Poisoned Pawn Read Online Free Page A

the controls, talking on the com. He looked up as I came in.
    “We have clearance to leave as soon as the fees are paid,” he said, moving back into his own side of the controls.
    I took my seat. “Jasyn’s dealing with that.” I looked over the boards. The lights flickered green as the systems checked in. We’d paid extra for autocircuits. It was worth the cost not to have to crawl in the engines and do the checks manually.
    The hatch slid shut. Jasyn joined us, sliding in behind Clark’s seat. I pushed the com button and got final clearance. We heard the clanks as the station umbilicals were detached. There was a gentle shove from the station docking clamps as the ship was released. I used the thrusters to push us clear.
    “Heading seven four three,” Jasyn said.
    I pushed the engines while Clark swung us around to point the right direction. Viya traffic control sent us a course away from the station. We spent the next hour following it, building up speed to the jump point. Clark, I was happy to see, was very competent and had obviously had experience flying small ships.
    We hit the jump point, going just fast enough for a smooth transition. The hyperdrive came on line, the ship settled into a gentle hum just on the edge of hearing. It was sweet. It had taken me four days of sweat and battered knuckles to get the drive balanced. I shut the sublight engines down and swung my seat around.
    “Where are we going?” I asked Jasyn.
    “Cargo delivery to Dru’Ott. We should be there in about three days. Going by the estimated speed we made from Tebros to Viya. Good work with those engines, Dace.”
    Clark looked over his shoulder at Jasyn. His eyes widened. He tried to swivel his neck farther. His chair moved and he bashed me with his knee. I stood, giving Jasyn a warning by raised eyebrow.
    “Jasyn, this is our new pilot, on temporary contract, Trevyn Clark.”
    “Hi,” he said.
    I left the two of them alone. I should have been used to anything male ignoring me as soon as they met Jasyn. It happened often enough. I went to the galley to find lunch. I was hours past due to eat. I pulled out a handful of Jasyn’s latest variety of cookies and turned to put them on the table. I was surprised to find Clark there, looking as if he wanted to talk to me. I glanced past him at Jasyn. She had turned her chair around to face into the lounge and frowned at Clark’s back. She saw my look and shook her head.
    “Do you stand watches?” Clark asked.
    “Are you volunteering for the off shift?” I wondered why he was talking to me and not Jasyn.
    “If you want me to,” he said.
    I put the cookies on the table, watching him.
    “You’re looking at me suspiciously again,” he said and sat down, helping himself to a cookie.
    “Why do you want the off shift? So you have access to the com unit without us listening? Or are you planning on breaking something? Or reprogramming the nav system?” The only one of those things he could do in hyperspace was break something. Coms didn’t work, you couldn’t send messages, you couldn’t track ships, and you couldn’t change the course once in hyperspace.
    He stopped with the cookie almost to his mouth. “Why would I want to do any of those things?”
    I took the cookie away from him. “First of all, I don’t trust you. And I won’t until… Well, until I feel like I can. And second, that was mine. Get your own.” I wasn’t sure why I didn’t quite trust him. Probably because he should have been drooling over Jasyn, not snitching my cookies.
    “You actually cook on the ship?”
    “Not me. Jasyn.” Another reason men liked her. My cooking skills were nonexistent, despite the ferocious efforts of the staff at the orphanage on Tivor. The director’s forte had been oral hygiene. I wasn’t a fanatic in that area, but her constant tirades about germs and bad breath had sunk in.
    Clark popped the lid off the tin of cookies, then settled at the table with them.
    Jasyn joined us.