Curse of the Iris Read Online Free PDF Page A

rockets. “I don’t want to talk about the stupid Jovian Union, though. It just makes me mad.”
    â€œWhy’s that?” Carlo asked.
    â€œThe Hydra . It’s outrageous that the Union won’t give her to us—if it weren’t for us, Mox would still be out there grabbing ships.”
    â€œYou’re still upset about that?” Carlo asked. “Let it go already, Yana—it’s just bureaucrats doing bureaucrat things. Like I keep telling you, we intercepted the Hydra during a Jovian military mission, so someone in the Defense Force thinks she should belong to the military. Plus the Securitat is worried about who’d buy her—imagine if another pirate got hold of her.”
    â€œI won’t let it go,” Yana insisted. “Besides, what if we didn’t sell the Hydra at all?”
    Tycho and Carlo looked at each other, then back at their sister.
    â€œThere are three of us competing for one ship,” Yana said. “But what if there were two ships? Or three? Then we could all be captains and take more prizes.”
    â€œIt doesn’t work that way,” Tycho said. “The family is the captain, and the captain is the ship, and—”
    â€œâ€”and the ship is the family,” Yana said. “I know that old saying by heart, you know. But why is it that way? Think about it. Every generation, one Hashoone becomes captain of the Comet , and the others wind up twiddling their thumbs dirtside. That’s a total waste. Why are we limited to one ship as a family, when we could do so much more with a fleet of them?”
    â€œOkay, but what happens when you and Tycho both intercept a fat prize in the Cybeles?” Carlo asked. “Do you take turns? Flip a currency chip, maybe? Or do you wind up shooting at each other?”
    Yana looked surprised.
    â€œTyke’s my brother,” she said. “He’s annoying, but I wouldn’t shoot him.”
    â€œI love you too, sis,” Tycho said.
    â€œWhat if that other Hashoone isn’t your brother, but your cousin?” Carlo asked. “Or your sister-in-law’s sister? Or your third cousin once removed? And once Hashoones start shooting each other in the Cybeles, what happens back home? Are we shooting each other in Port Town? In Darklands?”
    â€œWe wouldn’t—wait, Traffic Control’s talking to me. Finally. We’re cleared to descend. Get ready to vent the atmosphere.”
    They donned their helmets and carefully checked one another’s seals. Air would burn if it mixed with Titan’s nitrogen-rich atmosphere, so ships without airlocks were required to vent their interiors to space before descending to the surface.
    â€œI get why what you say was true in pirate days, Carlo,” Tycho said. “But we’re privateers now—we work for the Jovian Union. Couldn’t the Defense Force use a fleet of Hashoone ships, instead of just one?”
    Carlo hesitated.
    â€œI guess they could,” he said. “But these are our traditions—we’re the ones who have wanted it done this way. Maybe the Union could use a Hashoone fleet, but who says we want them to have one?”
    The gig began to shake as it entered the outer envelope of Titan’s atmosphere.
    â€œIf this is about what we want, why is the Hydra still in dry dock?” Tycho asked.
    â€œThe one has nothing to do with the other,” Carlo said.
    â€œI’m not so sure,” Yana said. “Just like I’m not so sure the Union is really on our side. Remember back before you made bridge crew, when you were down the ladder learning the spacer’s trade?”
    â€œI’d rather not think about it, but yes,” Carlo said.
    â€œWell, you played cards with the belowdecks crewers, right?” Yana asked.
    â€œNever,” Carlo said.
    Yana and Tycho glanced at each other. They’d both loved playing cutthroat games of poker, whist, and cát