by Smith, S. E.
* * *
Through the hinged window in his door, Koi asked, “What have you found out?”
Too tense and anxious to mince words, Danyel said, “I think you’re more than a sex worker, you’re an undercover agent of Wendis. If I’m wrong, forget everything. If I’m right, you need to know what I found out. Then I’ll need your help again.”
Koi let Danyel in. “Sit here.” He indicated a low, Wendisan-style seat in his parlor. “Drink this.” He poured Danyel a cup of tea from a pot that rested on a low table. “What do I need to know?”
“Faxe’s SECINTAG is trying to force Nikka to work for them.”
“What!?”
Danyel slurped the warm fragrant tea and explained what he’d discovered.
Koi listened with a deepening frown while taking tiny sips from his own teacup. “I would very much like to hear what has happened from Nikka herself.”
“Then you will. I think Merdis’ company has the clout to get her out. I’ve already set it up.”
“What does Merdis say to that?”
“She won’t know until it’s over. She might not like it. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission!” Danyel smiled crookedly.
“What does your employment contract say about the consequences of such an activity on your part?”
The question surprised Danyel. “I’ve never read it, so I don’t know.”
“You should, and the sooner the better.” Koi firmly placed his teacup down. “Get Nikka out of the coils of SECINTAG if indeed, may High Heaven forbid it, they have her. Get Nikka to a safe place. Then and only then, talk to Merdis! She might not like it enough to make big trouble for you, my friend.”
4
In desperation, Nikka tried a delaying tactic. She took as long as she dared to fill out the contract that Sind gave her for the Telal job. She hoped to give the Company time to discover her missing. That was a faint hope, though. Unless a security mandate required crew members to check in, there was no duty to do so before her next scheduled flight. The interval between one flight and another was supposed to be rest, not work. Fourteen hours from now, they would definitely notice it if she failed to check in. That might be too late. This particular layover had turned out to be long enough for a pilot to disappear without a trace.
More realistically, she hoped to fill out the contract in such an internally contradictory way that the Faxen state employment register rejected it. There were star pilots who had succeeded in something like that. They’d faced a distasteful transfer within Union Starlines, for example, and foiled it by how they apparently earnestly completed the contract.
Nikka filled out the details of her work history in a way calculated to mesh badly with the qualifications outlined in the Telal job. But she nervously fingered her identity bracelet. One of the clauses of the contract meant surrendering her identity crystal for the duration of the Telal job. And the crystal held her life and work history and the very definition of her as a citizen of the Faxen Union.
Part way through the contract, Sind returned. Sind did not look happy. “There was a misunderstanding. Your employment transfer to the Resource Exploration Company just came through. Evidently you were busy when you last laid over on Faxe. Well, you’re free to go.”
Stunned, Nikka blinked at the other woman.
ReXcom was the family-owned syndicate of which Merdis Gole was an executive. It was one of only a few syndicates and cartels as powerful as Telal. And it did employ starliner pilots. But Nikka had never, except in some of her earlier and wildest dreams about Danyel, even thought about trying to find employment there.
She didn’t understand and badly wanted to. Even more, though, she wanted out of here. She hurriedly went to the corridor outside, consulted the directional signage, and returned to the elevator lobby with her head spinning.
On the way past the arch to Pleasure Palace, a low whistle got her attention.
It was now early evening in Starway. The daylights had changed to nightlights, and in Pleasure Palace, the lighting was uneven. The whistle had come from a man standing in deep shadow. He had a familiar physique. “You ought to try this direction. Seriously.”
She ran toward Danyel in the shadow. “What have you done?” she hissed in a whisper. “I was fouled up with the Telal Cartel. They want to recruit me for secret missions. Did you use your ReXcom connection to get me out?”
“Yes, but actually, it was a front for SECINTAG.”
“Oh, no!”
“SECINTAG doesn’t willingly let go of is prey. Come this way.”
At a loss for anything else to do, she fell in step with him.
The Pleasure Palace was busy this time of early night. Prostitutes—some of them acting the part with glee; they should have been in show business, or maybe they were—strutted on the sides of the main corridor. Colored light spilled out of doors and window shades briefly opened and closed. Danyel went into an alley that took confusing turns. “The Palace has back doors for people to get to assignations without being followed,” he said conversationally.
Up a flight of stairs and through an unmarked door, they entered a new room. Unlike the other rooms Nikka had seen today, it was very nice. It was in fact a bedroom, with an invitingly plush bed and a brocaded loveseat.
There was already someone here—the Wendisan man Nikka had seen Danyel with earlier, and the little white dog, which raced to stand on top of the back of the loveseat and lick her hand joyously.
Danyel ensconced her in the love seat, with the happy little dog in her lap. He waved at the Wendisan. “This is Koi and you can trust him. Tell us everything that happened.” He and Koi sat on the edge of the bed to listen.
Nikka collected her badly scattered thoughts. Telling the story made fear and anger roil her. She found herself shaking. The little dog, Star, positioned herself under Nikka’s hand. Petting Star helped Nikka calm down.
Koi said severely, “SECINTAG meddling in Starway and worse yet, smuggling Oblivion here to compromise an honest pilot? How untoward! It is a breach of all diplomacy, to say nothing of courtesy! Did you learn anything about how to find the contraband in the starliner?”
Nikka shook her head. “Just that it would be found on a tip tomorrow morning.”
Danyel asked, “Does that stuff have a smell?”
“Ah.” Koi nodded. “To a Chivvier, there is nothing that does not. We have an errand to do, then. We will be least conspicuous if we are taken for a couple.”
Danyel stared at Koi then recovered his composure enough to jokingly ask Nikka, “Will you be jealous?”
“No,” she said impatiently.
“I should change.” Koi disappeared into what was probably a dressing room. Danyel knelt beside the love seat. “You’ll be safe here. It’ll be OK.” His voice was firm, trustworthy, warm.
“I can’t believe this,” she said. Even she wasn’t sure if she meant the dangerous twist of fate or the fact of Danyel kneeling beside her, looking at her as though she were a beautiful woman.
“You’ve had a hard afternoon. Take a nap while we’re gone.” With a glance at Koi’s dressing room door, he pulled his own notebook out of its pocket. “Koi says I need to know what’s in this. Maybe you can skim it and tell me. It ought to put you to sleep, it’s so long and dry.”
Koi came out dressed like a woman, his long black hair in an elegant bun with a jeweled hair pin. Nikka’s eyes widened. “Ah—make that maybe.”
Koi gave her a winsome smile. “He’s safe from me.” Koi quickly sobered. “I think the situation is very dangerous. Appearing to be a heterosexual couple is the best way for the two of us to escape the notice of your enemies.”
Nikka swallowed hard.
* * *
If he hadn’t been urgently worried about SECINTAG, Merdis, and pure bad luck, Danyel would have found this evening incredibly interesting. They walked along a corridor lined with stores with curtained doorways and windows with suggestively dressed models. Sensuous music played in the
background. Perfume wafted through the air. Koi looked and even moved like a woman—one with a small white lapdog in her arms.
There were others strolling in this corridor of Pleasure Palace—travelers with travelers and travelers with beautifully dressed companions. To Danyel’s amazement, he found himself reacting to Koi exactly as he would have reacted to a pretty woman on any possibly unsafe street anywhere. He walked between Koi and the busy corridor. Before long he found himself holding hands with Koi.
Koi gestured toward a mirrored wall. “See? We are just another couple in the midst of many similar couples. No one will later recognize us without each other and Star.”
Star managed to point both ears and put on a silly lapdog grin. Being smart enough to pretend to be a dumb little dog meant that Star was impressively smart. Danyel found himself intensely curious about Koi’s whole act. “Do you dress like a woman to please your clients?”
“It is a true side of who I am,” Koi said with dignity.
“Do you have both kinds of client?” He meant male and female.
“There are all kinds. Men, women, and the differently gendered; the carefree, the daring, and those who need to be treated gently with no strings attached because they come to me badly bruised.”
Danyel, badly bruised from today’s meeting with Merdis, could understand that like never before. “Public service?”
“More like private service, but yes. I am a member in good standing of the Service Guild of Wendis.”
Earlier in their acquaintance, Danyel had once criticized Koi’s profession. Koi, with asperity, had told Danyel that anyone who had chosen to be a high-ranking person’s consort had no right to criticize anyone else for fairly trading sex for money. At the time, Danyel had overlooked the remark. In hindsight, it might have been very much on target. Koi didn’t remind him of it.
They came to a store which stocked commodities for sexual, sensual, and erotic uses. Danyel knew how much some of the commodities cost, because he’d used them with Merdis. He’d never seen so many worth so much in one place. He was dazzled.
“This establishment has a second entrance in the Market Place,” Koi whispered. “If trouble comes from one direction, we run in the other direction.”
Danyel intensely hoped it didn’t come to that.
Behind a curtain of glass beads was a small specialty section like nothing Danyel had known existed. Stocked with glass vials, tiny wooden boxes, and even more ornate tiny containers, what it sold was smells. Every container was sealed until money changed hands. A friendly scent seller presided over it. In a whisper, Koi asked the scent seller for the smell of Oblivion.
Danyel ventured a remark to help things along. In a confiding tone, he told the scent seller, “She had some of the real stuff once. The smell is nice for her.” He brought out his universal credit card.
The scent seller nodded sympathetically. He opened a glass vial, allowing Koi a long smell. Koi convincingly assumed a beatific expression. “What were we arguing about?”
“Nothing, my dear. Nothing.” Danyel smiled down at Koi.
Meanwhile Star’s sensitive little black nose twitched.
Koi threaded an arm around Danyel’s and they walked away. Koi said quietly, “My friend, you have some acting talent. Keep that in mind, in case you need it.”
* * *
Nikka eyed her Company-issued notebook without opening it. She had a half-read novel in the notebook and really wanted to lose herself in the story. Koi had assured her that in this back room of his, the notebook couldn’t broadcast her location to SECINTAG or anyone else. Still, she didn’t trust the notebook any more. Not after the security mandate had been backdated.
She felt so acutely restless that she had a hard time sitting still. She ached for something to distract her. What was it Danyel wanted her to see? His notebook (a newer and much more expensive model than hers) was opened to his employment contract with ReXcom.
After trying to confound a long and poisonous Telal employment contract all afternoon, an alarm bell went off in her mind. What? He doesn’t know what’s in this? What kind of never-growing-up boy has a Faxen company employment contract he hasn’t bothered—
Her notebook pinged.
Gingerly, she opened it.
The notebook told her that the security mandate (now innocently dated when she’d first seen it, not four hours earlier) had been rescinded. Huh. She turned her attention back to Danyel’s contract. It was certainly long and tedious. Soporific, however, it was not.
Danyel and Koi looked glowingly happy when they returned.
“We had a nice walk,” Danyel told Nikka. “Are you sure you aren’t jealous?”
“It’s Merdis I’ve been jealous of forever. I probably shouldn’t say that.” Tact had never been her forte and especially not when she was upset. She was upset now. “Danyel, that contract is bad.”
* * *
How could Merdis do this to me? Danyel felt numb.
Koi prepared a pot of hot tea, placed it on a low table between them, and said firmly, “Nikka, you are still in trouble if those within the walls of the Rodrogo Group realize that the offer of a job with ReXcom is false. We’ve got to remove the Oblivion from the starliner if we can. Then you will pilot the liner to Goya. When you’re there, you might seek to work for the Alliance Rangefleet.”
The Alliance was a loose confederation of worlds and polities on the edges of civilized starspace.
“The Alliance needs pilots as they explore their star frontier, the Faraway.”
Her eyes widened. “I dreamed of going Faraway when I was young. But the money I’m making with Union Starlines is good.” Koi shook his head and she raised her hand to wave off his objection. “I know. Not worth my life.”
Koi then said, “Danyel, do you know the trouble you’re in?”
“That contract. But I’m sure it’s not defensible in court.”
Nikka rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, it is, in a Faxen court! Look, any of twelve different kinds of infraction on your part mean serious penalties.”
“You already spelled that out for me,” Danyel said impatiently. “I’ve already done some of those so-called infractions—ones too ridiculous to even be there—and she hasn’t taken any action.”
“She hasn’t had to. She’s owned you psychologically without having to enforce it legally. Yet. But I bet she has every one of them saved up for if she ever needs to force you back into line or she thinks you need to be punished! Don’t forget one penalty clause means that you could lose your interstellar passport!”
Danyel thought about the penthouse he shared with Merdis on top of Faxe’s main city, Strata, the spaciousness of the rooms and the vistas to the electric horizons. It gave him a painful jolt to think of losing the penthouse. “That wouldn’t be so bad as long as I didn’t lose my home with her.”
“And you want to be her lapdog forever?”
Star whuffed disapprovingly. Danyel felt nettled too. “Is that what you think I’ve been?”
“Yes,” she snapped.
He started to argue.
“Shut up and listen to Koi,” she told him.
Koi had been turning his head from one side to the other like a spectator at a table ball game. He smoothly took over the conversation. “Nikka and I will find the Oblivion. Leave that to us. You, my friend, succeeded in getting Nikka out of the coils of SECINTAG and that was a good deed. Perhaps you can make peace with Merdis Gole and return to her good graces. I wish you luck. But for Heaven’s sake, you must not give us away.”
“Never.” Danyel meant that.
“Now I need both of your biometrics.” Koi produced a small scanner. It was an unusual bit of equipment for a love chamber, but Danyel was past being surprised.
“You do?” Nikka asked. “What for?”
Koi swiftly scanned their retinas, palms and fingertips. “If either of you come to a bad end, that is one of the only sure ways to identify an idiot, a corpse, or someone with artificial am
nesia.”
Danyel involuntarily visualized himself in ten years. Still young-looking. But not intelligent enough to realize how much intelligence he’d lost. And more than ever, Merdis’ toy.
He felt a long slow shudder.
5
The Starcross Explorer, like the Company’s other Explorer-class long-haul liners, was named for a feature in interstellar space. Berthed in Starway’s Gate Seven, she had come to rest in the presence of her namesake, deep inside the Starcross Nebula. The Gate had a wide window onto space. Nikka could see starlight and blue and red nebula light shining on the ship’s silver skin.
The familiarity of wearing her uniform was calming. Approaching her ship to show it to a new friend interested in her work was a pleasure she’d not had enough of, not since the security restrictions became far more onerous. And Koi played the part so well that Nikka found herself enjoying his company—even knowing what it was they hoped to find in Starcross Explorer.
Boarding the liner by means of a lift into the crew deck, Nikka was not too surprised to find Captain Vardo already there. She knew Vardo. He always liked to personally inspect any ship under his command the night or day before the trip.
“My friend wants to see the ship,” Nikka told the Captain.
“I assume she has a Wendisan ship pass?”
Nikka nodded. That was what had gotten Koi through the security gate. A Wendisan ship pass was a rather powerful authorization. It had even made the security agent disregard the large, brocaded handbag and small white dog Koi carried.