Tanecha knew it was bad when Reston resorted to using her honorific instead of calling her Captain. She said nothing, choosing to wait, eyebrow lifted, until he continued. He led her to the tiny uplink station that served the Engineering deck and queued it on.
“Authorities on Theta II are offering a 10,000 credit reward to any persons able to provide information on the whereabouts of the missing son of Executive Chief Simeon Recks.” A snap flashed across the screen that looked just like little Abe.
“Well, thank goodness we’re stuck here orbiting this mudball full of perverts,” Tanecha said. “Agent Drummel was so fixated on Cyrella that he didn’t even notice that Abe exists.”
Reston frowned at her. “Apologies for contradicting you, cy Tyrin, but Agent Drummel seemed like a normal young man. Do you believe him a threat to our Cyrella? If so, I am perfectly willing to make him disappear.”
Tanecha shuddered, knowing full well just how many ways Reston had of making bodies go missing.
“I only meant that as a member of a patriarchy, he is much more interested in making sure any women and girls on board are under control than worrying about the doings of the men-children here.”
“I see.” Reston’s dark gaze caught hers for a moment, and then he ran a hand through his short-cropped black hair. “Forgive me for being over-zealous. I take the well-being of Megalyth’s temporary crew quite seriously, Captain.”
“Indeed. You know how much I appreciate your care of them. And now that the Customs agents have cleared off, we’d better go have a conversation with Hank.”
A half an hour later, Reston ushered a terrified-looking Hank into her office. Hank was an ordinary young teen. He looked like one would expect an apprentice midshipman to look. Scrawny but filling out, sandy hair cropped but already falling into his eyes. Eyes that looked hunted, now that she knew what she was looking for.
“You’ve got some explaining to do, young man.”
The hunted eyes shifted away. “I don’t know what you mean, Captain.”
“You said Abe was your little brother.” She pushed a datapad with the bounty notice across her desk. She should have done a DNA scan of the pair herself. But kids in trouble were kids in trouble, whether they were actually related to each other or not. And the people who brought kids her way brought only the most desperate cases. That Hank and Abe had found her on their own was rare, but not unprecedented.
“That’s not him. That just looks like him!”
“Cut line, kid. We know that’s him.”
Hank’s breath caught in his throat and escaped as a ragged sob. “They said you’d find any kid in need of a new home.” Hank’s restless gaze caught hers again. “Well, he needs you. More than Kail, or Cyrella, or any of the others.”
“And what do you know about it?”
“How old do you think he is?”
“Seven? Eight?” Tanecha felt that queasy feeling that came to her every time she discovered that things were definitely going to be worse than they seemed.
“He’s twelve, Captain ma’am. And you see how small he is. He’s barely taller than Cyrella. His father keeps taking him for gene therapy. Wants him bigger, smarter, stronger, faster. Only it never works. And every time Abe comes back from a treatment, he’s a little weaker. He stops growing for a while. After this last time, he hasn’t grown at all.”
“I’ve had D’Abraxan gene therapy, young man. You can’t slip a fast one by me. What really happened? He wanted a purple pony and his dad said no?”
Hank’s face settled into mulish lines as he shook his head.
Tanecha let out a bitter bark of a laugh. “I smuggle kids in real need, not spoiled brats wanting to scare their folks. I find them safe homes, away from their abusive families, away from the organ traders. This little stunt of yours risks all of their lives!”
“It’s not a stunt!”
Hank jumped to his feet, only to have Reston put a gentle but implacable hand on his shoulder and push him back down into his chair.
“Not the D’Abraxans, ma’am. Black market. You don’t believe me? You scan him. You’ve got the equipment in the sick bay.” The expression in Hank’s eyes was too old for his body. “They’ll kill him if they keep at it.”
“Reston.”
She didn’t think she could bear to see the results if Hank was telling the truth. It would be even less easy to bear if the boys were lying. She’d become quite fond of Hank and Abe, a luxury she usually didn’t allow herself with her little clandestine passengers who passed through so quickly.
“I’ll do the scan, sy Tyrin.”
Later, as she looked over the medbay scanner log, she winced at the bare truth it corroborated. Hanks was the son of one of the Recks family’s under-butlers. Abe was Abriel Recks, twelve years old and already the subject of a dozen outlawed gene “therapies” meant to turn him into something better than an ordinary human.
Hanks slumped in his chair on the other side of her desk. “So, if you turn us in that’s a lot of cash to help other kids with.”
“Hank. Look at me,” Reston commanded. “Never utter such an insult again. The sy Tyrin is a noble lady. A good captain. We fund these missions with regular shipping jobs. We’re not bounty hunters. But Abriel complicates things. He’ll be no easy placement.”
“We can’t place him at all,” Tanecha said.
“I’ll go home,” Abe said from the hatchway. “I don’t want to ruin your ability to get other abused kids to safety. He came forward and gave Hank’s hand a squeeze. “You gave it a good try. Thanks for everything.”
“You’re not going anywhere you don’t want to go, Abe,” Tanecha replied. “You and Hank can stay on here as full-time crew. Apprentice midshipmen. You’ll be as safe as Reston and I can keep you.”
Reston nodded once to each boy. “I’ll expect a better level of work out of regular crew, however.”
“Sir, yes sir!” Hank shouted.
The earnest affirmation was somewhat spoiled by the tears running down his face. Abriel, meanwhile, had thrown himself onto Tanecha’s shoulder and was thoroughly soaking her best jacket with his tears.
When they calmed down, she sent them off to make sure the younger ones had eaten dinner and bunked down for the night. Reston reappeared with a bottle of Gamelian Ouzo and two glasses.
“It’s been a long day, sy Tyrin.”
“Indeed it has.” She clinked glasses with him in a toast.
“Things have got more complicated. And dangerous.”
“Again, indeed. But these kids have no one. The UPA LEO will send them right back home, or worse, into some dodgy foster care or another.”
“Not true. These kids,” Reston gestured with his glass, “have us.”
Tanecha gave him a reluctant smile. “Indeed they do.”
