The comm buzzed, and she reached over to it.

Seeing it was him again, she thought about answering. But after a second thought better of it and put it back on the small platform that served as her nightstand next to her bed.

“Who was that?” said the voice next to her.

“No one,” she said, yawning and pulling down the cover, smiling at the voice’s owner. “No one important right now.”

“How about me, then? Am I important right now?”

“Let’s find out,” she said, propping herself up on her elbows and bringing her face down to his. Ignoring the stubble on his cheeks and upper lip, she kissed him long and deep. So much so that she had little trouble ignoring the comm as it buzzed again…

****

“I wish she’d answer,” Dallas said as he touched the red circle and his comm switched off. “I hope she’s alright.”

“You’re going to see Secunda?” the driver in front said, smiling after Dallas nodded his head.

“How’d you know?” Dallas said.

“The restaurant, young feller. The she and her mother owns? It’s - well, maybe ‘famous’ isn’t the exact word to use. But it’s known for its food, company and…” he gave a wary look at Dallas in his rearview mirror, looking for a second like he was trying to read and interpret a challenging bit of text in English class.

“And?” Dallas said.

“And- it’s excellent service. The kind a young man remembers long after he’s left, paid the bill, and gotten through his hangover the next morning,” the 'horsedriver said.

Things were silent between the driver and Dallas for a minute. The city sped below the vehicle, which seemed to be breaking at least a few laws by flying freely throughout the city, without paying any attention to the lanes set up in the air and visible by the driver’s front console.

“I - I guess,” Dallas said. “Hey- aren’t you worried about the gendarmes arresting you? You’re flying off-lane in this horse right now. Isn’t that kinda serious?”

“I’m not really worried about the gendarmes tonight., no sir. They all seem rather occupied, at least, that’s what I hear on the band,” he said, pointing to the comm on his dashboard. Another illegal innovation, discussed without any attempt at avoidance, deceit or apology. “Earlier they were trying to nab some noble’s son who grabbed a bunch of family heirlooms and ran. After that, they started running all over the city trying to scrag some crimelord. You, on the other hand? You have the look of a young man desperate to get someplace. And get there jackrabbit quick. AmIright?”

Dallas nodded his head. “You read me pretty well. How long’ve you been doing this?”

“Driving a ‘horse? A dozen years now. Watching people? I’ve be’on that happy trail much, much longer.”

****

“And, where did you say your brother was off to, exactly, Huston?”

The glowing blue hologram of Pater’s head hovered over the table-comm in front of Huston. Austin’s head, colored a deep shade of green light and showing the bored expression he’d spent so many years cultivating when one of them got into trouble, hovered next to Pater’s.

“Pater,” Huston said, taking a sip of his after-dinner wine, “I keep telling you, he didn’t say. My best guess is that he might be trying to siphon funds from the trust you set up for all of us at our births, but that’s only a guess. He’d need an illegal, blackhat type for that, the kind that has resources, bot-guards and a hab in the third sector. I don’t deal with folks from that trail, no matter how happy it is.”

“Dallas looked quite ‘happy’ when he came by my place,” Austin said. “He had a sack full of paper money.”

“Did you say paper money, Austin?”

“Well, I didn’t actually see any of it. But that’s what he said was in it.”

“Paper money- that means he’s planning to- where could he go with paper money?”

“Anywhere he wants, Pater,” Huston said, his voice dropping a few notes and sounding a shade more ominous. “Paper can’t be traced. As per your directives.”

“And it looks like I’m going to regret those very directives, son. You don’t have to tell me.” Pater’s hologrammed hand appeared and rubbed his eyes with a short sigh. “Did he say what kinds of paper?”

“Tee-Bees, Pater.”

“Where can Texas Bills be spent now?”

“Our city, of course, and any of the frontier colonies on the planet. Beyond our system, he’d have to exchange them.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“How easy is that?”

“Regrettably, quite easy, Pater,” Austin broke in. “Your lack of direction of the economy in favor of the 'invisible hand' has made our Tee-Bees quite robust; virtually any space station in the quadrant is happy to buy them in exchange for whatever currency he might desire.”

“When did your holopaints make you such an economist?”

“Since I had to worry where to tell my agent to sell my creations. Pater, you’re getting worked up rather unnecessarily, don’t you think? Dallas is twenty, after all. It’s not like he was half that age and lost in the third sector at night.”

“Austin, he’s a good boy. Like you, like Huston. But he’s not yet developed the sense you two currently have. You both know what you like and want to do, but you understand your duty as well. You wouldn’t refuse to take the reins of the family over- over some recent…Some-”

“A recent interest, Pater?”

“Yes, precisely. You wouldn’t refuse your duties, Austin, over a painting you wanted to finish. Huston, you wouldn’t over an experiment. But something has happened to Dallas, and I don’t know how to- how to deal with it. How to combat it.”

“Father,” Huston said, his voice softening, “I don’t say this to many people. But you’re not only expecting too much of Dallas; you’re being too hard on yourself.”

“Am I? I’m the head of the family, Huston. If something goes wrong, if something fails, it’s my responsibility, ultimately. His failure is my failure.”

“Perhaps, but- Dallas has free will, too. Wasn’t that one of the values of Texas on old earth? Self-determination, without interference?”

“I- well. Yes, it’s possible. If he wants to strike out on his own, that’d be fine, I guess. I’m more concerned about him making a mistake that will cost him severely, perhaps permanently, with this girl he’s become fixated on.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that, Pater,” Austin said. Even in the blurry, static-marred nature of the holographic face, his smile was unmistakable.

“What exactly do you mean, Austin?”

“Pater,” said Huston, “Austin and I both have taken the liberty of looking out for our frater minor, and investigated the girl.”

“And?”

“She’s been- no deceiving him is too imprecise a word to use here. It would seem Dallas’ friends are just as naive as himself when it comes to the nature of those they’ve met on their excursions to the poorer part of the city. You see, the, *ahem* restaurant that she and her mother operate apparently has been a false-face for illegal activity for several years now.”

“What? Huston, I’m having the worst day since the Corporates invaded; could you please be plain here?”

Austin said, “The restaurant’s a front for a brothel, Pater.”

Pater’s holographic eyes blinked. “What-what?”

“Not highly profitable,” Huston said quickly,” which is likely why it’s been off Inspector Kai’s radar. But it’s known to most who live and do business in the third-sector of the city. I tracked the money, and Austin apparently had some luck at a party, after bumping into another one of the girl’s unwitting clients.”

“My so- my youngest son, is consorting with…with a…”

“Yes, Pater,” Austin again. “This is the news of poor impact. But, the good side is this: Dallas is completely unaware of her true nature. He believes her to be a pure young lady of faith, hardworking if hampered by poverty. But we have irrefutable evidence of this to the contrary.”

“Do you, now?”

“Absolutely,” said Huston: “On the point of their alleged faith life alone, which endeared her to poor Dallas: the girl and her mother did not, in fact, attend any parish in the city with anything even close to regularity. Not until Dallas and his rather shallow friend group began frequenting their establishment. We have witnesses, documentation, all needed as evidence for a series of behaviors begun and continued after Dallas and the girl met one another.”

“So- she’s played a role?”

“To the hilt,” Austin chimed in. “And all the way into the scabbard. And from there into his pockets. Up until tonight, Dallas has believed her to be a poor girl not only of a noble, hardworking temperament and religious devotion. He's also believed her to have esteemable virtue, of being a woman of virgin purity unmatched since the mother of Jesu Himself.”

Pater paused. “Up until tonight?”

“I told him what I know, Pater. He didn’t want to hear it.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, Austin.”

“Pater?” Huston now, “Don't start playing Heaven's Door just yet. You should know there’s considerable hope in the situation.”

“And why is that?”

“I- I did something I am not completely proud of. But after Dallas came here and told me his intentions, I felt it prudent to-”

“He was there? And told you his plans? And you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t think it relevant! Please, Pater, listen. I uploaded a subroutine to his comm.”

“And?”

“Normally, two joined-hearts like Dallas and Secunda? They’ll often link their comms as well, so they can see one-another’s locations. He’s seeking her out now, but his comm is telling her he’s still on the other side of the city.”

“And this should make me feel better because?”

“Because the *ahem* proprietor of the actual nature of the business is present with her at that location as we speak.”

“Plain, Huston, please!”

“Pater,” Austin said, “her pimp is there! And she thinks Dallas is safely on the other side of the city!”

“You mean, Austin, that when Dallas arrives…he’ll find her-”

“At work, in her actual profession. It’ll hurt, but it’s part of growing up, Pater. Every man knows this, no? Now, if I were you, I’d call Kai and tell him not to let a single gendarme within a mile of that so-called ‘restaurant.’ If all goes according to plan, Dallas should return home with a broken heart in an hour, and we can get back to life as we know it.”

------

To Be Continued...