High Flyght – Chapter 15

“Okay, change of plans.”

With the cargo hold housing our newest payload of critters and the Amagi on course for the jump ring to Palo Alto, it’s time to talk to my crew. Marcelo, Skylar, Carlos, Lia, and Gus sit in the common area, all their eyes on me.

“You’re all my employees, so it’s only fair to let you know of our new objective.”

And even as I say it, my brain screams ‘no!’ at the highest volume it can reach. But my inner Vivians shout back that this is the right thing to do. There’s an all-out nuclear war happening behind my eyes, and I want to scream and pull my hair out.

I spent a lot of money on the hair, though.

“I have decided that it’s a waste of time and energy to go running off after Tomu. He’s long gone, and I think it’s time we give up the chase.”

Carlos lets out a long breath, and Skylar spits out, “What?”

Frogger, lying on the dog bed in the corner, lifts his head and barks.

“Shhh,” I command him, turning to everyone else. “What do you think we’ll actually do if we catch him?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Skylar says, shaking her head. “What matters is finding him and breaking both of his legs.”

Gus deliberately pushes himself away from Skylar on the bench. “Now I know who to keep in my good graces around here.”

“You’re safe, doc. I don’t anger those who might have to stitch me up someday.” She winks at him, and he chuckles.

“I’m not a doctor,” he says, waving his hand.

“You are here.” Skylar salutes him. “Congratulations on your promotion.”

“Hey, let’s keep on topic.” I clear my throat. “You want to break Tomu’s legs. But personally, if I ever see him again, I’m going to punch him then space him. There are no safe harbors for that asshole. Regardless, I can’t spend the money and energy on him anymore when the farm is our top priority.”

“That sounds like the right thing to do, Captain.” Lia is the supportive one here. Thanks, Lia.

“Besides, someone he stole from is already looking for him, so I’m going to hope they find him first.”

“Those big guys back in Concord City?” Skylar asks. “I think I remember you telling them you were going to find him first.”

“Yeah, well, plans change.” I shrug, the only available gesture left to me when talking about the destruction of my life. “Maybe it lit a fire under them to find him first.”

Frogger jumps up, growls, and barks again.

“See? Even Frogger agrees that this is better left to the professionals.” I pat my leg and call Frogger to me. He hesitates for a moment, his hackles still raised, but he quiets, drops his ears, and comes over to me. I scratch his neck and lean down to let him shower me with kisses.

“Anyway,” I continue as Frogger settles at my feet, “we’ll deliver these raposquirrels to Palo Alto for Gai Reis, and then the plan is to fly on from there to Lee Shipyards where I’ll meet Jinzo’s family, and Skylar can get the ship resupplied with anything we need.”

“Great,” she says, rubbing her hands together. “I love going there, and maybe this time I’ll get some kind of family discount.”

“I can’t guarantee it, but we’ll see what happens.”

Marcelo gestures to me, so I stop my briefing.

“I’m chasing down a lead for another network addition on Sonoma.”

Skylar wiggles her head, side to side. “Oooooh, Sonoma, you say?”

Sonoma means money. Lots of money.

“Yes, Sonoma.” Marcelo’s smile is indulgent. “But that’s all I’m willing to say right now.”

My chest flutters with this news, and it’s hard to hide my smile. If Marcelo thinks I’m good enough for a Sonoman, maybe I have a shot at getting the farm back without finding Tomu. I already have Jinzo and the weight of his family business. Ken is looking promising even though we haven’t spent any intimate time together yet. And with support from Alipha and Malina too?

2,592,000 credits with expected payments from Gai Reis coming up. I might be able to get a million credits from Ken and Jinzo combined. A few more Flyght contracts and some goods from the Rio seeds…

My good cheer fades. It won’t be enough unless this other suitor can pony up a significant amount. Or my lawyer on Rio comes through for me. I tap my foot as I consider how long it’s been since I’ve heard from him. I hope this means he’s hard at work.

“Vivian!” Skylar snaps her fingers in the air, and I pop back to the present.

“Sorry. I was doing math in my head.”

“Sooooo…” Carlos leans forward over his legs. “Does this mean that I should stop combing the duonet for Tomu? And what about what I found on the datapad?”

“What did you find?” I ask before I can stop myself.

I shouldn’t care. I really shouldn’t. But before I can tell Carlos to never mind, he launches a bright smile.

“Well, Tomu seems to have disappeared somewhere on Rio after visiting his girlfriend and taking her money, as we suspected. But I hacked into his apartment’s network and found an entrance and exit log the morning you went to Marquise.”

“Yesterday morning? He was there yesterday morning?” My body cools, and the hair on my arms stands up. “I just missed him?”

Carlos shrugs. “The apartment building’s management company boasts about its privacy initiatives. They log things like entrances and exits, but they shun public area video cameras. I checked the streets outside, and I didn’t see him. I think it was someone else, just like we broke in, which is probably why you didn’t find anything when you searched the place.”

Shit. He’s right. I’m not the only one looking for Tomu… and I’m supposed to not care about this at all, anyway.

“The datapad is another story. Are you ready to hear what’s on it?”

“Go ahead.”

“I thought we were putting the hunt for Tomu in the past?” Gus asks, but I shush him. “Vivian.” His voice is full of warning, but I silence him with a death stare.

“After digging deeper into the spreadsheets, I think I know why he’s on the run.” Carlos’s smile widens, and my gut clenches. “He was an Athens employee for several years, Captain. During the time he was cooking the books on your farm, he was working for them too. And he stole proprietary information from them.”

“Oh, God.” I sink to the seat across from everyone at the table.

Skylar’s eyes are wide. Lia’s covered her mouth with her hand. Marcelo and Gus are rigid.

“It gets worse,” Carlos says, and a wave of nausea rises in my belly. “What he stole wasn’t just any old Athens product that they’ll sell in the shopping districts or on the duonet. It was copies of a military contract for new weapons. Weapons you’re already familiar with.”

“The seeds?” Yep, I’m gonna throw up.

Carlos nods slowly. “So, if you’re going to stop chasing Tomu, I completely understand. He stole specs and a few of their samples. Enough to end him in hot water, especially if he tries to sell it to someone else. But if the data just dies here?”

I nod and swallow, trying to keep my stomach contents where they belong.

“We play dumb. We know nothing.” I make eye contact with each person sitting here, and they all nod. “I’ll let Jinzo and Ken know.”

I stand up on shaky legs. Damn you, Tomu. What the fuck were you thinking?

Skylar reaches across the table and grabs my arm.

“What does the military need superhero weapons for? We aren’t at war with anyone.”

I shake my head and slip my arm from her grasp. “I don’t know. And I don’t want to know.”

—-

Twenty-five raposquirrels and another cryocontainer from Gai Reis. The Amagi hums underneath my butt as I sit on the floor of the cargo bay. I run my fingers through the burnt orange coat of the raposquirrel on my lap and think.

“Did you know that these animals are supposedly a lot like foxes from Earth? They’re smaller and have an incredible sense of balance, hence the squirrel addition to their name.”

Lia, always so full of interesting and helpful information, sits cross-legged next to me, a raposquirrel on her shoulders and another snoozing in her lap.

“It’s such a Duo Systems name too. A combination of Portuguese and English.” I force a smile, even though my eyes are locked on the cryocontainer. My brain is tumbling through what I learned in the last two hours. “I feel like I switch back and forth constantly.”

“My Spanish needs work. I’ve been studying in my downtime.”

“Mine too, although there’s been no downtime for studying.”

The raposquirrel in my lap playfully bites my hand, and I shake his head around like we’re two pups wrestling. When Gai Reis’s men suggested that we should socialize these pups during the trip, I jumped at the chance. I love my Frogger, but he’s practically an old man now, an old man who likes to stare at a spot in the lounge for no reason. He reminds me of the cats in our house who would stare at the crawlspace under the couch for ages, and we always knew there was something dead under there.

Lia follows my line of sight to the box. “What’s in the cryocontainer this time?”

“Frozen fish, supposedly. It’s been a long time since I shipped frozen fish this way, though.”

I really don’t need another mystery, and this one has been bothering me since the first time we transported Reis’s pigs.

“Captain, I know it’s not any of my business, but…” Lia concentrates hard on scratching the ears of the raposquirrel on her shoulders.

“Lia, my life is an open book. Please just ask.”

Her mouth pops into a circle. “Oh, it’s not about you and the guys. They’re great. Super polite. I asked Gus about this rash on my leg” — she shows me a red patch on her right leg — “and he gave me something for it right away. It’s almost gone.”

“Great. That’s why I hired him.”

“He likes you, Captain,” she says, her tone matter-of-fact. “Respects you.”

I nod, remembering Marcelo’s warnings about Gus’s financial status.

“But that’s not what I wanted to ask about. So, um, I know a little about these types of cryocontainers…”

The skin on the back of my neck tingles.

“And?” I ask, picking up my little play buddy and depositing him back in his travel crate.

“Well,” she says, standing and carrying her two animals with her, “see this panel over here on the side? This is actually a stasis interface.”

She waves her hand over it, and it lights up. On the screen, informational graphs indicate oxygen levels and temperature. A few other numbers fluctuate, but I don’t know what they’re for.

Stasis? Why would the frozen fish need to be in stasis?

“Hmmm. Ai? Can I ask for your expertise for a moment?”

I wait, but there’s no answer. Lia tilts her head, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Ai?” I ask again, raising my voice a little. “Are you there?”

“Of course, Captain. I’m always here to help.” She doesn’t explain her delay, and her voice is high on the bedroom sultry. “How are your supplies of birth control? Shall I have Gus shop for different varieties for you?”

I sigh as I lean against the cryocontainer, and Lia pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Ai, were you not just listening in to us talking about the cryocontainer? What makes you think I need more birth control?” It’s hard to hide the exasperation in my voice. Lia giggles.

“You asked for my ‘expertise.’ Sorry, Captain. I was not purposely listening in because I was discussing data storage anomalies with Carlos. Now that I sift through my buffer, I understand that you were discussing the cryocontainer. My first priorities will always be for your sexual health and well-being. It is still a… challenge being a ship.”

Don’t get mad, Vivian. The poor AI can’t help her programming, and something is obviously going wrong with it. I have full confidence in Carlos, though, to figure it out.

“Can you interface with the cryocontainer, please? I’d like to understand why it has stasis controls when I was told we were transporting frozen fish.”

There’s a slight delay. “I’m sorry, Captain. I’m unable to interface with the cryocontainer. It contains an encrypted lock.”

“Of course it does,” I mutter under my breath. It was only a few hours ago that the men Gai Reis hired to load up my ship deposited the cryocontainer and told me not to touch it and leave it alone.

“Would you like me to ask Carlos to crack it?”

Lia’s eyes are focused on me. In every way, I’m her mentor on this trip. We don’t spend a lot of time together, but she watches the choices I make, and she learns how to calibrate her own moral compass based on what I do or say. She’s already witnessed a ton of hard decisions today.

“Well, the smart and easy thing to do is to walk away and leave this alone. I promised I’d get Gai Reis’s cargo to Palo Alto, and that’s what I should do.”

“But?” Lia asks, her eyebrows arching.

“But sometimes you have to listen to your instincts. And instincts are complicated. My instincts tell me to find out what’s in here. They tell me to find my brother. They tell me to watch my back. What do you think?”

“Hmmm.” Lia scratches absently at the hindquarters of the raposquirrel in her arms. “I think I agree with all of those things.”

“Yeah, but they’re all complicated, and they could all lead to bad decisions down the line.”

Still, something is not right about these cryocontainers. And I don’t want to be airlocked one day because I had no idea what I was transporting.

“Ai, ask Carlos to crack it. I want to know what’s inside.”