Broken Flyght – Chapter 11

Jinzo’s eyes sparkle in the late afternoon sun of Rio as we make our way out of the spaceport and head straight for the black taxi in slot number eighteen. The casino sent an automated car for us, probably because I dropped a good eight hundred credits on these two nights. It seems a ridiculous extravagance when I was scraping the bottom of my account for credits just a few days ago. I’m going to do my best not to order too much food. That’s my weakness. My stomach growls as I imagine a full course meal and a breakfast with waffles and eggs. Mmmm. At least I was able to downgrade to the double suite, instead of three separate rooms I won’t need.

“I didn’t expect this when I answered Marcelo’s call a week ago,” Jinzo says, depositing our bags in the trunk. He slips into the car behind me, keeping a respectable amount of space between us. The door closes, and we cruise into traffic. I’m not used to such privacy while traveling onworld. So few places use individual cars like this unless you’re with the wealthy.

“I figured I’d be sweating it out in an engine room for a few weeks, not heading into the high society of Oitavo.” Jinzo is dressed nicely today. His breezy and light, white button-down shirt is casually untucked, and his dark denim pants hug his legs. No boots today. Instead, he wears a pair of low, black leather shoes that I admire from across the car.

I should’ve met him on a proper first date if he dresses like this outside of the engine room. My first impression could’ve been improved upon.

I drum my fingers on my knee. “Well, I aim to please.” My attention is on the streets outside. I need to keep my eyes peeled for Tomu.

I can let Jinzo believe this is for him. Why not?

“Carlos told me why we’re really here.”

“Huh?” I tear my eyes from the window.

“He stopped in while I was finishing up with the lights in the cargo bay. Told me you’ve been tracking your brother… trying to catch up with him.”

“He has all the family money.” I turn my eyes to look back out the window. We pass high-end fashionable clothiers and cafés with beautiful people laughing and enjoying their day. Not a care in the worlds. “I have to find him and bring him back to face my parents.”

“What if…” He reaches over and stills my fingers with his. “What if he doesn’t have anything left? What if you chase him across the Duo Systems and you get nothing from it?”

I pull my fingers out from under his. “What if I find him and get everything back? What if he’s just stashed the money away? I could do this all day, Jinzo. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. This is what I have to do; it’s what’s expected of me.”

He’s quiet for a few moments. “I see. You have expectations to live up to. I know that all too well.”

I rest my head back against the seat. My brain is still unhappy from my restless sleep, and the painkillers only deadened the ache by a few degrees.

Looking at Jinzo out of the corner of my eye, I’m struck by his sharp profile. Every time I look at him, I find something new to admire. I should get to know him better, instead of us dancing around this idea of dating and coupling. “What’s your mother like?”

Jinzo laughs and rubs his hand along the stubble of his cheek. “She’s a good mom. Worked hard to keep the shipyards running at a profit twenty years now. Even though I don’t see her much, she takes the time to check in. Has opinions about who I date, which families I ally myself with. My older sister stands to inherit the yards, but that never meant I couldn’t be involved. I remember fixing my first engine at six years old.”

Our car pulls up at the casino’s hotel entrance and waits in a queue to approach the front door.

“My dad is the fourth, so I’m not at the top of the pile, but it doesn’t matter. They would still do anything for me, and I would do anything for them.”

Sounds familiar. My instincts relax a bit hearing him talk of his family. Jinzo is growing on me. I hope he’s not just buttering me up.

“Here we are,” he says, as we finally pull up to the curb. “You wait here, and I’ll get the bags to the concierge.”

I lift my body from the seat to protest, but the door slams shut before I can get a word out. My father’s advice echoes back from one of our family vacations we went on when I was a teen. “Your mother’s job is to handle the travel arrangements and see us through to the vacation. She’s always insisted that it’s a woman’s place to take care of the men in the family and the men take care of the children, not the other way around. That’s how the Kawabatas do it, and that will be your role someday.”

I nodded and listened because that was expected of me. My parents had a partnership, and they love each other, but neither of them ever strayed from their roles. I told Mom I’d be making the decisions around here from now on.

Should I let the way I handle this family happen naturally? Or should I force myself and my husbands into the Kawabata mold?

The door opens, and Jinzo’s hand appears to help me out. I step onto the smooth driveway, and the soft winds of Rio blow through my hair. Ah, I need this. I need a break.

I squint into the sunlight as a paparazzi drone buzzes into my face and snaps a series of photos before lighting up to record my every move.

“Ah!” I jerk back to avoid it and the heel of my shoe hooks on my pant leg.

Jinzo’s arm catches me around the waist before I fall over.

“I’ve got you,” he assures me, straightening me up.

The bright light of the camera blinds me. I cover up my face with my hands and try to make my way forward by seeing through my fingers.

Jinzo’s eyes train on the drone right before he snaps his hand out and catches it between his thumb and index finger. The drone whines and pops, trying to shock him away, but he holds on tight until it fries itself in a puff of smoke and dies. He shakes it, driving the smoke away and making sure it’s dead, before dropping it into the pocket of his pants.

“I can’t be sure, but I believe those models send off their data before they die. Sorry. Are you all right?”

Several of the hotel staff are running in our direction, but I’m too stunned by Jinzo’s fingers as he brushes my hair out of my face to care about how we appear to those surrounding us. I try to tug a smile onto my face, but there’s not enough energy in the world to bring me back to normality.

I push air through my nose in a vain effort to get ahold of myself and not look like a fool. Jinzo’s hand falls to his side, and a frown pulls at his lips.

No, wait! I’m not upset with you, Jinzo.

I’m in shock. My head is light, and the surrounding air is charged with white electricity. A hotel employee is talking in my face, and I can’t hear what he’s saying.

Snap out of it, Vivian! You’re not some flighty school girl.

I grab for Jinzo’s arm, steady myself, then slip my hand down his arm to his hand. Lacing our fingers together, he squeezes my hand, and a warm smile replaces his frown.

“Ms. Kawabata! Oh, you poor thing. I’m so sorry about the drones. They’re such a nuisance. I wish we could get rid of them for good.” An older man in a crisp black suit with a red tie and a name tag reading ‘Rafael Diaz – Head Concierge’ ushers us forward into the lobby. “About half the guests who stay here despise the things, and the other half count on them so they’ll end up on all the gossip sites.” He sniffs his disapproval.

“Not me.” Marcelo and Carlos have been hard at work spinning stories of my charity work, my good grades, Summa Cum Laude status, and anything else they can dig up. I can’t afford more bad press right now.

We follow the head concierge to the wide front desk, and the whole walk across the lobby is like something out of a dream. Heads turn to watch us walk by, hand in hand. Jinzo is relaxed and confident, looking like a model straight out of a fashion show. I’m sure I’m white as a fair weather cloud, sweaty, and shaking. He’s the only thing keeping me upright.

“You and your guest are with us for two nights? Any changes in your reservation?” Mr. Diaz asks from his position behind the counter.

“No,” I say, trying to lean artfully against the high counter. I realize my hand is sweating in Jinzo’s, so I ease my grip, he lets go, and I wipe my sweaty palm on my pants.

“Sorry,” I whisper to him.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he stands next to me and wraps his arm around my waist.

I pay for the room, settle up any last details (yes, I want fresh towels every day; no, I don’t want champagne or fresh fruit), and we’re shown to our ocean-facing double suite. I lean on Jinzo the entire way there until the door closes, and we’re left alone in the extravagant bedroom.

Only then do I let go and take my shaky self to the bed.

“Vivian.” Jinzo rushes to my side. “What’s wrong? Are you ill? Should I call a doctor?”

I don’t know. Maybe I am ill?

“I’m fine,” I whisper. “I think… I think my body is just not used to all this stress and traveling.”

He lifts my feet to the bed, slips off my shoes, and grabs a pillow to prop up my feet. I instantly feel better.

“How long has it been since you’ve kept a regular schedule?” He crosses the room and fills a glass with water from a jug on the table.

“Um, a week? I honestly have no idea.”

Sitting next to me on the bed, he holds the glass while I close my eyes and press my hand to my forehead. I try to count back the days, even hours, since I got the news about Tomu and I boarded the Amagi. I think it’s been about nine days. I’d have to check my wristlet.

Jinzo sighs, deflating and letting his tense shoulders go. “Then you have circadian-time sickness. On Orbital Station, we call it space lag. It happens to lots of people who were used to the regular day and night rhythms of living on a planet, and then suddenly have to live without the sun setting their clocks.”

“I… I think I’ve heard of this.” Aunt Fusako, Skylar’s mom, mentioned it before. “Skylar’s always so careful to sleep and eat at the proper times every day.”

“What is the ship set to?”

I feel dumb for never having asked. But I know who to ask. “Hold on.” I take a deep breath and access my wristlet, calling up the Amagi main line. Ai answers, as I knew she would.

“Hello, Captain. What can I help you with?”

“Ai, can you tell me how many days and hours it’s been since I boarded the Amagi?”

“Using a Duo Systems standard twenty-four-hour day, you have been captain of the Amagi for eleven days, four hours, and three minutes.”

“Eleven days? Has it really been that long?” Everything feels shortened into a few hours of chaotic events.

“I’m certain my time-keeping abilities are perfect,” she replies, and it puts a smile on my face. Jinzo can’t hear her reply, but he smiles anyway.

“What time is the ship set to?”

“Skylar prefers to keep ship time to Ossun Eastern Standard Time, the same as your family farm. The current time is similar to where you’re staying. Oitavo Time is one hour ahead of OEST.”

Time is definitely an interesting concept, and something I don’t think about all that often. I know from my history lessons that once the Duo Systems were settled and linked, Standard Time was established. Each planet has a way of dealing with their days. Minutes and seconds are synchronized through the duonet, but hours of the day are set in time zones per planet.

“Are you experiencing space lag, Captain?”

“I believe so.”

“I can help you with that. May I have access to your wristlet?” A notice pops up on my Estrela view, and I confirm Ai’s access. “I will add a system of alerts that will keep you on a four-hour schedule throughout waking hours and encourage you to sleep at appropriate times.” My screen blinks as Ai adds clocks and timers to my home screen. “I do this for Carlos and Skylar as well.”

“Thank you, Ai. I appreciate your help.”

“You’re welcome. Please enjoy your time off.”

I relax my arm down and push myself up to sit against the back of the bed. Jinzo hands me a glass of water.

“Thanks.” I take a long sip and let out a huge breath. “Everything about me lately has been erratic. My sleep’s been interrupted and full of terrifying dreams. I keep forgetting to drink water or do my basic tasks. My eating habits are abnormal and all over the place. I don’t remember the last full meal I had. I think it was our lunch together.”

His eyes widen. “That was over a day ago.”

“Hmm.” That explains a lot. I don’t usually have blood sugar problems, but the strange sleeping and eating schedule is playing havoc with my body.

“That’s it.” Jinzo jumps up off the bed. “I’m going to take care of you this evening.”

“Oh, no. No. That’s not necessary.” I try to dislodge myself from the bed, but a wave of tiredness washes over me, and I groan.

Jinzo races back to the bed, puts his hands on my shoulders, and gently places me back in my spot.

“It’s only mid-afternoon local time,” he says, handing me back the water. “I want you to rest and have a small bite to eat. Maybe even a nap. Then I’ll take you out for dinner, and we’ll see how you are after.”

How can I resist him and his ideas? I can’t. No one has taken care of me in years. There were times when I was sick and living with Ken and he would take care of me. Or he would just give me nights of pampering. I smile up at Jinzo, remembering what that was like. I honestly didn’t believe it would ever happen again. I figured I would be the primary caregiver from here on out. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe anyone would ever…

I swallow as I realize how I’ve shorted myself for the last three years after I broke up with Ken. I had given up on romance. I had believed romance and love were for other people, not for me. I had pictured my future husbands and the contracts we would sign and the loveless lives we would lead, and I convinced myself that kind of life was required of me.

“Okay.” I relent. “But…”

He lifts his chin and waits.

“I’m a little short on funds, so maybe we should go get a light dinner somewhere in town?”

My face heats, and I drop my eyes to look at my knees.

“I can’t lie to you. I shouldn’t. The only reason I’m here is to look for Tomu. I just thought it would be a nice way to get to know each other too.”

“But you treated Skylar to a day at the spa tomorrow?” His tone has a slight tinge of exasperation.

“Well, yeah. She’s an awesome pilot and my cousin. She deserves the day.”

“And you don’t?”

“Not really.”

Jinzo holds his breath for a long moment before letting it all out. “Marcelo said in his brief that you were a dedicated and loyal woman, devoted to your family and work. I think maybe that was code for ‘sacrifices everything for others and never for herself.’”

My throat tightens, and my eyes fill with tears.

Don’t. Don’t do it. Don’t become Sad Vivian. No one likes Sad Vivian.

He sighs and leans forward to lay his lips on my forehead and squeeze my arm. I close my eyes and concentrate on that spot, that tiny display of affection I don’t deserve. At least, not yet. We don’t have history. We’ve never dated. We have a possible contract and a few things in common. If anything, he has pity for me, and I’m too weak to say no.

“Don’t be sad,” he says, pulling away. “You’re tired. You’re hurt. And you care a whole lot about other people. I’d rather be with someone who cares too much than not at all.”

He stands up, grabs a throw blanket from the foot of the bed, and covers me up.

“This whole trip is on me. Tonight, we’ll eat well and spend time together. And I don’t want to hear a word about the money. I have more than enough for us all. That’s one reason we’re even here. My family has money. I have money. And I’m going to spend it on you.”