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He nodded. “I know it, Alfa.” There was a hint of something strained in his voice, like he was trying to force down an emotion he didn’t want to feel.

  “So, we getting out of here, or what? You wanting us to ride in both ships?”

  “There’s been a change o’ plans,” Stone explained. “I’ll tell ye all the new course o’ action when we’re all together. For now, follow us through the shield and we’ll meet ye all on the surface. I hate doin’ the debriefs over these screens.”

  Alfa grinned. “Me too, pal. See you down there. We’ll take your lead.”

  “In a bit, Alfa.”

  With that, the screen flickered off and the speakers hissed into silence. Stone lifted his gaze to the windshield, watching the patchwork ship wheel around us and come up to the rear of our vessel. I could see it blinking on the controls.

  “What do you want me to do?” Ronad asked.

  “You just head fer the shield, Ronnie, and I’ll do the rest.”

  With a nod, Ronad surged the cruiser forward, a grimace creeping onto his face as we neared the glowing blue shield that surrounded Glossa. I shared his trepidation. What if we couldn’t get through the barrier? What if this was all a ruse to trap our ship and take everything we had? It would certainly be the perfect place to do it, though I was just starting to believe Stone could be trustworthy. I hoped he didn’t prove me wrong.

  Holding out his wrist, he sent out a shield of his own, the light pouring from the nudus. The blue energy bristled upward, surrounding our ship and the junkyard ship behind us, until we’d both been drawn into the protective embrace of the nudus shield.

  As Ronad brought our ship to the very edge of Glossa’s barrier, the hull eased through like a hot knife through butter. It let us through without any problem at all. I wondered what it might have been like if the shields hadn’t worked, but fortunately we didn’t have to find out. We’d passed through, and soon enough, we’d have Stone’s crew on our side, bringing us one step closer to returning to Earth.

  With the potential of the nudus on my mind, I felt a renewed sense of hope for Earth’s safety. If we could protect it, then maybe, just maybe, we could do this thing and win.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  As soon as we broke through the blue barrier, the shield’s haze faded, revealing a surface covered in pocked craters of all shapes and sizes… and not much else. It was like old pictures I’d seen of the moon back home, the landscape barren and eerie. Instead of being gray and slightly dull, however, Glossa’s surface was a shimmering shade of ivory that gleamed when the light hit it, glancing in from the nearest star.

  After what Stone had said, I’d been expecting to see these nudus everywhere, but there wasn’t a single one in sight, just endless barren rock. I supposed I’d forgotten there might be places like this in the universe, after getting lucky with the exciting planets we’d been to—Zai, Wander, Pulsyde, even Vysanthe. Here, there were no people wandering around, or exotic new animals to look at.

  Ten minutes later, we set the cruiser down on a flat part of Glossa’s surface, a puff of dust rising as the junkyard ship settled beside us. Bashrik and Angie had been roused from their usual morning adventures, and Lauren and I had briefed them as we’d descended. Now, with everyone gathered together, we plucked up a few weapons for safety purposes and walked toward the front hatch of the cruiser. Glancing around for the famous parasites, we headed down the gangway, setting foot on Glossa for the first time.

  “Where are the nudus?” I asked, as Stone’s crew began to emerge from their ship.

  “They’re in there.” Stone pointed toward the nearest crater, which seemed to have some kind of mossy vine circling the base of the indentation. It was the closest thing to a plant I’d seen on this planet, though it wasn’t much to look at, the moss-like fronds a mix of dull red, blue, and violet.

  I peered over the edge of the crater. “I don’t see any of them.”

  “We probably scared ‘em a bit. They nest in there. They’ll come out when they’re good and ready.”

  “Can’t we call them out?”

  Stone shrugged. “They won’t answer ye—ye gotta be in the know; they sometimes like a vibration, though they’ll still only come at ye if they want te.”

  “They’re very intelligent beings, Riley, but they’re not capable of language,” Lauren explained, stepping up beside me. “They thrive off sensory communication, responding to aura and emotion instead of words.”

  “I suppose we can’t ask them to choose us, then?” I joked.

  Lauren smiled. “Afraid not, though I’m sure they’ll deem you worthy.”

  “I won’t hold my breath.”

  Up ahead, Stone’s crew were making their way toward us, looking puzzled. Lauren moved to greet them, too, though the rest of us stayed back, keeping our distance until Stone had bridged the gap between us. They eyed us with suspicion, and I couldn’t blame them. The last time they’d seen us was in the clearing outside the Salty Siren, when things had gone south for everyone involved. Even now, they were peering over Stone’s shoulder to get a better look at us, and they didn’t seem too pleased.

  “Stone, my man, what are you doing hanging around with this lot?” Alfa asked, striding up to wrap his friend in a bearhug. “Aren’t they the ones that almost got us all killed?”

  The Darian nodded. “Yeah, ain’t they the reason we lost some of our wares?”

  Stone smiled. “These are Ren’s pals. They were only tryin’ to capture me so they could get their mate back. These are the ones I took ‘er from, way back when.”

  Only, it wasn’t way back when. To us, it was still pretty fresh in the memory, though I wasn’t about to remind him of that fact—not when he had the full force of his crew to support him.

  “Ren, good to see you in one piece!” Alfa cried, moving on from Stone and pulling Lauren into a tight embrace. He picked her up and whirled her around, his furred muscles rippling as she laughed.

  “Better than a million pieces, right?” she replied.

  “You’re damn right!”

  Lauren grinned and turned back to the rest of us. “I suppose we should make some introductions if we’re going to be working with each other,” she said, beckoning for us to move forward. I took a tentative couple of steps, ending up at her side.

  The lycan narrowed his eyes. “Working with each other? What’re you talking about, Ren? You been out of the ship too long—you’ve lost your mind.”

  “I haven’t lost my mind, Dio, but we’ll get to that. First, I want you all to get to know each other,” she continued, gesturing at me first. “So, this is Riley, and this is Angie—they’re my best friends from my home planet. This is Bashrik, Navan, and Ronad—they’re coldblood friends of mine. And this is Xiphio, a new merevin friend.”

  I noticed she kept out the part about Xiphio being a Fed agent, and he appeared to have the sense to keep his mouth shut. Undoubtedly, Stone would reveal Xiphio’s true identity to his crew, especially given Stone’s ties to the merevin. But right now, the last person a scavenger probably wanted to meet was a member of an intergalactic policing force.

  “Guys, these are my crewmates,” Lauren ventured, gesturing toward the other side. “This is Alfa, my Rexombran buddy. This is Niniver, my Darian pal and only female partner in crime. Dio, my lycan friend. Kip, my Carokian friend. And you all know Stone already.”

  “He not your pal?” the lycan teased, getting a punch in the arm from Lauren.

  “Of course he is, Dio.”

  “It’s good to have you back, Ren,” the Darian proclaimed, grinning through her spiny teeth. “There’s been way too much testosterone wafting about without you on board.”

  Lauren grinned. “You’re not on the prowl again, are you, Alfa?”

  “Cheeky! At least I go after what I want,” he fired back with a wink, a hearty laugh rumbling from his throat.

  It really looked like they were pleased to see Lauren again, treating her as one of their own. I didn’t k
now whether to be happy or worried, especially after what Lauren had said about not being able to return to a normal life. I wasn’t sure if she’d meant it, and now I was even less certain. The truth was, Lauren looked just as pleased to see them again, her whole face lighting up with joy.

  “Anyway, what’s all this stuff about us working together, then?” the Carokian, Kip, rasped, his red eyes bulging. “I’m happy to see you both again, but let’s get down to business if there’s business to be getting on with.”

  Stone shot him a look. “Trust you to piss on our jollies. Can’t a captain have a moment o’ joy in seeing his crew again?”

  “He can, boss, but your moment’s up.”

  “I s’pose you’re right, Kip. As ever,” Stone muttered. “Thing is, I made us a deal with Ri’s crew. She’s a sound sort o’ lass, and I want ye all to treat her with the respect she deserves, right?”

  A rumble of agreement rippled around the junkyard crew. I was surprised that Stone had singled me out as the leader instead of Navan. I wasn’t really sure what to do with that kind of responsibility, but, with Navan as wiped out and woozy as he was, I figured I was as good a figurehead as any, for the time being.

  “Right, well, we’ve made us a little agreement,” Stone continued. “I’ve said we’ll give this fine lot a hand, to help ‘em protect a planet called Earth. It’s Ren’s planet, too, if that sways yer vote. Now, ye know how we do things round here—you’re welcome to join us or not. I ain’t gonna force you, and I ain’t gonna take offense if it ain’t yer sack o’ Sonorans.”

  Dio frowned. “Earth, did you say?”

  Stone nodded. “Aye, I did.”

  “I got pals down there, I think. Lycans are living there, right, as part of the Fed group stationed there?”

  “You’re right, the Fed there are lycans,” I chimed in.

  Dio smiled, flashing his wolfish teeth. “Then I say count me in. Be nice to see some fellow lycans for a bit. I could have sworn I had a pal there—can’t remember his name right now, but it’ll come back to me soon enough.”

  “It’s all those mushrooms you’ve been cooking, Dio!” Alfa teased.

  “Aye, you’re probably right… you’re probably right.” The lycan grinned dopily, a chuckle rising from his throat.

  The Rexombra turned to me, his feline eyes meeting mine. “I go where my man Stone goes, and I help wherever my pal Ren needs a hand. So, I’d say you’ve got my assistance, Captain Ri.”

  “Thank you, Alfa. Glad to have you on our side,” I replied, forcing the nerves from my voice.

  The only two remaining who hadn’t spoken up were the Darian and the Carokian, though it was hard to read anything on their unusual faces. I couldn’t even look the Carokian in the eyes, and the Darian wasn’t much better. Even so, we needed all the help we could get, no matter where it came from.

  “What d’you say? Niniver, Kip?” Stone pressed.

  “I’m gonna stay with the ship, boss,” the Darian, Niniver, said after a lengthy pause. “I can’t be fighting the wars of other folk, not right now. My heart wouldn’t be in it, and there’s no point in fighting if your heart ain’t in it.”

  Stone nodded in understanding. “That’s your choice, Nin, and I value yer honesty.”

  “I’m staying, too,” the Carokian named Kip said, a moment later. “I know we all paid for the ship, but there are some improvements I’ve been wanting to make on it, and it’s been so long since we had a break to just fix things and recuperate. I’m going to stay here with Nin, if you don’t mind.”

  “Understood, Kip. I only want ye with us if yer fully on board. It’d only be a waste of yer talents if I brought you along and ye didn’t want to get involved in the crux of the moment,” Stone conceded. “Better to part ways before an awkward moment comes along. Besides, I’ll be happier knowin’ there’s someone takin’ care o’ the old bird.”

  “Just what I thought, boss,” Kip replied. “Though we’ll be seeing you again, right? You’re not going to leave us out here?”

  Stone smirked. “Ye know me, Kip—can’t stay away from trouble fer too long. I’ll be back before ye know it, and we’ll be flying off into the sunset, pickin’ up where we left off.”

  “Glad to hear it, boss,” Niniver chimed in.

  “Well, you two better take grand care of me ship ‘til I get back to her. And take grand care of yourselves an’ all.”

  “Will do, boss,” Kip rasped.

  “Aye, of course we will!” Niniver agreed, smiling through her spiny teeth. “Don’t let these ordinaries get you locked up.”

  Stone flashed them a knowing look. “Never have, pals. And never will.”

  I looked at Xiphio, whose expression was darkening as he listened to Stone’s confidence. I still hadn’t told him about the other deal that I’d made, and, frankly, I didn’t plan to. What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. By the time all of this was over, he might have lost his hunger for locking Stone up and throwing away the key, anyway. It didn’t seem likely, but it wasn’t impossible.

  “See you if you survive?” Niniver said.

  Stone nodded, a smile on his face. “See ye if we survive.”

  It wasn’t the first time I’d marveled at the ambaka’s ability to remain unerringly calm in the face of danger. He didn’t seem fazed by the prospect of his own death, though I knew he’d be worried about the lives of his crew. Perhaps after witnessing the genocide of his species, he simply didn’t care about his own existence anymore. I wasn’t sure where it came from, but I wished I had that same relentless cool.

  “Ah, wait up, there’s another thing an’ all.”

  “What’s up, Stone?” Niniver asked.

  “Can ye fetch us them crates from the cargo hold? The ones with the stars on ‘em?”

  Kip frowned. “What do you want them for?”

  “Well, ye know they’re me nest egg. I’m cashin’ a few of ‘em in,” Stone explained. “These lads and lasses need a bit of an upgrade, an’ I’ve got the goods for ‘em.”

  Niniver shrugged. “Fair enough, boss. It’s all yours fair and square. Seems a shame to waste it on a bunch of ordinaries, but that’s up to you.”

  “That it is, Nin.”

  “You heading for the nudus nests?” Kip asked.

  “We are indeed.”

  “Then we’ll stack your crates by the hatch here. We might not be here when you get back.”

  Stone patted the Carokian on the back. “Yer a gem, Kip.”

  With that, the Darian and the Carokian went back inside the patchwork shell of their ship to start unloading Stone’s stolen goods, while the rest of us moved off toward one of the craters, following Stone’s lead. At the top, he pounded his feet on the hard rock, like a bird stomping on wet grass, apparently trying to coax out the unsuspecting worms.

  “Stamp your feet,” he urged, and we followed suit.

  Soon enough, wriggling creatures emerged from the mossy undergrowth that lay nestled at the bottom of each crater. They moved slowly, their glowing bodies pulsating. Each of them was differently colored, and shaped like what I imagined a space slug would look like. However, they didn’t seem to be moving in any particular direction, their writhing forms weaving in and out of the mossy nests with a soft squelching sound.

  Stone put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, the deafening sound piercing the silence of Glossa’s surface. It had a startling effect on the nudus, who all turned around at once and started heading for Stone. It seemed they liked the vibrations rippling from his particular whistle. From within the crater, even more of the brightly colored space slugs inched out of their hiding places, pulsing toward the root of the sound, heading in our direction en masse. Honestly, I’d never seen anything more frightening or more disgusting. The whole thing looked like it had come straight out of a B-horror movie.

  “We should sit on the lip of the crater, in a line,” Lauren suggested, sinking down to the ground and kicking her legs out over the lip of the hole. �
��Then hold your wrists out on your thighs, like this. Let the nudus come to you.”

  I followed her instructions, though I was nervous, feeling like an owner waiting to be chosen by a dog. Glancing across at Angie, I could see she wasn’t particularly eager either, her face screwed up in a grimace of disgust as the space slugs got ever nearer. I could only imagine what they would feel like once they’d made their way up to our wrists.

  “Do you think one will pick you?” I asked, turning to Navan.

  He shook his head. “No nudus in their right mind would pick me.”

  “Or me,” Bashrik agreed, though Ronad stayed surprisingly silent on the matter. I wondered if he thought himself pure enough to be chosen by one. Judging from the things he’d told me, I imagined he was the kind of coldblood who just might be pure enough of heart to earn a nudus.

  Sure enough, the glowing slugs inched up the crater toward Bashrik and Navan, before veering away sharply, their pulsing bodies speeding up, as though they couldn’t wait to get away from the toxic influence of the coldblood contingent. It was almost comical to see the speed with which they hurried away, their squelches getting louder the faster they went, leaving a trail of fart noises in their wake.

  “Well, that was rude,” Bashrik muttered. It looked like, secretly, he was a bit upset that not even one nudus had chosen him.

  “Welcome to the black-heart club, coldblood compadres,” Alfa remarked, as the slugs veered away from him, too.

  “You shouldn’t take it personally—it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. Just means you’ve done a few things these beasties don’t like,” Dio added, his impure lycan soul enticing zero nudus to choose him as a host. “Although, I probably shouldn’t have jilted that Twizigian babe. That might have been wrong of me.”

  Alfa growled at his friend. “I told you not to do that. She could’ve stayed on board with us.”

  “What can I say, Alf? I can’t be tied down.”

  As the two members of Stone’s crew continued their banter, I kept on watching the slugs. They were slowly making their way toward me, though they stopped at Lauren first. Several nudus surged excitedly toward her and latched on to her immediately.