“Do you not do emotions very well?”
“Nope, or attractive girls. Forgive me.”
“Well now you’re putting me on the spot here. I’m not used to this sort of thing. Let’s not make it too awkward when all that I need is a job.”
* * *
Tong-Chang was laughing way too hard at this while she sat with Zoey on the couch that faced the monitor in the condo living room. Zoey tried to tell her girlfriend about the interview, and how the point was that she scored the job, but Tong-Chang laughed and laughed, and then laughed some more.
“It’s not that funny,” Zoey said.
“Yes it is,” Tong-Chang said.
“How though?”
“Out of all the boys in the universe you fall for someone as socially inept as that guy.”
“I have not.”
“Fine, fine, but I still think it’s hilarious. Zoey, my love, I trust you completely, and am happy that you found a job as quickly as you did. I know you’re not going to run off with anyone at the drop of a hat, but I want you to be happy. Now it looks like the stars beyond are playing some joke on you. How can you not laugh at that?”
“Maybe because of the couple times I had sex with Benedict before we officially became a couple?”
“Does that really still bother you?”
“It does. I don’t know how you can let me do whatever with any guy while we’re together. I don’t want anyone else.”
“Not any guy.”
“Tonny, have you forgotten what happened the last time you slept with someone other than me?”
“No. From what you told me about the Hulda’fi attack, I’m glad you found me before they took me somewhere away from you, or away from the rest of your family.”
“Except for Il’lyse.”
“Right. Stars beyond, how did she end up in a violent sex cult like that? I have so many questions for her. Still, I’m not saying you should go out and bang everyone you can, especially not like the Hulda’fi love to do with one another. I’m saying that I love you, and I would understand if you wanted more manly attention. I’m touched and grateful that you’re not wanting to do that because of how you feel about me.”
“I love you too, Tonny. When I start getting my paychecks, I’m so going to treat you to something nice. I will figure out what that is when I’m more familiar with the area as far as movies and restaurants go. But can you please stop teasing me about what guys I meet?”
The sounds of hard-hitting, rapid footsteps reverberated outside. Dasos burst through the front door in a huff.
He said, “Is Tonny here? OK, yes, good. I’m glad you’re here. I couldn’t catch you on your cell-comm.”
“What’s wrong?” Tong-Chang said.
“Somebody raided your apartment. Only Bolin made it, but he’s unconscious right now. A laeknar is looking at him as we speak.”
“Only Bolin? Wait, does that mean—?”
Dasos nodded. “I am so sorry.”
Tong-Chang pressed her hands to her mouth. “I’ll have to let my mother know. We’ll need details. What happened?”
“As far as we know, it was a group of people. They wrecked your bedroom, whoever they were. It was suggested that they were looking for you, or something you might have. I don’t think it’s safe for you to go back there.”
“You might be right. I’ll have to talk with Bolin when I am able, and then our landlord regarding all of this. Do you have any suggestions to where I can spend the night?”
Zoey did not hesitate. She lifted Tong-Chang’s hand to her heart and said, “Stay with me, with us. She can do that, right Das?”
He nodded. “Of course,” Dasos said. “Tong-Chang, you’re almost like a sister to me. Let me know what you want brought over from your apartment. I’ll inform my captain that you’re staying at a friend of yours without specifying whom, and I’ll grab whatever you need from your apartment.”
“Thank you,” Tong-Chang said softly, her voice quivering. “What do we do if someone comes here looking for me?”
“Our policy would be to provide you with a new identity and disguise, or rather send you through the proper agencies to make that happen. A second option would be to send you back to High House Leezu.”
Zoey said, “That’s a terrible idea. What if it’s the Hulda’fi? Worse, what if it’s the Kroke Team coming after her? They would intercept and take Tonny before she reached Ginserei.”
“That’s too much conjecture. For now, let’s allow her to stay here. We’ll sort out the other details later. Whatever we do plan it needs to happen within the next two months before my field credit ends with the Trullwick Police, or else any favors I need to call will be that much harder.”
* * *
In the ground floor below her the Lord Tunderek paced about the rows of brothers and sisters who had failed in a recent mission. Soror Valide watched with interest, curious as to why her team, what was left of it, hadn’t been sent out to do the job.
“Oh, you are forgiven,” said Lord Tunderek. “In the grand scheme of things I cannot condemn you for this mistake. She will turn up sooner or later. I see nowhere that she can run, and our insiders will see to that.”
The brothers and sisters raised their hands and said in unison, “Hallowed be the Tunderek.”
“You may return to your usual activities. Go now.”
“Hallowed be the desires of flesh.”
One, sometimes two, at a time in the gathering got up, and they dispersed. Lord Tunderek nodded without looking their way. Then his gaze lifted towards Soror Valide.
“Do you not require us then?” she said.
“Not for this one,” said Lord Tunderek, “It was good of you to test the planet’s defenses when you did. Now, however, I fear that this weakness will soon be covered, lest we launch a full assault before we are ready.”
“Hallowed Lord, will you require a driver soon? I suspect there will be more that I can put to the test, or examine, should you have me.”
“I have greater faith in what we have left. You have a team still to lead as well, but very well. I may consider you for the next time I go to Elysium IX on business.”
“Hallowed be the Tunderek.”
Soror Valide bowed to the man below her. She then left the room seeking names, answers. She knew now that there was much that the Lord and Lady were not telling her. She served them, utterly, and yet she chose to be more than their plaything, blind and obedient to their lack of word.
[ 38]
The first week of college went on for Zoey.
Tong-Chang moved in with her and Dasos. Dasos had explained the situation with the precinct captain, who thanked him for keeping it quiet in light of the suspicion that the burglars were after Tong-Chang. The captain told Dasos to find someone that he could trust, personally, to help with the move. That was when Dasos called on a friend of his from a circle of gamers he had met in college.
“Did the captain say why?” Zoey asked Dasos while his friend was carting a dresser up to the condo.
“He said that he had reason to believe that there was a mole in the police force,” Dasos said, his voice quiet. “He doesn’t know who it is, and he was reluctant to tell me about it in any detail.”
“A spy?”
“Yes, and we don’t know for whom, not for certain. He suspects that it might be the Hulda’fi, but has less proof of that than the idea of there being a mole in the first place. I wasn’t going to argue with him.”
“So that’s why you hired a titan of an Aelf who looks like he benches mountains for the fun of it?”
“He’s a trusted friend, and is always happy to help. He’s also surprisingly good at playing Wormholes & Wyverns.”
“Is he now?”
“I keep telling him he should try for acting, but his heart is in his . . . sculpting.” Dasos let out a perplexed exhalation before returning outside to grab another box from his friend’s car.
On her first day of work Zoey was quizzed
on various things regarding baking times and temperatures, the measurements of ingredients used, and basic sanitization while she learned, mostly, how to help out with removing cakes and muffins from the oven, how to decorate them, and how to work the register. It was far more than she expected to learn in a six hour period.
Her second day of work was when Brach’geros handed her three shirts to cycle through and clean each week. All three were the same faded shade of turquoise, with gray sleeves, and the words “I am a Super Cake Pro” on the front. The last three words were in large print, as opposed to the previous words.
Zoey put one shirt on and said, “This makes my boobs feel bigger than they really are. How does a simple shirt even do that?”
Brach’geros said, “I haven’t noticed.”
“Sure you haven’t. So how often are we expected to wear these?”
“As often as you like. Your apron covers it, so the company headquarters are lenient about it. They also expect them back if you work for less than two months. So you probably have nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing except my girlfriend poking my boobs when she sees me wearing this shirt.”
“W-why would she do that?”
“It’s all part of her playful side. When she isn’t planning a prank on someone she’s either teasing me or the like. Have you ever been with anyone like that?”
“I uhh . . . I’ve never been with anyone.” He cleared his throat, and their awkward moment was saved by a customer walking in.
She helped close the bakery that night and then went home to find Tong-Chang on the floor of their room with the parts of a device laid over a towel. It took Zoey a moment to recognize the pieces of her phone’s chassis. She might have been tired, but she still wasted no time pressing a knuckle on one hip and raising the other hand in the air.
“I thought you were going to give that back in one piece,” Zoey said.
Tong-Chang said, “I will. Putting this back together will be the easy part. Right now I’m now marveling at how retro this technology is, and yet, advanced in a couple features we had never considered with our cell-comms until after we implemented holograph technology to replace the old screens. I think I can work with this. All I need are the right chips and similar pieces. After that you’ll have a cell-comm of your own, except it won’t be the same design as what the rest of us use.”
“I’m honestly surprised no one is flying over thirty light-years from Earth to stop you from tampering with that thing.”
“People from Earth would do that?”
“Some companies might.”
“That has some shades of Ginserei before we met the Aelfs. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“Suddenly, war breaks out between the alliance and Earth over a single phone, or the first call I make since coming here. Maybe I should make that call count.”
Tong-Chang laughed. “Yeah, right. Given what little you told us about Earth’s space travel? Any smart business would know when to cut their losses. My people weren’t that smart when we had colonies on the next moon, Dee Su. Someone had fled there with a bill to pay, and one of our nations dragged that person back to Ginserei Prime to pay the bill and all related fees. Our cozy little moon as a whole had to pay more than the one person did when it was all said and done.
“Compare that to more than thirty-nine light-spans of weaving through various matter across the galaxy, for a planet that has yet to master its first public colony, and that’s not counting the state of affairs for Earth Humans in regards to politics and global concerns. So if someone has a sixth sense reaction to my tinkering with their device from this singular point of all Hoshi-Lacarta, and wants to spend their whole livelihood on a rocket that can’t even reach the end of your old stellar system, then they can be my guest. Maybe I’ll replicate a needlessly large version of this thing and leave it at the edge of the system for them to find it by the time Earth’s people can get there on a manned craft, but by then it will be my grandchildren or their children waiting to make that galactic delivery, because mocking an underdeveloped planet from so far away is so much cheaper and easier for us by comparison. Right, like any sort of sane or smart business would come after me for enjoying their work.”
“Damn, Tonny, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.”
“I’m sorry. Oh, leave it to me to rant over something so asinine.”
Zoey sat down next to her and rested a head on her shoulder. She said, “If anything, I think it’s sexy of you when you express yourself. More importantly, I think it’s a good thing if you’re able to tell me whenever something is wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Tonny.”
“Fine, yes, you’re right. I love you, and love the idea of living with you, but I feel like I’m hiding for some reason that I have no control over. I haven’t felt like this, this bad, since I tried running from my mother’s servants after we got here. All I wanted since coming here was to live my own life.” She huffed. “How’s that for sexy?”
Zoey turned Tong-Chang’s head toward her and gave her a kiss on the lips. She said, “How’s that for a mood setter?”
“Come here, you.”
They rolled away from the makeshift work space, and spent the rest of the night loving one another passionately.
* * *
Her third day of work was the last day of the weekend. Zoey walked in groggily before the start of her shift. Brach’geros was supposed to come in later, but their boss let Zoey know that the young man had to call in sick.
“Oh no, I hope he’s OK,” Zoey said.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” her boss said. “You aren’t coming down with anything, yourself, are you?”
“What? No. It was a long night – a good kind of long.”
“So it won’t impact your ability to perform?”
“No, I’m waking up. See?” She exercised her best smile for her boss. He grunted and walked back to the kitchen.
Less than seven hours later she found herself walking down the second floor hallway of the college dormitories. Zoey had a package in her hand containing a cranberry muffin. She read the note that she had taped to the top of the package one more time, and found the door. Zoey knocked.
After a moment, it opened. Brach’geros looked at her with a raised eyebrow, his body shrouded in a bed sheet. “Zoi’ne?” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just curious to see how bad it was that you had to call in sick today,” she said.
“Did the boss tell you where I was?”
“He only told me you were on your fourth revolution here, and that you stayed in the dorms somewhere. Your mom called to place an order for herself, so I asked her where I might be able to give you a cranberry muffin if you wanted it. I think she thinks I’m your girlfriend or something, because I knew what kind of muffin you like.”
“I wish I were so lucky.”
“Come on, I’m sure plenty of girls think you’re charming or good looking.”
“Every one of them taken and not interested.”
“Nonsense. So here’s your muffin. I hope you’re able to eat it right now.”
“I should, thank you. I’m exhausted between work, school, and this really attractive girl who’s entered my life, and I really must be tired if I’m saying that out loud.”
Zoey giggled. “Well, at least you get points for not comparing me to my sister. See you on Thursday.”
She walked away, her work buddy and immediate supervisor asking her what a Thursday was as she left earshot. She chose to whisper a random tune rather than turn back and answer.
* * *
Doctor Evrahn stood before his class and said, “Every planet has a history.”
It was the middle of the second week. Some of the other students were barely paying attention when first the doctor spoke today.
He said, “For some planets, the meat of our history lies in great works of fiction dating back centuries, or millennia. Fo
r some others, far off to where we have yet to encounter them, that same sense of history as we know it lives on in the present.”
The doctor raised a white box with a red symbol on top of it. Zoey could have sworn that this was something from Earth. If it was, then she knew what the object was.
“Once in a while,” Doctor Evrahn said, “one of our survey teams breaks protocol and brings home a souvenir. I have here an item from a survey of sa-Gir-2-V-n-3: p-3-c-D.” The begrudging nature of his deep breath that followed could be heard from a few rows into the seats of the classroom. “Earth. We make a point never to chat with the locals, but this is one of five items I will have on the front table here until the twentieth of Femtemane.”
Elysium Shining Page 30