‘Rgexzzzz alsd goiwarldasf.’ I motioned for him to wait and slipped my translator back into my nasal cavity, cringing as it snapped into place.
‘Ok, you can continue lording your victory over me, Ammet.’ He soured a bit, but remained unshaken. ‘Will my ride remain unmolested if I leave it here?’
‘Yes, yes. Come inside.’ He motioned towards the entrance. ‘We have some things to discuss.
I rolled my eyes and double checked the lock on the door. I had about 100 million reasons to ensure nothing happened to my rustbucket tonight. I fiddled with the translator, using my middle finger to secure it, a gesture Ammet clearly didn’t understand and slowly walked inside. He motioned for me to enter a large room with massive picture windows and screens with video feeds from multiple planets.
That he had his own remote station was impressive, but the decoration was indicative of a man who had been working on the way he was perceived over the course of a very long lifetime- statues from civilizations both living and dead consumed every nook and samples of rare and precious metals from around the galaxy filled cabinets and lined the walls. He knew what he was doing, did it well, had been doing it for six hundred years and, with luck and careful planning, would be doing it for thousands more.
I glanced at a corner and saw the reason for my current problems perched uncomfortably on a sleek metal chair. I smiled brilliantly and walked over to him, holding out my hands in friendship.
‘Ammet den Feros, how are you, my love.’ He took my hands in his and kissed them fervently. He was as good looking as I remembered, pity the circumstances weren’t better- we could pick up where we left off. Ammet motioned for me to take a seat and opened his mouth to begin his lecture.
‘Ammet, could I bother you for a drink? It’s been a long day and I’m parched.’ As he turned to grab a few glasses, I winked at Feros and smiled. Maybe the dumbass could get me out of this. Ammet brought me a glass full of something I couldn’t identify and I only hoped it was strong enough to knock me out and avoid the lecture I was about to endure.
‘Aia.’ Ammet leaned on a table across from me. ‘You have been avoiding me and I fear that if your work had not necessitated contacting me, I never would have heard from you again.’ He took a drink and motioned for me to do the same. I did and immediately relaxed, realizing that handling a pissed off dad was entirely preferable to staring down a terrifying warlord. Actually, since she was a female, would it be a warlady? Was that a thing? My mind wandered and I ordered myself to pay attention to the situation at hand.
‘Ammet- we are the best of friends, it’s only that I’ve been so busy lately.’ I smiled at him and winked once again at his son, not bothering to hide the gesture from dad. ‘You know how it is.’
‘Feros, could you leave us alone for a few minutes. Aia and I have some business to discuss.’
‘Uh, sure.’ The boy was slightly hunched over as he headed back to his room and it took all of the strength I possessed in my puny human body to keep from laughing out loud at the ridiculous situation I found myself in.
‘Aia, do you remember my son’s engagement party that took place here, in my home, a quadrat ago?’ I pretended to think and took a drink.
‘Oh yes, it was a fantastic party. I never thanked you for inviting me. Is that what this is all about?’ Ammet furiously slammed down his glass. I stared into his eyes, and tried my hardest to keep a smirk off my face. He was not amused.
‘It was an excellent party, but do you remember what else happened?’ Of course I remembered, but the last thing I wanted to do was take responsibility for breaking off the engagement between Feros and the daughter of His Abominable Highness, the King of Endrala.
‘Oh, I get it. The bride was upset about my friendship with Feros? You know, I had forgotten to bring a gift and I was trying to think of something that I could give to him that would reflect our long and enduring relationship and, well I...’ I tried to tread lightly but knew I was in for a rough ride.
‘You fucked my son at the party, didn’t you?’
Yes, and it was spectacular.
‘Yes, and I sincerely regret my actions. We had both imbibed a little too much and with the festive atmosphere…’
‘Enough!’ Ammet was clearly furious.
‘I mean, I agree that, uh, you know, uh, looking at it objectively…’ I was trying to figure out what I could say that would diffuse the situation, I mean, come on, it wasn’t like I killed the bride to be. Also, it was just an engagement party- what difference did it make if it happened that night or months before- which it also did.
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‘Because of your indiscretion, His Incandescent Highness refused to allow his daughter to marry my son! Do you know how hard I had worked to make that match?’ He walked to a window. I let him stare out for a few minutes and finished off the drink.
‘Can I get another one of these?’ I burped a little and hoped that now that the whole thing was off his chest, we could just move on.
He turned and threw his glass at me. I dodged and it whizzed by my cheek, barely missing.
‘Not cool, Ammet.’ I stood and walked towards the bar. ‘Guess I’ll get it myself.’
He stared at me with his arms crossed in front of his chest, slowly shaking his head.
‘You really don’t get it, do you?’ I poured the liquid into my glass.
‘Get what?’ I turned towards him and took a drink. ‘What is this? I don’t think I’ve ever had it before, but woof, it really gets the job done.’
‘I was warned not to get involved with humans from Io.’ He poured himself another drink and thought for a moment. ‘Now, between you and Colleen, I’m up to my neck in your double dealing and incomprehensible fuck ups. Do you understand that this could affect my business?’ He waited for an answer and I decided to leave it. ‘I’m just wasting my time here, aren’t I?’
‘No regerts!’ I raised my glass and gave him my most sincere smile. He wasn’t that bad looking either, a little older than I was used to but still vibrant. ‘You know,’ I ran my finger up his arm and came closer to his face. ‘we could smooth this whole thing out really easily.’ I could feel his breath quicken as my lips brushed his. ‘There’s no Mrs. Ammet.’
‘You’re infuriating, Aia.’ He lightly pushed me away and smiled and I knew I was in the clear. I took another drink and stood beside him for a few seconds while my pulse returned to normal. ‘If you weren’t so good at what you do, I would throw you out of the airlock with the rest of the trash.’
‘Cheers?’ I raised my glass and let the insult evaporate before continuing. ‘Ammet, I have a question.’ I paused, trying to figure out the best way to ask about my recent windfall. ‘Do you know anyone who deals in, uh, rare metals?’
‘I knew it.’ He laughed and sat down in one of the chairs near the large window with views of the Nebula’s most vibrant gaseous formations. ‘You did find Daden. Colleen didn’t mention any missing product, but that’s why she was so interested in locating whoever killed him. I figured there wasn’t any personal connection between the two of them, but if he had something she wanted and that something had gone missing...’
‘Purely hypothetically, of course.’ I didn’t want to involve Ammet any more than necessary. He could take care of himself, but I wouldn’t put him in the situation of actively protecting me, especially against someone like Colleen.
‘Of course.’ He walked over to his terminal and input some characters in a language I couldn’t read. Suddenly, my wrist beeped and I saw a name and some coordinates flash into my contacts.
‘Thanks Ammet.’ I encrypted the data and returned to my drink.
‘It’s not free.’ He sat at his desk and stared at me intently. I got up, walked slowly towards him and leaned over his desk, my face millimeters from his.
‘Of course.’ I stood upright and began to unzip my suit.
‘No, not that.’ He laughed and I knew what he really wanted. ‘Give me one bar of whatever you have on your ship.’
‘Can’t we just fuck?’ A quick lay would be way better than parting with a chunk of my newfound retirement plan. ‘You would like it way more than some stupid chunk of metal. Feros can vouch for that.’ I smiled, hoping we could work something out.
‘One bar, now.’
‘Ugh, fine!’ I went out to retrieve it and dropped the glowing material on his desk. He picked it up and took it to a machine on a nearby table. After a few minutes of whirring and beeping, an analysis came up on the screen, he whistled.
‘You’ve come into possession of something quite extraordinary, Aia.’ He picked up the bar and adjusted it to view at different angles.
‘Yeah, Oranium. It’s incredibly valuable.’ Tell me something I don’t know, like where I can sell it. I was getting antsy, the situation had been resolved mostly in my favor and I was ready to go.
‘Not just Oranium. This is some of the most highly refined Oranium I’ve ever seen. This purity was thought to be unachievable. You didn’t just stumble onto some black market cache, this must be for military use.’ He put down the bar and looked at me.
‘Listen to me carefully, Aia. I’ve been in this business for a long time and I’ve never seen anything like this. Get in touch with that person.’ He pointed at my wrist. ’Mention my name. Tell him that you have something that you think he would be interested in. Arrange a meeting and sell it for whatever he asks. Do not try to look around for a better price.’ I could tell he was serious, but there was always the possibility that he was lying.
‘We’ve known each other for a long time and I’ve never double crossed you. Trust me on this.’
He sounded sincere and with what I was carrying around, I needed someone I could trust.
‘Can I leave the rest here while I get in touch with this guy?’
‘Absolutely not. I’ll invite you to spend the night, but as soon as you’re awake, you need to go. Don’t contact me again. I’ll be in touch when everything is clear. Find someone you trust who the credits can be deposited to so no suspicion falls on you.’ He looked into my eyes and put a hand on my arm. ‘Do you understand? This is very, very serious.’
‘Ok Ammet. I really appreciate your help with this.’ I wasn’t sure, but it felt like sincerity. We sat there in silence for a few moments and I relaxed again, feeling like it was going to be ok after all.
I was shown to a guest suite a short time later and could feel the exhaustion creeping in. The last few days had taken their toll and my body needed some care to get back into shape. I steamed in the lava hut attached to the showers and then luxuriated in a gel bath that repaired some of the radiation damage from weeks in space. I was about to lie down when I heard a light knock on my door.