by Zach Winderl
“Is there anything I can get for you?” he continued in a normal, hushed tone.
For a moment she stared at him, then she shook the stars from her eyes and focused on his face. “See if you can barter for some hair suds,” she said with a demur smile and dropped her eyes. “What they offer here isn’t worth the wrap it comes in.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He looked away and found Roop staring at them with a burning intensity.
He started to walk away, but Lilly caught his hand. “What’s the occasion, love?”
“I wanted Roop and everyone else to know you were under my protection. I know you’ve altered to keep a low profile, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few dirty codgers who don’t care what a girl looks like.”
An easy laugh slipped from Lilly. “Do I need to be marked as your property to survive in this hellhole? Seems to me, I should be the one marking you.”
“Probably, not the worst idea,” Atom said, casting a glance over the rough individuals lounging around the yard. “But I want the attention on me so you don’t have to deal with any of the powers here breathing down on you. I’m the Captain. Daisy knows that, too. If you need any help, he’s your man. Not that you will, but sometimes a little extra muscle can go a long way.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Atom flashed a roguish grin and left Lilly standing, staring after him.
“What do I call you?” Roop asked as Atom approached.
“Atom,” he replied with a polite bob of his head before taking the seat indicated by the heavy entrepreneur.
“So, what can I do for you, Mr. Atom?” Roop leaned in with a smile that covered the predatory glint in his eyes. “My associate indicates you are in the market for something on the unique side. I believe he said you were looking to get your hands on some books.”
Roop spread his hands in question.
“Among other things.” Atom glanced around the room.
“Such as?”
Atom studied the man. “What will it cost me?”
“That’s not how this works.” Roop’s slow blink reminded Atom of a stalking plains-cat from his childhood. “You tell me what you would like me to procure. I weigh the value of the item and find something of equal worth that can be exchanged.
“You’re acting like a first-time visitor,” Roop spoke with a languid cadence meant to relax and disarm. “What are you in for?”
“Politics.” Atom grinned, matching Roop’s level gaze.
“I see.” Roop folded his hands across his ample belly and looked to Atom, waiting for the proper procedure. “Let’s begin again. What is it that you are in the market for?”
“I’d like to get over to the next block.”
“Long orders,” Roop murmured, playing with his fleshy jowls as he studied the guards in thought. “Movings are tightly controlled. I would need to involve guards to make something like that happen. Are you looking for a transfer?
“I haven’t heard of any danger to your body.” His gaze drifted back to Atom. “You cross Gravix?”
Atom shook his head. “Not to my knowledge. They just dropped me here this morning. I don’t think I’ve had time to cut anyone’s nose off yet. And to be honest, I’m not looking to do so. I’m on a short list for a quick transfer. My aim is to keep my head down and slip out sideways before anyone notices I’ve been here.”
“Interesting. If your goal is to lie low, why the interest in the next block? And which wing are we talking? Different wings mean different guards to talk to.”
Atom glanced to the ceiling. “Aren’t you worried we’ll be overheard?” he hissed through a casual smile.
Roop slow blinked several times before a natural laugh slipped out, crinkling his face. “They don’t watch me or listen to my words. It’s more profitable for everyone if they don’t. So, the business at hand, which wing are we talking?” He waited for Atom to nod to the door Daisy had arrived through. “And are you looking for a transfer or an afternoon visit?”
“Over the table, I need a visual confirmation on a target my companion and I have been tracking.”
“Ah, I see.” The plain-cat smile frightened Atom, making him feel like a barrow-rat being toyed with. “You are a political bounty-hunter. If that is the case, I question how and why you are here with us today. Are you more than you seem?”
“I’m a man of many ships.”
“And all you need here is a visual pass-by?”
“What would it cost for a five-minute window? At this point, I don’t have anything in the way of goods or information, but I’d be willing to trade action.”
“A businessman,” Roop roared out a deep basso laugh that hushed the room for a moment. “And you fooled me as a newt. I can get you the face to face, but it’s going to take a little while, say an hour to line up. I’m going to have to pull some strings and trade favors, but it’s doable.
“Anything else you’d like beyond a travel pass and a book?” He leaned in, his belly pressing over the table.
“Hair suds.” Atom shrugged.
Roop laughed again, this time just a low shake of his flesh. “You are surprising. I’ll see what I can do.
“Now.” He hushed his tone and the jollity fled from his face. “In return for this movement, book, and suds, I’ll need one action from you. It seems balanced in my ledger, an action for an action, with the rest tossed in as a perk and promise of future trade. I’m going to need that action being the delivery of a message.”
“A message?”
“Well, things are a bit of a stalemate at the moment.” Roop waved his entourage away from the table. He waited in silence as they did so and forced the vacating of all nearby tables. “The Gravixhan has been angling to take over this prison-station, but let’s just say the Charnalhan doesn’t see the profit in allowing that to happen.”
“Why don’t you just have one of your people deliver the message?”
“It’s complicated,” Roop said, dropping his eyes to the table where he traced invisible doodles in the metal surface with a plump finger. “The warden plays a third party, and while he’s technically in control of the station, he also profits if he can play us against each other.”
Atom clicked his tongue as he digested the information. Then he said, “I think I can help with this message. Just let me know when and where.”
***
Daisy sprawled on the top bunk for the enforced quiet time following the midday meal. Below, Atom sat cross-legged on his new bunk, secured by Lilly’s manipulation. On the ceiling of the cell, a synthetic sun dappled through the imaginary tree branches that swayed in a breeze Atom could almost feel.
“Why do they do the whole sun thing?” Daisy asked. Atom could hear the sleep creeping into his pilot’s voice.
“Calming,” Atom replied as he watched the synth-sunlight play on the floor. “They do the same thing aboard imperial ships. The sunlight helps the pan unwind. Think back to your earliest good memories.”
Daisy spent a moment in silence. “Riding a suspensor-bike across the lawn with my mother watching from the porch,” he said with concentration.
“Paint the picture.”
“Green grass. A little long. It parts under the suspensors as I ride around a long track I marked out with glow-tabs. Mom is sitting at a wooden table, watching me….” Daisy hesitated as he dredged. “She’s peeling something. Fruit? Maybe dragon-pears. My two younger sisters are climbing the big tree across the yard. They’re laughing and yelling to my mom.”
“Was it warm?”
“Yeah, spring has sprung. It’s the first warm day since the rains quit.”
“And….”
“It’s sunny,” Daisy said with a laugh, vibrating the bunk with mirth. “Seems you know more than you let on.”
“Sometimes I know a thing or two.” Atom closed his eyes and rested his head.
“Tell me about the Meriwetherhan.”
Daisy tossed the conversational bomb in such a
silky manner, it took Atom a moment to register. His eyes flashed open.
“I didn’t realize you’d picked that up.” Atom slipped from the bunk and leaned against the wall where he could see Daisy. He crossed his arms and frowned up at the pilot with a look of deliberation.
Daisy rolled onto his side, propped a hand under his head, and met Atom’s gaze. “I listen when people talk. It’s a bad habit I picked up in my youth.
“It makes sense,” he continued, stifling a yawn as he drowsed. “I don’t know much about the Emperor’s Fist. The little I picked up fits you. Everything you do has the feel of someone who could snuff the verse if they really wanted to.”
“That might be a stretch, but I can do a lot of things that will keep Margo alive and safe for the time.”
“That your only goal?”
Atom slumped and said in a pain-laced voice, “I would love to have life go back to the way it was. I’d even have stepped down if it would have saved my han.”
“Past is past,” Daisy sighed and shook his head in remorse. “We all have things we would change if we could, but then we run the risk of being different than we are today. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse, but we have to press on with the memories and past that we’ve chosen.”
“I’m an outlaw who was a general. Who are you?”
“A drunk,” Daisy said without hesitation.
“Nothing’s that simple.”
“No,” Daisy sat up, his head brushing the ceiling as he dangled his legs. “I’m a pilot.”
He kicked his legs in a gentle rhythm and played with the ill-fitting jumpsuit with nervous fingers. He caught himself and folded his hands into fists, pressing down into his legs. Then Daisy sat in silence. He studied the scars lining his knuckles.
Atom could see the memories floating free, dislodged by each trigger of damaged flesh.
“Simple story?” He refused to meet Atom’s eyes. “I came from a good family. Both my parents taught at a small prep-school on Atico. I scored high enough on my ap-tests to float to any school in system.”
He ventured a furtive glance at Atom, but dropped his eyes back to his fists.
“I chose the naval academy. I’ve always wanted to be a pilot and even had dreams of captaining my own ship someday.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“Duel.”
The solitary word breathed life into Atom’s mind. “Girl. Honor. What brought the duel?” Atom peered up at Daisy, trying to see beneath the furrowed brow.
“Doesn’t matter,” Daisy growled. “The boke picked blasters.”
“Who won?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Daisy crashed down to the floor and lumbered to the door to peer through the narrow window. “I didn’t really expect to kill her, but I did. Even though her family didn’t press the honor issue, it cracked something in my pan. I washed out of the academy the next quarter.
“I had never touched alcohol before that. My family didn’t drink. But it turned out to be a heavy part of the washing.
“I never looked back,” he sighed as he turned away from the window and paced.
“Is that why you use your fists?” Atom returned to his bunk.
Daisy nodded and rubbed at the knuckles of his left hand. “I told myself I’d never use a gun again. I don’t want the guilt of killing an innocent. It already weighs too much on my soul.”
“It was a duel, Daisy,” Atom consoled. “Whoever you killed could hardly claim innocence. To be honest, pistols would play to most girls’ advantages. With your mass and the average mass of the female of our species, you should have died. She chose the weapon. It was her choice, Daisy.”
“She couldn’t back down without losing honor.” Daisy snapped his ursine head to fix Atom with a death stare. “You, of all people, should know that you can’t back down from a duel.”
“So, set sum, you killed a girl in a duel and feel remorse.” Atom paused to allow Daisy to counter, but after a moment of silence he continued. “How is that a problem now? You have the guilt, but being the best pilot doesn’t burn on that trajectory. I know you have the occasional brawl, but you never kill anyone there. I don’t see what weighs you.”
“Atom, there is a piece of me that is primal violence,” as Daisy spoke, a darkness shrouded his glare. “I can’t avoid the need to hurt myself. It claws its way out when I try to drown the memories.”
“What about your family?” Atom redirected, closing his eyes in peace.
“They turned their backs on me.”
“Because of the duel?”
“Because of the true outcome of the duel,” Daisy sobbed, dropping his head into his hands, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. “Her name was Emma. We had a relationship that lasted through the first two years of the academy. In our third year, I broached the subject of marriage. She said no. She told me that my family name wasn’t good enough to fuse with hers.
“Her words went beyond simple rejection.” Daisy’s eyes glistened when he looked up, imploring Atom to intercede, but Atom sat in silence. He waited. “She slandered my family name and flat out told me that my line and planet would never be good enough.
“She slapped me and walked away. Before she could leave, I challenged her.”
“And you killed her,” Atom said to conclude Daisy’s tale. The pilot, tears streaming down his face, stopped his pacing and collapsed against the wall.
“But there was no vendetta,” Atom continued. “A family of ranking could easily have circumvented the laws of the duel to pursue you for the death of their daughter. Why would they let you live?”
“Because she carried my child. I didn’t find out until I had already washed out.”
“Is the guilt you carry for your lover or your child?”
“Both,” Daisy whispered. “It’s the reason I agreed to work for you. Margo is the reason I’ve stayed on longer with you than any other ship I have ever piloted.”
“And the drinking and fighting?”
“The drink helps me live in that instant where the past doesn’t matter. All that matters is the moment and the fight. I have no problem pounding someone coming after me, but don’t ask me to handle a gun. Nothing good comes from guns.”
Atom quirked Daisy a look.
“At least not in my hands.” A broken smile cracked Daisy’s features.
“Where does Mae fit into your story?”
Daisy shrugged.
A soft knock at the door startled the two of them. Through the narrow window, Roop’s man with the snake tattoo grinned. He glanced down the walkway and waved. Then, with a hum the locking mechanism turned and the door slid open.
“Roop talked it over with Charnal and found the boke he wants you to make an example of,” Snake said in a hushed tone from the doorway. “I’ll take you there and point him out. What you do with him is your business, as long as the message is sent. When you’re done, you’ll be happy to know that your boke is on the same block.
“Deliver a message, and you get your visual as payment. Then you’re back here to sleep all peaceable.”
“And the rest of my goods?” Atom rose and stepped to the door.
“They’ll be on your bunk when you return.” Snake grinned at Atom, then glanced down to Daisy. “He running light?”
“He’ll be fine.” Atom leaned and patted the pilot on the shoulder. “He just has a touch of the hanger. Give us a couple minutes to hydrate and we’ll be square for a hard burn.”
“I’ll be down in the yard,” Snake said before turning away.
Atom sat back down on the bed. “Koze, when you send that burst, ask Hither to either stall the next meet or get us a new set of coords. It’s going to take us a few days to get free of this hole.”
“Do you have time to dawdle?” the AI asked both men.
“Speaking of,” Daisy grunted as he rubbed his eyes clear and rose to his feet. “What’s the turn and burn on Toks ship? Will she even come back for the pickup if she’s a
fter the same long-game as us?”
“That’s up in the Black. Honestly.” Atom scratched his jaw in thought. “I could see her going either way. Although, if she was going to take us aboard her ship, I imagine she would have done that back at Lassiter.”
“I agree with that assessment,” Kozue calculated. “Probability points to her not believing that you have any useful information. She most likely views you as a liability. The safest place for you is to keep you out of the way. On that note,” her tone shifted. “You’ll have a larger window to complete the current tasks and formulate a proper escape plan.”
“Just make sure Hither knows to push the meet back.” Atom strolled to the door. “I don’t want to lose that contract, whatever it might be.”
***
“What are we going to do to this boke?” Daisy asked as they stood waiting for the heavy block hatch to cycle through the locking sequence.
“Just pass along a message.” Atom glared at the back of the armored guard several paces in front of them. “I wasn’t asked to do anything more than that. You know I try to fill the letter of the contract.”
“Bet you wish your girl was here.”
Atom’s hand drifted to his empty hip. “Yeah, she tends to be useful.”
Daisy looked over his shoulder to the second guard who stood motionless behind them. The lock finished its cycle and crawled open with the speed of a suicidal glacier.
“I meant Go,” Daisy chuckled.
“I know.”
With a final shudder, the gate ground to a halt, just wide enough for the two men to fit. On the other side, four more power-armored guards stood waiting, their hands empty, but lethal nonetheless. Behind the guards, a second gate stood closed, waiting for the cycle.
A verbal exchange occurred inside the armor. Atom recognized the moment of silence in the presence of power-armor.
He glanced to Daisy. “Any idea of how long you’re in here?”
“They said they had to clear my paperwork. I can’t tell you how many drunken brawls I’ve been in and never landed this far up the chain or discipline. Usually I’m just defragging in the drunk tank and cut loose with the rest of the rowdies.”