I should never have left them. What was I thinking, first helping Vivian and then going away to flight school in the middle of all this?
“Ms. Skylar Kawabata, we meet at last.” His smile widens as he crosses the room to me with his hand out. I can only stare with a slack jaw. “Takemo Diaz, head of Diaz Waste Management… and Enterprises, now, I suppose.” He chuckles, and I hate how beautiful he is. Those kinds of good looks should be illegal.
Snap out of it, Skylar!
I blink and stand up, ignoring his outstretched hand. He pulls his hand back to his side with a smirk.
“Is that how we’re starting off our first meeting together?” he asks, stuffing his hand in his pants pocket.
“I’m here to talk about my mother and the Mikasa,” I say, keeping my voice steady.
“Of course. Well, come in.” He turns and leads the way back to his office.
I’m sure most people enter his office, and they’re thrilled by what they see — a gorgeous view of Ossun below, a wall of green plants in bright LED light, a bubbling fountain complete with hand-sized koi fish, and a desk made of natural wood. This is what I like to term ‘subtle extravagance.’ It’s not gold-plated toilets and hanging crystal chandeliers. It’s ‘I’m too good for that tacky shit.’
I take in the scene and keep my mouth shut. Within a moment, I already know I’m in way over my head. This will be a negotiation I won’t win, but I have the chance to make some kind of difference here… once I find out how bad the arrangement is to begin with.
“I can guess why you’re here. To be frank, I thought I would get this visit months ago,” he says, sitting in his plush office chair. He sips his coffee again and sets it on the desk. “Sorry. Can I get you some coffee? Sparkling water? A tumbler of scotch?” His eyebrows climb as my frown deepens.
How about a gun, asshole?
“Nothing, thanks.” My voice is ice cold. “What you can get me is an explanation of what’s going on. My mother won’t speak to me, and I just found out she owes you money.” I raise my shoulders and sit up straighter. “So, I’d like to know how she came to owe you this money, how much, and what I can do to correct this debt as soon as possible.”
He’s trying to keep a straight face, and I’m trying not to lunge across the desk and wring his neck.
“I’m not sure I owe you any kind of explanation about anything. My agreement is between your mother and me.”
I lift my chin a little more. “My mother’s business is my inheritance. I think I deserve to know what’s going on.”
He pauses for a moment, his eyes keen on my every move, every breath.
Appeal to his good nature, Skylar.
“If I remember correctly, Diaz Waste Management is a family business, is it not?”
His smile evaporates like it never existed.
“It is,” he says through clenched teeth.
“I’m sure you knew what was going on in your business long before you ever took over. I’m merely asking for information.”
“Ms. Kawabata,” he begins, leaning forward, “I knew what was going on in my family’s business because they involved me one-hundred percent from the time I was born. If you don’t know what’s going on in your family business, that’s your fault, not mine.”
I swallow the slap to my face. There’s nothing I want more right now than to douse this whole place in accelerant and light it on fire.
I can go either of two ways here, and I have to decide quickly. I can get bitchy and angry, which will get me absolutely nowhere but would feel really, really good considering the smirk on this man’s face. Or I can turn on the subjugation, the sorrowful eyes, the bowing, and the scraping.
It’s possible that if I add the scraping, I may get somewhere.
I am not below scraping.
“Please,” I say, tuning my voice with a slight wobble. “Please. All I’m asking for is some information.”
He swivels back and forth in his chair and taps his fingers on the desk. I don’t break eye contact.
“Fine,” he says, and I hold my breath even longer as he pulls up his data. Blurred numbers and spreadsheets float between us, visible from his side. “Your mother now owes us over two million credits.”
Fuck me. This is almost as bad as what Vivian went through.
“So I confiscated her ship.” He shrugs like this is no big deal. “You’re lucky the Amagi is not hers. But I’m not a bank, so I can only take so much from my debtors.”
He probably threatened to board the ship and space my family. There was only one option for Mom, and she took it.
This arrogant prick…
I swallow, and my breaths are shallow.
He sits back in his chair. “You’re lucky the lawyers you hired secured enough money from the military to pay for the work you had done on the Amagi, or your mother would have been out a lot more.”
I blink at him, unable to comprehend how this person I didn’t even know existed knows all these details about me and my life.
Well, if he thinks he knows me already, he’s in for a treat. Because no one knows what I have been through since birth, not even my own mother.
“Yes, the Amagi is mine, one-hundred percent. You can’t have her.” Anger is creeping into my voice, and every word now has a knife-sharp edge.
He minimizes all of his spreadsheets with a wave of his hand. “I don’t want your ship. But you could work off some of your mother’s debt if you like.” His smile is just this side of evil. “It might take a few decades, but I could arrange something at a low-interest rate.”
I ignore this offer. “What are you going to do with the Mikasa?”
He shrugs again. “I’m going to have it haul trash. That’s really all it’s good for.”
My head heats to blinding levels. “It’s a fucking Model Eleven Corsair, and you want it to haul trash?” My voice raises almost an entire octave. “You’ll ruin it within a year.”
“It’s my ship now. I’ll do whatever I please with it.”
Oh my fucking God. Now, he’s just saying things to me to make me angry.
I stand up and walk to the window. Calm down, Skylar. There’s no universe in which your temper will get you anywhere with this guy.
And unfortunately, I’m between two rock-solid hard places. I can’t go to Vivian about this. She has no money to help us because she hasn’t turned a profit in years, and now she’s worried about Athens Industries firing her. Also, she will absolutely, one-hundred percent, blame herself for this mess. None of Mom’s men are wealthy, or they would have helped already. I could go to the Lees for help, but they’ve already been more than generous with their support and labor getting the Amagi back up and running.
Who else can I go to?
No one. I have no one else.
Growing up on my mom’s ship, never going to a proper school, and only meeting people in passing means I’ve not developed any long-lasting relationships outside of my family members. And with Mom’s husbands and consorts being such lazy good-for-nothings and forcing me to do the hard work as the eldest daughter, it’s not like I had any extra time for relationships, anyway.
I turn around and face Takemo. “I’d like to work something out if you’re amenable. A payment plan to buy back the Mikasa within six months?”
I can fly for Flyght night and day, put off this whole building-my-network thing for another six months, and maybe do some other work on the side to bring in more income. Maybe through Vivian, I can go to Athens Industries, the Duo System’s number one largest corporation, for help too. Perhaps she can make some introductions if I can keep the reason why a secret.
“What makes you think I want to sell the Mikasa?” Takemo asks and sips his coffee. He checks his wristlet. “I just acquired it, and I was looking forward to adding it to my fleet.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You’re not willing to sell it to me? Not even at what you paid for it?”
“I have no reason to do so.”
; Well, shit. It looks like this guy wants to play hardball with me.
Guess what happens when people play hardball with me? They end up regretting all of their life choices.
This guy… This Takemo Diaz, sitting here in his fancy office with his bespoke suit, artisanal coffee, and attentive assistant, does not know who he’s dealing with by crossing Skylar Kawabata. I have made lemonade out of lemons so many times in my life, I might as well start a fucking lemonade empire instead of flying ships. I’m that good at turning shitty situations to my benefit.
“I see,” I say, sighing and standing up. “Well, this is a regrettable situation we’ve found ourselves in, then. It’ll only end up costing you more to sell it to me later. Are you sure you won’t sell now?”
This catches him off guard, and he freezes with his coffee cup halfway up to his mouth.
“Cost me, how?” he asks.
I don’t say.
“Last offer,” I respond.
“I’m going to have to pass,” he says, confident that he has the upper hand here.
He does not.
“Though, I do have some jobs that I think you and the Amagi would be perfect for if you’re interested. I have new clients that need something more… subtle than what I can provide.”
“I’m going to have to pass,” I parrot back to him.
“Fine,” he says, shrugging. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me. Please have your family off the Mikasa by week’s end.”
I turn to leave. This is not over.
At the door, he calls out, “It was good to finally meet you in person, Ms. Skylar. I hope this won’t be the last time we cross paths.”
“Oh, it won’t be the last time you see me,” I say, glancing over my shoulder.
I can’t help but notice his eyes are on my ass. I shift my hip to the side as I open the door and let him get a taste of what I have on offer. Yes, I will make Takemo pay for raking my family over the coals.
Because this is not the last he’ll hear of me.
This means war.
8
I stalk back into the Amagi at a lightning pace.
“Carlos!” I call out, my voice echoing through the cargo bay as I close the connection to Orbital Station.
“No need to shout, Captain,” Nanci says, knocking me back a pace. “Carlos is in his room. He is alone and reading.”
“Thanks,” I mumble, making my way through the ship.
I can’t believe what that fucker just did. Does Takemo Diaz really think he can go against someone like me? I live for revenge. It feeds me. If you cross me, you can believe I will leave your life a living hell by the time I’m done with you.
I’m not proud of my ability to wage war…
Wait, yes, I am.
Super proud. I’m fantastic at it.
I press the announcement button on the panel outside Carlos’s room, and the door slides open after a beat.
“I need Ai,” I say, stalking into his room.
Carlos jerks his feet off his desk and sighs as he rests his datapad against his chest.
“No,” he says. “No, no, no. We agreed,” he stresses, but I wave away his concern.
“Whatever. That was before Takemo Diaz came into my life. I need her back. Like now.” I snap my fingers at him, and he lifts his eyebrows.
“Are you legit snapping your fingers at me? What do you think I am? A slave?”
I stop and look at this boy… this man, now. He’s not someone I can, or should, push around anymore. He’s his own person. Those years on Vivian’s farm did him a lot of good.
“Sorry,” I say, pulling my hand to my chest. “I’m pissed off… not at you.”
“Takemo Diaz?” he asks. “Why is that guy in your life?”
“You know him?”
“Who doesn’t,” Carlos says, standing up and setting his datapad aside. “When hauling trash makes you one of the most influential people in the Duo Systems, you tend to attract attention.” He slips past me and out the door. I turn to follow.
“I had no idea who he was,” I say, defending myself.
“He’s been all over the news for the past few years.” Carlos leads the way into his den of technology. “I thought you loved all that gossip stuff.”
I push out a heavy breath. “I stopped after Vivian ended up on OEN. It didn’t seem right to give them my ratings anymore.”
“That’s good of you,” he says, dropping into his chair and swiveling into his desk. “So, you want Ai? For what?”
His fingers fly across his virtual keyboards, and his monitors click to life. The room hums with activity. It wasn’t too long ago that this room caught fire, and we lost Ai the first time. She was my first ship’s AI, and though she was a pain in the butt because she had previously been a sexbot, she had a certain charm about her. I bought her from this totally incompetent guy (but a damned good lay) named Eamon, and he had made her from a hack job sexbot open-source nightmare. Look, I was broke, okay? I couldn’t afford a decent AI, but I needed something so I could still fly. Ai did the job, though she did it reluctantly and with a lot of sexual innuendoes.
“Here’s what I’m thinking,” I say, holding out my hands in front of me like I’m about to coach a football team to win the final game of the season. “We do everything in our power to make Takemo Diaz question his sanity.”
Carlos swivels slowly towards me.
“He thinks it’s a sane, good idea to have the Mikasa haul trash? Then I’m going to make him question everything he does or ever did.”
I rub my hands together as Carlos sits back. “Hold up there, Evil Queen. What’s this about the Mikasa hauling trash?”
I pop out the side chair and sit down. “Okay, let me give you the background.”
I explain the whole situation, the debt, the way my family kept everything from me, how I might lose the family business, and that the Mikasa belongs to Takemo Diaz, and he won’t sell it to me.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make his life a little crooked and uncomfortable, you know? We’ll start with a whispering campaign, and then I’ll get Ai to figure out the kind of life he leads and fuck with it however we can. I have some ideas, but I need insiders to make it happen.”
“I’m a little afraid for this guy,” Carlos says, reaching into his fridge for a protein drink. I remember when he only drank sugary sodas and snacked on candy and chips all day. Am I the only one who hasn’t changed a bit in the last few years?
You would think a brush with death would make me reevaluate my life.
It did not.
It should have.
“So? Can you bring Ai back? She was so good at this kind of stuff. And I know Nanci is not the right AI for this job.”
“All we need is a shotgun and a shovel, Captain. I know the best place to bury the body,” Nanci says.
I burst into a laugh while Carlos pales.
“Thanks, Nanci,” I say, my heart warm and fuzzy. “I’ll call on you if murder is necessary.”
“Happy to help, Captain.”
Carlos places a hand over his eyes and breathes out a long breath.
“I fear for my life some days.” He clears his throat and returns to his keyboards. “Okay, if you want Ai for this, I can give her to you. I stored her on a remote host for the last two years, working on datasets I’ve given her about Vivian’s business.”
“Oh, I’m sure she loves that,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“She hates it. It’s not ‘sexy’ enough for her. She would rather be doing just about anything else. So whatever this revenge is you have cooked up, I’m sure she’s game.”
“What kind of datasets?” I ask as he gets to work.
“Vivian’s been working on those Rio plants now for years, and she’s been extracting DNA and comparing it to Earth-origin plants.” He shrugs. “I haven’t looked at any of the collated data. But she’s hoping to find something to help her.”
I lean back in the chair and tap
my head against the wall. “I hate seeing Vivian stuck. I wish there was something I could do to help her.”
“Oh, there is,” he says, and I perk up. “Just solve the mysteries of life on Rio, and you’ll be all set.”
“Ha ha. Scientists have been working on that for over a hundred years.”
“Then I’m sure you’ll crack the code, Sky. It’s only a matter of time.” His grin makes me chuckle.
I peek over his shoulder as he types away, moving from one screen to the next, opening connections all over the duonet.
“Why didn’t you store Ai locally?” I ask as he opens another connection.
“I thought we learned our lesson the first time around.” He coughs into his hand. “After the fire, Yan and I worked on making a distributed network that’s so secure, no one can hack it.”
Yan Ramirez is Carlos’s long-time geek buddy. He’s done some work for us in the past.
“Not even you?” I ask.
“Quantum encryption,” he says, nodding his head. “I couldn’t crack it without the key, period. Even if I set my algorithms on it night and day, I couldn’t break in within a few centuries. It’s the best of the best.” He looks over his shoulder. “Athens Industries tried to poach me last summer.”
I gasp and pull back, and he nods. If Athens took Carlos away from me, I don’t know what I’d do. I’m sure he would recommend a replacement, but we’ve worked together for so long, I… It’s strange to say it, but I would miss him, and the Amagi wouldn’t be the same without him.
He shrugs. “But this is my home. I’m not going anywhere.”
When he turns to his consoles, my eyes smart with tears. I rest my hand on his shoulder and squeeze briefly. It’s the most intimate we ever get, but I have to let him know I appreciate him sticking around.
“Any chance I can get a raise?” he asks.
I laugh, sniff up, and whack him upside the head.
“Of course, you idiot. As soon as I buy back the Mikasa.”
He sighs. “Got it. So, never.”
“Don’t count me out yet,” I say.
An Unexpected Debt Page 6
