Interlude 1.1

by Sheryl Nantus

the backpack off and laid it on the table. It settled on the floor under the weight. She pulled a small notepad from one of her many pockets and studied it.

  Damned women thought she could get anything. Look at this. What the—

  Sad thing was she probably could get anything if they were willing to pay enough. But Mercy women were paid a flat Guild-approved rate and then were charged by the Guild for everything, making their finances a nightmare. If a Mercy woman/man was good they got tips from the clients and saved and scrimped every credit so at the end of the five year contract they walked out free and clear and a bit richer. If they weren’t good or unlucky they might end up more in debt than ever before and have to keep working to try and break even. Second contract, third contract—then maybe you slid down the rungs to a Charity ship because you couldn’t pay for the training and still was in deep to the company store.

  She was in a better position being the ship’s mechanic. Even though the Guild charged her for everything from her overalls to her food she’d made a bit of a tidy sum on the side doing this, enough that she could afford those magazines about the latest beautiful private space yachts out there. She gave good rates to the courtesans, especially the ones she liked but it was a harsh universe out here and no one, no one gave anything away for free.

  Jenny studied her watch. Another ten minutes and she’d leave, come back in a few hours. There was always the chance her contact wasn’t around or worse, taken out of commission by the authorities. Up to this point she’d never been caught and she suspected the Guild would make sure that never happened, paying off the local security to erase her traces from the system and then charging Jenny for the favor.

  It wasn’t a good idea to have the news get out that your mechanics worked for and with the black market. Bad publicity for all involved. Easier to pay off someone to make the connection disappear but then the Guild would have something to hang over her head, something to keep her in line.

  Best just not to get caught.

  Jenny checked her watch again.

  Two more minutes—

  The door opened and a man walked in, his mag-boots clicking on the metal plates. He was barely five feet high and covered in black dust from head to foot. He grinned at seeing Jenny, his bright blue eyes a startling contract to the rest of him.

  “My apologies.” He pulled a battered suitcase in behind him, the heavy piece of luggage skimming the floor despite the low gravity. “I was down below when I got the signal. Had to duck out on my shift and get sideways back to my quarters to get this.” He hauled the case up onto the table with a grunt. “Friends call me DoubleDash.”

  Jenny didn’t bat an eye at the odd nickname. “Jenny. You’re with the Dragons?”

  Double smiled. “Who else did you expect to show up? We’ve got the franchise in this part of space. Dragons forever.” He unclipped the locks and flipped the lid up. “So let’s start this.” He rubbed his hands together. “Been a few months since one of you Mercy ships came on through. Usually I get the Charity runs and they don’t ask for much of anything.” He scrunched his face up into a frown. “Them’s sad folk. I hate even thinking ‘bout them.”

  Jenny studied her notebook, trying not to think about them either. Charity ships didn’t offer anything other than straight sex, the end of the line for women and men who never got ahead of what they owed to the Guild. “Do you have everything I ordered?”

  “Most of it,” he answered. “You gotta understand there’s always going to be some stuff your girls want that I just can’t get.”

  She smiled. “I keep telling them that but they don’t listen.” Jenny unclipped the backpack. “First for April. She wanted the purple scarf—”

  The sirens shattered her words.

  “What the—” Double grabbed at his communication earpiece. “What’s going on?”

  Jenny tried to look stoic but her heart hammered in her chest. Alarms meant trouble and that was something she didn’t need right now. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, resisting the urge to grab everything, stuff it in the pack and run. At least on the Belle she was on her own turf—out here was unfamiliar territory and there was plenty that could go wrong. Mechanical failures, accidents, riots—a mining base way out here was a simmering pot of trouble waiting to go off at the slightest touch.

  Which is why they paid and they paid well for the Guild ships to come on by and relieve the tension. Offer a little glitz, a little glamour. Train with April and get certified in martial arts. Hang with Bianca and have a Japanese Tea Ceremony to settle your karma. Cry on Kendra’s shoulder about the friends you’ve lost and your worries about being so far from home, from your family.

  And, oh yeah—mind blowing sex if you wanted it.

  The sirens fell silent and she waited for Double to finish listening to his communications.

  “Damn.” Double looked at her. “We got a riot broke out two levels down in the infirmary. Some doper got himself the good stuff from the doc and it’s all torn to pieces. Security teams swarming the place.”

  “So what does that have to do with us? That’s nowhere near here, right?” Jenny tried to sound as light as possible. “Let’s finish the trade and get out of here.”

  Double shrugged. “Base is on lockdown. Ain’t nobody going nowhere.” He gestured at the door. “Locks automatically go live when security hits the panic button. We’re stuck in here until it’s opened from outside or if they key the OK.” He grinned. “So let’s do our thing while we wait. As soon as they flip that switch we can be good and gone.”

  “Okay,” Jenny replied. She pulled the canvas flap open. “I got that item you said the boys really want.”

  Double’s eyes went wide. “You kidding me? That’s like—” He licked his lips and waved his hand in the air. “Like the best thing ever.”

  Jenny wanted to disagree but she withdrew the bagged item from the backpack slowly, letting his eyes linger on every inch as it was exposed.

  “For this we’re wanting the two small bolts of blue silk fabric we agreed on earlier. None of that fake crap. April and Kendra will know the difference and you don’t want to piss them off.”

  “Holy—” Double pulled his attention away long enough to start digging in the suitcase. “I got that here on the bottom. Wasn’t sure you’d get it so I didn’t put it up front.”

  “Good.” Jenny pushed the transparent baggie across the desk toward him. “What you expected?”

  The miner grabbed at it with shaking hands. “Oh yeah.” He stared at the frilly pink panties and sighed. He looked back up at Jenny. “Unwashed, right?”

  Jenny suppressed a shudder. “As requested.” Bianca had been the only one willing to hand over her underwear for the payoff. It was kinda sick but Jenny had received stranger requests from fans dying for anything and everything from a Mercy woman.

  “Good. That’s made my day.” Double put it to the side with a sigh of remorse. “Now for the rest.”

  She resisted the urge to wipe her hands on her coveralls. “Isn’t someone going to miss you during this lockdown?” Jenny asked. “You aren’t supposed to be here. They do a count and you’re not on shift someone’s going to come looking for you.”

  Double shrugged, the dim overhead fluorescent lights bouncing off his pale bald scalp. “I do what I do and everyone looks the other way. As long as the Dragons get their cut and I get mine and pass it on down everyone’s gonna be fine.”

  As if on cue the siren let out three short bursts, each making her skin crawl.

  “There,” Double announced. “We’re all good. Security boys do a good job when they have to.” He withdrew a long dark rectangle from the suitcase. “So you said one of your ladies liked chocolate?”

  Jenny smiled. “Kendra’s got a sweet tooth.” She dug in her backpack, relieved to be back to familiar ground. Her discomfort disappeared as she got down to the nitty gritty of haggling for the best deal for her and her charges on board the Bonnie Belle.

  Thi
rty minutes later she clipped the backpack closed, careful to not bruise the fresh strawberries and other fruit Double had procured from somewhere. He, on the other hand, was busy sitting on the suitcase in order to get the locks to engage. It was an interesting feat in full gravity, more entertaining in the near-zero gravity around them.

  Jenny thought about the fabric, already making plans on how much to charge the courtesans for their projects. She’d never have guessed sewing would become her second skill after mechanical engineering but it’d come in handy both for repairs and for creating whatever the crew needed. From curtains to bedsheets to blouses and whatever else she could make out of the scraps.

  “Time to go.” Double bounced on the suitcase one last time and the resounding click brought a smile to his face. “Pleased to be doing business with you.”

  “Right back at you,” Jenny replied. “You leave first then me a few minutes later.”

  Double nodded. “Use the same communiqué if you want something next landfall. I know you won’t be in the area for another year or so but I’ll be here.” He tapped a gold bar sewn on his chest. “Ten year stint. Going to grab all I can before I retire out.” He threw her a jaunty salute as he headed for the door. “Leave the flag. I’ll grab it after you’re gone.” He pulled the hatch closed and left her alone in the office.

  Jenny pulled the backpack on and adjusted the straps. There