Parron opened his mouth to reply, but Equaria interrupted. Hiding her irritation, she remarked, “It did take five hours, sir. You’ve been at dinner with the prisoner that long.” The crew snickered in such a way that Agnar knew what they thought he was doing with Karina. He blushed slightly before deciding it would better for his reputation to brazen it out and let them think what they wanted. He cleared his throat and stretched his arms out, as if previous exercise necessitated it. The crew laughed and elbowed each other as he made his way to his seat.
He settled himself comfortably in the captain’s chair and motioned to Equaria.
“Yes, sir?” Equaria answered, still smoldering.
“Contact Premier Bartholos.”
“Yes, sir.” Equaria executed a rapid dance of fingers on the console, connecting the comm to the forward viewscreen.
A stern face replaced the view of the planet below. The face broke into a grin upon seeing Agnar.
“Agnar! I take it you have my goods?”
“Yes. Shall I land in the usual place?”
“Yes,” the premier replied, “and please deliver them to the palace in person,” he added, as if it were an afterthought.
“Why?” Agnar asked.
“I want to change some of the items. Bring your appetite, and we’ll discuss the changes over lunch.”
“Very well, Premier.” Agnar had little choice but to comply. Even with his advanced Bitowan ship, he was vulnerable this far into Kytor territory. Premier Bartholos smiled at Agnar and disconnected.
Fifteen minutes later the ship landed at the palace spaceport. Agnar gave his crew permission to visit the spaceport facilities on the condition they avoid any intoxicants. Karina was still locked in her quarters, and Equaria volunteered to stay and watch the ship. Agnar assured her that it wasn’t necessary, since the ship’s entrance was coded only to him, but she insisted that ship security was part of her duty. Agnar didn’t notice her cunning half smile as he turned to leave. He was looking forward to doing business with Premier Bartholos. He needed someone to distract his thoughts from Karina for awhile.
Equaria watched from the cargo bay as Agnar strode down the ramp and directed the unloading of the goods. The premier’s men quickly transferred the cartons from the ship to a long skiff. They secured them to the floor of the skiff and then climbed aboard. As Agnar prepared to board the back of the skiff, the man sitting next to the driver called him over.
“Take my seat, sir. You’ll be more comfortable.” He held out his hand to Agnar to help him board the high skiff. Agnar took his hand and the man swung him aboard. The man then jumped down to the ground, giving Agnar room to sit next to the driver. The skiff took off, heading toward the palace grounds, leaving the man behind.
The man watched as the skiff drove out of sight, then turned and walked up the ramp toward Equaria. He stopped in front of her.
“Where’s the Earthling?” he asked.
“Where’s my payment?” Equaria countered.
The man pulled out a data tablet and showed it to Equaria. “When I have the Earthling, I’ll initiate the transfer of the quarinium into your account.”
Equaria read the tablet and nodded, satisfied. She led the man through the ship to the living quarters. “So, what’s your name?” she asked conversationally.
“Not that it matters, but it’s Caman.”
She smiled over her shoulder at him. “I’m Equaria.”
“Not that it matters,” he reiterated.
Equaria felt irritated by Caman’s cold response. She led him down the corridor and stopped at Karina’s room. “The Earthling is in here, but I can’t unlock the door without Agnar. Are you sure you can open it?” Equaria looked at the man skeptically.
Caman smiled and his features melted. When he solidified, Equaria found herself staring at an exact copy of Agnar. She gasped in shock. “How . . . what . . . are you?”
Caman grimaced with Agnar’s mouth. “I wish I knew.” Caman palmed the plate and the door opened.
Karina had been lying on the bed staring at the ceiling, but sat up quickly at the sound of the door opening. Agnar and Equaria entered the room. Agnar pulled something out of his pocket and held it out, walking toward her. She stepped back at his approach until she was up against the wall, prepared to fight rather than wear the halaband again. He opened his hand. Karina was surprised to see that he held nothing more than the currency used on Bellos. Agnar smiled at her.
“We’re at the spaceport on Bellos. I’m letting you go. This money is to make up for the inconvenience I’ve caused you.” Karina looked at him incredulously, making no move to take the money. Agnar held his hand out farther. “Go on, take it. You’re free to leave.”
Karina reached out and took the money, still wary. Agnar stepped out of the path to the door and motioned Equaria to do the same. Equaria moved as instructed, her disbelieving eyes still on this thing that had become Agnar, with hardly a thought for Karina.
Karina moved slowly to the door, passing both Agnar and Equaria. Once through, she ran toward the entrance of the ship, her hand still tight around the money Agnar had given her. He was freeing her! Maybe he did have feelings for her. She felt a prick on her palm and opened her hand instinctively, dropping the coins. They fell to the floor, clinking on the metal deck. Red blood welled up and ran down her hand. She stared at it, confused. As she looked up, Agnar’s features blurred and reformed, and he became someone else. Someone she didn’t recognize.
Karina looked back down at her hand, and then back to the strange man standing with Equaria. Equaria was grinning at her. Karina’s eyes closed and she fell to the floor, unconscious. Caman showed Equaria the tablet as he input the code to release the quarinium into her account.
“Tell the premier that it was a pleasure doing business with him,” Equaria said, still grinning.
“Certainly.” Caman shoved the tablet into his pocket and stooped to pick up Karina. He turned toward the main exit and strode to the door. When he reached it, he realized it was locked. He shifted Karina to his shoulder to free one of his hands and transformed it into Agnar’s hand. He palmed the plate and the door opened. He walked down the boarding plank. As he reached the bottom, a hovercar pulled up, and he set Karina on the seat inside before climbing in himself.
“Be careful with that one,” Equaria warned, standing at the air lock door. “She may look like a Yalsan, but she doesn’t react to situations the way you’d expect. The premier may get more than he bargained for with her.”
Caman looked down at the unconscious woman on the seat beside him. She didn’t look terribly dangerous, but then he didn’t either. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied.
Equaria smiled wryly and left Agnar’s ship to meet her crew at the prearranged bar. She had enough money to be her own captain again. It was time to part ways with Agnar.
As the hovercar drove to the palace, Caman lifted the Earthling’s hand and inspected her wound. Red blood. How delightfully odd. He couldn’t wait to talk with her to determine what other things about her were odd.
*
*
*
Agnar leaned idly against a wall, watching the premier’s servants unload the skiff. After a few minutes, a man approached him.
“Sir, I’m to take you to the premier,” he said deferentially.
“Lead on,” Agnar replied, and the fellow set off at a brisk pace. Caught by surprise, Agnar had to jog to catch up. The servant led him through the palace until they arrived at a large dining room with only one table on a raised dais. He seated Agnar at the table and poured him some wine. Then he left. Agnar sipped the wine while waiting for the premier.
“Agnar! My good man!” Premier Bartholos seemed to be in high spirits as he entered the room. Agnar stood to greet him. The premier shook his hand enthusiastically.
“Sit! My servants await to bring you food.” Agnar sat, confused by the joviality of the normally stern premier. Servants filled their plates with food. Bartholos ate with his hands, rinsing them clean in a bowl of water between each course.
“Do you have the revised list of goods for me?” Agnar asked.
Premier Bartholos clapped his hands and scantily clad dancing girls rushed into the room, performing intricate steps in unison. “Later, my friend. Now is the time for enjoyment.” He gestured to the dancing girls. “My wives. Aren’t they lovely?”
“Which ones?” Agnar asked.
“Why, all of them, of course.” Premier Bartholos beamed at the women as they continued to dance.
Agnar estimated that there were over fifty women in the hall. There were nineteen different species and up to four different races within each of those species. Bartholos was quite the collector. He shook his head at the number of women the premier had managed to marry. Marrying even one woman was incomprehensible to Agnar. He preferred to only be responsible for his own happiness. Bartholos must be crazy.
Agnar looked more closely and noticed that none of the women were smiling. In fact, most of them looked quite dejected. He glanced over at Bartholos. The premier was completely oblivious to his wives’ unhappiness. Agnar endured the meal and the chatty premier, watching the women as they wove their way through several dances. They finished the final dance as a servant cleared the dessert course from in front of Agnar and the premier. The women filed out of the room, one limping slightly from an injured ankle. She must have danced through the pain, as Agnar hadn’t noticed it before.
Bartholos motioned to a servant. The man brought over a tablet, handing it to the premier. Upon receiving it, Bartholos immediately handed it to Agnar. “Here’s the revised list. It contains the new items I wish to be included in the next shipment.”
Agnar took the tablet and looked it over. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. This list could have been given to him at the ship, by a servant. He pocketed the tablet and said nothing.
Bartholos pushed his chair back and stood up, stretching. “Well, you must be going. My servant will drive you back to your ship.” He snapped his fingers and the man who had led Agnar into the room came over, executing a slight bow. Agnar stood, ready to follow the fast servant the moment he moved. Bartholos waved dismissively. “Go,” he said. The servant took off, Agnar at his heels.
The servant led him back to the loading dock where a hovercar waited. The servant opened the door, and as soon as Agnar climbed in, he slammed it shut, and the hovercar took off. When Agnar reached his ship, he was surprised to find it surrounded by the premier’s guards. He jumped out of the hovercar and approached the nearest one. “What’s wrong? Why are you guarding my ship?”
The guard eyed Agnar and read the tablet in his hand. He refocused his attention on Agnar. “Agnar the Pirate?”
Agnar felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. “Just Agnar now,” he replied warily.
The guard dismissed the difference with a wave of his hand. “You will leave now and never return, or you will be arrested, by order of the premier.”
Agnar was shocked, unable to fathom why Bartholos had suddenly turned on him. “But I have an order for a shipment from the premier.” He pulled the tablet out of his pocket to show the list to the guard. The tablet was blank. Agnar scrolled though it, but all of its data was gone. “I don’t understand,” he said, looking back up at the guard.
“There’s nothing to understand,” the guard said. “The premier wants you gone, and so you must go.”
Agnar tried to stall to give himself time to figure out the premier’s angle. “My crew hasn’t returned to the ship. I’ll leave the minute they arrive.”
The guard wasn’t sympathetic. “Your crew has left under the threat of becoming outlaws themselves. We’re providing them with alternative transportation to their preferred destination as a condition of abandoning you. You have just a few moments to decide if you want to be in space or in jail today.”
Agnar wondered what the hell was going on, but he wondered while he was boarding his ship. He didn’t want to be a prisoner ever again. That reminded him of Karina. She should be all right since she was locked in a room only he could access. He’d check on her once he cleared the planet. It took a few minutes to get the ship off the ground and Agnar marveled again at the Bitowan technology that made that possible. Once free of the planet’s gravity, he set a course to take him away from it, indifferent to the direction. He stood up to go see how Karina was doing.