Free Asarlai Wars 1: Warrior Wench by Marie Andreas

someone wanted it to look like I did it? Someone stupid enough to not check if we’d left dock yet?”
    He raised his hand, the esper bracelets clinking lightly. “Or someone desperate enough. This ship was probably being fitted to be sold to someone, they might not have been happy about him giving it away. And, you said yourself that you roughed him up pretty bad. He had more than enough time to tell the entire station about your attack on him.” He shrugged, the movement tightening the fabric across his chest. “Maybe someone decided to take advantage of a merc captain with a noted temper.”
    Vas rolled her eyes to the ceiling; she swore Deven had the nagging skill of a matron. “The minute the masses stop believing I’m a tough-ass bitch is the minute we stop getting jobs.”
    “So you’re going to say that you’re not a tough-ass bitch?”
    “Not at all. If anyone knows how much of a tough-ass bitch I am, it would be you. But, that image has to be built upon. I built upon it for Skrankle’s benefit. In this case, an obvious waste of perfectly good bitchiness.” She frowned. “I had to dump my second favorite boots because that slime ball oozed on them.” She paused and shook her head. “What the hell were we talking about?”
    “How you were going to stay on the ship, and that you’d get Flarik to talk to the station security that you’re sure are coming this way.” Deven folded his arms and leaned against the door.
    “I didn’t say that.” Although she agreed with his logic, she had a policy of never giving in without a fight. Especially when it involved Deven.
    “No, but it’s a good idea.”
    The grin had moved into insufferable by this point. Vas toyed with banning grins on her ship. No matter how nice he looked wearing them, she never trusted any of Deven’s grins.
    “I suppose so,” she said finally. “What gender is Flarik this month? Isn’t it in hibernation yet?” Wavians had the ability to switch genders on a regular basis, the male version being more difficult to deal with most of the time. They also had a habit of sleeping through space flights. As a lawyer, Flarik was rarely needed until they reached their destination, so the sleeping habits worked well.
    “Female, and yes, she started her sleep cycle as soon as we got on board. But you’re going to need her.”
    She rubbed the side of her face in thought. Getting Flarik involved might be a good idea for more than station security deferment. “Wonderful idea. I’ll call her immediately.” She fussed with papers on her desk, then glanced up, feigning surprise at his appearance in her ready room. “Isn’t there something you should be doing?”
    The sly grin flashed again, someday she would really have to number them, and he slid out the door.
    Vas’s annoyance level rose when she had to search to find the code for Flarik’s room. She knew all the rooms on her old ship by heart. A twinge reminded her that those rooms were missing now. She swore again at the recent explosion. Killing Skrankle should have been her job.
    After a few minutes she found the number and tapped it into the ship’s comm system. “Flarik? I know you’re going down for sleep, but I need you.” Vas tried to sound as understanding as possible but she’d had a shitty twenty-four hours and wasn’t in the mood. However, pissing off a sleepy Wavian often led to a radically shorter life, even for a mercenary captain.
    A low voice chimed in after a few seconds. “What is it, Captain? I need to hibernate.”
    “You’ll have time to go under before we take off. But I need you to come to my ready room.”
    A sigh on the other end told Vas that Flarik fought off her sleep. “I will be there.” 
    Terse, but not bad for a Wavian who had been awake for a month.
    Deven’s idea of bringing in the lawyer was a sound one, even if he did it to keep Vas out of the space station cops’ way. She also needed someone who enjoyed mystery, deceit, and drama to