Haze checked the kitchen first. No sign of Violet. Just the two mascots kissing.

The two were definitely not paying enough attention to getting dinner ready.

They broke apart awkwardly when Haze entered.

“Hey, Haze,” Molly said as a quick blush painted her cheeks. She moved over to the stove to stir some things.

Oz tossed a bite of tamlin in his mouth. “Haze, I think the Captain wants Violet to meet the freng. Just so she doesn’t meet them while they’re on patrol.”

“Maybe I should come with you,” Molly said, placing her spoon down and turning around.

As though he couldn’t handle introducing his mate to a couple freng.

He waved a hand at the stove. “You just keep on with that magic dinner of yours. I’ll handle it.”

Haze rang the chime at Violet’s quarters. She came out, a smudge of dark on her cheek.

“You have something on your face…”

She reached up to rub her face which only made the mark smear more. “You want something?”

“The captain, er, the captain’s freng need to meet you. They’re up at the bridge if you have a few minutes.”

“Sure. I’ll be right out.”

The door shut in his face, so he leaned against the opposite wall to wait.

A few seconds later, she returned, the smear missing. “Back. Just some pencil. Hazards of the job. You said the captain needed something?”

“This way,” he said, pushing off from the wall. “I’ll take you there.”

As they walked, he found himself glancing over at her. She’d pulled her dark hair back and tied it in a knot. She was a little scrawny but curvy enough to be easy on the eye. The way she moved and carried herself was very pleasing, and immediately, he wondered how she’d do with a warng in her hands. The need to see her in battle zipped through him, and he shook himself to regain control. His tail flicked against the wall, betraying him.

“So, Haze, what do you do?”

Haze pulled himself back to concentrate on her question. “Weapons, trading with the locals. I have contacts all over, and they tend to get us what we need got. Not always a fair price, but I do what I can. I’m pretty good at reading people.”

She glanced at him at that. “Really. So, what do you read off me?”

He looked her up and down. “You’re tough. Don’t take much lip from anyone. You been in the service before? You have that air about you, like you’ve saluted.”

“Hah. Not me. I am determinedly the furthest thing from. Probably just my dad coming out in me.”

“Your dad was a warrior?”

“Career soldier. Tried to raise his family as a mini-army. Let’s just say, that didn’t work for me.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s not something I talk about too much.”

“Didn’t know my dad much. He kind of lit out of there after I was born.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It happens. …Okay. Here, we are. Bridge.”

Haze whistled.

Soon they heard the clatter of nails on the floor as the frengs made their way to the bridge from their lairs in the captain’s quarters.

The freng always filled Haze with pride. They were fierce and lethal and represented his crew - his band of Warrior Brothers - well.

Like all freng, these two had horns growing from the top of their heads. If attacked from behind, the frengs had been known to rear back on their hind legs and use their horns to slice and impale.

The sharp talons on their front paws were useful in battle to swipe open the bellies of their victims.

If that weren’t enough, they had small lethal spikes surrounding their necks. If an enemy somehow got around the horns and latched on to their necks or backs - or tried to - the freng would react by sending toxins through their neck spikes to immobilize their attackers, giving the freng one last chance to kill.

Even with all that, the freng stood five spans tall. Not much attacked a freng. More likely, it ran and hid and hoped the freng wasn’t feeling hungry …or just bored.

Haze puffed up his chest as the freng came into view. “There’s the boys.”

“Oh… my… holy… hell… What the fuck are those?” Vi’s voice climbed an octave.

“This is Mars and Io, the captain’s freng. Here, boys. Attention.” They immediately obeyed, and Haze patted them on their heads. “So, the main thing is to introduce your scent to them. Let them know you’re part of the pack.”

“You want me to touch those things?” Her voice was a little louder than normal and filled with indignation.

Mars did his little head shake, adjusting the aim of his horns as a warning. He had little patience for most things.

“Just here.” He reached over to pat Mars’ neck, demonstrating that it wasn’t a big deal.

“I’m not going to – Fine! Here.” Violet reached out fast to touch him.

In response, Mars bent his head down further, getting wide-eyed. This was Level Two of Mars’ low-tolerance-for-shenanigans alert system.

“Okay, slow down, sister.” Haze used his most calming voice. “You’re going to spook him. You don’t really want this guy spooked.”

She froze and slowly reached out to touch him.

“Better. Okay, right here.” He patted a little higher on the neck, and she followed suit. “Good, that should be good. Now Io.”

Violet approached him a little slower, and it was done. They didn’t seem too keen on her though, still shaking their heads, although not quite presenting their horns to her.

“I guess that’s good. They probably won’t eat you now.”

Violet shrugged her shoulders.

“Probably won’t eat you,” Haze repeated for effect. She was definitely not taking the freng introductions seriously. “Jeez, girl, you got a death wish or something?”

“Hey, they’re your monsters. Don’t expect me to feed them.”

“Right. Okay, boys, return.”

The boys shook their heads at Violet and headed back up to their lair in the captain’s quarters. Those three weren’t going to be good buddies any time soon, but mission accomplished.

From across the room, the office door slid open, and Fyn and Captain Vren appeared.

The captain hurried over when he saw them. “Good, I’m so glad to make the connection. You must be Violet Dunn? I’m Captain Vren. This is my First Officer of Rank, Fyn Toraves.”

“Nice to meet you. Captain. First Officer. I go by Vi, mostly.”

The captain cocked his head to the side. “It’s very nice to meet you. I hope you’re settling in okay. I know this must all be very different to you.”

Vi raised her eyebrows and nodded her head. “Yes, it’s quite nice here. I don’t have any of this where I’m from. And it’s a gorgeous view.” She gestured to the viewscreen where the black of space and twinkle of stars shown.

“Yes,” the captain agreed, “she is a good ship. Actually, Haze, might I talk with you?”

“Sure captain, what’s up?”

The captain led Haze away from Vi and Fyn.

“Haze, I know your heart is set on going back, but we’ve downloaded the logs from the Mahdfel network. There’s no way to escape notice right now. We’ll reconsider once things cool down a little.”

“Damn it, captain. We ain’t getting nothing here. It’s a frasken waste of time.”

“Haze, there’ll be other dig sites. We need to keep looking. Fyn’s found a possibility out by the Glothus system.”

“Argh. Seriously? The one near Latora? You know that place is no good. It’s the worst possible location.”

“That’s why we’ll be mining the asteroid above it. Shouldn’t be a problem as Latora won’t even know we’re there. But, if we need it, we’ve got Latora within a shuttle distance away. It’s our safest option right now.”

“Captain, we’re Mahdfel. Since when do we do things because it’s safest?”

“Haze, it’s always been a concern. But especially now that we have women on board. It should be your concern too, even if Violet wasn’t here.”

Haze looked over at his mate. She was chatting with Fyn, smiling. Fyn, for his part, was doing about the same.

Don’t tell me they are liking each other, he thought. Yuck. Haze shook his head. Certainly, she’d figure it out on her own.

“Captain, I don’t think I would have joined up if this was going to be the plan.”

The captain nodded his head. “I understand, but we’d be sad to lose you. It’s your decision where you want to do your work, Haze. The Mahdfel would welcome a man of your skillset at any part of their effort.”

Haze sighed. It was one of the things that he liked about the captain: he took Haze at his word.

“Anyway,” Haze said, “my mate and the freng are acquainted, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Thank you, Haze. You’ll let me know what you decide?”

“Yes, captain.”

He headed back over to rescue his mate. She was laughing. Traitor.

“If you’re good,” he broke in on whatever they were saying, “we can head on out.”

“Officer Fyn was telling me about the Xeo.”

“Hmph. What’s funny about that?”

“Nothing. It’s just some of the stuff the team went through to get her outfitted.”

“Oh.” Haze looked at Fyn darkly.

“Anyway, Violet,” Fyn said. “It was nice to make the connection. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Sure, thank you, sir.”

As they walked down the hall, Haze felt his anger build. “You can stop doing that, you know.”

“What?”

“Calling that guy ‘sir.’ His head’s big enough already.”

“Haze, don’t you know anything about working with people in charge? Let them know you know they’re in charge, and they’ll let you walk all over the rules. Just so they know, you know, they could say no. Just means they’re less likely to actually say no.”

Haze snorted. “Yeah, no. Fyn likes to make rules so he can be in charge of things.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Suit yourself. So, everything okay with the captain?”

“We’re just going to the backass end of the galaxy to waste more time. I’m probably going to have to transfer out of here, soon, if things don’t change.”

The female stopped in her tracks.

Haze stopped quick too, confused. “The dining room’s that way. It’s just up ahead.”

“I was wondering where you were planning to ship me next. Middle of some battle? Was that what you had planned for us?”

“What?”

“Never mind. Let’s just see if Molly needs any help.”