An Unexpected Debt – Chapter 3

“Failure, failure, failure,” Vivian says, sighing.

The flames in the fire bin climb higher as she tosses more plant matter on top of the burning mess. And what a mess it is. I squint my eyes against the smoke and move upwind.

“This was the fifth attempt to cultivate this plant from the DNA level up. The eleventh failure to propagate these seedlings.” Vivian kicks dirt. “One of the many Rio plant failures Renata Dellis will be disappointed with after our initial success.” She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Everything looked so promising in the beginning. Everything went to shit soon after.”

Rio, the other inhabited planet here in the Brazilianos System, is a wealth of dangerous animals and plants that will either make you into superheroes or kill you. Plants that Vivian is trying to adapt right here in her greenhouses. When Vivian and I flew together a few years ago, she found several worth enough that Renata Dellis, CEO of Athens Industries, bought Vivian out and put her on the payroll. We still have so much to learn from Rio and why it evolved the way it did. Vivian is starting her education with the plants. They’re highly adaptive, and when consumed, they can provide almost superhuman capabilities. Trust me, I know. She wants to take the adaptive part and train it for use on other worlds. So far, she’s had only a modicum of success.

Three other farmworkers approach with their arms full of vines, and each of them tosses their burdens on the fiery pyre. Vivian stretches upward and forward, a clear sign that her back and shoulders hurt, probably from working in the lab and rocking her baby girl to sleep each night. But little Ilaria is worth every ache and pain.

“Only a little left, Vivian,” her foreman says, approaching with another armful of vines. “The guys are taking care of the soil right now.”

“Thanks,” she says, nodding and stepping farther from the fire. Two of the workers stoke the flames, and the smoke reaches higher into the darkening sky. “You can run the kiln all night if you need to.”

“Will do.” He nods and touches the brim of his hat as he saunters off.

“What do you use the kiln for again?” I ask, pulling her farther away from the smoke.

“We’ll cure and dry the soil in the kiln before returning it to the compost pile on the farm. It’ll never be used again in the greenhouse. Gotta be careful.”

“What about the plants in the greenhouse? Are those doing okay?”

She bobs her head from side to side. “Yes and no. They seem to thrive on their own, and I’ve made a few with Old Earth hybrids that are doing okay. But my recent experiments, the ones we’ll need to seed new worlds? Those have all failed.”

I frown at her slumped figure and dull skin. “You look exhausted, Viv. You should take some time off.”

“Can’t. Too much work to do.”

I pull my bottom lip into my teeth and wonder if there’s anything I can do to help. I know nothing about plants except what Vivian has taught me and what I learned in far-school growing up. Far-school showed me which plants on Ossun, Sonoma, and Palo Alto were edible and which to avoid. But they didn’t teach me anything about cultivation.

“What am I doing wrong?” Vivian asks, and I know she’s not asking me, so I stay quiet. “There has to be a reason my experiments for the last six months have failed. All the plants we’ve harvested from Rio behind the backs of the military have thrived for a month or two before dying without warning. The ones I raised from seed did moderately well but turned infertile. Many of them are missing key elements, and they don’t thrive for long.” She digs her fingers into the back of her neck. “So far, my job to make hybrid plants for the colonization of other worlds is going bust.”

I look up and spot the brightest shimmering star in the sky — Rio, the next closest planet to our sun. It’s the key to humanity’s future on other worlds. It’s the diamond of the Brazilianos System and one of the wealthiest places to live. People vacation there all the time in the floating cities. It’s also under a blockade from the military for any non-tourist traffic.

“Vivian!” Gus’s voice cuts through the crackling of the fire, and we both turn to see him approach with Marcelo on his heels.

I relax a little at Gus’s smile. He’s the third member of Vivian’s relationship network and a good friend to me now. He’s a homebody and loves taking care of the homestead with Ilaria on his hip all day.

“Hey,” he says, coming up to stand next to us at the fire. He cups Vivian’s cheek and pulls her close for a kiss on the forehead. I step away to give them some space. “Another dud?”

“Yeah.” She sighs and deflates. “I’m getting nowhere. Just spinning my wheels.” Sandwiching her gloves under her armpit, she rubs her face with both hands. “What’s Ilaria up to?”

“Jin is feeding her dinner.”

She frowns. “Is it dinner time already?”

“Past dinner. We sat down for a meal an hour ago with Marcelo. We were wondering where you both were.”

“Sorry,” I say, stepping in. “Vivian was explaining everything to me, and we got caught up when another batch had to be burned. I offered to help.” I hold out my dirty hands and swipe them on my soil-stained jeans.

“Why didn’t anyone call us?” Vivian asks.

Gus shrugs. “I could see the smoke from the house, and I knew you’d be busy.”

“Are you getting ready for a bonfire?” Marcelo asks, his smile trying to lessen Vivian’s anxiety.

She huffs a brief laugh. “Do you have marshmallows?”

He shakes his head. “I’m fresh out.”

A gust of wind stirs up the fire and blows smoke around us. Gus coughs and moves aside with Marcelo.

“Let’s all go back inside.” I motion everyone away from the fire. Vivian hesitates. “Come on, Viv. There’s nothing more you can do here today.”

She nods as she follows us along the path to the house. Her down-turned eyes and slumped shoulders worry me. Vivian is my best friend and my cousin, and she’s the reason any of us are even alive and here right now. I would do anything for her, but I don’t know how to help with this. Rio plants and their strange ways are far out of my wheelhouse. I’m a space girl. I’m terrible with dirt and fresh air.

Well, the fresh air is really nice, I must say.

I hang back a bit to walk with Vivian as we approach the front porch.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” I ask. We slip off our dirty shoes and leave them by the front door. “I hate seeing you like this. Even though you are doing a lot better than you were a few years ago.”

“I don’t know,” she says, folding her arms over her chest and looking out at the smoke curling into the sky. “I have lots of help now, but this doesn’t seem to be a problem with a solution yet. There must be something I’m missing. Some key ingredient to making it all work together.” She tosses her gloves on a nearby chair. “Things were progressing so well in the beginning. And then they all started failing. I’m going to get fired from Athens Industries if I can’t make it work.”

I shake my head. “They’d be crazy to fire you. Absolutely insane.”

She chuckles. “Well, we’ll have to see if I can ever offer them something valuable enough to keep me on the payroll. Let’s go inside.”

I open the door, and Jinzo stands in the front hallway with Ilaria, Vivian’s first daughter, in his arms. She squeals for Vivian, and Vivian goes right to her toddler. I breathe a sigh of relief as I see the two of them happy together. Vivian is under a lot of pressure and has been for years. She could use a break. Ilaria babbles away in her short phrases, and my heart squeezes. She’s already a precocious two years old and putting everyone to work. I want that someday. Can I even have that?

“Ms. Skylar, I have your first candidate ready for inspection,” Marcelo calls out from the sitting room.

Speaking of pressure…

“Oh, I want to hear about this one,” Vivian says, handing Ilaria back to Jinzo.

“No, no. You stay with her,” I insist, pushing Vivian back. “This will be boring.”

“Nonsense.” Her smile broadens. “In fact, I bet we’d all like to hear about this new man Marcelo thinks would be perfect for you.” She flutters her eyelashes. “I’m sure he’s divine.” She draws out the word into several syllables.

“You are so dead to me,” I say between my clenched teeth.

She throws back her head in a fit of laughter, and Jinzo smiles. Well, at least I’m good for a laugh, and it’s nice to see Vivian happy, even at my expense.

I flop onto the couch in the sitting room. I smell of smoke, but it’s not an unpleasant fragrance. I loved camping at far-school when I was a teenager, and the smell of smoke reminds me of campfires. Campfires remind me of the other students, too, and time spent laughing and telling stories into the wee hours of the night. I can close my eyes and see them all, but I mostly see Saif Bhaat, my constant companion at far-school from ten to sixteen years old. We fell asleep around the campfire together many times. Sigh. I wish I had never lost touch with any of my far-school friends.

“So, this is who I have picked out for you,” Marcelo says, sitting next to me and handing me his datapad. He could share the profile with me via my wristlet, but this way, everyone can read at the same time as me. Vivian leans over the couch’s arm, and Jinzo and Gus peer over the top of my head. I reach back and squeeze Ilaria’s foot before I pay attention.

“I’m not sharing names or occupations of your men until you meet them in person. I want nothing coloring your first impressions except what I have researched and they’ve provided.”

I scan my eyes down the document before I get started.

“Comes from a prominent Rio family. He’s a second son, and he’s active in the family business.” I nod my head. All good things. “The family business has a presence throughout the Duo Systems, on all the major planets.”

Hmmm, that must mean they trade in goods.

“That’s perfect,” Vivian says. She reaches out to scroll on the datapad, and I smack her hand away. “Ow.” She laughs.

“Blah blah blah,” I continue. “He works out. He’s creative. He has his own money, too, not just what the family provides.”

“That’s important,” Jinzo says, shifting Ilaria to his other arm. “You’ll want someone who can either invest in your business or invest in the family. If he can’t do either, then it becomes a problem.” Jinzo nods to Gus, and Gus nods as well.

He’s not wrong about that. Miguel is the only man who came into my mom’s network with his own money. My father was poor and did the bare minimum for the family until he ‘retired.’ The rest? Dominic works for my mom, but it’s such a simple job, he might as well be bumming off of her. Communications Director means he answers calls and screens everything Mom has to deal with. A teenager could do that. Juan does most of the cooking now, and he would have raised Cameron and Nolan, his two sons… if Dominic hadn’t convinced him I would do it instead.

I clear my throat. “He’s looking for someone independent and skilled at their own job. Someone with strength and a will to get things done. That’s very me.”

I scroll down the dossier until the words I’m looking for pop up.

“She needs to be willing to ask for help, but she should not be a pushover. She doesn’t let other people take advantage of her, but she knows her limits. Marcelo notes, ‘This is important because he must protect his family business at all costs.’” I look up at Marcelo, and he doesn’t seem perturbed by this.

“A pretty good fit, wouldn’t you say?” he asks.

I try to swallow through my dry throat as I scroll up and down the dossier. I meet the physical criteria for this man as well. I’m not too tall, I have curves, and I take good care of myself. Hell, I survived being marooned in the desert, so obviously, I’m doing okay.

But the negatives? Doesn’t let other people take advantage of her? I’ve never admitted it out loud to anyone — not to Marcelo, not to Vivian, not even to my own mother — but men have taken advantage of me my entire life. I tried to fight it with Mom’s consorts, but it only ever cost me. Eventually, I had to concede and just… Well, just let it happen. Though they never laid a hand on me, I still had to do their bidding, whether I wanted to or not.

My heart beats at double speed in my chest, and my fingers shake.

“Yeah, a great fit,” I respond, my voice cracking a bit.

“You okay?” Vivian asks, standing up. She glances at Gus.

“Totally.” I suck in a quick breath through my nose and push the anxiety into the back of my head. “I think I could use some water. That smoke made my throat dry.” I clear my throat more aggressively, and Gus takes that as a cue to get me a glass of water. I gulp half of it down before I hand the datapad to Marcelo.

“I think we’re on the right track,” I say with confidence I don’t feel. Fake it, Skylar.

Marcelo’s smile is wide, and a stab of pain rips through my chest. I should confess everything, my whole life’s worth of mistakes, right now, to everyone. I’m a complete and utter failure, and no one has any idea. I’ve hidden it for so long, it doesn’t feel real. It’s a secret I thought I would take to my grave, but I don’t know how much longer I can last with people not knowing.

“Is he the one who’ll be my date for this charity auction?” I ask, standing up. I have too much energy now to sit anymore.

“Yeah. He’s set aside a few days around that time, assuming that you may want to spend more time with him than just the auction.” Marcelo holds up his hand. “Completely optional. I have a good feeling about this one, especially seeing as how he came to my notice. But if it doesn’t work out, you can leave him behind, and I’ll make the apologies.”

I nod and turn my face to the window to hide my ambivalence. I have a creeping sensation that things are about to change, and not just this business of finding the men for my relationship network. The back of my neck tingles, and I rub it away as I try to pinpoint the moment things changed. Maybe it was my graduation party? Maybe it was the moments in the desert? Maybe things have been changing for longer than that. I don’t know.

“I set aside dinner for you two in the kitchen,” Jinzo says, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I’ll take Ilaria up to bed, and you can eat.”

Vivian gives Ilaria a kiss good night. “I’ll be up to rock her after I eat if she’s not already asleep,” she tells Jinzo.

“I’m happy for you.” Vivian comes to my side and slips her arm through mine. “A Class Three license, a successful family company, a Flyght side hustle, and now you’ll be dating and meeting men for your network too. I wish there was more I could do.”

“You already do enough,” I assure her. “You’re my family,” I stress. “Just being here with you is enough.”

She has no idea how much her love and support mean to me. It’s basically all I have, and I’m in danger of losing it every damned day.