High Flyght – Chapter 22

My trip back to the ship only decreases my anger and increases my anxiety. I tap my foot and look out the window of the train one hundred billion times before the person next to me almost kills me with his glare. Sorry.

I try to walk without running to the ship, but that’s almost impossible. I should be careful, though. Station AI will pick up on my hurried walk and note it in the logs as suspicious. Someone, or something, is watching us at all times.

When I get through the airlock, I make sure that it’s cycled closed and locked.

“Ai, please initiate our high-security protocol. No one gets on or off, or even close to the ship, unless they’ve already been previously approved for entrance. Is everyone onboard the Amagi?” I hustle through the cargo bay, noting the absence of the raposquirrel crates. The handoff must have gone well.

“Welcome back, Captain. High-security protocols engaged. Only Skylar and Jinzo are aboard the ship at this present time.”

I swear and take the stairs at a run.

“Where is everyone?” I tear through the common area, and Frogger lifts his head to bark at me, wag his tail, and run forward. Squatting down, he greets me with kisses. His wiggly butt is just the cutest thing ever, and it calms me to a more tolerable level of angst.

“I’ll take you for a walk soon. I promise,” I whisper to him.

“Just a moment… Ken has returned to his apartment, but I see he is already on transit to return within an hour. Gus has left the ship to shop for more medical supplies and get some fresh air. Carlos is meeting with his hacker friend about Tomu’s tablet. He wants to see if she can figure out why it was always resetting. Jinzo is sleeping and awaiting your return. Marcelo’s shuttle is gone. He is visiting someone in New Angeles. Lia is shopping and eating.”

“Shopping and eating. I wish I were doing that.” I sigh as I proceed to the bridge, a little more calm around the edges. “Oh, Ai? How many deleted messages do I have in my archives from Cressida Briar-Stevenson?”

“You have fifty-three deleted messages in your archives from Cressida Briar-Stevenson, Captain. The last message was received thirty-three point seven minutes ago and was automatically deleted. Would you like for me to retrieve them from the archives?”

“Nope. Just checking to see if she had given up yet.” It’s just one more thing I have to deal with, and putting it off is becoming increasingly more hazardous.

On the bridge, Skylar is in her pajamas still, her socked feet propped on a part of the console without buttons. She sips on a hot cup of coffee and watches a read-out panel in front of her.

“Hey,” I say, approaching the door. “I’m back.”

“You’re back! How did it go?” She looks past me to the empty corridor. “Where are the boys?”

I throw myself into ‘my’ chair, the chair I don’t spend any time in because Skylar’s got the bridge covered.

“They’re with Gai Reis.”

Skylar pulls her feet off the console. “I thought…”

I hold up my hands. “I know. I thought I would go there, confront him, and bring the boys back, but…” I run my fingers through my hair and pull, hoping the act will relieve the pounding of my brain. “But I got there, and he has like twenty boys in that house, all awaiting their trips to the academy.”

“Jesus…” Skylar breathes out. “This is big business?”

I nod, unable to quantify the situation.

We sit in silence for a moment, and Skylar checks her read-outs one more time.

“Tell me everything.” She sets down her mug and turns her full attention on me, so I give her the rundown. How Gai Reis is only one way station out of many. That these boys want to go to whatever this academy is. That Athens Industries is involved, and those big men showed up just as I was leaving.

“The men who tried to kill me?” she asks, her eyes wide.

“Yeah, same guys. And they said their boss was a ‘she,’ remember?”

Skylar gasps. “You don’t think —”

“Let me show you something.” I access my wristlet and call up the message that Gus sent to me, way before he ever ended up on my crew. I share it to Skylar’s console. The two men appear and say, “We know you’re friends with your upstairs neighbor, Tomu Kawabata. Next time you see him, let him know Renny’s looking for him.”

Skylar covers her mouth with her hand. “Renny.” Her eyes focus on a faraway spot. “Renata Dellis?”

Renata Dellis, CEO of Athens Industries. She’s one of the most powerful people in the Duo Systems, respected and feared by pretty much everyone. Until this mess happened, I had always watched her TV briefings and red carpet interviews with awe. She’s not the best looking woman I’ve ever seen, short and stocky with frizzy gray hair and never even a hint of makeup, but who am I to judge? I’m not much of a looker, either, but I’m at least half a meter taller than her, and I’ve been known to like designer clothing and shoes. Renata Dellis has more money than God and still dresses like a poor Ossun girl from a backwater station on the Southern Continent. Money doesn’t buy good taste, and it doesn’t erase the past either.

“Renata Dellis,” I confirm. “What are the chances she’s coming for me right now? My brother’s stolen from her, and I suspect she’s trafficking humans. Purchasing little boys from their families and shipping them far, far away for some purpose I’m not even sure about.”

Skylar drums her fingers on her console while she thinks.

“What do I do, Sky?” I drop my shields and personalities because Skylar is the only human in existence that gets to see me at my most vulnerable. She is family. She’s my best friend. We stay out of each other’s way yet we’re always at each other’s backs. I may be falling in love with these men I’ve met, but Skylar is my heart. I’d do anything for her like she’d do for me. “I have so many people depending on me. Have I just signed our death warrants?”

The console in front of her pings and a status flashes, ‘Fuel reserves at 100%.’ She leans forward and accepts the charges.

“I figure one of two things can happen.” Skylar leans back and sips her coffee, and the fact that she’s not panicking and running for a weapon calms me. “One, Athens completely ignores you. You’re small potatoes. They don’t care if one woman finds out about their illegal activities because who are you going to tell, you know?”

Well, there’s that lawyer who’s now dead.

“And two, they send someone to kill you and everyone on the crew. Or they figure out some way to override our tech so they can vent our air while in space. Or plant a bomb on our hull or whatever else they can possibly do to fuck us over.”

I’m going to throw up. “Skylar, that is not very reassuring.”

She sets down her mug. “Personally, I’m going to hope for option one and plan for option two. But do I think they’ll do anything today? No.”

“I don’t know about that. Those big guys looked pretty determined to catch me not too long ago.” I peek over my shoulder at the empty hallway. “They may even have tracked me here.”

Skylar rests her hand on my arm. “Trust me. Renata Dellis knows where we are right now, what we’re doing and where we’re going next. There’s no hiding any of that from her.” She sits back. “Ai, can you tell me where those men are who came after Vivian this morning?”

“I sure can, darling. Give me a moment.”

Skylar rolls her eyes. “Suddenly, I’m ‘darling’ to her. And have you noticed that she’s not really on top of things anymore?”

“I have. What’s going on?”

Ai has always seemed like a waif with her head in the clouds. But she’s been silent except for when I’ve called for her which is unusual. No butting into conversations and saying sexy things. Plus, she’s been delayed frequently or offline.

“Something’s wrong with her storage network. Carlos has been consumed with it. He feels certain someone is deliberately messing with Ai, but I think it’s just his paranoia. We’re going to have to find another AI, and soon.”

I know nothing about data storage anomalies. And it’s no wonder I’ve barely seen Carlos lately. All of those days and nights he was holed up in his room was so he could try to fix Ai. Her delays and weird tangents make sense. She hasn’t been a flake; she’s losing her memory.

“I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“Yeah,” Skylar says, cringing. “You had enough going on. And Carlos is freaking out. I didn’t want him freaking out on you too.”

“Okay.” I’m disappointed they didn’t come to me about this, but Skylar’s right. I’ve had enough on my plate lately. “So we need a new AI? What’s that going to cost us?”

“A lot, and we’re screwed if anyone finds out we’ve been flying with an illegal AI. The big problem will be all the new equipment. It’s going to cost, and we’ll need to sit in spacedock for a while.”

“What happens to Ai?”

Skylar shrugs. “Carlos hopes to salvage her. He’s working on it.”

“Captain, Skylar, I have that information you were asking for. The two men who tried to go after the captain this morning at Gai Reis’s place are at the Athens Industries Palo Alto headquarters. They do not appear to be leaving anytime soon.”

“Thanks, Ai,” Skylar says, and Ai is quiet once again.

She can listen in whenever she wants, but it’s unnerving knowing she’s aware of her imminent… death? Is she going to die? I really don’t want her to die.

“So, look, they’re not after you.” Skylar gestures to her console. “We’re all fueled up now. Air reserves are coming later today, and Lia will be grocery shopping on her way back. We can leave right after your graduation party that Ken is planning. I’m already looking at our next Flyght clients. Some poor rich fellow is moving from Palo Alto to Laguna and needs transport. We’ll be on our way in no time. And Renata Dellis? She’s not even thinking about you one little bit.”

Skylar’s smile is confident, brazen even.

A message alert pings to her screen.

“Captain, I have a vidcall incoming to you from Renata Dellis, CEO of Athens Industries.”

All the blood in my head rushes to my feet. Skylar’s smile skitters away. I stand up and look around, hoping I can jump behind a chair or a wall to hide.

“Shit.” Skylar sighs. “And I was so hoping I was right.”

“What do I do?”

“Answer it.” Skylar’s eyes widen, and she shakes her hands at my console.

No. No. I don’t want to talk to her. I don’t want her to know who I am, what I sound like, how I look like a wide-eyed animal when I feel threatened.

“Answer it,” Skylar growls at me.

No choice. I sit and gesture to the console to connect the call.

I see Renata Dellis’s pert smile before I see anything else in the frame. She’s dressed for the office, her hair pulled back, her face fresh. Did I say she wasn’t that attractive? I meant, she’s scary as hell.

“Well, that’s better,” Renata says, smiling and tilting her head. “Am I speaking with Vivian Kawabata?”

“You are. Hello, Ms. Dellis. It’s an honor to be speaking with you. I’m… I’m not sure why you’re calling me, but how can I be of help to you today?”

Lie, Vivian. Play dumber than dumb.

“I’m afraid I’m calling about a few different matters, all of which have ended up on my desk in the last week, and all of which have to do with you.”

“Me?” I bring my hand to my chest.

“Yes. You.” She’s unamused. I cast a sideways glance at Skylar, and her eyes are wide. Carlos now hovers in the doorway. “I see that your ship, the Amagi, is docked right here in Concord City. Is there any chance you have time on your schedule to meet tomorrow in the morning?”

Here’s the thing about this ‘request’ — Renata Dellis is arguably the busiest person in the known universe. She does not have free hours where she sits around in a robe, and people feed her grapes. She is always in meetings or on a publicity tour or brainstorming with the R&D team or whatever the hell else she does. When she asks me if I have free time tomorrow, she is really saying, ‘You will make time for me tomorrow morning, on my schedule, whether you want to or not.’

“My calendar is wide open for you, Ms. Dellis.” I smile, though I’m sure my eyes are not reflecting the sentiment. “Please tell me what you have available, and I will be there.”

“Ten thirty, then. And please bring Jinzo Lee and Ken Mata. I am eager to speak to them both as well.”

“Yes, Ms. Dellis. We’ll be there.”

She nods once and terminates the call.

“Holy. Shit,” Skylar says, letting out a long-held breath. “That was no joke. A summoning.”

My hands shake as I push away from the console and stand up.

Carlos shakes his head. “There’s no way this will end well. Shouldn’t we just pack up and blow out of here? Get on the run?” He looks to both Skylar and me. “This ship is my home, and you two… I don’t want to lose what we have here.”

I step forward and anchor myself by squeezing his upper arm. Concentrating on the connection, I take a deep breath and wait for the shakes to subside.

“I don’t want to lose this either. I came out here to make some money to buy back my farm. To hopefully find my brother and ask him why he betrayed us. This? This universe-wide conspiracy chock full of human trafficking and strange seeds that turn people into superheroes? This is way out of my league.”

Both Skylar and Carlos are silent. What could they say?

I let go of Carlos’s arm and stare off down the hallway to the rest of the ship.

“I need to find some way to rein this madness back in. There has to be a way.”

I want to destroy the people buying and selling kids. I want to murder my brother. I want to see my mother in better health. I want to lie in bed with Ken or Jinzo and just forget everything.

But most of all, I want my farm back. If I can get back my life, things will be better.

It all comes down to money. I had hired the lawyer on Rio to sell the seeds, either to Athens or Cosmas. Athens is on to me. Should I sell to Cosmas? I don’t know enough about them to say yes. Maybe there are other alternatives?

I don’t know what to do.

Answers, I need them now. Like a magnet pulling me forward, I leave Carlos and Skylar on the bridge and return to my grow room in the auxiliary cargo bay.

Here are my answers.

Down the rows of plants, my gaze picks out several mature Rio specimens, ready and waiting for me. Ken’s empathy plant has gained a few centimeters in height. Dad’s flowers for the Happiest of Hot Sauces are ready to be harvested. The anti-aging tuber plant is showing promise, as is the sprout of the music-abilities tree. I’ll have to get those into soil soon. I’ve only started growing eight of the forty-two seeds I have, and not all of them even have descriptions. This right here is my gold mine. This right here is my insurance.

And with the success of Ken’s experience and Dad’s hot sauce, I can only imagine what I can accomplish now.

I bypass my empty fish tank and make a beeline straight for the bright blue prescient berries. I let my hand hover over the vine, hoping for movement but nothing happens. Hmmm. I step to the right and stand with the happy flowers. I definitely felt the happy high from the hot sauce, so maybe the flowers will respond to me? I touch their stalks and petals, and nothing.

The scientist inside of me says this isn’t evidence of any kind. We have no real way of understanding why Darmit Hoggard clicked with the plant on Rio. And Ken, with the heightened empathy plant, could be an anomaly.

Or it could mean something.

There’s only one way for me to find out.

Tonight is Ken’s night again according to the schedule. I’ll be with him from dinner to dawn. This is the perfect time for me to try out the prescient dream berries. I need answers to questions now, not in days, weeks, or months. If I wait and let events unfold, I may end up dead.

I pluck two berries off the vine and gently slip them into my pocket.

Tonight, I’ll figure out this mess. Tonight, I’ll get answers before I go see Renata Dellis.

Tonight, I’ll see the future.