An Unexpected Debt

by S. J. Pajonas

  I want to trash this vidmessage. I should trash it.

  I hit play instead.

  “Skylar.” There’s no warmth in his voice as he stares into the camera and straight into my soul. “I saw all the news vids about your date last night.” He laughs. “You really want to drag your mother’s name through the mud? And mine as well?” His smile disappears. “What you fail to realize is that everything you do reflects on your mom and her network. Everything reflects on me. And when you make me look like a fool, you make us all look like fools. This is not the way you were raised.”

  This statement heats my blood to intolerable levels. I start to sweat and wish I wasn’t on public transportation.

  “Look, I’m only going to tell you this once more. Shape up. Start showing respect for your mother and the rest of us who raised you, gave you food and a roof over your head, and allowed you to get an education. If we’d had it my way, you never would have seen the outside of the ship. A woman’s place is in the home. Your mother is the last of her generation to rule over men. This ends with you. Understood? Don’t screw up again, or that will be the end of you.”

  I suck in a quick breath, and my eyes flit to the arrival board. We’ll be at the spaceport in two minutes.

  What do I do with this?

  Well, obviously, Dominic has fallen in with the Reformers. Their lot are some of the worst of society, a faction of men (and some women who hate themselves, no doubt) who believe women are to blame for the predicament we’re all in. But it’s a long and sordid history.

  When we colonized the Duo Systems, the military from Earth that led the charge realized men made better, hardier workers than women, so they edited the genes of men to produce only other men. That’s how the Vir gene was born. And for a few generations, confined to just the military troops, it was fine. Until it wasn’t. All it took was a few men leaving ranks and having babies with women settlers to realize this was a problem. Suddenly, within only two or three generations, women were scarce. It got to the point where women were only eighteen percent of the population and in danger of slavery from the more aggressive men in the systems. That was when several women organized a military coup, took over, and formed a government to make women a priority in these systems. Only women own land on five of the seven worlds, and the relationship network system was born to give more men the chance to be with women and father children without the Vir gene.

  But there’s a segment of the population, the Reformers, who want to see what we’ve built die a fiery death. They want to put women in bondage and just use us to make babies.

  Weak men like Dominic and my deceased cousin love the Reformers. The Reformers give men a reason to be assholes, to swing their dicks around. They’d be happy to breed themselves to extinction because they’re too stupid to know any better.

  And you know what? I’ve had it with their stupidity. I’ve had it with their belief that they know better than everyone else.

  Dominic can go fuck himself if he thinks he’s going to continue pushing me around. I’m twenty-eight years old. I’m not a child without rights. I’m a woman with my own ship, my own life, and he will not frighten me into believing I have to live by his rules anymore.

  I grab my bag and exit the bus at the spaceport, but I have to take care of this before I arrive at the ship because Nisrine will be waiting for me there.

  Zig-zagging through the crowds, I find a vacant public comm booth and scan my wristlet to let me inside. The door closes behind me, and the booth seals up tight. I don’t hear a sound from the outside. I rearrange my hair and take a few quick, calming breaths before navigating through my home screen to my vidmessages.

  “Record for queued sending,” I say, and the system beeps and blinks a three-second countdown.

  “Hey, Mom. I know you’re busy handling your new job, so I’m going to make this quick. You’ll find a vidmessage attached to this one that you should watch. I just received it from Dominic.” I drop my head and consider leaving the message the way it is. Nope. “Here’s something I’ve never told you, and I hate having to tell you now. But if you ask Miguel or Dad or Juan, they’ll back me up. So please ask them. Dominic is bad for you. He has rained terror on Ana and me for years, decades now. He has psychologically abused us, even Jukia, and there was nothing we could do about it. None of the dads wanted to help because Dominic would cause such a problem. I tried telling you…”

  My voice catches, and I have to stop and clear my throat to continue.

  “I tried to tell you so many times. You kept saying things like, ‘You don’t understand him,’ or ‘He’s such a kind and loving man under the surface. Just give him another chance.’ Remember? Do you remember saying those things? You were too busy to do anything about it anyway, but we tried to tell you. Mom, it’s time to sever his contract. I won’t deal with him ever again, especially with the vidmessages he’s sending me. Here’s the ultimatum, and I’m sorry it’s come to this. It’s either him or me. I’m here, and I love you. I’m willing to go to the moons and back to get your ships back for you. What’s Dominic going to do for you? Huh? Watch the attached vidmessage and find out for yourself. I love you. Let’s go forward together. Call me when you’ve made a decision.”

  I stop recording, attach the vidmessage from Dom, and then I stop.

  What are you doing, Skylar? This is madness. Delivering an ultimatum to Mom is complete and utter insanity. She’s been under the spell of her network for decades, longer than I’ve been alive. They’ve allowed her to concentrate on her business and be the head of the family like she was meant to be. In her eyes, they’ve done the work they were supposed to do, kept the children alive, and kept her flying. What more could she want?

  And with Dom controlling all of her communications, she’ll never see this, anyway. No matter what I title this message to try to slip it through. He has an iron grip on everything she sees.

  I chew at my lip for a moment and consider this. If she could even receive this message, would she believe any of it? Would it make a difference?

  I groan and turn around to pace the tiny booth, around and around. I wish I had someone to ask for advice. I have no relationship network of my own. Maybe Saif, but I don’t think we’re there yet, and he may still give up on me. This is not something you take to a second date if we have one. Marcelo just learned of this, but I’m not sure he’s ready to see Dom at his worst. I can’t ask Ana. This could send her into a relapse, and she looked so good the last time I saw her. Jukia is a kind person at heart, but she’s hands-off about everything because Dom is her father. She can’t choose sides. She knows he’ll lose his temper on her next if she does. Carlos and Lia are friends, but they’re employees.

  No one. I have no one except Vivian. But I have kept the truth of my life from her, and it’s going to be a problem now. I never told her. I was strong, and I kept this to myself because Dom threatened to take my life away if I said anything. Ugh. Why didn’t I tell Vivian?

  That’s looking like one of the stupidest mistakes I’ve ever made.

  “Save vidmessage,” I say, and the file zips away to my Saved folder.

  I squat down in the booth, press my back to the wall, and close my eyes.

  I’m going to have to confess to Vivian. I think it’s my only option. It’ll go as well as when I confessed to Marcelo, I’m sure. And she may not even believe me because I have lied to her for years to keep this secret, this horrible secret that my mom’s network was broken. If other people knew this shame, I would never have a network of my own. I already fear Marcelo will dump me. He may be done with me after he sees the stories from last night.

  Marcelo, Marcelo. What I need to do is end our business relationship before he gets in too deep. I’ll confess to him and hope he doesn’t disown me as a friend. It’s the best I can do here.

  I sniff up. I didn’t even realize I was crying.

  My life is over. This will get out, and it will be the end of everything. No one will trust me agai
n after they realize I’ve been lying for decades. If they even believe me now.

  Damn, Skylar, for someone so smart, you really are fucking stupid.

  19

  Back on the Amagi, I dump my bag in my quarters.

  “Nanci, who’s on the ship?” I sigh as I sit down on the edge of the bed and unlace my boots. I feel like I’ve aged ten years in the last day. My feet are killing me from running in high-heeled shoes last night, and my chest aches from the lack of sleep that followed my very dramatic night at the charity auction. What I need right now is a sleeping pill and ten hours in my own bed. But that’s going to have to wait.

  “Carlos is in the server room. Lia is in the auxiliary cargo bay, following instructions on how to plant seeds from Vivian. Marcelo’s shuttle is docked, and he is inside. I show that our new engineer is still in Concord City but approaching the spaceport. I estimate she’ll be arriving in about forty-five minutes.”

  “Thank you, Nanci.”

  “Also, Carlos has taken on two Flyght clients from the Diamond Level booking portal. Both guests are returning to Ossun before going on to Rio. Since that’s our current flight path, Carlos felt this would be a good match,” she says.

  “Okay, fine. Might as well earn some money since we’re going that way, anyway. Did we get topped up on fuel and air? I set up the orders yesterday afternoon before I went to the charity auction.”

  “All taken care of,” Nanci says. “We will not die in the blackness of space. The last thing we need to do is pay our docking fee, and we can go.”

  I close my eyes and take a deep breath. We will not die in the blackness of space because I am damned good at my job. Never forget that, Nanci.

  “Great. Perfect.” I flop back on the bed and close my eyes for a minute. But when I jerk awake a moment later, I realize this is a bad idea. I still have a lot of work to do. I need to talk to Marcelo and prep for launch. Once we’re on route to the jump ring, Nanci can take over, and I’ll take a break. Sure, I can go to sleep early tonight, but I can’t fall asleep now. It’s not even noon on ship time.

  Time to get up and move around. I change out of my city clothes and into some black knit pants and a comfortable sweatshirt. That’s better. Then I pull my hair into a ponytail and slip into a pair of fuzzy socks. That’s even better.

  Leaving my room, I cross through the ship, avoid everyone in their rooms, and enter Marcelo’s shuttle airlock with a knock on the window. The door zips open, and he smiles down at me.

  “Good morning, Ms. Skylar.” He tips over his wristlet. “I’m right. It is still morning in ship time. Barely.”

  “We’re synced with Concord City, yes. But overnight, we’ll switch to Ossun. It’ll only be an hour’s difference. Can I come in?”

  He pops in surprise. “Of course. You’re always welcome here.”

  He scans my body as I step past him into his shuttle, probably reading every little twitch, gesture, or sigh.

  “Vivian used to like to come here a lot,” I say, looking around. “She often told me that you make great coffee and can lend an ear when needed. I was hoping the same may be true for me.”

  Marcelo’s chest expands as a faint smile grows across his lips.

  Slowly, he says, “I’m honored you’re here. Please, have a seat.” He pulls out the chair at his table and crosses the small room to his galley. “I just happen to have a fresh pot all brewed up. How do you take your coffee, Ms. Skylar? I think it’s cream and sugar, right?”

  “Yeah, cream and two spoonfuls of sugar. Thanks.”

  While he makes coffee, I try to get comfortable with the thought of digging up all my old skeletons and laying them out for Marcelo to pick over. This is not a straightforward choice for me. My secrets involve other people, and I’d rather keep everything buried forever.

  When I take my first sip of coffee, I hum. “Oh, this is nice. Thanks. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

  “Did Saif stay over? I’ll admit I thought there was a good chance he would.”

  “No. He delivered me to the hotel, and I slept alone. Or barely slept.” I wave away his concerned expression. “Don’t worry about it. The evening ended well enough. And maybe I should have slept with him, but…”

  I look down into the coffee cup, hoping it will deliver the sage wisdom I need instead of having to embarrass myself in front of Marcelo.

  “But?” Marcelo asks, sitting down across from me and pushing a box of butter biscuits my way. I pluck one from the box. Don’t mind if I do. I take two bites and set it on a napkin next to my cup of coffee.

  “Marcelo, men have only ever used me. My father used me to gain status in his network because I was the first-born daughter. Dominic used me as slave labor so he wouldn’t have to do anything. Juan and Miguel kept quiet and never helped me when I said I wanted to go away to school. My older brothers continue to use me to get money and favors out of the family.” My voice breaks, and I pause to let the fear and anxiety pass. “I’ve never had a boyfriend. Lovers have used me for my body and arm-candy and then left me the next morning.” I shrug. “I believe Saif is a good man. He was always forthright and sweet as a kid. And I like what I saw last night. I liked it a whole lot.”

  I shake my head and avoid eye contact with Marcelo.

  “But he’ll be like all the others. Nothing will last. Look at Kalvin. I thought we had a connection, and he hasn’t called or spoken to me in weeks now. He’s probably gone for good as well.”

  I pull a breath in through my nose and lift my head. The coffee sits in front of me, the biscuit next to it, and Marcelo has his arms crossed.

  “So, I’m here to relieve you.” It’s hard to get the words out past the lump in my throat.

  His face falls into a frown.

  “I’m sorry our professional relationship has to end so early, but I think it would be incredibly unfair to keep you on this task when there’s no hope for advancement. I’m sure you want to start your retirement. I don’t want to hold you back from that. I can only hope that we’ll remain friends after this.”

  “Ms. Skylar…” he begins, but I raise my hand.

  “One,” I say, counting on my fingers, “I have no business left to hand down to daughters if I ever find men to be with. And you know that’s important. Women like me now? They find one or two average men and settle down in a rented apartment somewhere. It makes me an undesirable candidate for these wealthy men you want to set me up with. Two, men do not want to be saddled with someone like me with no history of commitment, no future, and no family.”

  “Wait,” he says, his voice hardening to stone. “You have family.”

  I shake my head. “I have no one. I’m about to issue my mother an ultimatum. Dominic or me, and I know who she’ll choose. Once I’m gone, they’ll choose Mom over me. And once I tell Vivian I’ve lied to her my entire life about my relationship with my family, she’ll be gone, too. She’s a good person, and I know she loves me. But she’s been burned in the past. And this? Hearing from me that I’ve hidden this all away? She’ll be angry.” I bite my upper lip to stop the tears. “I’m so sorry. So, so sorry.”

  I stand up. “I’m so sorry I’m a liar and a bitch. I have cultivated this system-wide reputation of being a princess because I only ever wanted to be rescued from my castle prison. I’ve done nothing but lie my entire life and cover it up with a bad attitude. There’s no fixing that now. So, I’m going to continue flying for Flyght until Ken revokes my license someday. And then? I don’t know. I’ll figure something out.”

  Marcelo stands up too, and his sigh is bone-deep. “No, Ms. Skylar. This is far from over. And I hate to break it to you, but you’re not my boss here. Ms. Vivian is. She’s the one paying my salary, not you.”

  I blink a few times as I process this. I’m a stuck data loop… processing… processing… processing.

  “Yes, this makes my job harder, but I’ve bailed other women out of worse situations.” He reaches out and takes my hand. “Without naming names
, I’ve helped women who were beaten, imprisoned, and abused by horrible men find security, love, and happiness again. What’s happened to you is bad, but I’ve been known to work miracles. I’ll do the same for you.”

  I press my lips together as I look at him. “Marcelo, I really admire you and, well, I love you. And honestly, I don’t want you to witness my end. I’d rather just fade into obscurity.”

  He jerks on my hand. “This is not the end,” he says, his voice rough. “I promise.”

  He directs me to re-take my chair. I roll my eyes and sit back down.

  “Drink your coffee. You look exhausted.”

  That’s because I sat up all night wondering what to do. I sip, just to appease him.

  “This is bad, I know. So we’re going to solve each problem, one at a time, and stay the course. I want you to consider — just consider — a change of business and letting go of this idea of buying back your mother’s ships.”

  Well, now, that makes two people who are saying the same thing.

  “But —” I start, and he holds up his hand.

  “Consider it,” he stresses. “Think about the way you’ve been treated, and whether your family is worthy of the time and effort you would expend to fix their mistakes.”

  I draw in a deep breath through my nose and let it out. I don’t want him and Amira to be right.

  “And I’m sorry you haven’t heard from Kalvin. I will let him know that you wish to hear from him.”

  Oh! Wait. Marcelo’s been in touch with him? If Kalvin has spoken to Marcelo but not me, then it can’t be good.

  “He’s trying to dump me, isn’t he?” I cross my arms over my chest.

  Marcelo shoots me down with a death glare.