Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“I’ll do it for half of that.”
Startled, I jerked my head to the left and saw a young male, barely more than a boy, standing by my elbow. He must have crept up when I was talking to Gurflug.
“And who the Hell are you, boy?” I growled. I didn’t like being bothered when I was doing a deal and he didn’t look like a serious contender. He was too young for one thing and there was an air of innocence about him—as though this was his first time out in the big, bad world. I didn’t fucking need anyone aboard my crew I had to baby-sit.
The boy lifted his chin.
“I’m a student of Grr. Horstauf,” he said. “I heard you were looking for a navigator, so I decided to come apply for the position. I’m trained in Cross-Dimensional Navigation and I have no blind spots.”
That was a big brag—especially coming from someone so young. I took another look at the boy.
He was slim and not very tall—the top of his head barely came up to my shoulder. He had short brown hair that curled around his ears and wide, amber eyes with spiky black lashes. His skin was a smooth brown and he was wearing baggy clothes that didn’t quite fit him right. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t say exactly who.
“Grr. Horstauf, hmm?” I said, frowning. I knew the name—he was a famous navigational teacher who only took the most promising—or the richest—students. Either this boy came from an extremely wealthy family…or he really was some kind of prodigy.
But I had forgotten about Gurflug. The big Galafruxian was still standing in front of me, fuming at the way I had stopped paying attention to him.
“Anyone can say they are trained in Cross-Dimensional Navigation,” he snarled, glaring at the boy with hate in his bulging, purple eyes. “But I say he is a fraud—he is too young!”
“I’m the youngest student Grr. Horstauf ever trained,” the boy said coolly. I liked that he didn’t lose his head, even with the enormous Galafruxian glaring down at him. “But I’m also his best. He was the one who said I have no blind spots and I can prove it—let me use your nav band to plot a course and you’ll see.”
“Ridiculous!” Gurflug burbled. “Captain, you cannot trust this little snot! He is clearly lying to you!”
“Well, we won’t know until we try, will we?” I said.
I have to admit, I was interested in the boy. It took guts to approach a Captain of the Four Families and make such an audacious claim. I had never heard of a navvie with no blind spots—it would be interesting to see if he could prove his words. At the very least, I might be able to use him as leverage to bring down Gurflug’s price.
The boy brightened at my words.
“Just give me a chance to show you, Captain—that’s all I ask!” he exclaimed in a high clear voice that was somehow familiar. I frowned—did I know him? But no—that was impossible. He must sound like someone else I knew. Come to think of it, he looked vaguely familiar too, which made no sense—I was positive I’d never met a boy like him before.
To be honest, the conundrum only made him more interesting and I wanted to see if he could prove his audacious claim.
“All right.” I beckoned towards The Illyrian’s loading ramp, which was currently down. “Follow me. You, too,” I added, speaking to Gurflug. “Might as well try both of you.”
Gurflug took offense at this.
“You’re going to test me? Captain, I am a Galafruxian! Our navigational skills are beyond reproach!”
“Then you won’t mind me checking them out,” I said blandly. “Even the best navvie can make a mistake—my last one flew twenty straight missions aboard The Illyrian before he nearly got us all killed. So you’ll pardon me if I want to be sure you’ve got the goods before I pay your ungodly price.”
He still looked highly offended, but when I turned and went up the ramp with the boy at my side, he lumbered after us, the ramp creaking from his weight.
I had to test them both—but I had no idea which one would become my new navvie.
7
TURK
Iled them through the ship’s narrow corridors, navigating with the ease of long practice. The Illyrian was my first love—I knew her every corner and angle.
She might have been my love, but that didn’t mean she was pretty. There wasn’t a spare inch of wasted space and a lot of the ship’s machinery had encroached into the living areas. The ceilings on the decks were tall enough that I didn’t hit my head—but just barely—and there were plenty of places where you had to step around things to get where you were going.
I noticed that the boy was quick and clambered over and around any obstacles with no problem. Gurflug, on the other hand, was clumsy. He hit his head more than once, since he was a few units taller than I was and I heard him bang his knee on one of the circulation pipes and swear a blue streak.