Jessica couldn’t help but notice that while the station seemed to operate its mining systems efficiently, there were dark sections, and others surrounded by repair scaffolding that had the look of being in place for decades.
Perhaps the extortion business wasn’t going that well at present.
The station’s docks were situated along the first ten kilometers of each arm at the end where they met to form the V, though only the first few kilometers seemed to be in use. They consisted of a mixture of interior and exterior berths, though it looked like Sabrina was too large for any of the currently available interior slots—especially with the Sexy attached to its hull.
That was fine by Jessica. Exterior berths made it much easier to get the hell out of dodge when things went south. Which they did as often as not.
“Damnit!” Cheeky swore from the pilot’s station. “You’d think that running a station ten thousand klicks above Seaway down there would be OK, but this system is the shits for navigation. There’s crap everywhere. With all the extortion they have going on, they could at least tidy up their junk with the proceeds.”
“I noticed you were slewing out of the pocket a bit,” Jessica said from the comm station. “Wondered if you’d been enjoying the libations a bit too much before your shift.”
“Libations, Jessica? Really? By that do you mean dippin’ in the sauce, sucking back the cherries, or maybe just booze?”
Jessica laughed. “Libations just felt right. I’m going to bring the word back, just you wait. Before long the entire Inner Stars and half of Orion will be libatin’.”
“Keep dreaming, Jess,” Cargo said with a laugh. “I think maybe you’ve been libatin’ too much lately.”
Jessica gave a rueful laugh. “I think I’m just glad to be almost through this damn nebula. Two years is two too long.”
“Can you imagine being one of the light huggers who work off the FTL routes?” Misha asked. “Decades of stasis to make it from one system to another.”
“Yeah, but I bet those guys make serious cred,” Cheeky replied. “Though I wonder what sorts go off and live inside a nebula like this.”
“People who like a good night sky,” Cargo replied.
“Oh, thank the big blue giants!” Cheeky exclaimed. “They’ve cleared the final approaches of rocks and shit. OK, thirty minutes ‘til we’re latched and hatched.”
Cargo rose and stretched. “Good, we’ll get our shit done here, and then get gone. The sooner we’re out of the Perry Strait, the sooner you two will stop talking like we’re in some corny vid.”
Jessica looked at Cheeky, who was peering back over her shoulder. They both winked and began to laugh.
“Women,” Cargo muttered as he walked off the bridge.
“What was that?” Cheeky called back.
“You heard me!” Cargo yelled as he stomped down the ladder.
Misha chuckled nervously. “What’s up with him? He’s been acting weird all day.”
“Cargo?” Jessica asked. “He was totally hot for Brooke, but she shut him down at the airlock.”
“How do you know?” Misha asked.
“Sabrina told me.”
<Jessica! That was supposed to be between us girls!>
“Stars, Cargo totally needs to get laid,” Cheeky said with a laugh. “I’d do it, but he gets all weird after we have sex.”
“That’s it!” Jessica declared. “I hereby announce the commencement of operation Fuck Cargo.”
<That’s a bit on the nose, don’t you think?> Iris asked.
“That’s not all it’s going to be on.” Cheeky giggled.
Jessica lowered her voice, speaking like a sports announcer. “Two stations, seven days, one crusty dude named Cargo. A pair of women have set out on a mission. A mission to get Cargo laid. It will be dangerous, it will be perilous, it will test their skills like nothing ever before. It—”
<Jessica. I can hear you.> Cargo’s voice came into her mind, along with a very unpleasant glower.
“Who’s broadcasting the bridge audio?” Cheeky asked, looking around.
<It wasn’t me!> Sabrina exclaimed.
Jessica turned to Misha whose face was nearly split in two by a massive grin.
“Misha!” Cheeky yelled.
“Still think you can do it?” Misha asked with a laugh.
Jessica rose and walked over to Misha’s station holding out her hand. “Care to make a bet?”
Misha looked at Jessica’s dead-serious expression, and then glanced at Cheeky who was perched on the back of her chair, staring him down.
“Uh…no.”
<I can still hear you all,> Cargo said.
<Me too,> Finaeus joined in. <What’s this about a bet?>
* * * * *
“You two sure like to push Cargo’s buttons,” Trevor said with a shake of his head as he stood at the airlock with Jessica.
“I can’t help it,” Jessica replied. “He’s like the big older brother you just can’t help needling. He’s the perfect target too, he doesn’t hold grudges. Next day it’s like it never happened.”
Trevor’s shoulders heaved as he chuckled. “True that. He’s like a huge duck; everything’s just water off his back. Like that time I put silicon spray on all his clothes. He couldn’t sit on anything for a week without sliding right off. Never even tried to get back at me.”
Jessica gave a rueful sigh. “I hope we all survive this trip; we have at least eighteen years ahead of us before we get to New Canaan. I fear we’re all starting to go a bit stir crazy.”
“Eighteen ahead, eleven behind—since you picked me up at Virginis, that is. Can’t believe we’ve not even hit half way on this trip. I recall you saying something like, ‘we just have to find this guy named Finaeus’.”
“No kidding, right? Next time Tanis and Sera say, ‘So I have this little mission for you…’ remind me to run.”
Trevor wrapped an arm around Jessica and pulled her close. “You got it Sparkly.”
“Sparkly?”
“I’m trying out new nicknames. What do you think?”
“I think that nicknames are dangerous. Eventually Misha and Finaeus work out a way to turn them against you.”
“Hmm...good point.”
The outer airlock finished cycling and opened up to reveal another docking wing on another station around another star. The same ole same ole.
Jessica and Trevor walked out onto the dock and looked around as the airlock closed behind them.
“I choose right,” Jessica said. “Right always works better than left.”
“Sure thing, Glow-girl.”
“Trevor, we just talked about this.”
They hadn’t made it twenty paces before Jessica saw a stocky man with his arms crossed and a decidedly unfriendly look on his face. He was standing in the middle of the wide dock, staring them down with two large, well-armed and heavily armored guards on either side of him.
“Jessica Keller?” the man asked.
<I thought we registered with psudeonyms,> Jessica asked Sabrina.
<We did.>
“Uhh…nope,” Jessica replied. “Name’s Katarina.”
“You sure?” The man asked.
“Completely. Don’t you think I’d be sure of what my name is?”
The man chuckled. “You’d be surprised how many people aren’t. That being said, you’ll forgive me for not taking your word for it. If you’ll come with me, please.”
“She’s not coming with you anywhere, little man,” Trevor replied.
<Excellent double entendre, dear,> Jessica said privately.
<Damn, I walked right into that one.>
“Not your call, big guy,” the man said. “She’s coming with me to see The Perry.”
“OK guys, enough,” Jessica said, raising her hands. “Enough with the coming. But seriously, there’s someone here called ‘The Perry’?”
The man nodded. “The Perry runs the Perry System.”
“Seems unnecessarily co
nfusing,” Trevor replied. “If the system is the Perry System, should you maybe call him The Perry Man? I think it would help clear things up.”
The two armed guards looked at one another and one shrugged. “Kinda makes sense.”
“What is wrong with you two?” The man said, frowning at Jessica and Trevor before looking at his two guards. “And you two, shut up.”
“Too long in the black, I guess,” Jessica said with a shrug. “Just happy to be on a station. I didn’t get the pleasure of your name, by the way. Are you perhaps The Angry Zit? You kinda look like one nestled between your goons there. What with your face being so red.”
<I think you may have gone too far,> Trevor said as the man began to sputter.
The man waved his hand and six autoturrets, each sporting a rather unfriendly looking railgun, dropped from the concourse’s overhead.
<Shit, yeah, I guess I did. I got caught up in the moment.>
Trevor sighed. <What else is new?>
Jessica stepped forward with her hands outstretched. “I surrender. Take me to your Perry.”
<Cargo?> Trevor called back to the ship. <We have a problem.>
<What?>
<Jessica’s being abducted.>
<Seriously? Again? Well, get her unabducted, or get abducted with her, then!> Cargo’s tone was more than a little exasperated.
<On it.>
“Hey!” Trevor yelled as one of the stocky man’s guards placed a pair of cuffs on Jessica. “If you take her, you gotta take me too. We’re a package deal.”
“Awww, Trevor,” Jessica said sweetly. “You say the nicest things!”
“Fine, get him too,” the man grumbled.
“Yeah,” Jessica grinned. “Do as Ass Pimple says.”
The stocky man walked up to Jessica and backhanded her across the face. “The names Ron, kay? Ron.”
“Think I can call you Assron?” Jessica asked, only to receive a fist to the stomach.
<Probably time to tone it down,> Trevor advised.
<Yeah,> Jessica replied as she wheezed. <I think I got Ron all riled up. I did drop nano on him, though, so I’ll have his Link tapped in no time.>
THE PERRY
STELLAR DATE: 04.20.8940 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Ellis Reach
REGION: Perry System, Stillwater Nebula, Perseus Arm
Ron and his two guards led Jessica and Trevor through The Reach toward the point where the two arms met at the V’s point.
As they walked, Jessica took the opportunity to examine the station and its denizens. It wasn’t terribly clean, but they’d been in worse—at lot worse. The most unpleasant aspect was the subtle stink of methane from the gasses drawn off the planet below.
For the most part the people looked normal, if somewhat cowed. There was little in the way of boisterous conversation; even hawkers selling food and trinkets to people coming and going down the concourse were subdued.
<How’s it going out there,> Cargo asked. <We got an official notice from the station that you’ve been detained for questioning. Cheeky’s getting ready to sneak off the ship, and I’ve delayed our first cargo-pickups. Not keen on letting anyone aboard right now.>
<Just getting the lay of the land. I’ve tapped our escort’s Link. He’s not talking much right now, just reported in to The Perry, who is some guy who runs The Reach, and the entire system, it seems like,> Jessica replied as she stepped around a stack of crates containing live chickens.
<Is that a name, or a title?> Sabrina asked.
<I did some digging in their records,> Finaeus supplied. <Looks like the current Perry is the fifth to hold that designation, so I’d go with title. This guy apparently got the job after the previous Perry planet-dived down to Seaway without an EV suit.>
<Tough place,> Trevor commented.
“How much further?” Jessica asked. “I didn’t really dress for a forced march. These heels are killing my feet.”
<I thought you said with your mods, heels never hurt,> Trevor said privately.
<They don’t,> Jessica replied. <And with a-grav stabilizers, I have nary a wobble, but Assron doesn’t know that.>
<Good use of ‘nary’,> Trevor replied.
<Thanks. I try.>
“Sorry doll-face, not too much longer,” Ron replied. “I took you the long way. Thought I’d give The Reach a little show. Remind them what happens to people who piss off the wrong people.”
“Or the Ron people,” Trevor said with a chuckle.
“Real funny, big guy. You two sure have mouths on you.”
“You know people who don’t?” Jessica asked with a laugh. “Must be inconvenient.”
Ron sputtered for a moment, then shook his head and picked up the pace. “The Perry is going to have a field day with you two.”
“What does that mean anyway, ‘a field day’?” Jessica asked.
“Oh, for fuck’s sakes. I don’t get paid enough for this shit,” Ron swore and started walking even faster.
<You better get it all out of your system now,> Trevor cautioned. <I imagine whoever this Perry guy is, he’s not going to just take your needling.>
<I’m trying to piss Assron off enough that he starts bitching to Perry about us over the Link. I’m hopeful that they’ll hint at what they took us for.>
<How’s that working,> Trevor asked.
<Not good. Assron is now bitching to his mom…or wife, I’m not sure which, he’s using really unspecific pronouns. Don’t you hate that?>
They didn’t have much longer to wait. A minute later, Ron stopped in front of a set of large, clear doors with more guards standing on either side. He tapped his foot for a few seconds, and then the doors slid open.
Ron turned and looked back at Jessica and Trevor. “Now watch your tongue in there, The Perry is not a forgiving man. Or shoot your mouth off, not that I care.”
Jessica was tempted to stick her tongue out and try to look at it, but decided against it.
<Well, there you are. I was wondering when you’d join in the fun.>
<I was piggybacking on Ron’s Link to see if I could hack into any privileged networks. Responding to your inane yammering would have been too distracting.>
Jessica gave a mental snort. <My yammering’s not inane…well, mostly not inane. It served a purpose.>
<To get Ron to complain to his mother?>
<I think it’s his wife,> Jessica countered.
<You’re clearly not paying close enough attention. It’s his mother.>
Jessica paused for a moment. <Do you think maybe he’s married to his mother? Does that sort of thing fly here in Perryland?>
<You’re incorrigible.>
Jessica grinned at Iris’s silver form in her mind. <Yes, this is true. It is impossible to corrige me.>
Once through the doors, Ron led them down a long, carpeted hall. At the end, he turned right at a broad foyer and approached another set of doors.
A pair of guards stood at the doors and pulled them wide as the group approached.
“The Perry is ready to see you,” one of them said.
Jessica opened her mouth to respond, but Trevor gave her a quelling look and she pursed her lips instead.
Ron’s two guards pushed them through the entrance, and Jessica looked around the room.
It was smaller than she had expected, but had a welcoming feel. The burgundy carpet was thick, the walls paneled in a dark red oak, and tall windows looked out over a vista of wooded foothills marching up to a craggy mountain range—holodisplays, of course.
There were leather couches along the walls, and some small tables before them, but the room was dominated by a huge mahogany desk, and the desk was dominated by a huge man.
<Can I say something about how modern science—you know the kind from seven thousand years ago—can help him?> Jessica asked Trevor.
<I’d really prefer that you didn’t.>
Ron approached the desk and gestured to Jessica
and Trevor. “Sir, I’ve brought them as you requested.”
“I don’t recall asking for a ‘them’,” The Perry replied in a deep base. “I just asked for her.”
“I know,” Ron said nervously. “But he really wanted to come…and I figured the bou—”
The Perry held up a hand and Ron stopped talking.
“So, Jessica Keller, is it? Or should I say, Retyna Girl.”
“The who or the who?” Jessica asked. “I told your man here that I’m Katarina. This is my guy, Borus.”
“You can call me Bore,” Trevor said with a nod.
“Really?” The Perry asked with a mischievous smirk. “That the story you’re going to stick with?”
“Unless you have a better one,” Jessica replied.
The Perry clapped his hands with delight. “Oh you’re fun! Usually there’s so much pleading and groveling. I like sassy for a change. Too bad I won’t be able to keep you.”
“Keep me?” Jessica asked
A holodisplay activated and an image appeared over The Perry’s desk, rotating slowly.
Jessica groaned and placed her face in her hands. “I thought we’d never see that again.”
There hovering over The Perry’s desk, was Retyna Girl in an action pose with the words, ‘Look out barren worlds, here comes Retyna Girl!’ above her head.
“So, then,” The Perry said with a toothy smile. “You are Jessica Keller, AKA Retyna Girl, which makes your erstwhile companion here, Trevor.”
“You got us,” Jessica said.
“And your ship is not the Sacred Retribution,” The Perry continued. “Rather, it is the Matron Tulip.”
<You catching all this,> Jessica asked Cargo.
<Yeah. I missed part of your last chat with Ron—they’d cut the ship off from the public nets, but Nance and Erin got around that pretty quickly. I really wonder how Retyna Girl posters got here so soon—or how they got anywhere at all.>
Jessica had wondered the same thing. <You’d think with Marsalla gone, RHY’s whole alien biology division would be done.>
<Well,> Finaeus interjected. <They probably sent some samples out to their corporate HQ. You also possess their technology too—perhaps the last if they were terribly unlucky.>