Supergiant (Gigaparsec Book 2) (17 page)

Reuben turned to Max. “She can be
really bossy.”

“Yeah, but she’s been right so
far.”

Roz ignored the exchange. “While
you guys hunt, I’ll fabricate some screens to fit over all the air ducts so we
can still breathe.”

From the hallway, Kesh said, “Be
careful not to smash the bugs. We can still sell them. They’ll even be fattened
up for market.”

When Roz found Jeeves, he was
shivering and sick. Max said the vomiting was from overeating. Jeeves had
gorged on locusts. Still, she felt like a terrible mother. She put him under
the sheets and warmed him until he stopped shaking. Alyssa earned points by
bringing the little one chicken tortilla soup.

Somewhere in the insanity, the crew gelled as a cohesive
unit. Far Traveler Unlimited became a profit-generating machine. They delivered
radios everywhere and did a robust business in bootleg music. Young and
disenfranchised Bats couldn’t get enough.

At the asteroid research post, they
traded bugs and other staples for robot shells, software, turbine fans, and odd
sculptures. They had to wait an extra week for custom fabrication. The delay
made Roz pull her hair out until Ivy pointed out that the wait for cold-blooded
ships to Niisham could be as long as five years.

Two of the remaining engineers
disembarked at the research post to work on cutting-edge robotics. Yenang stayed
with the ship, too fascinated with what it was becoming. “The design is like
nothing I’ve ever experienced. Some of the crystal parts in the manifold
actually sing when we immerse.” Roz agreed to apprentice him, on the condition
that he leave by the eighth stop, a famous Bat shipyard where they could
purchase more photovores.

They couldn’t find any tree
specialists at the asteroid colony to repair the ship’s oxygen recycling, so
she put it on the top of the list for the next trading planet. She told Kesh,
“Favor female horticulture specialists of fox red, orange, or brown, but let
Deke interview them and make the final choice.”

“Associating with Magi has made you
sneaky,” said the Saurian.

“She’ll be with us for over a
month. No reason everyone involved shouldn’t enjoy that time.”

Kesh asked, “You’re going to play
matchmaker?”

“If we find him a mate, Deke might
stay with us through Magi space.”

****

Though Kesh succeeded as a merchant, Roz worried every day
about reaching the gateway system in time to save Professor Crakik. Her
equation changes were sound and tested, but she still needed to solve the drift
problem.

The parade of planets passed in a
blur for Roz as she circled in the twin orbits of Max and the Enigma equation.
She stopped learning planetary names. At a water world,
Sphere
took on
sunfish, optical glass, pearls, and plankton.

Months later, Roz was still finding
blasted locusts in the vent system. Jeeves loved hunting them.

The sunny young arborist they hired
took a shine to the copilot and improved their ecosystem efficiency by 12
percent. While reading the arborist’s report, Roz noted that the odd
manifestations of flower and fauna corresponded to Max closing the bedroom
door, not the moment she lost control. Someone didn’t want her spending time
alone with Max? The two obvious suspects were her mother, whose powers might
not be entirely defunct, and Echo, who was deeply tied to the ship’s
life-support systems.

Hmm, this may warrant another
experiment with Max.
Roz couldn’t discuss this theory with anyone because
Echo was certain to overhear anywhere aboard.

As the ship drifted toward a modern
orbital space dock, Ivy chatted with Roz on the bridge. “Finally. I was getting
tired of outhouses. This stop is going to have all the amenities. The planet is
a hub for entertainment products. They’ll convert the glass and minerals we’re
hauling into holo systems, control screens, and lasers. Kesh has a master plan
for our bottom line. For the next few systems, almost everything we’re buying
will be discounted or surplus items that the shipyards need.”

“You know, I’ve been a partner for
over a year, and I haven’t seen a single balance sheet or corporate report,”
Roz said, hinting that they needed to keep an eye on the former embezzler.

“Right.” Ivy made a note on her
porta-planner. “I’ll schedule a shareholder’s meeting near the end of the week.
Do you have any plans for this techno Babylon?”

“No,” Roz fibbed. “Just going to
hang out in my room and read while Max and Reuben handle the cargo.” She
planned to use her new hiding skills to follow Max to the next radio delivery
at a posh hotel. “Isn’t contraband sort of passé here? I mean, they could build
a transmitter of their own. They manufacture video screens for goodness’ sake.”

“But no transmissions through the
air. They even minimize radio traffic for starships. That’s why we used
communication lasers.”

Roz nodded. “Speaking of ships and
transmissions, what do your sisters and their contacts have to say about the
professor’s prison transport?”

Ivy closed her eyes and frowned.
“Mmm. Crakik arrived ahead of schedule in the Niishamboor system and awaits a
foreign vessel to Niisham prison proper.”

“What happened to the delay we were
promised?”

“I don’t know. I’ll put in a
request, but our contact with Aviar’s people is limited.”

The ship eased toward the crazy,
double wedding cake of traffic around the space station, one set of layers
above and the other below. Roz passed control to Deke because he could answer
the tower’s rapid-fire questions without hesitation or translation.

****

While the other crewmembers lost themselves in the normal
confusion that happened after docking, Roz feigned a yawn and snuck to the
airlock. To save time, she remained in her usual pirate boots and engineer’s
uniform. Her only concession to landfall was to grab her new neural scrambler
from the weapons locker. The weight on her hip felt wrong, so she moved the
pistol to her boot holster.

Since Bat non-border planets didn’t
have customs lines, she evaded cameras and card readers all the way to the
front desk of the ritzy spaceport spa. The lobby even had a greenhouse. She
rented a room for the night under the name Querida Anderson and procured two
keys. The ship’s codes that the desk required would only be tapped if she
failed to check out or damaged anything. With her red repair marker, she wrote
Meet Me and the room number inside a heart shape on the card before scampering
back to the arrivals lounge.

When Max passed by, she slipped the
labeled key card into his pocket. Since she was a null, he was the only one on
the team to notice her presence. She returned to the hotel room to wait. Would
he read her note and take the risk? She tried to pass the time by watching the
entertainment wall screen, but she couldn’t follow either Bat cinema or news.
Worse, the entertainment center had a smell component. During a nature
documentary, the room filled with the scents of hibiscus and rotting logs. She
turned off the unit before they decided to discuss skunks.

While she waited, she pulled out a
deck of cards and played blackjack with herself. The left hand won
consistently. The
click
of the door lock caused her to jump, scattering
half the cards from the bed onto the floor.

“Do you mind explaining?” Max
asked.

She checked her wrist computer. No
activity on the tamper monitors yet. She put the alerts on audible. She didn’t
feel any mental pressure either. “Did you tell anyone?”

“I left Reuben at the buffet
downstairs. He doesn’t have a clue. Am I going to need a fire extinguisher?”

“I think I’ve fixed our problem. I
wanted to run a quick experiment. Five minutes.”

His eyes traced her hairline down
to her neck. “For the sake of science?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Nothing that gets you excited,” he
said nervously.

“You promised me I could give you a
neck massage to help with your arm pain and grip strength.”

“Oh. Sure. I’d like that.”

“Sit on the bed. We need to talk.”

“Just talking. We haven’t done
enough of that,” he said, sitting on the edge near the cards. As she kneaded
his muscles, Max closed his eyes and relaxed. Roz highlighted her theories and
worries. “Mmm. Has Echo shared anything with you about Magi culture that might
explain this?”

“Other than the ship design, she
hasn’t told me anything I didn’t already know about her or her people. When I
ask, she always manages to divert me.”

“I could confront Echo for you.”
Max grunted at a deep thumb gouge. “Can I ask something highly personal without
you taking offense?”

Excited, Roz said, “Any time, as
long as I can do the same.”

“Shouldn’t you use this week to
reconnect with your mother?”

“But you and I never get time
together,” Roz complained.

“Alyssa made herself vulnerable,
and now she feels rejected by your silence. The company can spring for a few
days of pampering at the spa for both of you. You haven’t taken a voluntary day
off since you signed on.”

“That’s so sweet,” she said,
pressing on his shoulder with her forearm. “Do you think she’d accept?”

Max made appreciative noises as she
traced fingers up his neck. “Most women are very social. You’re unusually introverted,
to the point of pushing people away. That spot. Right there.”

She felt a flutter inside at his
groan of pleasure. “My turn. Ivy talked about kissing with tongue, and everyone
else on the crew laughed. I felt four years old. You’re the only man I’ve ever
been with.” Roz pressed her lips to the sensitive spot on his neck. He moaned
in response. “Could you … show me?”

They knocked the rest of the cards
onto the wooden floor. Her heart raced as he showed her the technique and had
her repeat it a few times just to be sure she had mastered it. She pushed him
away only when she felt the sensation of spinning on a merry-go-round.

Panting with effort, she said,
“Time to go.”

“What?”

“No fire broke out in the room.”

“Then we could keep going.”

She smiled and patted his head.
“The experiment’s over. I felt my talent surge the same as before, and nothing
happened. I didn’t even turn all the aces faceup on the ground. This proves
that the accidents only happen when someone else
knows
we’re alone
together.”

“Huh?”

She really had him scrambled. It
felt good. From the floor, Max watched her walk away.
Oh yeah. He wants me.
“Your rules.”

Max caught up to her at the
elevator. Without a word, he slipped his hand inside hers as they waited. Both
elevators dinged at the same time, opening their doors. She let him lead,
content in the afterglow of the experiment.

When they reached the buffet on the
main floor, Roz saw an unsavory character lurking around the entrance, watching
Reuben. Max froze. Ducking behind a corner, she drew her weapon and offered it
to Max. He pushed the pistol down, out of sight. “Never start a firefight in a
crowd like this. If a shot hits a baby or an old person, it could be fatal.
Besides, that guy tailing Reuben is a cop.”

“They’ll bust him with the cheese
wheels!”

He grinned at the incongruous
phrase. “No. He’s only carrying some experimental mixes that didn’t sell. Most
of them are
a cappella
tunes. Deke said the religious establishment is
more tolerant of barbershop quartets and such because there are no
instruments.”

“What can we do?”

Max’s grin turned predatorial.
“Tell Reuben to keep eating until Kesh can bribe the proper officials.”

“Everybody does what they do best,
huh?”

Roz enjoyed the spa vacation more than she thought possible.
She spent most of the time telling her mother her life’s story in great detail.
Her mother shared a few tamer anecdotes about fleecing billionaires. In honor
of the annual-report party, she insisted on buying Roz a new outfit. The tight,
oriental-style silk dress covered every inch from neck to ankle. Initially, the
outfit made Roz feel exotic, glamorous, and desirable. Pairs of red and white
dragons actively circled each other on the fabric, in a new position every
second. Where a dragon breathed fire, the fabric turned transparent. The orange
outline and her natural skin tone completed the illusion. When Roz found out
how racy the show could be, she almost refused.

Alyssa talked her into the
purchase. “We’ll buy you skin-colored underwear. The potential exposure will be
very brief. Besides, with your talent, Max will be the only one in the room who
can watch you. I’ll bet we can get him to choke on his drink at least once
tonight, and he won’t dare tell anyone else why. You can tease him for hours.
Don’t worry. The modesty setting is adjustable.”

“I will if you will,” Roz insisted.

“Wonderful! Then we can have our
nails done to match as well,” Alyssa said.

While Bat manicurists filed her
toenails, Roz read the manual on her new dress. Unfortunately, the active
fabric had been manufactured by Saurians. Her wrist unit managed to convert the
Saurian text into Banker and then into English. The slider control she needed
was called Family Make Friendly. Presumably, the higher the number, the more
family friendly the display would be. She decided to start her dress at 70
percent. If that turned out to be too embarrassing, she could always max out
the setting.

Casually, her mother asked, “So
you’re planning on spending the rest of your life with Max?”

“Very much so, but we haven’t
discussed that yet.”

“The dress will inspire those sorts
of discussions,” Alyssa said with confidence. “What’s your vision for his
future career?”

Roz’s eyes glazed over for a
moment. She shifted the conversation to Spanish so the cosmetologists would
have no clue what they were discussing. “Jeeves is just the beginning. Max is
going to bring all sorts of species together. He is going make sure wars don’t
happen again and sentients aren’t taken advantage of.”

“A politician?”

“A leader.”

Alyssa smiled at the distinction.
“You don’t just decide to lead the masses for a living. You need to be groomed.
You need contacts.”

“Max has earned the highest
military award possible for saving the honor of a Saurian clan. He almost married
a bigwig in Lunar Intelligence. He saved the life of a Turtle, the only child
of the Judge of New Hawaii. He befriended a Phib governor. He’s business
partners with the heir of the Black Ram as well as being a Llewellyn friend.
Did I mention engaged to a Magi whom he freed from slavery?”

“And now he’s building relations
with the Bats. Interesting. With help from a few of my wealthy friends and your
talent, he could be a major player on the Council some day. You’d be the power
behind the throne.”

Roz blinked. “The ruling council of
the Union? Seriously?”

“If that’s what you really want.”

“I think that’s where he belongs.
He could be a tremendous force for good. Even a committee membership might
convince him to take the longevity treatment he doesn’t think he deserves,” Roz
said.

“Turn on your recorder. I’m going
to tell you where all the bodies are buried.” Roz touched a stud on her wrist
unit to enable note taking the way she would for a ship’s inspection. For the
next hour, Alyssa named dozens of influential oligarchs, industrialists, and
politicians, along with the skeletons buried in their respective closets.

“Holy crap. No wonder you were
never arrested.”

Alyssa lowered her voice. “The only
ones I ever worried about were the Bankers. Beware running afoul of their
long-range plans. They’re very dangerous on a planetary scale. A run-in with
them is why I ended up at the fringes of Human space.” However, she couldn’t be
persuaded to share the details of that story.

****

When Roz returned to
Sphere of Influence
, rested and
ready for the company meeting, Herb whistled appreciatively at the dresses and
asked for help bringing out the refreshments. He looked tired, and she could
see evidence of intravenous treatments that Max must have performed while she
was away.

“Sure.” Roz threw on an apron,
happy to be doing something useful. “Why are the halls lined with boxes of
medical supplies?”

“Kesh got a really good deal from
someone who couldn’t afford the storage fees,” Herb said with a chuckle. “That
guy is a shark.”

Once the meeting was called to
order with all the partners present, the Greenbergs withdrew, and Roz leaned
against the wall between Max and Deke. When the first dragon blew flame across
her navel, Max’s eyes almost fell out his head. He stared at the dress as if
hypnotized.

Bull’s-eye
.

Kesh lectured on the commodities
bought and sold throughout the year. The only real surprise for Roz was the
music report. “We had to raise the price to 60 credits per cheese wheel to
allow for the cut we have to give to local organized crime and officials. Not
all of the wheels have been selling at this price, so we made some adjustments
to our product offerings.

“Thanks to feedback from the Bats
on this ship, in addition to the rebellion package, we now offer bundles for
space music, dancing, or sex.”

Before speaking, Roz put her hand
behind her head and casually increased the family-friendly value. She held the
other hand up to be recognized. The gesture must have displayed her chest to
maximum effect because Max coughed up beer, struggling to breathe for a moment.
His eyes never left her dress, but he didn’t speak.

Kesh noticed her for the first
time. “My dear, you look quite stylish. That’s authentic Saurian seduction
fabric. You do it justice.”

“Thanks,” Roz said, nervously. “Is
this new venture what we want our company to represent? It doesn’t feel right.”

Ivy raised an eyebrow.

Reuben glanced over and dropped his
hard roll. “I’m sorry. What was the question?”

Curious, Roz glanced down at her
dress. The dragons weren’t fighting; rather, they were mating Saurian style.
Front to front, tail to tail, squeezing, clawing, and biting—her outfit was a
veritable dragon Kama Sutra, with jets of triumphant fire announcing each
conquest. Family
Making
, not Family Friendly. Frantic, Roz switched the
friendliness level to zero.

Smirking, Kesh switched slides.
“You tell me. Here are our projected profits up to the prison gate system.”

Everyone but Max gazed at the
profit slide. She moved his head manually toward the screen.

Reuben asked, “A couple hundred
credits, so?”

Ivy cleared her throat. “Balance
sheets are in millions.”

“With double loan payments to
reduce the interest, and deducting fuel expenses to the nearest Magi world, we
should still clear 2 million,” Kesh said.

“Divided seven ways…” Reuben did
the math in his head.

“Each,” Kesh clarified.

Reuben cackled with glee, kissed
Ivy, and bounced around the room in a happy dance. “I’m the cheese-fob king. I
can do anything.” He grabbed the scotch bottle from the buffet table and took a
swig. “Whoo hoo!”

The air of celebration spread.

Holding a teacup and saucer in his
hand, Deke pumped a fist in the air. “Now maybe I can afford a better class of
girlfriend.”

Without thought, Roz smacked the
cup out of his hand and into the air. “How dare you.”

Almost too late, she reeled in the
bad intentions, using the emotional energy to spin the cup. Even with her
talent, the cup shattered against the table. The plate, however, revolved
loudly. It could still tip off the edge and shatter. Max slapped his hand over
the plate, silencing the clatter.

With tremendous restraint, Roz
said, “Women are people, too, and deserve respect. You dumped Olandra because
of her class?”

Kesh cleared his throat. “She had
none. He caught her smoking some sort of weed in our greenhouse and kicked her
out.”

“A drug grower is not the sort of
person I should be associating with as an officer of a starship. Worse, the
drugs could cause mutations in any children inheriting my title. The decision
was incredibly difficult for me.”

“When he dumped her, she went
straight to the cops and collected tip money for turning us in,” Max explained.

“I’m sorry,” Roz said, staring at
the delicate china she had broken in her anger. She wrapped her arms around her
midsection protectively. “I tried to make the match. I guess I took the insult
personally.”

“My people have a saying—how you
listen affects what you hear,” Deke said sedately.

Max said, “Thank you for your
understanding, sir.” Then he led Roz into the kitchen. “You can’t play God with
people’s lives.”

“That’s open to debate,” Alyssa
said. “People with power always do. It’s the intent that matters.”

“Either way, it’s wrong,” Max
insisted.

Beside the sink, Herb dried a glass
with a dish towel. “Was it wrong when you made decisions for my wife and
stepdaughter without their consent?”

Max opened his mouth and then left
without responding.

Alyssa handed Roz an apron to cover
a gout of frozen flame on her inner thigh. The rosette of her underwear band
showed clearly. Too embarrassed to face anyone, Roz washed dishes with the
Greenbergs.

At the peak of the party, she heard
a drunk and maudlin Reuben raise his voice. “Let me at least tuck you in bed,
Ivy. I miss tucking. What did I do wrong?”

For no apparent reason, Roz felt
tears rolling down her cheeks. She had her dream job, riches, and a man she was
crazy about, but her whole life felt like a saucer on the brink.