First Flyght – Chapter 16

I make it all the way to a nearby cafe before I realize I have no idea how I got there. The hiss of the coffee machine jolts me out of my head, the barista asking me what I want in English then Spanish. I answer in Japanese twice before I switch.

Palo Alto always confuses me with their languages.

“I need cake,” I blurt out. And eggs, toast, and bacon would be nice. Ohhh, how about a muffin?

The barista laughs, his voice low and hearty. “At nine-thirty in the morning? Been that hard of a day already?”

“Yes. I’ll take the coffee, the cake, and a huge helping of humility.”

“You got it.”

I find a seat in the corner and hide my stained pants under the table. Ugh. I need to get them back to the ship and see if I can salvage them.

Unlike my pride, which I never considered could be hurt like this. I can’t think of any way that meeting could have gone worse. I figured he may have been harboring resentment against me for breaking up with him, but I didn’t think he would be so… so hurtful.

That’s how I feel. Hurt. And I have no right to be. I was the one who hurt him.

Sigh. I shouldn’t have blindsided him like that. No one wants to be confronted by their ex when they least expect it.

I don’t even look when the coffee and cake slide onto the table. If I make eye contact with anyone, I’ll cry.

So I screwed up our only chances of getting our Flyght permit, and now I have to think. Think think think, Vivian. What can I do next?

I have no idea.

The coffee and cake go down the hatch without so much as registering them, but my body knows the difference between shock, and caffeine plus sugar. My thoughts buzz along at a lightning pace, and my knee bounces under the table as I consider any and all possibilities.

Thinking back on my black market talks with my fellow finance students, I make a short list in my head. What about a male escort service? Prostitution is only illegal in the Californikos system which means I could make the most money here. But I don’t think the Amagi is big enough to house the number of men I’d need to pull off a brothel. Drugs are a possibility. Marijuana is legal everywhere, but only the best growers are making advancements in potency and processing. Stimulants and opioids are harder to produce and more illegal, especially for those serving in high-ranking positions or the Duo Systems military.

I imagine myself as a drug runner, and I’m both intrigued and disgusted with myself. This is the sort of thing my brother would do, not me. It’s probably what got him in trouble in the first place.

After twenty minutes of hemming and hawing, I come up with nothing else. At least right now. It’s time to head on up to the ship and face the music. I need to admit to Skylar that I failed, and I’m sure I’ll hear nothing but shit from her about it. But I brought a lot of this on myself, so it’s time to just deal.

I reach into my bag and fumble about for my wallet. I want to tip a few credits cash for the barista since he had the good grace to leave me alone. That’s something I’m happy to pay for any day. But I’m feeling around in my bag when my hand hits something cool and made of glass. What is this?

I pull it out and stare at the thing that reminds me this is not all my fault.

It’s the perfume bottle I found in Tomu’s apartment.

Right. I had forgotten about this. Digging around in my bag, I find the other two things we pulled out of Tomu’s apartment: the redeem card for the casino on Rio and the stack of business cards. Since I still have a little coffee left in my cup and the cafe is quiet with most people at work, I think I can delay my return to the ship by another thirty minutes to go through all these business cards.

I swear I’m not stalling.

Okay, maybe I am, just a bit.

I sip away the last of my coffee as I thumb through the cards. Several cards are for doctors on Ossun, mostly general practice but also a psychiatrist and a therapist. I laugh as I find a card for a tattoo parlor on Rio’s moon, Belem, and then the card right after is for a tattoo removal clinic on Rio. Did Tomu get a tattoo and regret it? I wonder.

Hmmm. Each card flickers as I touch the corner and get updated information. Not many of them change, but two cards from people in financial institutions on Ossun and Palo Alto shift to differing roles. Nothing strange about that. But I’m curious about these men. Did they give Tomu financial advice? Help him hide my family’s money? I put them both to the side.

A few more business cards are for women in several differing careers — a real estate agent, a marijuana and hemp distributor, an Ossun government official. Then I stop on a name I recognize. Gai Reis. Livestock broker. When I touch the corner to refresh the card, it gives me an address right here in Concord City.

Hmmm. I flip the card around in my fingers as I look out the window at the bustling street. I’m stuck, and the only one who will help me is me. My parents have their own problems now. Aunt Fusako has given me this gig as a captain out of the kindness of her heart, and she has her business to run and take care of. Skylar has spent the last few years learning to fly, and if she has any contacts at all, they’re her mother’s contacts, not hers. Ken won’t be helping me. Marcelo is busy finding potential husbands and consorts for me, not business contacts, though that may come later. And Carlos and Lia are depending on me to keep them fed and paid.

It’s time for me to find us some business, and since it’s animals that got us into this mess in the first place, I might as well go all the way.

—-

I buy a new pair of pants and swap the soiled ones for the new ones in the changing room of the store before I head out to the heart of Japantown in Concord City. The streets are alive with tourists and locals, shopping and making their way down the chaotic thoroughfare. This part of the road is covered, like the old shopping arcades back on Earth, so I’m able to walk without being in the sun. I love how clean the front sidewalks are, how bright the signs shine, how the faces of the merchants beam with smiles.

My heart clutches in my chest to see my family’s crest on signs at several produce merchant stalls. Our rice, grains, and even many varieties of vegetables make it all the way here in a day or two, fresh from the soil of Ossun. Aunt Fusako devotes half her fleet to distributing our goods between the Duo Systems.

And to think it will all be lost if I don’t save it.

Why me? Really, why me?

“Excuse me,” someone says as he shuffles past me.

No time for a pity party, Vivian. Get moving.

Through the shopping arcade and down a small side street, I come across an old three-story building with the correct address on the front door. The sign reads “Gai Reis – Broker.”

Deep breath. I’m in the right place. Now all I have to do is say the right words, make the right deals, and I’ll be good to go. Right. Right.

I’m repeating myself. That’s not good.

I press the call button on the door panel, and my wristlet signals to the system who I am. I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

While I’m waiting, people pass me on the street and stare. I smile back at them, warily.

What gives? This is a work day, is it not? I didn’t expect the place to be so desolate.

Fuck. Come on! I need a break!

But the door doesn’t open.

I stand back from the building and peer up at the second-floor windows, shielding my eyes from the mid-morning sun. Nothing passes in front of the windows, so I have to assume no one is in the office right now. Gai Reis is possibly off-world. There are no rules you have to spend every moment of every day in your office. Hell, I never did.

This is damned inconvenient though.

I sigh as I walk off and bow to the little old man across the street who’s sweeping up the sidewalk in front of his glassware shop.

“He’s not in,” the man says as I walk past. I wasn’t expecting him to address me, so I stumble to a halt.

“Morning,” I say, dipping my head. “Does Mr. Reis keep regular hours? I was hoping to catch him in the office.”

“Don’t know.” He shrugs. “You one of his… clients?”

Something strikes me as odd the way he’s framed this question. ‘Clients’ is not the right word one would use for dealing with a livestock broker.

“Uh, no. I have a ship, and I was looking for clients for myself. We ship livestock and other goods between the Duo Systems. You wouldn’t, perhaps, know when he’ll be back?”

He smacks his lips and shakes his head. “Nope. I keep myself to myself.”

I try not to laugh. Old man, you were just trying to pump me for information. I don’t believe that statement one bit.

“Okay, then. You have a nice day.” I’m sure to smile and bow as I hasten to the end of the street. I don’t want him pulling me back and chatting my ear off for the rest of the day, as older people usually do. It’s bad enough I barely get a word in with my own friends and family, much less some stranger.

Now what?

I pull the stack of business cards from my bag and flip through them again as I amble down the sidewalk. I don’t know who most of these people are, what they do, or even why my brother would care to keep their business cards. Regardless of the who, what, and where, I don’t have the time today to deal with this mystery. What I need to do is get back to the ship and start apologizing and brainstorming.

“Look out there, young lady,” a man says, holding out his arm to direct me around a goods display outside a shop.

“Oh, thank you.” If I hadn’t looked up or hadn’t been warned, I would’ve walked straight into a display of fans and parasols. “I’m sorry. I’m a little distracted.”

My lips grind to a halt as I glimpse the window of the next store. There, front and center, on prime display, are my beloved Bomba-Faria shoes. I shuffle to the window, half in a daze before I begin to choke up. These shoes represent the last independent thing I did before my life was taken from me. I held them in my hand, and Heidi was less than ten seconds away from charging me for them.

I can still see the zero balance waving in the air in front of me, and though I just ate at least a thousand calories only an hour before, my stomach is as empty as a bottomless cavern. What I wouldn’t give to rewind time, go back, and somehow catch Tomu at his deviousness? If only I had paid more attention. If only he had thought to come to me for help. If only he had allowed me to listen. But that’s the real crux of the matter. Everyone loves to burden me with their thoughts, fears, and aspirations. Everyone but him. He always stayed as far away as he could.

I flick on my wristlet and dial through all of my bank accounts. Please, let there be credit available on one of these accounts.

Yep. I have three separate credit accounts with plenty of room for purchases. I never touched these because I always had the money, and there was no reason to put myself into debt with a bank. This is one of those instances where I should jump for joy, but guilt weighs me down. Most people wouldn’t have this kind of leeway, and I only did because my family had money before we were robbed. Half this city is probably in debt up to their eyeballs because they can’t afford even the most basic of conveniences.

Turning off my wristlet, I try to convince myself to go back to the ship and save the credit for when I really need it.

But Vivian, you should treat yourself!

Shut up, brain.

No, really. I mean it. Summa cum laude. Remember?

Yeah, that was great, right?

And then not giving your family a hard time when they fucked up your future? That was pretty nice of you, too.

Yeah… yeah. I was super nice and forgiving about that.

Okay, screw it.

I touch the door handle, the door slides open, and I walk inside.