A Cat Among Dragons

by Alma Boykin

  Back in her room, Rada changed into her favorite outfit before putting on a silver-tabby wig, skull whiskers, and light green contact lenses that allowed her to pass as Feltari. Then she used a washable paint to draw light gray stripes on her black tail fur. She started drawing similar stripes on her arm fur but decided not to waste the effort; her sleeves should cover everything. Silver tabby Feltari had a reputation for being wandering types, which fit her persona and profession. “The fewer falsehoods, the better the security,” she quoted as she triple checked everything in the mirror.

  Rada strolled across the lobby and through a plant-filled atrium to the least formal of the hotel’s three restaurants. “Do you have a reservation?” the maître d’ inquired.

  “Yes. Rrashli Nahrow, party of one.” She glanced around, making sure there was no one she recognized as he checked his screen.

  “Certainly, Madame. Ah, I apologize for asking, but would you object to sharing your table with another party of one if necessary? A large glob arrived unexpectedly,” and he gestured towards the group.

  Rada looked at the cluster hovering around a group of tables and raised an eyebrow, but agreed. “No, I have no objections.” Poor man was going to have enough problems as it was, given the fussy nature of Floaters, especially in clan groups. He led her to a small table in a quiet, dim corner, near a side door.

  “Will this do, Miss Nahrow?” he asked.

  She smiled “It’s perfect. Thank you.” And it was. Out of the way and close to an escape route. She settled her skirts around her as he pushed her chair in and then she began perusing the menu.

  Not ten minutes later, the maître d’ led the True-dragon Rada had watched earlier over to her table. “Miss Nahrow, Lady Zabet wishes to know if you mind sharing your table.”

  Since she’d already agreed, Rada just smiled and nodded. “I’d be delighted to.”

  Their waiter whisked the standard chair away, replacing it with something more suited to the reptile’s form, and Lady Zabet settled across from the Wanderer.

  «Zabet of House Nagali,» the True-dragon introduced herself.

  “Rrashli Nahrow,” Rada replied smoothly. No sense in revealing her Gifts, she thought. True-dragons could mind-talk with many species and Rada’s vocalized response would be the usual reply.

  The women made polite conversation, discussing the hotel and the local weather, and lamenting the increase in navigation and landing fees in this star system, for the short time before their meals arrived. Rada, whose tastes and needs leaned towards carnivory, ordered a meat-heavy spiced pasta dish and a slightly tart local fruit and dairy beverage. Zabet savored a very large meat and vegetable salad with a dark beer. They divided a small loaf of steaming fresh maize bread.

  After a few minutes of contented chewing, Zabet inquired, «Are you here on business?»

  “No, my lady. Pure pleasure. I’m enjoying the last of my vacation days,” Rada corrected before making a happy little sigh.

  «Ah.» Zabet finished her meal first and sat back, nursing a fruit beer and contemplating the desert menu. «If you don’t mind my asking, what do you do for a living?»

  “I’m a pilot and security contractor,” which was true. And if few Feltari took to the stars as mercenaries, there were even fewer Wanderers in the trade of arms.

  Zabet grew interested in the menu. «Yes, I’ll have the crème brûlée,» she told the waiter when he returned. Rada succumbed to the fruit plate. As they waited, Zabet grew thoughtful. «Fascinating, Miss Nahrow. Are you currently piloting for anyone?»

  “No, my lady. I specialize in small, high-value cargos and personal transportation, and am between contracts at the moment.” Conversation ceased as the waiter returned with a beautiful plate of fruit and Zabet’s creamy custard.

  Rada nibbled, letting the flavors bloom on her tongue as she savored the fresh fruits, especially the kiworange. Col. Adamski’s people certainly didn’t starve, but neither did he squander their funds on exotic luxuries. Cashew fruit, or marañón, was another thing Rada loved and never got enough of except for moments like this. The True-dragon seemed bemused by her tablemate’s choice of sweets.

  «The Feltari I’ve done business with don’t care for fruits,» the reptile observed.

  “Most of us don’t, my lady. I acquired the taste from a human instructor-pilot and seem to have become a bit addicted,” she confessed, chuckling.

  They paid and went their separate ways. Rada stretched out on the deep, soft, magnificent bed, all but purring with contentment. For once no one was shooting at her or barking for her to be up at o-dark-awful, if her troopers got into mischief it was someone else’s problem for the moment, and she could eat whatever she chose. Oh, I could get so used to living this way! The only thing missing was male companionship. But she’d promised not to, and besides, a paid companion was just that–paid. Even in a luxury resort like this one, Rada always wondered if the “professionals” were really there of their own free will. She told her hormones to cool off and settled for curling up with a book and a large piece of dried, gourmet meat.

  Rada slept gloriously late the next morning, past sunrise, had breakfast in her room, and then decided to stroll through the gardens behind the main hotel building. She took her time admiring the flowers and greenery. Oddly enough for someone raised mostly on a ship in space, Rada enjoyed gardening and messing around in the dirt, and she appreciated the work that had gone into having so many varieties from various worlds planted in single arrangements, or in long sweeps of color and texture. Someday I’d like to have a rose garden she thought wistfully.

  She found a spot in the shade and curled her legs under her as she sat watching something that looked like a tiny cluster of flying jewels darting around the blue and crimson tipped firebottle blooms.

  «The humans call them sunbirds,» the Lady Zabet observed as she came around a bend in the garden path.

  “I can see why, my lady,” Rada bowed a little from her seat on the wooden bench.

  The two-meter-long reptile settled beside the bench in the sun. «Do you have any objection to doing a little business, Miss Nahrow?»

  “Not so long as I don’t have to work for the next two days,” Rada said.

  «Very well. I have occasional need for a pilot, preferably one with some familiarity with business. You said yesterday that you do small cargos?» Zabet seemed very forthright for someone in the Trade and Rada’s early training kicked in.

  “Yes, my lady. Small, legal cargos. Nothing illegal—no Dreamtapper, nukes, or anything like that,” she cautioned the reptile.

  Zabet’s whiskers stiffened defensively. «I assure you, Miss Nahrow, I have no dealings with those sorts of things.»

  “Good, because I won’t put up with them. Or slave trading, either. Otherwise, what sort of service were you needing?” It was better to make certain the ground rules were clear before you started dickering, Rada felt.

  «On call transportation, plus security escort. I’m quite able to defend myself, but I’d prefer not to tempt anyone into foolishness.» Zabet paused as a middle-aged human female came up the path, “ooing” over the proteas and firebottles. She stopped to look at the flowers, then pulled out a small book, thumbed through it, and checked something off. «Ah, a flower collector,» Zabet noted, and Rada smiled. The woman drifted towards a different part of the hotel gardens and Zabet continued, «I suppose I should have asked, are you Union?»

  Rada shook her head. “No, my lady. I’m an independent.” No Feltari would join the navigators’ union of their own free will, so the truth fit her cover.

  Zabet started to say something more but a shriek of “Get your hands off me!” interrupted her. Rada started moving before the cry ended, sliding off the bench and easing her way along the path, then ducking behind a topiary rhododendron for cover before moving closer to the sounds of struggle. Two male voices drowned out the woman’s and Rada crept into a spot under two ornamental shrubs where she could see. Odd’s bodkins, I’m
supposed to be on vacation!

  A humanoid and a Berpart had cornered the woman she had seen earlier. The stocky Berpart laughed, holding a stunner at the ready as his partner rifled the lady’s bag, then shook her. “Where’s your credit rings and cards?” the ursine mugger demanded in Trader. “Give over, bitch!” The still-silent human male shoved their victim to the ground, and Rada’s fur rose as a snarl started in her throat. Zabet appeared at her elbow, took one look at the scene and swore as they heard more commotion from closer to the hotel.

  «Oh shit! Those are the fools who were causing problems at the gaming tables last night,» Zabet told her, fuming. «Damn it, hotel security should have stopped this!»

  “Agreed, but they sound a bit busy,” Rada observed under her breath, drawing her hold-out blaster from its special pocket.

  Zabet didn’t blink. «The loud one’s mine. Cover me,» she ordered before the Wanderer could do more than confirm the indicated target. The silver-blue reptile slid up behind the aggressive male, verified that his companion remained busy, and attacked. Zabet rose onto her hind legs and sliced at the mammal’s face with one taloned forefoot, grabbing his gun-paw and twisting with the other. The Berpart howled as Zabet scratched his eyes and apparently broke his wrist. Zabet grabbed the falling stunner as she spun and knocked his legs out from under him with her tail. The movements flowed into each other like a ballet, leaving Rada no doubts as to her associate’s training. Before the human could intervene, the Wanderer broke from cover, barking in a drill-sergeant’s voice, “Get away from her unless you want to hurt.”

  The human turned from his victim and started reaching for his pistol. Then he collapsed into the hedge, moaning and clutching his knee. Just to be safe, the mercenary shot him again, in the opposite shoulder, and Zabet kicked his weapon into the ice-thorn hedge.

  «Why not kill him?» Zabet inquired after making certain she could work the stunner by testing it on its former owner. He flopped and lay still. «Fully charged. Good.» And she turned to the petite mammal.

  “Might as well save a few for the locals to deal with. They’ll need him as a witness. And I’ve got enough ghosts trailing me as it is.” Rada checked the settings on her blaster and waved back towards the main building. “Shall we go see how much trouble these two are going to be in?”

  «After we get her under cover,» Zabet ordered, pointing to the cowering flower collector. Rada and Zabet helped the woman find a hiding place, then made their way along the paths, darting from hedge to grotto to tree-trunk. Damn, but Zabet knows how to move and fight, Rada thought behind her shields. She’s better than most of the Scouts.

  The good news was that the hotel’s very efficient security guards had the other miscreants isolated. The bad news was that was that the criminals were pressing a blaster and a knife of some sort against two hostages. The enemy stood with their backs to the two females and Rada and Zabet looked at each other, then the thugs. «Distract or attack?» Zabet inquired calmly.

  The Wanderer risked a mind-talk reply. «Attack low. If we distract, the guards may follow us and not their original targets.»

  Zabet nodded once. «Agreed. What about a snipe?»

  «I can’t stun, so I’ll hit the Berpart.» Rada slid forward on her elbows, aimed for the bastard’s back and fired from cover as Zabet popped up for her shot. As they fired, they heard someone behind them and both turned to face the next threat. It was the formerly stunned Berpart, crashing up the path.

  «Perfect!» Zabet exulted, slipping around behind the half-blinded ursine.

  What the fuck did the True-dragon think she was doing, Rada wondered, then realized as Zabet tossed the stunner towards the ursine and wailed «Save me!» The guards jumped the Berpart, grabbing his weapon and pushing his “victim” to safety. The Wanderer eased her way out of sight of everyone, brushed off as much dirt, twigs, and other debris as she could, made certain her weapon was concealed, and trotted up to Zabet. As the True-dragon wavered, feigning distress and fear, Rada began, “My lady, are you alright?” giving every impression of anxious concern bordering on fear.

  The spiny brown crustacean in charge of hotel security frowned at the two females. «He tried to mug me!» Zabet moaned. «After he and another brute attacked a human female in the garden, they came after me.» That distracted the guards, and three of them trotted in the direction Zabet had pointed while Rada pretended to be calming and comforting the overwrought True-dragon. Since both of them were apparently unarmed and harmless, the security chief gave the equivalent of an irritated sigh, then politely fussed at them for getting in the way and suggested that they go inside.

  “I’m thirsty,” Rada decided after they sauntered into the lobby and she noticed that the bar was open.

  «You too? Must be the dry air outside,» Zabet suggested, leading the way.

  “Small keritang, please,” Rada ordered.

  Zabet looked over the assorted bottles, then rose on her hind legs for a better view. «A black sapphire, no trim,» she requested. The squid-looking bartender clicked his—or perhaps her—beak and served their drinks with commendable speed. Zabet raised her cocktail glass. «To a quiet vacation,» she offered.

  “I’ll second that.” Rada tapped the reptile’s glass with her mug.

  «How are they going to explain the flattened human and the two shots in the back?» Zabet wondered.

  “Hmmm. They’ll find a way. Hotel security probably had someone in the gardens, and he, she, or it came up from behind in a carefully coordinated attack.” Rada considered for a moment longer, “and the human woman mistook the plain-clothes guard in the garden for one of the resort’s guests.” The Wanderer had seen enough badly written news reports to cobble her own together pretty well.

  Zabet snickered, then hiccuped. She covered her muzzle tip with a forefoot. «Excuse me!»

  Rada decided to spend the rest of the day loafing in her room, catching up on her pleasure reading. Apparently Zabet had business to conduct, because the next day the soldier caught a glimpse of the silvery reptile deep in conversation over a pad and stylus with someone who looked like Major Gupta, but with a smaller nose horn. Rada hiked the ten kilometer nature trail around the resort’s grounds and then spent a fun hour or so in the holo-arcade pretending she couldn’t tell a pistol from a pizza and letting a very cute off-duty security guard show her how to play a hunting game.

  As Rada walked back to her room that evening, someone waved a talon towards her from behind some weeping ferns in the lobby. Lady Zabet had ensconced herself in the sitting area as if she owned the entire resort and gestured with her tail towards the remaining empty seat. «I’d like to conclude our business, if you don’t mind, Miss Nahrow.»

  “Certainly, my lady,” Rada settled into the indicated chair and the True-dragon slid her data pad across the low table towards the mammal.

  «I’ll pay standard rates per hour plus basic expenses: reasonable lodging, meals, and cargo fees. You’ll be in charge of all required paperwork related to landing fees, travel permits, and Mart tolls. I assume you have your own weapons?»

  Rada managed to suppress a smile. “Yes, I do. Appropriate for a number of business or social occasions.”

  The small dragon nodded briskly, whiskers twitching. «Good. As I said earlier, I am quite capable of defending myself, but there are times when having second set of eyes and ears is helpful. Here’s what I’m willing to start with as a base pay level.»

  The Wanderer frowned at the numbers on the pad. “With all due respect, my lady, that’s a bit optimistic for on-call pilot services with provided ship and security duties as well. That’s not even half of union, let alone regional standard.” Zabet stiffened, her small, round ears flattening sideways and whiskers rigid as Rada continued, “I have no desire to take all of your profits, but this,” she added some numbers to the pad and eased it back towards its owner, “is more appropriate for what you ask.” Then she sat back and waited.

  «You have a point, regarding pilot-
supplied ship, Miss Nahrow,» the reptile conceded. «However, I’m being quite generous with your per diem, as anyone can see! And you yourself said that you don’t carry large cargos. Since that limits what I can work with, all I can agree to is—» and she crossed through Rada’s number and wrote in a lower figure.

  “You are aware, I’m certain, that if you were to hire me through my primary employer for security duties, he would charge you considerably more than this,” and Rada circled her finger over the indicated amount on Zabet’s spread sheet. “And there are very few pilots who have experience with personal and goods security, business, and are bonded. Just as you have expenses, so do I. Indeed, there is a size limit on my cargo capacity, but surely a discriminating businesswoman such as yourself understands that high-value luxury cargos carry more risk and thus can incur as much cost as a larger delivery.” Rada drew a line through Zabet’s last number and substituted a higher figure. “This better reflects what you are asking for, my lady.”

  «Humpf.» The reptile’s silvery whiskers floated up then down and she waved a five-taloned forefoot. «That better reflects if I were House head on an unlimited spending account, which I am not. And you seem to forget that I can provide my own security. That part of the contract is more optional than necessary, as far as I am concerned. And you are a professional soldier, Miss Nahrow. Those are easy enough to hire anywhere.» The sliver-scaled tail twitched, giving away Zabet’s pleasure with the bargaining as she pulled the data pad back and changed the numbers again. «And you will be under my House name, Miss Nahrow. That alone is worth a large number of credits.»

  “But only among the Houses, my lady, with all due respect.” Rada shook her head. “So many do not recognize the virtues and strengths of the Houses, my lady, that I fear there is no way to include such forms of goodwill in these types of discussions. And how many soldiers that are available for hire at the spaceport gate are discrete, trustworthy, and have much knowledge of the intricacies of business?” Another figure entered on the data pad, and the game shifted back to the True-dragon. Rada sat back, ducking a fern frond and waiting for the businesswoman’s response.