03 Solar Flare - Spark Series (17 page)

Of course, looking for a navigator meant
she’d decided to travel with Azor. Gem had plenty to say about
that, too. “So, what? He kisses you a few more times and suddenly
you decide it’s a good idea to trip across the solar system with
him?” she demanded. “Just what are you basing your decisions on,
anyway?”

“Nag, nag, nag! You’re upset if I go with
him. You’re grouchy if don’t. There’s no pleasing you when you’re
pregnant,” Brandy had shot back. Gem was right, of course, which
only made her grumpy, too. There was no good and logical reason why
she should choose Azor’s ship over some other mode of travel. Doing
so would only encourage those kisses he was so freely handing out.
She shot a secret glance at him.

She’d never claimed to be smart.

The spaceship yards were set farther inland,
in the industrial area, a far cry from the touristy beach. The
traffic was congested even in the early afternoon, and there was a
great deal of scrubby growth mixed in with light, coppery colored
dirt. She preferred the ordered gardens; the long stretches of
carefully cultivated trees that lined the roads to the resort. With
her desire for order, she probably wasn’t colonist material. She
didn’t mind.

Azor parked their rented transport in the lot
and held the door open for her as she eased onto the hot pavement.
It was muggy and hot here, the air redolent with the sharp tang of
starship fuel. It made her nose itch. Hoping to suppress a sneeze,
she wrinkled it and looked around. Since the area was designed for
function, not beauty, there wasn’t much in the way of scenery;
ships departing and arriving were the main attraction. She could
see freight being moved to the loading area, and crews busy with
maintenance. “Tell me again why we need this navigator?”

He waved his hand toward a battered gray
building. “Would you leave your valuable freight locked up and
never check on it? Our bodies are too valuable for that.”

“Granted, by why would someone want to hire
on just to baby sit why we sleep? I can’t imagine anything more
dull.”

“For you. There are other beings that enjoy
journeys like that. The solitude pleases them.” They entered the
building and went up to the counter in the foyer. Azor looked at
the secretary. “I have an appointment to look over your
navigators.”

The secretary had bumpy yellow skin and the
long, thin body of a cartoon chicken. She looked bored as she
handed Azor a card. She pointed across the hall. “Through that
door, please.” She went back to picking at the floppy red feathers
that sprouted from her head.

Brandy didn’t have the chance to ask what
race she represented before they were in a hallway with several
booths. Each booth had a counter with two stools before it. Behind
each counter sat a Guok.

Guoka were flabby white bipedals who looked
like sacks of walking jelly. She knew little about them, save for
the fact that their vomit rivaled sewer sludge. They’d rented a
room once to an intoxicated Guok who’d puked on the bed sheets. The
acid had eaten a hole in the linen and halfway through the
mattress. Xera, who’d been in charge of the maids, had been
livid.

Brandy wrinkled her nose, but held her peace.
Presumably Azor knew what he was doing.

The Guoka spoke with curiously flat, nasal
voices, and rarely made eye contact. One spoke while playing a
handheld game. Another bounced a ball mindlessly, over and over.
Another fidgeted constantly. All of them had rather blank
expressions. She preferred the one with the game. For her, it was
the least annoying habit, but after meeting them, she couldn’t
understand why Azor was so hot to have one on his ship.

She waited until they left the room, and then
voiced her doubts in the lobby. “I’m having reservations about
this.”

He smiled slightly. “They are like an
autistic human, Bran; terribly good at one thing, but not the most
social. Trust me, the Guok know navigation inside and out, and
won’t deviate from protocol. You want to see an agitated Guok? Try
to vary routine. It’s just how they are.”

“Autistic, huh?”

“Yes. Their senses are over-stimulated
planet-side, and they’re terribly brilliant. They prefer the
restfulness of space.”

She gave a short sigh. “Okay, but if he gets
sick, you’re cleaning it up.” She ignored his quizzical look to nod
at the clerk. “So do we sign a contract, or what?” Now that she’d
determined to travel with him, she was impatient to leave. The
weeks of inactivity were slowly driving her mad.

“I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you call
your sister and see if she’s decided where she wants to meet for
dinner?”

She wasn’t very excited by the prospect of
another large meal. If she kept eating like this, soon she wouldn’t
fit through the ship’s cargo door. With a sigh, she pulled out her
com and called her sister to finalize their plans for the
evening.

Large, dark eyes set in a gaunt, wrinkled
gray face watched as Brandy and Azor entered their transport and
drove away from the office. Its voice was rough as it spoke into
its transceiver. “Yes, they just left. I’ll find out their
departure date inside.”

The smooth voice of his client was unruffled,
cultured. “You’ll take the navigator’s place, of course.”

The Hatir licked his lips idly with a brown,
forked tongue. “He’s dinner tonight.” There was more than one way
for the shape shifter to absorb DNA. He’d never tasted Guok before.
“They’ll never know the difference.” He was a superb actor, a
skilled assassin. They would be dead before they knew it. “I’ll
wait a couple of days and arrange an accident. I’ll dock and slip
away before anyone thinks to detain me.”

“No. I want something else now.”

“Oh?” The Hatir was annoyed. He didn’t like
clients who couldn’t make up their minds. He’d once killed one in
irritation who’d tried to back out at the last moment.

“They’re going to see her sister, Ambassador
Xera. I want her dead, too. Kill her first. I want Brandy to see it
happen. You’ll enjoy the challenge,” he coaxed, when the Hatir
remained silent.

That was true, but “challenge” was an
understatement. The Ambassador’s adopted people weren’t known to be
fools, or easy on enemies. It would take extraordinary measures to
survive long enough to collect his fee. Though perhaps…there might
be others who would like to see her dead? Would any of her old
employers care to see her disappear? From what he’d heard, she’d
caused them a great deal of trouble. They might offer a handsome
reward.

The idea excited him. The hunt and the money
were the only things that mattered. They were his obsession. “It
will cost you.”

“Of course. It will be worth it. Do this and
you can name your price.” He laughed bitterly. “Better you have it.
I won’t need it soon.”

The Hatir purred in contentment. “Done. I
want payment in advance on this one. You know which account. I’ll
contact you once they’re in cold sleep.” He signed off and
contemplated the office building where his dinner waited. He had
plans to make.

CHAPTER 11

Brandy scrolled through her messages while
Azor drove. She hadn’t expected to find one from Vio Srie. She
hadn’t talked to the vintner in weeks, and wondered if there was a
problem with his shipment. Their business managers should have been
able to handle anything that came up, but Vio liked to be personal
with his business. She sent off a quick text inquiry, rather
pleased to have some business to distract her. Her email had been
sadly mundane lately.

She was surprised to receive a call back
almost immediately. “Brandy! You’re off world? I hadn’t heard.
Business or pleasure?” Vio’s rich voice inquired.

She smiled. “There’s no pleasure like good
business, is there, Vio? What can I do for you?”

He laughed. “Did your sister harass you into
taking a vacation? You sound grumpy about it.”

She made a non-committal noise. “I’ll
survive.” Sometimes he’d get to the point if she didn’t encourage
him.

“Ah, youth. So impatient. But there, you are
young, and perhaps with someone more handsome than myself. I won’t
trouble you with things I could speak with your manager about. One
thing, though; are you still planning to attend the Vintner’s Gala?
We’re drawing up a special guest list for a celebration dinner when
we win the award for best new wine.”

She smiled, amused. It was arrogant of him to
assume he’d win, but he had taken the trophy for the last three
years. She rather admired his moxie. “Not this time. I’ll be
traveling for a while yet. Give my regrets to your wife.” Vio was a
bit of a playboy. It never hurt to remind him he had a wife.

The connection wasn’t the best, and
encouraged him to finish up. “Ah, well. Happy journeys, then.
Siayat.”

“Siayat.” She hung up.

“Business acquaintance?” Azor asked, glancing
at her.

“Vio Srie. He’s preparing a guest list for an
award he hasn’t won yet. You’ve got to admire his brass; though I’d
like to see him get monkey slapped at least once. It’d be good for
him. He does like to gloat.”

“Hm.”

She glanced at him suspiciously. “I hear an
odd note in your voice.”

“You’re a good judge of character.”

“Why? What do you know about Vio?”

“Him? Not much. I arrested his son for drug
trafficking, though.”

She laughed incredulously. “Vio will want
your blood.”

He shrugged. “I’m not worried...though you
know I bleed green, don’t you?”

She did a double, startled, then laughed.
“Very funny. Turn here. The GPS says there’s a traffic jam ahead.”
He could see that for himself, but she loved to needle him. Served
him right for the green blood joke.

He just smiled…and introduced her as his
girlfriend to the hostess when they entered the restaurant.

She waited until they were seated at their
reserved table before she called him on it. “Just because I’m
traveling with you doesn’t make me your girl.”

“It doesn’t?” he asked absently as he studied
the appetizer menu. “But how will we explain our kissing?”

She coughed. “Once or twice counts as an
aberration, I think.” Okay, so the number of times had steadily
climbed up there. Depressing his aspirations made her feel more in
control of her own slipping morals, though.

His eyes smiled his menu. “I’ll try to
remember that when I kiss you goodnight.”

She remained silent, studying him. They
needed to talk about this. He was making assumptions, and all she
had to do to let him take this further was to do nothing. She’d
learned enough about him over the last few weeks to understand that
he was not an easy man to dissuade. Ignoring the issue wouldn’t
make it go away.

They were seated on a deck overlooking the
ocean. A wall formed of rough boulders as tall as her chin and wide
enough to walk on protected the sidewalk from the ocean. As the
tide came in, it splashed impressively over the wall and wet the
sidewalk in a playful display. The water glimmered in the old
fashioned streetlights and the three-quarter moon. She was more
fascinated by its rhythm than the ships in the harbor. For her,
they were just backdrop.

She waited until they’d placed their order
for drinks and appetizers before she spoke to Azor. “It seems that
I’m attracted to you.”

“Your tone of voice implies that this is not
cause for rejoicing,” he said dryly.

She allowed a small smile, but said
seriously, “It’s difficult, but I’ll do you the honor of believing
you meant it when you told my family you were courting me.”

“Thank you,” he replied, still dry.

“And yet,” she said doggedly, “We have little
in common. We’ve never discussed this issue. I don’t even know if
you have any living family. I know so little about you.”

“Do you have a questionnaire? I’m afraid I
didn’t bring a pen,” he said, but he looked more wry than annoyed.
He thanked the waiter for their drinks and the wooden platter of
delicacies he brought. “Just a moment,” he said, and answered his
com. “It’s for you.” He passed to Brandy.

“Sorry, sis,” Gem apologized. “The baby is
sick; nothing serious, just some tummy trouble. We took him to the
doctor, and it seems to be just a passing bug. We won’t be able to
make it, though.”

Brandy frowned. “It’s no problem. Take care
that you don’t get sick, too.” They exchanged assurances and she
hung up. She gave the com back to Azor. “They can’t make it.”

“I gathered that. I don’t mind. I’m not sure
I’d want an audience for this discussion, anyway.” He popped a
spiral of fried vegetable in his mouth and chewed while he regarded
her. When he was done, he said easily, “I have no family. My mother
is dead. It happened years ago.” A shadow passed over his face, but
he didn’t let it stop him from reaching for a bright green
berry.

She studied him. “Your father? Who was
he?”

He looked out over the deck, rolling the
berry absently in his hand. He was silent for some time. “My mother
was raped,” he said finally. “It was a random thing; she was in the
wrong place at the wrong time. He was caught, we know his identity,
but I’ve never used his name as mine, of course.”

She drew a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t
know.”

He shrugged. “I don’t talk about it. Anyway,
it’s the sort of thing you should know.”

She nodded, but didn’t offer platitudes. He
wouldn’t want them.

After a moment, he went on. “She kept me, of
course. She believed that every life is precious, no matter how I
came to be. Obviously, I’m grateful.” He made a face. “It took me a
while to show her my appreciation, though. I’ve made my share
of…mistakes.”

“Is that why you became a cop?”

He looked at his drink and flagged down the
waiter. “I’ll have a beer, please. Make it two.” At her look of
surprise, for he rarely ordered anything stronger than caffeine, he
said, “Some discussions call for something stronger than juice.” He
was silent a moment, then told her, “I actually was a stripper in
my late teens, early twenties. My mom was sick and couldn’t work,
and I couldn’t afford to go to school during the day and still pay
the bills. I created Azure to hide my identity. She never
knew.”