The Fringe Wars

1.11

Sixx scowled. "I'll stay patient as long as my sanity holds. No guarantees beyond that."

"Then, you have my permission to kick their asses when they piss you off. Just don't kill any of them. That would reflect badly on our hospitality."

"That I can handle."

Reyne gave him a quick smile and finally made it to the mechanicals room at the far end of the ship, where he found Boden standing with his forehead pressed against the wall.

Reyne winced. "That bad, huh?"

The mechanic shot him a quick glance before settling down on a large duct running in between the walls. "The Gryphon supports a crew of fourteen. We're flying with twenty-one right now. It's stressing the air exchanger."

"Are we running a risk of it failing?"

"Probably not, but the exchanger is overloaded. It's running hotter every hour. I need to turn it down to minimum support for a while to let it cool down."

"We only have enough oxygen cans for the crew."

Boden calculated for a moment. "I'll do it during the sleep hours, so they won't notice anything. Anyone awake may experience some mild hypoxia."

"Sixx will enjoy that." Reyne slapped Boden's shoulder. "Do what you have to do. I'll give the crew a heads up. Ping us when you reduce the air levels, so we can switch over to our portables."

"Sure thing," the mechanic replied.

Reyne made his way back to the bridge to find Throttle and Demes bantering. He leaned against the doorway and shook his head, feeling that all he'd done the past few days was lasso chaos.

"The Honorless could kick the Gryphon's ass on the Coastal Run," Demes said.

"In your dreams," Throttle snapped back. "The Gryphon's smaller, plus it has a Flux Whisper engine. Take that, pirate."

"Ouch." Demes smirked. "Impressive, but the Honorless has two Flux Whispers. I'll take that kiss now."

Throttle's jaw dropped before she clamped it shut and became instantly focused on her instrument panel.

Demes chuckled and strode over to her. Reyne felt suddenly more protective of Throttle, but forced himself to stay put.

She glared at Demes and then gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

He leaned back. "That most certainly is not a kiss."

He cupped her cheeks and swooped in, kissing her long and firmly on the lips.

Reyne cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. Demes pulled away with a grin, and Reyne relaxed.

Throttle swatted his arm. "Happy now?"

"Yep. For now." Demes walked cockily back to his seat, crossing paths with Reyne on the way. He paused and shrugged. "She lost a bet."

Reyne couldn't miss the smile Throttle was trying too hard to hide, and he suspected she wasn't feeling too badly about losing the bet. "I should've warned you," he said. "Never make a bet with a pirate." He nodded in Demes' general direction. "Any bet that one makes is guaranteed to be rigged in his favor."

"Lesson learned." She dramatically pouted before focusing wholly on her instrument panel.

Reyne took a seat and broadcast to Doc's and Sixx's quarters, "Heads up, crew. In a bit, Boden will be reducing the air exchanger to let it cool down. He'll let you know when you need to switch to portables. No need to alert our passengers. Just keep an eye out for signs of hypoxia."