Once in the transport, Jenna asked if Grier would take her and Lilah back to their now empty apartment. “We still have to clean it,” she sighed tiredly. Lilah groaned. “We’ll take a taxi to the Academy when we’re done, so don’t worry about us,” she added. Jimmy tried not to feel disappointed that she didn’t invite him to stay and help longer. He already had spent hours helping them out.
Even still, when they stopped in front of the girls’ apartment building a few minutes later, Jimmy offered to come up and help clean. Jenna gently refused him. “We can handle the dirty part on our own, really. But thank you so much for offering!” she said cheerfully. After the girls vanished into the front lobby of the building, Grier turned and glared at him. Jimmy sighed heavily. He was overdue to visit the twenty-first floor. He’d been neglecting his visits to Jax because of Jenna, and those visits were the whole reason he was here on Zenith. Jax himself probably hadn’t noticed, but Jimmy would certainly hear about it from Lev Quintan. Not to mention his father.
“Mr. James, must you make my job so difficult?” Grier rebuked sternly. “Mr. Quintan has ordered me to keep you safe. Next time, please tell me where you are going!”
“All right,” Jimmy grumbled. He knew what was coming next.
“We have been gone all day. Mr. Quintan will be expecting an update,” Grier added solemnly.
“Yes, I’m sure he will.” Jimmy sighed. “Well, take me back then. Let’s get this over with.”
Later that evening, after a two-hour visit to the twenty-first floor and a subsequent status meeting with Zane and his father, Jimmy and Zane ate dinner in one of the QE restaurants. During the meal, Zane brought up the text comm he had received earlier.
“So Jenna’s been evicted from her apartment? Why didn’t she tell me?”
Jimmy shrugged. “Probably because she’s spent every waking minute of the last two days packing like a fiend. The guy who owns the contract was threatening to have them arrested for trespassing if they weren’t out in time.”
Zane frowned as he pushed his food around the plate. Obviously he still found it odd that his own girlfriend wouldn’t think to comm him for help personally in such a situation. Quite frankly, Jimmy found it a little puzzling himself. His previous dating experiences had taught him vividly that one of a boyfriend’s jobs was to be the one who got commed when any little thing went wrong.
“So do you have any open places in Quintan Tower?” Jimmy prodded. That had been the substance of his comm to Zane. Surely if they could install him in an apartment in the Tower on short notice, they could find one for Jenna and Lilah.
Zane frowned. “We have one opening up in a couple of weeks, but the apartments in the Tower are for employees and their families only. It’s a strict rule. It has to be, or we’d be overrun by every government official or business associate looking to call in a favor, and we wouldn’t have anywhere left for our employees, which is the whole point of the housing. I can’t make an exception to our own rules,” Zane said.
“But isn’t Jenna practically an employee? Her firm is going to design the new resort!” Jimmy argued, frustrated.
“Do you know how many independent contractors work with the Quintan Edge? No, we can’t justify it that way. But maybe . . .” Zane’s voice trailed off. His brow furrowed, and his eyes fixed on the corner of the room. He seemed deep in thought for a moment. Jimmy waited patiently. Finally, Zane’s eyes returned to Jimmy’s face, and he spoke again. “Tell me, did you meet Jenna’s roommate, Lilah, by chance?” Zane asked.
Jimmy nodded. “Yeah. Lots of dark braids, perfect dark skin, amazing legs, huge chip on her shoulder?”
Zane laughed. “Yes, that’s her. She works in a nightclub as a singer. Did she mention that?” Jimmy shook his head. “Quite an amazing voice, Jenna tells me,” Zane continued. Jimmy shrugged noncommittedly. He had no idea. Lilah hadn’t done any singing during the mad pack-a-thon.
“Do you think Lilah would like to come work at the Quintan Edge?” Zane suggested triumphantly.
5. Quintan Tower
“What?” shrieked Lilah. Jenna winced. They were sitting in her uncle’s study while Jenna explained Zane’s offer. She hadn’t expected Lilah to respond so enthusiastically. Or was she merely dubious?
“Zane has offered us a place to live in Quintan Tower. But it’s contingent upon you taking a job as an entertainer at the QE. The Tower’s apartments are for employees only,” she explained again patiently. It was better than living in her uncle’s home indefinitely, but only slightly better, in Jenna’s opinion. Moving into Quintan Tower was only going to make her even more indebted to Zane, and she was growing more and more uncomfortable with it.
“You can’t be serious! Do you know how long I’ve wished I could work at the QE? Do you know what kind of money they make there? Far more than I can make in a ratty old nightclub, that’s for sure. You have visitors from all over the galaxy. Visitors who tip big,” Lilah emphasized. Jenna listened silently to her roommate’s gushing enthusiasm.
“But to live right on the border of the Red Zone, Lilah? Work in the Red Zone? Do you really want to do that? I thought you said you would never go back there,” Jenna said reluctantly. She didn’t want to remind Lilah of the last few nightmarish years before her father had died.
Lilah rolled her eyes. “There’s a difference between the Red Zone in general and the Quintan territory, Jenna. A huge difference. Everyone who lives there knows that. Quintan’s private police keep his territory as safe as possible. Probably even safer than out here.”
“Well, if you’re certain,” Jenna said, trying to smother her own disappointment. She would be able to work this out somehow. But it was getting harder and harder to put Zane off physically—and that would even be more challenging while living in the same building as he did. Zane’s family had the entire top two floors of the Tower as their home, if she remembered correctly. “You’ll have to go through a background investigation and then an interview with the direct supervisor. I guess you’ll learn more about the specific job duties then.”
“Bring it on! I never thought I’d get so lucky. A job at the QE! I am moving up!” Lilah crowed.
When she returned from her interview with the supervisor, Lilah was still ecstatic. “I sang for her, and she’s putting me right in a rotation for nighttime performances. When I’m not on, I’ll be on call as a voice and dance instructor/partner, with other duties thrown in as they need. She took down a list of everything I can do, but they’re also going to give me classes in all kinds of things so I’m ready for whatever I get called to,” Lilah reported with delight.
“Classes? Like in what?” Jenna asked.
“I start with sports next week,” Lilah explained. “Things like tennis, hovershot, and fencing.”
“Fencing!” exclaimed Jenna. “That’s a sport?”
“They do say you can do anything at the QE,” Lilah said with shrug. “Even if they are archaic forms of recreation. Luckily, I only have to learn the ones that can be done with a single partner. Any kind of team activity is only done virtually.” Jenna figured that made sense. If someone wanted to play a game of rugby for instance, it would be challenging to find enough guests and employees to fill it up.
“Yeah, that line about doing anything and everything at the QE, it’s a bit of an exaggeration,” Jenna agreed. “It’s only true if you take into account that a lot of those options will only be virtual, not in the real.”
“Kind of a letdown, actually. I was really hoping I would get to learn skydiving,” Lilah lamented.
“I bet they’ll offer it at the West resort. That was supposedly the whole point of the new location out by the ocean. So they could offer a bunch of activities in the real that they couldn’t offer in the city,” Jenna mused. She wondered, though. The QE was already immensely successful—and profitable. They drew in a large crowd of off-planet tourists. But one of th
e reasons that the QE was so successful was because it operated without any need to obey or observe Union or planetary laws. Back when Zenith was originally surveyed as a planet for settlement and the first charters were issued for colonizing, a crazy visionary named Fuhua Mangal applied who was certain that no law at all was the way to a truly prosperous society. He felt that everyone simply doing what was in their own best interest would lead to peace and, specifically, financial success. He had the right pull (or had paid off the right people), because he had managed to get a charter for a large tract of land not too far from the planned capital city of the newly opened frontier planet, and his charter included the provisions that only a few laws would apply to his tract. One was that it was ultimately still part of the Union and couldn’t ever have any jurisdiction beyond its original bounds. Another was strictly enforced property rights, judged by the courts in Omphalos when necessary. Over time Omphalos had grown up and around the borders of Mangalton, which eventually everyone just knew as the Red Zone. It was swallowed up and became for all intents and purposes just another district of Omphalos. But through the hundred-plus years of settlement on Zenith, the Red Zone had managed to keep its legal distinction from the rest of the planet—and the entire Union. Inside, anything could happen. Most importantly, taxes were never collected.
That probably had a great deal to do with why Quintan had chosen to build his resort there. The headquarters of his business was also located there. Quintan had to spend a good deal of money maintaining his own infrastructure around the blocks and blocks of land that he had bought from the previous residents (who by that time were mostly tired of the experiment of lawless living and glad to escape to the more restrictive—but ultimately freer—life elsewhere on Zenith). Quintan was never bothered by the strong men who ruled various factions of the Red Zone—he simply built up the most powerful private security force and used it ruthlessly when necessary. Pretty soon, the other local bosses knew to leave Quintan alone.
However, over the years other opportunists had watched what Quintan was doing and were now eager to copy his success. Not that anyone tried to compete by building a massive resort, but more than one company headquarters was now located in the Red Zone. They still had to face regulations and taxes outside with the rest of the market, whatever their product or service, but within the Red Zone they were completely free to do what they wanted.
As long as they came in strong enough to protect themselves.
The local bosses did not like this turn in events and took every opportunity to harass the newcomers. One of the most challenging things for any business looking to set up in the Red Zone was getting employees that wanted to work there. After all, if an accountant was likely to get set upon and robbed every time he tried to get to his office, what accountant in his right mind wouldn’t go looking for new employment as speedily as possible?
It was the reason Quintan Tower existed. A safe place to live, right next to the resort. No need to go traipsing across the Red Zone. Quintan Tower was technically within the bounds of Omphalos, which was reassuring to the people who lived there. However, it was located right across the Red Zone line from the resort, and as Jenna understood, it had an underground tube station connecting right to the resort so the employees never had to venture into the Red Zone streets at all. Quintan had a distinct advantage with this, since he owned all the land closest to the end of the Red Zone. The farther one traveled away from the legal protections of Omphalos, the riskier it got.
Jenna wondered if the West resort would have the same legal freedoms as the current QE did. And if it did, how had Quintan managed that one? He would have to have deep pockets indeed.
Moving day arrived more quickly than Jenna was prepared for. Lilah was giddy with excitement. This time they had a moving company to do it all properly. Zane insisted. Jenna had protested, desperately trying to reduce the number of favors they now owed Zane, but he called it part of Lilah’s hiring bonus. He claimed that it was a service they offered all new employees moving into the QE. Jenna sincerely hoped that was true. She was getting more and more uneasy about how in debt to Zane she was.
It was pretty stress-free just standing in the apartment and directing the movers who came through the doors with all their crates and furniture. It was finished in only an hour, though she and Lilah were left with a sea of crates to unpack. Jenna poked her head into the bedroom that would be hers. The movers had assembled her bed and even inflated her mattress. She had a large picture window, though no balcony like in her previous apartment. She wandered over to the window, looking down over the sprawling buildings of the QE. The QE was only five or six stories tall, so from her twentieth-story view she could see the whole length of the resort. There were big sections with glass roof panels and plenty of pipes releasing steam, adding to the late afternoon haze. Beyond the resort she could see the derelict buildings that stalked haphazard, narrow roadways. No planning commission or public works committees here. Jenna sighed. Not exactly an inspiring view for a budding architect. Then she tried to count her good fortune—after all, she had a place to live, one she could afford—and got started on the mountain of unpacking.
The kitchen had been mostly unpacked, and Jenna had started on the bathroom when Zane showed up to check on how they were doing. Jenna heard the door chime and wiped her dusty hands on her stiff utility pants. Then she pushed her hair back and opened the door.
When she saw his tall form crowding the doorway, she had an irrational sinking sensation in her stomach. Why was she so disappointed? It wasn’t until Zane accepted her invitation to enter and kissed her affectionately on the lips that she realized what it was. She had been hoping that Jimmy would pop by.
She shoved the thought out of her mind and tried to smile gratefully at Zane.
“What do you think of the new place?” he asked, sweeping his arm around.
“It’s amazing, Zane, thank you,” Jenna prattled. “It’s got plenty of room and some great views!” She felt like a complete hypocrite. Still, Zane had been a lifesaver. The apartment was spacious and clean, better than they probably would have gotten even after six months on a waiting list. “Lilah will be your eternal devoted slave too,” Jenna said, her voice a bit lighter. “She’s thrilled to be working at the QE. I guess it’s her dream job.”
Zane chuckled. “I’m glad I could fulfill a dream. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. We’re always looking for great staff, and Lilah fits the bill perfectly. Where is she?”
Jenna shrugged. “She went out about an hour ago. Said she had some things to pick up.”
“So we’re here alone?” he said suggestively. Jenna went into defensive mode instantly, but she tried to treat it lightly.
“Don’t get any ideas, mister. Boundaries, remember?”
She still had her touch. Zane smiled instead of getting angry. “And that’s one of the reasons I love you.” He kissed her again, and Jenna tried to enjoy it. She really did. But the spark was just not there for her.
Maybe she was just not into kissing anymore. She had enjoyed it back in her teenage days, before she’d vowed to steer clear of any serious relationships, but maybe she’d changed as she’d grown older. Kissing Zane was about as exciting as pecking her father on the cheek.
Either Zane didn’t notice or he was too polite to say anything. Or too stubborn. Maybe he just saw her as a challenge. In any case, it was a relief when his netband pinged. Zane smiled apologetically and answered the comm. His mental conversation with whoever was on the other side didn’t take long, but she watched his brow furrow and his lips purse. When he disconnected, he looked at her regretfully.
“You have to go,” she said, slightly relieved.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could stay. Just another management crisis.” He kissed her quickly one last time and made his way to the door.
“Dinner?” he called, pausing as the door slid open. “Tomorrow at seven
?”
“Sure,” she agreed. “Good luck!” He waved at her and disappeared through the door. Jenna watched him go and relaxed her shoulders, rolling her neck. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad living in the same building as Zane. Thank the stars he was a workaholic!
Two days after moving into Quintan Tower, she got the big news from Mr. Carter. The firm had won the bid for the Quintan West project at Marah. Jenna would be assigned to the design team, and she would also be the project liaison assigned to work directly with Zane. “Just keep him happy,” Carter instructed her. “That’s more important than anything else. If he’s happy with you, he’ll be happy with Carter & Yen!”
Jenna wanted to scream, but she meekly agreed to it. Being part of the design team was a huge leap forward, since the QE West project was massive and likely to draw recognition around the galaxy. Getting her name attached to her work here could open many doors to her later. Besides, she reassured herself, so far she’d been able to keep Zane’s attention without having to really commit to anything. Surely she could keep him just interested enough to keep Carter happy for the duration of the project. Zane wouldn’t have any reason to be unhappy with the firm itself. Jenna would make sure of that.
Once everything was more or less unpacked and connected, Jenna took a free moment to do some snooping on her terminal. During the last two weeks, she hadn’t forgotten the freak accident that could have killed them on the street. If it had been an accident. It was just a little too strange. Lilah and Grier had obviously thought so too. When she and Lilah had discussed it later, Lilah had voiced her suspicions that the transport had been aimed for Jimmy. She pointed out that Grier’s first concern had been protecting Jimmy from someone who might emerge from the transport.
The Quintan Edge (Roran Curse Book 2) Page 5
