An Unexpected Debt

by S. J. Pajonas

  “Sorry about all the duct tape you had to patch up.” I shrug. “It was the best I could do back then. But with a Diamond Level license from Flyght and running smaller shipments for Vivian and Kawabata Holdings, I should be able to afford a talented engineer. I plan to make this ship my home until Mom retires, so I want someone who will take good care of it. Do you have any candidates you’re willing to put forward?”

  I shift in my oversized pants and shirt. I lost a lot of weight at flight school despite all the excellent cafeteria food. Really, it was tasty. But I spent so many days studying that I would often forget to eat. And then the incident in the desert really did me in. I need a new wardrobe and a spa day like whoa.

  “I know a few guys —”

  I hold out my hand to interrupt him. “Stop right there. No guys. No men. I want a woman engineer this time around. Someone I won’t be romantically involved with.”

  He pulls back, his eyebrows raised.

  “Look, I know it worked for you and Vivian, but I don’t want any of my consorts to be crew. I hope you understand.”

  He shrugs. “Okay. It’s your call, Captain,” he stresses, and I hold back the sigh. “But I don’t know any women engineers, so I won’t be able to help you out. They usually settle down with their own families.”

  I figured this would be a sticking point. Women are just too scarce in the Duo Systems to do jobs that require them to be on the move all the time. Ship captains like me and my mom have enough room for consorts and husbands to live aboard the ships. If those captains are wealthy too, they can own land on a planet and those consorts and husbands can live there instead. Only women can purchase land on many of the worlds of the Duo Systems, even though they are only twenty percent of the population. A growing number of men want the balance of power to change in the Duo Systems, though, and bring back more rights for men. I don’t think the peace I grew up with is going to last for long.

  “I guess I’ll have to ask around or devise a plan B.”

  “Plan B.” He laughs. “You sound like Vivian.”

  “Planning is what the Kawabatas do best. Hey, did Liam install the AI as planned?” I ask Jinzo.

  When my first AI got hacked and stopped working, Liam Castillo is the man Vivian hired to install an AI in the Amagi.

  “Yeah. Just left yesterday. Nanci is installed and probably listening to us now.” Jinzo’s eyes lift to the ceiling of the cargo bay.

  “I’m always listening and ready to help,” Nanci says, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. I’m glad it’s Nanci and not Ai, my original AI. Ai had been a hack job ship’s AI made from a sexbot AI. And quite frankly, I have dealt with a lot of sexbots lately, and those two parts of my life need to be separated, by like a parsec.

  Carlos turned Ai into a concierge bot for a while, and then he archived her and put her to rest. I think she’s sitting in a storage drive in his bedroom.

  “Thank you, Nanci. I’m glad you’re on board,” I say, lifting my voice. Jinzo smiles and nods his head.

  “That’s quite a change, but one I’m pleased with.” We step forward towards the crew quarters. “Ai was a lot of fun, but not the best AI for this ship.”

  “She was a lot of fun, that’s for sure,” Jinzo says, rolling his eyes.

  I breathe in deep and let it all out with a huff. “I’m looking forward to flying a tip-top ship without worrying about it falling apart or getting ticketed for an illegal AI.”

  “Hell, those months we spent together on this ship were enough drama to last a lifetime,” Jinzo says, and he means every word. “At least this time, everything is running above board, and we don’t have to worry about stowaways.” He raises his eyebrows twice.

  “Thank goodness for small miracles. I’m looking forward to the easy milk runs and happy clients,” I say with a sigh.

  “From your lips to God’s ears.” Jinzo jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “Come on. Let me show you the engines.”

  His eyes light up with glee, and I laugh and let him lead the way.

  5

  The Amagi runs like a dream. Wow, I am totally in love. And it’s too bad Jinzo is taken because I would hit that just as thanks for doing such a great job. Shhh, I can never tell this to Vivian, though I’m pretty sure she would laugh and then lock Jinzo away for a decade.

  “Amagi cruiser, you have permission to dock at airlock three,” Miguel says, and I can hear the smile in his voice. “And Skylar, it’s good to have you back home.”

  “Thanks, Miguel,” I respond. “See you soon.”

  As Mom’s first husband, Miguel, runs most of the Mikasa’s day-to-day duties, not an easy task by any definition. He makes sure the ship is running smoothly while Mom handles the business plans and contacts. This means he not only deals with ships coming and going, but he also oversees the ship’s regular maintenance.

  When my father lived on the Mikasa, he handled the family matters as best he could. Things like the menu for the cafeteria, making sure the younger children were in school, and doing maintenance if the toilets were clogged. It was a million little things, an unending job, and he sucked at them all, quite frankly. When he moved planetside when I was ten, he tried to hand those jobs off to Dominic, but Dom turned around and handed all of those jobs, and more, off to me.

  I try not to be bitter about it. I really do.

  But I’m really fucking bitter about it.

  I sit back and watch the Mikasa as Nanci edges the Amagi into a vector to match up with airlock three.

  “Easy does it, Nanci,” I say, switching over the screen to the starboard side camera. “The Mikasa is going to be my ship someday, so let’s not scratch up the hull.”

  “Of course, Captain. I’ve been told most stringently by Carlos that I am not to fuck up anything or I’ll be deleted.”

  I groan and roll my eyes.

  “Hey!” Carlos calls from down the hall in his den of tech. “I heard that!” He pauses for a moment. “But yeah, I said that. So keep up the good work, Nanci.”

  “It is my duty to prevent myself from being deleted,” she responds. “It’s also my duty to inform you of our distance from the hull. Three meters… two meters… one meter… Contact.”

  The Amagi slides into the airlock spot with a slight bump, and the latches click on. I watch as the pressure sleeve slips over the contact too, and the lights turn from red to green.

  “I read that we have one-hundred percent contact, and the airlocks are safe to use. You may now open the airlock doors and not die,” Nanci says, and I burst into a short laugh.

  “Carlos!” I call out, and after a moment, Carlos slopes into the room. I look up at him looming over me. “You’ve grown since we last spent time in the cockpit together.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” His voice is sweet with sarcasm. Ah, see? Carlos’s body may have grown, but he’s still the same guy inside. “And let me guess. Nanci.”

  “Yes, Nanci. What have you done?”

  He scratches his head and pulls his lips in. “Well, you see, Liam built these personality parameters into her algorithms, and I may have tweaked them a bit.”

  “May?”

  He holds up his hands in surrender. “Captain, we don’t want a boring AI, do we?”

  I sigh. “Just as long as she doesn’t kill us in our sleep, you can do whatever.”

  “Thanks, Skylar.” He turns on his heel and marches out.

  “Hear that, Nanci?” I ask, lifting my voice.

  “Understood, Captain. I will not kill you in your sleep.”

  I freeze and stare at the consoles.

  Somehow, her reassurance doesn’t make me feel any better.

  Grabbing my bag from my bedroom, I sweep my eyes over my new space. The walls are a soft gray, lit from above and below with ambient light. My captain’s quarters are the biggest on the ship, bumped out from when Vivian had this room. I love the reading nook, so I can keep up-to-date with my schooling and prep for a Class Four license sometime in the next two years. Maybe
I’ll read fiction again someday. I probably should if I want to be a more desirable mate.

  I lean against the wall and wonder how I’m going to win over these men Marcelo wants me to meet. I’m not getting any younger now. I’m fast approaching thirty, and my mom already had my two older brothers, Oliver and Raphael, and me by this age. I don’t have a ton of redeeming qualities when it comes to my personality. Sure, I like to have a good time, and I’m smart, but those things get me into trouble more than they help me win people over. My mom has always told me I’m too smart for my own good. Yeah, that may be the case.

  I shoulder my bag and rest my hand on my datapad.

  “Hey, Nanci? Can you do me a favor while I’m gone over to the Mikasa?”

  “Sure thing, Captain.”

  “Research the latest fiction bestsellers for me —”

  “Across the Duo Systems or on a particular planet?” she asks.

  “Ossun and Sonoma, please. Pick the top five that look good and buy them. Send them to my datapad. I need to be more… interesting for these men Marcelo wants me to meet.”

  “Will do. Have a pleasant visit with your family.”

  “Thanks,” I say, turning off the lights and heading to the airlock.

  I may feel invincible, like I could do anything now that I have my Class Three license and my ship back, but a bad feeling in my gut tells me things are about to get tougher, not easier.

  On the other side of the airlock door, I’m greeted by Miguel with a smile and open arms.

  “Skylar, welcome home,” he says, grasping my upper arms. He pulls me towards him for a quick peck on the cheek and then lets go. I hold back a sigh at the lack of an actual hug.

  Miguel is a good man, and I’m happy to see him, but circumstances in our lives have kept us at arm’s length. He’s always taken his job as the first mate of this ship seriously. That’s important. But it doesn’t negate the years he neglected all of Mom’s children in favor of work.

  “Thanks, Miguel. It’s good to see you.” I glance past him to see if anyone else has come to greet me. The corridor is empty.

  “Where are Carlos and Lia?” He does the same, looking past me into the airlock.

  “Napping, I think. They’ll be along later.”

  Miguel brings his arm across my shoulders and pulls me to his side. He still has so much youth for being in his sixties. His hair is as black as night, and he works out in his spare time. The button-down shirt he’s wearing strains across his chest.

  “You’re looking good,” I say, nodding my head. “Lifting weights?”

  “Ah! I bought a new set and rearranged the gym. Much better now for keeping in shape. Ana has been joining me.”

  “No,” I breathe out. “How did you swing that?”

  He throws his head back in a laugh. “I bribed her, of course. Regular spa days on Laguna.”

  I nod approvingly. “Yeah, she’d go for that.”

  “Well, your mother is in meetings, of course. I think she’s done in about thirty minutes. Ana and Jukia are in the main kitchen.” He brings his index finger to his lips. “Don’t tell them I snitched, but they’re baking something special for you for dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, thank God. I hope it’s chocolate,” I say, my knees melting.

  He winks. “I think you’re in luck.”

  He leaves my side and rushes ahead, closing doors in the main corridor behind him as he goes. Mom’s Corsair is the ship I grew up on, so I know it inside and out. Most of the rooms on this side of the ship belong to my brothers and sisters, here or gone. I have my own room too, even though I’m only here a few times per year. Everything must be a mess, or he wouldn’t be trying to hide it from me.

  “We’re doing a little renovating, moving stuff around,” he says, his voice dripping with apologies.

  “Oh really? Do I need to empty out my room?” I pout and wonder if my time aboard the Mikasa as an offspring is ending. My heart aches, wondering if this is the beginning of Mom’s last days here.

  “No, no,” he says, waving away my dour mood. “Don’t worry about it. See? Your room is right where you left it.”

  He stands next to my room’s door as it slides aside and the lights blink on. Yep, everything looks exactly the same. I smile as I walk in and dump my bag on the bed. We’re only going to stay a night before moving on to Palo Alto and this charity event. Still, I thought it would be nice to see my family first, before all that happened.

  This is my home. This is where I grew up. It’s not a farm with rolling hills of grass and a playground out in the back, but it’s mine. These halls are where I ran as a kid. The infirmary is where I patched up my own cuts and scrapes and where my brothers, sisters, and I were born. The dining hall is where I ate my meals and studied for my exams. I took my proctored exams here in the schoolroom where I passed the standardized education test when I turned fourteen, four years earlier than most people.

  But this place is not without bad memories too. I frown as I think of all the times I wished I had been somewhere else as a kid. Anywhere but here.

  My relationship with the Mikasa is complicated.

  “We’re so proud of you, finishing at the top of your class for your Class Three license. The school had nothing but amazing things to say about your final flight performance. I hope…” Miguel’s voice tapers off, and I turn around to look at him.

  Maybe I’m imagining it, but he looks lost.

  “Is something wrong?” I ask, crossing the room to him. “Did I miss something?”

  I’ve been away for a long time. I could only come home three times in the last two years of flight school because of Mom’s shipping schedule. I have that tingly feeling that something’s wrong, missing, or different, and I hate that feeling. It’s the same sixth sense I had on Sonoma when I was stranded in the desert. The same reaction I had at Vivian’s only a day ago.

  “No, no,” he says, waving away my concern, and that only sets my nerves more on edge. “Everything’s fine.”

  An alert tone echoes over the internal announcement system. Someone clears their throat in an overly dramatic way. It’s Jukia. “Everyone, dinner is served. You know where.”

  Miguel chuckles. “Saved by the bell. I’ll let you get settled in,” he says, turning and walking out of my room. “Meet us in the dining hall whenever you’re ready!” he calls back to me.

  Saved?

  I watch him go, but now I’m suspicious as hell. Something’s going on here.

  I better figure out what right the fuck now.

  I stand at the door to my room and look back down the hall we just came from. Something’s not right here. I can feel it. Mom should be here in my room, chatting about family matters, food, and my new license. I love Miguel, but it’s strange that he would take this job on for Mom, even if she is in meetings.

  I suddenly want to put air quotes around meetings. ‘Meetings.’ Mom’s been distant these last three to four years, and I’m not sure why. I’ve brushed it off as stress or approaching menopause. Still, looking back on it now, she’s been avoiding me ever since she gave me the Amagi and sent me off to fly the Duo Systems with Vivian. Hmmm.

  Instead of putting away my bag and getting freshened up in the bathroom, I leave everything on the bed and head down the hallway we just came from. I open the first door I come to, Jukia’s room. I know she’s in the dining room, so she’s not here to keep me out of her private space.

  The lights blink on, and I catch my breath. Boxes line the far wall. Most of her knickknacks and photos are gone from her desk, and there’s a pile of clothes on the floor, all very unlike Jukia. Her room is usually in tip-top shape.

  “What the hell?” I ask the room. No one answers. Good. The ship’s AI is not paying attention.

  Where is Jukia going? I’m sure that if she had found a job or decided to go back to school for something other than culinary arts, I would have heard about it. I’ve always been in charge of education for my younger siblings, and these de
cisions are not kept from me.

  I shut her door and move on to Ana’s room. Once again, the same disarray, but with even more boxes along the far wall. Oliver and Raphael’s rooms are the same, except completely packed up because they are seldom here.

  When Cameron’s door zips open, I expect the worst.

  “Sky!” he shouts, jumping to his feet and crossing the room with his arms open. Wow. He’s grown a lot in the last year, but I suppose most seventeen-year-old boys grow like weeds. His younger brother, Nolan, drops his gaming device on the bed and follows for hugs, too. I let both of them in with a squeeze. But my eyes are on the room they share. Boxes again, and most of their furniture is gone except for their beds. When I came in, they had been playing games on their devices, sitting cross-legged on the floor or their bed.

  “Hey, boys. Good to see you.” I squeeze them both and pull them back to peer at them at arm’s length. “You’re growing up too fast.”

  “Mom tells me to stop growing every time she sees me,” Cam says, puffing his chest out with pride.

  “That’s my boy,” I say, giving him a quick hug.

  Cameron and Nolan are from Mom’s last consort, Juan, and they are never far from each other. Attached at the hip, I would say.

  “How’s school been going? You been listening to the tutor?” I ask, looking each of them in the eye. I hired a new tutor for them before I left for flight school since I couldn’t school them and myself at the same time across two solar systems.

  “He’s all right.” Cameron shrugs. “He’s not as patient or nice as you.”

  “Well, you know. I’m the best,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. Nolan laughs. “No one could ever be as good as me.”

  “Dad says he’s the best,” Nolan says, laughing some more.

  “He’s pretty great,” I say, and I partially mean it. Juan would be an ideal mate and father to these boys if he stopped listening to Dominic’s foolish ideas and did something other than follow the hottest football clubs in the Duo Systems. You would think his former coaching would come in handy as a dad, but no. No such luck there.