Keltan's Gambit: Chronicles of the Orion Spur Book 2

by Michael Formichelli

  “Why do you want—never mind. I’ll bring her. See you tonight.”

  She nodded, watching Biren walk over to assist Ila at the heart of the circle of arriving worshipers.

  “What was that about?” Sanul asked.

  “Don’t worry about it. There’s just a lot of history between us.”

  “Do you want me to come with you tonight?”

  Surprised by the question, she turned her head to look at him. At first she thought he was trying to invite himself, but it dawned on her that maybe Sanul was actually just trying to be protective. The thought made her angrier at herself for being so emotional in front of him and reminded her of Shkur in an unpleasant way. Now she had another male trying to give her protection she didn’t need. Damn.

  “I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself,” she said.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “Ah,” he looked across the park. She thought it was out of embarrassment, but a moment later his body language changed, stiffening. “We’re being watched, ma’am.”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him, but followed his gaze. None of the gathering worshipers were paying them more than a curious look. That was expected, so she searched further on. The usual early morning crowds were starting to gather on the street beyond the park’s borders. Males, females, and other genders of various species were arriving on oval, capsule-shaped air-busses. None of them looked particularly interested in the park. Clearly Ila’s practice had been going on for long enough that it was part of the scenery now.

  “There,” Sanul grabbed her shoulders and directed her body towards a group of Solans across the street who were chatting, laughing, and drinking coffee near a breakfast cart. One of them, though, wasn’t talking or drinking.

  She used her cybernetic eyes to zoom in, and felt her back stiffen.

  He was in a brown suit over a red, high-collared shirt. His hair was different, thicker and cut in a typical business style that was clearly meant to blend in with the people around him. Perhaps he had a chameleon implant like she did, since it wasn’t natural for him to have grown several centimeters of hair in just a few days. Whatever the case, she recognized Thuban Vargas’ hooked nose and fire-brown eyes as he watched the Gaian gathering with interest. She wasn’t sure why he was here, but the look on his face was menacing enough that she thought it might have something to do with what she was investigating.

  “Come on, let’s find a spot.” She lead Sanul over to a patch of grass in the outermost circle around Ila and Biren. Why is Vargas here? Is Baron Revenant watching me?

  Sanul squatted down. His leg joints, one of which faced towards his back, made the motion look more like a machine folding itself up. He sat with his hooves and upper joints in full contact with the ground, seeming to be quite comfortable that way. The position put his head above Cygni’s when she sat beside him in the grass, despite his shorter height.

  When Ila approached holding a mound of earth for each of them, she chanced a look across the street again. Thuban Vargas was gone. She shook her head. This was getting to be too much for one day. Her plan was to sit just long enough to give the illusion of actually joining the group before leaving, but then she noticed the blinking icon in the corner of her vision, and realized she still had the feed from Haem Clearatch’Kul’Tearae’s office to review.

  To hell with it, she thought and opened it up.

  They met for dinner at the same place Cygni ate with Shkur when she was trying to get on the Queen Gaia. The restaurant was called “Fried Delectables,” and despite its rather plain exterior it was obvious that the owners spared no expense on the inside. The walls were made of imported wood, and varnished to a perfect mahogany color. Each panel depicted activities performed by the five major species in the Confederation in high-relief. The striking similarity to the doors at the Palace of the Just made her wonder if this place was constructed by the same architects during the same period predating the Confederation. Round tables populated the space beneath dim, amber lights and gave the place a cave-like feel. Off to the side, about mid-way between the door and the back wall, a tall bar counter rested on a short platform with a myriad of bottles mounted on shelves behind it.

  The Achinoi barmaid made her way through the groupings of patrons to the table where Cygni, Biren, and Boadicea sat. Wearing a blue dress split up both sides for the leather wings connecting her arms and legs, she looked at each of them with four, glassy eyes beneath her brow. The Mohawk of quills on her head, and those extending from her shoulders, were dyed red and green, marking her as the same Achinoi who had served Cygni and Shkur before.

  “Welcome to ‘Delectables,” she said in accented Solan. She handed each of them a thick menu written in all five major languages of the Confederation. “Can I get you anything to start with?”

  Biren and Boadicea looked up at Cygni with bewildered expressions on their faces. Both had on leather jackets and blue pants, a more street-appropriate get-up than they usually wore. Despite this it was still obvious they were devout Gaians. No other Solans in the Confederation had the same type of facial tattoos and wore their hair in seashell-adorned dreadlocks.

  “Let’s start with three Solan beers—your choice,” Cygni said before the Achinoi could speak.

  “Fine.” She moved back to the bar.

  “Is it me or is the waitress a bit rude?” Boa asked.

  “It’s not just you. I came here with Shkur a while ago. She was the same then,” Cygni responded.

  “You’d be a bit rude, too, if you worked in a place like this.” Biren looked around with a frown on his face.

  “It’s nice in here.” Cygni gestured at the decor.

  “It’s dark.” He scowled.

  “You have no appreciation for art.”

  “This isn’t my idea of art,” he responded.

  “That’s because you have no sense of culture. I find the friezes interesting,” Boa looked around, taking time to appreciate each wall.

  “You would,” her brother muttered.

  Cygni took a deep breath. It was her intention to wait until after they’d had a few sips of beer before bringing up the reason they were here, but the Achinoi waitress hadn’t made it back. A group of males of her own species were barking at her in their native tongue. From the way she was interacting with them Cygni surmised she wouldn’t be back for some time.

  She wondered if the difference between males and females was expressed to any greater degree in any other sentient species than it was in the Achinoi. The males were stocky, wingless, had leathery frills, and razor-sharp bone spurs extending from their joints. The winged, light-boned females like their waitress seemed another species entirely, and yet they weren’t. She wondered if humans looked the same to Achinoi eyes, or if Solan genders were too similar to tell the difference between them. Whatever the case, she didn’t want to let the butterflies in her stomach continue so she decided to get right to it. She leveled her gaze first on her friend, and then on Biren to make sure she had their attention.

  “Look, we as might as well get started. I have a confession to make.” Her heart pounded in her chest, and she had to fight waves of nausea at the thought of what would come after she told them about the spy-grain. She decided to start with something easier.

  “I am investigating Baron Mitsugawa Yoji’s death.”

  “Still? I thought you might have given that up when you joined Cosmos Corp,” Boa said.

  She shook her head. “It’s going to be my journalistic masterpiece. If I can get all the parts of this mystery together, I’m going public with it.”

  “Is your boss going to let you?” Boa asked.

  “He won’t have a say, not really—”

  “Baron Revenant always has a say.” Biren’s statement drew a look from his sister. “What? It’s true isn’t it? If it wasn’t, would we be fighting him?”

  Boa rolled her eyes.

  “I’m going forward with the piece, regardless. He said
I can keep up my investigative work on the side.” She took a deep breath.

  “So he knows what you’re doing?” Boa asked.

  Her mouth hung open. She hadn’t expected the question. Her brain fumbled for a response.

  “How can you trust anything you find if he knows?” Her friend continued.

  “Look, he doesn’t know everything. I doubt he knows much of it. He’s stayed clear of me in my off-hours.” Unless you count Thuban Vargas at the park this morning, she thought.

  “Are you sure?” Boa crossed her arms.

  “Reasonably.” She looked down at the table. “Look, I didn’t invite you out here to discuss that. I want to team up.”

  The siblings looked at each other.

  “Biren told me you have a spy-grain in Kul’tearae’s office?” Boa said.

  She nodded, a wave of guilt washed through her. “Among other places. I know a lot about what’s going on. I know you’re interested in what’s happening at Elthroa, and I want to help.”

  Again, the siblings looked at each other.

  “You gummed up my asset this morning,” Biren said.

  “Asset? Is that what I was to you?” She glared at him, the outrage bubbling out before she could stop it.

  He gritted his teeth before answering. “Yeah. Does that hurt?”

  “Biren!” His sister hit him in the ribs with her elbow hard enough to make him grunt. “I’m sorry, Cygni.”

  She took several deep breaths, wrestling the dull pain he caused her to feel back into the darkness of memory.

  “It’s okay, it’s to be expected. He is what he is, after all.” She stared at his pretty eyes, his handsome jaw line—Stop it!

  “At least you didn’t totally gum it up. She still wants to see me,” he said.

  “She is not a she.” Cygni licked her lips, wondering if she should explain more.

  He looked confused for a moment, then angry. “What? Are you trying to chase me away from her?”

  “The correct pronoun is nium, Biren. It’s nium, because Isinari are neither male nor female.”

  Boa chuckled, drawing her brother’s confused gaze. Cygni was surprised until it dawned on her that Boa was playing a bit of a joke on her brother.

  “What do you mean? They’re asexual or something? Ila was talking pretty sexually with me in the park today. She propositioned both of us at the same time, remember? What is it? Do they bud off to reproduce? They look female to me.” He looked to Boa for help.

  “I guess since you have a date you’ll find out.” Cygni smiled.

  “What? No, wait, you can’t do that. Tell me what’s with them.”

  “You haven’t looked Isinari up on the Cyberweb, have you? What’s the point of that foreign thing in your head?” Boa asked.

  “Don’t start with that. I haven’t had time. I’ve been busy getting set up to infiltrate Elthroa—” he cut himself off, looking at Cygni with wide eyes.

  “It’s all right, Biren. I already know.”

  “You do?”

  This would be the opportunity to tell them what she’d done. She felt the words on the tip of her tongue, but swallowed them at the last moment.

  “Why else would you be there?”

  “Well, I guess you could figure that out.” He shrugged.

  “I pulled the data feed from Kul’tearae’s office while we were in the park. Most of what she does all day is routine stuff, boring as hell, but—” she said, cursing herself for being a coward, “—there were a few interesting things in the mix. For one, Baroness Sophiathena—“

  Boa held up her hand. “We’re in public. Don’t use names.”

  “Hmm, okay. For one, she is tracking some odd security movements around the Confederation from—” she paused, wondering how to refer to Revenant, “—from my employer.”

  Boa nodded.

  “There’s a lot more going on, but I have to know you guys are with me.”

  Boa gave her a strange look. It made the guilt swell inside her. “The point is I’ve already got fingers in Elthroa, so you don’t have to take risks there. I’m also working on some other things.” She took in a deep breath. The smell of old beer and alien spices stung her sinuses.

  “Like?” Biren leaned forward over the table.

  “Like I know your mother is wondering if she can still trust Baron Keltan.” She whispered, watching both the siblings’ expressions change from confusion to concern. “You can’t, by the way. You really can’t.”

  “How do you know about that, Cygni?” Boa asked in a low voice.

  The Achinoi waitress chose that moment to arrive at the table and put a beer with a frothy head in front of each of them. “Have you decided on food?”

  “Not yet, come back.” Cygni’s eyes didn’t leave Boadicea’s.

  The waitress made a hissing sound through her scaly, vee-shaped mouth and moved off to another table.

  “How do you know?” Boa asked with an edge in her voice.

  She licked her lips, feeling sick with worry that her friend would take this the wrong way. She wasn’t really sure there was a right way to take it. She’d spied on her friend, her friend’s mother, and really, the whole Gaian biodome, and she knew that would hurt her.

  “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise to work with me first.”

  “The hell I do. I know you well, and I can’t think of any good way you could know what you just said.” Boa glared at her.

  She took a deep breath. Her friend’s eyes reflected a mixture of hurt and rage. It was a fearful thing to look at, and a hurtful thing to have directed at her.

  “You’ve been spying on us.” Biren didn’t sound angry. He was just stating a fact.

  “I think I can really help you with what’s going on at Elthroa. I’ll keep you updated, but you have to promise not to storm out or throw this away if I tell you how I know about Baron Keltan. You need me, and I need you. I know what’s going on at Cosmos Corp, too. You won’t be able to get anyone better positioned than I am to feed you information.” She hated having to use leverage on her friend, but she could tell this conversation would go the wrong way without it. She could see Boa weighing out her anger with what she offered.

  “We can do just fine without you.” Biren’s expression was that of a smug, self-confident man. He was probably right, but so was she. They would have an easier time of things if they trusted her.

  “Shut up, Biren.” Boa’s words surprised both him and Cygni.

  “Are you really considering this?” he asked.

  “Is that all you want? A promise we’ll work with you?”

  “Boa,” she said.

  “No, don’t go there. You’ve obviously spied on me, my mother, maybe my brother, too. There were reasons that I couldn’t tell you anything when you asked before. You should have just let it rest at that, but you didn’t. The really hurtful thing is that I know you’re just doing it for your story and your fame. Don’t lean on our friendship, don’t ask me to understand, because now I have to decide if there’s something there for you to lean on.”

  Cygni’s breath caught in her throat. It stung, and she felt her eyes water but she fought it back. She was under attack, no matter how justly so, and she wouldn’t let them see her cry.

  “What terms you want? Is a promise to help you win your glory enough for you?” Boa’s voice shook, her eyes grew wet.

  “We share information. We tell each other important things that have to do with our goals. That’s all.” Cygni wanted to add their continued friendship to the mix—Boa was her only real friend—but it seemed hollow to say so now.

  “Agreed,” Boa said.

  “I don’t get a say?” Biren asked.

  “No.” His sister’s tone was menacing.

  “Fine.” He shook his head.

  “How do you know about Baron Keltan?” Boa asked.

  “I put a spy-grain on you. It’s wedged in between the beads of your halter-top, on the nape of your neck. I recorded the meeting you had wi
th your mother after I left the biodome the other day.”

  Boa reached behind her head and dug around with her fingers. After a moment she put her hands in front of her and flicked the furry, seed-like device onto the table. They all stared at it while the foam on their beers crackled. Boa took a deep breath.

  “Okay. I’m going to ignore how you broke my trust and violated my privacy and the privacy of the entire biodome with this thing. I’m going to look past the betrayal this represents, but I’m not going to forget it. I want you to understand that I won’t forget this—ever.”

  “I understand.” She felt bile at the back of her throat.

  “Okay, good. Now, how do you know we can’t trust Baron Keltan?”

  “I recorded a VoQuana named Sinuthros doing something to him on the Queen Gaia. I think, given their reputation, he’s under their influence. I also think this VoQuana is working for or with Baron Revenant, so—” She trailed off.

  Biren’s mouth hung open. Boa nodded, taking things in.

  “There’s more. The grain-data from Elthroa this morning indicates Baroness Cronus is putting staff in all of Baron Revenant’s new offices—mine included. What’s curious is that she’s flooding them with her people, including the offices in the war zones. The list of worlds matches one he gave me for my own work. There’s a connection there, but I’m still working on it.”

  Boa held her hand up. “Okay, stop there. We should talk about this in a more secure place.”

  “Now?” she asked.

  “No, I have to talk to mother first. Biren will contact you when we’re ready.” Boa got up. After a moment, Biren followed.

  “All right.” She nodded.

  Her friend, possibly her ex-friend, gave her a long stare then turned and left the restaurant.

  “And you said I was the insensitive one. Looks like we’re two of a kind.” Biren shook his head and followed.

  She dropped her gaze down to the three untouched beers on the table.