Free Star Raiders by Elysa Hendricks

Damon’s shoulders. “I’l go down with you,” he said.
    Shyanne shook her head. “No. Able, Bear and I are going. You’l stay aboard Independence .” When Damon started to object, she held up her hand. “I won’t have a repeat of what happened last time.”
    He fel silent. Terle snickered. Able shushed him.
    Greyson wanted to ask what had happened but held his tongue. There was no sense stirring the pot before it began to boil. Shyanne didn’t know it yet, but he was going along as wel .

Chapter Five
    “You’re not coming along. That’s final!” Shy strode down the corridor toward the shuttle bay. It annoyed her greatly how easily Greyson kept pace.
    Just before they reached the lift, he grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him. “I’m going.”
    “Why? Your presence isn’t necessary. Able, Bear and I can handle it. We’ve done this alone dozens of times.” Al along she’d sensed his restlessness about the delay this side trip would cause, but he hadn’t voiced any objections or made a single demand until now.
    “Not this time.” He cupped her face in his palm.
    The concern in his eyes weakened her resolve. Having him with them was a complication she didn’t want or need. She and Bear had a wel -rehearsed routine.
    She played the role of brothel madam, while he became her enforcer. The sight of him usual y discouraged anyone from objecting to their presence. Even she wasn’t foolish enough to land on Verus by herself.
    Counting on her crew was one thing; letting herself rely on Greyson was a blueprint for disaster. She’d trusted him once and look where that had gotten her.
    “I can’t afford to lose you,” Greyson continued. “Without you I don’t stand a chance of catching Dempster.”
    Pain kil ed the tender feelings the first part of his sentence had engendered.
    As always, she was nothing more to him than a means to an end. To hide the hurt she knew flared in her eyes, she jerked around and punched the lift button.
    “Fine. Come along. But keep quiet and stay out of my way.” They met Bear in the shuttle bay where her ship waited. Though old, Liberty was fast and maneuverable, able to move in and out of a planet’s atmosphere. One person could fly her, but she could hold a crew of two for long distances comfortably. Four would be a squeeze.
    Years ago, when Shy had taken over and expanded her father’s habit of rescuing slaves, she’d converted a good portion of the cargo bay to a dormitory capable of holding twenty or so people. Though the accommodations were primitive, a cot, group lavatories and MAT unit, they were stil luxurious compared to the squalor in which most slaves lived.
    She landed Liberty in a secluded val ey about a mile outside Discol , Verus’s largest town. From what she’d heard, cal ing Discol a town was an exaggeration.
    Once every few months when a ship came by with goods to sel or trade, Verus’s population converged there. The rest of the time it consisted of a mercantile store with empty shelves and a tavern with homebrewed liquor that would kil you quicker than the planet’s inhospitable climate. By listening to the radio chatter, she’d learned the auction was to take place there.
    While Able stayed aboard to keep Liberty safe and ready to fly, she, Bear and Greyson set out on the walk into town. They traveled in silence. Opening her mouth to speak let hot, gritty air invade her mouth and scrape her throat raw. Her eyes watered from the stinging sand that swirled around her in the endless wind whose whining drone made her head pound and her heart race with some unknown dread.
    Above, the planet’s two suns beat down without mercy. What little vegetation the planet claimed grew low to the ground, its foliage as dry and dusty as the turf around it. Stinging nettles and barbs guarded the plant’s precious moisture from the planet’s meager animal population.
    “Why would anyone choose to live here?” Greyson asked.
    “Because they ran out