On a Barbarian World Read Free

else?”
    “I can smell you.” Her nose wrinkled. “You smell like daddy does after he’s been working at the factory.”
    Sweaty, in other words. Aurina knew Tamra’s parents were from the impoverished manufacturing world of Mancha. Not so different from her homeworld. Tamra’s father was heavily enhanced to make him better at factory work—metallic arms to make him stronger and faster. Knowing their kids were destined for the same, hard menial work and a life of enhancements to keep up with other workers, they’d saved up for passage on the Phoenix Convoy. Hoping for a better life somewhere else.
    “What else do you smell?” Aurina asked.
    “Flowers.”
    The last of Aurina’s perfume. “Anything else?”
    “Loxian candy.”
    Aurina tapped the girl’s nose again and Tamra opened her eyes. “And who likes to eat Loxian candy?”
    “Rock!”
    The girl spun, sniffed, and then raced over to a storage locker built into the wall. She yanked it open, and her ten-year-old brother tumbled out. “Found you!”
    “Aurina helped you,” Rock said. “That’s cheating!”
    “She didn’t. I smelled you.”
    Aurina stood and ruffled both the kids’ hair. “I think you might find it a bit harder to hide from her next time. Now, your mother is probably looking for you both. Go.” She shooed them off and they waved and giggled as they ran down the corridor.
    As they disappeared from view, her smile dissolved. She’d never played like that as a child. There hadn’t been time. Her mother had always been working, doing what she could to support them. They’d been really poor. Her mother had worked hard—so hard—to ensure they never went hungry and had clothes. And when Aurina had been old enough, she’d had a part-time job as well. There’d been nothing for anything extra or fun. No paints, no pretty dresses, no pretty, shiny things the girls from the wealthier parts of the city had worn in their ears and around their necks. Instead, Aurina had collected rocks she found outside and polished them until they’d shined. They’d been her toys.
    Now, she had real gems—invaluable rocks and jewels.
    She opened the door to her cabin. Inside, the lights clicked on and she spotted her bowl of polished rocks and her row of potted plants. They were drooping a little, because no matter what she did, they just didn’t thrive in the ship’s ventilation. One day she was going to have a garden. But for now, she was going to grab that long shower, then head out again in her ship.
    Her life was good. And if she felt vague little niggles of dissatisfaction, she was just going to ignore them.
     

Chapter Two
    “Safe trip,” Nissa said. “See you soon.”
    Aurina sat back in her pilot’s chair, her concentration split between the control screen under her hands, and the viewscreen above. Behind her, the Sky Nomad and the convoy were getting smaller and smaller. Ahead, the sprinkle of white stars beckoned. “Thanks, Nissa. Tell Justyn I’ll be up for a game of crossfire when I get back.”
    Nissa snorted. “He’ll want to win some of those pretty shinies you have. And he’s damned good.”
    “I can take him. I’ll be home in a few hours.”
    “Roger that. And Ry said to remind you to watch out for that meteor storm.”
    Aurina heard the lazy amusement in Nissa’s voice. “Tell him I will, and I packed clean underwear, as well.” Aurina might complain about the overprotectiveness of her brothers from time to time, but she’d lived without them for so long that now she was grateful she had them.
    She plucked a pale-blue stone from her pocket, and rubbed it between her fingers. It was a piece of Perman star crystal, and one of her favorites. It wasn’t worth as much as her gem collection, but the color and the smoothness pleased her. She found it soothing to work it between her fingers.
    She focused her attention on the scan data flashing up on her screen. She had four possible habitable planets on the long-range