“Won’t be long now,” Jonus Webster promised with a wide smile. There was a twinkle in his eye as he said it, a promise of future mischief. As he turned his gaze back towards the unloading of the cargo, Saffron rolled her eyes.

The sooner I can be rid of this idiot the better.

Her smile came back full-strength as he glanced back her way again, his own smile slipping slightly as he muttered an apology. As the captain of The Merchant Of Verona moved off to direct the port labourers himself, the young woman had to admit he was a handsome enough fellow, if a trifle predictable. He had fallen for her terrible tale of woe hook, line and sinker, believing her when she said the jewellery she had paid for passage with was all she had been able to grab before fleeing her cruel employers.

Freeing a beautiful woman from such a captivity fed the fires of men’s egos, and the heat and flames could also blind them. Playing the noble rescuer seemed to leave little time for other thoughts, such as the kind that made it easy to see through paper-thin, hastily-constructed lies.

A couple of con jobs on the back streets of Bellerophon’s capital had bought her the passage, but guile and seeming helplessness had made the captain her protector and ardent suitor. It also helped that he was very interested in getting off the planet without delay, to save her from her nasty captors, which was fine with her. Especially when his destination was Newhall, which was exactly where she needed to be.

“Carrie, my sweet,” Jonus called to her, holding out a hand. Saffron gave him her sunniest smile and daintily jumped down from the packing crate she had been sat on. She smoothed down the plain grey dress, adjusted the collar, and walked towards him, a demure figure. He cut a dashing figure himself with his dark coat and white shirt, boots shining from their recent polish, hair washed and combed back. He was certainly much better turned out than some captains... Even his ship, a Mustang-class cargo transpo