Condition Evolution 2: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure by Sinclair, Kevin (black female authors txt) 📗

I can get you three hundred senlar no problem. I can get you more. I’ve a lot of money, only I need to get it out of one of the banks before my assets are seized.”

We were watching the display open mouthed, as images of Elyek moving what looked like huge sums of money from account to account.

“I need to talk to Shaun alone for a minute. Don’t mind the silence.”

Ember disappeared from the control room. I felt her in my Mindscape, so I followed. “What do you think?” she said, as soon as I appeared.

“We can’t hand Elyek over. Even if half of what they said was true.”

“I know that! I’m not a monster, Shaun. If we let Elyek go we’re getting hunted by even more people, and they can track this ship. And, in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s a complete fucking rust bucket. If we get chased we’re escaping nowhere, not to mention our pilot can barely fucking fly!”

“You noticed that too? Well, shit. This is a pickle.”

“A pickle! Urggh!” she growled in frustration.

“They did offer us money. Maybe we could buy a ship, then drop them off wherever.”

“My god, Shaun. That is actually a really fantastic idea!” She didn't even sound sarcastic. It put me on edge, and I stood looking at her quizzically. “Seriously, Shaun. Well done! Let’s go sound them out on our new plan.”

We both reentered Elyek’s mind.

“So,” Ember said, loudly and Elyek’s form startled at the sudden words. “We’ve an expensive proposition for you. I’ll let Shaun tell you it, as it’s his idea.”

“Okay,” they said with uncertainty.

I gulped. I’d been put on the spot. “If we don’t take you to Weka Four people will track us down. Our ship is the pits, and our pilot is a bit rough around the edges. We’ll not last very long in any space fight, or flight,” I explained, then paused.

“Your proposition?” Elyek responded, a little impatient.

“Fuck it,” I said, getting to the point. “You’ll need to buy us a ship. If, you can afford it that is. Then, we can drop you off anywhere you like. And, if we’re hunted we can escape, and not be killed for freeing you.”

“Well, I can’t exactly use my money when I’m a slave, can I?” Elyek said, almost happily. “I agree to your terms.”

“We need a few assurances first,” Ember jumped in. “Like, as soon as we take the mask off, you’re not going to go invisible and start trying to kill us?”

“Yes. I promise I won’t go invisible as soon as you take my mask off. I’ll be nothing but grateful.”

The mental display showed Elyek hugging us both. We nodded to one another, satisfied by the truth of their words.

“While you’re with us, will you act as a member of this crew until we get you to safety?”

“Absolutely. Yes! I’ve a number of skills I can offer. I’m excellent with computer and navigation systems, and I’ve extensive knowledge of this whole quadrant of the galaxy. You will see. I will be very useful.”

The display showed the truth of their words. Ember jerked her thumb back, indicating to get out of there, suddenly disappearing herself.

Once we were back in the room Ember walked over, opened the cage, went straight for Elyek’s mask, and took it off.

“You’re free. Welcome to the crew! Well, for as long as all this takes to get cleared up.”

“Oh!” Elyek said, taken aback, and clearly not expecting the sudden turnaround in circumstances. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I won’t let you down.”

Ember moved forward and hugged Elyek, surprising us both and probably Ember herself. “Come on. I’ll show you your shitty, little room. Decorate it however you like,” she laughed. “Shaun. Go tell Calegg there’s a change of plan.”

“Will do. And welcome to the crew for however long, Elyek. It’s a pleasure having you. Don’t have any aversion to Torax do you?”

“What? No, not really. I haven’t had much to do with them. As long as they don’t try and fry me to an invisible crisp, I’m sure we will get along just fine,” Elyek smiled.

C13

The Plot Thickens

I found Calegg hovering over a screen reading the text displayed.

“Hey, pal,” I said, gently to bring him out of his deep concentration.

“Hey, Captain. How’s it going?”

“Well, that’s kind of what I’m here to talk about. There’s been a change of plan.”

“Okay. What’s up?”

“Just before I start, I want you to know that we don’t want to lose you, but it’s totally your choice. We can put you down with a few senlars wherever you want.”

“For fuck sake. Just tell me already, will you? The suspense is killing me.”

“Well, for starters just call me Shaun, and well… the story is… we’ve freed Elyek. They’re going to be part of the crew until it’s safe to drop them somewhere. We won’t be cashing in the job.”

“What!” he exclaimed with confusion written on his face.

“Elyek, the prisoner. We’ve discovered that they were captured unjustly and gonna be sold as a slave. That’s not who me and Ember are. We can’t hand them over.”

“You know they’ll send people after us if you don’t complete the job, right?”

“Yes. We know all that, and before you say it, we know we can’t escape in this ship. Here’s the thing. Elyek’s got some serious moolah and they agreed to stay with us until they can buy us a ship. So, we’ll get them to safety and have a sweet new ship for you to fly.”

“What kind of ship?” he said, eagerly.

“I don’t fucking know, Calegg. I don’t know how much money Elyek has, and I don’t know how much spaceships cost.”

Calegg laughed, “Anything, will be better than this. Do you know it's bad luck to not name a ship? I didn’t bring it up because I honestly think it’d be bad luck to name this ship.

“And, Shaun. Seriously, I was never even bothered about the bounty. I just wanted a place to work. You’ve already given