holsters of the men before them.

Darryl stepped closer, and the hair at the back of Ari’s neck rose at the low buzz of Orin’s pistol charging.

Darryl released his braces, holding his hands palm out at his shoulders. “Now, now, no call for violence. Your little robin red-breast is safe from us. Long as we get what’s coming to us, mind.” His smile was as thin and sharp as razor wire, eyes flicking from Orin’s gun to his companions, who nodded before stepping away in either direction.

Orin flinched slightly at the movement, whole body growing still as every muscle tensed along his back.

Ari pushed past Orin, stopping short as Orin’s hand clamped down like iron on his forearm. But Ari laid his own hand gently over Orin’s fingers and addressed the men as a group. “I propose that we settle this like gentlemen.”

The trio exchanged confused glances. Then Darryl turned to Ari and spit on the ground between them.

“Don’t see no gentlemen around here. How ’bout you fellas?”

The bearded man pointed at Ari, then yelped when Darryl smacked his arm back down to his side.

Ari turned his head to catch Orin’s attention. Barely moving his lips and keeping his voice too low to carry, he asked, “How much?”

Orin twisted away from Ari to glare at the men shifting impatiently on their feet as they watched the exchange.

He dropped the number like he was spitting out a seed. “Twenty.”

Ari’s brows lifted incredulously. “Just twenty credits?”

Orin shook his head slightly, lips dipping in a frown. “Thousand.”

If Ari’s eyebrows had been capable of levitation, this would have been the moment he discovered it.

“Twenty thousand credits!” His voice squeaked as he repeated the number a little louder than he meant to, earning a suspicious squint from Darryl. “Orin, that’s. That is not an insignificant amount.”

Orin shrugged, pulling Ari back slightly as he stepped forward, edging one of his enormous boots in front of Ari’s feet.

“I know. Figured I’d take care of it after I got Delilah all squared away as a one-man kinda girl. Mighty hard for a pilot to line his pockets without a ship.”

Darryl twitched his head, and his two companions started to move, circling around to either side of Orin’s position in front of the ship.

Orin’s hand tightened on Ari’s arm, fingertips digging in harder than he probably intended. Ari squeezed his own hand over Orin’s fingers, drawing a brief glance as Orin swiveled his head to keep sight of the men moving toward them.

“I’ll pay it,” Ari said.

Orin’s fingers spasmed around his arm with enough force to cause Ari to wince, and he dropped his hand as soon as he saw his expression. “Can’t let you do that. I’m not worth it, sweetheart. Ain’t exactly a sound investment.”

Ari was already shaking him off, drawing his pad out of his pocket with a determined stride. He wrinkled his nose at Darryl when he drew close enough to discover that Orin had not really been joking about the smell. Ari struggled to keep the disgust from his face, speaking as evenly as he could manage.

“Will you accept Ident or Chip?”

Darryl snatched the pad and pressed his fingers to the screen hard enough to leave thick smudges of grime behind. At the beep, he pulled away with a satisfied smirk. He leered at Ari before turning the full oily force of his personality on Orin.

“Sure hope you’re going for more than half a credit these days, Stone. You’ll be spending years on your back to pay this off. Gonna have to ask real nice for your fancyman to buy you some chafing cream.”

Ari had a sudden and vivid daydream of smashing his fist into Darryl’s snide mouth, feeling his teeth cut into his knuckles as they broke and bled, watching him spit the shattered pieces on the ground between them.

Instead, he turned on his heel and caught a glimpse of a stricken-faced Orin before heading off toward the open ramp. He skirted around the openly staring bearded man as they passed each other going in opposite directions.

Ari did some rapid calculations in his head. His and Theo’s funds were not bottomless. In fact, Ari would find himself scraping the bottom if he did not locate Theo very soon.

It didn’t matter. They could economize. Sell their possessions, move into more modest lodgings and procure salaried positions, perhaps. Less time for their academic pursuits, but Ari could live with that. As long as Theo was safe and Orin was finally able to call a ship his own. Ari could live with a lot of things if it kept a smile on both of those faces, he was discovering.

Ari turned back so quickly he nearly fell off the ramp, half ducking at the unmistakable sound of a laser pistol discharging behind him.

Darryl sat on the ground, face ashen as he stared at the wide scorch mark centimeters from his feet. The gray-eyed man took off down the docks at a sprint as the bearded man gave a long-suffering sigh and went to help Darryl to his feet.

Orin waved them off cheerfully, gun dangled casually from his thumb.

“Would you look at that? Faulty trigger, most like. Awful sorry about that, boys! Y’all have a pleasant afternoon, now!”

Orin waited until the men had walked out of sight before he turned around to give Ari a determined scowl, holstered his pistol, and headed toward the ramp.

Ari backed up a step, gesturing to the stack of crates waiting to be loaded. “I need you to finish preparations. We have spent long enough on this disgusting dock, and time is of the essence.”

Something in Orin’s face slammed shut as he nodded brusquely, changing course to haul a crate into the storage compartment.

Ari walked straight into the laboratory to sanitize his pad before pulling up Theo’s notes with shaking hands.

*

Orin didn’t turn his head when Ari entered the cockpit, but Ari could feel his attention on him just the same.

Something about the way the line of his shoulders rode a fraction higher and the slight tilt of his head, almost like he was listening intently for Ari’s voice.

Ari didn’t know what to say. What does one say to one’s pilot and bed partner as one prepares to flout the law and jump the Verge in a desperate leap of faith?

Ari took a deep breath in through the nose, attempting to still the persistent tremor in his hands as he fastened his buckle. “Is everything in order?” He winced at the strident tone of his voice, an ugly sign of his unfortunate tendency to cling to formality in the face of uncertainty.

Orin gave a small grunt of affirmation, fingers flying over the incomprehensible numbers busily flooding his screen. He paused once a small green light blinked on the dash, indicating that coordinates had been entered successfully. Clearing his throat, he braced large hands on his knees as he swiveled to face Ari, jaw set.

“Didn’t need you to do that. My debts are my own.”

Ari was unsuccessful in repressing the shake in his hands, folding them together in his lap to hide them away. “I understand that you have your pride, but—”

Orin bared his teeth, hands clenching on his thighs. “Seems to me you don’t understand. Seems to me you just dropped two bushels on a whim. I look like a helpless damsel to you?”

Ari shook his head, chewing hard on his lip.

Orin’s expression softened at something in Ari’s face, but his jaw stayed tense, hands still clenched.

“Didn’t need saving. I can take care of myself just like I always done. I can’t—I won’t be beholden to you. Not like that. Understand? You’ll get your credits soon as I’m able. And I won’t be earning them through the family business like that piece of flotsam said. Ain’t never gonna be like that between you and me.”

Ari choked on air, horrified at the notion that Orin could even think he would ever consider using him in such a despicable manner.

“No. Of course not. You are my pilot and my—my friend. And you deserve nothing less than my respect. I would never ask such a thing of you; I can assure you. I did not assume your debt with the intention of requiring anything of you in return.”

The fire dimmed in Orin, jaw relaxing slightly but hands still curled up tight.

Ari smoothed his own hands over his harness, gripping the strap across his hips as he continued. “However. In regards to the possibility of repayment, I…well… The truth is that there is a very good chance we shall never cross paths again after I find my brother. I have no manner of determining whether I will be able to find my way back through the dark after you and I have parted ways. If that is indeed the case, then I beg you to consider it a gift, from a friend who wishes you well. I find that I cannot bear the thought of you being forced to live on the run from such deplorable scoundrels and ruffians when I could have prevented it.”

Orin’s fingers unclenched to drift idly over the controls as he swiveled to face the view screen. “Like I said, you’ll get your credits soon as I’m able. Never know, maybe I’ll find you when you cross back over the Verge. Buy you a drink back in that saloon where we first met. The one that had you twitching like you was itching for a bath just from touching the door. Walking in pretty as a picture in your fancy clothes like you never had dirt under your fingernails in all your life. I swear, I never seen a head of hair I wanted to ruffle more.”

Orin’s dimples made a full appearance as he flashed his charming smile, something so melancholy hiding in his face Ari had to look away, swallowing against a lump in his throat.

“Yes, I suppose that would be a very favorable outcome, indeed. I would be pleased to meet you on this side of the Verge, if I am ever afforded the opportunity to do so.”

Orin’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he stole another glance at Ari before returning to his numbers.

Ari continued, voice barely held above a whisper, prodded by a twisting pain in his chest. “Do you know, when I first saw you waiting there in that filthy saloon, I nearly turned tail and gave it all up for a bad job? You were so big and…and so very handsome and worldly and just everything I thought I could never have, right there in front of me. It required every ounce of my courage just to sit at your table, much less ask for your help. I believe I will live the rest of my life grateful for that moment of courage and all it has brought to me, grateful for your assistance and your companionship.”

They shared a precious selection of silent moments, each one falling between them like a handful of diamonds slipping from Ari’s shaking fingers onto the metal floor.

Ari was the first to break away, nodding once decisively as he faced the shimmering wall of the Verge through the view screen. He had never been so close. Those born on the interior ring of Core worlds rarely got a chance to venture beyond the colonies lining the barrier.

“Well, time to dip into that courage once again. Nothing for it now but to press forward. Just think, soon you will be approaching the barrier of the Verge from the other side in your very own ship. And I, should the stars choose to shine, will have my brother safe within my arms. Everything we ever wanted, the both of us, could be just on the other side of this jump.”

Orin summoned up another smile, but this one blurred around the edges, water gathering across Ari’s vision at an unsuitable rate for such a happy occasion.

“I got Delilah fixed on the exit point,” Orin said, “ready to jump when you are, professor.”

Ari observed with frayed nerves as Orin steered them toward the swirling translucent veil of the Verge at a reasonable speed, neither fast nor slow enough to be particularly noticeable to any passing ships.

Ari stiffened his posture as Orin checked over his numbers, thick fingers moving across the flight controls steadily.

He studied Orin’s face, resolutely turned toward the view screen, brow furrowed with concentration.

Ari took a deep breath as he beheld the interior wall of the enormous force field, the glimmering brightness nearly blinding as they drew closer and closer. “Is that—is that it? You just enter the right numbers and we can get through?”

Orin quirked his lips to the side, glancing at Ari briefly before checking his numbers again. “Told you, sweetheart. You get your numbers right and you can go anywhere. Even beyond the Verge.”

Ari gripped his armrests tightly as the barrier of the Verge loomed bright and huge and distressingly solid before them.

Tilting his head toward Ari, Orin practically vibrated with excitement as his hands gripped the flight controls. “You ready for this?”

Ari nodded, swallowing his fear as he closed his eyes and thought of Theo’s beloved laugh, the unattractive snorting sound he made when something was so irresistibly amusing that he lost all control. That humble sound bolstered Ari’s courage beyond what he ever thought possible.

“Yes. Let’s do it,” he said.

Orin whooped as the ship suddenly dropped and turned, dorsal fin skimming along the Verge with a harsh electric buzz that set Ari’s teeth on edge until, suddenly, they were through.

Ari opened his eyes to stare at the shimmering swirl of the external dome, nothing but the expanse of the deep dark at their back.

“That’s my girl, Delilah! Yes, ma’am!” Orin cheered and patted the dash as Ari wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to contain the full-body shudder at the overwhelming expanse of the dark pressing in from all sides.

Orin quieted down, and Ari turned to features tight with concern.

“You alright, sweetheart?”

Ari nodded, straightening his posture as he dropped his hands into his lap. “Yes. You did an exemplary job. I could not have asked for a better pilot.”

“Not much further to go now.” Orin reached out to Ari and squeezed his hand gently. “Just a little trip through the deep dark to get to the Restricted Sector, maybe a few days more at the outside. Let’s go fetch your boy.”

Ari squeezed back gratefully before Orin returned to the controls, where the pilot turned the ship away from the exterior wall of the Verge and increased their speed, the dark closing in around them.