The Ironmongers

1.

Tosh still reeled at what Bors had announced. He’d left his friend—and Mars—in a daze. First waiting in a lounge in Deimos Station. Then a fast rocket anywhere. Anywhere became a rocket to the Zilmarian Port on Ganymede. Most of his mindwas occupied with trying to understand why Bors had told him to journey for a Martian year, then return to the alehouse Bacchanal Respite to see if he wished to continue to follow Bors around as a wondering adventurer.

It was a short jaunt to Ganymede, yet Tosh didn’t want to stay on the swampy planet. Finding another lounge in the lavish Blue Carpet Club—his family held a standing place for any member in any Blue Carpet Club—Tosh found a bartender who would make the ancient drink of a Manhattan without a heavy hand on the bitters. Drink in hand, Tosh leaned back, contemplating his next move as he stared down at the yellows, pinks, greens, and the aquamarine patchwork of Kalik City below on Ganymede. He caught a disturbance at the door of the private lounge and saw a figure he thought he’d never see again.

Azal.

The bandit leader, dressed in ragged clothes, still had the metal and leather mask over his face and was screaming as security drones tried to restrain him. Tosh’s curiosity was only further piqued when he very clearly heard Azal call out, “Tosh du’Vaul! I need to see you. It is a matter of life and death!”

At that moment, one of the security drones was able to finally land a stunner on Azal, and the bandit leader let out a choked cry before flopping onto the rich, thick carpet of the lounge.

For a heartbeat, Tosh considered not helping. The bandit leader had done nothing to help him. “If this is a matter of life and his death, let him die,” Tosh muttered to himself.

Then a small part of him whispered, “He is the reason you stand here instead of trying to sell wares in Tharsis.”

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The voice had a point. He had gained wealth and could travel via fast rocket to the various places in the Known Worlds, thanks in no small part to Azal. The ray gun on his hip, disabled at the moment because of the security field around the lounge, wasn’t uncomfortable. It felt right sitting on his hip.

“And Bors said to seek out adventure elsewhere with others,” Tosh said to himself. He sighed again, stood, and walked to the security drones that were collecting Azal and pulling him toward the back, where two Earth-men in dark blazers waited, their faces stoic. Yet, Tosh knew what terrors those faces hid. If he didn’t act, Azal would get beaten and then disappear, possibly forever.

The idea nauseated him.

“Please, unhand my servant,” Tosh said.

“Sir?” one of the front desk staff asked, a pretty, tanned, freckle-faced woman with bleached platinum blond hair. “You’re registered alone. You did not report any—"

“I did not think he would make the connection. I will pay for any fees and damages that he has wrought.”

The two front desk staff looked at each other with confused expressions. Then, they both turned to one of the two men with blazers. “Is there a way—"

“Sir, Master du’Vaul.” A third man, this one wearing a royal blue blazer, appeared from the corridor that Azal was still slowly being pulled toward. He had the oily smile and demeanor of a secondhand skimmer dealer, one Tosh knew very well.

“Understand, the Blue Carpet Club has a certain level of professionalism. We cannot simply have this man barging in—"

Tosh pulled out a small thumbnail-sized gem, one of the many he’d received thanks to the Grifter’s wife as compensation for his part in rescuing her. “Will this bauble suffice?” he asked.

The man in the blue blazer gave Tosh a serene smile as he moved closer, clasped both hands over Tosh’s extended one, and pumped his hand a few times as an agreement. “Please see that your servant is better trained,” the man said.

Tosh bristled yet said nothing. He gave the front desk staff the false name: Gin, helped Azal up, and rented a private room for the next two hours.

“Your rocket schedule is in an hour,” the woman at the desk warned.

“I will take a later flight.”

“There are no other direct flights to Callisto, sir. This is the only one.”

“Update my itinerary once my servant is seen to. Please, have a lunch cart brought in,” Tosh said.

“You seem to know how to order them all around, sahib,” Azal said as Tosh helped him toward the private room.

“I played it well for some time while part of the family. Please do not use my last name unless you must,” Tosh said.