“Cygni, could I suggest something?” Sanul’s small ears flicked at the air.
“Go ahead.” She nodded.
“How about, ‘Cosmos Corporation, connecting us all?’”
She mulled it over in her mind. “Much better. Let’s go with that.”
“Making the changes now,” Sanul closed his eyes, accessing the company servers.
“I like it, but I’m a bit of a poor judge,” she said.
Ila looked up at her. “Please do not put yourself down, Haem Cygni.”
She gave nium a look. “Good work on this. Let the team know.”
“I will, Haem Cygni.”
“Baron Revenant needs to review it, then we send this down to the broadcasting department. It needs to be on athenaeum crystal,” she said.
“I’ll get the AC made.” Sanul’s lips pulled back from his crystal teeth in a shining smile.
“Okay, I guess that’s it.” She got up and they rose with her.
“Cygni, could I have a moment of your time?” Ila asked.
She nodded. Sanul lingered by the door until she shooed him out with a wave of her hand.
“What is it, Ila?” She shut the door with a command from her implant.
“I know it is not appropriate for the workplace, but I was hoping you could help me with a personal matter.”
She blinked. “Sure, if I can.”
“I wouldn’t ask, but you have been with Biren Euphrati before and you must know him better than I. Also, he is human, like you, and maybe this is normal behavior for—”
She felt her stomach sink.
“I am sorry, I should not have asked. You look sick.”
“No, it’s not you. You’re right, I do know a bit about Biren. What’s he done now?” She gritted her teeth, guessing at what was bothering Ila.
“After we met for services in the park, I mean, the next night after, Biren and I had dinner. I took him to a traditional Isinari restaurant. He seemed to enjoy the food and my company, but he has not returned my contact requests since.”
She sighed. It was as she expected when she stopped seeing him at the morning services in the park. Ila looked for him the last two mornings before starting the service.
“Is this normal for human courtship?” niu asked.
“No, it’s not.” She came around the desk. “Biren isn’t like most Solan men,” or she hoped he wasn’t. She hadn’t dated one since him. “I don’t think he’s really interested in you. I’m sorry Ila. He hasn’t got the guts to tell you himself, but maybe you should look elsewhere for, well—” By the Matre she sucked at this. She sighed, wishing she had some better way to express what niu had to hear.
Ila dropped her eyes to the floor. “In my culture, it is different. When someone you are interested in accepts a dinner invitation, but refuses physical intimacy, it means they are interested in something deeper.”
“What?” She was unfamiliar with Isinari culture, though she heard the rumors. They were reputed to be flagrant hedonists, engaging in casual sex with any willing individual, and viewed prostitution as part of normal social functioning. She assumed such rumors were false or exaggerations, and she had never heard that a refusal of physical intimacy with one meant romantic interest. “You are saying if someone turns you down it means they’re interested in a relationship? How do you just turn someone down?”
“Haem Cygni, I think you misunderstood me. The offer of dinner is a kind of code in my culture. Often we trade physical intimacy in place of currency, or to finalize agreements. It is a tradition among my people going back thousands of years. My species can swap genes through such contact. It is how we share beneficial traits with the group as a whole or gain desirable traits through bargaining. We use certain cues as a way of distinguishing business transactions from emotional intimacy, which is far more serious to an Isinari. Haem Euphrati told me he knew all about it right at the start of our date.”
“Of course he did.” She sighed. That bastard probably said he knew just to get nium relaxed enough to probe for information. “I am sorry to tell you, Ila, but he didn’t really know. Biren says a lot of things to get what he wants, and most of them aren’t true.”
“He lied?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Do you think he was afraid of me?”
She laughed, but regretted it the moment she saw Ila’s expression change.
“I’m sorry, that wasn’t funny. No, I don’t think he was afraid of you. I think he was just trying to use you for something.”
“Really? Because I thought I scared him off. You know about our reputation?”
“Huh?”
“You know, they say my species are gene-thieves, but it is not true. We don’t actually steal DNA, we copy genes from what we take in, and we certainly can’t choose what traits we get. The process is somewhat random and complex.”
“Ila, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m also sure that Biren wouldn’t have either.”
“How do you know?”
“Years ago, when I was just getting my start on Minlea IV, I worked for a local news station. One day, while on assignment, I met Biren Euphrati. He didn’t actually call himself that, but I found out who he was later. He said he found me pretty, and like a sucker, I fell for it. It turned out that he was just using me to get into the Orgnan slave ring I was investigating. They kidnapped some Gaians and Biren was there to get them back.
“If he just asked me for my help I would have been happy to give it. He was handsome, and nice, and I would’ve done anything for him but he chose to lie to me. He used me, pumped me for information, then abandoned me after most of a year. He just left without saying goodbye. I was devastated.” She shook, trying in vain not to feel the heartache from that time again.
“Haem Cygni, that’s horrible, but how could the son of Lalande Euphrati do that?”
“That’s who he is. He doesn’t love anyone more than himself. His sister came to me after and explained what happened. We became good friends, but I never forgave him.” She stopped herself. The pleasant memories of befriending Boadicea had turned to pain since their last meeting—since she betrayed her.
Ila moved forward, wrapping niur long arms around her body. She was going to resist at first, but realized that she needed the hug and pushed herself into it.
“Thank you,” she said when they separated.
“No, Haem Cygni, thank you. I think you have just saved me from some difficulty. This is why you were so upset at the park the first time you saw him there, yes?”
She nodded.
“Thank you.” Niu looked her in the eye. “My people exchange intimacy as a way of showing closeness, too. It is less serious than Solans would take it to be, but more serious than a business transaction when done in this way. If you were Isinari, I would offer it to you now for what you have done.”
She felt herself blush. “Thank you, Ila, but you don’t have to. I’m not Isinari. Maybe if I wasn’t with someone, but I am, so—”
“I understand. Thank you again.” Ila headed for the door.
Cygni turned to the window and stared out at the field of office towers. She wondered what might have become of her and Biren if things had been different on Minlea, and then wondered why it was that in three days she hadn’t heard from Boa. She was trying not to think about it, but the conversation with Ila brought her fears to the forefront. Of course she couldn’t expect anything better than this after she betrayed Boa’s trust, but she still held on to the glimmer of hope that her friend might one day forgive her. Maybe by working together that might happen. She breathed in and braced herself. It would be time to report to their common enemy as soon as Sanul got back with the athenaeum crystal.
She decided to take care of some personal business while she waited, and started out, but jumped back when the doors to her office slid open. Giselle stood on the other side, her black eyes sparkling, and gave a sheepish wave.
“I’m sorry, did I star
tle you?”
“Um, no—well, yes, you did.” Cygni panted. “It’s okay, my own stupid mistake for not watching where I’m going.”
“Don’t be silly. I should be the one apologizing. I should have queried your door before entering. Is this a bad time?” Giselle asked.
She was waiting for Sanul, so technically it wasn’t, but she was also on her way to the rest room. “Um, I was just on my way to—”
“Say no more.” Giselle stood to the side.
“Thank you. Is it important?”
“I’m just trying to get away from Doctor Know-it-all. He’s brilliant but infuriating. Know what I mean?”
“Yeah.”
Giselle looked her over. “Don’t let me stop you.”
“Thank you.” She hurried past the woman and hung a sharp right around Ila’s cubicle before she noticed Giselle following her. She spent a moment wondering if she wanted to put up with the woman acting like a cerberai puppy, then decided it didn’t really matter. She was going to be quick anyway.
They entered the spacious room through the frosted glass door. It slid shut leaving them alone with seven, stainless-steel stalls and a line of sinks on either side of the white-tile chamber. The white light of the glowing ceiling made the silver comet set in the floor shine. She headed straight into the first stall and closed the door behind her. The hard soles of her shoes echoed on the tile walls.
“So as I was saying, he’s just been getting on my nerves a lot. He’s got me running back and forth like a mailmaton on extra batteries.”
“Oh?” She rolled her eyes. Why was it some women just assumed it was okay to follow others into the rest room? At least Giselle hadn’t followed her into the stall.
“On the plus side, I suppose, I’m really getting to know the city better than I ever thought. I’ve eaten at least five new places this week. Isn’t it amazing how there are always new places to discover in a city this big?”
“Amazing,” she said, half-hating herself for encouraging the vapid conversation.
“Did you know that there are great places to eat in the Diplomatic District?”
She stiffened. Giselle’s mention of it was strange considering she’d just been there with Boa and Biren. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled. It could just be a coincidence, and maybe she was just being paranoid, but—
“Are there?” she answered.
“Yeah, you almost wouldn’t believe it, but there’s this great steak place down in the Relaen sector. You wouldn’t ever guess that beings that spend almost their entire lives in space would know anything about Solan steak, but there it is. I tried it on a lark and I’ve been back twice since.”
She sighed. I’m getting paranoid, too paranoid. She finished up and exited the stall to the sound of the waste reclamation unit running.
Giselle smiled, leaning back against the sink counter. “I’ve got to take you sometime.”
“Sure.” She smiled back and let it become real. This poor woman was just looking for some companionship at a new company. If she hadn’t been so wrapped up in her personal mission, she’d probably be the same way. “Actually, I’d really like that.”
“Fantastic.” Giselle grinned.
She led the way back to her office, disappointed to see that Sanul wasn’t at his desk or waiting for her inside. Giselle followed her in.
“And you’ll never guess where he sends me the most,” she said when the doors were shut.
“Where?”
Giselle moved in close, leaning forward as though the office doors were not enough to block her whisper from carrying. “Xur’qon Island.”
She looked at the woman. “Really?”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe what’s there, I mean, aside from the Premier and such.”
“What’s there?” Cygni asked.
“Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but way back before the Cleebians came and built Ikuzlu City the island was once a temple. The palace was built over its ruins, and guess what?”
Cygni knew the basic history from school and she’d been there herself, but something about the way Giselle was talking made her want to listen very carefully. “What?”
“The temple is still there.” Giselle’s eyes widened. “Yeah, seriously, it is. I’ve seen it. The doctor sent me down to—”
The office door bell chimed.
She flinched away. “Oops, I’m out of time. I’ll tell you later.”
Cygni frowned, disappointed. “Enter.”
Sanul slipped in before the doors finished opening. The light in the office split into a rainbow sheen on his curving crystal horns.
“Hey boss, here it is.” He walked up to her and presented the quartz wafer in his four-digit hand. “Oh, hi there.”
“Hello,” Giselle said in a bubbly tone.
“Thank you Sanul.” Cygni took the athenaeum and put it in her jacket pocket. “I appreciate you doing this for me.”
“All part of the job.” Sanul’s cow-like eyes gleamed. He cleared his throat.
“Oh, sorry. Sanul Mondu, this is Giselle, um—”
“Tauthe, Giselle Tauthe,” the woman finished for her.
“Sorry.”
“Not at all. You’ve got a lot on your mind.”
“No, that’s all right. Thank you for the conversation.” Cygni filed away the information about the temple in the back of her mind while Giselle and Sanul exchanged greetings. It was interesting but probably irrelevant to her investigation. Next time she was there—if there was a next time—she might look for it, but it was probably one of the thousand useless articles of trivia she never really needed to recall again. Still, she wondered what other stories the woman might have. It would help if Giselle could give her the inside scoop on what Doctor Rega was up to.
“And let’s do lunch or dinner at that steak place. I want you to prove it’s that good,” she said.
“Deal!” Giselle nodded.
“I’m taking this up. Thanks again, Sanul. I appreciate it.”
He snorted and shuffled his crystal hooves on her carpet. “Anytime, Cygni.”
She looked at Giselle when he left with his hooves making muffled clopping sounds on the office floor.
“Oh, I’m going with you. Rega wants me to report on Baron Revenant’s reaction to what you’ve been cooking the last few days.”
“Oh, um, okay.” She hadn’t been expecting that. “I guess we should get moving.”
Giselle nodded and followed her. As they left her office she messaged Baron Revenant to let him know the project was complete.
[COME UP NOW, AND SHOW IT TO ME] scrolled across her field of vision in text marked with Baron Revenant’s personal CPAd.
She took a deep breath and headed towards the lift bank with her unexpected companion in tow. It’d been forever since she felt like a neophyte eager to make a good impression, and she rubbed her sweaty palms against the smartfibers of her uniform as the lift ascended.
“Nervous?”
She nodded.
“I always am when I meet someone of his stature. It doesn’t help things that he’s handsome as well as rich.” Giselle winked.
She gave the woman a look.
“Well, am I wrong?”
She sighed. “I guess not, but right now that kind of thing is far from my mind. I have to get this right.”
“And you will. You’ve got a good team, and I know you’re quite capable. Relax, you’ll do well. He’ll love it.”
“Thank you,” Cygni said, not really believing it.
Giselle’s dark eyes held her gaze for a moment. The lift seemed to slow and then accelerate again, causing her to feel light-headed. The sensation seemed to take some of her nervousness with it when it passed.
The lift stopped and its doors opened to the same, water-filled chamber where she met the baron before. He stood by the window dressed in an all-white suit with Capri pants, looking out at the city skyline in the afternoon sunlight. She stepped off the lift, and immediate
ly felt dizzy. Her hands shot out and gripped the lift’s door frame for support until it passed. She was about to take another step when a feeling of dread stopped her. There had been another time when she had a sudden, strange dizzy spell, and she knew what it meant.
Oh, fuck me, she thought and glanced back at Giselle. The other woman swayed on her feet and looked confused, putting a hand on the wall behind them to steady herself. After a moment Giselle shook her head and seemed to regain her equilibrium.
Cygni activated her cerebral computer’s multitasking function and split her consciousness, letting her cybernetic sensory organs filter their raw data directly into her implant’s memory instead of her biological brain. She knew from the last time that although she couldn’t see the VoQuana, the spy-grains could, and it gave her an idea. She had her machine-eyes feed their raw data right to her cerebral computer. With the computer processing the image instead of her visual cortex, she hoped to outwit whatever the VoQuana was using to blind her to his presence. The refined digital image channeled into her consciousness from the bypass, and forced her mind to see what her cerebral computer did.
“Miss Aragón, Miss Tauthe, welcome.” Baron Revenant didn’t turn around, but beckoned her forward with his hand.
She took a step, hearing the water splash around her foot as she lost her balance and stumbled. Giselle grabbed her arm and helped her regain her feet. Her visual field was so sharp now it hurt, but having her computer force its data into her brain was causing her other senses problems.
Baron Revenant turned around. “Are you all right?”
“Just feeling a bit off, Baron.” She forced herself upright, walking forward with careful steps. The deeper she moved into the donut-shaped room the more she saw of it. She kept her eyes moving, trying to spy where the VoQuana might be hiding.
“Have I overworked you, Miss Aragón?”
“No, I’m all right.” Her breath caught in her throat when she spotted the four marble-skinned women standing around in the nude by the inner curve of the room.
“Don’t worry, my pets won’t harm you,” Baron Revenant said.
“I’m sorry. I was just startled.” She stumbled again, and again Giselle’s hand was there to steady her. Her ears rang, and her nostrils were filled with the smell of oranges. It took two more shaky steps to reach the poly-glass next to the baron.
Keltan's Gambit: Chronicles of the Orion Spur Book 2 Page 29