Everyone but Eva bellowed, so she mustered up as much enthusiasm as she could and joined them. She was happy to see him, truly, after so long; the circumstances were just weird as hell, and now she was feeling extra shaken.
The music managed to get louder somehow, and with a final flourish, Leroy appeared. His suit mimicked his signature costume, yellow with a snakeskin pattern, perfectly tailored to his massive form. His orange-dyed hair was spiked up, and instead of a green mask he wore green shades, but his wrists still sported spiked bands, visible when he raised his fists into the air and roared. Everyone roared back, and he grinned like a fool, and Eva gritted her teeth and sucked in a breath and told herself sternly not to run up and hug him because she’d probably get tackled by his bodyguards.
People at the front of each line prepped the fans for what was apparently a ritual as choreographed as the big fights on the show. Leroy stood off to one side, brightly lit and larger than life, in front of a wall emblazoned with the Crash Sisters logo. A handler took one fan at a time up to meet him, at which point he chatted with them briefly, posed for a holograph, then pretended to punch them out of the way so the next person could be brought up. It was efficient, structured, and monitored by a pair of truateg almost as big as Leroy. The agent waited nearby, two of her four arms crossed, half her eyes on Leroy while the other half seemed to be dealing with business over her comms.
He looks so happy, Eva thought. Calm. Collected. Peaceful. He had hunched when he was on her crew, like he was trying to take up less space, avoid calling attention to himself. He’d pulled on his beard all the time from nerves and ground his teeth in his sleep. Now he stood tall, confident, his whole posture relaxed and his fingers slack instead of balled into fists.
Her thoughts sank back into the muck of Garilia, into shame and regret. Sure, she’d given Leroy a hand when he needed it, but she’d also let him get wrecked by a brain parasite. She’d told herself she was treating him well, but was she? Could she have done better, done more? Every time she talked him down from a fit of rage, or distracted him from a panic attack, was she just keeping him afloat in a pool of shit instead of helping him climb out?
Was it the same for the rest of the crew? Were they holding each other up, or was she holding them back? Especially Vakar, sweet Vakar, who could probably be off somewhere doing real good for the universe, the kind Mari and her Forge amigos thought they were doing. Why was he still with her, after everything? Love? Was that all? Was that enough?
You’re in a spiral, she told herself. Focus. You’re in a room full of sweaty fans, in the universe’s longest continuous convention, and as soon as you get out of here you’re going to talk to Pink and take your meds and get your shit together.
Eva thought about Pink posing for that picture with the dozen people in costume, and it made her chuckle just enough to get a hand over the edge of the pit she’d fallen into. If she could get a hand up, she could climb out.
Before she knew it, Eva was coming to the front of the line, and every question she needed to ask Leroy had fucked off to Casa Carajo. She probably looked wild; her nose turned bright red whenever she cried, and her eyes puffed up, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it now because time was up. He, meanwhile, continued to look like his best self, and her eyes teared up again with pride.
He froze for a moment when he noticed her, his mouth open, and Eva regretted coming to see him almost more than anything else she’d done to him. It shouldn’t have been here, not like this. But then he lowered his shades to show his bright-blue eyes, and grinned so widely that relief flooded her body.
“Captain?” he asked. “Hi! Wow! You’re really here?”
Eva nodded mutely, and Leroy pulled her in for a bear hug that took her breath away. His bodyguards took a few steps closer and Leroy waved them off, so they backed up.
“It’s just, wow!” Leroy repeated. “It’s been so long.”
“It has,” Eva agreed. “You look great.”
“Thanks. You look—” His face screwed up like he was trying to find a nice lie, and Eva laughed.
“I look like shit,” she said. “Así es la vida.”
“King, the line,” Leroy’s agent said, raising one of her arms to gesture at the two people still waiting. The woman behind Eva with the pink hair was scowling like Eva had pissed in her protein powder.
Leroy flapped a hand at his agent. “Yeah, it’s cool, I’ll get to them.” He turned back to Eva. “Did you actually do the whole Challenge Room to see me? Is everyone else here? Why didn’t you just call?”
“Your comms code changed again,” Eva said.
“Oh, right, yeah.” His freckled skin turned slightly pink. “Sorry about that, things have been busy, and we’re technically on lockdown anyway. Not supposed to make calls, because memvids, and spoilers.”
“Hey, no worries. Speaking of busy—”
His agent stalked over, resting two hands on Leroy’s expansive back. “King, while it is lovely to see you reconnect with an old friend, we have a schedule, and your real fans are waiting for you.”
The pink-haired woman made an affirmative noise, puffing her cheeks up angrily.
Eva’s neck went hot and she scowled. “I’ve been his fan for longer than you’ve known he existed, mija,” she snapped. “Keep your fancy pants on.”
The agent raised two fingers, and Leroy’s truateg bodyguards immediately flanked Eva. They loomed over her, short as she was, and were doused in synthetic hormones meant to trigger reflexive fear in most humans.
Unfortunately for them, Eva wasn’t most humans, and she was already on edge. She grinned up at them, silently daring them to lay hands on her so she could give them a taste of a real fight.
“Anji, enough,” Leroy said sternly. “I’ll finish when I finish.” He’d been relaxed before, but now he threw his shoulders back and straightened to his full height, just over two meters of solid muscle. For a moment, Eva worried he was going to lose his temper, fall into a rage the way he used to—the way he pretended to for his adoring fans every time he stepped onto a fighting stage.
Instead, he lowered his shades and glared at his agent, who made a gargling noise and threw him an elaborate series of hand signals that he answered with a smile and a middle finger. The truateg backed away, and Leroy turned his smile to Eva, who was momentarily dazzled.
“Sorry, Captain, you know how it is,” he said. His smile faded. “I’m guessing this is something serious, huh?”
“Unfortunately,” Eva said. “Not that I don’t want to hang out, obviously. We all miss you.”
“I know.” The corners of his eyes crinkled. “So what is it?”
“You were here six months ago,” Eva said, rubbing her neck. “We’re looking for a guy named Josh Zafone who was here at the same time.”
“I don’t know him. Who is he?”
“Sue’s brother. The engineer who replaced Vakar, remember?”
Leroy nodded. “Right, she seems nice. But the name isn’t familiar, sorry.”
Eva shrugged, ignoring the glares Anji was shooting at her with her spidery eyes. “It’s okay, it was a long shot. But it was weird because you were both in Medoral at the same time, too, so we figured we’d ask.”
“Oh, yeah, Medoral. That was a wild one!” Leroy laughed. “Ashila was just starting to fight with us. He’s a xana, they’re a species from this really far-out garden world?”
“Garilia,” Eva said. Her stomach clenched at the reminder. “Did anything else happen here or there that you remember? Anything that stood out?”
“Let me think.” Leroy’s lips pursed and his face twisted, then his eyebrows shot up. “Oh, there were the Pod Pals!”
Eva squinted, then nodded in recognition. “Oh, yeah, the Ball Buddies.” She suppressed a snicker.
“Right, those things.” Leroy grinned. “They were kind of cool. Little robots, about as big as a cat or a dog. The company that made them was doing a demonstration. They were supposed
to be just like the animals from the xana homeworld—what did you say it was called?”
Eva was starting to see a shadow forming on the wall, and she didn’t like its shape. “Garilia.” Every time she said the word, it tasted more sour.
“King,” Anji said, her voice strained. “I apologize for the inconvenience, however our schedule is—”
“I know, I know,” Leroy said. He pulled Eva in for another quick hug, then released her. “I don’t know if I helped, but it was great to see you again finally. I’m glad you’re not, you know. That you didn’t . . .”
“Die at some point?” Eva laughed. “You know me. I’ve got as many lives as all our cats put together.”
“I sure hope so. Later, Captain.” He gave her one last look over the tops of his shades, his blue eyes misted with emotion, then slid them back into place. Within moments he wasn’t merely Leroy Cooper, he was The King again, and Eva was one of his fans who needed to get the hell out of the way so he could take his next holograph.
“Hasta luego, mijo,” she told Leroy. “Call me if you need me.”
The handler who had led Eva up stepped forward uncertainly and gestured for her to follow them. Eva nodded, waving as she went, and stuck her tongue out at the pink-haired woman as they passed each other. By the time she had left the room, the machinery of fandom was once again running smoothly, as if it had never been disrupted in the first place.
There was nothing smooth about Eva in that moment. She was glad there were no mirrors in the uncomfortably narrow hallway to show her how small and desmondingado she looked. But of course, there was even better.
A chipper woman in a Crash Sisters shirt appeared seemingly out of nowhere. “Would you like to purchase the holograph of your meeting with The King?” she asked, smiling broadly and poking her dimpled cheek. “We have versions available with full sensory—”
“No thanks,” Eva said. She didn’t add that she’d rather wrestle a needle-bear naked while on fire, because the woman was just doing her job; no need to be rude.
The walk down the hallway was longer than any she had taken that day, alone as she was with the minimal information Leroy had given her. No matter how hard she tried to dismiss the Garilia connection, it crept back into her thoughts like a sly cat intent on stealing attention. It could be coincidence. One more random thing, like Leroy’s presence in the two places Josh had happened to visit in a row.
With any luck, her mother would have another lead for her. Because the last thing Eva wanted to do, in any of her catlike multiple lives, was go back to Garilia.
Chapter 6
Bad Penny
Before she even made it back to the main convention area, much less to La Sirena Negra and her crew, Eva had sent a half dozen messages—to Pink and Min, to Vakar, even to her mother—with requests or instructions on what to do next. Action meant control, and control was something Eva needed, even if it was an illusion. The other thing she needed was information, because every lead so far had turned up nothing useful, and she was tired of throwing punches and hitting empty air.
Vakar was waiting for her when she walked up the ramp to the cargo bay, smelling minty as he suppressed his own anxiety. She gratefully accepted a hug from him and stood there for as long as her natural antsiness allowed, before stepping back and pinging Min that it was time to go.
“What did you find out about those robots?” Eva asked Vakar once they reached the mess, busying her hands with making coffee. Mala appeared in the doorway and sauntered over, winding her furry body around Eva’s legs and purring like a combustion engine.
Vakar stood next to her, leaning against the counter as he spoke. “The Sylfe Company is indeed based in Garilia, as you suspected. It was founded several years ago by—”
“How many?” Eva snapped, then took a deep breath and put down the spoon she was gripping like a weapon. “How many years ago was it founded?” she asked, more calmly.
“Three, by someone called Lashra Damaal.” He spoke more slowly than usual, as if he were choosing his words carefully, and his scent carried an undercurrent of concern. “She was not present for the political turmoil that occurred previously, having accepted a BOFA-funded scholarship to pursue educational opportunities off-planet at the time.”
Eva picked the spoon back up and finished tamping down the grounds in the filter basket, then filled the reservoir with water. Mala’s purring intensified, and she jumped onto the counter, butting her head against Eva’s hand as Eva tried to screw the cafetera back together.
“Are bots the only thing the Sylfe Company makes?” Eva asked.
“No. They are a government-contracted entity that also provides necessary items for the residents of the planet, such as food, medications, and durable goods.” He reached up and grabbed a cup from the cabinet, handing it to Eva.
“But the robots are what they’re pushing now? Off-planet, anyway.”
“Correct. Damaal has been traveling to various points in the universe to demonstrate them, and reportedly to secure additional funding for their production on a broader scale.”
Eva rubbed Mala’s furry head and stared at the cafetera as the water heated up, as if she could will it to boil faster. “But what does any of that have to do with Josh?” she mused aloud. “He can build robots, sure, but he was locked up by The Fridge the whole time this company was doing their thing.” Was he there for the coup? He couldn’t have been. Eva’s neck went hot and cold all at once, and she shuddered involuntarily.
“A connection is unclear, assuming one exists.” Vakar rested a hand on her shoulder, and she turned it into a sideways hug. “I will do additional research, but I . . .” He paused, and his scent shifted to add a nervous tar note.
“What, what happened?” Eva asked, her own nerves already as taut as guitar strings. Mala made an inquisitive noise as Eva stopped petting her.
Vakar hesitated a few moments before proceeding. “My superiors were pleased by our actions on Medoral, as I was able to secure useful intelligence on Fridge activities in the area. However, I am concerned that they will soon request details on my forthcoming intentions, or assign me a specific mission that will run counter to your own.”
“Right.” Until now, Eva and Pink had been more than happy to tag along with Vakar, since his bosses mostly had him doing work they wanted to do anyway: finding The Fridge and fucking with them. But sometimes he had to run off to do work on his own, especially if Eva had picked up a delivery or transport job that went nowhere near a known Fridge cell.
Eva’s arm skin prickled. “What did you tell them about The Forge?”
“I did not.”
“You what?” Vakar’s inability to lie was nearly legendary. When he became a Wraith, he’d been forced to work past it to maintain appropriate levels of secrecy, but he relied on tech and meds where physical limitations existed. And he hated doing it on principle anyway, unless absolutely necessary. So for him to decide to not just lie, but lie to his bosses, was a lot for Eva to process.
Vakar’s gray-blue eyes met hers, then looked toward the far wall. “I did not want to jeopardize your own mission inadvertently. I also did not obtain a substantial amount of actionable data from the Forge facility, and so I determined it was prudent to bide my time.”
Prudent. Hah. That sounded like him, at least. Eva flinched as the coffee timer went off, startling her. Reluctantly, she moved away from Vakar, from the comforting licorice smell that nearly always emanated from him. The ritual and rhythm of spooning out sugar, stirring up espumita, and pouring out the rest of the black gold was its own kind of calming, and by the time she took her first sip of scalding sweetness, she was feeling less flustered.
“No sense borrowing trouble,” she said finally. “If your bosses get pissy, we’ll deal with it. Until then, we keep looking for Josh.”
“That was my estimation of the situation as well. But I wanted to be certain you were aware of the potential future difficulties, so you were not taken by surprise.�
� Vakar ran a gloved hand over her hair affectionately, and she smiled up at him. Mala, meanwhile, had wandered off somewhere, perhaps sensing that no further pets were forthcoming.
That cat always did have a mind of her own, Eva thought. Such was the way of cats, more so the psychic ones.
“Hey, Cap,” Min said through the speakers. “Sorry to bother you, but your mom just left you a message. Want me to play it in there?”
A message? Weird, considering she could have just talked to Eva.
“Sure, go ahead,” Eva said.
The lights dimmed slightly and her mother’s image appeared in the center of the table. Regina wore an openmouthed scowl, as if she had just yelled at someone nearby and was returning her attention to the holoscreen.
“Hola, mijita, discúlpame, I’m on my way to another meeting,” Regina said. “Qué arroz con mango, estoy agotada. They have me running around like a chicken with my head cut off.”
Eva snorted. Her mom, some BOFA big-shot, whatever that meant. Who would have seen it coming?
“Anyway,” the message continued, “I checked what you asked and it looks like there were transactions in a place called Tyet-Ruru, on the planet Abelgard. I hope that helps. I’ll call you back later. Adiós, love you.” The holo image disappeared, and the lights returned to their normal level.
“Abelgard, huh,” Eva said. “Why does that sound familiar?” She took another sip of coffee, staring blankly at the now-empty table. Every new bit of information she obtained felt like a single pixel from some giant holovid: totally useless by itself, almost equally useless when put together, and she had no idea how she would ever manage to find a large enough fragment of the big picture to make any sense of it.
In the doorway, someone gasped: Sue, with a crowbar in one hand and a piece of interior hull paneling in the other, paler than usual.
“What?” Eva asked.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Abelgard!” Min interjected before Sue could answer, her voice shrill with excitement. “Please, you have to let me visit The Sump!”
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