Prime Deceptions

by Valerie Valdes

  Eva squinted at the xana and faked a smile. “Sin pena, I’m fine.” Her face still stung, but Pink had treated it in time, and she was breathing normally, so she assumed the nanite injection had taken care of her re-bruised ribs.

  “I have also been asked to deliver a replacement,” Watcher Rakyra said, holding out a capsule. “The Prime was most insistent that you not be inconvenienced by the loss.”

  “Oh, I’m not,” Eva said, before she could censor herself. She winced internally. Alabao, she really was like her mother.

  “I do not entirely comprehend your assertion,” Watcher Rakyra said, his tone gaining an edge of concern.

  “I mean, I don’t need a replacement,” Eva said. “It’s okay. We still have one, and Min wasn’t that attached to hers anyway.” Min had, in fact, been super upset, partly because of Eva going through her bag, but he didn’t need to know that.

  Watcher Rakyra lowered his hand. “I will . . . inform the Prime of your decision. I was also asked to inquire as to the status of your second unit. Is it operating to your satisfaction?”

  Eva thought of the Ball Buddy lying in pieces all over the floor of their hotel room. “It’s great,” she replied. “Very satisfactory.”

  The Watcher hesitated again. Could he tell she was lying? Probably, if they’d been using the robots as surveillance and they were no longer operating properly. But would he call her out? Cuff her? Subdue her some other way, or let her keep on roaming freely?

  What the hell was Lashra Damaal up to with her?

  “We are pleased to hear of your satisfaction, honored guest,” Watcher Rakyra said finally, his tone ever so slightly annoyed. “We were additionally asked to reiterate the Prime’s invitation to attend the Tournament and its preceding organized conviviality event showcasing the upgraded units.”

  That’s right. Eva had forgotten about all that, had more or less ignored the invite because she hadn’t been interested in any of that business, just in finding Josh.

  “What kind of event are you talking about?” Eva asked.

  Watcher Rakyra took a moment to collect himself, as if he hadn’t been expecting any interest. “Tonight there is a gathering at the Sylfe Company Building, for investors to interact with the scientists who developed the companions, and to enjoy a demonstration of the capabilities of the various unit types.”

  Meet the scientists, hmm? That sounded like exactly the place to hook up with Josh, given how much he had allegedly contributed to the project. Maybe she wouldn’t have to work with the rebels after all, if she could just stroll into this party, grab some bocaditos, and chat him up like any other guest.

  The thought gave Eva a pang of guilt; she had promised to help the resistance, but her mission had to come first, not whatever sense of atonement might be guiding her. And certainly not loyalty to their cause, which she didn’t have.

  Besides, if she could get Josh out, it might make the rebels’ job easier regardless. Everyone wins.

  Then again, it was also a perfect opportunity for Damaal to trap her and pump her for information. And what Eva said might make things much harder for everyone instead of easier, since she didn’t know what Damaal was up to. Was it worth the risk?

  “You should go,” Pink said. “You love parties.”

  “Parties are totally my jam,” Eva agreed. That was easily the boldest lie she’d told in months, but if Pink thought this was a good idea, it probably was. “Count me in.”

  “I am certain the Prime will be delighted to know this,” Watcher Rakyra said. “A transport will be sent to retrieve you prior to the commencement of the event, in the long hour before the Light descends into the sea.”

  “So, before sunset, got it.” Eva grinned. “I’ll wear something fancy.”

  Watcher Rakyra’s tail twitched in its harness. “Your enthusiasm for our humble invitation is welcome,” he said. “Please, continue to enjoy our excellent city and all its offerings.”

  “Thanks, definitely,” Eva said. “Adiós.”

  “Walk in the Light,” the Watcher replied, but it felt perfunctory, and when he and the other Watchers walked away, their silence was as thick as a wall.

  Eva took a few steps in a random direction before stopping again, staring into a shop window without seeing its contents, thinking about the party, about the bots and the city and the government of this whole planet, held together by a fist that, if not iron, was definitely tightly clenched. And yet they’d still sent Watchers over with a replacement spy robot capsule for her crew to carry around, their own personal bug. Was Damaal worried they were going to run off to Rilia again, or even to another city elsewhere on the planet? Was she hoping they’d leave entirely and take the Ball Buddies with them, for future spying shenanigans? And what exactly were they planning with that psychic neural network tech?

  Maybe she could get a little more information at the party later. And maybe, just maybe, she could finally do what she’d come for and get off Garilia in a hurry.

  There was something Eva was forgetting, though, a thought she knew she’d already had, except it had slipped away with the brain fog and mom assault. She took another few steps, toward the next building over, staring at the sign over the door. It translated to “Familiar Childhood Comestibles” and seemed to have an array of products for various palates and physicalities. Nothing she recognized from her childhood; humanity had enough different cultures to begin with, and more since they had expanded off Earth, so attempts to trigger nostalgia were a gamble at best. She expected it was the same for the other species hanging around, but it was nice that someone had tried.

  A commwall inside the building startled her; she hadn’t seen one elsewhere on Garilia, not even in the spaceport. It had pilfered data from her commlink—the fake data she used on her public profile—and was attempting to lure her in with promises of something called strawberry daifuku. It looked good, but it wasn’t the must-have food her persona suggested.

  Funny that a place with so much surveillance doesn’t have more commwalls, Eva thought. They’ve got bugs in every damn wall . . .

  Except at her mother’s place. Vakar had said it was clean. Which Eva had suspected might be the case because of BOFA regulations, hence suggesting they go there.

  “What’s that look for?” Pink asked.

  “What look?” Eva asked.

  “Like you just got a royal flush and the dealer’s showing twos.”

  Eva smirked at her eyebrow-raising co-captain. “We’re not quite there, but I think I just figured out where the queens are. Vámonos. Let’s get back to the others and see if we can’t take advantage of this hand.” Her smirk fell away like she’d dropped all her cards, and she started walking faster.

  “What now?” Pink asked.

  “Me cago en diez, I left Vakar alone with my mom.”

  Chapter 17

  Dress to Kill

  Eva and Pink returned to find Min lying with Mala on the floor, Sue sitting at the dining-room table with her Pod Pal once again in pieces, and Vakar nestled inside a privacy bubble on the couch. Regina was presumably in her own room, because she wasn’t with the others, which made sense; she’d said she had work to do.

  Eva checked on what Vakar had said before and confirmed: the house had no surveillance equipment in it. Not a single auditory or visual device, no stray signals, nothing but the link Regina had presumably set up to do her work. And if she was working for BOFA, they had their own methods of encrypting or scrambling the feed that few dedicated hackers could penetrate. Not to mention that spying on the person who was evaluating the planet’s compliance with regulations—the person who presumably had the ability to stop Garilia from becoming a member of BOFA—would probably be unwise.

  On a hunch, Eva had managed to find them the safest place in the city to stay. Knowing that, she had to make sure she didn’t piss off her mother and get them kicked out.

  Stealthily, Eva stepped into the kitchen and set the synthesizer to make her the equivalent of scr
ambled eggs. With any luck, Regina wouldn’t appear and demand to know why she’d gone out for breakfast only to come back and make more. Pink slid in behind her and started going through the cabinets, grabbing a cup that presumably meant she wanted her tea. She tapped her foot idly, then took over the machine as soon as Eva’s food was ready.

  Min stared blankly at the ceiling, so Eva waved a hand above her. “You okay?” Eva asked.

  “Missing my other body,” Min mumbled. “I’ll be fine.”

  It had been a while since Min had left La Sirena Negra for this long, it was true. She’d piloted El Cucullo when Eva came back from the land of the frozen, thanks to her Fridge nap, but otherwise she rarely left for more than a few hours at a time. This particular mission had coaxed her out more than usual, at Evercon and then Abelgard, but this jaunt on Garilia had turned into a multiday affair. The remote connection Min used had plenty of range depending on their location, but here the relays were slower, less reliable.

  Maybe Eva should send Min back, by herself, just for a little while. Would that be safe? No, better not to split up too much, and certainly not to have their pilot potentially stuck at the spaceport while the rest of them were swept up elsewhere. Or, god forbid, have Min be apprehended and held separately.

  “I’m sorry,” Eva said, feeling acutely how useless the apology was.

  “At least I have Mala,” Min said, rubbing a finger under the cat’s chin. Mala purred in response. She likely knew exactly what Min was going through, and was helping in her own psychic-cat way.

  Vakar finally finished whatever he was doing and deactivated his isosphere, once again smelling like a yard full of mint that had caught fire. His palps twitched in agitation, and he was even tapping his claws together like he only did when he was extra frustrated.

  “What happened?” Eva asked, plopping down next to him. He hesitated, and his smell took on a coppery, remorseful edge that she didn’t like in the slightest.

  “I was speaking to my supervisors,” Vakar said quietly, staring down at his hands.

  Eva tensed, fork frozen halfway to her mouth. “Mierda.”

  “Indeed.”

  “What did they say?”

  Vakar raised his head to look at the other people in the room. “I had to inform them of my location. They were . . . displeased.”

  “What’s their problem?” She paused. “Or problems, I’m guessing.”

  “The distance from the nearest Gate was one of them. It hampers my ability to be relocated quickly in a crisis situation.”

  “Right, pero like, too late to do anything about that,” Eva said around a mouthful of egg.

  He rested his hands on his neck, his smell more pensive now, flowers rather than mint. “They were primarily concerned that I might engage in some activity that violates the directives outlined under the planet’s protective status, which could cause a much larger diplomatic incident.”

  Of course. Wraiths had a ton of latitude for their operations, thanks to savvy negotiations with BOFA and the fact that quennians had a seat on their council. But Garilia wasn’t a full member yet; they were in that special class that meant everyone else had to keep their hands off while they got their act together. Which meant Wraiths couldn’t run around arresting people and blowing shit up for no reason, which meant Vakar had to be extra-special careful about everything he did.

  Eva’s heart would have skipped a beat if it wasn’t mechanical. “Oh no, they didn’t hear about the recycler exploding, right? You’re not going to get blamed for that?”

  “It has not yet been designated as an incident in need of examination and rebuke,” Vakar said. “But it is conceivable that the event, or similar ones, could be used against me in the future.”

  Eva put her plate down on her lap, no longer remotely hungry. “You need to get out of here. Hop the first transport back to the rest of the universe before something happens.”

  “That is no longer possible,” Vakar said, smelling embarrassed and displeased. “I informed my supervisors about our mission.”

  “You what!” Eva exclaimed, standing so fast she upended her plate. Fake eggs scattered all over the floor, a scrambled yellow mess that Mala immediately sauntered over to sniff. Everyone else in the room, however, stopped what they were doing to stare at Eva with varying expressions of surprise and concern.

  “I had previously indicated that Josh was present at the main facility when it was destroyed, and that he might have absconded with sensitive data,” he continued. “In the hopes that they would allow me to remain here, I added that he may possess stolen Proarkhe technology.”

  “And?”

  “They have ordered me to maintain a presence here, but they are sending more experienced Wraiths to relieve me of this mission going forward.”

  Eva groaned and flopped onto the couch, covering her face with her arm. Vakar took her free hand in his, stroking the back of it with a claw. She wanted to jerk it away, but she was just being sullen, so she left it.

  Naturally, at that moment her mother glided into the room, a frown marring her otherwise flawless makeup. “Mija, you yelled,” Regina said. “Qué pasó?”

  “Nothing,” Eva said sullenly.

  “Bueno, pues, why did you yell?”

  “I stubbed my toe.” It was the first thing that sprang to mind, but even she knew it sounded ridiculous.

  Regina pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “Fine, allá tú, don’t tell me. How was your breakfast?”

  “It was—” Eva sighed, remembering the eggs and plate on the floor. “We couldn’t find anything so we came back here to eat.”

  “You should have let me make you something in the first place.” Regina moved to the kitchen, where she raised her chair enough to let her reach the cabinets. “At least I got to have a lovely talk with your boyfriend.”

  “Partner,” Eva said reflexively.

  “Partner, discúlpame.”

  Vakar’s smell shifted to embarrassment with an undercurrent of licorice. She couldn’t believe she’d left them alone in the first place. What had they talked about? Ugh, she didn’t even want to know.

  Yes, she did. “What did she tell you?” Eva asked Vakar.

  “Nada malo, mija, no te preocupes.” Regina sliced pieces of guayaba and laid them on crackers, a block of cream cheese waiting nearby.

  Eva stared at the food like a shark scenting blood, every question in her mind forgotten. She released Vakar’s hand and got to her feet slowly, calmly, walking over to the kitchen at a leisurely pace as if she weren’t perfectly ready to shank someone for the chance at guayaba con queso crema.

  With a smile, Regina brushed Eva’s hand away. “They’re for you, malcriada,” Regina said. “Sit down and I’ll bring them to you.”

  Making a small whimpering noise in the back of her throat, Eva returned to the couch. Now Vakar smelled amused, and she slapped his leg and shot him a narrow-eyed scowl.

  Carajo, she needed to focus. Vakar had thrown a wrench into the FTL drive and now they had to scramble. It would take the Wraiths at least three cycles to arrive, by which point they needed to be finished with their own mission and on their way back to The Forge regardless. That fat bonus was on the line, on top of everything else.

  Plus Eva had to get ready for the party tonight. She wasn’t sure what to expect; she’d seen high-society parties on holovids, but that stuff was half fantasy and half plot contrivance. The closest she had personally been was once when her father had attended some fancy fiesta, and had to meet her on the roof to swap out his sidearm because he’d brought a lethal one by accident. He’d been wearing throwback Earth fashion with a slitted-sleeve jacket and extremely tight pants, while his date was swishing around in a gown that looked like it was literally made of water.

  Thankfully, Pink knew enough about fashion to save Eva’s ass. Pink was most comfortable in tank tops and loose pants, but she was obsessed with following the latest styles being strutted at every star-studded event across the u
niverse. And not just the human ones, either; Pink had forgotten more about kloshian body paint than Eva had ever known about her own actual body.

  Shopping meant money, though, not to mention Eva had no idea what they might find on Garilia, let alone in Spectrum City . . .

  Her mother interrupted her thoughts by waving a plate in front of her face. “Toma, mija,” Regina said. “If you had come for dinner last night, I made albondigas, pero ya lo comí todo.”

  Where the fuck did she get the ingredients for that? Eva wondered again. Was she traveling the universe with a tiny refrigerated unit full of ground beef and sofrito?

  Another part of her thought: my mom has been making dinner for just herself for how many years? Coño, I should have stopped by more often. I didn’t need to be such an asshole to her.

  But Eva had her reasons, and those reasons didn’t evaporate in a moment of sympathy. Still, maybe she could do something while she was here.

  “Mami,” Eva said, “you’re doing all the BOFA processing for this place. You must know a lot about it.”

  Regina narrowed her eyes. “Sí, y qué?”

  “Do you know where Pink and I can buy something nice for me to wear?”

  Pink slurped her sweet tea, loudly enough to attract Eva’s attention, then put her glass down on the counter. “You shouldn’t go alone,” Pink said.

  “They didn’t mention whether I got a plus-one.” Eva tried to surreptitiously scoop her fallen eggs back onto their plate, but her mother stared at her and wrinkled her nose.

  “There’s always an implied plus-one for this fancy shit—pardon my language, ma’am,” Pink said.

  Regina waved dismissively. “You should hear me when I find a door that won’t fit my chair.”

  “I could accompany her,” Vakar suggested, smelling like ozone.

  The last party-like event Eva and Vakar had attended together ended in a lengthy firefight and both of them got hauled off to the brig afterward. It had gotten worse from there, but that was Tito’s fault, not Eva’s. Not a good precedent.

  But besides that, there was the diplomatic-incident possibility to consider. “No, better if you stay here,” Eva told him. Too bad; he would have been adorable in formalwear.