Keltan's Gambit: Chronicles of the Orion Spur Book 2

by Michael Formichelli

  “Do you smell that?” Cygni whispered to Giselle. “It’s something damp, musty, with a hint of sweetness.”

  “That is the orkag. It’s made from a kind of nut that is native to Svaldaar-II; that’s our home world. It should help you relax once you’re in the water,” Sanul said.

  “You call your home world by its system name and orbital number?” Cygni was shocked.

  “We have another name for it, but until we are free of Orgnan domination it is considered profane to speak it,” Sanul said.

  “Sorry.” She frowned, blushing and embarrassed for the second time that afternoon. “Um, can we just get in?”

  He held up his hand, studying the water. One of the Volgoths near the back muttered something to his companion, setting off a ripple of hoarse, barking laughter around the chamber. Giselle shot them an unamused look.

  “Ignore them,” Sanul said. He squatted down in that fold-up way that only having two knees could manage, then gingerly placed his hoof into the water. Bracing himself with his arms, he lowered the rest of his body in and moved away from the edge.

  Giselle snorted, staring down the other group until their laughter died. “Animals,” she muttered.

  “Remember we’re the intruders here,” Cygni whispered to her.

  “I guess, but it doesn’t mean they have the right to laugh at us,” she whispered back.

  “Okay, come on, but don’t go past the mid-point between the edge and the statues.” Sanul gestured with his hand.

  Cygni frowned. “Why not?”

  “We are not high enough status in the community to do that. Only those of high rank can approach the center.”

  “Weird,” she said.

  “To Solans, maybe.”

  “Oh, Sanul, I’m sorry. I didn’t—never mind, I’m going to just shut my stupid mouth up now.” She shook her head, feeling the blush go from her face all the way down her chest.

  She climbed into the steaming water and moved away to allow Ila and Giselle to do the same. Ila’s tattoos made beautiful electric patterns on the surface as she lowered niuself in.

  Sanul led them to a set of pedestals away from the chamber entrance and perched on top of one. With his legs folded up, the water came to just shy of the top of his shoulders. Cygni and Ila followed his lead, choosing pedestals next to his so that they could all face each other. Rather than squat, she just planted her derriere on the seat, which put the water over her shoulders, but she didn’t mind. The temperature burned her skin at first, but soon became soothing. Giselle sat with one leg tucked under on her pedestal to get her shoulders above the water line, and Ila, after a brief attempt at squatting that left everything above niur waist in the air, decided that Cygni had the right idea and sat down.

  The four of them grew quiet, simply enjoying the heat, the white noise of the splashing fountain, and the massaging effect the slow-flowing water had on their bodies. As they relaxed, Volgoths entered and left the pool several times, but more left than came in and soon they were alone. Cygni wasn’t sure how much time passed before Sanul got off the pedestal, but her fingers were pruned up. A Volgoth female entered the chamber wearing so much jewelry pierced through her flesh that it looked like she had on a breastplate made of silver chains. In her hands she carried a plastic tray with lines of rolled up leaves.

  “I’ll be right back,” Sanul said.

  She watched him climb out of the pool, his hooves made wet-clopping sounds and he dripped water from his fur all over the tiled walkway. He negotiated with the female for a minute in his own language. She gave them a look, then reluctantly handed him four rolled leaves and left.

  “What is that?” she asked when he came back, carefully holding the leaves above the water.

  “Phytrophor.” He pushed three of the leaf-rolls into the loops of the earrings on one of his ears. The fourth he held up to the wide, black nostrils above his mouth and inhaled.

  She activated her implant, searching for “Phytrophor” on the Cyberweb. In moments the results came back informing her it was a narcotic weed native to Svaldaar-II, and often cultivated in Volgoth communities around the Spur. It came in several forms with various degrees of effects depending on the level of refinement, but in general it produced a pleasant tingling combined with a light-headed euphoria in waves of sensation throughout the body. She skipped over the middle of the data after seeing it was going into more depth about the effects of the refined versions, which Sanul clearly didn’t have. At the bottom of the article there was a note about the stuff being illegal in the Confederation, but she had expected that the moment she read the word “narcotic.”

  “That’s a drug,” Ila said, staring at the leaf-roll with wide eyes.

  “It’s an important herb to my people. We used to use it as bath-spice on our home world.” Sanul peeled off a leaf, revealing that the roll was actually made of several of them packed together. He stuck it in his mouth and started masticating.

  “The article says it’s a narcotic,” Cygni said.

  Sanul stopped chewing. His eyes grew wide as he stared at her, his ears twitching. “Is that a problem?”

  She had broken many laws in her lifetime, mostly media access laws, trespassing, cyber crimes, and the like. The last time she did anything narcotic was when she was on Minlea IV. It helped her get through things then, but she hadn’t had the desire since. Maybe it was the light-headed buzz she already had from the heat of the pool, or the stress of recent days, but she suddenly found she was curious enough to experiment again.

  “Let me try one?” she asked, reaching across the water.

  Giselle made little noises and brought her arm up above the water to wave a hand in Sanul’s direction. Cygni glanced at Ila as she took a leaf about as long and thick as two of her thumbs put together. Niu had a strange look she interpreted as surprise and concern, or maybe disapproval, she wasn’t sure. Ila was so straight-laced it almost boggled her mind that someone like that could be so sexually casual. The whole species, it occurred to her, had a dual reputation for being both hedonistic and willing to work themselves to death. It was a strange dichotomy, and she had to wonder how well deserved the stereotype was.

  “So what else do you do?” she asked as she sniffed the dry leaf as Sanul had. Her olfactory scanner got to work on the grassy smell.

  “Boss, do you—what’s the Solan term for this?” He handed Giselle a roll which she immediately put in her mouth and held there with one hand like a lollipop.

  “Are you asking if I get debauched every now and again? Well, I haven’t in a long time, but I like to think of myself as pretty open minded. You and Giselle obviously are.”

  “Are you implying I do other stuff?” Sanul’s eyelids drifted a little, partially obscuring his wide, oval orbs. “Ah, there it is.”

  “Cygni, I’m not sure you should try that. Cross-species narcotics are not a good idea, even for my own species,” Ila said in a low voice.

  The olfactory scan started to show results in her UI. Most of them were chemical names she’d never heard of, but three were flagged in red indicating they were toxic to human life.

  “Damn, looks like I won’t be having this after all. Giselle, you may want to stop doing that.” She handed the leaf back to Sanul.

  “Why?” He looked almost hurt.

  Giselle removed the roll from her mouth with a frown.

  “My olfactory scanner flagged it as toxic, sorry.” Cygni really was disappointed; she was looking forward to the escape the leaf might have offered.

  “Olfactory scanner? What kind of hardware do you have in there?” Sanul leaned forward on the pedestal, swaying yet somehow maintaining his balance despite his intoxicated state.

  She opened her mouth, but paused. Should she tell them? “Well, you three have heard of me before, right? I mean before we met?”

  Sanul shrugged.

  “You know I have.” Giselle stared down at the leaf in her hand before handing it back to Sanul.

  “I did
some research on you before I reported for work. You are Cygni Lau-Aragón. You were a reporter for the Spur Herald, a cross-species Cyberweb news feed. You worked for its Solan news division as an investigative journalist. I watched several of your reports in preparation for my employment at Cosmos Corporation,” Ila said.

  “In preparation? What do my reports have to do with working for Cosmos?” Cygni asked.

  “I suppose they have more to do with working with you, Haem. I always research my employers. It gives me a sense of what to expect.”

  “So a news reporter needs an olfactory sensor?” Sanul’s words were slurred and corrupted with throaty growls between the syllables.

  “I’m an investigative reporter. Sometimes I need to go to dangerous places. Being able to smell intrusion countermeasures helps.”

  “She’s good at it, too,” Giselle said. “She’s gotten into places you’d never expect a person could sneak into.”

  Sanul seemed to think about that for a moment. “What other cool hardware are you packing?”

  She hesitated. “When you’re done with Cosmos, and with me, are you going to report to Baroness Cronus? Do you give her reports about what goes on at Cosmos now?”

  She saw Ila give Sanul a look. Giselle seemed to freeze in place, looking at each of them in turn as though expecting something.

  “I won’t tell on you,” he said. When silence followed, he looked at Ila. “Promise not to tell on her.”

  “Haem Kul’tearae requires weekly reports, including immediate updates for important events. Niu knows about the ad we will be running, and about the trip you will be taking.”

  Giselle nodded, reminding Cygni she was in the corporate espionage business.

  “How?” Cygni asked Ila.

  “I read the AC I handed you the other day. I am embarrassed, but it is the new company policy at Elthroa to inspect all communications.” Ila looked down at the water.

  “That’s not surprising, and I’m sure Baron Revenant knew you would. To tell you the truth, he made me hire your group. He said only Elthroan temps could be hired. It didn’t really make much sense,” Cygni said.

  Ila licked niur lips with a pale-green tongue. Its surface was covered in hundreds of tiny nodules. “I think you are right. He must know that we are reporting back to our office. Why would he hire us, then?”

  Why indeed? She’d wondered that on and off since she got the orders to go to Elthroa’s offices. The feed from the spy-grain she planted there hadn’t helped her solve the problem. It was obvious that Baroness Sophiathena Cronus was spying on Baron Revenant. He had to know that when he sent her to hire Elthroa employees. He was feeding Baroness Cronus the information from her department, but why? She didn’t understand.

  “We’re the front for what’s really going on, and if we want to know what that is, we’re going to have to look elsewhere.” She turned to Giselle. “Do you know anything?”

  “I’ve already told you what I know. Rega has me running weird errands, and there’s the thing I showed you in the lab being mass produced. Aside from that, I probably don’t know more than you do.” Giselle frowned.

  Baron Revenant probably figured she would never get anything important in her investigation. He had her in a spot where he and his cronies could watch her all day and control her access to information—except he hadn’t been entirely successful. She had the recordings of that VoQuana, Sinuthros, on the Queen Gaia and in his tower. That alone could do some serious political damage to him, and thanks to Giselle, she now had the images of that strange nanomachine Rega was working on—whatever it was. She was sure Sinuthros would have told him about seeing her plant the spy-grains unless he didn’t actually know what she was doing, or unless he had his own agenda. Maybe it was really Sinuthros in charge of the conspiracy, and whatever damage she did to Baron Revenant was inconsequential to him. That was a chilling thought.

  She shook her head. She could go in circles forever like this. Without more information there was no telling what was really going on.

  “Look, Ila, promise not to tell on Cygni. You too, Giselle. I mean promise about what gear she has. I really want to know,” Sanul said and snorted with a long, wet sound.

  “I’ve already done that,” Giselle said.

  Cygni smiled, nodding. “It’s true.”

  “I would have to go against my employer,” Ila said.

  “So?” Sanul looked at niu.

  “So I shouldn’t.”

  “Look, Baron Revenant’s using Cygni. That means he’s using us and our employer, too. Do you think Kul’tearae’s going to get our backs when things go to hell? Do you think Baroness Snow-Hair will?” Sanul’s nostrils flared.

  “Don’t disrespect the Baroness,” Ila said.

  He snorted loud enough to bounce the sound off the walls.

  “No one is going to have our backs, but each other. I say that means we have to trust each other, and keep some secrets.” He turned his head back to Cygni. “So, what’s this side project?”

  “I can’t tell you,” she said.

  “I can help you, though.” He leaned closer to her, so that the broad expanse of his black, furry face almost touched her nose. “Phytrophor isn’t my only pastime. I also fleshride. I have the specialized implants and everything to do it night—ah,” he sputtered, “—right. I can do it right. You get it, right?” He made a kind of staccato whining sound and put his hand over his mouth.

  Cygni’s eyes widened. Fleshriding was using the immersion environment of the Cyberweb to channel the sensory feed of another individual into one’s own mind. Fleshriders wore the skin of others, seeing through their eyes and feeling with their bodies. It was illegal in the Confederation because the technology was abused too easily. Fear of cyber-rape—the forcible high jacking of another’s senses—had pushed through strict laws against fleshriding. It carried with it mandatory time in a prison colony and steep fines. Whatever drugs Sanul was involved in, it paled by comparison to what he just admitted—but if he was really offering those services to her, he could be incredibly useful.

  Her mind raced. She already knew he was a great hacker, but with this he might be able to get information even her spy-grains couldn’t. She could get into serious trouble for aiding, hiring, or engaging in the fleshriding trade or culture, but she was already dead if the barons found out what she was doing. When viewed through that lens it became an easier choice to make. She looked over at Ila. The Isinari’s jaw was open in human-like shock. Would niu report Sanul? How could she get Ila on her side? Was it even possible? Cygni hoped so.

  “Well, hello there bad boy. That’s quite something,” Giselle said. She was the only one among them who didn’t look shocked out of her skull. In her line of work she must know a few beings who did what Sanul just admitted. For all she knew, her earlier comment about having the training and cybernetics meant Giselle was a Fleshrider herself.

  I’m interested, she transmitted to Sanul. Are you open to fleshriding without the consent of the target? She felt dirty asking, but that’s what it would involve if she was going to use him to get information on Mitsugawa Yoji’s murder and nail Revenant for working with the VoQuana. Aloud she said, “We shouldn’t talk about this here.”

  Sanul leaned back on his haunches, almost tipping off his pedestal again. “You know that’s a serious crime?”

  Like you said, we have to stick together, right? She watched Ila recover from niur shock. Niu closed niur mouth and took a deep breath, staring at the surface of the water.

  I’m already working with Giselle. I’d love for you to join us, Cygni transmitted.

  “What’s your side-project?” he sent back, blinking.

  Still staring at Ila she wondered if niu could be trusted, or if she should just shut up and approach Sanul later with Giselle at her side. Maybe if she explained what was really going on without giving away too much? It would be nice to have nium on their team, but a weak link could be fatal. She thought of what Baron Revenant did to
Baron Keltan and shuddered.

  We can’t trust Ila, I think, she linked to Sanul and Giselle. But you have some serious talents that could help. Are you willing to join us without including nium?

  Sanul looked over at Ila. “We’ve been friends for a long time. Niu is a good person, and good at what niu does, but you’re right I guess. I’ll talk to Ila later, make sure things are okay so we can get away with stuff. Maybe I can bring nium around.”

  Cygni nodded. Okay, but be very careful. Try only if you’re sure. She watched him, making sure he understood before continuing. Look, you heard about Baron Mitsugawa Yoji’s suicide, right?

  “Who hasn’t?” Giselle transmitted.

  “You are all talking about me, aren’t you?” Ila interrupted, drawing their guilty stares. “It is okay. I am sorry I don’t fit in with you.”

  “Ila, it’s not that. I like your company. I think we all do,” Cygni said.

  “But you know what I will do with the information. I have no choice. The employee-employer relationship is sacred in my culture.”

  “I know,” Cygni said. “No offense, but I wish it wasn’t. I would really love to have you with us.”

  “It’s okay, Ila.” Sanul put a hand on niur shoulder.

  “I should go.” Ila got up, trailing water that fell with small, tinny splashes back into the bath.

  Cygni stood up. “Wait, no. We should all leave together.”

  We’ll talk about all of this later, but what I’m doing has to do with the murder, not suicide, of Baron Mitsugawa. She transmitted and saw both Sanul and Giselle stiffen.

  “I don’t want to ruin your party,” Ila said. “I won’t say anything about today. That I can promise.”

  “Ila, we all like you and this doesn’t change that. I promise. Besides, we should get back to work anyway, right? Someone needs to man the communicators.” She said.