Leo considered pointing out that he’d already had a bounty hunter after him—Baz’s green-haired, gun-toting ex-girlfriend, no less. And that he was probably still being hunted simply because of who his father was. But those were just excuses. He had personal reasons for wanting to go on board.

“We’re doing this to get V, right? Which we need to deliver the information contained on that datachip—the one my father entrusted to me, not you. So, pirate or not, this is my mission. And I’m coming with you.”

Baz frowned. Leo hadn’t known the man long, but it was long enough to know that he smiled when he thought he was about to get away with something and frowned when he knew he wasn’t going to get his way. He’d been frowning a lot recently.

“Fine. But from now on, if you’re coming along, you’re going in armed. I can’t have you threatening people with your asthma inhaler anymore.”

The captain unholstered one of the two pistols currently riding on his hip and handed it to Leo, who took it tentatively, pinching it between his fingers like a wet sock. He waited until Baz’s back was turned and then handed the pistol to Boo who turned and handed it to Kat who tucked it into the satchel slung across her shoulder.

“All right. Let’s do this by the numbers. Get in. Get the goods. Get out.”

Skits piped up. “And a painful and bloody death to all those who dare to hrm wrffle wrm.”

Boo had placed one of his four hands over the robot’s voice emitter, muffling her.

“Fine,” she said, once the Queleti removed it. “Don’t kill anybody. See if I care.”

Leo figured it was best she was still staying on the ship.

The hatch was unguarded, just like Baz suspected it would be, and the three pirates plus Leo soon found themselves in the main corridor, looking down rows of cabins, all with their doors sealed shut.

All except for one.

Standing in that one open doorway was a species Leo had never seen before, its squished figure composed of two squat legs, two short arms, and an almost nonexistent neck supporting a triangular head that reminded Leo a little of a praying mantis’s, with two antennae and a pair of bulbous red eyes sticking out of either side like oversize Christmas ornaments. The alien was holding a metal stick of some kind, brandishing it like a sword or a baseball bat, attempting, perhaps, to hold its ground against the ship’s invaders.

Leo admired its bravery. He also knew the creature stood no chance.

Baz nudged Boo, who extended all four of his arms in a truly menacing fashion, stomping one foot with its newly trimmed claws. “Aaaahgh,” he growled.

It didn’t sound especially menacing, but it did the trick; the once brave Darkashi emitted a squeak through its snout, dropped its impromptu weapon, and promptly vanished behind its cabin door.

“Not bad, but your ‘argh’ still needs work,” Kat told Boo. “Less ah. More rrrr. Like this. Arrrrrrgh!”