Chapter Thirty One
Gage said goodbye to Testament and Leviticus before he got on the Danger Zone to fly it to the Dahlcroft recycling plant. Tuton was going to pick up the helocarrier from there.
His goodbye from Leviticus was one where they shook hands and Gage said slowly. “I did see you a few times in the forty years that I was flying for Sleeping Beauty Inc. When we spoke, you hated talking about the abuse we suffered. I always thought it was because I suffered more than you and you didn’t want to be told you had suffered less. It turns out I was exactly wrong. You suffered more. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Leviticus said huskily, staring at the ceiling from his place in his recovery bed.
“I’m sorry I didn’t figure out something was wrong and rescue you sooner.”
Leviticus made an awkward half smile. “What’s in your wrists that lets you scramble the circuits in those things? I’ll forgive you anything if you tell me.”
Gage leaned in and whispered, “On my ship, I had a gun that I could use to remove any Sleeping Beauty Inc. bracelet. It was because I was a handler. Quite often, I was alone on my ship waiting for models to be returned, waiting for flight instructions, or just waiting. I was sent a new gun, so I took the old one apart and found that most of the gun was nothing but a convenient design for holding a scrambler, which was about the size of a diamond. It also worked all the time without the need to pull the trigger on the gun.”
“And you put that under your skin?” Leviticus questioned, already looking less gray and less bloodshot.
“Yeah. I actually reported to Sleeping Beauty Inc. that the new gun broke and got them to send me another one. When it arrived, I pulled the other one apart, got the scrambler, and put it in my other wrist.”
“You didn’t get an infection? My ankle ones gave me lots of infections,” he coughed.
“I’m sure they did if you had a less competent doctor insert them. The way the scramblers behave under skin is very much like breast implants and I have sometimes had to remove or replace those for models. The flesh around the implant gets hard, as it is in my wrist.”
“I thought Sleeping Beauty Inc. policy was that if you were going to see up a model’s skirt, you were going to pay for it?” Leviticus laughed. “But you got to see them bare-chested?
Gage looked bored. “It’s not as thrilling as you imagine. They have infections.”
Leviticus calmed down. “Oh. I see.”
“I just don’t want to be caught again,” Gage explained. “Ever. So I found a way to ensure that I wouldn’t be. I don’t mind dealing with the inconvenience of a few implants.”
“Do you think you could do that for me? Steal me some scramblers and help me put them in?”
“I don’t know if I’ll have access. I’m not planning on working for Sleeping Beauty Inc. anymore.”
“Makes sense,” Leviticus coughed again. “All the same, keep an eye out. For the time being, I’m just going to stay here. At least if I’m here I won’t be a slave again and the chicks around here seem to dig Benediction. Maybe they’ll dig me too.”
Gage thought that Benediction hadn’t explained what they had discussed in the interrogation room. Gage wanted to let it go, but instead, he sat down and explained the whole thing.
“So, the women here are nut jobs? That is so my luck!” he fumed.
“Just don’t pick up any women until the investigation is over.”
“Or dudes. They’re probably just as obsessed,” Testament said, coming forward. He shook Gage’s hand and patted it between his two before he let it go. He was still wearing the white satin robe with the sleeves missing and a hole where a pocket once was. “The next time something goes terribly wrong, Gage, I’m going to call for you since you can’t stop rescuing people.”
“Uh, I didn’t do that much. It was mostly just good luck,” Gage said, trying not to look flustered.
“Perhaps,” Testament replied, “but, I’m not talking about saving us from the mansion. I’m talking about all those times you beat people to get them off me. Thank you. I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for you.”
He hugged him and Leviticus pulled on the pocket flap of Gage’s cargo pants. “What? Only he gets a hug?”
So they helped Leviticus sit up and they all had an awkward hug that lasted only a few seconds.
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“Get a room!” Heretic barked as he walked by.
***
After saying goodbye to Testament and Leviticus, Gage popped into a bathroom and after a quick check looking for cameras, he opened his backpack.
Iona unfolded herself with a few creaks and aches from inside. “So, this is what a magician’s assistant feels like,” she said, keeping her voice low.
“You’re performing our trick quite nicely. No second thoughts now?”
“About Benediction? Of course not.” She turned the tap on, put her face under the stream, and started gulping down the water like it was a fountain.
“Do you need to pee?”
“Yes. Do you?”
“Yes.”
Iona laughed. “When I was a little girl, I used to ask my older sister if I could stay in the bathroom with her when she peed. She said I could if I kept my nose in the corner and covered my ears. Shall we do that?”
Gage smiled back. “I’ll keep my nose in the corner. I’ve had a lot of practice turning my back on someone to give them some privacy, but I’m not plugging my ears. I’m not twelve.” He moved to the corner and put his hands on his hips.
Iona dropped her pants and did her business with cheeks that were pink because of her acid burns, but somehow even pinker because of her embarrassment. “One would think something like this wouldn’t be a big deal after all I’ve been through,” she said as she finished up and closed the zipper on her pants.
She exchanged places with Gage in the corner.
“Are you going to cover your ears?” he asked slyly, a slight sound of mockery in his voice.
Iona was about to answer when she heard footsteps outside the bathroom door. She said nothing and realized abruptly that if they wanted to keep their secret, she shouldn’t be talking. Instead, she used the time to stretch and prepare to get back into the backpack.
Gage caught onto her thoughts and beckoned her over so they could wash their hands together in the sink. He pointed to the bottles as if to ask which of the soaps would be best for her sore skin.
Iona’s eyes went wide and she furiously started reading bottles. She grabbed three, set them in a line, and started peeling off her top. Under her sweater-jacket, she was wearing a corset-like top with no sleeves and no straps.
Gage saw her skin and immediately washed his hands and got to work.
Iona stood there and received the same treatment she had received from Benediction from Gage. He began by washing her hands. Then he spritzed her with the antiseptic, helped it to settle by fanning her, and gave her a coat of the pain reliever. He noticed her burnt bare feet and gave them a round of each treatment before giving her a layer of the top coat that was supposed to protect her.
Iona was just settling into the great feeling of her burns being eased by Gage, whose familiar doctor role soothed her.
A harsh knock came at the door. “Gage! Are you giving birth in there? You’re taking forever! My last wife could push out a baby faster than you can pee.”
It was Heretic.
“I’m checking my merchandise,” Gage yelled back.
“Are you counting your diamonds? Is that what you’re doing? Counting gold bricks? How much did you get from the wreckers for your ship?”
“Don’t be stupid. They wired me the money. Go away. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Are you smuggling rush? I heard there was a ton of it on your ship.”
Gage whipped a glare at Iona. “How much rush were you carting?” he mouthed angrily.
She put up eight fingers, four on each hand, and then turned those hands into zeros by making open circles with her fists.
“Eight hundred doses? Shit. I don’t know how these people feel about drug smuggling. We’ve got to get off Io.”
Iona put her sweater back on, got back into the backpack, and Gage zipped it shut. Heaving her onto his back with more effort than the other times, he opened the door and came face to face with Heretic.
“I wasn’t smuggling it. My ship was possessing it. That’s totally different.”
“Except you sold the wreckage,” Heretic goaded with an exceptionally pleased look on his face.
“Yeah,” Gage said casually. “But if I hadn’t, they would have taken it anyway. It wasn’t mine.”
“Do shut up,” Benediction said, interrupting them. “Rush isn’t illegal on Io. This place is a bit of a nightmare and if people don’t have something fun to lick, they’ll go crazy.”
“So you are a nice guy!” Gage exclaimed.
“I am not a nice guy,” Benediction said, fixing his high collar. “I’m just not the type to fight a losing battle. Besides if I’m fighting for anything, it’s anti-slavery.”
“You’re a powerhouse,” Heretic said as he patted Benediction’s back. The way he said it made it sound insulting.
“Can you please take this one away?” Benediction said caustically. “Testament was right and I’ve had quite enough of him.”
“Yup, I’ve got to get back to my kids,” Heretic said and for the first time, it sounded like he wasn’t joking.
“How many kids do you have?”
“Twenty-three,” he said. “That I know about.”
Gage and Benediction gawked. “You can’t be serious,” both of them said at once.
“Yeah and I gotta say, our slave masters were right about one thing,” he laughed.
“What?”
“Watching identical boys beat each other is very entertaining. I had eight sets of twin boys,” he said proudly.
Gage and Benediction looked at him with deep distaste.
“Take him away, Gage,” Benediction said like he was issuing an order as he walked away.
But Gage thought it was an adequate farewell as he had remembered not to call him Theology.
“What’s in your pack? Do you want me to carry it for you?” Heretic offered as they started off toward the flight deck.
“Not on your life. I still can’t believe anyone was willing to sleep with you enough times for you to father that many children.”
“Like hell you can’t,” Heretic laughed. “Those scientists designed our bodies to do all the heavy lifting for us.”
“So you didn’t romance anyone? You just showed up?”
“Yup!”
“Please stop talking,” Gage said as they continued down the hall.