Broken Flyght – Chapter 10

I should go to sleep. Just think of the catching up I could do with nine whole hours!

But there are a few things to take care of first.

As I approach the engine room, Lia is leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed, and a bemused expression on her face.

“What’s going on?” I whisper. I glance past her into the room, and Sean and Jinzo are inside, shirts off and arguing with one another.

“Oh, you know,” she says, her eyebrows lifting.

I do know. This amount of naked male skin is a sight for sore eyes, that’s for sure. And yeah, I found Sean attractive at first, but Jinzo is pulling out into the lead. He’s obviously done more manual labor than my first choice, but I suppose working in an Orbital Station gives you more expertise and exercise than doing the milk runs.

I join Lia in appreciation of the display. It’s not every day we get this kind of entertainment. Carlos is too young and not really the type to go shirtless.

“If you push it that far into the red zone, you’re going to burn out that part, though.” Jinzo stands over Sean as Sean tightens something along the far wall.

“I’ve done the tests, and I can get a thirty percent rise in efficiency with an eight percent increase in temperature and a little more coolant.”

Jinzo crosses his arms. “You’re going to damage the interior. There’s a reason why red lines exist. Do you really think you know better than the people who developed these engines?”

“Maybe I do,” Sean counters. “How long have you worked on Gundam engines?”

Jinzo looks up at the ceiling. “Oh, since I was five.”

Sean scoffs. “Please.” But he stops and stands up. “Wait. You said your name is Lee?”

Jinzo relaxes his arms and crosses the room. “I’m going to check on all the fluid levels and work on the stalling problems Skylar was talking about.”

I clear my throat, and both men turn around to see us standing in the doorway. Lia waves her fingers at the guys.

“Thanks for the show, gentlemen,” she says, a sly smile across her face. “I’m going to head off to my room now.”

Probably to eat chocolate and fantasize. I know that’s what I want to do.

Sean turns to Jinzo. “Lee Shipyards?”

Jinzo doesn’t answer.

“Shit. I’ve applied for a job there every year for the past five years. What are you doing here?”

I really don’t like the way he says that, like this place is beneath him. The Amagi is a great ship, and I believe I’m doing an okay job of being captain. Well, it’s a passable job, at least.

Jinzo’s eyes meet mine, and I try to grin through my embarrassed frown. The motion merely flattens out my face.

“Vivian,” he says, crossing the room to me, “what can I help you with?”

I have to snap my mouth shut to stop myself from drooling. Okay, I didn’t find him all that attractive at first, but he’s growing on me.

“Oh, well, umm,” I stammer out.

Time to pull on Business Vivian.

I recover in a blink, straightening my spine. “Well, I asked Sean to take care of a wiring problem in the auxiliary cargo bay earlier, and I see he hasn’t gotten to it yet.” I lean past Jinzo to direct my voice at Sean. “Top priority, remember?”

Sean ignores me and goes back to his tinkering.

Jinzo glances back at him and sighs. “He’s completely ruining your ship,” he whispers, leaning close. “I can help you, if you like. I don’t want anything that’s ‘top priority’ slipping through the cracks.”

My shoulders relax in a rush of gratitude. See? That wasn’t so hard, was it, Sean?

“Thank you. I really appreciate the help.”

I can feel Sean’s eyes on us from across the room. If he regrets mistreating me, he’ll be amenable to my next suggestion.

“I have some news. We’re going to Oitavo on Rio for a few days. I have some business to take care of there, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for the three of us to get to know each other.”

“Oitavo…” Jinzo whistles low. “I haven’t been there in a few years. Fancy place. I have a few connections, so I’ll call in some favors. Maybe a little dancing?”

Hmmm, maybe? I’m not a great dancer or anything, but… I shouldn’t be hung up about our height difference. Will it get in the way of dancing?

“Sure,” I say, anyway. If he’s not worried about it, then I shouldn’t be. “What do you say, Sean? Two days out of the engine room for some good food, maybe some gambling?”

Sean doesn’t budge.

“I got a suite. Three separate rooms, luxury beds.” I try to make it sound tempting, like offering vegetables to a reticent child.

Let me get one thing straight here though. I’ve never been a picky eater.

And I’m not super picky about men, either, but this is getting ridiculous.

“Thanks for the offer, but I still have a lot of work to do here.”

My mouth actually drops open.

This guy is so fired.

Jinzo lightly places one hand on my upper arm, turns me around, and stretches his arm across my back as he leads me away.

“Why don’t you show me what you want me to do?” He lowers his voice. “Before you kill this kid with your stare alone.”

I’m in shock all the way to the auxiliary cargo bay. Did Sean really just turn me down? In front of Jinzo? He’s willing to risk his dream job of working on this ship by avoiding me?

He must find me utterly repulsive.

I understand that not every man in this universe will fall in love with me. I’m nothing special, after all, and I know it. But I thought he’d at least take me up on the offer of free food and some gambling.

Marcelo was very clear that this would be a dual position of the engineer and a place in my relationship network. After giving it some thought, I can’t afford one without the other.

Any last vestiges of a good mood are gone by the time I sit back down at my desk. Jinzo strolls along the aquaponics setup, squatting to look at the pipes, examining the sensors, and testing the strength of the skeleton meant to hold up the lights. His muscles ripple as he grips a bank of lights and hauls it out into an open space.

“So, you need these all hooked up?”

I nod, not trusting my voice. Between the shock of Sean’s treatment and my newfound interest in Jinzo’s body, it is sure to be unpredictable.

“They’ll draw a lot of power, and when we’re not running the engine, it’ll be a strain to run these off the battery bank. Especially after what I saw in Carlos’s room.”

So, he’s already been around the ship? I’m not even sure Sean knows Carlos’s name.

“The plants are important,” is all I say.

He shrugs. “Okay then. I’ll make it work. I can run some circuits in parallel, and depending on power availability, I can program something to alternate the lights’ power consumption.”

I sit and stare as he drags out each unit, lines them up, and pulls a datapad out of his pocket to look something up.

What am I going to do about Sean? What am I going to do if Jinzo, the only person who is willing to help me with this critical part of my business, turns out to be a spy?

This is silly, Vivian. Jinzo seems nice, helpful even. I should be able to trust him. He’s given me no reason to distrust him. But something about him nags at me. Like he’s too good to be true. If he’s not a spy, he should’ve already found a wife and a relationship network. His family is loaded and well connected throughout the Duo Systems. And despite the height difference, he’s still tall and good looking. I’m just abnormally tall for a woman. My fault, not his.

I jerk as he appears right in front of me.

“You look tired.” He traces circles under his own eyes indicating the ones I’ve accumulated in the last few days. “I think we have about eight or nine hours to Rio. Why don’t you go sleep?”

“No,” I say, shaking my head and standing up. “I should be here to help you.”

“I’ve got this. It’s no problem. I’ll have it set up in a few hours and then I’ll sleep before we reach Belem.”

I’m about to protest again, but I relent.

I do need sleep. I just hope I don’t soak the sheets again.

—-

I wake in a gasp, pushing the phantom hands away from my neck. “Give it back to me,” he said, his fingers tightening around my throat. My head shook, and darkness collapsed on me like a wet, heavy blanket.

I reach out for the comfort of my covers and pull my fingers back in disgust. I’ve soaked the sheets again, and this time it’s enough to make me question if there’s something wrong with me.

My wristlet on the headboard hums lightly once, pauses, and buzzes again. More messages. They never end. I really should remember to put it in full shutdown mode when I’m trying to sleep. How long have I been asleep? I expect it to only be an hour or two later when I pass my hand in front of the clock, but it blinks on with a number I wasn’t expecting. I’ve slept six hours. There were three hours where I did nothing but toss and turn and another hour where I sifted through messages in my message center.

Six hours is longer than I’ve slept in one session for almost a week, and it wasn’t like it was the best sleep I’ve ever had. Standing on shaky legs, I pull the sheets from the bed and stuff them in the pulse cleaner again. The pulse cleaner is going to go on strike if it has to clean my sheets every day.

I bring up the lights by fifty percent and groan at the headache I’ve acquired. I need water and painkillers.

“Ai, can you give me a status update, please? We must be to Belem by now. It’s been ten hours since we last spoke.” I open my closet and figure out what to wear.

The room shakes, a small tremor that rattles the jewelry in my locked drawers.

“We’re coming in to land at Rio Spaceport Eight, Airdock twenty-nine.”

“Land?” I pause and change my mind about what to wear. If we’re landing on Rio, I need to check local weather. “I thought we were going to Belem first.”

“We did. Two and a half hours ago, we docked with a shuttle and Yan Martinez disembarked. He then went to Belem City and sent us a video of Tomu passing through Belem on his way to Rio. Skylar didn’t want to wake you. There are messages in your inbox.”

I sigh as I reach for my wristlet and access my message center.

Yan appears before me. “Hello, Ms. Kawabata. Thank you for the ride to Rio space. I’m glad I was able to spend a little time with Carlos and your crew. I really appreciate the ride.” He nods once, a young man who is sure of himself and his upbringing. Carlos has good taste in friends. “As promised, I have sent information about the men who followed you in Ossun Station, and I’ve traced your brother, Tomu, through Belem City to a fresh vegetable market. From there, he gets a ride from a merchant down to Rio. Oitavo, to be exact.”

I pump my fist. Yes. I was right! Maybe he has gone back to the casino. There must be something there that he’s interested in.

“I now have to make my way down to Rio to check out some rare tech. Thanks again. It was a pleasure flying with you.”

I’m glad that’s taken care of.

Rio. Rio. Rio. Hmmm. I navigate to the database Dad built of the seeds to see where he acquired most of them. So many were from his own personal hiking expeditions around a few of the cities of Primeiro, Nono, and Decimo. None from Oitavo. I could make it to Nono on a thirty-minute shuttle if I wanted to.

But really, what I should do is find someone who’s familiar with these seeds and can talk to me about processing them. There has to be someone… I make it through the database twice when a name jumps out at me, Darmit Hoggard. He was Dad’s guide on six of his sixteen hiking expeditions. Darmit doesn’t live in Oitavo, but I’m going to call him and talk to him, anyway. I set that notion aside to do later and return to my message center.

A brief text message from Ken. “What’s going on?” I want to write him back right away, but I need to ask Carlos how to contact Ken on a secure channel.

A message from Skylar. “We got the news from Yan that Tomu made it down to Rio, so I’m going to make the decision that we’re going after him. I know you’d approve.” She winks, and something off to the side beeps. The message pauses, and she comes back. “I’ve been given permission to land and a slip at the spaceport. Oh, by the way,” she says, dropping her voice, “Sean and Jinzo had a little argument over the engines while you were asleep, but I took care of it. Sean went to bed, and I haven’t seen him since.”

Great. It’s not just me Sean doesn’t get along with.

There are two more messages of note. Gai Reis has written a text message gushing over our latest contract, how happy he is to be working with us, and how he has a client on Ossun breeding angora rabbits who would like to move two dozen of them to Laguna. “Call me when you have room on your schedule, please.”

Okay, I can handle rabbits. Much better than pigs.

And finally a video from Carlos. “I got access to the Flyght Assignment Portal, lovingly known as FAP to the Flyght people.” He rolls his eyes. “Dumbest name ever. Anyway, we have our choice of two Diamond level clients who need passage. One is moving a private art collection to Ossun for her daughter’s first wedding. Another is looking to transport his eleven grandchildren to Laguna. Personally, I think we’re better off with the art collection.”

Art it is. Besides, I want to return to Ossun again before heading to the Californikos System. I need to patch things up with Mom as soon as possible. I dash off a quick text reply to Carlos, so I can get moving, make coffee, and pack a bag.

“Ai, what’s the current weather at Oitavo?”

“Weather’s looking pretty good for the next twenty-four hours. High around twenty-eight degrees and a soft wind. Then they expect rain for the next three days after.”

Rio’s rings make weather control and satellite coverage a little spotty. This is why they only have the ten cities and most of them hover over a combination of land and sea. None of them are one hundred percent over the ocean. Weather there is too unpredictable.

“Okay. Pack for light weather and storms, got it. Can you alert Jinzo of the same information and have him meet me at the airlock in an hour?”

“Sure thing, Captain.”

I grab my towel from the hook by the bathroom door. “Oh, and can you please forward Skylar the information for her spa package? She’s gonna love it.”

“My pleasure, Captain.”

“Time for a shower. Keep your sensors to yourself.”

“Yes, Captain.”