Not exactly the rescue we wanted. “Damn it - you say we can’t just ignore it?”

“Well, you did say you wanted a ship. They have a ship.” Hakon joked. Maybe.

“You want us to turn pirate?”

“Only against slavers. That seems like a reasonable stipulation.”

“Fine.” I threw my hands into the air. “It’s been a hell of a few days. Why not add piracy to the list?”

* * *

“My sisters and I are from the convent of the blessed Dargon. Perhaps you’re a follower?” Nadira’s voice crackled through the comms while we listened in, waiting.

A sputter, then silence. “No, ma’am. But I’d love for you to tell me all about it when we get you safe on board.”

“We’re on our way to form a new chapter house on Varion-seven to help spread the word, but our shuttle failed, and the nice men here were able to take us in.”

“What happened to the crew?”

“Unfortunately, the pilot and captain got into a quarrel. Something about a bet. That’s a terrible thing, isn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You don’t have to call me ma’am, I’m just a novice. My sisters have taken both the veil and the pledge of silence.” A long pause. “You don’t gamble, do you?”

A cough. “No, miss, of course not.”

Aeden sank to his haunches, shoulders shaking with repressed laughter.

“That’s good. I’ve been trying to follow along with a manual, but it’s not working.”

“Sure thing, little lady. You just open up the airlock, and let us take care of things from there.”

Little lady. I’ll kill him. Just as soon as I get out of my “sister” get-up.

The slavers were expecting women. And since we weren’t risking either of ours as decoys, we’d had to rely on disguises.

Nothing elaborate, there’d been no time. Instead, we’d torn the aged clothing we found into long strips, and wrapped ourselves in semblances of hooded gowns, complete, of course, with veils.

It was a crappy plan. The veils did a reasonable job of covering our scruffy faces, but only an idiot or a desperate man would look at us and think we were women.

Luckily, it sounded like we were dealing with idiots.

Quinn had stayed with Nadira, relaying her messages to the crew of the slaver. He’d guard her, but I’d be damned if any of them were stepping foot out of this docking bay.

“Do you see anything in that manual for a procedure for soft docking?”

“I’m not sure how all of this works!”

Don’t over play it, babe, I snarled, but apparently the jerk on the other end of the line thought women really were that dumb.

“Oh, there it is.”

Standing by the airlock, we felt the slight jar as the cable sprung out from the hull of the Star and connected with the slaver’s hull.

“Good job, miss. Now, extend the gangway, let it pressurize, and we’ll be right over to assist you.”

Assist her and her mythical sisters into a bonded whorehouse, more likely. If their victims were ‘lucky’, they might be bought for a single owner.

Even though there was no chance they’d get near Nadira, rage burned through my veins.

“Sir.” Geir stood stiff as a panel of permisteel, making my own spine straighten in sympathy. “What do we do if they already have cargo?”

It took a moment to snap to what sort of cargo he meant. “If there are women already abducted, we find their homes, return them. But these assholes came out all this way on just a chance. I’d bet their holds are empty. If they’d had a good run, they wouldn’t have bothered with us ‘sisters.’”

His shoulders relaxed, just a fraction. “That would be for the best.”

“Damn straight.” I shoved down the urge to tear off the annoying skirts wrapped around my legs. How the hell Nadira managed to walk in this sort of get-up was nothing short of a mystery. “We’ve had enough complications. Don’t go borrowing trouble until it finds us.”

“Yes, sir.” He moved off, not looking particularly relaxed, but then again, Geir never did. I glanced at Xander. He was the reliable joker in the Pack, but not now. As long as he could channel his fire into cutting through our enemies and getting Loree to safety, it would be useful, if it didn’t burn him up inside.

They’d only send a small boarding party, I knew. That’d be how I’d do it. Just enough to round up the goods and get them on the ship, while a second team stayed by the controls, ready to jump at a moment's notice.

The trick would be to get on board and keep them from jumping. For some reason, Hakon had been clear that he’d take care of the engines, and would I please stay out of it.

I listened as the slaver talked Nadira through extending the gangway, pressurizing it, releasing the airlocks.

I signaled to the Pack. Let's move back, make them work for it.

Geir alone stayed tucked into a shadowed spot close to the airlock.

The rest of us clustered in a corner. Easily seen, but they'd have to cross the wide expanse of the cargo bay to get to us.

“Captain,” Nadira’s sweet voice came through the earcomm. "You are the captain, aren't you? I feel sure of it."

“That’d be me. Zook Norman, at your service.”

“I'm sure it's beneath you, but if you can come over with your men, I'm sure my sisters will feel better about it. I feel like I know you.”

Captain Norman laughed. I didn't care for the sound.

“Sure thing, little lady. Let your sisters know that your friend is coming to get them.”

“Wonderful.”

We waited. I hate waiting. I’m heading into a fight, I want to jump in, get it done, get out.

This waiting, hoping that all of Norman's men were as stupid as he was, wasn't my idea of a good time.

But a ship with a working jump drive. That was worth some waiting, even if I ground my teeth doing it.

Finally, the airlocks slid open. From our vantage point, I could see through the tunnel of the gangway as the slavers came sauntering over like they owned the place.

Six scruffy men, decked out in enough jangles and shiny bobs to put out your eye in an honest fight. I figured the captain was the one with the most glitter on him. Middle- aged, a scar ran down the side of his face that I sincerely hoped was a souvenir from an angry ‘passenger’. Once he might have had a good fighting body, but apparently he’d fallen into an easy life, let himself run to fat.

The far airlock was still open. Sloppy, but not surprising.

Nadira’s mythical sisters-of-whatever might have been willing to meekly follow them on board, but I'd bet most of their cargo went screaming and fighting every step of the way.

Opening and closing the airlock with your arms full of a resisting woman probably got old. And we’d use that sloppy habit of theirs against them.

The last of their group stepped into the cargo bay and came towards us, and Geir flitted silently through the gangway to their ship. They never saw it, their eyes fixed on the prizes waiting for them in the back of the cargo bay.

I put my attention back on Captain Idiot and his band of merry men.

Only one of his crew looked around the bay with a flicker of interest, maybe a bit of caution. But it didn’t take long before he trotted to keep up with his group. Undisciplined, slack, the lot of them.

Their only advantage was the high-powered blasters they wore, casually strapped to their hips.

Still, we could take them. Hell, any one of us could take the entire pitiful group.

“All right, ladies. I'm Captain Norman. I know you sisters can’t speak to me, your friend the novice explained that…”

He trailed off as he approached.

Apparently our disguises weren't doing much anymore. With a growl, we sprang, ripping off the stupid, binding lengths of fabric as we went.

Aidan had argued for placing snipers to pick them off as they entered, but I'd overruled it.

First, if for some reason Geir’s assignment didn't go to plan, hostages wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Second, Nadira’s eyes. Slavers might be scum, but we weren’t executioners. She'd seen too much violence already. This time, maybe she’d see there could be mercy on the Fringe. Or, at least, justice.

“Damnit!” the captain shouted. “It’s a trap!”

His men staggered back, and three of them had the sense to fold into an outward- facing triangle, blasting anything that moved.

Luckily for us, their sluggish reaction times were only matched by their pitiful aim.

Xander ran straight at them, rarely bothering to dodge, snagging the blaster of the closest opponent out of his hands. Flipping it, he wielded it like a club to bring the man down, then turned with a feral grin to the rest of the group.

The captain gave up the idea of his easy prize, running back towards the gangway without firing a single shot.

Aedan gave chase, finally leaping to the top of a crate for a bit of altitude. He knocked the slaver to the ground, then slammed his head into the deck twice to make sure he stayed down.

The semi-wary one had looked like a decent fight. I squared off against him, pleased to see he had reasonable footwork, like he might know what he was doing.

Lorcan streaked past me, tackling him and binding his arms to his ankles before the poor sap knew what had hit him.

In far less time than Nadira had spent honeying the trap, the Pack dispatched their boarding party.

“Help! We’ve been attacked! Help me!” The captain shouted, but Aedan just shook his head.

“His comm’s gone. Took it from him soon as he went down. He might have a backup on him but I think he’s just too scared to know when he’s beaten.”

I looked down the gangway and saw their airlock still open, the bar clamp Hakon had slapped together keeping the hatch open. Geir was nowhere in sight, so he’d moved on to the second part of his assignment.

“Xander, Aeden. Make sure these idiots don’t go anywhere.” Norman’s lip curled, but he flinched away at Xander’s lunge. “Try to keep at least some of them alive.”

“I’ll try.” Xander didn’t sound happy about it, but he’d follow orders.

“Lorcan, you’re with me and Hakon. Let's go get a ship.”

Geir’s voice came through the comm. “I have them cornered, sir. However, we may have a problem.”

I ripped off the last of the fabric, tossed it to Aeden and Xander to use as ties for our new guests.

"No more problems. I'm done with problems for the day. Maybe even for the week.”

Silence.

I sighed. “You win. I’ll be right there.”

Geir stood guard outside the bridge doors.

“They locked themselves in.”

I slammed my hand into the side of the corridor.

“I’m going to go secure the engines now,” Hakon said.

“Good,” I snapped. “Lorcan, check the rest of the ship. See if there are any prisoners, get them out.”

He faded away, just as happy to have a task elsewhere.

“Alright, how do you suggest we get in there?”

Geir tapped a dark gray plate set into the wall. Optical sensor. Probably each member of the crew had something that would open it.

“We do have the captain, currently alive. Unless he’s annoyed Xander.”

Who knew? Mercy might actually have been the right choice. Now all we had to do was secure his cooperation.

We could beat it out of him, but I was tired. There had to be an easier way.

I took a deep breath before triggering my commlink. “Nadira.”

“Are you hurt? Is everyone alright? Should I come down?

“It depends. Can you make a truth serum?”