The Spare Man, page 20
“I can think of worse times, but you’re the one who got the manual.”
“The manual says that if I lie down again, I’ll never…”
Next to her, Shal had dropped his bathrobe and stood in the buff. He still had the trim build of a bantamweight boxer, with defined shoulders tapering into a narrow waist. The nanogen bandage wrapped around his ribs and the bruising seemed better.
“You’ll never what?” He paused with the trousers in his hand.
Tesla shook her head and realized that she’d taken a step closer to him. “I’ll never get up again.” On the other hand, why not take a step closer to him. It was their honeymoon, despite … everything. Tesla ran her hand down his chest, feeling the dark tickles of the hair beneath her palm. ::What happened to “answer honestly but don’t volunteer”?::
His voice lowered into a husky purr. “Staying in bed seems like a feature, not a bug.” He bent down to kiss her, dark curls falling across his face. ::Given that there’s no way to hide the state of the matter printer and she asked a direct question, I don’t think answering her counts as volunteering. We can’t investigate this, and she can. Every case I’ve worked has gone smoother when I was able to cooperate with the law. Plus, Gimlet likes her. ::
::Gimlet likes everyone. :: She resisted temptation and stepped back to grab a dusky red cardigan that Fantine had crocheted for her. “We don’t want to keep Officer Piper waiting, even if this is a flagrant violation of our rights.” Her voice rose a bit at the end to carry into the other room.
“It’s inconvenient.” He pulled on the trousers, and she made a note for later that he was commando. “Look … I’m just going to take out a loan against possible make-up sex in the future and say something that’ll piss you off.”
“Fascinating…” She swapped the pajama bottoms for Lunar cargo pants, with snug ankles and plenty of pockets. “Go on.”
“I know you make an effort to be conscious of your privilege, but … you’re doing a lot of running roughshod over people right now.”
“They arrested you. They beat you.” Her cheeks were hot with embarrassment or anger, and she stalked away from him to the vanity. “That’s what privilege is for. Fighting people who are abusing their power.”
“Yeah … yeah, but servers don’t exactly have power that they can abuse.”
“Piper is not a server.”
“No … but she’s also trying to do her job and isn’t an enemy. So could you just … just tone it back a little?”
“Sure.” She swallowed, looking at the door to the outer room. “Sure, I’ll be conscious of it.”
“Thank you.”
She ducked her head and opened the wig box, and the weight of needing to wear one made her shoulders slump. It was better than being trapped in the suite. In the mirror, Shal pulled on a nearly translucent cotton kurta with white work embroidered around the collar. He had to try two positions to get it over his head and even then he still winced.
Tesla smoothed her forelock back and pulled on a shoulder-length gold wig. Settling it, she triggered the wig’s synthetic setae to cling to her skin, making a nearly invisible seal. The silence hung in the air between them, so she opted for a total change of subject. “So … Fish pretty much made a confession. Why try to poison you?”
“Yeah … I didn’t chase Fish through the halls. So she’d have no reason to target me, unless she was working with someone and that’s who I saw. Also, of course … that spare body in the composter.” Shal rubbed the center of his forehead, pressing hard enough that his fingernails paled.
She pushed away from the wall, barely sinking into the dense pile of the carpet as she walked over to him. She put one hand at the base of his skull and ran the other through his hair to his forehead, taking over at the spot he was rubbing. He dropped his hand.
Shal let his eyes close, breathing slowly and easily under her touch. The only sounds were the quiet hum of the ship’s ventilation system and the inarticulate cooing of a human playing with a small dog in the next room.
The sigh that he let out lowered his shoulders. “I should be offering to rub your back.”
“I’ll break out the acubot when Officer Piper is gone.”
Shal shuddered and opened his eyes. “I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that you prefer that needled octopus over my—what?”
Tesla’s hands had stopped without her say-so as a series of thoughts cascaded through her brain. “Haldan told me that he had a demonstration-model octobot that was missing from his cabin. Ruth Fish also had an octobot—a medical one—when she responded to George’s stabbing. That type of machine tends to be a good climber.”
Shal shifted so he could look back at her. “So are you guessing that it pushed Fish or stabbed Saikawa?”
“Why not both?” Tesla traced a circle below his shoulder blade. “But there are at least two other roboticists on board with us.”
“Jalna and … you don’t think the kid is involved?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but what’s very interesting is that Ewen used a polydactyl octopoid in a competition I judged.”
Shal raised a finger. “Are octopoids and octobots the same thing?”
“Oh, you are so adorable…” She leaned over and kissed him. “An octopoid is based on an octopus and has eight semiautonomous drivers, one for each leg. An octobot has a central processor and can be any eight-legged creation. And before you ask, my acubot is an octopoid.”
“I’m going to smile and nod because I recognize all of those words.”
Tesla laughed and headed for the closet, stepping just wrong enough on the curved floor that her back seized. It made her stride falter but didn’t stop her. “Hang on, I can show you how to spot the difference.”
Behind her, cotton rustled as Shal followed her to the walk-in closet. “What I’d like to know is if there’s a significance to Ewen using an octopoid versus an octobot.”
“Two things … First, the octopoid is a more complex machine. Second. They didn’t want me to talk about it with their dad.” Tesla pushed the activation button on the acubot’s all-in-one sterilization and carrying case. The case played a gentle chime and whirred open on a glowing deep lavender and thoroughly empty chamber.
“Aw, hell … Seriously?” Shal looked at the ceiling. “I mean, it’s not as if you specialize in robotics and could modify that and drive it remotely without even thinking about it.”
“Specialized. Past tense. I’d have to think about it these days.” Tesla stared at the interior of the case where her acubot should be. “Dammit. Also … now that I think about it. Why was Haldan taking an octobot to Mars as a demo model? They aren’t exactly cutting-edge technology unless it does something super-interesting.”
“I love your brain so much. Do we know what Ory does?”
“Nope.”
Shal backed out of the walk-in closet. “Let’s go talk to Maria. And yes, I hear your indrawn breath of protest, but we don’t have time for make-up sex right now.”
Tesla laughed, following him. “You know that’s not what I was going to say.”
“Hey, I didn’t get the manual.” He leaned in and kissed her, lips parting. She dialed the DBPS back down so she could feel the fine lines his fingers traced across her back.
It made the fact that her left leg was tingling with pins and needles more obvious and the clamor in her lower back louder, as if—and something is crushing her spine so all she can catch are short, gasping breaths that get cut off with red-hot stabbing pain—Cabin. The walls were gray. The comforter was a deep rose. Shal’s eyes were creased with worry. One curl hung on his forehead separated from the others. Tesla clenched Shal’s upper arms and held still, trying to wait out the surge of sensations.
He watched her carefully. “You sure I can’t talk you into lying down again?”
It was the smart thing to do. She’d had this particular pinched nerve before, and it was deeply aggravating until she could get it straightened out. Tesla bit her lower lip and let her breath out, nodding. “Maybe just until—”
Piper called from the other room. “Food’s here.”
“Maybe after I eat.” She smiled at him, knowing there was a brittleness under it that she couldn’t quite hide, and leaned up to kiss her spouse. “Let’s not let the fries get soggier.”
He snorted but stopped arguing with her. He hovered a little as they left the bedroom, but he didn’t try to stop her again. The restriction in her stride wasn’t a new thing, but it meant she was going to have to break the cane out if they left the cabin. Yoga had been painful, but those chairs. Who had designed them?
Shal held the curtain aside for her and she limped through, tempted to dial the DBPS back up again. Her focus shifted as she crossed the threshold into the suite’s lounge. The savory scent of deep-fried starch and salt filled the room. Piper was talking to the server that had brought the food, who was crouching to pet Gimlet.
“—treating you that way. You want me to talk to anyone?”
Immanuel Rudawski, the server who had been at the R-Bar, looked up from Gimlet. His dark-blue locs were twisted into a pair of low buns at the back of his head. “Thanks, I’m—” He saw Tesla and did a double take. Immanuel jumped to his feet so quickly that, in Martian gravity, he bounded back a meter. “I have to go.”
Gimlet shied away from the sudden movement and bolted for Tesla. The little dog stood on her hind legs, paws rested against Tesla’s thigh so that she didn’t have to bend down to scratch her ears. “I’m sorry that I startled you.”
“Immanuel?” Piper looked from him to Tesla and Shal. “You wanna—”
“I have to go. I have other orders to deliver.” He backed away, then turned and practically ran out of the cabin.
Piper stared after him. “What the hell was that?”
Probably he was afraid that Tesla was going to ask him questions again, this time in front of someone who could report on him. Shal ran his hand through his hair. “I have no idea. Unless it’s my devastating charm and good looks. It’s often a problem in casual social interactions. Why, I once derailed an entire Titian diplomatic contingent’s deliberations on which sherry to purchase as a commemorative gift by raising my left eyebrow.” He raised the right eyebrow. “Like so, I’ll spare you the full force of using my good side. You may thank me later.”
“It’s obvious when you’re trying to change the topic, you know.” Piper turned from him to Tesla. “What about you? You know why he ran?”
That was a direct question, so Tesla nodded. “Partially. He was working the R-Bar the night that George Saikawa was murdered.”
Piper froze. She stared at Tesla long enough for it to be uncomfortable. “No. He wasn’t.”
“Um … yes. I saw him there.”
“Are you certain it was him?”
“Blue locs, freckles. Yes. It’s possible I misremembered, but the bartender on the pool deck also said that Immanuel was there.”
“Got multiple reactions to that…” Piper looked up and to the left as if she were accessing something on an HUD. “First of them is that he’s not on the employee roster for the R-Bar that night. Second, why the hell were you talking to the bartender on the pool deck about the murder?”
“Because you were holding my spouse.”
Piper pinched the bridge of her nose, staring at the floor. She snorted and dropped her hand. “These fries are getting cold.”
Shal followed her to the tray of food and lifted a silver dome to reveal a small cast-iron skillet filled with golden cornbread. Steam still rose from it, carrying sweet and savory heaven into the room. “Look at that!” He snapped his fingers and turned to the espresso machine. “Oh, Maria. You wanted coffee? Cappuccino? Loonie pressure steep? Flat white? We have real cow milk.”
“You know you could have just ordered coffee, right?” Piper picked up the plate of fries and looked at the couches and the bar stools by Tesla’s reconfigured matter printer. “Cappuccino, if we’re being all flash. Where do y’all want to sit? On comfy chairs or next to your science project?”
Tesla snagged her congee, relishing the warm bowl’s promise of savory goodness. “Comfy chairs. And ordering coffee from a known, good restaurant is delightful. From a random barista, it’s a roulette of possible failures.”
“Besides, I enjoy the rituals of beverages.” Shal opened a canister of beans and poured some into the compact machine’s built-in grinder. He eyed the bottles of liquor on the counter between the espresso machine and the reworked matter printer. “I’m still pissed about the Lunacy gin. Doll, which tea did you want?”
Piper picked up a fry and gestured at Tesla with it. “All right, I’m trying to understand why you let him call you ‘doll.’”
“Oh … it’s a joke.” Tesla shrugged as she lowered herself into the firmest of the chairs. “He has this collection of antique detective novels—”
“First editions, where I can find them. But which tea?”
“The Zhu Lu.” She pushed back out of the chair and it took both hands for her to stand. “Hey, Shal … I’ve been out of the room, so it’s probably best to run the milk. In answer to your earlier question, Officer Piper, I made a scanner so I can tell what’s in each of the bottles. I wanted to see if there was any oxyfeldone in them.”
Shal paused with his hand on the grinder. “Shit … the Lunacy gin was bad enough. If they’ve taken my cappuccinos from me too…”
Piper dipped her fry in garlic aioli and watched Tesla cross the room. “And was there? Oxyfeldone?”
“Not yet. But the Lunacy gin, which is our favorite, had been swapped out for a different gin.”
“They don’t export it!” Shal pulled the foil pack of milk out of their minifridge and studied the contraption that Tesla had made. “How does … Oh. Thank you.”
She transferred the foil bag to the open chamber of her makeshift scanning unit. “Do you want to tell us who would have had access to our things that could have swapped the gin?”
Behind her, Piper sighed. “Is Gimlet allowed people food?”
“No, but she’ll lie to you.”
“That’s what I thought. Nice try, girl. No fries for you.” Her chair creaked as she leaned back in it. “All right … I’ve had some serious misgivings about how this investigation is going—I said no fries, seriously.”
On her handheld, Tesla opened the app for the scanner she’d cobbled together and tapped Start. “Can’t we just get everyone together and have Shal deduce in front of them to scare the killer into confessing?”
Shal leaned against the counter. “It doesn’t work that way. Careful interviews and lots of footwork. It’s part of why I don’t want to spend my honeymoon investigating.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh! Maria. Someone stole Tesla’s acubot.”
“Her what now?”
“Acubot. It’s a needled monster for—”
Someone knocked on the door.
Tesla froze as the matter printer whirred into life beside her. “Did we order anything else?”
“Nope.” Shal glanced at Piper. “Immanuel having second thoughts?”
“Not the way he lit out of here.” She transferred the fries out of the reach of Gimlet, the ever-hopeful, and stood. She pulled her handy out of her pocket and swiped across it, then frowned. “They’re using a spoofer.”
“Swell.” Shal pushed up the sleeves of his kurta and cracked his knuckles. “I’ll take it. If they’re friendly, so am I. If they aren’t, you’re better situated to call for help than I am.”
The suite felt unnaturally quiet as he walked to the door. The long, sheer curtains stirred in the breeze from the fans. Gimlet started to follow him, but Piper blocked her with a foot. “Stay put, little girl.”
Tesla cued Fantine up on speed dial. There were legitimate reasons to use a spoofer, but the timing on this did not make her feel good. Shal leaned against the door and looked out the manual peephole. You could lie to a spoofer, but lying to the human eye was harder. He grunted. “Well, that’s a surprise.”
And he opened the door. “Mx. Kuznetsova. What can I do for you?”
SUFFERING BASTARD
4 oz ginger beer
1 oz lime juice
1 oz gin
1 oz bourbon
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 orange wedge
Add all ingredients to a collins glass over ice. Stir. Garnish with orange wedge.
From the hallway, Haldan said, “I, um, I told your spouse I would meet her here after getting you out of sick bay, but she wasn’t here and then … May I—may I come in?”
“Sure thing.” Shal stepped back. “I hope you don’t mind that Officer Piper is here from security. Just for playtime with our adorable rogue—you remember Gimlet?”
“I … Yes. I do.” Haldan paused inside the doorway and hesitated, looking at the little dog, and then found Tesla. “You okay?”
“Fine, thanks.” It was a question she should ask him. His cheeks were pinched with exhaustion and the cuff of his blouse had a coffee stain, and not in an artful, expensive, my-clothes-need-special-care status sort of way. “And yourself?”
“I’m—” His voice broke and he stopped, staring at the Martian-tan walls with his fists clenched by his sides. He swallowed and looked back to them. For a moment his gaze flicked to Piper and then he nodded at Tesla. “I’m fine. You’ve got company and I don’t want to disturb you. I just wanted to make certain that you were both safe.”
Piper stepped forward. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you. I’m still in—” He stopped again and the lines of tension in his shoulders could have been scaffolding for a ship. Bending his head, Haldan appeared to stop breathing for a moment. He took a careful breath. “I’m still in shock. About George. And then Ruth. Dear God. I knew the drinking was a problem, I just didn’t think…”
“Come sit down.” Shal gestured deeper into the suite, guiding Haldan, who seemed to cave in on himself with each step.
He sank into the office chair, which was the seat that was easiest on Tesla’s back. But she couldn’t begrudge it, looking at him, with his elbows on his knees and his hands buried in his teal hair. “In college she was always … moody, let’s say. But who isn’t?”
