Free Sword of Dreams (The Reforged Trilogy) by Erica Lindquist, Aron Christensen

again. I worked for him for two years. After a while, he even let me carry my own weapons. I still have the pistols he gave me, stolen off one of the ships he attacked."
    "But you left, eventually," Xen said softly.
    "Gelden stopped the Blue Phoenix. It was carrying some transistors. Gallium-erol, very delicate. He didn't want to risk damaging the cargo by firing on the ship, so he boarded. Tiberius, Maeve and Duaal fought back. Gripper wasn't around back then. Maeve chased one of the boarding parties all the way back to the Caitiff. She found me there, waiting to care for the pirates. Maeve rescued me, if you can believe it, and brought me back to Tiberius. He offered me a job and I took it."
    "And here you are." Xen looked around the medbay with a new appreciation in his faceted compound eyes.
    "Here I am," Xia agreed. "Tiberius built all of this for me. It used to be a closet. He had it expanded and bought some equipment so I could do my job."
    "Why didn't you go back to Koji?" asked Xen. "They still need doctors in the colonies."
    "I'm sure my grant expired a long time ago."
    "You could get a new one," he suggested.
    Xia shrugged. "I don't know. There aren't a lot of grants."
    "I could help you secure one."
    "Maybe…"
    They sat in silence for a few minutes. The bulkheads rumbled as the engines worked, wrapping the Blue Phoenix in a huge null-inertia field and hurling them between the stars, flying faster than light. Voices echoed quietly from the rest of the ship as the crew and passengers went about their evening routines. Xia could just make out Orphia's harsh calls as Tiberius flew her in the hold.
    "It's good to see you again, my dear," said Xen at last.
    "And you, Xen. It has been a long time."
    "I meant what I said before. I want to hear all about your strange companions. I'm quite curious."
    Xia nodded. "I knew you would be. I'll be making breakfast tomorrow. If you want to get up early and lend me a hand, I can tell you some about them."
    The other Ixthian stood and took Xia's hands in his smaller ones. He kissed her forehead, between her antennae. "I look forward to it. Until tomorrow."
    He left Xia sitting alone in her medical alcove. It was good to see Xen. He seemed much older, more mature than the over-eager young man who had been her lover six years ago.
    Or am I the one who has changed? she wondered.
    Her relationship with Xen seemed like a lifetime ago, but the memories of the intimacy they had once shared stirred a longing in Xia that she had nearly forgotten. Life on the Blue Phoenix could be isolating. Xia spent every day with the rest of the crew, but when she was not working, her off-duty hours were long and lonely. It would be good to have passengers, especially other scholars, if only for a little while.
    Xia shut off the lights in the medbay and headed back toward the mess. She could help with the dishes before bed.

Chapter 7: Pieces
     
    "Every truth is a lie in someone else's eyes."
    - Enu-Io Crath, Varnum archeologist (220 PA)
     
    Coldhand spent the next three days in his hotel room, sorting through every available report on the Cult of Nihil and using his E3 status to request more. Where were the Nihilists now? There were speculations and panicked police reports of suspicious strangers in black, but very few actual facts.
    It made sense. If there were enough easy leads to track down the Cult of Nihil, local authorities would have found them already. There would be no need to post bounties. The Nihilists were hiding.
    Logan sat at the desk and ran his right hand idly over the smooth-polished wood – actual wood, banded in alternately light and dark brown. It was probably the most expensive thing in the room. Coldhand supposed that most of the hotel's guests were businessmen. How many contracts were written and reviewed at this desk?
    I'm probably not the first to spend more time here than in the bed.
    Coldhand pulled up one of the police reports on the monitor. The video of a woman's