The Battle of Hollow Jimmy

by Becky Black

  Maiga froze, her cup part way to her lips. She couldn't mean… surely not?

  "The brothels were one of the main distribution points for spreading Ilyan's message," Wixa said.

  "So do you think Bara is using them for the same thing?" Chervaz asked. "Intel gathering, even spreading information?"

  "Very possible," Wixa said, nodding.

  "Perhaps one of us should undertake a daring undercover mission to find out," Jaff suggested, grinning.

  "Undercover is right." Wixa laughed.

  "Tricky to wear a disguise though," Jaff said.

  "I have to go." Maiga stood up so quickly she knocked the table and the other three put their hands on it to steady it, as coffee sloshed on the varnished wood. She just wanted to get out and think about this for a while. Too many things whirled in her head and she needed to sort them out.

  Chervaz stood up too. "Let me walk with you."

  "No, I'm fine, please, I'd rather be alone for a moment."

  She turned away from his disappointed face and hurried away.

  ~o~

  Her quarters were too claustrophobic. She needed to see the stars. So, at almost 0200 hours, Maiga changed into her running gear and headed up to the circuit. She ran.

  To hear Wixa say Ilyan's name, and talk about spreading his message, it had stirred too much in Maiga. Too much for her to sit at the table while they talked about him, in the past, as a historical figure. A dead historical figure.

  She'd overheard such conversations a few times and had vowed that the first time someone said "I heard him speak once" that she would leave the station before another hour passed. In case they saw her face. In case they remembered.

  But the idea of doing that grew less easy every day. She'd grown attached. To Wixa, to Chervaz, but just as much as to them, she'd grown attached to the station. It made her smile to see it when they came home from jobs. And there was the word: home. She'd started to see it as home.

  I should leave now.

  She ran on, faster, legs eating up the distance, no longer looking at the stars, gazing ahead, at the bulkheads, at the dark grey deck plating that jarred her joints with each step she took.

  Attachment was a weakness. She knew that. It could keep her from leaving when she had to. She should leave, before it became too hard. Before she let herself care too much for Wixa, for Chervaz, for the station.

  Leave? And leave it to Bara to do what she wanted? Whatever that might be, it had to be bad news. Especially for those who'd lived here for years, who called their quarters "home" and filled them with possessions and decorations, just like the ones Wixa kept bringing for Maiga. She didn't want those, they tied her down. Maiga was a soldier, however much she wanted to put that behind her now. A soldier carried her life on her back.

  And why should she care about thwarting Bara? You know why, a voice whispered deep inside. Because she's wrong. In so many ways, but worst of all she's wrong about Ilyan. She got his message all twisted up. If she's doing what she's doing even partly in his name, then someone who truly understood what he meant should be here to stop her.

  A dark figure stood ahead of her, in a badly lit section, and she tensed, until she came closer and realised with a surprise that it was Chervaz. He leaned on the railing, looking down into the deserted plaza. Not totally deserted, Maiga caught a small movement under a lamp, a cat passing by.

  Maiga stopped as Chervaz turned to see her and straightened up.

  "You're out late," Maiga said, taking a long drink of water.

  "Couldn't sleep." He watched her drink and she thought she heard him sigh as she moved the bottle down.

  "Me neither. I like to run when I can't sleep."

  "I should probably start doing that." Chervaz put a hand on his stomach. "I really have become slack with my training. Well, I'll admit," he laughed. "I was never terribly strict."

  "You look okay to me." That made him blush and her smile. Well he did look okay. Perhaps heavier than he should be, nothing some strength training wouldn't fix. "Shall we walk?"

  He fell into step beside her at once and offered her his arm. After a moment of hesitation she took it. They hadn't been alone together since the dinner a few days ago now, since she kissed him, and she had to wonder if he was hoping for another kiss soon. Was she ready for that? And more?

  She had kept to herself since arriving at the station. There'd been no man in her life since Jadeth rescued her from Tesla's basement. What happened in there she preferred not to think about too much. But if she wanted to move on, allow the possibility of a lover in her life she had to face up to it.

  Rape. There was the word. She had found ways to deal with it. Sometimes she just screamed at Tesla, screamed herself hoarse and that put him off. Other times she insulted and abused him until he couldn't stand it anymore. She wondered since if she'd been trying to provoke him into killing her. And along with those strategies, she had training in resisting torture, mental techniques to simply be elsewhere, so that after it was done, she barely even remembered it.

  Sometimes, he didn't touch her. He came into her cell, sat in a chair and talked and snivelled about how sorry he was it had all happened this way, and begging her forgiveness. Those moments she hated him most of all. Nevertheless, she'd considered pretending to forgive him, pretending she welcomed him. If she could work on it gradually, make him believe she had come around to him, make him believe he could trust her enough to let her out of the restraints…

  He'd have been dead within five seconds. She was still jealous that Jadeth had been the one who got to finish him.

  Shaking herself, she looked up at Chervaz. Could she trust him to be her first time since the cell? He was so soft-spoken and gentle. Surely he would be the same way in the bedroom? When would she have the courage to find out?

  "So, you're going to visit the free clinic tomorrow?" she said.

  "Yes. I do feel bad about publicising it, when it's in direct competition with Dr Sheni, and especially when Bara is behind it all, but the paper…" He looked at her. "I have to put the truth in there. You understand that don't you? Even if the truth can hurt people I respect. If I don't, then I might as well close the thing down."

  "I like your principles. No favouritism."

  "That's exactly it. I think that's what Bara was after when she came to visit me."

  Maiga frowned at the reminder of that and a flush rose to her cheeks. "Did she try to intimidate you?"

  "Oh no. I mean not deliberately anyway. Well, I don't think so." He shook his head. "She did try to bribe me though."

  "What?" Maiga stopped, making him stop and turn to face her. "Bribe?"

  "She offered me a ‘donation'. I had to tell her I don't take those. People buying advertising space is one thing, and even there, I have to be cautious. But I couldn't take a direct contribution like that and not expect her to ask something in return."

  Maiga moved away from Chervaz and walked to the tall window. She looked out at space, the stars, the limitless night, the limitless darkness to disappear into. Bara wanted allies. If she controlled the paper she'd have far too much power. The paper was a romantic dream for Chervaz, but for Bara it would be no more than a tool. Or a weapon. Would she come after it again? Would she try again to make Chervaz her ally?

  "Are you all right?"

  Chervaz stood right behind her. She could feel the heat of his body close to hers, and see his reflection in the window. He touched her shoulder. Such large strong hands, and such a careful touch he had, as if afraid he would break her, fearing his own clumsiness. He knew she was fragile. But the time to be fragile had come to an end. Now she had to be strong.

  She turned into his arms and moved closer to him. She stretched up and he at once bent his head down into the kiss. Bara wanted allies. But she didn't get this one. This one is mine.

  When the kiss broke his brown eyes were wide, the pupils huge in the dim light and his skin had darkened with a flush.

  "Maiga…"

&
nbsp; "Shh."

  They kissed again. No words now. Words. Weaving them was his job and his passion. How he loved to talk and write. But now she wanted action from him, not words. After a moment she pulled away again and spoke in a whisper.

  "Take me home."

  Chapter 17

  Maiga heard a sound above her, someone boarding the ship. A moment later Wixa's called out.

  "Maiga? You there?"

  "Cargo hold."

  Wixa appeared at the hatch and started climbing down the ladder.

  "Could I hell find this berth?" she said. "Oh well, I know where it is now. Good idea to get a permanent one. I'm sick of waiting for a berth before we can land." She stepped off the ladder.

  "It's six months," Maiga said, turning from securing crates. "Not actually…" She trailed off, then spoke again. "Um, Wixa, just one question. Why is your hair blue?"

  Wixa stared at her. "It's blue?" She grabbed a bit of it and pulled it as far over her face as she could, going cross-eyed, the ends of it barely in her vision. "What the hell?" She wailed. "When did this happen?"

  I'm not going for it, Maiga thought. She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. A moment later Wixa grinned.

  "You like it?"

  "Oh, I'm in love with it," Maiga said. "I fully intend to have mine dyed the same colour the moment we come back." She turned back to finish securing the cargo. "Are you in disguise or something?"

  "Nah, I just wanted to hang on a bit longer in the hairdresser's yesterday." Wixa grabbed a snapper and started checking the manifest. "A couple of the junior officers from the Trebuchet were in there. So, I thought I'd do a bit of ear wigging."

  "Oh the Trebuchet is back is it?" Maiga asked, voice casual, as if she didn't have an alert set up in her computer terminal to let her know when the Trebuchet's shuttle docked at the station. The Trebuchet had been away almost two weeks this time. Maiga frowned. Wixa's answer didn't quite explain something. "But why blue?"

  Wixa smiled. "Why not?"

  Well that was what counted as an explanation from Wixa. "So, did you hear anything interesting from the officers?"

  "Only about the relative sexiness of various male officers and crewmen and who they think is sleeping with who."

  Had that been worth a crazy dye job? Wixa didn't go on, so Maiga assumed the who was sleeping with who hadn't included Bara's name. Wixa would have been sure to report on that, blue-haired queen of gossip that she was.

  A knock came from above, someone banging on the hatch.

  "Now what?" Maiga said. "I'll check it out." She climbed up and opened the hatch to find Chervaz standing there. He looked flushed, as if he'd been running.

  "Oh, I'm glad I caught you before you left."

  "Something wrong?" She gestured for him to come aboard and he climbed in.

  "No, ah, you left this in my quarters." With a sheepish smile he handed her a blue hair band she'd been wearing when she went round last night. She'd overslept this morning and left in a hurry, not wanting to delay their schedule. "I, er, thought you might need it."

  Maiga took the hair band and put it in her pocket. "Yes, the trip would have been a disaster without that."

  He smiled, recognising her teasing. "Well, since the stakes were so high perhaps I deserve a reward."

  "Oh really?" But she moved into his arms and they kissed, his arms around her waist, her hands resting on his upper arms. When they broke, she ran a hand down the side of his face, then through his thick black hair. He moved his arms up, enclosing her in an embrace that made her feel secure as a child in her mother's arms.

  She just stood there for a moment, resting her head on his broad chest, and enjoying the warmth of his body, the solidity of him. He's a rock in the sun. They hadn't spent every night together, since that first night two weeks ago. But there had been enough nights for her to start to really know him. And to start thinking about where she went from here.

  He didn't make her body sing, the way Ilyan had, she had to admit that. But he had shown himself a gentle and patient lover. She liked him. She cared for him. But still, this felt like a relationship that would take time to develop. Did love have to be a clap of thunder? Or could it be gentle misty rain? The type you barely noticed at first, but that slowly and surely soaked right through to your skin and drenched you in it.

  She'd paid six months in advance on the berth. A good length of time to give him too. Time enough to see where this might go.

  "I have to go," she said, though not moving away, just looking up into his face.

  "It's only a short trip this time?"

  "Yes, thirty six hours each way. Maybe half a day unloading, making deals and loading up again. Four days maximum."

  "Maiga," Wixa called up from below, a tone of regret in her voice. "Sorry, but, ah, we need to make a move or we'll lose the take off slot we booked."

  As Maiga and Chervaz stepped apart Wixa appeared from the hatch into the cargo hold.

  "Sorry," she said again. "Hi, Vaz, lookin' sexy as always. I'll get the pre-flight started, Maiga." She went into the cockpit. Chervaz turned from watching her.

  "And why exactly is her hair blue?"

  Maiga smiled and moved close to him again for one last kiss goodbye.

  "Why not?"

  ~o~

  "Captain, I don't think I can allow what you are proposing."

  Station security chief Neex looked at Bara across the circular desk he sat in the centre of. All around him, his consoles showed reports and video feeds of areas of the station and outside it. She frowned, but didn't know if he even understood the expression. The Klaff had rather expressionless faces compared to humans. Their eyes showed no emotion. But their smooth, delicate looking skin changed colour easily, subtle shades of blue demonstrating their moods. Right now his showed pale and cool, not agitated at all.

  "Chief," she said, "I don't intend to step on your toes in any way." He didn't have toes and looked puzzled at the metaphor. "I mean, encroach on your jurisdiction. But the fact is crime is rising in the human sector."

  "There are more of you on the station. More people means more crime. In percentage terms the rise is negligible."

  "Still," she went on, trying to ignore any inconvenient facts. "More crime is happening and the humans feel more worried about crime than they did before. Perception is important isn't it? The humans feel more at threat. And they will blame station security for that."

  "We have increased security patrols in areas with larger populations than before," Neex said. Did she detect a little darker blue now, her implied criticism bothering him?

  "And all I want to do it help those patrols. Supplement them. If it helps people to feel safer, if it reduces crime…"

  "I can't allow unauthorised, unaccountable personnel to…"

  Definitely darker blue now. Bara raised a hand. "Of course not! Nobody would be trying to do the job of your people. What I propose is a watch patrol. If they were to come across any criminal activity they would report to station security at once. Your people would be the ones making arrests, and taking the credit in the end for the crime reduction."

  "Well of course, that would be different."

  "And I'd be very careful who I selected from the volunteers. I would put former military police officers in charge. They understand all about rules and limits on their powers. They already know how to do the job."

  "Now there I agree with you, Captain. In fact would I like to recruit such people. The management and the owners prefer station security to be all Klaff, but I think it could be very useful to recruit from all the major species that have a permanent presence on the station."

  "You're obviously very forward looking." A little buttering up wouldn't go amiss.

  "And you humans, you understand regulations and chain of command. I think many of your people would make ideal security officers." His skin flushed again, but it seemed more with excitement and interest.

  "Chief, if you allow this scheme to go ahead, and it's success
ful wouldn't that go a long way towards showing your managers that recruiting other species to your force is a good idea?"

  "Yes, it would."

  "Then it seems we have a mutual interest in the success of the patrol."

  "Yes…" His skin grew pale again. If any expression did show on his face is was a hint of suspicion. "What exactly is your interest though? You are not a permanent resident here. In fact I have certain reports about the activity of your ship that, if they were in my jurisdiction, I'd have to ask you some harsh questions about."

  Bara nodded. "I understand your concern, Chief. The fact is, things are hard for humans at the moment. Many of the people here on the station have only casual work or no work at all. And I may not live here, but one thing about humans, we stick together and look out for each other. So to help those who seek sanctuary here is my duty."

  Was he buying it? The Klaff had a reputation for being sentimental and loving a good sob story. But this one was a policeman. They soon had the sentiment knocked out of them.

  "If you are concerned then I will take no part in the everyday running of the patrol," she said. Which had been her intention anyway, but she might as well make it appear like a concession. "I will find good officers to take charge. You'll have the final say about those appointments. Then I'll leave them to get on with it, in constant liaison with yourself."

  He was buying it, he kept making a little gesture with his head that she liked to think was a nod. Why wouldn't he go for it? If it worked, it helped his job. If it failed, he just broke up the patrol and went back to the status quo. Come on, Neex. You have nothing to lose.

  "Very well, Captain," he said. "I approve. Let us share a beverage and work out the details."

  ~o~

  "No."

  "Oh come on. We'd get two in easily. And we could sell them for anything we liked back on Hollow Jimmy."

  "No live animals."

  "I admit it would be a tricky journey," Wixa said, as they secured crates for the return trip. "And possibly quite stinky. But think of it. Fresh milk. Fresh cream, fresh cheese!"

  "Wixa, we are not buying those cows and that's final!"

  Wixa sighed. "Okay, okay. But you're turning your back on a bargain." They climbed the ladder to the top deck. "You know I haven't had a decent espresso macchiato in months."