anything about my hair, or lack of it, as soon as I bared myself at the café. I wave to Squid, who glances behind him to see who else I might be signaling.
Damn, what’s his real name? Ira. Huh, Squid might actually be better, though the name was meant as a jab at his IQ.
“Hey, Ira! How’s it going? How’ve you been?”
“Uhm. Okay.” He pauses with an expression of what I take to be perpetual confusion. “Do I know you?”
I smile at him. “It’s been a long time. We were at the academy together. You think you can hook me up with a Skimmer?”
His moon-pale brow wrinkles up in a scowl. “I’m not supposed to let anyone take them. They’ve been . . .” Ira struggles over the word, and I wince in sympathy, though he doesn’t notice. “Confiscated!”
“I’m sure that doesn’t apply to the newly appointed ambassador of New Terra,” March says smoothly. “If you don’t believe me, confirm with Chancellor Tarn. Of course, he might be annoyed with you for making the ambassador wait, as well as interrupting his conference with the Ielosian representatives.”
Damn, the man is good; poor Ira looks bewildered. I imagine I don’t look like an ambassador, but then again, how many would he have seen, spending his life roaming around vehicle maintenance? If this works, this gig might have perks I hadn’t even imagined. Assuming I don’t die horribly on the way to Ithiss-Tor.
“I didn’t know you were an ambassador,” Ira says finally. “You should really have a badge or something. I can let you borrow a B-class Skimmer, but you have to bring it back before my shift ends at five. Please?” he adds, as if remembering he needs to be polite to me.
“Absolutely,” March assures him. “We have no plans to leave the city.”
That sends a cold chill down my back. Famous last words, best-laid plans, and all that. March takes the codes that will start the engine, and I follow him toward the black-and-red-striped one in the far corner. Ira trails behindus, obviously conflicted. I gather he likes following the rules, and we’ve made him break them.
“Who’re you anyway?” he asks March.
Who flashes his saturnine smile. “I’m the guy who kills anyone that messes with the ambassador.”
Wow, I like the sound of that. Ira doesn’t venture any more questions before the engine purrs to life. Then we’re up, up, and away.
----
CHAPTER 5
There’s nothing like riding a Skimmer, even when it’s this cold.
The speed, the control, the hint of danger as we swoop around the city. Ankaraj isn’t a pretty settlement, glittering metal bones jutting from the snow with more determination than grace. I’ve never been sure why the Corp chose to center its headquarters here. Even though New Terra can’t compete with other worlds in terms of natural beauty—and functions as nothing so much as a farm colony—it certainly possesses sites more scenic than this.
I hold on tight to March while the wind whips against my face. For these moments, I am perfectly, gloriously free. I don’t need to think about the future, my obligations, or what’s in store for us on Ithiss-Tor. March knows I can’t stand feeling trapped. Shit, being planet-bound is bad enough. He intuits what those days trapped inside the cave, then later confined to quarters because of the Conglomerate inquiry, meant to me.
If not for Velith Il-Nok, the bounty hunter slotted to accompany me to Ithiss-Tor, I would have died in a Corp asylum,after taking the blame for any number of their crimes. He and I spent several nerve-wracking days riding out a storm in a cave off the Teresengi Basin, after he killed his own crew on my behalf. They were monsters, no doubt, but he’d hired them in good faith. To someone like Vel, his word is his bond. But I can’t think about what I owe him, or guilt will set in. I’m not used to owing people debts so big, I have no coin to pay.
By the time we park outside a Transplanetary
Damn, what’s his real name? Ira. Huh, Squid might actually be better, though the name was meant as a jab at his IQ.
“Hey, Ira! How’s it going? How’ve you been?”
“Uhm. Okay.” He pauses with an expression of what I take to be perpetual confusion. “Do I know you?”
I smile at him. “It’s been a long time. We were at the academy together. You think you can hook me up with a Skimmer?”
His moon-pale brow wrinkles up in a scowl. “I’m not supposed to let anyone take them. They’ve been . . .” Ira struggles over the word, and I wince in sympathy, though he doesn’t notice. “Confiscated!”
“I’m sure that doesn’t apply to the newly appointed ambassador of New Terra,” March says smoothly. “If you don’t believe me, confirm with Chancellor Tarn. Of course, he might be annoyed with you for making the ambassador wait, as well as interrupting his conference with the Ielosian representatives.”
Damn, the man is good; poor Ira looks bewildered. I imagine I don’t look like an ambassador, but then again, how many would he have seen, spending his life roaming around vehicle maintenance? If this works, this gig might have perks I hadn’t even imagined. Assuming I don’t die horribly on the way to Ithiss-Tor.
“I didn’t know you were an ambassador,” Ira says finally. “You should really have a badge or something. I can let you borrow a B-class Skimmer, but you have to bring it back before my shift ends at five. Please?” he adds, as if remembering he needs to be polite to me.
“Absolutely,” March assures him. “We have no plans to leave the city.”
That sends a cold chill down my back. Famous last words, best-laid plans, and all that. March takes the codes that will start the engine, and I follow him toward the black-and-red-striped one in the far corner. Ira trails behindus, obviously conflicted. I gather he likes following the rules, and we’ve made him break them.
“Who’re you anyway?” he asks March.
Who flashes his saturnine smile. “I’m the guy who kills anyone that messes with the ambassador.”
Wow, I like the sound of that. Ira doesn’t venture any more questions before the engine purrs to life. Then we’re up, up, and away.
----
CHAPTER 5
There’s nothing like riding a Skimmer, even when it’s this cold.
The speed, the control, the hint of danger as we swoop around the city. Ankaraj isn’t a pretty settlement, glittering metal bones jutting from the snow with more determination than grace. I’ve never been sure why the Corp chose to center its headquarters here. Even though New Terra can’t compete with other worlds in terms of natural beauty—and functions as nothing so much as a farm colony—it certainly possesses sites more scenic than this.
I hold on tight to March while the wind whips against my face. For these moments, I am perfectly, gloriously free. I don’t need to think about the future, my obligations, or what’s in store for us on Ithiss-Tor. March knows I can’t stand feeling trapped. Shit, being planet-bound is bad enough. He intuits what those days trapped inside the cave, then later confined to quarters because of the Conglomerate inquiry, meant to me.
If not for Velith Il-Nok, the bounty hunter slotted to accompany me to Ithiss-Tor, I would have died in a Corp asylum,after taking the blame for any number of their crimes. He and I spent several nerve-wracking days riding out a storm in a cave off the Teresengi Basin, after he killed his own crew on my behalf. They were monsters, no doubt, but he’d hired them in good faith. To someone like Vel, his word is his bond. But I can’t think about what I owe him, or guilt will set in. I’m not used to owing people debts so big, I have no coin to pay.
By the time we park outside a Transplanetary
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