3. Kid

The freighter's distress call was received while the Nova Corp carrier was in the middle of a night cycle. Dey woke up from a deep sleep to a call to battle stations. He was half asleep while pulling on his uniform but he still made it to his station within the allowed response time. As his instructor had said, it counted even if you were asleep when you got there.

He finally woke up when his transport ship boarded the freighter. Rhomann was in the third transport so the action was over by the time he got there. The first two groups were handling the wounded and dealing with the ship itself, and it fell to his group to process the captives.

The line of captured Ravagers knelt in the main hallway, docile enough in their restraints. Most of them sneered at Dey and his fellow Corpsmen as they walked by them, surveying the group. Corpsman Kaal nudged Dey. "Hey, lookit."

Rhomann followed the other corpsman's pointing finger to the last two Ravagers. They were smaller than the rest of them, which was odd. Most of the space pirates were either hulking fighters or good pilots. Dey took a few steps closer, and found himself walking to the end of the line.

The closest was the bigger of the two, and as Dey walked toward them, he shuffled around a little so he was in front of the other one. The motion was completely protective which was interesting and a little curious. The corpsman circled wide as he got close, knowing you couldn't trust a Ravager, no matter how small.

The bigger one was only a kid, his expression sullen as he stared up at the Nova Corp guards. When he saw Dey watching them, he scowled harder, as if he could keep them away by sheer force of his anger.

The smaller one really caught Dey's attention. He was younger than even the first and someone has given him a hell of a beating. He couldn't sit upright, slumping against the wall behind him. "He was the one who sent the message," Kaal said, pointing at the bruised kid. "I remember him from the vid."

Dey wondered if they'd beaten him up before making him send the message. The pirates were not above using a hurt kid as bait. They'd seen this from the Ravagers before: ambush a ship, clean it out, and then send out a distress call to lure in another ship. Only this time, the Ravagers had lured in a Nova Corp carrier and had fled rather than fight. They had left behind a few of their brawlers on board - and two kids.

Dey crouched down in front of the bigger, protective one. "Hi. I'm Corpsman Rhomann Dey. What's your name?"

The kid stared at him a moment. "Star Lord," he said, all bluster and bravado.

"Really?" Dey probably shouldn't have laughed but it was a preposterous name. "Your parents named you Star Lord?"

"My mom-" The kid cut himself off. "I'm also Peter Quill."

Dey looked at the other boy. "Tyrion Quill." Tyrion added a graceful nod that seemed out of place on this ship.

"Brothers?" Dey asked, smiling a little.

The two exchanged quick glances before nodding. Dey wasn't fooled. These two looked nothing alike so they were probably brothers of choice rather than blood. Tyrion was older than his size indicated, so Dey wasn't even sure they were the same species. "Here," he said, unclipping his water from his belt. "I bet you're thirsty."

"Thank you." Again, Tyrion spoke like he'd been educated in a fine school, his words clear. Dey moved to the side and started to lean in, only to have Peter edge forward.

"You first," the older boy said, his blue eyes suspicious.

Rhomann thought about arguing that he was in the Nova Corp and if he wanted them dead he could just shoot them. Instead, he tipped the bottle back and took a swallow. Only then did Peter allow him to give Tyrion a drink. He offered one to Peter, who just shook his head. "How old are you two?" Dey asked softly.

"Sixteen," Tyrion said.

Peter scowled but admitted, "Eighteen."

Dey smiled. The age of majority on Nova was twenty-five. He should be able to earn these two some leniency based on their age. "Hang tight, you two. I'll be back shortly." Rising, he went to find his commanding officer.

Notes: Dey will probably be in the next installment, too. That will be written as soon as my life permits.

Thanks for reading!