“We were friends,” she continued. “In fact, Rex and I may have been his best friends.”
I grimaced, feeling guilty.
“Sorry, Mike, but he wanted to quit working for you. He was getting older. He was tired of danger, tired of flying. He’d never been to San Damiano, but that’s where he was planning to go. He used to say that’s where we all belong.”
Dolph and I held our tongues.
“When they got there, Parsec was supposed to send me video of them delivering the cryonite block to Risk’s second cousins in Mazepardo. Then I would send him the key.”
She took her phone out of her pocket, touched the screen, and read off a 32-character alphanumeric string.
The nanonic defroster in Risk’s jeans pocket lit up. The cryonite went cloudy, and then melted all at once. Water that smelled of chemicals and fur gushed over our shoes as we jumped back.
Ol’ fox sat up and stretched. When he saw me and Dolph, a familiar look of gloom settled on his vulpine features. “So what went wrong?”
Irene pinched my arm. Her eyes pleaded for me not to tell Risk that she had stolen his memory stick, the prize that would have kept him in comfort for the rest of his life. Had this gone according to her plan, he would have arrived on San Damiano as broke as when he started.
On the other hand, it hadn’t gone according to her plan, so … did it really matter what had happened to the damn thing, in between Risk buying it and the Eks getting it back?
Dolph shook his head a few millimeters.
I hesitated, and then said, “It’s a long story, Risk. What matters is, you’re among friends.”
*
I did take Risk out to lunch, not that day but the next, and we did have our serious chat. But it wasn’t the kind of chat I had originally planned.
I offered him a big enough severance payment to fly commercial to San Damiano and set himself up when he got there. In exchange, he signed over to me the deed to his apartment.
I had decided to move back to Shiftertown.
Majesta Gardens was nice, but I no longer had faith in the illusion of security it provided. Lucy was over the moon when I told her about our move. “So I can play with Mia every day!”
As I had foreseen, Mia’s parents were less enthused.
I took Lucy upstairs to visit on the day we moved in, bringing a bottle of wine as a peace offering. While the girls romped, I sat down in the kitchen with Irene and Rex. “Well,” I said, “I no longer have a weapons officer.”
“Sucks to be you,” Irene said.
“Sucks to be us,” Rex said gloomily. “We needed that money. Don’t judge, Mike. We needed it.”
“I understand,” I said. “You still shouldn’t have double-crossed Risk.” I wanted Irene to know I was not going to forget about that.
But Rex said, “No. You don’t understand.” He glanced at Irene. She had her arms folded, was sending him a big silent signal to shut up, He kept talking anyway, holding their baby on his knee. “Kit’s got Chimera Syndrome.”
That rocked me back. “Whoa. I didn’t know.”
Chimera Syndrome is a genetic disease that strikes one in 10,000 Shifter babies. The extraordinary capabilities coded into our DNA by the Big Shift go haywire. Instead of growing up and learning to Shift, Chimera Syndrome kids start Shifting in childhood. They eventually settle into some ungodly mashup of forms that neither they nor anyone else can control. And they never Shift back. In a sense, it’s a blessing that they usually don’t live long.
“I’m sorry.” Words seemed inadequate as I looked at cheerful, babbling Kit, sitting on his father’s knee. Would he end up as a bat-snake-orca? Or a giraffe-squirrel-vulture? “I knew a kid with Chimera Syndrome on San Damiano,” I said, and then shut my big mouth.
“Yeah,” Irene said. “So we’ll need to care for him for the rest of his life.” She was tight-lipped. “So that’s why.”
“It was still wrong, though,” Rex said, ruffling Kit’s fine quiff of hair. “I knew it was wrong to begin with.”
“I don’t know how we’re going to manage,” Irene said.
I took a deep breath, and decided this didn’t fundamentally change what I had come here to say. I had run the plan past Dolph. He’d agreed with guarded enthusiasm. “Well, I can’t promise you millions. That’s the difference between me and Parsec. Apart from the difference that he’s in jail.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Rex said.
“But I would like to offer you, Irene,” I said delicately, “the position of weapons officer on my ship.”
Her face was unreadable.
“The pay’s industry standard. And it would mean being away from your family for weeks at a time.” Especially with a kid with Chimera Syndrome, that might be a deal-breaker. “I’d understand if you felt it was not for you, but the offer’s there.”
She and Rex conferred with silent looks, the way married couples do. Then Irene turned back to me. Her face was alight with an expression of glad relief. “Yes. Thank you. Yes.”
We drank another celebratory toast. Then I wandered into the living-room. The girls were playing with their Barbies.
“You are doo-doo caca,” Mia said to her doll. The doll responded with a prim, “This is not about me, it’s about you.” Both girls shrieked with laughter. I had told the manufacturer I’d take a consignment of the Barbies, after all; they were unexpectedly versatile.
“Girls? How about watching Lil’ Hellraisers?”
“I don’t like Lil’ Hellraisers any more,” Lucy said. “It’s silly.”
“Yes, it’s silly,” Mia agreed.
Ah, how quickly they grow up. The bloom went off my surprise a bit, but I persevered, “Well, this is an episode you’ve never seen before. And no one else has ever seen it before, either.”
Irene, behind me, said, “Really?”
“You get to watch it one time,” I said, for Irene’s benefit, “and then it goes away. So it’s special.”
“Well, I suppose I could watch it,” Lucy said, doing me a favor.
We all got comfy on the couch. I settled Lucy on my lap and let my thoughts drift into the far beyond as the familiar music started.
— — —
The adventures of Mike Starrunner and the crew continue in Lethal Cargo, out now!
See Lethal Cargo on Amazon
READ MORE BY FELIX R. SAVAGE
An exuberant storyteller with a demented imagination, Felix R. Savage specializes in creating worlds so exciting, you’ll never want to leave.
Join the Savage Stories newsletter to receive a starter library of FIVE free subscriber exclusive books:
www.felixrsavage.com/subscribe
A CAULDRON OF STARS
Space Opera Adventure
Far in the future, in the distant Messier 4 cluster, humanity coexists with the legalistic Ekschelatan Empire, a host of lesser alien species ... and an age-old mystery that could shatter the balance of power. The long, uneasy peace is about to boil over into war.
A foiled terrorist incident on a backwater planet lights the fuse ... and drags freighter captain Mike Starrunner and his crew into an intrigue spanning thousands of light years, with all the wealth and power of the Cluster at stake.
Lethal Cargo
Dirty Job
… and more to come!
EARTH’S LAST GAMBIT
A Quartet of Present-Day Science Fiction Technothrillers
Ripped from the headlines: an alien spaceship is orbiting Europa. Relying only on existing technology, a handful of elite astronauts must confront the threat to Earth’s future, on their own, millions of miles from home.
Can the chosen few overcome technological limitations and their own weaknesses and flaws? Will Earth’s Last Gambit win survival for the human race?
The Signal And The Boys (prequel story, subscriber exclusive)
Freefall
Lifeboat
Shiplord
Killshot
EXTINCTION PROTOCOL
Hard Science Fiction With a Chilling Twist
Humanity has reached out into the stars - and found a ruthless enemy.
It took us two hundred years to establish fifteen colonies on the closest habitable planets to Earth. It took the Ghosts only 20 years to destroy them. Navy pilot Colm Mackenzie is no stranger to the Ghosts. He has witnessed first-hand the mayhem and tragedy they leave in their wake. No one knows where they came from, or how they travel, or what they want. They know only one thing for sure:
Ghosts leave no survivors.
Save From Wrath (short story, subscriber exclusive)
The Chemical Mage
The Nuclear Druid
THE SOL SYSTEM RENEGADES SERIES
Near-Future Hard Science Fiction
In the year 2288, humanity stands at a crossroads between space colonization and extinction. Packed with excitement, heartbreak, and unforgettable characters, the Sol System Renegades series tells a sweeping tale of struggle and deliverance.
Keep Off The Grass (short origin story)
Crapkiller (prequel novella, subscriber exclusive)
1. The Galapagos Incident
2. The Vesta Conspiracy
3. The Mercury Rebellion
A Very Merry Zero-Gravity Christmas (short story)
4. The Luna Deception
5. The Phobos Maneuver
6. The Mars Shock
7. The Callisto Gambit
VOID DRAGON HUNTERS
Military Sci-Fi with Space Dragons
In 2160, a Void Dragon ate the sun.
In 2322, eight-year-old Jay Scattergood found a Void Dragon egg in his garden.
Humanity survived the death of the sun, but now we're under attack by the Offense. These intelligent, aggressive aliens will do whatever it takes to destroy humanity and take Earth for themselves.
Our last hope against the alien aggressors is Jay Scattergood ... and his baby Void Dragon, Tancred.
Guardians of Jupiter
Protectors of Earth
Soldiers of Callisto
Exiles of the Belt
Knights of Saturn
THE RELUCTANT ADVENTURES OF FLETCHER CONNOLLY ON THE INTERSTELLAR RAILROAD
Near-Future Non-Hard Science Fiction
An Irishman in space. Untold hoards of alien technological relics waiting to be discovered. What could possibly go wrong?
Rubbish With Names (prequel story, subscriber exclusive)
Skint Idjit
Intergalactic Bogtrotter
Banjaxed Ceili
Supermassive Blackguard
The Cryonite Caper Page 9