Rebeka glared at the crates the crew had brought back from the Leviathan. The packages sat in front of her as she stood in the cargo bay with her arms crossed over her chest. One hand at her throat while her thumb stroked the artery. She dropped that hand to the lid of the smaller crate — the one with the biohazard symbol on it. "You've connected the power?"
Tink grunted from the other side. Rebeka took that as a yes, since it was a change from the swearing of the past ten minutes.
"What the hell kind of contract is this?" Kandi said, stalking towards her, her muscled limbs bare. She was clad, like the rest of the recovery crew, in her skivvies. Her usually bronze skin was ashen from the decontamination process. Rebeka snorted at the irony of sending them through the decon unit when they'd brought a biohazard onboard. But it was a contained biohazard. Unlike whatever might have been floating around that ship. It wasn't just the blood from the victims she was worried about. Bioweapons were illegal for all but select members of the Legion's Fifth Echelon divisions — the best of the best. But that didn't mean others couldn't get their hands on them.
"A fool's errand," Alek said, running his hands through his temporarily grey hair, dislodging some of the decon powder.
"Stop that. You're getting dust on everything." Tink popped up from behind the unit. "Especially me." She ran her hands along her arms and over her tank top, then checked something on her tablet. "All systems seem to be functioning within spec." She scowled at Alek. "Unless dust gets into the biocon unit." Alek opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead he stopped, crossing his arms over his chest as Tink disappeared behind the crate. The puckered scar that crossed his right pectoral writhed with his movement.
"What about this one?" He poked the larger crate with his toe. "Shouldn't it be jacked in?"
"Getting to it." The bulk of the crate muffled Tink's voice.
Rebeka grunted. "If their precious alcohol isn't in ideal conditions for a few minutes, it'll still get you drunk."
"An awful fancy biocon unit for alcohol." Alek's forehead furrowed as his lips pulled down in a frown. "Even if it is from a now-decimated planet."
"Stasis, not biocon," Tink said as she stood up. "And by all indicators, it's running fine." Just then, the crate emitted a whine. "Well, fine enough. It might have been jostled about a bit during the attack."
"Which leads me back to my question," Kandi said. "Not rhetorical: what kind of shit have we gotten ourselves into?" Instead of looking at Rebeka, Kandi focused on strapping her weapons belt around her hips, striking a very odd figure in her underwear. And it was not something she usually did onboard the Lyra, but Rebeka couldn't blame her. "We're supposed to believe we can legally salvage a Leviathan? The powers-that-be are okay with that? I call —"
"The rebels," Severn said, as he strode over to them from the decon unit, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his shirt.
"What do you mean?" Even to herself, Rebeka's voice seemed sharp, but she hoped it came across as just a captain debriefing her crew.
He looked up, then pulled the shirt over his head and down, though not before Rebeka noted the white striations of old scars criss-crossing his muscled torso.
Shirt on, he continued. "You saw the marks on that ship." He nodded towards Tink, Alek and Kandi. "And we can all attest that the dead wore Legion Special Forces uniforms."
"Appearances can be deceiving," Alek said.
"But not a Leviathan, floating dead in space." Severn took a step closer, and Tink grimaced, caught between the two men.
"We don't know what attacked them." Alek pulled his shoulders back as Severn stepped closer to Tink. "For all we know, it's some internal power struggle amongst the royal houses." Alek stepped back and shrugged. "Sorry," he said, looking down at Tink before turning to Rebeka. "But they happen all the time. We just don't hear about them."
"If we don't hear about them, then how do you know?" Kandi shifted to stand beside him, placing her hands on the larger of the two crates.
"How do you not know?" Rebeka said. "Despite what Alek says, we see it all the time. One week the Taxarchon is from Clan Koning, the next it's Clan Erregina. Only the Emperor stays the same."
"So, what do we do now?" Alek asked, glancing up from the crate.
"We find somewhere to stash the Leviathan, then we deliver the packages and complete this contract." She nodded once and dropped her hands to her side. "But first we get away from here. Everyone, get some rest. You need it." She returned to Alek. "Except you. I need you flying this ship instead of Ish."
"Aye aye, Captain." Alek gave her a salute, crisp despite his teasing tone.