AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hultin swiped the bottle from the trader’s hand. "You think Nexus will give us perks like free rum when we make our runs for them?"
They were playing both sides. My heartbeat quickened as their words hinted at the deeper involvement with the two crime syndicates.
"Shut up." Zorbluk met Hultin’s comment with a sharp rebuke and a hard smack on the shoulder. "We're here to handle business. Keep your focus."
Gravix hopped onto the table and tossed ore into the crates. "Besides, I'm fairly sure Nexus has a strict 'no rum until the mission's complete' policy. It keeps us sharp, you know?"
Hultin’s voice peppered with defiance. "Why should I be quiet? Not like anyone can hear us down here. Those shrieky opera singers drown everything out."
His words hung in the air, and I pressed myself further into the corner, focusing on everything in front of me. The traders were unaware of my presence, engrossed in their discussion.
"You might be right," another trader conceded, his tone more cautious. "But we shouldn't be discussing Nexus while we're packing this ore for Riven. We can't afford any slip-ups or suspicions."
These traders, Gravix, and Zorbluk were running on a delicate balance, working for both Riven and Nexus. I absorbed their conversation, piecing together the fragments. Who was over Nexus Spiral? Was it Bartie? Did he have these guys working the rounds for him? The complexity of their alliances and hidden motives sent my mind going off into several possibilities.
Hultin grabbed xenite from the table and tossed it in a crate nearest him. "Riven’s got his hands full with other stuff, anyway. Zorbluk and Gravix’s old boss Ustrar broke out of jail on the human planet."
The other trader grunted as he lifted a crate onto the table. "Those two don’t like each other, right?"
Gravix snorted. "That’s putting it mildly. Klinn’s been dreaming about revenge ever since Riven got Lumi offed in that mine."
Zorbluk wiped his sweaty brow. "He’s probably puttering around where we left him and that girl detective in the eastern sector. Can’t believe he teamed up with the female who dropped him in the slammer."
Hultin paused from his work. "She’s here, too?"
Zorbluk gawked at him. "Yeah. She was walking around with him on Malecor. Where have you been?"
"Dang. I guess I must have been really drunk that day."
"See why you don’t need rum on the job?"
I frowned. The first time I met Hultin was on Malecor. Why did he sound like he met me before?
Hultin tilted his head, perplexed. "You sure your old boss didn’t make it out of the east sector?"
"How?" Gravix’s question was almost a challenge. "We dropped him there with no vehicle. That crazy rich hermit Bartie is on orders from Nexus to keep watch on the area. Klinn can’t get out of there."
Hultin did a feat of lifting a crate and releasing a belch at the same time. "Xenite’s a fading business. Good riddance to Riven, I say."
"What the heck, Hul?" The other trader spoke up after hearing so much of their gossip. "He’s paying us."
"So is Nexus. I’ll take ‘em both."
I heard footsteps resounding from the other side of the room. I ducked lower but I could still see a third trader come into the room from the door at their end. "Sorry, I’m late."
It fast became clear to me that Hultin was the chatty one. "What took you so long, Gugerol? Trying to hold out and make us do all the work?"
"I couldn’t find the place." Gugerol set another bottle on the table.
Hultin laughed. "The opera house has only been here for the past decade. You get lost in the rum? Pass it this way."
The traders further indulged in the Malecor bay rum, their inebriation growing with each passing moment. The atmosphere shifted from seriousness to a ridiculous combination of partying and mockery. I peeked between the spaces of the clothing racks, my eyes fixed on their games.
The bottle of bay rum made its rounds until Gugerol snatched the bottle from the other traders. "Keep working. We gotta get the rest of the ore we stashed. Move those damn props."
As the traders began shifting props at the front of the room to uncover the xenite they stashed, I got down on my hands and knees, focusing on every word. I needed to find a way to relay this to the Wanderstar Fleet.
Gravix began to grumble. "Klinn is such a fuckup, though."
