High Flyght – Chapter 6

Three-point-three million credits, minus 300,000 each from Malina and Alipha, another 100,000 from the box in the field, and 5,000 credits from our last Flyght job and another 3,000 credits from Gai Reis…

I do the math in my head as I walk towards the café where I’m to meet Skylar and Marcelo. 2,592,000 credits left to go. I’m sure I can find that in the couch cushions if I just look hard enough, right?

Of course, this is all minus what we need to survive, what we need for fuel, food, water, and air. My lines of credit, the only ‘money’ I had when this all happened, are bled dry at this point, and all I can pay on them is the interest I owe. My financial grave just keeps getting deeper and deeper every day.

Skylar’s ebullient laugh is the first thing I hear when I open the door to the café. She and Marcelo are whooping it up halfway across the dining room, and their happiness brings a smile to my face. I wonder what they’re talking about. I haven’t laughed like that in a while. It almost seems a shame.

“Vivian!” Skylar’s hand shoots in the air, and she waves me over to their table, pulling out a chair for me. Though we live and work together, she always greets me with a lean-in and a kiss on the cheek. We’ve been doing that since our early teens.

“You guys are in a great mood.” I keep my voice light, and my smile in the ‘on’ position. “What did I miss?”

Despite being indoors now in a packed café, it’s chilly in here, so I wrap my sweater tighter.

“Marcelo was just telling me about Juan and how his first date with Mom went.” She rolls her eyes and giggles.

Juan is Skylar’s mom’s youngest husband. He’s a great guy, and we all love him, but he’s known for being a little too ‘out there.’ He’s also more clumsy than I am, and that’s saying something. He’s broken more limbs than several people combined.

I rest my chin on my hand and listen to Marcelo tell the story again. Juan and Aunt Fusako had been having dinner in a romantic restaurant on Palo Alto when a cat rubbed up against Juan’s legs under the table, he freaked out, knocked over the table, and dumped their dinner on Aunt Fusako.

Skylar bursts into another laugh, and Marcelo chuckles.

“I had to convince Fusako to give him a second chance. It helped that he was, still is, a good guy,” Marcelo says, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. He blows out a breath to clear away the laughter. “It was one of my better matches.”

Skylar sips at her coffee and sighs. “Brought Mom an extra five ships to her fleet, and Juan is lovable. He’s always treated everyone decently.”

I wave over a waiter and order a coffee, croissant, and a large water. “I’m parched.” I try to lick my lips, but my mouth is so dry. “And I’m exhausted. I even slept alone last night!”

“Beauty sleep is a real thing,” Skylar says, and Marcelo doesn’t object. “But you look pale. Are you feeling okay?”

I pull the sweater around me tighter. “I’m a little tired, but I’ll be fine. So… who has good news for me?”

“First, I have personal news I wasn’t able to share last night.” Marcelo clears his throat and sits forward. “I’m retiring.”

Panic drives my blood pressure to bottom out.

“You and Skylar will be my last clients.”

Okay, phew. I thought for a moment there I would have to do this on my own… Wait. Skylar?

I turn to her with my eyebrows raised.

“Yep. It’s time to start looking.”

“But just a few weeks ago you were saying…”

“I know. I know.”

She pauses while the waitstaff delivers my coffee, water, and croissant. I gulp down the water fast enough to give me a headache.

“But I can’t let you have all the fun.” Skylar shrugs.

This time I do laugh. I throw back my head and guffaw.

“That’s a good one. Since when have I had any fun?”

“Since never,” she replies. “But don’t worry. I’ve asked Marcelo to start vetting candidates, but I won’t date anyone until after we get the farm back.”

“Retiring?” I ask him. “Aren’t you a little young for that?”

“Ms. Vivian, I’m sixty-five.”

“Wow,” both Skylar and I say in unison.

“You don’t look a day over forty,” Skylar whispers. She leans in to look closer at him. “How is that possible?”

He smirks. “Good genes. I’m looking into a change in careers, though nothing is certain. I’ll let you know what I decide on. But now your family has my undivided attention. I have discharged my last clients and wrapped up other obligations. My mother’s health is failing, and I want to make sure I have time for her and you both.”

A pang rips through my leg, but I push it to the back of my head. This is big news. When I met Marcelo, he was skeptical of me, and if I’d even be a good client. I wonder if coming to trust him and confide in him changed his mind about me.

“We’re the lucky last clients, Viv.” Skylar elbows me in the ribs.

“Lucky, indeed.” I don’t know what I’d do without Marcelo. He is someone I’ve come to rely on and trust. I’m so glad he has stuck with me.

I gulp down the last of my water and wish it had been twice the size. The coffee sits in front of me and isn’t appealing at all. I push it away.

“In other news, I’ve located Ken Mata,” Marcelo says, “and Skylar has gone to scope him out.”

This brings me out of my head.

“Want to guess where he is?” Marcelo rubs his hands together.

“Is he still here on Ossun?”

I rewind my memories to everything I know of Ken. He grew up on Rio, but he has ties here, if things haven’t changed in three years. Strong ties.

“He’s still here on Ossun, and he’s not that far away. About two hours by train.”

“Ah. He’s gone to see his dad and brother.”

There’s no other place Ken would go on Ossun. His dad grew up here, and it looks like he’s invited his younger son to come stay with him for a bit. I’m not surprised. Ken was always close with his dad and his older brother. Being the second son of a third husband meant that his mother had a lot of other people to care for while he was growing up. She’s a kind and thoughtful woman, though, even if she was absent, and we had gotten along until I turned Ken down. I wonder what she thinks of me now.

“I’ve only been there once. Do you have an address? I’ll go visit him later today.”

Marcelo lifts his wrist. “Sure.”

My wristlet chimes with the incoming address card, and I file it away for later.

“Do you want company? Or do you want to do it alone? Skylar said that he’s not doing much there.” Marcelo finishes up his coffee.

“Lots of eating and drinking, and wandering around their family’s property,” she fills in.

I frown down at my croissant. Ugh. I don’t even want to eat it. Why did I order it?

“I… I don’t know. I guess I’ll go take care of it myself.”

Marcelo frowns, and Skylar sits forward to look at me.

“Are you okay, Viv? You don’t seem like yourself.”

“I think I’m just hungover.” I take a deep breath through my nose and push it back out. I wasn’t this hungover when I woke up. Why is it creeping up on me now? “Where are we with our next Flyght client?”

Skylar shrugs. “No prospects. Diamond level is great and all, but we’re either too small for some of the bigger clients, or too expensive for the smaller clients. I’m keeping my alerts on in case something comes up. In the meantime, I got a call from Gai Reis wanting to do business with us again. Are you game?”

I’m glad I put Skylar in charge of the bookings now. No more military and she’ll make sure our clients are discreet.

“Yeah, sure. Last time wasn’t too bad.” A little sketchy, but nothing too untoward. “Hopefully, it’s not pigs.”

“Carlos wants to talk to his friend…” Skylar snaps her fingers a few times. “What’s his name? Van?”

“Yan something. I’m surprised I remember even that.”

“Yan, that’s it. He wants to talk to Yan about systems to shore up Ai. He’s been having troubles with her recently. Not sure what’s going on there.”

Yeah, we don’t need to deal with AI problems on this trip, too.

My wristlet pings with a message from Dad.

“Just a sec,” I mumble as I call up the text.

“I’m at the hospital now to sit with Mom. They hope to discharge her later. What do you want to talk about?”

I want to talk about why Tomu has, or had, seeds of his own, but even with Carlos’s encryption, I don’t have enough trust to put it in a message.

“I’ll be there soon,” I message back.

Speaking of which…

I grab my bag and stand up. The room dips, and the feeling is worrying, but I push it aside. I just need to hydrate, and I’ll be fine.

“Tell Carlos I need the information on that datapad soon, will you? There are too many mysteries lately for my taste.”

Skylar and Marcelo stand up as well. “We’re heading back there now,” Skylar says. “We both have ship maintenance to do. Where are you going?”

“To the hospital to talk to my dad.”

And, hopefully, get some answers to all the questions swirling through my head.