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But something about Luam’s upcoming meeting with the Powluk didn’t sit right with her.
According to the chatter over the communication lines, the Powluks had recently formed a military alliance with the beings on a nearby planet. Those beings already had a sophisticated fleet of ships, and they had plenty of credits to purchase more vessels.
There was no reason for the Powluks to source a used ship from Cancri B, a planet farther away.
Her gut said her friend was walking into a trap.
She swapped the panels on her mounted transport once more. The new set was black. The simple swirling decorations she’d engraved into the metal dulled the shine, ensuring it wouldn’t reflect any light.
The set was a favorite of hers. She slid her hands over the surface of one of the panels. The images represented the movement of sand over rock on a windy planet rotation.
Her mounted transport had been transformed. She had to do the same with her own appearance.
Upon entering the cave, she checked the device. There had been no significant movements detected since she left the space. And the energy readings were within the new normal range.
She popped the pills Cyra had given her. Those were downed with a container of liquified nourishment bars. She grimaced. That stuff was disgusting.
Her stomach rumbled a protest. But the nourishment stayed put.
She looked over her collection of disguises. Her male miner ensemble hid the most weapons. Every tool converted into either a gun or a blade. She’d designed them herself.
All the miners on Cancri B were local. That role was dangerous, and the Invaders would only risk other beings’ lifespans.
Her lips flattened.
She stripped naked and applied orange pigment to her skin. Every stretch of her was covered. The Invaders often tortured beings by insisting they remove their clothing.
That especially happened with the female beings.
Her hair set consisted of black straight strands. That color combination was also standard for Cancris. Her simulated locks were jaggedly cut. Her applied fingernails were short and appeared as unkempt. She gathered a handful of orange sand and rubbed it all over her. The perception she wanted to achieve was she had gone to the beverage outlet directly from the mining tunnels.
She then donned the thick leather clothing. The top and bottoms hung on her and made her appear shapeless. And they were covered with dust and grime. The boots were two sizes too large. The right boot had a gash in the toe, exposing the metal protecting her feet. She hung a pair of smeared-with-orange-grease goggles around her neck.
A container filled with slow-release pain suppressors in pill form was slipped into one of her pockets. She never knew when she’d need those.
And she stuffed the holsters around her waist with the guns she’d crafted to resemble tools. She could kill and had killed with each one of them.
It was unfortunate and not-at-all the Cancris way, but sometimes beings had to be silenced…permanently. She ended their lifespans to ensure others, including herself, lived.
She would do the same, if that was necessary, this planet rotation.
* * *
Bubs’s Place was a quick trip from her caves. The beverage outlet, run by Bubs, a Cancri, and Bujji, his female Cancri mate, was situated a solid distance from any of the settlements. It catered to beings who normally spent their planet rotations in isolation, far away from any neighbors.
Roshini recognized the four land transports parked outside the structure.
The ship with the built-in cooling unit belonged to Bubs and his mate. It was used to haul ingredients for the nourishment Bujji produced for patrons.
The most dilapidated land transport belonged to Olds, a male who was exactly that—old. He had lived in the area as long as anyone could remember, and he was always at Bubs’s Place whenever Roshini visited.
The two remaining ships belonged to Hut and Gnuck. The two males were in a long-running relationship but lived in opposite directions from the beverage outlet. Hut once told Roshini that was for the best. They had tried living together and had fought constantly. The time apart was needed.
All of the beings were part of her team. Though they weren’t aware they had that in common.
And they would recognize her, despite her disguise.
But none of them would comment on it. They had their own secrets and their own ways of dealing with the Invaders.
