My patrons continue to vote for it, so I keep writing it. This is the final chapter of The Hungry Stars (but an epilogue will be coming to tie off the entire story). The crew have made it out of the woods, but that doesn’t mean they’re home. They finally have a chance to stop and catch their breath and figure out their next moves. Along with that means deciding what to do with their prisoner, the one member of the League that they took alive.
To that end, there’s an excerpt from the chapter below, where Grace has her first conversation with Commander Briem. For the full scene and the rest of the threads in this chapter check out the links above and enjoy!
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“I wouldn’t do that,” a woman’s voice said. A blonde woman came into view. Her skin was a pale brown, her features just subtly different from anyone on Nibiru. From the right elbow down, her right arm was metal, a crude prosthetic replacement for a missing limb. “If you break it, we’re not going to give you another one.”
Ottie almost threw the case anyways. It would be a useless show of defiance, but it would make her feel better… at least in the moment. Instead, she set the shelves back down. “I know you.” Everyone on Nibiru had seen this woman.
“I’m flattered.”
Ottie studied the blonde in more detail. She didn’t recognize any of the symbols on her uniform. “Proctor, right?”
“Lieutenant Grace Alice Proctor,” the Confed confirmed.
“I thought so. You don’t look like a captain and you’re not the alien.” She half turned from the girl. “Should I bother introducing myself?”
“You’re Commander Otter Lindel Briem, XO of the Triquetran League Navy Ship Wolfssegen.” The blonde tilted her head. “Who names their child ‘Otter’?”
“My parents. I guess there weren’t enough girl names that started with O for my generation and they wanted to be unique, so I got named for a small woodland animal with perpetual fish breath.” She paused. “So we both know who we are. What now?”
Grace looked the other woman up and down. Briem was taller than her by about two or three inches and leaner in build. She had a head of curly brown hair and darting brown eyes that never stayed still for long. “How are you doing?”
Briem spun like a caged animal, fast enough that Proctor stepped back before remembering the commander was locked behind a door that a Tribune wouldn’t have been able to shift. “I’ve never been better,” she snapped like a she-wolf baring her teeth. “How do you think I’m doing?”
“That’s fair,” Grace had to concede. It was a stupid question. “What I should have said was, how are your injuries?” They’d provided some first aid and minor medical assistance to Briem. Enough to stabilize her, but not enough to expose IKaggen’s systems to her implants. After that, they’d let the Parasite rebuild its host on its own time. She’d just woken up a little while ago.
“I’m fine. Right as the rain.” That was another metaphor she didn’t understand, but she hurled it out at the other woman like a curse.
“Just so you know,” Grace told her. “This cell has been modified with quarantine systems. Any attempt to use your implants to break out will result in your immediate irradiation and incineration.”
~
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