The hike in was brutal on Reyer.
She tried to mask her pain, but eventually, she admitted she needed help. Vas and Tennama shared out the burden of her pack.
Even now, unencumbered and walking over the more stable streets of the town, her gait was so crippled that it hurt to watch her walk.
“We need to find a place to stay,” Vas said.
Even without a formal plan, that had always been a priority. He and Tennama had learned how vital shelter was during their scouting expedition. If you had a place to stay, you had access to water. But when he glanced at Reyer’s pale face, he realized that someplace comfortable to rest might be a more immediate need.
He spotted a dark alley between two buildings and ushered all of them into the shadows. A quick inspection showed they were alone.
“Ciro, Jane,” Vas said, “I need you to go to the company apartments and see if they have two rooms for the night—”
“Company apartments?” Ciro asked.
“You heard me correctly. That’s the closest thing this planet has to a hotel. It’s where Ashtell management stays when they’re forced to visit the planet, but they’ll rent out rooms if they’re not already occupied. If they only have one available, take it.”
“Sounds crowded,” Jane said.
“The bed will be for Alix and whoever annoys me the least, Doctor.”
Jane shut her mouth. She trusted Vas’s chivalry, but she also knew not to press her luck.
Vas went on, “This is technically a Supremacy planet, so from here on out, it’s aliases only—”
Ciro broke in with, “And could we try not to blow our covers this time? I’m running out of Zorro references. Unless—”
“I’ll be dead before I go by Guy Williams, and if you put it on my gravestone, I’ll come back to beat you with it.”
“It’s better than Bunny Wigglesworth.”
Vas grabbed his brother roughly by the shoulder and guided him out to the street. When he was done giving him and Jane directions, Adan returned to Reyer and Tennama.
Alix was gripping the xeno’s sleeve and leaning against him.
“That bad?” Adan asked.
She offered him a faint nod, but his real answer came from the fact she didn’t move away or try to stand up on her own.
He wanted to throw his arms around her and kiss her—as if that could do anything to make her feel better—but he knew from experience jostling her would only make it worse.
Swallowing his frustration, he bent down so he could get to his pack. He pulled out a canteen of water and took off his shirt.
“Captain?” Tennama said.
“It’s Javier Langella, Mr. Taylor.” Vas tried to beat the dust out of his shirt. “Miss Durand needs to sit down, so we’re meeting Frank and Jane at the bar when they’re done getting rooms. We didn’t walk in from the desert, so we can’t look like we walked in.”
He splashed the water down his arms and tried to clean off his face and hair. After Tennama agreed he looked presentable, Vas took charge of Reyer and tried to help de-grime her while the xeno saw to himself.
When he was almost done, he heard her whisper, “Do we have any Exalt?”
He glanced around, but the alley was still clear. “We’re not supposed to. It’s a monitored substance, Miss Durand.”
“You don’t strike me as the law-abiding type.”
“I have a half dose, but after that we’ll have to get it the way any self-respecting Supremacy citizen would get it—from a dealer.”
“I think I’m in love with you, Mr. Langella.”
He kissed her forehead before pulling the shot out of his bag. When he was done with the syringe, he dropped it by the buildings foundation and crushed it into the dirt.
“Come on.” Vas once again shouldered his pack. “Let’s go sit down.”
Reyer and Tennama followed him around the corner. The neon sign on the building beside them was covered in dust, making the pink and green lights seem tired. Tennama read the dim lettering.
Oasis. Tavern.
He and Vas hadn’t been to this bar. Given Anthony’s irritation at the painful cliché, he felt sure he would have remembered it.
Despite his lexical standards, he followed Vas and Reyer inside.
The tavern was already crowded. The scattering of people had claimed over half the tables, and a few men were drinking alone at the bar.
The man at the door stood up as they entered. He was tall, broad, and had a metal name tag pinned to his shirt that identified him as Jack. At first he observed them without saying a word; it was only when Reyer asked if they could sit anywhere that he was goaded into speech.
“Are you new here?”
“We’re visiting.”
“I’ll need your IDs.”
Reyer and Vas already had theirs out. It was a standard request. What wasn’t standard was the fact the doorman had to look for his reader.
He seemed to be aware of the incongruity. “I know most people by sight,” he explained.
“Small town?” Reyer asked.
The doorman didn’t seem to notice she was teasing him. “It is.” He ran her card, then handed it back. “You’re from Daidas?” he said, still peering at the screen.
“Yes,” she said.
“Who’re you visiting?”
“One of our friends, John William, but we arrived too late to be barging in on him, so the surprise will have to wait until tomorrow.”
“Do you have a place to stay?”
“Our friends are working on that. The company apartments, right?”
The doorman nodded. When he finished running the other two cards, he motioned to the open room with a lazy hand. “Sit anywhere you like.”
He watched them walk away, then picked up his phone.
Reyer led Vas and Tennama to a table in the back. Despite the Exlaudinum, she winced as she sat down. The men took their seats on either side of her.
As she picked up a menu, she said, “I should have gotten the name of that liquor from Cays.”
“No drinking,” Vas said. It escaped his mouth before it occurred to him that she had probably said that specifically to annoy him. He glanced over, then looked away. “You’re smiling again,” he grumbled.
“My apologies, Mr. Langella.” If she was sorry, she wasn’t sorry enough to stop. She leaned forward and tapped his arm. “Hey. Buy me a drink.”
“I’ll buy you water.”
“What kind of cheap date do you take me for, Mr. Langella?”
Tennama said softly, “Miss Durand, if he’s supposed to be nothing but the pilot, maybe you shouldn’t be treating him with such familiarity.”
“You don’t know. Maybe Durand is a big flirt.”
“It’s the Exalt, Taylor,” Vas said. “She’ll be like this for a while.”
A woman came by to take their order. She looked almost too young to work there. Vas, true to his word, ordered Reyer water, but he also asked what they had in the way of exotic fruit and ordered her a serving of that. He and Tennama both asked for beers. The whole time the waitress was listening, her eyes kept darting over to Alix.
Vas finished ordering and had enough time to read her name tag.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Camille!” he snapped.
The girl jumped.
“Our drinks?”
Camille put down three menus, mumbled, “If you want to eat,” then left.
Reyer leaned forward. “What was that about?”
“I don’t know,” Vas said.
“Langella,” Tennama whispered, “do you notice something odd about this place?”
The captain let his eyes wander around the room. When he finished his inspection, he leaned toward the xeno. “Thoughts?”
“What is it?” Alix asked. She’d also scanned the room, but she hadn’t found anything that seemed out of place.
“It’s the women,” Vas said.
“What about them?”
“There’s too many of them.”
Vas had briefed them all on what he and Tennama had learned in the few days they’d spent skulking around the town. Reyer remembered him mentioning that there were hardly any women on the planet. At first glance, the bar seemed to fit that description. It was about the same ratio as Home Base: roughly four or five men for every woman. But now that she thought about it, she remembered Vas had said it was some ridiculous ratio—something like twelve to one.
Reyer jerked her head toward the front of the bar. “Our waitress is talking to the man at the door.”
“She’s probably trying to figure out who we are,” Tennama said.
“Javier?”
Vas forced himself not to look. “He’ll tell her we’re visitors. They’ll probably assume we’re ignorant and leave us alone.”
“We are ignorant,” Tennama hissed.
“Not that ignorant. This is a place where men can come to drink and meet women. I think that’s all we need to know. I should’ve realized how much a woman would stand out.” He tapped the table to get Reyer’s attention. “Alexa, please be smart and careful.”
He didn’t dare say more. He hoped the urgency of his tone was enough to convey the prickliness of their situation.
Alix paled. “We have to find Jane.”
An uneasy silence settled over all of them.
Reyer had no delusions about her physical charms. She was pretty. Maybe over average if she put in the effort. She was also naturally smart and careful.
Jane, on the other hand, was the most attractive woman most people would ever meet, and while she was a brilliant scientist, she wasn’t smart and careful in the way Vas meant. She was apt to run her mouth and had never bothered to curb her temper.
Tennama reached out and put a hand on Reyer’s forearm. “Easy, Miss Durand. She’s not alone.”
“Frank Langella is no bodyguard!”
“She’s also in one of the safest parts of town,” Vas said.
The two men could see Reyer hesitate, but eventually, she nodded.
The waitress brought them their drinks. As they drank, they chatted with each other, forcing themselves to act natural. The longer nothing happened, the easier it became. Forty minutes later, four empty beer mugs littered the table, and the rind was all that was left of the fruit.
“Another round?” Tennama asked.
“No. Frank and Jane should be back soon.” Vas nodded to a figure approaching their table. “This must be a small town. I think the visitors are about to be greeted.”
“Do you think he’s the owner or the manager?” Tennama asked.
Alix cast her eye over his clothes. “Owner.”
“Can you behave yourself, Miss Durand?” Vas asked.
“I suppose. You did buy me the fruit after all.” When he glared at her, she tried to look repentant. “Yes, Mr. Langella, I can behave.”
The man stood beside their table and beamed a wide smile down at them.
“Good evening, Captain Vas!” he boomed. “May I join you?”
A stunned silence was his only answer.
“I think I’ll take that as a yes.” He pulled out one of the spare chairs and sat down.
“Who are you?” Vas asked.
“Dumi Hatanori. I’m lucky enough to be the owner of this establishment. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain.”
Vas ignored the man’s proffered hand. “Why are you calling me Captain Vas?”
Hatanori lowered his arm. “We get so few visitors here on Ionu, it’s really no trouble to check them out. That’s only four or five requests a year! Your card said you were Javier Langella, but your facial scan—”
“The Supremacy doesn’t use facial scans,” Vas said. “Too many false positives. Everyone knows that.”
“This isn’t a Supremacy policy. This is Ashtell. Do you object?”
“I have an evil twin.”
Hatanori grinned. “A very evil twin, I’d say. His most recent warrant is for breaking out of a Supremacy port, destruction of Supremacy property, and conspiring with a suspected murderer and known traitor.” He nodded to Tennama. “Good evening to you as well, Mr. Barnes.” He looked back at Vas. “That twin of yours certainly likes to cause trouble.”
The captain didn’t answer.
Hatanori leaned back in his chair. “Getting a hold of signal isn’t always easy here, so we didn’t bother looking up your full ID from Daidas, but I have no doubt someone will make the effort to see if your retinal scan matches the one attributed to Adan Vas. If it does, a double ID will only be the start of your problems.”
Reyer’s chest shook with repressed laughter. “Poor Ciro is going to be so disappointed.”
Hatanori pointed at her. “I couldn’t figure out if you were Jane Talpa or Alice Bellerose. Both are wanted for questioning.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Well, I’m sure Fenn will be able to sort it out. He’s on his way, by the way.”
“Who is?”
“Sheriff Jun Fenn. You’ll find him very upright and law-abiding. I called him several minutes ago, so he should be here soon. You can tell him all about your evil twin, Captain.”
“What do you want, Hatanori?” Vas asked.
The man opened his hands to the ceiling. “What makes you think I want anything?”
“You wouldn’t have come to warn us if you didn’t want something.”
The man’s grin faded. “You’re smart, Captain. I’m glad. This will make things easier.” He put his arms on the table and leaned forward. “You see, I called Fenn, but I didn’t tell him why I wanted him. I prefer to think the best of people. You probably heard of Ionu and thought it might be a place where you could find refuge. You’re not wrong. We can still find a place for whoever you’re trying to hide, but you have to go through the right channels. It’ll cost more than you’ve paid—”
“What makes you think I’ve paid anything?”
“Who let you in, Captain Vas?”
“What do you mean?”
“Who let you in? We contacted every port on this planet, but they all claim no ship has landed. The men I work for are particular about loyalty. If someone is willing to hide you on the books so they can pocket a little more cash, well…that person needs to be dealt with. I’m willing to believe you didn’t know that’s what they were doing. If you give me their name, I’ll invent a little crime for Fenn to busy himself with, and I’ll talk to a few people to see if we can’t make some arrangements.”
“Captain?” Tennama whispered.
Vas’s eyes never left Hatanori’s face. “There was no port. We landed in the desert and walked in.”
Hatanori frowned. It curved his lips as much as his smile had. “That’s a shame.” He dropped his hand on the tabletop. “I’m sorry I can’t help you, Captain—”
“I’m telling the truth!”
“You might be. Or you might be lying. Those are the only two options. We won’t take a risk for a man who’s willing to lie to us, so we’ll let you deal with the law. But if you’re telling the truth, then you really don’t belong here, and we have no reason to protect you.”
“Let us buy our way in.”
“Tempting, but then it wouldn’t be the right channels, now would it?”
Vas had been gritting his teeth, but now he smiled down at the table. Tennama could hardly believe his ears when he heard the captain’s quiet laugh.
Adan looked at Alix. “Ciro will be disappointed, won’t he?”
“He’ll have to find a new hero now,” she said.
“You could be Bunny Wigglesworth.”
“Go on. Try calling me Bunny. I dare you.”
“Hey, Bunny, what do you think?”
“You sure do like to live dangerously, don’t you, Captain?”
“Is that all you can give me?”
“Two, five, nine, nine, eleven. No guns.”
Hatanori was still trying to decode the baffling exchange when the captain turned to him.
“Why do none of your men have guns, Mr. Hatanori?”
“No e-weapons on the planet as a rule. Ashtell policy—but you…you’re not thinking of fighting are you? I have five men, and the sheriff and his deputy are on their way!”
Tennama’s forehead was in his palm. “Oh, Mr. Hatanori, why do you even bother asking? This man just called Alix Reyer Bunny. He clearly has no fear of death.”
[https://i.imgur.com/6iM8gcI.png]
Ciro and Jane slowed when they saw the crowd gathered outside Oasis. In tandem, they stopped to watch.
“Frank?” Jane said.
Ciro grabbed Jane’s hand, pulled her close, and walked up to the nearest man.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Big fight,” the man said. “The sheriff’s in there now. He had to take them down.”
“Are they dead?”
The man shrugged with blissful indifference. Ciro felt Jane grab his arm. She probably didn’t realize how hard she was squeezing.
“Were any weapon’s fired?” Ciro asked.
“Doubt it. No flashes since I’ve been standing here. Fenn’s not quick on the trigger anyway. Everyone knows that.”
“Can we go in?”
The man raised an eyebrow, but Ciro met his curious gaze without flinching.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “No one’s tried.”
Ciro walked toward the bar’s porch. “Stay here,” he muttered to Jane.
“Like hell,” she muttered back.
No one stopped them as they squeezed through the partially open door. They edged into the crowd of people at the front of the bar.
The room was a wreck. Off to the side, three medical technicians were seeing to the injuries of four men. Another technician was devoted to the one still unconscious on the floor. The least injured victim was talking to a man in a peacekeeper’s uniform.
Vas, Tennama, and Reyer were all kneeling in a row among the debris of upended tables and chairs. They were facing away from the crowd, so Ciro could see their hands cuffed behind their backs. A man stood in front of them, but far enough away he couldn’t be easily jumped. He was holding his XM4 at ready.
Jane stifled her gasp when Ciro’s hand tightened over her shoulder. His grip felt like an unrelenting vise. He inched her head back until her ear was right by his mouth.
“Say nothing. Do nothing.”
He breathed it out, barely on the side of hearing, but his voice held all the promise of Armageddon if she disobeyed.
In that moment, every inch of Jane’s rebellious soul bowed.
Ciro stood there, thinking. After a minute passed, he touched the shoulder of the woman next to him.
“Who’s that?” He pointed.
“The deputy,” she whispered.
Ciro watched Tyler Creed for another minute before he seemed to reach some resolve. He motioned for Jane to follow him, then stepped out of the crowd, toward the prisoners.
The muttering of the room fell silent. Even Jun Fenn stopped to watch the two emerge.
“What happened?” Ciro demanded.
“Sir, please step back with the others,” Creed said.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Are you with them?”
“Yes.”
Creed raised his XM4. “Both of you, hands behind your head, put your legs shoulder width apart.”
They did as instructed. Fenn stepped away from the witnesses to cover the other prisoners. His deputy walked around them to get to Ciro and Jane.
From his place on the floor, Vas called out, “I’m glad you could finally join us, Ciro. Too bad you missed all the action.”
Creed kicked back, landing the sole of his boot between Vas’s shoulder blades. The captain grunted, and barely managed to stop himself from falling on his face.
“No talking! You were warned.”
Jane let out an involuntary noise when Adan was kicked, then bit her lips.
Tyler went to Ciro first. As the deputy pulled one of his hands down behind him, Ciro said, “What’s going on?”
Creed clicked the security cuff closed around his wrist, then grabbed Ciro’s other hand. “Until we can confirm your identity, you’re being detained under suspicion of acting on behalf of or being a member of the Uprising.”
[https://i.imgur.com/6iM8gcI.png]
Jun Fenn didn’t have much in the way of jail cells. They were divided, men from the women, but only by the same kind of bars that set them apart from the front half of the room. Reyer and Jane each had their own bunk, but Adan was left on the floor after losing to Tennama and his brother at paper, rock, scissors.
Ciro stared up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head.
“You know,” he said, breaking the silence, “sometimes I think you don’t trust me.”
“Are you talking to me?” Adan grumbled.
“I am. After all, you’re the one that told me to go get rooms for the night, and I told you I could handle it. It’s true yours are considerably cheaper, but mine would have been more comfortable.”
Tennama and Reyer both laughed. Jane reached through the bars and slapped Ciro’s foot.