Hostile Legacy, page 5
part #2 of Afterwar Saga Series
“We could relieve them if you want,” Addy said. “Hold on, I’ll ask.”
Liv opted to turn piloting over to Addy and me. She was a competent pilot, but it stressed her out if things got too busy. Addy and I lived for tight situations, although, Paradise Station was hardly a hub of commerce at 2300 local time.
“I bet that pub you chose will be in full swing by the time we get in,” Cassius said. “At least it’s not a weekend.”
It’s not hard to lose track of the day of the week while sailing in space. Every day looks like every other day, except when you take off and land. A quick check told me it was late Tuesday evening.
Getting through Paradise Station traffic wasn’t particularly difficult. A handful of large freighters were moving in their predictable acceleration vectors and we saw maybe a dozen smaller local craft. The presence of two cutter class Curie Protectorate vessels was unexpected, and even more so the Curie Protectorate destroyer docked below the station. Elea Station had more security, but it was also at least three times the size of Paradise. Idly, I wondered if a destroyer hanging around was unusual. Back home, a big ship like that would have been docked at a separate location, with the desire to give Elea a friendlier appearance.
“Bandit, this is Paradise Customs, please respond.” A woman in an official-looking uniform appeared on the screen. Unlike the bored man who’d talked to us earlier, this woman bore the rank of sergeant on her sleeve and sat ramrod straight in her chair.
“This is Bandit,” I answered. “Go ahead, Paradise.”
“Curie Protectorate requires a customs inspection for all vessels newly entering our space within a ten-day period. Please stay aboard and keep all personal weapons stowed. Will you comply?”
“Of course, Paradise,” I said. “We have four crew aboard and will stay out of your way as much as possible.”
“Much appreciated,” she answered.
I nestled Bandit into place at our assigned slip and was pleased to see magnetic docking clamps extend and draw us in, perfectly aligning our portside airlock. There was extended jostling when a flexible gangplank extended and attempted to mate with our non-standard fittings. Fortunately, it only took some automated reconfiguring to make things work.
I peered out the window and waited for the pressure light to show green, signifying that our ship and the station’s atmospheric pressures were balanced. I was about to release the lock but then thought better, waiting until I saw the customs personnel in the tube. Once they were halfway over, I released the exterior hatch’s lock. Even though we were at the same pressure as the station, the flexible tube connecting us to the station wasn’t foolproof. I wasn’t about to open everything if not required.
The rigid customs official I’d spoken with was second in line and wore a heavy blaster on her belt. The material of her holster was worn, making me wonder what had caused that wear. I hoped it was just used from practice, but wary eyes told me she had a difficult job and didn’t like surprises.
I appreciated that she closed the exterior airlock hatch upon entering Bandit. I’d already unlocked the interior hatch but hadn’t yet opened it.
“Please step back,” she ordered. It wasn’t unfriendly, but she meant business.
“Hatch is open, you have a full run,” I said, taking a seat in the crew area.
Her partner had a weapon in hand, although it was pointed at the deck. I didn’t move and kept my hands on the arms of my chair. This earned me a grateful nod and she walked through the small space, holding a scanner that I suppose searched for hidden compartments. If she found any, she sure didn’t say. Five minutes later, she was back at the airlock.
“I see you have a sled tied up. Do you know where you’ll be racing?” she asked, her demeanor completely different from when she’d entered. She was almost friendly … almost.
“We were looking at Rim,” I said. “It’s a little rich for our blood so we might go Limited. Any advice?”
“Rim’s the place to be,” she said. “If you can’t get a flag there, you might consider Stoneville. It’s a smaller venue but they attract enough racers to make a decent purse.”
“Is that where you’re from?” Olivia asked, smiling at the woman.
She gave Olivia a surprised look. “Well, yes, but … how’d you know that?”
“You smiled when you said the name. It felt like it meant something to you,” Olivia said. “I think we’d like Stoneville.”
“If you go there, visit the Wayfarer’s Inn. My family owns it. They will treat you fairly. Tell them you met Tandra. They will not give you a discount, but it will make them smile, and my brother has a nice smile,” she said. As she exited, she tossed one final thought through the tunnel before closing the door. “Safe travels.”
“She was nice,” Addy said.
“I think so, too,” Olivia said.
“I say we get dinner first and then deal with the ship,” I said. “There isn’t much to do, regardless.”
Paradise Station’s design wasn’t complex. We’d come in at Deck-16 and were directed via lighted directional arrows in the walls to a large bank of central elevators. The level reminded me of my home station of Elea, but Paradise was grimier, with small bits of junk in the corridors pushed into the corners by traffic. By Paradise local time, we were late, so the trickle of people wasn’t unusual, although they, like the station, appeared worse for wear.
There was a little improvement in the station when we arrived on Deck-12. Better lighting and the sounds and smells of bar food pulled us forward.
“Man, that smells good,” Cassius said, his face splitting with a giant grin. Olivia and I exchanged a look of amusement at his interest in anything food.
“The Racetrack should be obvious,” Addy said. “Marketing images show portside airfoils built into the wall above the entrance.”
“Like that?” Cassius asked, pointing at exactly what Addy described.
“Give the man a burger,” Addy said.
“Make it two,” Cassius agreed.
A sign indicated we should seat ourselves. We followed Addy, who beelined for a particularly odd-looking booth cleverly created from a retired racing sled's parts.
“Quinn,” Olivia hissed. Her words, and even more her emotions, told me there was danger. I’d brought my light blaster and half withdrew it from the holster as I turned.
“Quinn Hoffen, I thought that was your lot.”
I gawped at the man in front of us.
5
CUSTOMS
“What are you doing here, Turnigy?” I growled, exposing my pistol.
“Now, now, there’s no need for unpleasantries,” he said, raising his hands defensively. “You walked into my bar, after all. Let me buy you a drink. We’ll put aside our differences. If only for dinner.”
“Let’s go,” Cassius said.
His instinct was spot-on. Blaid Turnigy had been part of the attempted murder and kidnapping of his mother, Jenny. It could be argued that it wasn’t personal and Turnigy had played only a small part, but Cassius wouldn’t see it that way. Discovering what Turnigy was doing on Paradise Station, however, was important.
“Why don’t you and Liv check out that place we looked at on Ten,” I said. “Addy and I will humor Blaid for a minute.”
“We’re not splitting up,” Cassius growled.
“Are you sure?” Olivia asked, holding Cassius’s arm. “I’m sure they’ll be quite safe. We don’t need to be here.”
“Really?” He stared at my sister. I wondered who else in the universe could change the big man’s mind in such a stressful moment.
“You order food for us,” I said. “We’ll be up in a few minutes.”
Cassius looked at each of us in turn and when he landed on Olivia, he nodded. “This isn’t over between us, Turnigy.”
“No, I suppose it isn’t,” Blaid answered evenly. Once Cassius and Olivia were out of general earshot he smiled, although the smile did little to convince me of any good intentions. “A drink, then?”
“What are you doing here, Blaid?” I asked.
“I could ask you the same. As I said, this is my bar,” he said.
“You own The Racetrack,” Addy said, confirming. “You’re not listed on the station registry as owner.”
“Records are not always accurate,” he said. “And ownership is a fluid concept. What are you drinking?”
“Carbonated and without alcohol,” Addy said.
“Minbeer for me,” I said.
“You two really should learn how to drink if you’ll be visiting pubs,” he said. “Come, sit at the bar while I fix your drinks.”
We followed him to a long bar top where there were a few patrons. He received an expectant look from a couple of them and set to filling orders. It took a few minutes before he returned to where we were seated.
“I wondered when I saw you if you’d come looking for me,” he said. “You and your sister do well at hiding your emotions. The James boy is not as well-practiced. He did not expect to see me. Thank you for keeping it civil.”
“You were part of a plot that nearly killed his mother,” I said.
He offered a nearly sincere look of penitence. “Yes, and I feel bad for that.”
“Save it.”
“You were not kind to me, either,” Blaid said. “You left me in Miristan. I barely escaped with my life.”
“You mean you weaseled out like you always do,” Addy said.
“Grünholz does not have an animal like the weasel,” he said. “But I understand they are animals to be held in high esteem. I’d say my contribution to the retrieval of Jennifer James far outweighs my minimal participation in her pain. If it wasn’t me, it’d have been someone else. Besides, it was my doing that found a home for a legless woman on the brink of death.”
Like everything Turnigy said, I sensed both truth and lie. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. He believed he wasn’t fully at fault for Jennifer’s troubles, that much was clear.
“You deserve a medal,” I said.
“Don’t be like that. Tell me, what brings you to Paradise?”
“Tell him nothing, Q,” Addy said.
I shrugged. “We’re both qualified for Unlimited races. We’re branching out.”
“That is interesting. Straight to Rim, then?” he asked.
“Maybe.”
“Expensive buy-in. I misjudged your financial status.”
“What do you want, Blaid? If you have something you want to say or ask, spit it out. We’re missing dinner,” I said.
“Maybe you could keep quiet about meeting me here,” he said. “I could make it worth your while.”
“You found us,” Addy said. “You could have hidden from us.”
“He needed to figure out why we were in his bar,” I said. “Otherwise, I doubt we’d have seen him.”
“And you want a favor,” Addy said. “You have some serious gall.”
“No reason for us to be talking about you, Blaid,” I said. “Leave us alone and we’ll do the same.”
“Drinks are on the house,” he said with a genuine smile. It was good information. He was worried about the interaction and felt relief.
“Tell Cassius he’s always welcome in my bar,” Blaid said as I pushed the drinks we hadn’t touched across the bar.
“What a bog burr in the butt,” Addy said as we walked out. “I don’t like thinking about hurting people, but I’d make an exception for him.”
“You could start a club and charge admission,” I said. “You’d be a wealthy woman.”
She tugged on my arm. “You get me.”
The difference between the twelfth and tenth levels of Paradise Station was significant. Painted hallways, textured decks, and fresher air. Most noticeable of all was the lack of small bits of trash and debris. The restaurant, which had been our second choice, lacked character, but like the hallways, was well maintained.
“Dining alone?” a young woman in a clean uniform asked.
“Meeting friends,” I said. “I see them.”
“That was quick,” Cassius said as we sat. On the table was a good-sized plate with two fried onion rings on one side. “I saved you some.”
Addy chuckled. “You can have mine, Cass. Too much fried food makes my stomach feel funny.”
“It’s a good funny,” Cassius said, unapologetically snagging one of the rings and popping it into his mouth. He gave me a look, asking permission to take the last one. I grinned. Like Addy and Olivia, we hadn’t grown up with food being deep-fat fried and had no taste for it. Cassius remained disappointed by our lackluster interest. “Thanks. Olivia wouldn’t let me order dinner until you guys came back. Appetizers were okay, though.”
“Plural?” Addy asked.
“The cheese bread was a small serving,” he said apologetically.
“Have you decided?” a waitress asked, interrupting the not-so-important conversation.
“I’m ready,” Cassius said, nodding happily. I’d never seen anyone as happy as Cassius when he was contemplating food.
After the waitress had gathered our orders, Olivia got to business. “What was all that with Turnigy?”
“That was his question for us,” I said. “He wanted to know if we’d come looking for him. I said no.”
“I bet bad people are looking for him. It’d be fitting if they found him,” Cassius said.
“We don’t want any part of that,” Olivia said. “We don’t need his trouble turning into ours.”
“I told him we’d keep quiet about locating him.”
“I don’t agree,” Cassius said. “Do I need to remind you what he did to Mom?”
“No, but think about it, Cass,” I said. “Right now, it’s over on Neo Firma. We left; there’s no reason to think your family is in any danger. That could change if Blaid gets involved.”
“How?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “What I do know is we don’t want to stir the pot back on Neo Firma. Don’t decide right now, but let’s keep the peace for the moment, okay? I have your back, buddy.”
The server’s appearance couldn’t have come at a better time. I won’t say that Cassius is simple enough to be distracted by food, but it’s fair to suggest it’s a factor. Cassius had ordered enough food for two and carefully split off half of a burger for Olivia before digging in with gusto.
“Turnigy thinks we’re going to Rim to race,” Addy said, splitting the sandwich we’d agreed to share. “Maybe we don’t go there first.”
“What do rooms look like here?” I asked, accepting a prompt from my AI showing a list of ten hotel purveyors.
“Two fifty for a room with two beds. Four hundred if we want two rooms with singles,” Addy said. “It’s a little cozy.”
“That’s steep,” I said. “We’re only paying four hundred to keep Bandit docked.”
“We were expecting to have to pay for lodging,” Addy said. “As long as Liv and Cass can keep it clean, I don’t think there’ll be a problem.”
“I’ll sleep on a chair,” I said, pushing the thought of Olivia and Cassius sharing a bed from my imagination. “Liv and Addy can share a bed, how about?”
Addy’s grin was ear to ear. “You’re so funny. Always the protector.”
“We could also sleep in the ship,” Cassius said. “We don’t know the security setup around here. Now that Turnigy knows we’re here, I’m not feeling all that great about leaving Bandit by itself.”
I glanced at Addy, who held the strings to our purse, at least figuratively. “Saving five hundred credits wouldn’t suck. That’s a lot of go-go juice for the racer,” she said.
“Liv?”
“Our bunks are likely to be cleaner than a hotel’s,” she said. “Perhaps we could order breakfast to go. There’s a chandler on nine that has premade meals that look nice.”
“Cass, you suffer the most from the bunks,” I said. “What do you think?”
“Blaid pretty much ruined a hotel stay for me,” he said, sounding dejected. “I suppose it’s too late to land on the surface?”
“Probably but we can grab a low orbit. It’ll be pretty,” I said.
“And feel like I’m falling the whole night?”
“No, silly, the dampers take care of that.”
While we finished dinner, we added items to our chandler’s order. It would take an hour for someone to pick and pack it into a delivery bot. We’d spent almost as much as a single night’s stay on items we didn’t desperately need but they guaranteed a few nice meals to come, which improved everyone’s mood.
“I don’t like coincidences,” Olivia confided to me as we walked to Bandit. We’d fallen back from Cassius and Addy who were discussing interesting features of the space station.
“Do you have any other explanation? Do you believe Blaid knew we were coming?” I asked.
“No. At least I hope not,” she said. “There is something off about him, though.”
I chuckled darkly. “No, really?”
“Don’t make fun.”
“Is this another one of your Penumbra conspiracy things?” I asked. When we were young, Olivia insisted there were bad spirits or vaporous aliens that did bad things. Her name for those spirits was Penumbra. It had been a conversation with my parents, and I hadn’t heard or spoken the name for fifteen years or better.
“Don’t use that word,” she hissed, her eyes hardening. “And … I don’t know. You don’t think it’s suspicious that Blaid Turnigy, of all people, intercepts us when we arrive on a mission from … well, you know.”
“You do think they’re involved,” I said. “Why now? I was joking when I said that.”
“No, you felt it from me, and it stirred your memory.”
“You agree that’s pretty far-fetched, right?”
“I agree that I’ve kept my exposure to them from you. And do not ask. We are too exposed.”
I stopped moving. It was either that or fall down the stairs. My brain was locking up with her words. Liv’s universe was much bigger than mine. She believed, still believes in things far outside of human experiences. I’m not saying she’s crazy but if other people knew what I knew, she might not be allowed to walk around without supervision.
