Wings of Retribution Read Free Page B

you survive all this time?  They had extermination squads out for years.”
    Paul smiled bitterly, but said nothing.  She got the sudden, strong feeling that this man— alien , rather—hated her.  Not just hated Utopis, but her .  The sheer animosity coming from behind his piercing yellow eyes—alien eyes, now that she thought of it—made her skin prickle uncomfortably.  She wondered again if she was walking into a trap.
    She smiled at them, masking her unease.  “Two colonists and a shifter and you’re gonna bring down the Utopia.  Do you have any idea how many lunatics I’ve heard say the same thing?  What kind of stupid stunt are you planning to pull?  A planet-killer stored in the hull of some transport?  An engineered plague?  Exploding Millennium’s star?”  She’d heard them all before.
    Paul’s alien eyes glittered with challenge.  “A few beers doesn’t buy a tale like that, Attie.”
    Athenais flinched at the mention of her nickname, then realized that Giggles had used it when they had first arrived.  She relaxed, wondering what was setting her nerves on edge.  After all, most of her crew was within earshot in the back rooms and Giggles would gladly shoot all three of her drinking companions if she so much as gave him the nod.
    “Fair enough,” Athenais said.  “What does it buy?”
    A malicious smile stretched Paul’s lips.  “Spoken like a true pirate.”
    Athenais grinned.  “That’s what’s wrong with the Utopia these days,” she said.  “A woman can’t keep an eye to her finances without being accused of piracy.”
    “You know what you are just as well as we do.” 
    The outright anger, the deep-rooted malevolence in his gaze left Athenais feeling more and more unnerved.  She tried to laugh, but failed under the alien’s unwavering yellow gaze.  She found herself gripping the beer stein reflexively as she said, “Giggles must have pissed in your drink.  I’m no pirate.”  Immediately, she regretted the words.  They had come out defensive, not at all like the confident space captain that seven thousand years of Hell had shaped her into.  Since when had these fools gotten the upper hand in this conversation?
    Paul’s yellow eyes bored right into her with alien intensity, nervously making Athenais wonder if shifters somehow read minds, too.  “Yes you are.  You’re human scum.  Wanted in all four quadrants and have death warrants on sixteen planets.  The price on your head is double that of the next three bounties combined.”
    Athenais beamed, showing teeth.  “Still half what you’re worth, I’m sure.”
    The shifter gave her a sly grin and raised his tankard.
    Athenais felt herself liking the alien despite his hostility towards her.  “Tell me,” she said.  “Who are you, really?  Why tell me about…that?”  She indicated his missing pinkie finger.
    He shrugged.  “You bought us a drink.”
    “Your life for a drink?  I don’t buy that.”
    Paul bristled.  “I didn’t come here to exchange pleasantries with Utopian filth.”  He started to stand.
    “Damn it, Paul,” Morgan said, scowling.  “Just sit down.”  He forced his face into a smile for Athenais.  “Ignore him.  He’s had a bad time of the trip.  We’re grateful for the beer.  It was good.”
    “It’s piss.  Barely worth drinking.”  Athenais had thought Paul was the one in charge, but the sulky manner in which he withstood Morgan’s rebuke led her to believe the bearded man was somehow the leader of the trio.
    Morgan gave her a charming smile.  “In such good company, even piss seems glamorous.”  He eyed her a moment, making Athenais feel acutely like a monkey in the lush jungles of Millennium, being analyzed by an arbiter of science.  “It’s certainly not every day that you get to meet a Utopi with scars,” Morgan said after awhile.  “How…refreshing.”
    Unconsciously, Athenais traced the scar over her eye.  They were fake, kept there