“Yes, how is it going?” Tyro asked Holly, her lavender face opening up in hope as her gaze found Holly.
“It’s going well,” Holly said, lying. “We’re getting closer.”
“Can you tell us more details about what you’re doing?” Aetion asked, taking his partner’s hand upon the table.
Holly sat halfway on the back of the couch and began to sweat beneath the rain jacket. She stood again to remove it, suddenly feeling very stifled and suffocated in all her layers of clothes. What could she tell Aetion? That they’d been tricked into almost getting themselves killed on Po? That they were about to deploy some ridiculous dirigibles to get every message being passed communicator to communicator on the planet? None of it sounded very promising. Aetion and Tyro would probably hear a list of excuses and roadblocks in the explanation from Holly and she would hardly blame them.
Luckily for Holly, the door chimed that someone was there. She sighed, cursed, then thanked Ixion under her breath.
Meg had gone back to her seat, and since Holly was the only one without a place at the table, she went to the door and glanced at the viewing screen. With a soft laugh of disbelief, she opened the door.
“Odeon,” Holly said. “Wasn’t expecting you.”
“I followed you,” he said, simply.
“Join the club. I’m being followed by everyone it seems.”
“Yes, I know, Holly. Which is why I followed you,” he said.
“Thanks. While creepy, a bit, I know . . . or at least, I think . . . You’re doing it to keep me safe. Well, come in.” She backed away and let her Druiviin friend in. The door closed behind him and he approached Tyro and Aetion and gave them both Druiviin-style besos—which amounted to several kisses. Holly had never counted, but she thought it seemed to change. There was a probably a reason for that.
“Hello, friend Odeon,” Tyro said.
“We’re about to leave to go find a place to dine, would like to join us?” Aetion asked. “I confess, neither of us have wanted to each much since someone took our daughter. But it is something we must continue to do. For her sake.”
Odeon thanked them for the invitation. Then he hesitated before saying, “Aetion, Tyro, I have a better idea.”
Holly listened from her place leaning against the armrest of the couch. She could just imagine how cold and lonely every meal must be without their daughter. It was a terrible thing. There was really only one solution, Holly thought, considering it again. It was something she already knew. But there were times when she needed to remind herself how important her success was. She had to find whoever took Charm and make the bastards pay.
24
“I don’t like the way the Centau are running things,” Aetion said, tearing off a section of a flat piece of bread and then passing it around the table. They were enjoying a home-cooked meal at Meg’s condo, rather than their initial idea to leave to eat somewhere else.
Odeon had volunteered to prepare a Yasoan style dinner, to help soothe Aetion and Tyro. When they accepted the gesture, Holly and Odeon ran down to the nearest bodega and bought the supplies.
Holly had enjoyed the domestic nature of the process, standing beside her friend in the kitchen as he directed her about how to prepare the Yasoan dishes. There were large pieces of flatbread and dishes made from vegetables from Yaso. Some of the entrees were fusions of vegetables from Earth and Centaurus. One was comprised of the liquid inside a nut like a coconut, but rather than the large sized Earth coconuts, there were many small nuts, broken open and drained of the liquid which was then used as a base to create a sauce that the diced vegetables were cooked in.
The whole cooking and preparation process took nearly two hours. As she worked with Odeon, Holly forgot the troubles of the past few weeks—the stress and loss of Charm, the near-catastrophe of almost losing Charly, and the disastrous trap they’d walked into on Po. Life was its own avalanche that just kept plummeting down the mountain, like in the snowy peaks of the uninhabited planets further out in the Yol system. Holly barely had time to stop and get her bearings.
Even the moments that she’d stolen for herself to just be in her condo were hardly enough. She managed to still focus on the problems and dangers that she’d generally just escaped, or completely dwell on whatever her next steps needed to be to put the bad right.
Cooking with Odeon was a process that wrangled her mind and held onto it. She chopped while he manned the various pots of boiling sauces and measured out ingredients. He hovered beside her and corrected her knife angles with the explanation that the flavors would be impacted by these things. She wasn’t sure if she bought it, but Holly was happy to adjust and do it the way he asked. There had been so few moments in their friendship that Odeon had stood his ground so strongly that to do it now was hardly a bother.
While the two of them prepared the food, Meg and Gabe stayed with Charm’s parents at the table, listening to their stories about the their Yasoan friendships and traditions, as well as, occasionally, memories of Charm.
Holly listened with one ear cocked toward them. She had done a lot of meetings with concerned parents before her momentary exile in prison. She’d known how to counsel and reassure them when it was necessary. But with Aetion and Tyro, Holly was at a loss. They were angry. They were bereft. They felt betrayed by the society they’d given up their homeworld for.
In this instance, Meg and Gabe were doing a job that Holly could never do. They were parents themselves and understood, in a way that Holly never could, the Druiviin couple’s feelings of anger and rage and the unquenchable desire to save their child. They seemed reduced and shrunken because that desire to help her was blunted against the impossible—where was she? How could they find her? What could they do to save her?
It was a lot to think about. Too much. But Holly wanted to understand them. It seemed to matter to the situation that she consider it from their position. And so she listened. And let her thoughts mull as she worked beside Odeon.
And then the preparations were complete. Room was made at the small table for everyone. Chairs were shared. Plates collided with neighboring plates. Shoulders and elbows bumped together. Odeon brought the dishes to the center of the table and food was served. First, it was flatbread filled with a saucy concoction. Holly noticed that despite their gratitude, Tyro and Aetion ate very little.
The second dish was a fresh salad of a bitter lettuce with tart fruit. And then all the dishes were brought to the table and the real meal truly began.
The discussion at the table that had been rather quiet and concerned mostly with the food, turned to Aetion’s pronouncement that he disagreed with the direction the Centau government had taken.
“Yes, it is deplorable,” Tyro said. She nibbled on a strip of flatbread. “How can the Centau Syndicate claim to lead us if they haven’t devised a way to protect the innocent such as our daughter?”
“It is precisely as though they choose to ignore the reality that the Constellations and somewhat, the humans, forgive me, are more more inclined to rob and kidnap and deal in self-centered ways,” Aetion said. He folded a circle of flatbread around a spoonful of seasoned vegetables and took a bite.
“This is what we do, Aetion,” Meg answered. “We are aware of the discrepancies in the races.”
Holly cringed to hear her own sister admit that Aetion was right. Was he right? Holly sometimes rejected the long held notion. Was it circumstances that created the gap in how people behaved? Was it partially that the humans and Consties were more plentiful, and had they merely been brought to the 6-moon system to be the laborers for the more sparse numbers of their rulers? Did the proclivity to take what wasn’t theirs spring from a realization that they had begun with so much less in the first place?
“What she means is,” Gabe said, “is that we see firsthand that there is more crime being perpetuated by humans and Consties, however, we do not know for certain that this is due to race and genetics.”
“Is that what I mean?” Meg
asked, in mock surprise. “I think I meant what I said.”
“What you said was a bit vague.” Gabe took a drink of his Yasoan wine.
Meg scoffed. “Seems clear to me—there are more crimes committed by humans and Consties. And many Yasoan and Centau just don’t pay attention. They believe they’re safe because no one talks of the numbers.”
“They’d continue to think they were safe because they don’t want to believe that life is dangerous. They were coddled on their homeworlds,” Gabe said, laughing.
Maybe he’d had too much drink. Holly couldn’t tell, but the conversation wasn’t heading in a direction that would help to soothe the hurt any of them were feeling. Holly reached her hand across the tiny gap between her leg and Odeon’s, and gave it squeeze. His vibrant eyes connected with her gaze. She hoped he knew the silent request in her face.
“Tyro, what do you think of the brined marang and umeo?” Odeon asked.
Gabe and Meg’s attention both snapped to Holly and Odeon, seated across from them. They knew immediately that the conversation was being steered away from the argument.
Tyro answered, and Holly leaned back in her seat. She was full. She glanced down at her niece who had been sitting next to her. Lucy had eaten very little.
“You doing OK, kiddo?” Holly asked.
Lucy shrugged. “Get my friend back and maybe then I’ll be OK.”
“So that’s a no?”
“Yes, that is definitely a no.”
Holly wrapped her arm around Lucy’s shoulders and pulled her close into her side. “I’m going to find her.” She wanted to promise. But Holly was too aware of how promises failed and she didn’t want to do that to her niece.
25
It was the first morning in several days that the cloud cover parted and sunlight glinted through the spire-tops. The light warmed the air and burned off the water that lingered across the city in puddles and in rivulets running down the jade covered towers.
Holly watched as Darius put the finishing touches on the mini-airship that would sweep the city’s communications, suck them up and transmit it back to the Bird’s Nest. She’d seen it being built and knew that it had a metal skeleton with cells filled with helium. But for now, it was already covered with a lightweight waterproof fabric that didn’t weigh it down. Hanging off the bottom part of the airship was the radio control and the mechanisms to intercept and then broadcast signal down to Darius. Housed in the complex electrical area there was also a camera, in case Darius needed to see to steer it. There were propellers around the body to propel and rudders on the back to steer it.
“Now, this baby is going mostly maintain its height, but it will continue to be moved back and forth, in a specific course. I’ll control it down in the Bird’s Nest and the communications will be beamed to us.” It was a very small rigid airship. Darius finished filling it with helium from a small tank he’d brought to the platform. It was a light color that absorbed energy from the sunlight. He maintained that it would be so high as to be out of range of visibility. And Holly trusted him.
To launch it, they’d chosen a spot on the edge of the city that saw very little traffic due to its location on the fringe of the Yellow Jade District. The Spireway platform was empty of people except for Holly, Darius, and Odeon. As Darius finished connecting wires and the engine started up, Odeon watched for any intrusions from suspicious people. He leaned on his Ousaba club, which was almost as tall as him and his gaze constantly swept the area.
“Thank Ixion the weather finally cleared. I was beginning to think the monsoon season would last for months,” Darius said.
“How soon will we begin having info?” Holly asked.
“As soon as it’s up in air,” Darius said, rising. He used a handheld control device to steer it up and off the platform.
Holly half-expected it to plummet to the ground once it left the safety of the Spireway platform. Instead it kept rising. Darius let out a whoop and Holly couldn’t help but smile, feeling a bit of that elation herself. The little dirigible kept rising and rising, moving into a channel over the street to avoid crashing into a tower.
“I have to get it above the tallest spire before it’s out of sight. The v-screen monitors are back in the Nest and I won’t be able to steer it around the buildings.”
Above the city, Holly could just make out the jagged, snow-covered tops of the eastern range of border mountains that delineated the edge of the Sliver. The Ridge of the World. No one ever went east of them. They were a thick band of an unscalable range that extended for hundreds of miles before reaching the volcanically active region of Kota. The far edge of the mountains shielded most of the Sliver from the ash and pollutants that spewed out into the atmosphere from the few remaining active volcanoes. To the west the plains of the Sliver extended to the Lucid Ocean, the vast body of water that separated the main continent and the volcanically active other side of the moon.
“Alright Drake, I’ve got the FAA Jackson in her course, far above the city and safe in her programmed flight path. Let’s head back and I’ll start the search filters going on the communications.”
Odeon made a scoffing sound as he straightened up from leaning on the Ousaba.
Holly looked at her Druiviin friend. “What?”
“He doesn’t like the name I gave it,” Darius said, laughing and heading for the Spireway to ride back to the Ice Jade district. He looked one last time in the direction the airship had disappeared in.
“The FAA. What’s it stand for.”
“Fucking Awesome Airship.”
“FFA Jackson.”
“Right. It bears my name. Because I created it.”
* * *
A short time later they were back at the Bird’s Nest, passing through the bar area where Torden was slicing garnishes for breakfast drinks. Charly would be hosting a brunch of sorts and that required, obviously, the sort of drink that was acceptable to partake of before noon.
Charly appeared in the stairway up to the Nest as Holly and the others approached. “Hey guys,” Charly said, then called out to Torden, “Did you hear back from the caterer? They should be hear already. I’ve got seventy-five people showing up soon.”
Holly exchanged a look with Darius and then hurried up the stairs with Darius and Odeon right behind her.
Shiro was already there, sitting in an arm chair, his bowler and cane on the coffee table as he thumbed through an old book. “Shiro. Reading a book? Is this a comedy?”
He lifted his dark brown gaze to Holly’s face. “Ms. Drake, always refreshing to see you. Good day. Odeon, Darius, hello.”
Shiro seemed more subdued than usual, choosing to ignore her teasing comment. Her fingers itched to check the title the book, but he closed it and tucked it beside his leg.
“Thanks for getting here, Shiro,” Holly said. “We just launched the mini-airship. Darius should be getting data that he can sort through to find out where they’re holding Charm.”
“Wonderful. It was no interruption. Essentially I just wait at my condo in a compartment until I’m needed and then I come here.”
Holly stared at him, then went to the kasé machine and began a brew. “Anyone else?” Yet another strange thing, Shiro hadn’t already made something to drink.
“I’ll have a sip of something, Ms. Drake, please. If you don’t mind?”
“Odeon? Darius?”
Darius was working intently at his station, clattering through boxes of odds and ends, and then sitting down and touching screens as he filtered through the information.
“What? Oh yeah, sure, Drake,” he managed to say and then fixed his attention back on the screens. “Sorry, gotta get this shit going.”
“No problem.” She pulled the long, dried yellowish pods out of an airtight container and dropped them into the grinder. It churned until they were a coarse powder. She poured the pale powder into the filter, and turned the machine on. The reservoir of water began to heat. Holly turned and leaned against the table. Odeon
had filled up his regular spot, with his feet up on the coffee table. Charly was still down in the bar area barking orders at the help and, it sounded like, reaming the caterer on her communicator, and Shiro was thumbing through his book again.
Holly bit her lip so that she didn’t start pestering Darius with questions about the information. Is there any information yet? Have you found Charm yet? It would be an unnecessary burden on him.
So she found something else to bug him about.
“The big tap, Darius? The hub? Are we ready to move on that yet?” Holly asked, from her position against the table. Behind her the odor of the brewing drink began to permeate the room. Shiro looked up as though he’d just caught the smell. His eyes brightened and whatever turmoil he’d been feeling seemed to flee.
“Yes. Let’s get moving on that,” Odeon said, suddenly animated. He rose and began to pace at the window overlooking the bar. “Holly is right. The situation gets worse the longer we wait on it.”
Darius paused in what he was doing, with the headphone cup pressed up against his ear.
“I’ve got this going. The filters are turned on. It could be hours or, sorry, days before the program finds anything.” He put the headphones down and stood up. “As for the big tap. I’ve got the parts mostly situated. The one problem I’m waiting on is the biggest piece of the wiretap. Which is, quite literally, a massive wiretap. Beatrice didn’t have one. There are two parts to it. The cable itself and thermo. . .” He paused, seeing the look on Holly’s face. “You guys don’t get it. But the point is, we’re waiting for the parts.”
Holly felt a sinking sensation in her gut. “How long?”
“Beatrice said the shipments should be here soon, but then I got word that an aetheric storm from a surge on Ixion interrupted the flight path and the ship coming from Paradise had to go back.” He sat down and pulled up a box on one of his v-screen monitors. “I did see that a supplier on Helo had one up on an underground market. The problem with these parts, is that, well, they’re for this sort of thing. A gray, almost black area. The only people who’d want them are people like us. Supply and demand isn’t big, if you get what I mean.”
The Colossus Collection : A Space Opera Adventure (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material) Page 43
