When he didn’t respond, relief chased disappointment. Kee still wouldn’t be getting her upgrades, but at least I wouldn’t have to deal with Torran and his squad for two months. I tossed him a mocking farewell salute and turned to my ship. I’d been waiting for Eli, my first officer, to return from a supply run, but I could just as easily wait inside.

I was halfway up the ramp when Torran stirred. “Wait.”

The extra height from the ramp meant he had to look up at me. It was petty, but I enjoyed it anyway. “Yes?”

Torran raised his chin. “I accept.”

Fucking hell.

Chapter Two

Eli showed up while Torran and I were in the middle of heated contract negotiations. Torran had refused my standard bounty hunting boilerplate and now he was trying to give me an aneurysm from sheer rage and frustration.

My first officer parked his levcart at the bottom of Starlight’s ramp and circled around toward me, his face set in granite lines. He was tall and heavily muscled, with deep brown skin and warm brown eyes. He wore the dark pants and black shirt that had become his working uniform. When he wasn’t scowling, Eli was incredibly handsome, so much so that Kee and I gave him shit for it. People took one look at his face and underestimated him, even with his build.

“Problem?” he asked quietly.

Eli, Kee, and I had served together during the war, and while I didn’t need the support, having him at my side loosened some of the tension I’d been carrying. Eli and Kee were the siblings I’d never had, and the bonds we’d forged in blood and death were diamond hard.

If I needed help burying a body, Eli would silently grab a shovel and start digging while Kee erased all evidence of the crime.

I would do the same for them.

“This is General Torran Fletcher,” I said with a wave at the Valoff in question. “He’s trying to hire us, but my standard contract isn’t good enough for him, so we’re negotiating. Rather, he’s dictating, and I’m ignoring him.”

At the name, Eli’s eyes darted to Torran. I knew that look, so I tensed to intercept an attack, but Eli merely growled something nasty under his breath. He looked at me, and his voice came through my comm, picked up by his subvocal mike. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Blame Kee.”

Eli shot me an exasperated look and heaved a long-suffering sigh.

“Yes, blame me for forcing Tavi to accept more money for eight weeks of work than we’d normally make in two years,” Kee said over the comm, her voice tart. “Woe is us.”