by K Bledsoe
“But, if you see anything that is questionable, you come straight to me, understand?” The laughter was completely gone from his voice as he gripped Jonah’s arm tightly. “No one else, not the king or security, no one. Understand?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You had better.” The prince took a step closer, face within inches of Jonah’s. “Because I know who you are and where you came from. My father won’t be around to give you special treatment forever.” He released his arm and spun away, hurrying out of the garden in the direction of his rooms.
It took much longer than that for Jonah to rein in his fear enough to move his feet in the direction of home.
Chapter Fourteen
“Mom, Dad?” A quiet tapping on the door woke them simultaneously. Lenore was out of the bed and halfway to the door before her eyes were open all the way. She pressed the button to open the door, but it was Diarmin that spoke.
“What is it, Alli? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
“Aw, you know I don’t need much sleep. Anyway, there’s something I found that you will be very interested in.” She pointed in the general direction of her room and disappeared down the hallway.
“Maybe her tattoo search program pulled something up,” said Lenore already heading toward Allison’s room as Diarmin stumbled along behind her.
“Couldn’t it have waited until morning?” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes and looking quite grouchy. “This better be good,” he said as they entered the bedroom.
“Oh, it is,” Allison was at her personal computer, a homemade hodge-podge of scrap parts with a cord trailing to her hand-held. Lenore knew that it had indeed been a pile of discarded machinery until Allison reclaimed them and built a deceptively powerful device.
“Well, I was randomly searching the IGnet, looking for interesting stuff like, you know, those articles on code breaking.”
“What?” asked Lenore.
“You know, the IGNet, the InterGalactic Net server that posts everyth—”
“We know what the IGNet is Allison. She means ‘what’ as in get to the reason why we are awake in the middle of the night,” said her father.
“Oh, um, right. Well. Remember when the Frazion Freebies won the Worlds Series last year?”
Both parents blinked for several seconds before Lenore answered.
“Baseball?”
“Of course, Mom. What else has the Worlds Series? Anyway, Frazie. The planet, or it’s people or government or whatever, has decided to build them a brand-new stadium.” She grinned as if she had single-handedly brought it about.
“What does baseball have to do with the case?” asked Diarmin.
“Nothing.” It was Allison’s turn to blink in confusion. “You asked me to locate grav plates and I have.”
“That was two weeks ago and…”
Lenore put a hand on his arm. He was never at his best when awakened unexpectedly, but even she was having trouble following her daughter. “Allison, dear. We just woke up. Walk us through this please.”
“Oh, sorry. Anyway, you know how any planet or system that has a Classic Baseball Team has to have a true Earth Grav field?” She didn’t wait for a nod or shake of head but kept going. “Well Frazie, stupid name for a planet if you ask me, is no exception, and instead of building over the old stadium, they are auctioning off the parts to help pay for a top-of-the-line new stadium. And that means we can get cheap grav plates for the ship. Um, that is if we cover our bid in the next twenty minutes.”
“Our bid? Exactly when did we bid on them?”
“Ten minutes ago.” Allison’s face fell when Lenore crossed her arms and Diarmin scrubbed at the side of his face. “I had to hurry. The time for new bids was closing and…” Her voice grew very quiet and she looked down. “We do have the option to drop the bid. And it will automatically if we don’t respond.”
Diarmin seemed a bit more alert now, most likely because this was something to do with his beloved ship. “Let’s have a look then.” He stood behind Allison to look over her shoulder. “Well, I have to say that is a terrific deal. Hm. And you are sure it will be compatible with a ship, being a planetary grid?”
“I figure you would know best, Papa.”
Lenore hid a smile and didn’t let her eyebrows rise. Was Allison purposely being the “adoring daughter,” knowing that her father could never resist? Or was she truly sorry?
“And look.” Allison was back to her bouncy self with her father’s approval of the grids. “The system is only a few hours away. We can grab and install them quickly while Mom solves this case.”
“It shouldn’t take too long to adapt them to our systems, and we are not going to find a better price anywhere, though they are nowhere near top-of-the-line.” Diarmin pursed his lips. “I can probably tinker a bit and improve them to near-new specs.” He reached out to the computer.
“Now wait a minute, you two,” said Lenore. Both looked up guiltily, and she knew they had forgotten she was there. They often did when in their own world of computers and mechanicals. Lenore held up a finger. “First of all, there are a lot of issues with leaving in the middle of a case, even for a day or two. Second,” now two fingers, “I don’t want the ship torn up while working. What if we need to leave suddenly? And third, can we even afford it? I thought we needed this job before we could get grav plates.”
Allison looked down again. “I did think things through like you taught me, Mom.” She held up fingers, but Lenore wasn’t sure if it was mockery or sincere helpfulness. “You and Quinn can stay onplanet while Dad and I go get the plates.” Another finger. “You said this was a safe job, so there is really no danger in having a ship undergoing some repair. And three... I checked the account and we can afford this, barely, with our savings. That’s why it’s such a good deal. So, when you solve this case we will have more than double back in the savings account.”
“It will cost for Quinn and me to stay onplanet, and there might be dangers other than this case. And what if we don’t find the missing girls? Nearly all our money would be gone. Is not floating worth all that?” Privately Lenore agreed with Allison’s reasoning but felt she had to instill a little more reality into her plans. Life wasn’t an easy computer game.
“Oh. I didn’t think of all that.” Her face fell again but not for long. “Well, that’s what grown-ups are for, and why I woke you two up.”
“Can’t you ask the companion for an advance on the job? That should give us enough money for the basics,” suggested Diarmin.
“This is a posted reward, not a job-for-hire,” she answered. He must really want these plates. “What do you think, Diarmin? Can you make them work?”
He had been tapping on the keypad, bringing up what looked like specs. “Hm? Oh, yeah and the price is unbeatable. I think we should get them.” He looked up as Lenore cleared her throat. “If we can swing the other stuff, that is.” The look on his face was identical to Allison’s, sorry/not sorry.
Lenore considered all aspects, not wanting to be the voice of negativity and dousing their spirits. But she was the realist, keeping the flighty family grounded.
“Five minutes, Mom.”
Lenore looked at her daughter’s sparkling eyes with a bit of the impish in them. She should have known Allison’s spirit wouldn’t be slowed by reason.
“Very well. Can’t pass up a good deal, I suppose.”
“Yes!” said Allison with a tiny fist pump. Lenore could tell that Diarmin very much wanted to do the same, but he only smiled at his wife. As Allison punched in the confirmation codes, he gave her their special wink that meant “We are a great team.” Lenore rolled her eyes and sighed but smiled inwardly.
Chapter Fifteen
“Okay. You are set up in the district close to that restaurant you met Lavan.” Diarmin handed her an info stick “Not too expensive, but not the poor side of the city.”
Lenore tucked the stick in a pocket. “Don’t you think I can take care of myself?”
> “It’s not you I’m worried about.” His eyes flicked to their son who was waiting impatiently by the airlock with his clothes duffel slung over his shoulder. On the floor near his right hand was his “tricks trunk” which is what he called the large suitcase that carried all his disguises.
“He blends in very well,” said Lenore.
“Maybe too well. You know Allison dug up a lot of information on a local slave trade that appears to specialize in children.” He sighed. “Nothing to incriminate anyone of course, just the fact that business is thriving.” He lowered his voice some more. “Something is up with that boy. He should have argued harder about your earlier outing.”
“Maybe. But maybe he is maturing and can take the criticism and learn from it.”
Diarmin snorted. “Right.” He pulled her in close and brushed her hair back with his hand. “Just be careful. Both of you.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him. See you in two or three days.” She raised her voice to yell, “Bye Allison.”
“See ya,” came the response down the stairs from the bridge.
***
“I’ve been in a lot worse,” said Lenore as she unpacked toiletries from her bag on one of the hotel beds. “Look there is even a table.”
“You’ve been in a lot better rooms, too, Mom.” Quinn negligently tossed his duffel on the other bed and gently set the suitcase down.
“Well, yes. But only as a cover for a job.”
In no time, they were unpacked and had dinner from room service on the table.
“So,” said Quinn and his pause to take a bite told Lenore that her son was about to bring up an uncomfortable topic. She continued eating and waited, knowing exactly what was coming.
“Have you thought about my suggestion?”
“Yes, I have.” She deliberately took another bite of the delicate white fish. “It’s too dangerous.”
Quinn’s eyes flashed as his jaw set. “You let me go into a school with the likelihood of a shooting attack but won’t let me ask some simple questions?”
“I was in familiar territory, and you weren’t even supposed to be in the cafeteria when it all went down. And I was right on site. I couldn’t be with this new plan.”
Quinn pushed some vegetables around his plate. “So, we’ll scout first, get to know the area and the locals.”
“Which will take time, too much. And it could tip our hand, alert whoever was involved with the missing girls. Might be kidnappers, or worse, the slaver organization, and any remaining clues or trails will instantly disappear.”
“But that’s why I would pose as a local, looking for his lost sister. Surely there has been a girl gone missing in the past month or so.”
“You are not even close to being experienced enough to do that anywhere, much less here with no background information.”
“How else am I supposed to get experience?”
“Not…This…Time.” Lenore stared into her son’s eyes as she emphasized each word.
Quinn pressed his lips together and dropped his eyes to his dinner. He acted like he wanted to push his plate away in his usual dramatic fashion, but teenage hunger won out. He settled on looking anywhere but her. Lenore signed inwardly. She could handle four enemies at once while protecting innocents. She had faced down alien predators ten times her size while a building burnt down around her. But raising a teenager was proving to be much more challenging. And teaching him was probably going to be even harder.
But could she teach him? She stared at her uneaten food as memory flooded back from her days with the Xa’ti’al.
“You cannot have another apprentice, Lenore.” Daviss was the top agent and had recruited Lenore personally. He was her last hope.
“Give me one good reason why not.” She sat back and crossed her arms, letting him see her frustration as she would very few people.
“You are an incredibly gifted agent. Probably one of the best we have ever had. But just because you can do, doesn’t mean you can teach.”
“Bev screwed up, not me. If he had listened, he wouldn’t have two artificial legs.”
“Look, you just don’t have the mentality we require for training.”
“You mean I am not cruel enough like that tyrant, Jernal.”
“Well, actually, yes.”
Lenore uncrossed her arms and leaned forward to tap her forefinger on Daviss’ desk for emphasis. “That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I believe that a person can learn better if he or she is shown that the instructor cares, wants them to do their best.”
Daviss put a hand to his forehead. Lenore felt he was about to be condescending and leaned back with her arms crossed again, smoldering.
“Why do you think we recruit the way we do? Orphans and kids outside society, even some hiding from the law?”
Lenore ignored the jab. Daviss wasn’t going to rattle her. “Because they have no one to miss them, no other options, already of a particular mind set,” she said.
“Those are only the basic reasons, but we also take them away from everything they have known and train them in complete seclusion.”
“Exactly!” Lenore pointed. “That isn’t—”
“I wasn’t finished.” He didn’t raise his voice, but Lenore could tell he was losing patience. She bit back a retort.
“You treat your apprentices like family. You love them too much.”
Lenore blinked, not expecting that answer.
“In order to train someone to have the expected skills, a teacher has to be willing to hurt his student, force them to learn. The student needs to have that fear and isolation, that feeling of all or nothing, a complete surrender to the fight. A person who cares wants to protect them too much and has a very difficult time being tough enough to give the people the hard knocks that are needed to hone their skills to the level we require.” It was his turn to point at her. “That is the reason Bev lost his legs.”
Lenore fought against the flush, but she knew her face was red. From both embarrassment and anger. She still wasn’t sure she agreed, but she had the good sense to know when to give in gracefully. She stood and nodded.
“I understand. No more apprentices,” she said. Daviss looked oddly at her but said nothing as she turned and left.
Lenore eyed Quinn scooping up the remnants of his dinner. Could she find the balance between tough enough and love? I hope so. For his sake.
***
All night, Quinn was sulking and silent. He had studied what little information Allison had given them and sorted his tricks trunk until he crawled into his bed. As Lenore did the same, she realized she needed to make a solid plan for teaching. Reluctantly she admitted that Quinn did need to get some experience. She would figure something small so that he could work up to something as big as his idea of poking around the edges of a slave trade to get information. First thing in the morning, she would tell him that they would begin a strict teaching regimen.
Chapter Sixteen
Quinn slung his pack over his shoulder and propped the note on the table. He didn’t try to be quiet since he knew his mother would sleep through normal sounds but wake instantly if she sensed stealth of any kind.
As the door shut behind him, his stomach fluttered. Now was the time for his mother to chase after him. As he stood at the elevators, he kept glancing back at the door. The note he had left indicated he was going out to get some breakfast, but he had a different plan. In his pack was everything he would need to start looking for the slave trade, a good idea despite his mother’s argument. He knew she was being too protective. He could pull this off.
The elevator arrived and as he entered, he risked one more look. Their door was still closed, and he was in the clear. For now. Quinn drew a deep breath as the elevator doors closed and mentally prepared himself for the adventure.
Quinn’s first stop was a restaurant right outside the hotel. If someone was watching, this would be the logical place to go. He had already noted it last night when the
y arrived. Not only did they box food to go, but they had public bathrooms and, most importantly, a back door that led to a different street. He ordered meat and egg sandwiches with a couple of protein juices. Some form of that breakfast food was, curiously enough, found on nearly every planet he had been on, probably because it was full of protein, easy to make and carry, and lasted for hours. He bought enough for himself and his mother, placed it all in his pack and went into the restroom. Entering one of the stalls, he checked with his personal pad whether the room was monitored. It wasn’t so he quickly set about changing his appearance. In record time, his disguise was complete, so he emptied the pack completely, turned it inside out and repacked it. Now anyone looking for a person with a gray pack would see someone with a blue lap bag. He left the wash room and slipped out the back door, heading away from the street with the hotel. Nobody was following, and he was ready.
According to Allison’s information, the rumors of the slave trade circled around the outskirts of the small sector where the city’s poorest inhabitants lived. Quinn had heard his parents discussing this and agreed with their conclusion that the trade was more likely based in middle-class areas to throw off suspicion. He pulled out a printed picture of a girl that had gone missing a year ago but had doctored it to seem like another girl entirely. He was quite proud of the fact that the girl now actually resembled him quite a bit. It would make the “sister” story much more plausible.
He took public transportation to the shopping district. This city was like most on the planet, having a mixture of modern shops in high tech buildings as well as open air vendors and markets that sold local produce and trinkets. These were his target this morning. Quinn swallowed to still his pounding heart and approached a man selling tourist items. Holograms of the cityscape and guidebooks to the best vacation spots dominated the shelves.
“Hello, sirrah. I was wondering if you might have seen my sister.” He held up the paper with the photo. “She—”
