“It’ll work out, Trip,” Darius said. He sipped his drink. “And we can’t go immediately anyway. So the wait will be fine. I’ve got to secure something to make sure Shiro doesn’t get caught again. The previous plan was too weak. We should have known better what we were doing. It’s just a smidgeon harder to scope out locations and gather intel on space shit.”
“What are you going to do this time for me, Darius?” Shiro asked. He tasted his cocktail and set it aside. Then began to use his cane like a pointer, pointing it at Darius like a teacher might when they called on a student.
“Get that ugly thing out of my face,” Darius said.
“Pardon? It’s not in your face,” Shiro said, grinning.
Darius scowled. He was still annoyed about losing his novas. “If it had been a real dice game, I would have won. You’d have no chance against me, Shiro.”
“But it is a game of chance, and so I do have a chance against you. Every time. Unless you are cheating, good chap.”
Darius growled, but said nothing more on the matter. “I’m thinking we get you a way to tranquilize the guards. Then loop the security footage.”
“Seems risky.” Shiro tapped his lips with the brass top of the lion head cane.
Charly laughed. “Riskier than what we were doing before? You got caught, Shir.”
“Anything is better than relying on the whims of bored security guards, I would think,” Odeon observed.
“I agree. Shiro, I’m going to side with Darius on this one.”
He blew out a sigh. “Fine, Ms. Drake. Fine.”
“So, Trip, you ready your ship. Let us know as soon as she’s able to fly. Darius, get the tranquilizers. The rest of you, be on stand by to head out as soon as Trip’s got the Olavia Apollo ready.”
“Will do. And thank you,” Trip said.
Holly hesitated. “For what?”
“For bringing me into the inner circle. The lair,” Trip said, grinning widely.
6
Holly hurried into the Surge Club. The wind pushed the door open behind her and she slammed it closed with one hand. It was a seasonal thing—strong winds in the morning and evening as the temperatures transitioned. This morning there was also an eclipse happening. With the cooler temperatures, the wind, and the half-light, there was something glum about the beginning of the day.
She moved into the club area and nodded at Torden who was behind the bar unpacking boxes of bottles, which he stacked on the shelves against the wall.
“Charly’s upstairs. She’s in a mood. You have been warned,” he said.
Holly stopped. “Oh. Well, thank you. For the warning.”
“Someone outbid her for an important government shindig.” Torden shook his head.
“That would bother her.”
“It bothers me. Though they are annoying—the self-important leaders—they bring in a lot of money.”
“Yes, I can see how that would be a nuisance.” She paused at the bar. “Oh, I wanted to say thanks for being cool to Trip, the Centau pilot, you remember? You made her feel welcome.”
“Of course.” He looked at her, for a moment, then asked, “Why wouldn’t I?
Holly cocked her head to one side. “She’s a Centau. You’re a Yasoan. Nothing is a given, I guess.”
His violet face brightened in understanding. “If a Centau is kind to me, I have no reason to not treat them well in return.”
Holly grinned him. “I like that about you. Well, I guess I’ll go upstairs and face the beast.”
“Watch yourself, Holly.”
She laughed at the look he gave her.
Up in the Bird’s Nest, Charly was leaning back in her chair, her boots up on the desk, and a v-screen propped on her knee. “Hey sugar,” she said when Holly entered.
“Charly, I heard someone stole your business.”
“Yeah, the bitches.”
“I didn’t realize there was anyone else attempting to get the hoity-toity Centau parties.”
“It’s good money. No one else’s club is as cool as mine. But some jerk started lusting after my gigs. I’m going to have to do something about it. Not sure what yet. I’m considering adding something new or remodeling.”
“Those would be big changes,” Holly said.
“What do you think about a cage on stage? Where hot men or women dance half-nude as entertainment?” Charly put the v-screen on her desk and stretched her arms over her head as she sat up in her chair, taking her feet down.
Holly stared at her friend, pausing in pouring coffee beans into the grinder. It was too early for kasé. The strong, burned scent of coffee permeated the air as Holly punched the grind button. Charly laughed when she finished her stretch and saw the look on Holly’s face.
“Is that a no?” Charly asked.
“It’s not just a no, it’s a what in the name of hell would you be thinking to embark on that sort of transformation? You want to be the next Le Tissier’s? Her Sveldt Encounters?”
“You know it, girl,” Charly said.
“Well don’t do it. We’ve got a Le Tissier’s, not to mention about a hundred other clubs doing the same thing. Let’s get your place more classy and improve on the themes you’ve got here.”
“Or I could just sell it. And do something else?” Charly said.
Holly looked up from pouring water into the reservoir of the brewer. She put the empty container of water down. There were dark circles under Charly’s eyes. And they looked a bit puffy. “What’s going on, Char? You alright?”
“Didn’t Torden tell you?”
“Yeah, he told me. That someone outbid you. Some fancy schmancy shin-dig isn’t coming here. But the next one will.”
“I know. I’ll probably get the next one. But those have been paying the bills. Most of the club income has come from the big payments from hosting the Centau shit. Not getting the next one will be a dip in the club income.”
The coffee had been forgotten, for a moment. Holly remembered, glanced back at it, and hit the brew button, and turned to lean against the table. She crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. “So . . . I thought you bought out the other partners.”
Charly threw her hands in the air. “I did. But I don’t own the club yet. It was bought with a loan from an investor. I owe an investor a monthly payment.” Charly strode out from behind her desk and went to the window to stare down at the club. Workers were meandering through the floor, weaving in between tables, chairs, and low tables, cleaning and arranging them.
“So are you hurting now? Can you make the payments or are you lost without the government contracts?”
Charly’s jaw flexed. She avoided looking at Holly and said nothing. Then she began to inspect her fingernails.
Holly bit her lip, holding back the urge to start verbalizing all the stuff that finally made sense. Charly you’ve been pulling the tightwad business owner card because shit was really tight! Holly kept that to herself. Her friend was clearly embarrassed. And too proud to ask for help, and Holly didn’t need to make it worse by razzing her.
“Here’s my proposal.” Holly spoke quietly, not wishing to be a show-off to her friend, or embarrass her further. “I pay you half the amount you owe to the investor. Because the team is using half the facility. Is that enough to help?”
Charly gave a cursory nod, and turned her face halfway so that Holly could see the look on her face. “Thanks, Hol.”
“We can work out the details later. Just tell me when the next payment is due.”
“Sure thing.”
“So, you want some coffee?”
“Please.”
The brew had finished. Holly pulled the carafe out and filled a mug for Charly, then one for herself. They stood at the window overlooking the club and watched the waxing light coming in through the glass of the front doors as the eclipse waned.
“Kind of a downer start to a day,” Charly said.
“I can’t argue with that.” Holly held the mug in front of her fac
e. Tendrils of steam rose like wisps rising from a mire. She inhaled the heat and sighed.
They finished their drinks in the quiet stillness that followed as the day proceeded. The tension seemed to ease out of Charly. Holly waited for Darius to show up to finalize plans for their move on the next fuel depot. She was still waiting two hours later, when Odeon and Shiro appeared for a morning drink.
“Hello lads and lasses—“ Shiro began, then stopped. “I thought Darius would be here. This is odd.” He went to the coffee maker and poured himself a small mug.
“He hasn’t come in yet,” Holly said. “I’ve been waiting for him all morning.”
“Maybe this morning’s eclipse frightened him off,” Odeon said. He’d positioned himself at the window that looked out on the street. “The wind and the chill were both reasons to stay home today.”
“Darius has never not come in. At least called if he was going to be later than usual,” Charly said, looking up from her v-screen. She was back at her desk and working on the club finances. Before the others showed up, she’d told Holly the amount of novas needed to make half the payment.
Holly stood up from where she’d been sitting at Darius’s desk and put the v-screen down she’d been using to research real estate. She’d tasked Dave with finding a place for the children to stay as they sorted out where their parents were, following what she hoped was a successful rescue. But as she waited for Darius to show up, she had to be doing something. And that was a part of the plan eating at her—how they would care for the kids.
“Has anyone tried to get Darius on the comms?”
The crew exchanged looks and shook their heads. Holly pulled out the small oval unit and punched in a number for Darius. No answer. She unmuted her mic and tried to hail him that way. Nothing.
She sat down again at his bay of screens and pulled up the program that acted as the hub for their comms system. Selecting Darius’s unit pulled up his last known location. His unit was currently off.
“He turned his comm unit off,” Holly said.
Odeon came to stand behind her and watch over her shoulder. “But his last known location looks like one of Darius’s favorite haunts. That is, I believe, ”
“Then he’s probably not dead in a gutter somewhere. Right?” Charly laughed.
Odeon echoed her laugh. “This is typical Darius. I am actually surprised you kept him docile this long.”
“Docile?” Holly laughed, rising. “You guys do your thing, heading out to find him.”
* * *
Odeon stubbornly followed her out of the Surge Club and down the street, heading for a bar she hadn’t had occasion to be in for a while.
“Shouldn’t you be doing other things? Playing music somewhere?” she asked, glancing sideways at her friend.
“This is what I have to do today, Holly.”
She nodded and chose to walk in silence. The sidewalks were crowded with the lunchtime hordes. Food carts filled the nearby plaza and the odors wafted across the way and into their path. Holly’s stomach growled in response, but she didn’t have time to stop. If Darius had left the Echo Taproom, she wanted to find out as soon as possible. Knowing if something had happened to him suddenly seemed urgent. There had been too many occasions where the Shadow Coalition thugs had gotten ahead of them, or appeared out of nowhere in hopes of surprising them. Trusting her instincts had become important for her. Not trusting them usually led to a dangerous exchange where she was lucky to get out alive or only suffering minor wounds.
The winds had softened, but there was still an underlying chill in the air. Odeon had even taken to wearing a jacket over his usual shirt. He walked beside Holly, content with the quiet between them, using the Ousaba as a walking stick. Holly was used to his presence, and she enjoyed it, especially when the pressure to engage him left her and they simply were. He didn’t need her to perform or impress him, and she didn’t require that of him. They were friends and companions, and she had grown to trust him and his intentions considerably over the weeks they’d worked together.
He caught her glancing at him and grinned.
“What is it?”
“Nothing,” she answered quickly. “Are you worried about Darius?”
“No. He’s too clever to get caught or find himself in a situation he can’t get out of.”
“Then why are you coming with me?”
He cocked his head to one side. “That isn’t a fair question, Holly.”
“It isn’t?”
“You can also take care of yourself. But I don’t trust anyone else.”
“So it’s my safety. You’re my bodyguard?”
He used the Ousaba to stop someone from bumping into her as they broke sideways across the stream of people. The Constie who nearly crashed into Holly glared at Odeon, then moved around the staff and continued on.
“Not a bodyguard. But it is safer to travel in pairs.”
“So I’ve heard. Does that mean you’ll really start to accompany me everywhere I go?” She grinned as she said it, finding the idea of Odeon trying to stick with her as she went to bed and to the bathroom funny.
“Within reason. I believe as we continue to put pressure on the SC, they’re going to get more aggressive. I don’t want you to be caught off guard.”
She appreciated it. But it did make her feel like the weak member of the herd. At any minute a predator would jump out and snap her up into its jaws. “I think it can’t be that bad.” It was a lie. She didn’t believe that. But the sense that she required Odeon’s presence to stay safe was irritating her, despite how she appreciated that he was aware of her.
Would he do it for Shiro? Or Charly? Or just her.
“I agree. But to find out that it’s not that bad means more than I am willing to sacrifice.”
The Echo Taproom was near Meg’s condo. They reached the alley where its neon sign glowed from the shadows and turned down into it to approach the doors. Odeon made several good points, but Holly didn’t love the thought that it might mean that he didn’t think her capable of taking care of herself, spotting danger, and making good judgment calls. She was surprised to find that she bristled at this idea—Odeon not respecting her. It bothered her. She needed them all to respect her. But the urgency and importance of having Odeon’s respect made what she needed from the others fade into obscurity.
As she discovered this concern within herself, they reached the front doors of the taproom and pushed through them together, entering the soft blue light of the bar and she was forced to release the thoughts.
Lounge couches were positioned in front of low, sleek tables where people sat talking with drinks. Several of the tables were filled with people playing discreet games of dice or cards, ready to hide them if word came that an authority of some sort were coming.
“No drinks, right?” Holly said to Odeon as they strolled around the room, looking for Darius.
“I don’t need one,” Odeon said. “There he is.”
Holly followed the direction of her friend’s gaze and spotted Darius at a table, his driving cap tilted low over his eyes. He was wearing the clothes he’d been in the day before. “Has he been here all night?”
“I think the answer to that is yes, Holly.”
They zig-zagged around the tables and couches until they reached Darius. He didn’t look up when they arrived. Holly stood nearby, her arms crossed. Odeon wore a bemused expression as though he were familiar with this sort of behavior from Darius.
“You guys found me,” Darius said. “Yay.”
“Been on a bender, Darius?” Holly asked.
“Maybe, maybe not. The dice were hot. I couldn’t leave.”
“So you turned your phone and comms off?”
He shrugged, watching his opponent roll. “I haven’t had a decent break in a while. This seemed like a good time for one. Yeah?”
His attention was riveted on what was happening on the table. His eyes were puffy. His cheeks hung weakly off the bones.
�
��Breaks are good. No argument there,” Holly said. “In fact, I was just trying to get Odeon to take one. I just think, turning off communication. Not a good idea.”
“You were worried, Drake?” He sounded almost snide. Someone else was rolling and he put his knuckle in his mouth and bit it.
“Barely.” She said, hoping he’d catch the sarcasm.
“Too bad.” He said, absently.
Holly was starting to wonder if it had been a bad idea to look for him. He didn’t seem to care. And she was used to the ways of an addict. Darius seemed addicted. Pulling him out of the bender didn’t seem like something she wanted to do. He would blame her and it would always seem like she’d ruined his chances of winning. The thing that bothered her, and she could tell that the same thought had occurred to Odeon—Darius didn’t need the money. Unless he’d squandered everything he’d earned doing the crew’s work on gambling.
Holly looked at Odeon, wondering if he was going to say anything. He was, after all, Darius’s old friend. More than that, she suspected, though she’d never had it solidly confirmed. They’d been lovers, but that seemed to be in the past.
Odeon lifted one shoulder slightly, mimicking the shrug he’d picked up from humans.
“Darius seems fine. Shall we go, Odeon?”
That made Darius look at them. He glanced up at Holly, then Odeon.
“Thanks for the visit,” he said, his tone laced with sarcasm. That was another thing Holly expected from an addict—resentment for being caught in their indulgence. He switched his attention back to the game and scooped the black dice into his hands and began to shake them. He let them fly. Holly turned to go as they landed.
“Turn your phone on, please,” Odeon said, reaching down and touching his friend on the shoulder.
Holly wasn’t sure what happened. She only heard the accusation. She suspected it was Darius’s classic move—adjust the dice when his opponents were distracted. Odeon’s touch must have been the distraction. Owing to a number of factors—his dulled senses, exhaustion, perhaps a bit inebriated—Darius was caught in the act.
Suddenly he was sprinting past Holly, high-tailing it to the door. “Run!” He said as he brushed past her.
The Colossus Collection Page 54