Born of Ice

“What’s wrong with you?” She dumped her backpack on her bunk so that she could put her things away. “You ought to be happy you’re with men who know how to actually use a shower.”


Her father’s mocking voice echoed in her mind. No man wants a woman like you. Hell, you’re more man than most of us with a penis. And look at yourself . . . all grimy and greasy. What man wants that? You’re lucky the crew gets desperate enough to use you, though to be honest, I’d rather masturbate.

She flinched and toughened her resolve. What did she care, anyway? She had no interest whatsoever in men. Love was give and take—the more you gave, the more people took. Just look at her parents. Her father could have freed her mother at any time, but no . . . he’d kept them all as slaves so that they had no choice except to put up with him. Now that he was dead, they were subject to the whims of their next owner.

Bastard.

She didn’t have any use for men or love—both were selfish to the end. Or even people, for that matter. Life was hard enough without their drama.

Putting her thoughts on her task at hand, she ignored everything else.

It didn’t take long to unpack her two pairs of pants, three shirts, shorts, two tanks tops, and two pantsuits from her backpack and place them in her closet. She folded her backpack up, stored it in the closet next to her clothes, then decided to join the men for the launch.

Slowly, she made her way down the corridor, dragging her finger along the sleek, cool titanium wall. Everything was so clean and new. This was such an impressive ship . . .

A soft tilt told her they were leaving the station, but the smoothness of the ride astounded her. On her old freighter, no one could stand, let alone walk, during a launch.

As she neared the bridge, she heard . . .

Was that . . .

Music?

It thrummed into the corridor at a pitch she knew must be deafening from the interior. The beat was heavy and the lyrics in-your-face. Not the kind of music she listened to, but it seemed to fit with what the captain was doing.

Frowning, she pushed the control to open the door and was almost thrown back by the force of the beat. Devyn glanced at her over his shoulder. “Hope you don’t mind my taste in music. I like a little backbeat when I launch.”

Sway scoffed at her. “Just wait until you’re in battle with him. That shit’ll make your ears bleed.”

Devyn rolled his eyes. “I swear you’re a woman.”

“I would respond to that, but I don’t want to distract you while you’re attempting to drive and I’m dependent on you for my life.”

“Yeah, right.”

Alix hesitated. “Do you guys want me to go back to my room?”

Devyn shook his head. “You might as well get used to us. Better to find out on a short trip if we’re going to get on each other’s nerves. I hate taking long trips with people who annoy me.” He passed a pointed stare to Sway.

Sway made an obscene gesture at him.

Devyn ignored it.

What a strange crew. Her father would have had Sway beaten for that. But it was obvious Sway was more friend than employee. Or maybe “friendly enemy” might be a better term for their relationship.

She leaned back in the cushy, plush engineer’s chair that molded to her body. Oh, yeah, she could get used to this.

But she did notice someone was missing. “Where’s Vik?”

Sway answered. “He’s top deck. He likes to watch the colors as we shoot down the launch tube.”

Okay . . .

Alix ran over the ship’s settings, amazed at the updated equipment. The Talia had the latest of everything. She’d never even dreamed of being in something this nice. “You’ve got a great ship, Captain. I know you’re proud of her.”

Sway grinned. “If you’re going to fly, only fly the best.”

The ship leveled out as they entered the shipping route through the system.

Devyn flipped on his autopilot and stood. “C’mon, Alix. I’ll show you around the ship.”

“Ooooh,” Sway breathed. “Mark the date, Vik. Dev’s trusting me to fly.”

Devyn made a rude sound. “No offense, but I want to live. Vik, take the helm.”

Vik’s insidious laugh came through an intercom over their heads. “See, Sway, that’s what you get for flunking your pilot’s test six times . . . which I’m pretty sure is a record of some sort. If not for the actual flunking, definitely for the persistence in pursuing that which you obviously have no talent for. Personally, I wouldn’t let you fly a remote-control kid’s plane.”

Sway curled his lip. “Shut up before I find a can opener.”

Stifling a laugh at his sullen threat, Alix left her chair to follow after Devyn. He led her around the ship, explaining various engine specifics and the location of gauges she’d be responsible for checking and maintaining.

As he ran over the logs, she frowned at their final destination for this trip. “We’re flying into Paradise City?” A tremor of nervousness ran through her.