Sometimes, when they were talking, he’d tell her about his mother or his childhood, and she realized that Keirth was almost as disturbed over the things Risciter had done as she was. They were quite a pair, weren’t they? Both virgins. Both traumatized about sex. Both completely clueless about how to proceed. But that too was comforting as well as frustrating.
One night, over dinner, Keirth was sharing some of their ideas for making money with Gordic, not all of which were legal. Winda had gotten a little upset, saying she didn’t think they should be making plans to do things that were against the law. “You’re asking for trouble doing that,” Winda said.
Keirth had pointed out that he was already a wanted criminal, although he wasn’t featured as prominently on the nets as he’d been when they arrived. Risciter’s death was quickly becoming old news.
“About that,” said Winda. “You acted in self-defense, Keirth. And Ariana’s a witness to that. Maybe you should turn yourself in. You’d be acquitted.”
Ariana was shocked. “He would not.” This was the first time she remembered actively disagreeing with Winda.
“Why wouldn’t he?” said Winda. “You’re an eyewitness. You’d tell them what happened.”
“They wouldn’t believe me.” Ariana was shaking.
“Of course they would,” said Winda. “They’d have to. When you testify in court, you’re under oath.”
“You’ve never been to the sector,” Ariana said. “You don’t understand the way it is. No one would believe that Risciter did the things he did. No one. And I...I couldn’t talk about it in front of a whole courtroom of people.” She imagined her parents and sister and Aunt Tildy staring at her while she explained what Risciter had done to her. In detail. No. No way.
“But if you didn’t talk about it,” said Winda, “then Keirth would be convicted of a crime that isn’t his fault.”
Keirth had ended the entire conversation by quietly stating he wasn’t going to turn himself in. He’d squeezed Ariana’s hand under the table and later he’d promised she’d never have to go through something like that, not for him.
But it was clear that Winda didn’t approve of doing illegal things. A few days later, she proposed something completely different. She offered for Keirth and Ariana to work shipping her quilts. Currently, she said that they used independent contractors. Gordic would load up a ship full of quilts and take them to a rendezvous point where the shippers would pick them up and distribute them. She thought Keirth and Ariana could do a better job. Plus she liked the idea of seeing them. They would come back periodically to visit.
Ariana liked the idea, but later when she and Keirth talked about it, he said that there were two big problems with it. One was that they still needed another ship, and the other was that, as legitimate shippers, they’d have to register their ship and their names with the authorities. But when he saw how disappointed Ariana seemed, he said he’d try to work something out. He went to Gordic the next day, and that night, he told Ariana what the plan was.
Gordic still had some contacts from his days as a smuggler, although he didn’t advertise this to Winda. He had set something up with a man who could get them new identities, untraceable by the authorities. They’d do a job for this man, smuggling some weapons in the old ship. He’d pay them and give them the new identities. Then they’d use the money to buy a new ship and register it under their new names. They could then start shipping quilts for Winda and Gordic. Keirth wanted to do the smuggling alone. He was worried about Ariana’s safety. But she wouldn’t let him. She was excited about the prospect of doing something as crazy as smuggling weapons anyway, and she wanted in.
So the two of them prepared for the job. Before Ariana knew it, they were waving goodbye to Winda and Gordic and boarding their ship again. They’d be back soon, and Ariana would be glad to see them, but she felt a strong pull to get back out into space, and she was glad to be travelling again.
* * *
Keirth was checking over the crates of guns in the cargo bay. They’d been in hyperspace for about a half hour, headed for the planet Eron. Ariana watched him. “There anything wrong with the guns?”
Keirth shrugged, looking up from the crate. “Everything seems to be in order. I don’t know. Monthow seemed nervous to me. I got a kind of funny feeling, like something’s off.”
Itrick Monthow was a short, fat man who was going a little bald. He’d paced and spit out instructions to them rapid-fire. “Here’s how it works. You take the guns to Eron. You get the money for the guns. You come back here. You take your percentage out of the take, and you give me the rest of the money. If everything seems square, I give you the papers with your new names then. Clear?”