“Thank you.”
“You called my ship a devilish flying machine.”
“I was only joking, Captain.”
“Oh yes,” he said, reaching into his coat. “But what fascinates me is that you used the word ‘devilish.’ I’ve studied some of Salus’s major languages. You do that sort of thing when you’re a trader. Haloren has no word for ‘devil.’ The concept simply doesn’t exist in their lexicon. So, I find it interesting that a Haloren woman would use that term.”
He pulled a gun out from an underarm holster, pointing it at Melissa’s back. His mouth quirked into the barest hint of a smile. “Who are you really?”
She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. “And it was going so well.” Calling on her Nassai, she put up a Time Bubble in the shape of a cylinder. The cargo bay was now a blurry haze, the crates on either s
