Dying For Space

by S. J. Higbee

  He escorted me clear of the queue, lowering his voice. “I’m delighted to hear it. I, er, believe I owe you an apology. I seriously underestimated your abilities. I hope you don’t think I was insulting you with the initial task I set you.”

  Feeling guilty that the trick I’d played on Bernal had hauled Rick into Norman’s firing line, I muttered, “No, of course not.”

  With the courteous grace I’d come to expect from him, Rick ushered me onto his reserved speed-seat, before sitting next to me. I caught a glimpse of Riona’s yearning face before the seat rattled away and hoped her crush on Rick wouldn’t nix our friendship before it properly got started. I missed having a live friend around.

  Leaning towards me, he raised his voice over the windrush and clatter, “Thing is, Elsbeth was very bright, but she struggled to read and write. She suffered from a condition called dyslexia. Heard of it?” When I shook my head, he continued, “It’s a genetic abnormality that should’ve been screened out before she was born, but someone slipped up. It was always at its worst whenever she was under pressure and William wasn’t kind or understanding about it. I didn’t know if you suffered from the same disability.”

  I swung around to look at his face. Is that why you made sure the work I was given was mega-easy? To make sure that I didn’t fail? So, you didn’t banish Bernal to cover your back over his remarks about Norman, but because he was unkind about me – and I got to hear it…

  He continued, without missing a beat, “I hear that you’ve moved into her bedroom.”

  “Yes.”

  “And how’re you finding it?”

  “Fine,” I lied.

  Kelbee sighed. “Oh. William found a way to disable Fido, then.”

  I stared at him. What is he on about? “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

  “Elsbeth’s footstool – she called it Fido.” Rick’s mouth twitched into a grin, but his eyes were mourning long-gone memories, a feeling I knew all too well.

  He knows about her bedroom stool! She called it Fido – a dog’s name…

  I couldn’t see Jessica shaking her head at my fuse-brained slowness, but I certainly felt it as I finally caught up. “No! The wretched thing is making my life a solid misery. Do you know how to fix it, then?”

  “I helped her prog it.”

  I blinked. “Why would Elsbeth want a footstool tripping her up and shoving at her shins?”

  “She wanted a dog. Had done since forever. And William said no. We have dogs here, you see. Nothing that you’d want to get anywhere near – they’re bred to kill. Once, back in the early days, our former HQ was breached and the dogs were let loose throughout the complex.” His face twisted. “We had to spray ourselves with a compound they’re trained to ignore. But it’s designed to mask human fear-smells, not animals. Which means the standing rule is – no pets. And William is right. If his daughter is seen to break that rule, then children throughout the complex will be pestering for rabbits and cats and whatever genetically adapted creature is the current craze.” He paused as we rattled around a particularly noisy corner. “Can you imagine the consequences if the kill-dogs started rampaging through mercs’ quarters, tearing Fifi and Rover to pieces instead of attacking enemy invaders?”

  With an echoing bang, our speed-seat lurched to a halt. Rick jumped out and offered me his hand. He didn’t release my arm after assisting me out of the speed-seat, but tucked it under his elbow and, together, we continued walking across the pedestrian zone towards the lifts. Catching sight of Bernal’s face in the small crowd of homeward bound workers, his silent snarl was a jolt, before I mentally shrugged. If Rick is in the mood to talk, I need to listen and Bernal needs to get over himself. “Surely Elsbeth knew this?”

  Rick’s grunt was somewhere between pain and laughter. “Oh yes. But that girl put the ‘stub’ in stubborn. She was her father’s daughter in pure persistence, never mind that it was a silly, dangerous notion. Never mind that it undermined Restormel’s security, she wanted a dog and was enraged that she couldn’t have one.” He shook his head. “Every time they had a fight – which was as regular as the sunrise – she’d start with, ‘What kind of father are you that you won’t even let me have a dog?’”

  “What did the General say to that?”

  Rick’s pace slowed and he smilingly waved the group trudging in our wake ahead of us into the lifts.

  Does it mean this area of the building isn’t monitored? Or he just didn’t want the rest of the office ear-wagging on our chat? I’d have given half a year’s creds to know the answer.

  “It drove him crazy. Not that she cared,” he lowered his voice, amusement gone. “So in the end, I bought her the footstool and progged it to act like a dog, on the condition that she stopped baiting William.”

  Baiting…? I didn’t have an opportunity to find out what that meant as the lift reappeared, and Rick’s next words chased all other thoughts from my mind. “If you like, I can sort Fido out for you.”

  “Oh, please! That would be such a help.” I was still gabbling my gratitude as we arrived outside Elsbeth’s door.

  By the time Rick had shown me all Fido’s tricks, I was completely won over. In fact, I was helpless with laughter at the sight of the footstool rolling around, waving its feet in the air. Leaning against the half-open door, I collapsed into giggles once more. Even the guards were grinning.

  “Beth!” Norman barrelled into the room, wild-eyed and pale, knocking me flying in the process.

  Momentarily winded and lying on the floor, I clearly saw both men’s faces as, turning to me, Norman had his back to Rick. Whose expression slipped – and the look he shot the General should’ve left Norman a smouldering heap.

  “Lizbeth!” The General was trembling as he pulled me to my feet and enfolded me in one of his huge hugs. “Your laughter sounded so much like your sister.” His eyes were moist as he further squeezed the air from my lungs, before letting me go. When he noticed Rick. “What are you doing here?”

  Rick’s smile was pure warmth. “I offered to help her control Elsbeth’s toys. They’re still active, you know, William.”

  Norman’s eyes narrowed and he started fiddling in his pocket for a cigar. Rick had just majorly jabbed at him. Somehow.

  My stomach churned with dread when I saw Norman’s ferocious smile and I fervently hoped that Rick knew exactly how far to push Norman, never mind if he was skimming profits from the P’s. Because he was clearly prepared to stand toe to toe with the General on my behalf. And there wasn’t another living being in the Universe willing to do that.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Norman lit up his cigar. “I’ve troubling reports about Procurement. It seems some accounting anomalies have come to light.”

  I held my breath. Is he tugging Rick’s chain, or has he solid proof? A queasy twist in my guts told me that Norman wouldn’t bother to bluff someone as sharp as Rick. Somehow, finding him here in Elsbeth’s room had infuriated him. The air vibrated with his need to hurt his Head of Procurement.

  “I’m desolated to hear it, William. I’ll give it my urgent attention, first thing tomorrow,” Rick didn’t sound desolated, though. In fact, he seemed quietly amused.

  Norman puffed a cloud of smoke in his face. “Maybe you should attend to it. Right now.”

  Rick’s small grin widened. “Maybe I should.”

  There was a snarling sound from the floor, followed by ripping cloth. Cursing, Norman kicked out at Fido. “Why have you got this pointless piece of flotsam working again?”

  “Fido comes with the room, Father.” I double-clicked my fingers at him, the way Rick had taught me.

  “I meant to warn you. Fido is pre-progged to attack men on sight unless you add that override code I gave you,” said Rick.

  “Thank you,” I stuttered. So Elsbeth didn’t code Fido to treat Norman as a friend – and Rick has just let him know that she could have… I swallowed, wondering if their relationship was really so broken. Or if they were just having a
very bad day.

  “Good-bye,” growled Norman, his face wreathed in smelly cigar smoke.

  Rick kissed me on the cheek. “See you at dinner this evening, Elizabeth. William.” He beamed at Norman as if they hadn’t just locked horns, before threading his way through the crowded room towards the door.

  “Thank you for sorting this out,” I called to his retreating back, waving my arm at all the vivi-gismos now doing what I wanted.

  “Watch him. I don’t like the way he’s sniffing around you.” Norman gusted another vile cloud of cigar smoke into the room.

  “I’d be grateful if you’d put that thing out. Else everything in here will be stinking of cigars. As for Rick…” I shook my head. “He’s my boss and way too old. Even if I wanted to – and I don’t – it’s against the Regs.” Not that I’ll ever be his type. Surely, you know that?

  He shrugged, still puffing his cigar. “I recall some station stray who was also against the Regs.”

  “Rick isn’t Wynn.” A wave of longing for him rolled through me and for a long moment, it hurt to breathe.

  “Oh, Lizbeth. Don’t look so sad,” he said. As if grieving was optional! “Someone else will come along one of these fine days, someone more suitable and you’ll love again. You’ll see.”

  I was suddenly driven to make him understand. “Bilge-babble sloshing around this place has linked me with Officer Dain – my training mate hurt in the FF incident. And it’s not so far out. He offered. And on the night of our Graduation I was tempted.”

  Norman’s face darkened as he sucked on his cigar.

  I rushed on, “He was handsome, funny and brave. I knew his strengths and weaknesses, as you do with training mates. And I liked him. But when it came to it, I couldn’t. Because he wasn’t Wynn.” The misery balling in the back of my throat made it hard to continue, “No one is Wynn. So how can there be anyone else?”

  “You’re telling me you and this Officer Dain never got together?” Norman’s gaze was burning holes in my soul, his teeth clenched around his cigar.

  “No, we didn’t. But that’s not the point. I’m telling you this stuff because…” Because the void inside me is too Wynn-shaped for anyone else. “Because even when someone came along I liked and trusted, it still wasn’t enough.”

  I’d expected some kind of response, or maybe some words of comfort, but Norman was staring over my shoulder with a look on his face that pimpled my skin. “Father?”

  He pulled out of his dark introspection, suddenly focusing back onto me with brimming eyes. “You break my heart,” he said. As if it were my fault. “And now I need to stop a war. Or start one, maybe.” With that, Norman kissed my forehead and strode out.

  I sat on the sofa, trying to work out what had just happened. What have I done wrong now? Suddenly sick of constantly worrying so much, I unfroze Fido, who cavorted about the room, worrying at the fragment of material he’d torn from the General’s trousers, while I laughed at his antics.

  An hour later, Fina’s smile widened as the footstool rolled onto its back, waving its legs in the air in enthusiastic welcome. “Oh! I’m so very glad you kept Fido.”

  “Come on in, please. It’s lovely to see you.”

  She hesitated at the door. “I’ve angered William. So, maybe you’d rather I stayed away.”

  I shrugged. “It’s an occupational hazard for the women in his life. We breathe and he gets angry. C’mon in. If we don’t stick together, we’ll go star-crazed.”

  She hugged me, engulfing me in her lovely scent. “William is right about one thing. There’s times when I could be listening to your sister.”

  “You knew her?” I hadn’t figured on Elsbeth meshing with her father’s mistress. Wonder what her mother felt about that?

  “We’d had our ups and downs, but as she grew older we became close.” Fina managed to still look elegant sitting in one of the huge chairs. “Which is why I wanted a chat.”

  In here? Norman is bound to have it monitored. I looked around meaningfully, raising my eyebrows, before slumping into a flyer-sized chair opposite her.

  Fina smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry about any listening device in here. Elsbeth had an alpha-prime privacy system installed. When I heard that Rick was helping you manage her gadgets, I knew he’d reactivate it for you.”

  It almost sounds like a conspiracy.

  Or a way to survive. Anyone sharing Norman’s air has a hard time of it, Lizzy. Maybe it’s done this way. You watch each other’s backs – like on Star with the Cap.

  Trust Jessica to come up with such a depressing thought.

  “William didn’t ever think straight where Elsbeth was concerned and I’m afraid he’s falling into the same black hole with you,” Fina continued, her beautiful face frowning with worry.

  Fido scampered across to a cupboard, which slid open and a steaming cup appeared. A claw extended somewhere from Fido’s legs, grasped the cup and he trundled back to Fina without spilling a drop.

  My jaw grazed the carpet. “He serves drinks?” I gestured towards to the mealmaker. “There’s already food and drink in here. Enough for a small army.”

  Fina sighed, cupping her hands around the mug. “William often punished your sister by cutting off her supplies.” She took a sip. “So Elsbeth had Rick fix her up with an alternative.”

  I leaned forward, recalling Norman’s earlier twitchy possessiveness. “Elsbeth and Rick seemed very snug. Surely they weren’t…?”

  “Oh no! Not with Rick’s… But they were close friends, even after she married. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about Elsbeth. It’s a miracle she turned out as stead-headed as she was, but she had her rough patches.” She fiddled with the cup, avoiding my eyes. “I’m not in the business of speaking ill of the dead, though to listen to William these days, you’d think Elsbeth was a saint.”

  Putting the cup down, she took a breath. “And I think you should know the truth. When she turned sixteen, she fell in love with one of his aides. And instead of letting the romance run its course, the silly man sent the boy away.”

  I shifted, wondering if Fina knew she talked about the General as if he were a naughty boy.

  “So, she retaliated by sleeping with every single staff officer who’d say ‘Yes’ and managed to create havoc.” Fina shook her head in fond exasperation. “She could be very… persuasive.”

  “Trouser twitchers – that’s what the nannies aboard Star called such girls,” I blurted, before flushing at Fina’s raised eyebrows. “Sorry.”

  Fortunately, she just laughed. “William is always saying that he never knows what’ll come out of your mouth, next. He’s right.”

  “He must’ve gone star-crazed. Discipline and morale would’ve been flushed out of the airlock.” I stared at Fina. “Didn’t she care about the P’s?”

  “Not in the way you do, no.” Fina seemed defensive. And it came to me that she, too, loved Elsbeth and missed her.

  I constantly trip over this wretched half-sister of mine.

  “You must remember she was sent away to boarding school for most of her education. Until she got expelled at fifteen, that is.”

  “And what did the General make of that? And her mother?” Imagining what my parents would’ve done if I’d so disgraced their name, I shivered.

  Fina’s face closed up. “Mrs Norman wasn’t living on Restormel with William by then.”

  I frowned, confused. “But I thought that Mrs Norman was also killed in the shuttle crash. And that they’d taken off from here. How come—?”

  “Elsbeth and her husband were going to stay with Mrs Norman for a while. She’d come to collect them,” Fina’s voice was expressionless.

  There’s something off about this…

  Don’t go there, Lizzy. Not if you want to learn anymore about Elsbeth.

  For once I appreciated Jessica’s warning, and switched my question in mid-breath, “Would you like another drink?”

  Visibly relaxing, her smile returned. “No than
k you, honey. I’d like to stay for the evening, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She leaned forward, suddenly urgent. “Step carefully, Elizabeth. He’s under a lot of pressure work-wise just now. And he’s started muddling you and Elsbeth. Like the other night, for instance.”

  “You mean when he lost it during the meal and went nova at me?”

  “Oh, he hadn’t lost anything at that point. That was how they – he and Elsbeth – used to behave. He’d shout and swear at her, and she’d scream and swear back. When you quietly said good night and left, that was when he lost it. Raved that you were trying to undermine his authority by making a fool of him.”

  What!

  “It took a solid hour before I could talk him down and he’s still furious at some of the things I said to him to get him to see sense.” Her lips twitched, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ve probably got another couple of days of being mouthwhacked before he comes around.”

  Hell in a black hole! “Thank you for that. I-I didn’t try to make him look anything…”

  “Oh, that was apparent to everyone there, except William. You’re lucky you’ve got such a solid ally in Rick, who also pointed out you were just struggling to keep it together. He’s good people.”

  “So are you. Thank you.” My throat thickened that there were two people willing to brave Norman’s wrath for me.

  “I’d better go. He’s still being moodier than a love-struck teen and I don’t want you caught in the middle of one of his rants, again.” She glanced across to Fido. “Time’s up, doggy!”

  The footstool cavorted twice before the time scrolled pinkly across his cushion. Fina stood up as I sighed, wishing she could stay longer. I gave her a hug, opened the door, checked that the corridor was clear, other than my guards stationed outside, and she left.

  Fido nudged my legs. Dropping onto the thick carpet, I stroked the fluffy footstool, while looking around the room. I’d dismissed Elsbeth as a spoilt, null-head who flicked her littlest finger and Big Daddy Bear would come running. But that hadn’t happened like that, had it?

  I recalled what Romeo’s girl had said in the meat-suite, Word is, General’d go space-walking inna nude to see you smile.