by Abigail Myst
“Well, lead the way,” she said, waving them onward with her arms. They were startled but turned all the same and once they realized she was following them, they seemed satisfied to lead the way.
Zenik was strangely quiet in her ear. She hummed a tune. It was a coms check. Nothing. Not even a burst of static. Knowing that Zenik would not have abandoned her, Jane could assume that whatever jammer they were using had blocked her signal too. But she wasn’t tied down and didn’t imagine these guys had much speed in them, so she kept herself ready to bolt if and when things got dicey.
“So, what does this Wine Merchant guy look like, anyway? I hear he’s got like green and orange stripes on his skin. We’ve got this animal back home that’s got black and orange stripes, and I think that would be more flattering than orange and purple. Can you imagine having to pick an outfit that would match anything?”
The goons just kept walking.
“Well? Come on. What’s he look like?” She stopped short, crossed her arms, and pouted.
Tall Goon opened his mouth to speak, while Wide Goon looked like he was about to wrap himself around her like a rug and carry her the rest of the way. Tall Goon stopped him.
“We ain’t never met him. We just know him. Through a friend of a friend.”
“Oh, okay.” She continued to walk until she was about five feet ahead of them.
“Aren’t you coming? Because I don’t have a clue as to where I’m going.”
This befuddled them to no end but they hurried to catch up. Jane had been right in her first assessment. None of them were runners and the tall one was favoring his left leg. It would be the first place she’d kick. That old Earth clip about the captain caught in an alien prison always got a good laugh in training but it really hit home when the guy kicked his opponent in what he thinks are his knees but are genitals instead. That warning about alien anatomy stuck in Jane’s head: you can’t rely on a good old groin kick to get you out of trouble.
“Doesn’t bother you to work for a guy you don’t know? A year ago, I was working this one job and I didn’t find out for six months that my boss was making ten times what I was and I was the one taking all the risk. ‘Don’t be a dummy’, my Momma told me. ‘Always know who you’re doing business with and how much money is being made. Get your fair share.’”
They didn’t seem interested in talking but that didn’t worry Jane. She had enough words for the four of them.
“You think I listened to my mother? No. And I got hosed. Do you guys listen to your mothers?”
None of them answered but instead, they turned left toward a very nondescript black door. It did not have a handle. Instead, the wide guy placed his hand on the door and a panel glowed blue. With a click, the door recessed. Great. Biometric locks could seriously complicate this matter.
It was a split second decision. If she went through the door, Jane could end up actually finding the Wine Merchant. But there was also the possibility that she wouldn’t be able to make a quick escape. She had only a knife with her to do the deed but she didn’t doubt her will. This was the man that had filleted her husband and removed his tattoos.
For a Mahdfel, who carried his family history and deeds of bravery on his skin, this was the worst possible thing one could do, other than perhaps kill his mate.
It was that thought and the fact that Wide was slowly pressing her through the door, closing off any escape attempt, that forced Jane to stroll right through, giving no indication that she was aware that she might be murdered on the other side.
The room opened up into a hallway where the three men hung their black coats on a row of hooks along the wall. Jane wasn’t about to give up her headwear, just in case it was still recording, even if she couldn’t get a signal from Zenik.
On the other side of the hallway was a room modeled around a concept that seemed to surpass culture and planet. It was a casino. It was a private one so it lacked some of the flashier lights and dinging machines but it had tables of chance and a large bar along one wall with plenty of intoxicating liquids that would help loosen your purse strings and encourage you to play and risk more than your bottom line.
It was still early and the place was nearly empty, except for a bartender polishing a glass and three more wise goons playing some sad dice game in the corner.
The three men escorted her to the bar where the bartender poured three neon green shots for them. He looked her over silently while the men took the shots and downed them with a lip smack.
There was a nearly imperceptible moment of panic that crossed Wide’s face before he keeled over. It didn’t take much to notice that he was clearly dead when he hit the floor. The other two goons did likewise. The three goons in the back who had been playing dice, turned, and unceremoniously dragged the bodies out of the room.
Jane didn’t panic but it didn’t take a braniac to figure out that the man she had dismissed as a bartender was actually the Wine Merchant.
He had a muted silver skin and a shock of black and white hair that grew out of the top of his head in sort of a natural mohawk. He was thin and had webbed fingers, but it was impossible to guess his age. He was wearing a white tunic with silver buttons down the left side. He stopped polishing the glass and poured her a shot. It was also neon green.
Jane took a seat on the barstool, and leaned her hand on the chin.
“Inconceivable,” she said.
“What exactly is inconceivable?” he asked.
“That the Wine Merchant would be hiding in plain sight.”
“What makes you think that’s me?”
“What makes you think I’m going to drink that?”
The bartender shrugged and took a swig. Then he put it back down in front of her.
“You don’t happen to have any iocane powder back there, do you?”
“I have never heard of it. Please, tell me.”
“A very rare substance, but it is so rare, it is probably a myth.”
“What does it do?”
“Oh, it is a swift and deadly poison, unless of course, you’ve built up an immunity to it over several years.”
The bartender looked puzzled for a moment before it finally dawned on him what she was implying.
“That had not occurred to me.”
“Well, it did occur to you to try and intimidate me by killing three of your own goons in front of me.”
“Goons. That is a delightful word, but it does not translate. Goons. I think I shall save it for my collections. It means expendable assistants, does it not?”
“Pretty much. A little on the dim side, willing to follow orders of a neurotic sociopath.”
“I draw the line at neurotic.” He took another swig of the green liquid, emptying the shot. “But that is irrelevant. I am used to people who do not see the bigger picture.”
“I’m new to the game. Why don’t you fill me in? I mean, you could start with your name.”
He laughed and turned toward the bar to grab another bottle. This time, he grabbed two glasses and poured a clear liquid.
“And why should I even think of telling you that?”
“Because you obviously don’t plan to let me leave here alive. So, what’s the harm?”
“I’m not the type who monologues,” he said. “I’m much too intelligent for that.”
“Fine, but I ain’t calling you the Wine Merchant. That’s just too much of a mouthful. How about Dan? Dan Dan the Evil Man.” With a quick hop, she vaulted the bar and took a bottle of bright red stuff off the top shelf. Then she hopped back on the bar, her feet swinging over the edge.
Once Dan was over his alarm, he actually looked bemused that she had shown no fear. Jane popped the cork and took a swig. It was a burning cinnamon flavor that probably needed to be diluted by half to be drinkable.
“My, my, my. That stuff is awful. Where I come from, they keep the good stuff on the top shelf. You obviously don’t.”
“Lysosomic Fire Ale is a thousand credits a bottle.”
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br /> “Not sure if credits are like dollars or pesos, buddy, but man, where you keep the good stuff?” Jane hopped off the bar and fetched another bottle. This one was a sunny tequila yellow. She gave it a sniff first. It had a vague citrus scent.
“How about this one? How many credits is this sucker?”
“It is a medium grade. Generally thought of as one of the better Yellow-” He didn’t get much further than that before Jane beaned him with it. It put a dent in his head. A literal dent. Jane could see lights and gizmos under the gray skin.
“So either you’re an android or I’m-”
She didn’t get to finish her statement. The thing began to beep ominously in a way that pulled at her training. It sounded like a bloody pulse grenade countdown. She was up and over the counter like a shot. She got about halfway down the hallway, grabbing a coat as she went, before the thing went off. The air exploded around her and then everything was still as her world went black.
Chapter Ten
Zenik
Jane was missing. Zenik flew into the bar, chest heaving, and scouted around. He took a deep breath and forced his Mahdfel senses to calm down and allow him to actually start thinking with his brain. Jane was gone. Someone had taken her. How could he locate her without any tech? How did he always know when she entered a room? Zenik inhaled deeply. Her scent was not here. He did catch a scent of something a bit familiar, something that somehow reminded him of home, but he couldn’t quite place it.
“You looking for a good time, sweeties?” a woman danced around him. She was yellow with bright pink hair.
“I’m looking for someone.”
“I know a good place to find people. For a few credits, I can take you there. It’s a stop in paradise, baby.”
He was wasting his time but he threw a few credits her way and then charged back out the door. That familiar scent still lingered but he shook it off and narrowed down his field of sensory to his life scent, to Jane.
There she had gone, down the street away from the shipyard and the bar. He took a few more paces in that direction and it was quite clear that he was right. Jane had gone that way and she was not alone.
Zenik clocked at least three other scents commingled with Jane’s. There was no tang of blood, for which he was grateful. She, perhaps, had gone with them willingly. Oh, his sweet deluded mate was never going to hear the end of this.
Further down the street, the trail ended. There was nothing but a pool of her scent and then it disappeared. Zenik paced. She must have gone into one of the buildings near here but there were five possibilities. Trying one might set off alarms in the others and place Jane in an even more dangerous situation. But she still might be getting herself murdered right now.
A bloom of the other scents pulsed at the edge of his range. The three with her were out and about again. Surely, he could get one of them to tell him where Jane was. An auto flat coasted by with a dumpster loaded on the top. Three unsavory characters walked behind it. The moment Zenik came running at them, they scattered and he was only able to catch one of them.
It didn’t take a large inhale to realize that this slug was not one of the three he was stalking, but their scents were still strong and getting stronger. He held the slug around the neck with one hand and lifted the lid to the dumpster with the other.
Inside, he found three dead bodies. Judging from their scents, these were the three who had escorted Jane to the Wine Merchant and soon after had met their doom.
“Where is Jane?” he growled.
The creature trembled and pointed.
“Where? Show me,” Zenik demanded.
The slug didn’t get the chance to answer before the building behind them exploded in a furious blast, blowing the main door halfway across the street A chunk of the building clocked the guy in the head and his eyes rolled back into his skull.
Zenik didn’t need him anymore. It was fairly obvious where his mate was now. Zenik did not know how long he dug through the rubble, ignoring the blood and strain of his muscles as he looked for his mate. Curious onlookers were still peering out of nearby doors and windows as the crazy green guy dug futilely through the rubble.
Zenik hit a black coat and under it was something warm and soft - a body. He peeled back the coat and his breath caught in his throat as he caught a glimpse of Jane’s black hair. Her heart was still beating but there was a rasp in her breath that alarmed him. He scooped her up, coat and all, and sprinted back out to the main street.
The yellow woman with the pink hair was there, with a small motor cab. “Get on. They’ll come looking for you soon.”
Zenik didn’t recognize her, knew he shouldn’t trust her, but there was that faint reminder of home again. He stepped on the back and they were off, back to the ship in less than a minute. He climbed the hatch ramp and headed straight for the med station. The female followed.
“Orth,” she said, as if suddenly making a realization.
“What?” He didn’t turn to look at her. All his attention was devoted to his mate.
“Orth. He has been here. He has mated. Oh, that’s so nice!”
He peeled off the coat, and set the auto medic to work. It began to repair Jane’s injuries immediately. He looked up at the woman, whose pink hair had faded. Her skin had also changed to a natural green.
“You’re a pure Etlonian,” Zenik said, finally putting two and two together.
“Where’s Orth? How do you know my son? Are you in the same clan?” she asked hurriedly.
“I am not familiar with a warrior by the name of Orth,” he replied.
“Then why are you flying around in a ship dripping with his scent? What have you done to him?” Her skin mottled and turned a nearly black green. If Zenik wasn’t mistaken, it was a near homicidal color. Who was this female, anyway? He knew nothing about her.
“Scrubs, she’s talking about Scrubs,” Jane said weakly from the med bed.
“I am speaking of Orth. He is a medic and proud slayer of many Suhlik. He is not a scrubber of floors.”
Zenik was too busy scanning his mate to follow the conversation. If the female proved to be a problem, he would eliminate her, Etlonian or not.
“He’s the doc. He goes by Scrubs so as not to frighten the other females. Scrubs refers to a surgeon’s uniform, not scrubber of floors.”
“So, you have seen him? He is well?”
Jane tried to sit up. Zenik pushed her down.
“Expecting a baby anytime now,” Jane told her.
The female got a bit wistful and her color changed back to a more natural light green. She looked around and nodded.
“We should get going,” she told Zenik. She didn’t wait for him to ask more questions but simply disappeared toward the cockpit. Zenik did not follow.
“Maybe you should go check on her,” Jane prodded.
“I am checking on you,” Zenik replied.
“I am fine. I only got a little exploded.”
“I wonder what the Suhlik devils would say if they found out what their allies are lining their coats with.” Zenik pulled open the coat and he showed her the glint of Suhlik scales underneath. It was a reliable armor for those willing to chance the Suhlik wrath if and when they found out. They tended to demolish entire clans, entire species, if they found one warrior wearing their scales. Zenik was happy that those bastards had been wearing them though. It had protected his mate from even more serious damage.
“I’m fine. Go check to make sure she’s not delivering us up to the Wine Merchant,” Jane instructed.
“So, he is not dead,” Zenik, the knot in his stomach returning.
“Unless he’s an android with a self destruct mode, probably not.”
Zenik nodded, assured that Jane was in no immediate danger. He headed to the cockpit where the Etlonian female was halfway through the lift off checklist.
“Scrubs, Orth, is a new member of my clan. From what I know of him, he is honorable and courageous,” Zenik told her.
“
Being away from my son. That’s been the hardest thing, living out here on the edge of the law. But that bastard, I’m going to catch him.”
Zenik had never seen an Etlonian female in person before. He knew that Athen’s mother was one but they were so rare and unusual, he had never had contact with one. When the Suhlik had attacked Etlon, the Etlonians had had very few defenses and most of the major cities had been brought to ruins in a couple of hours. The females were the only ones left who actually remembered Etlon as it was. The Suhlik had taken the strongest of the males and used them to make Mahdfel. They also took about a hundred Etlonian females and put them in cryostasis tubes. When Etlon and the other warriors liberated themselves from the Suhlik, they found the females and claimed them as mates. There was hope that Etlonian females could produce female children but the defect had been bred into the male side. No Mahdfel could produce a female child.
She swiveled around and shook a finger at Zenik. Her hair rippled in color, changing from a white to a pink again. “For future reference, when I say run, I don’t mean run right into the arms of the dangerous asshole. I mean run away him.”
“My mate is not afraid. She should be more, but she is not.“
“Your mate is lucky. And so we’re lucky because I have a plan.” With that statement, the engines roared to life and Zenik felt his ears pop as the ship pressurized.
“I do not even know your name, or where you came from. You could be another spy sent by the Wine Merchant to kill me,” he said to her.
She bared her neck to him, showing off the small dots on her skin where her mate had first claimed her. “I am Bright. Mate and Mother of Mahdfel, sworn to slay as many of those shiny devils as I can before I die. I remember the blue trees of Etlon and the shining purple city. My heart cries for the billions lost. I would slit my own throat before working for such a thing as the traitorous Wine Merchant.”
