A Ship Called Pandora

by Melodie Campbell

About the Author: Melodie Campbell has won the Derringer, the Arthur Ellis, and eight more awards for crime fiction. She has shared a literary shortlist with Margaret Atwood, and was seen lurking on the Amazon Top 50 Bestseller list between Tom Clancy and Nora Roberts. Melodie has over 200 publications, including 100 comedy credits, 40 short stories, and 14 novels. She’s the former Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada.

Excerpt

She looked like a Vegas-Minor showgirl. Her hair was too blonde, her lips were too plump, and her figure owed a lot to a fancy surgeon. The only thing that seemed genuine was the scowl on her face.

I knew from the start, she was gonna be trouble.

“Mind if I vape?” she said, holding the small pipe between two fingers.

I shrugged. “Be my guest here. Only not when we get on my ship.”

She raised an artificially high eyebrow. “And you are?”

“Tosh Malloy. This is Drake.” I gestured to the tall black bodyguard to my side.

She threw a quick glance at him, and then turned back to me. “Tosh. Unusual name for a woman.”

“It means ‘Pirate’ in Cryon,” I said.

The blue eyes went wide. “You’re a pirate?”

“Not anymore,” I said. It was partly true.

We faced each other across the floor of a Witness Protection safe-hold. We were deep in Federation territory, on a secure planet, but that’s as much as I can reveal. She was stretched across a narrow brown divan with her feet up. I stood by the door, arms to my side.

I never crossed my arms when on a job. Quicker to get to your weapons if your hand is free.

I caught her looking at my arsenal belt. The blaster was regulation and state of the art. I’d just picked it up at the Federation Lock and Carry. Drake favored an older, heavier model. He was a stickler for tried and true.

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