by Elin Wyn
Sitting at the table next to me was a gorgeous complement of women. Five ladies, four species, and three of those species I’ve enjoyed numerous times in various levels of…well, everything.
I asked them to join me and the light-hearted conversation helped soothe the last of the sting of Dejar’s words.
What did he know, anyway?
One of the women, a voluptuous, blue-skinned vixen that I recognized as one of Madam Ora’s girls, had her hand on my leg, slowly making its way up. I wasn’t complaining as I leaned in and whispered nonsense in her ear. She giggled, gave me a playful squeeze on my inner thigh, letter her fingers lightly brush against me.
I was having fun. The other patrons weren’t entirely thrilled with me, but I didn’t care. These ladies were sensational.
“Oh, Baiviel,” one of the girls cooed.
Despite Dejar’s thoughts about my competence, I did know better than to use my real name. “I want to go dancing. Will you go dancing with us?”
The other girls chirped in, and the one squeezing my leg moved her hand and gave me another squeeze as she smiled at me, adding her own silent persuasion to the verbal pleas.
“I would be honored and thrilled to spend more time with you beautiful ladies,” I laughed as I flashed a promise to my squeeze-friend. I called for the check, paid for the food and drinks—we had gone through three bottles?—and retrieved my coat as we left.
“So,” I asked. “Where are…” I had to take a deep breath as the ground swam away from me for a quick moment. “Where are we headed? I can’t wait to see how you ladies move.” I wrapped one arm around my little blue friend and the other around the Pronarian goddess that had been licking her lips and batting her eyes at me all evening.
Madam Ora’s establishment would wait. The idea of these two women, maybe three or all four of them—and the effects of the liquor—had me imagining so many things to do on this fine evening.
“I know a place,” the Pronarian answered. “How about The White Hole? Z is working the music their tonight.” The girls all squealed at that and started dragging me down the street. After a block or so, we arrived and were waiting in line. As we waited, I felt two hands on my backside and returned the favor. I leaned over to nibble on the Pronarian’s ear a bit when I saw something that snapped me entirely to attention.
At the end of the street was one of the women from the Rogue Star.
While the human women were good at disguising themselves, I could pick them out easily in a crowd.
And no matter how she dyed herself, I’d recognize Aryn.
She was doing her best to keep attention off of herself, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.
I’d watched her for far too long to not recognize her anywhere.
And she wasn’t supposed to be out here. It wasn’t safe.
“I’m so sorry, ladies. I just remembered that I have an appointment that I must attend to.”
“Aww, are you sure?” the blue one asked as she grabbed my face and kissed me, hard. A quick wave of revulsion at myself passed through me as I gently detangled my limbs.
But I could see Aryn out of the corner of my eye. She was going to get into trouble. Or be trouble for someone.
Either way, she needed me.
Even if she didn’t know it.
“I’m sorry. How about we get back together later? Deal?”
At their sad nods, I left to go follow Aryn, shoving down the growing worry.
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Given: Star Breed Book One
Kara
It was all Juda’s fault.
I kicked him out of my bed three weeks ago for cheating on me, but apparently, he wasn’t done screwing me over.
I crouched low on the roof of the abandoned gambling den across the street from Sary’s “general store” and cursed the limp-dicked bastard all over again.
There wasn’t a lot of traffic at this time of day. Not that that meant much in Ghelfi; the thieves’ city never truly slept. There was no point in waiting for night, like in the old vids Mom used to watch over and over. Like all sealed cities on the surface of Neurea, lighting in Ghelfi varied throughout the day’s cycle, but never to a true night.
I saw real night, once. I stowed away on the back of a surface crawler that was heading to Lashell. I don’t know why, somehow I’d thought it would be better if I got out of Ghelfi, started over somewhere else.
The velvet sky, studded with stars, shone clean and cold. Perfect. Not like the barely organized chaos of the cities.
But halfway there, the crawler broke down, had to be towed back. I realized then that there was no way out. Not for me.
In the old vids, everything always turned out alright, something swooped in at the last minute to save the day.
That’s how you knew they were only lies.
So here I was, half-hidden among old wires and debris that had been kicked up to the top of the store years ago, long forgotten. Watching time slip away on the chrono, crossing my fingers to old gods I didn’t believe in.
“What’cha doing?”
I jumped, furious with myself.
Bani crouched next to me. His dark brown hair hung down in his face, but I could still see the twinkle in his eye. Snuck up on me and was proud of it, little bastard.
I socked him gently in the arm, just enough to let him know I cared.
“Everybody’s looking for you, Kara,” he said under his breath. He didn’t look at me but instead kept his eyes scanning across the street, trying to see what I was interested in. Smart kid.
I ran my hand through my own tangle of hair. It was past time to cut it, but things had been a little busy lately.
“How mad is Xavis?” I really didn’t want to know the answer.
Bani shrugged one bony shoulder. “He’s playing it down a little bit, but I think he’s pretty steamed. If you, of all people, don’t show up by the end of the tithe, he’s gonna lose a lot of face.”
A light crackled, the burnt smell of frying wires wafted by. But I wasn’t paying attention to the noise or to the stink of ozone that permeated the air of Ghelfi. If Xavis really was mad, I was in trouble.
I shoved the thought far to the back of my head. Nothing to do about it but keep moving.
A shuffling sound below surprised me, and I risked another glance over the ledge. A miner, wrapped in rags so filthy there was no telling the gender, half-staggered down the street. He, she, whatever, paused in front of Sary’s storefront, then stumbled inside.
Ice gripped my spine. Rings willing, he’d be quick. Claim whatever he came to trade, and get out. Not stay there, spinning stories of life in the Waste, screwing my timetable.
“Is that the job?” Bani’s wide eyes fixed me. “A snatch and grab on the miners after they bring in the dust?”
I rolled my eyes. “They’re just trying to get by, same as us.” Besides, credits were no good to me, not with so little time to clean them. But the antonium dust the miners brought in was untraceable. ‘Dust knows no provenance’ was the saying. I just needed to get enough of it.
Agonizing minutes passed until he left. I glanced at my chrono again. If she didn’t show up today, I didn’t have a backup plan. This was my backup plan. No more nets to catch my fall.
I closed my eyes to try to find the calm, cold center within that had kept me alive so far on the streets of Ghelfi, and waited. I didn’t need to see, didn’t need to check the
time. I could only wait and listen.
Finally, the sound came. The sharp click of stiletto heels across the permasteel walkway. I opened my eyes and leaned forward ever so slightly to peer down the street.
There she was. Charro’s secret indulgence. Silver hair teased into a high fall down her back, her face paint marked her as one of Sary’s working girls. When I first found out about Charro’s extracurricular activities, I’d half thought of sending a note to Sary, stir up the nest a bit. Then I started thinking long term. That’d been almost two years ago.
Two years of planning and waiting brought to a crash by that bastard Juda. I should have gutted him like a fish instead of just kicking him out.
Bani glanced at her and then looked up at me, frowning.
“That’s your mark?” He risked another look but I pulled him back sharply by the collar of his jacket.
He glared at me, with all the scorn a preteen could manage. “I know her. She works the landing pad. Even if she did have the sort of money you’re going to need to get out of trouble with Xavis, she isn’t gonna be carrying it with her on a job.” His eyes narrowed. “So what are you really up to?”
I grinned. I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t pleased to have to use this job to get out of the hole Juda left me in, but it was pretty brilliant.
“Just keep your eye on the alley, kid, okay?”
I checked my chrono again, but I didn’t need to. I’d timed this pattern so often. Like clockwork, the shadows of Charro’s two goons came into focus on the tinted plex of the storefront. Just like every other time I’d watched, they paced back and forth, no doubt joking about their boss and his hobby.
“They’re supposed to be guarding the back room, but he always kicks them out when she visits.” I checked the time again, stupid habit. Couldn’t help it. “He might be there, but he’s more than a little distracted right now.”
I worked my way across the roof, down to the collection of rubble in the back alley that had let me gain my vantage point.
Bani followed me and I glared at him.
“Stay up here,” I snarled. “I don’t know how this is going to turn out.”
“Then you’ll need a second pair of hands.”
The kid had a point, but I’d be damned if I was going to let him have it.
“No, I need a second pair of eyes.” His shoulders sagged a little. But I couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t follow me anyway.
“Besides, I don't know if I can trust you on this job.” His white face told me my words hit their mark. Hated to do it, but I didn’t want to be worried about him. I was in enough trouble as it was.
His face slid out of sight as I worked my way down the trash heap.
Even before I crossed the street, the bitter stench of the acid bombs I’d planted clawed at my throat. The air recirculators only worked intermittently in this neighborhood, and in the alley, the smell almost forced me to my knees.
That the miner walked by without flinching, I could understand. I’d heard too much time in an environmental suit would have you smelling nothing but rubber. But the silver-haired doxy must have been high on something to not notice something was wrong.
No time to linger in the alley. Microcams swept every ninety seconds, watching, waiting for anything out of the ordinary.
I dashed to the hiding space I’d carved out of the fallen wall that backed up to Sary’s, and held my breath, trying to hear over the drumming of my heartbeat. The rushing in my ears slowed, and I poked my head out. Still all clear.
Nobody in their right mind would take on Sary, he ran half the games in town, and word in the pits said he wanted to take control of the city over from Xavis. Unlikely, but still, not someone I really wanted after me. But if the choice was Sary or Xavis himself….well, it was a sucky choice.
I counted, waiting for the next clear moment to check on the results of the clustered acid bombs, then ran back around the corner.
Ninety seconds is a long time.
Ninety seconds is long enough to make one chip in the wall a day until a section can be lifted away and replaced seamlessly.
Ninety seconds is long enough to plant one small acid bomb at a time, then wait for a few days for the smell to dissipate, for the interior wall that led to the vault to weaken, bit by bit, day by day.
Ninety seconds is long enough to die in the Waste, outside of the protection of the domes.
And if I didn’t get my tithe to Xavis by tonight, that’s where I’d end up.
Davien
Really, everything would be so much easier if I just snapped the fat fool’s neck. Only the endless lessons in control back on the ship kept my hands still at my sides, fingers barely flexing. The tips of my claws ran across my palms, bringing me back to focus.
“Davien, are you even listening to me?” Xavis rumbled.
And he wasn’t a fool, even if I despised him. Xavis had clawed his way to the top of the dirtiest pile to run Ghelfi. The trip to the top had been over the broken bodies of plenty of enemies. He’d stayed on his perch for over twenty Imperial years. I didn’t have to do much research to know his methods hadn’t changed.
Prime example: he’d hired me.
I focused on Xavis, only too aware I’d started to slip away into the hunt. Every moment here, stuck on this rock, was a delay I couldn’t afford. Xavis, bastard though he might be, was my fastest way out of here. Well, the fastest way without an unacceptably high casualty count.
Xavis lounged in his hover chair, fingers tapping in annoyance well away from the control pad. The chair was as much affectation as convenience - he could walk just fine. Just liked to be able to loom over people.
“She’s late,” he growled. “She’s never late.”
I didn’t need to ask who he meant. He’d been on a tear about his precious Kara for hours, first calling her his brightest find, then cursing her ingratitude.
The large room I’d come to think of as the receiving hall was mostly empty now, just the regular workers at their terminals around the edges, cleaning credits, shifting funds until they could be transferred into the most secure banks in the Empire. Repetitive, mind-numbing, but crucial to any modern criminal enterprise. The low drone as they worked filled the otherwise quiet room.
The last traces of the dark festivities of the last day had almost been erased. All day and night long, denizens of Ghelfi’s underworld had streamed in, bringing their tribute to the acknowledged boss of the city, doing their best, or worst, to please a capricious overlord. The whole affair had been boring, and stupidly inefficient.
But the archaic ritual soothed his ego and had been an opening to a job. At the last tithing, some idiot with more guts than brains had tried to take Xavis out. He’d failed to account for the force shield over the hover chair, but his explosives did thin out Xavis’ bodyguards considerably.
Bad luck for them, perfect timing for me. When Doc had commanded we all enter the escape pods, she’d made it clear we were to jump as randomly as possible. It should have worked, should have drawn the attackers away from the Daedalus, but it had been six standard weeks since I’d crashed here, and I hadn’t had a signal from her or any of my brothers.
If I was on my own, I needed credits. And I needed a lot of them.
Six weeks had been enough to battle my way up the ranks of Xavis’ enforcers. Not that they were slouches, but they didn’t have my, shall we say, advantages.
A commotion at the entrance to the room drew my attention, and I angled for a better position at the front of Xavis’s chair. The dais we stood on served as an excellent vantage point for the room, allowing me to take in any suspicious movements at a glance. I’d argued to get rid of the scarlet drapery behind us, observing it provided too obvious of a hiding place. He’d refused. Like the dais, it was all about show.
The scuffle at the doorway turned out to be two enforcers dragging a third man between them. Beneath the new scrapes and swelling around his eye, I recognized him. Marcus, Martin, something like
that. A low-level hustler who worked the dive bars near the station. Rigged games of chance, targeting travelers who wouldn’t be around long enough to make a fuss.
Xavis waved me back into place, and I relaxed, just a tad. This wasn’t a threat to his authority, just another loser trapped here.
The enforcers tossed the poor sap onto the lowest level of the dais and stepped back, waiting for orders.
“Malik,” Xavis coaxed the hover chair to the edge of the dais, watching the human wreck below take shuddering breaths. “You didn’t appear for the tithing last night.” He floated down, a pale mass of malevolence, eyes narrowed.
I stepped behind him. I didn’t expect trouble from Malik, but there’d be hell to pay if I wasn’t where Xavis expected me, especially when he was in this mood.
“Well?” Xavis’s low voice was almost pleasant, but a thread of malice wound through it, unmistakable. “We’ve known each other for so long, I’m surprised that you’ve disappointed me.”
“I’m sorry, Lord Xavis,” the man mumbled. Probably had lost a few teeth. “My youngest has been down with the Batdu pox, the medicine was so much…” He gulped. “I thought I could make it up before the tithing.”
“Oh?” Xavis’s eyes glittered. “How is the poor thing doing now?”
“Better now, Lord Xavis. Thank you.”
“You should have told me, I would have lent you the money.”
Sure he would have. At rates that would mean he’d own the service of the entire family.
“But, as it is, we have a problem that needs to be sorted out.” Xavis made a show of tapping his fingers, as if considering, but that sharp brain had already decided on the punishment, I was sure. This was just to terrorize the hustler, and send a message to everyone else in the room.
“I’d forgotten about your lovely family,” he purred. “The oldest is twelve now, as I recall?”
The man shifted uneasily. “Yes, my lord. But she’s not very strong…”
“I’m sure a more active life will be good for her. She’ll have her own tithe to pay, starting next cycle.”