Pistons and Pistols Read Online Free

them?” Rose asked.
    Magpie waved Rose’s concern away as she said, “Nothing big. They’ve just been spooked here lately. Can’t get ’em to sleep proper. Stayin’ up all hours of the night chatterin’ like a pack of old ladies.”
    “They’re restless,” Jax said. “Like us. They feel the tension. The stress. I can cut it with my blade, is so thick on this vessel.”
    Rose stared at Jax. What worry was the woman speaking of? What tension? Granted Rose had spent the last few days in her quarters writing letters, catching up on paperwork and planning their next move in the search for a long-vanished man. What had she missed that her first mate had chanced to observe?
    “I’m sure that’s all it is,” Magpie said. “This ship has gotten a little on edge lately. That’s all.”
    Rose cut her eyes at her communications officer. Magpie too?
    Then Dot laid the whole issue right on the line. “We’ve been pushing ourselves too hard in an effort to escape that nightmare.”
    Rose eyed the ship’s medic for a moment, unsure of how to handle the outburst when the tinker joined the fray.
    “Or maybe,” Jayne said, “we’ve been too eager to start the next one.”
    The women nodded to one another, including the ever-independent Jax. Rose felt her authority slipping away under some secret gossip the crew had exchanged behind her back. Perhaps she had been too hard on them lately, but damn it, this was her ship. If she wanted it to sail to the goddamned moon then they would take up anchor and make for the stars if they knew what was good for them.
    A gentle cough sounded to her left. The entire crew shifted their attention to Atom.
    “Ladies,” he said in his customary polite way. “Please don’t wear yourselves out on my account.”
    Rose whipped around, giving Atom a nasty look. The last thing she needed was the young man’s help maintaining the loyalty of her crew. She stood and stared down at him as she said, “Thank you, Mr. Loquacious, but the only thing we are doing on your account is searching for your father.”
    Atom stared up at her, silent and wide-eyed.
    Rose then turned her eyes to the rest of the crew, who, judging by the looks of shock they all wore, realized they had overstepped their bounds. “The last time I checked the roster, this ship still belonged to me. And I will run her exactly how I see fit.” She shifted her gaze to the tinker. “Are the boilers suffering from overuse?”
    Jayne sat back, blinking at the question a few moments before answering, “No, sir. They’re fine. Running at top shape, though the fuel is disappearing almost quicker than I can shovel it into the fire. Sir.”
    Rose expected as much, but there was little she could do about it. She gave a curt nod, then turned her head to Dot. “Has anyone complained of exhaustion or fatigue? Has anyone collapsed on deck from overexertion?”
    Dot smirked up at her as if amused by Rose’s power play. “No. Sir.”
    Rose grinned in return, knowing the older woman only meant well to begin with. Facing Magpie again, she dropped the grin. “Have the birds shown any sign of illness, aside from restlessness?”
    Magpie shook her head. “No, sir.”
    “I see.” Rose took a deep breath and ran her gaze over the faces of her girls once more. “Then if anyone feels they are being asked to do more than they are capable of, they can feel free to talk to me about it in private. Otherwise, this line of discussion is over. Do you understand?”
    Without hesitation, the crew shouted as one, “Aye-aye, Captain!”
    Rose smiled. “Good.”
    Gabriella appeared in the doorway of the mess hall just in time to miss the crew’s dressing down. In a way Rose was glad. She hated to pull rank in front of the young thing. The girl was nervous enough as it was.
    Gabriella’s eyes went wide when she spied her handsome suitor at the breakfast meeting. She apologized for her tardiness then took her seat at the far end of the table. The young