The Betwixt Book One Read Online Free Page A

strange times today, I was
frantic trying to keep up with the customers and trying to pick up
what on Earth had happened at the same time.
    I tried to ask Claudia at one point, but she was too busy
chatting to a group of GAMs, and the other girls were darting in
and out of the crowd like moths to the light.
    I was getting steadily more frustrated yet equally excited by
the whole thing. I just wanted to
know . . . 
    ‘ Order of Ankorian Sea Bass, down the line.’
    I grabbed the dish from the kitchen shuttle and secured it on
the flat of my forearm, narrowly missing one of the girls as she
scuttled to get drinks from the bar.
    The dish stank of rotting fish that had been left out on a
muggy day in a solution of butter and sugar. I tried not to breathe
in the fumes as I hefted it to the bar. ‘Your order,
sir.’
    A Crag grabbed it and started ripping chunks off the purifying
flesh before he had even pulled it towards him. I noticed, through
a barely concealed grimace, that it was the same guy I served
yesterday. It was unusual for types like him – mercenaries, bounty
hunters, gunrunners – to hang around too long on this space
station. It was just a stopover, a chance to refuel and re-equip.
It wasn't a holiday destination.
    I stared at him a moment too long and he slowly raised his
huge head, lizard-green skin creaking with the effort. ‘What?’ his
voice just dripped with menace.
    I stopped myself from yelping and quickly turned to the human
who had just sat down beside him, more than thankful for the
legitimate distraction.
    It was a GAM, and he smiled with only half of his mouth.
‘Morning, Mini.’
    I blinked so quickly, I must have looked like a startled
cartoon character. ‘Oh, Jason - I mean Commander. I-
ah . . . ‘ it was like I had momentarily forgotten
my job. I had to wrack my memory for what to say next.
‘Umm—’
    ‘ Chef's special,’ he jumped right to it in usual Commander Cole
style.
    I nodded far too unsteadily, I must have looked like a broken
robot. ‘Coming right up,’ I managed.
    I went to turn.
    ‘ So, did you actually stay around for the medical scans
yesterday?’
    I hesitated a moment before I turned back. I didn't have the
time to chat, not on this strange day. But I had been working
nonstop for hours . . . . ‘Yes.
Just.’
    ‘ Just?’ he sat with one arm leaning on the bar, the other
tugging at his uniform top.
    ‘ I've never liked doctors.’
    ‘ Don't get shot then.’
    I couldn't tell if it was a joke, his face didn't give
anything away, and his tone was as flat as the bench he leaned
on.
    ‘ It was a joke,’ there was that tone again, except this time
the half-smile was back. Why he didn't smile with both cheeks was a
mystery. It was such an in-between move – like things really only
amused him by halves.
    ‘ I knew that, I think,’ I bit my lower lip. I was feeling
increasingly awkward in this conversation. Half of me wanted
Claudia to swan in and take over, but the other half would have
preferred a hull breach than be called away right now.
    The conversation seemed to die out. Cole gave the Crag at his
side a glancing look then returned his eyes to some stain on his
hand.
    I thought desperately of something to say, I would look like
such a pill if I walked away now. ‘Oh,’ I said a little too quickly
as I chanced upon something. The Commander, with all his
distracting finesse, had made me completely forget my morning's
obsession. ‘Do you know what's going on around here?’
    His eyes narrowed in a moment of confused amusement. ‘We're
having an awkward conversation, and the guy to my right is eating
rotting sea gunk.’
    I put a hand up to my mouth, one finger pressed against my
lips – it was something I did when flustered. ‘No, no. I meant at
the station. I've been at work all morning, and I keep on hearing
all these strange conversations—’
    ‘ Ghost ship,’ the Commander cut in. He wasn't one to just let
me babble when he already knew