“Might be good for him to be along to rein you in,” Pink said with a half-smile. “Don’t want you showing your ass to anyone.”
“Mija, de qué rayo estas hablando?” Regina asked. “Is this for work?” She tapped the arm of her hoverchair with her forefinger like she was sending messages in Morse code.
Eva hesitated, unsure of how much to spill. “Sort of,” she said. “There’s a big fancy party tonight and I’m invited.”
“How fancy?” Regina asked.
“Very fancy.”
Regina stared at Eva as if she could read thoughts as easily as a commlink visualization. “Bueno,” she said finally. “I would let you borrow something of mine, but my nice dresses are cut for me to put on easily. You might ‘show your ass’ as your friend said.”
Right, because of the chair. Just as well; her mom’s sense of fashion was very particular, and Eva had never been in love with it. Some hoop earrings were too big, period.
Sue had apparently started listening, because she spoke up now. “Captain, did you find out something about my brother?”
Eva closed her eyes for a moment, reopening them as her mother swiveled to cast a frown in Sue’s direction. Let her look, Eva thought. Maybe she’ll realize Sue’s not a monster like she’s been building up in her head.
“Maybe,” Eva said.
“Is he here? Is he okay?” Sue asked, jumping to her feet so quickly she stumbled, knocking over a chair.
Eva winced. The more she told Sue, the more Sue might blab to the wrong person. And a very wrong person was currently seated a meter away, looking back and forth between Sue and Eva like she was waiting for one of them to draw a weapon.
“We’re still checking things out,” Eva said, holding up a hand as if to stave off more questions. “I don’t want to get your hopes up.” Especially since Josh had almost certainly come voluntarily, based on what Dr. Lucien had said. It made sense; he’d bounced around the universe apparently trailing Lashra Damaal, then showed up here working in her labs. The more she thought about it, the more Eva suspected that had been his plan from the start.
“Bueno, I think a party sounds like a wonderful idea,” Regina said, clapping her hands together and folding them primly in her lap. “I know the perfect place to go shopping for a dress—”
“Pants, please,” Eva said.
“Not in this climate,” Pink said. “And take Vakar to the party.”
Eva winced. “That’s not—”
“Ay, sí, you and your partner should go together!” Regina exclaimed. “Qué fun. We’ll find him something nice, too.”
Once again, despite all her arguments, internal and external, Eva was suddenly regretting her decision. But what harm could a little shopping trip do?
Eva had entirely forgotten what shopping with her mother was like. Even though they had a purpose—buy something for Eva to wear at the party—Regina wandered in and out of nearly every store they passed in the huge open-air complex that a human would call a mall or market, but the locals called a Stop Cluster. It certainly felt like she was stopping constantly, to Eva’s intense exasperation. Rotating holographic cube signs expanded into circular ones based on proximity, showing the name of the place as well as an image of what could be obtained there. As they entered each building or paused at each stall, the sign’s color slowly shifted from a pale blue to a purplish pink, as if to mark the ones they had visited already for easy visual reference.
A trail of pink spread out behind them like breadcrumbs in a fairy tale.
“Mami, they don’t sell clothes here,” Eva said for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Pero mira, don’t you think your sister would like one of these?” Regina pointed at a colorful carving that hung from the ceiling, catching the light as it gently turned.
“No. Maybe. But she doesn’t need it.” Eva wondered how tacky it would be to wear her spacesuit to the party. She could pretend it was the new fashion somewhere in the fringe. Maybe she could even find some new gravboots to replace the ones that kept malfunctioning? No, cheaper to have Sue keep fixing them.
“Ooh, look at those!” her mother exclaimed, dashing off to another part of the room. The xana proprietor of the shop stood impassive in the corner, psychically emanating helpfulness and polite restraint.
Pink sighed, her arms crossed over her chest. “She doesn’t stop, does she?”
“Her batteries will run out eventually,” Eva said. “Then she’ll start complaining about everything and asking when I’m going to have kids.”
“Merciful heavens.” Pink uncrossed her arms long enough to give Eva an affectionate shoulder pat, which Eva accepted with a sour expression.
Eva approached her mom to beg her to keep moving so they could buy something before the party was over. Regina had stopped in a corner with a lovely view of a street behind them, and was quietly tapping the arm of her chair like she was lost in thought. But then she angled slightly to the left, pausing the tapping for a moment before starting again.
What is she doing? Eva thought. The street looked like any other here, albeit with fewer of the blue holographic signs. Pedestrians ambled or hovered about, while Watchers mingled among them or loitered on corners, their pale uniforms a different kind of light reflecting the local star’s brilliance.
Strange that they were so obvious. If Eva were running a spy network, she wouldn’t advertise it. Then again, these were the ones she could see; that didn’t mean others weren’t wearing plain clothes. And if this were anything like other places with a robust system of constant vigilance, enough locals would snitch to the Watchers that they hardly needed to go out of their way to sneak around.
Not to mention whoever was in the neural network, voluntarily or by force. Eva thought of what Dr. Lucien had said and scowled.
“Only fourteen,” her mother said, bringing Eva out of her own reverie. Fourteen what? Eva wondered. The hoverchair spun around and Regina yelped.
“Coño carajo, mija, you scared me!” Regina exclaimed.
“I was just standing behind you,” Eva said.
“Sí, pero you snuck up on me. I didn’t know you were there.”
“Sorry. Are you going to buy anything?”
Regina gave her a pursed-lipped frown and shook her head, casting a side-eyed glance at the xana watching them. “You’re probably right, your sister has too many things, and she’s never home anyway. Bueno, let’s go.”
The next store was, finally, one that sold clothing. Most of it was the loose-fitting outfits a lot of the xana wore to leave room for their arm flaps, adapted to fit various species, but there were other options no doubt carefully selected to appeal to the tourist composition that Spectrum City attracted. Only a few things were on physical display, while others were holovids that cycled through multiple items, probably based on data culled from their commlinks. Pink’s eye lit up as she noticed one of the holographic models, whose style Eva would have best described as “home decorations,” given that most of the clothes looked like a fancy chandelier or curtains or even rugs.
“Please,” Eva said, leaning closer to Pink. “Please do not dress me as a sexy lamp.”
Pink laughed, a deep, throaty laugh that did not bode well for Eva.
“Oh, look at these!” Regina said, gesturing at one of the loose outfits. “Qué lindo, they seem very comfortable. And they have pockets. You like pockets.”
“I do like pockets,” Eva said, raising her eyebrows at Pink. She hadn’t expected to be on her mother’s side about clothes, but maybe hell was having some freakishly cold weather. And anyway, walking around with a skirt full of jangly wires would make maneuvering through a crowd incredibly difficult. If she had to fight in something like that? Forget it, she was toast.
“Don’t worry, my little busy bee,” Pink said, grinning from cheek to cheek. “I’ll make sure you’re wearing something entirely appropriate.” She emphasized the last word as if she knew precisely what Eva was thinking.
&nbs
p; “Sí, mi vida,” Regina said. “You’re going to look incredible.” She gasped and tapped Pink on the arm. “Mira, how about this one?”
“Ooh, but which color? Not the peach.”
“No, no, that’s always been bad with her skin tone. Espérate, how about this other one?”
“Do I get a say in this?” Eva asked.
“No,” the other women replied simultaneously.
Eva groaned. “Fine. Do your worst.”
Pink and Regina shared a look, and the twin smiles that spread across their faces made Eva immediately regret her choice of words.
Eva sat on the hanging seat in the room used for trying on outfits, sneaking a break from the endless incarnations of what she had decided was actually a line of lawn furniture. Even her mother had never been tacky enough to put a pink flamingo in her yard, but apparently a designer somewhere had seen one and fallen deeply, madly in love with the entire concept.
A psychic emanation did the equivalent of a polite knock. “May I request permission to enter in order to assist with the process of adornment selection?” a xana asked. The voice was vaguely familiar, and it wasn’t the person who worked in the store.
Eva climbed out of the seat and took a defensive stance. The walls were that smoky translucence, which meant she couldn’t hide better, but she could at least be ready if something happened.
“Come on in,” she said, and the door slid open.
It was one of the rebels. Felsira. She slid the door closed with one hand, the other carrying a dress that did, in fact, resemble a sexy lamp. Eva groaned inwardly.
“I have enveloped us in a secure radius of approximately three meters,” Felsira said, placing the dress in the small antigrav field that already held the flamingo abomination. “May I convey to you the request of the resistance?”
“Sure,” Eva said, relaxing slightly.
“We have learned of your invitation to the event at the Light’s decline,” Felsira said, hands entwined primly in front of her. “Our informants suggest this event will also include several individuals whose assistance is key to our infiltration plans.”
Eva wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I’m charming enough to talk people into joining up with you.”
Felsira emanated amusement as well as a shimmer of condescension that quickly vanished. “That is not necessary. We simply require psychic imprints from multiple sources with access to the Sylfe Company laboratories.” She reached into her clothes and retrieved a small silver device, flat and oblong, with no identifying features.
From outside, Eva’s mother yelled, “Mija, dale, let us see the next one!”
“Hold that thought,” Eva said, grabbing the flamingo dress and struggling into it. Despite her claims of being there to help, Felsira did nothing but watch.
Eva stormed out to where Pink and her mother waited. They made identical faces, as if they’d both seen an actual flamingo and were considering how best to escort it out of the store safely.
“That’s a no, right?” Eva asked. “Please?”
“Yeah, no,” Pink said.
“Maybe with the right necklace?” Regina suggested.
Eva made a disgusted noise and turned, smart as a soldier, to march back into the room. She closed the door and stripped again, then reached over to grab the device Felsira was quietly holding out.
“Not saying I’m definitely going to help,” Eva said. “I have to talk this over with my crew first. But how do I use this thing?”
“Its functions are automatic,” Felsira replied, folding her hands together again. “Simply carry it on your person and interact directly with the target for a minimum of—” Eva’s translator nanites hitched for a moment, then supplied “three point seven four minutes” in place of whatever time scheme Felsira had used. Something about feeds? Whatever.
“And how will I know who to target?” Eva asked.
“Try the other one on!” Pink called from outside.
Eva rolled her eyes and huffed a breath, then grabbed the awful lamp dress, which turned out to be a jumpsuit. It was entirely silver, a series of curving strips that formed a stripey pattern, covering her neck, torso, arms, and legs entirely except in places where a mesh-like material exposed her bare skin. It came with a matching jacket, so long that it dragged on the floor behind Eva like a train, though she imagined it probably didn’t do that for people who were taller than her. She might be able to fight in it, if she ditched the jacket, but she’d stand out like a comet on a cloudless night.
“It has a hat,” Eva said, holding the offending head covering like it was a dirty rag.
“I am sure it will be very fetching on you,” Felsira said, her psychic tone amiable. “To answer your query, we are prepared to provide you with data regarding each subject you are to engage with.”
Eva turned the hat over in her hands, trying to figure out how it went on. “That’s fine, but if this is a huge party, it might be tough to single out any one person, let alone three.” Especially since I’m short and xana are not, she thought sourly.
“Do you have a suggestion for improving the likelihood of success?” Felsira asked.
Eva considered it. “You don’t have anyone on the inside who could feed me information?”
“We will have people there, but it would not be typical for any of them to interact with you, and so it would almost certainly be noticed by the Watchers and other vigilant guests.”
“How about someone on the outside?” Even as she said it, Eva shook her head. “No, they’re monitoring comms, aren’t they? Or, at least they would know if I was getting random signals from somewhere nearby.”
Pink shouted again, “Come on, let us see the outfit!” and Eva groaned, rolling her eyes.
Eva threw open the door in an unintentionally dramatic fashion, then stalked out to where Pink and her mother were waiting. The way their faces lit up, Eva knew she was in trouble.
“Really?” Eva asked.
“It’s perfect,” Pink said.
“Eres un tesoro,” Regina agreed.
“I definitely look like something out of a chest of booty,” Eva muttered. “How much does it cost?”
Pink told her, and Eva stuttered a laugh. “Qué rayo!” Eva said. “Why did you even make me try it on? I’m not paying that unless it comes with a new FTL drive for our ship.”
“I’ll buy it,” Regina said immediately.
“Mami, no, por favor. Let’s go to another store, or I can always wear something I already have.” She didn’t have anything appropriate, and wasn’t sure how she would get it off the ship without being noticed and risking a quick deportation, but she could try.
Regina’s face took on a surprisingly serious expression, her eyes watery and glinting as they caught the light. “Mija, you never had a quince,” she said quietly.
“I didn’t want one,” Eva said. That was half true; Eva had wanted to have a wild night of karaoke with friends because she’d seen it on a holovid and it looked like the most fun ever. Her abuelos had offered to help pay for something, but her mother had been too proud to accept, and Eva had been too conscious of their wobbly finances to even think about asking for anything expensive. In the end, she got a commlink—not the newest model, but at least it was an implant instead of a cuff, and way better than the government-issued ones.
“I can afford it,” Regina insisted. “Por favor, Eva-Benita, let me do this for you.”
Eva’s stomach clenched as she fought every impulse to reject the offer outright. She was enough like her mother that the notion of being gifted something so expensive made her anxious; she didn’t want to feel indebted, burdened by a favor she would feel compelled to repay somehow, at an uncertain point in the future. Because Regina would absolutely keep this in her back pocket as emotional leverage, even if she didn’t mean it that way right now. And Eva knew she didn’t, that this was one of the awkward ways her mother showed love, that rejecting this would be like pushing a hug away.
Eve
n so. It was a big ask. And Felsira was waiting in the room behind her, so she had to choose.
“Fine,” Eva said. “Allá tú.”
Regina shrieked and clapped her hands in excitement, rambling as she floated away to start dealing with the bill. Pink gave Eva a meaningful look that suggested she had followed a lot of Eva’s thoughts on their merry spacetrain ride, but approved of where it had stopped. She mimed a finger gun and shot it at Eva, her lips forming a silent pew-pew that shifted to a gentle smile.
Eva’s eyes widened, and she smiled back, but for an entirely different reason. She ambled back into the changing area, her outfit more or less forgotten.
“I have an idea,” she told Felsira. “I still need to talk it over with my crew, but I think it will improve our odds.” Pink might not agree with it, since she was still undecided about helping the resistance in the first place, but it was worth a shot. Literally.
Felsira’s psychic emanation gained a curious edge even as it stayed polite, her hands still folded together in front of her.
“But first,” Eva said. “I need to get the hell out of this outfit.”
Chapter 18
Party On
The party was held on the roof of the Sylfe Company headquarters, which were located on an island near Spectrum City. Other buildings were clustered around it, all of them in the same style as the ones back in the city, false trees with bright trunks and gleaming branches hanging down nearly to the ground, or smaller edifices clustered like mushrooms around what would be the roots. It was hard to tell which had been built first, whether this place was entirely new or had barged into an existing town and taken over the way the robot Attuned were trying to supplant the living ones, but either way it was an impressive sight.
Transports hovered around the building, some merely picking up and dropping off the partygoers, while others were tethered to cables or docked in nondescript bays. Some of the tethered ones were extended to the full length of their attachments, floating like balloons in the golden light of the setting star, the people inside having their own private parties as they conducted business or pleasure away from the rest of the action.
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