A Brother's Debt by Karl Jones

assignments, and the people looking for passage. He already had things to do so couldn’t afford the time to take on any of the assignments, and his ship was in no condition to be used by passengers, not to mention he didn’t really want to take on potential trouble while there was only him to deal with it. The posts from people looking for work did attract his attention, but since he couldn’t afford to hire anyone he quickly moved on from them to the deliveries section.
    In a short space of time Step had made arrangements to take on three deliveries going to Barth. None of the deliveries took up much space, the largest was only three medium sized boxes, and the money from them wasn’t great, but every credit increased the profitability of his journey so he didn’t complain.
    With all other arrangements for the first leg of his journey sorted Step had only one thing left to do, stock up on supplies for the flight, which according to his research would take him seven days.
    Ignoring everything else on the stall Step focused on the hanfa berries. They were a rarity in Mulnoy space, at least the parts he had travelled in, and too expensive for him to enjoy regularly, though he had had the opportunity to taste them a few times.
    The selection before him was more varied than he had seen anywhere else. The green and black varieties were available in Mulnoy space, if not easy to come by, but the yellow and red were new to him and he eagerly dug into his pocket for the money to buy some.
    “Andrei! Hey Andrei!” Since it wasn’t his name Step ignored the call, not thinking it was for him. He was proven wrong when he was taken by the shoulder and spun round, the next second he found a pair of lips on his, and a tongue eagerly sliding between them.
    Caught by surprise Step found his lips and tongue responding to the kiss, before his brain could kick in and tell his body the kiss was not meant for him.
    “You’re not Andrei.” The owner of the lips that had glued themselves to him pulled away, and Step found himself able to see the woman who had mistaken him for his brother.
    “No, I’m not,” Step agreed.
    “You look like him though, especially from behind. Who are you? And why did you kiss me back? That’s not a nice thing to do.”
    Though the expression on her face suggested the young woman before him wasn’t happy he had kissed her back, when he wasn’t the intended recipient of her kiss, Step got the impression she hadn’t minded. “I’m Andrei’s brother, Step,” he told her. “That’s why I look like him. “Sorry about kissing you,” he apologised, “it was automatic, a pretty woman kisses me and I just have to kiss her back.” As he spoke Step wondered who the woman was, he supposed she could be Andrei’s girlfriend, but he didn’t think she was, at least not one he had been committed to.
    “You’re Andrei’s brother alright,” the woman remarked, a slight smile playing about her lips as she studied him.
    Step was just trying to think of a polite way to ask who she was when. “VELKIN!” He turned automatically at the sound of his name and was just in time to receive a fist to the side of his jaw. The blow knocked him backwards into the stall and he put a hand out behind him to stop himself, planting it in the middle of the yellow hanfa berries. The berries popped and burst beneath his hand, coating it in the thick juice that oozed out.
    “I warned you what would happen if I saw you near my wife again!”
    Step had to hurriedly twist to one side to avoid the second blow that was aimed at him, and pushing himself away from the stall he brought his hands up into a defensive pose. He didn’t want to fight the man who had attacked him, but neither was he just going to stand there and accept a beating on behalf of his brother.
    When the fist came at him again Step dodged, blocking the blow with one hand. “I’m not Andrei,” he said, backing away, “I’m his brother.” He had no idea if he