Silent Flyght – Chapter 10

I shut the door on the auxiliary cargo bay and breathe a sigh of relief. I’m back home, back in the world I understand.

Just me and my plants. No thoughts of fate or predestined lives. Plants grow, reproduce, wilt, and die. Concepts easy to understand and hard to fault. I wish everything could be like that.

Shucking off my fancy shoes, I slip on the all-purpose clogs I keep by the door now. It makes it easier to transition from one place to the next if I’m not always going to my room to get changed. I wiggle my toes in the clogs and groan. My feet are killing me.

But the pain immediately gives way to a smile as I walk into my lab. The plants in their grow trays are doing well. At this moment, right here, I feel like I have a handle on things. The fish are happy in their tank, and the solutions I’ve been tweaking are balanced. All the plants have stayed where I’ve sown them since we captured Tomu, and many of them are ready for harvest.

I cross to my desk table at the far end of the bay and grab some clear bags and a pair of scissors, ready to snip and pull. Let’s see… Which plants are at their peak?

The B5RSD2 (the Happiest of Hot Sauces flower) is doing great, so I leave it be for a different day. We can harvest flowers on the trip to Palo Alto and make another batch of hot sauce when we arrive. My gut clenches as I pick the AH3TB9 blue berries that cause prescient dreams. I’ve been thinking about how best to preserve them, and it’s a toss-up between freezing them or dehydrating them. Hmmm. I hum as I drop them into their labeled bag.

Following the prescient berries, I also harvest the red bulbous fruit of 74V89N, which gives night vision to those who eat it or drink its juice. I pluck leaves from I5LTC3 (the telekinesis plant), flowers from Y6203Q (Ken’s heightened empathy plant), and, of course, ZBINRB (the invisibility fern).

But there are two plants here that have come to maturity that we’re excited about — C6K00E (another flower that causes shapeshifting) and 0G9P2O (a moss that regrows internal organs).

I scrape the moss off a rock I pulled from the dirt of some random land on Ossun. I couldn’t get one from my own property, so I had an autocab pull over to the side of the road one day and dug the rock out with my bare hands. Marcelo was unhappy about what I did to my nails. I chuckle as I drop chunks of moss into its labeled bag. Marcelo is always unhappy when I stray from the straight and narrow. I should endeavor to give him fewer reasons to be exasperated with me.

Grabbing the datapad from my desk, I catalog the plants I’ve harvested, take photos of them, and send the data to Ai for safekeeping. Carlos keeps everything locked down and encrypted, the way we planned it.

Once that’s done, I gather up the edible vegetables for upcoming dinners, slip them into a cloth bag, grab the Rio plant bags, and lock up the auxiliary cargo bay on my way out the door.

“Hey, Lia,” I say, spotting her in the galley. “I just got these from the grow trays. Everyone is going to love these beans, bell peppers, leafy greens, and herbs. How was your cooking class on the Lee home ship?” I hand the bag over to her, and she smiles down into it.

“It was great! I learned a lot, mostly how to not set the kitchen on fire.” She sets the bags on the counter. “I got tortillas while I was off the ship today. I could make burritos with printed protein.”

“How about breakfast burritos? I’m going back to Casa Aravena for dinner tomorrow.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Things are looking up?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll keep you posted.”

She holds out her hands to the Rio plants. “Do you want me to put those in the fridge too?”

“No. I think I’ll store them in my room. Captain’s quarters have more security than the rest of the ship.”

“Good call. Okay, I’ll make breakfast burritos for tomorrow morning.”

I leave her to unpack the produce bag and make my way to my room. When the door opens, Frogger’s head lifts from his spot on the floor. I drop my bag on my bed, put the Rio plants in my private fridge, and sit down on the floor next to my sweet dog. He sighs as he lays his head in my lap and looks up at me for ear scratches.

“Who’s been a good boy?” I ask him. His tail thumps a few times. “You’ve been a good boy.” I pepper kisses onto his fuzzy head and then lean back against the bed.

This day did not turn out how I thought it would. I expected there to be some flirting, I would tour the vineyards and get to know Mat, and then there would be the promise of more in the future. I hadn’t expected a deep conversation about fate and a fiery connection.

I go round and round in my head about the pros and cons of dating someone like him. I need the money, and he has the money I could use, but what will it cost me? I’m dangerous, but he wants to be a part of my relationship network. I suppose I’ll find out more about him tomorrow at dinner, though I want to know right now.

“Ai?” I lift my voice. “Are you around?”

“Good evening, Captain. How was your time off the ship?”

I smile as I let my head relax. “It was nice. Sonoma is a beautiful planet. The weather was perfect for a day spent in a vineyard.”

“My research tells me this is the ideal season to be sightseeing on Sonoma, as it’s close to harvest time for many wineries. Would you like me to look into more destinations for you to visit while we’re here?”

“No. No, thank you. We won’t be here for very long and possibly not much longer than I originally thought.” I adjust myself as Frogger tries to climb onto my lap. “I need you to gather some data on a suitor for me.”

“Isn’t that Marcelo’s job?” she asks, and I smile up at the ceiling.

“Of course it is. But I know you are just as resourceful as Marcelo, so let’s see what you find out, okay? I’m going to read Marcelo’s brief, too. It’s in my inbox.”

“Absolutely, Captain. I’m ready to help.”

“His name is Mat, and he owns Casa Aravena Winery.”

“Okay. I’m slotting these tasks into the queue. Please know that my processing time is delayed. This datapad Carlos has me on is nothing compared to where I was previously housed. I will have to set aside time to process your request, and I will need to request access to the duonet from Carlos.”

“Is he keeping you that locked up?” I ask, stroking Frogger’s silky ears.

“Carlos keeps me off the duonet as much as possible since I have access to all the crew members now. Please stand by, Captain. I expect this inquiry to take three-point-four minutes.”

I suppose I could snuggle with Frogger for three minutes, but I should go through my messages before I retire to bed. Quickly glancing at the schedule, I’m on my own for the night. A rare occurrence. This means I can have my nightmares in peace… not that there ever is such a thing.

Back in my inbox, it is overflowing with nonsense. Renata Dellis is still asking for me to join Athens Industries, and my dad wants to talk with me, but I spot two messages I have to deal with.

First up, a message from Michael Lopez at First Ossun Bank.

“As discussed per our last meeting, we have moved up the auction of Kawabata Holdings and Estates. It is our intention to start the bid on the estates at six million credits. Please see attached files for information on time and place, escrow, bidding requirements, and other contracts.”

I close my eyes and curse a wild stream of obscenities. Even Frogger can tell I’m angry because his tail starts a vigorous wag, and he jumps up to lick my face. I check the dates on file for the auction and put it on my calendar. I have about two weeks to get the rest of the money I need just to make the minimum bid.

Last I did the calculations, I needed another 2,590,000 credits to get to five million credits, so now that number jumps to 3,590,000 since the price has gone up. Ken gave me 700,000 credits from Flyght, and Jinzo has 1,800,000 credits coming from the sale of the Taurus. This leaves 1,090,000 credits still to go, and that’s just to the minimum bid amount. An obscene number of credits to pull out of thin air.

But not if I get them from Mat.

I lick my lips as I consider the possibilities. I said I would work hard at wooing him, so that’s what I need to do.

I return to my inbox and look at the second message I have to deal with from Gabriel Almas.

“You’re a hard woman to track down, and I hear you’re on Sonoma. I would like to meet with you again, sometime soon. This time, my wife will be present, so you know we’re serious about our offer. We will meet at a location close to your ship on Sonoma in two days.”

My skin crawls as I read his message over again. He starts the message asking for a favor and ends it with a demand. He’ll be here, and I’m expected to meet with him. End of story.

Fuck. That.

I’ll have to talk with Nanci about beefing up ship security for the next few days, and I’ll make sure the ship is never unoccupied.

There’s nothing this guy wants from me that I’m willing to give.

Tomu. It all leads back to Tomu.

“Ai, hold on to that information for me. I’ll be right back.”

I heft my weary bones from the floor, stretch out my back, let Frogger out of my room into the main corridors, and head to Tomu’s room. I doubt he’s asleep, but I also don’t care if he is. I’ll wake him up.

I open the door to his room, and light from the hall spills over his skinny body, curled up on the edge of his bed.

“Whatever it is, I don’t want it,” he calls out, not opening his eyes.

“That’s okay. I didn’t bring you anything.” I sit down at the threshold of the door. I’m always careful not to go into his room too far. I never know what he’s going to pull. “I could get you something to eat if you like. Maybe, if you want to exchange information.”

Tomu doesn’t budge.

“I’ve been speaking with Gabriel Almas. He seems happy enough that you’re gone.”

The needling works. Tomu sits up and turns to face me slowly. “Gabriel?”

“Don’t play dumb,” I say, wagging my finger at him. “I heard you two were lovers.” I shrug my shoulders. “But I guess you weren’t good enough to keep around.”

Tomu is still for a breath before he lunges to his feet and throws all his weight to the end of his leash. The cable snaps him back like a rag doll. I don’t even move. I trust Jinzo and his engineering skills.

“Shut up, you whore.”

“Oh, ho! Look who suddenly has an opinion on something.”

“You and all your men are disgusting. Go on. Make fun of my relationship with Gabe all you want. I owned him. I owned Sonia, too. I was the one in charge. I never let a man or a woman rule me.”

My skin prickles with goosebumps. I don’t even understand how we’re related.

“I’m meeting with him in a few days,” I gloat, though I’m sure I’ll find some way out of it. “We’re going to talk all about you.”

“Fine. Enjoy.” He lies back down on the bed and closes his eyes.

“I know you gave him the money, your proceeds from the farm. Seems to me you didn’t own him. You bought him, and when he didn’t fit the role you wanted him to play, you left to run after me.”

“Believe whatever you want. I —”

I shut the door on him before he can finish his sentence. I’m not sure what I hoped to gain by asking him anything, but the conversation was useless. It just reiterated to me how unhappy and angry he is.

I return to my room and throw myself on the bed.

“Captain, I have your information ready to go,” Ai says, jolting me out of my thoughts of spacing Tomu. “Would you like me to put the report in your inbox?”

“Yes, please.”

This is a better way to spend my night. I get under the covers and page through everything Ai dug up on Matias Aravena, my possible new partner. In life or love or both? We’ll soon see.