The Angel Station people were not what I expected. They looked normal. They weren’t sex-bots or anything. Just your average people. Could fit in to any Akeelian society just fine, I suppose. But I don’t think they’re a bunch of runaway Akeelians like us. They kept asking me about gate maps. Could I give them a gate map for all the gates ALCOR knew about and shit like that?
And then, when I told them that ALCOR was dead and I could probably ask the Baby ALCOR if he had some master gate list, but it wasn’t likely, they lost interest and left.
We were out on some random station near a tiny, lackluster sun called Gliese. And even though I’m a decent diplomatic representative for Harem Station, I was annoyed beyond belief by the time we were heading back to the gate to get the fuck out of there.
The abandoned station was creepy too. Reminded me way too much of Harem before my brothers and I arrived.
“They didn’t tell us anything time-sensitive anyway,” I say. They didn’t really tell us anything at all, actually. “So we can’t do much until we find that Veila girl. And that’s not our job. Serpint can do it. Or Luck. He seems more than happy to be the new booty hunter. Is he here yet?”
“He dropped Cha-Cha off earlier in the spin,” Dicker says. “Lady Luck didn’t mention where they were going afterward.”
“What are you gonna do then?” Xyla says. “Just float around up here and wait for me? Because that sounds dumb too. You should at least go somewhere fun. There’s a planet over here that has karkadann races. You’ve never seen those. It’s pretty cool. And they have a virtual made just for ships there too. You guys should go do that.”
It does sound kinda fun. Karkadanns are pretty rare. Muscular, monstrous equines with thick plates of organic armor and a single, curved horn between their eyes. But I wouldn’t want to go without Xyla. There’s not much I would want to do without Xyla—except go take care of this biogenetic stuff.
I just don’t want her to know that’s what I’m doing because then she’ll figure out I’m a lot more worried about this whole Cygnian soulmate bullshit than I’m letting on. She’d never get off this ship if she knew what was whirling through my head and how freaked out about it I am.
Dicker starts announcing our docking sequence as we are grabbed by the tractor beam and slowly pulled towards the airlock we were assigned to for dropoff.
“We’ll be fine,” I tell Xyla, who has made her shopping decisions and sent them down to Blue Sand Beach for pickup when she arrives, and is now unbuckling her harness to go grab her pack.
“I know you will,” she calls over her shoulder. Then she turns and smiles at me, her lavender hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and her normally matte-black upper body now sporting a light shade of purple. Her legs are still silver but her feet are flat, and not molded into stilettos, because she’s ready for the beach.
Dicker completes docking and green lights flash as the Blue Sand Beach arrival station chimes, “Welcome to Blue Sand Beach. The only planet in the Vacation Sector designed for discriminating adults. Please exit your ship…” and blah, blah blah.
The outer airlock opens, then the inner one, and then there’s a clear path into the station.
Still, Xyla hesitates. “Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
“Go,” I say, commanding her. “We’re fine. Dicker and I will just dick around a little and be back for you in ten days. Just have fun. You earned it.”
She makes a concerned face at me.
“Go,” I say again.
“Fine.” She sighs. “But I’m not gonna have fun knowing you two are up here all alone with nothing to do.”
I smile at her. “You better have fun. Or I’ll be pissed. Ten days on Blue Sands is a small fortune.”
She shakes her head and smiles. “You’ll call me if you need anything, though, right? I’ll have my comm turned on the whole time.”
“I will. Now go.”
Xyla shoots me one last regretful look, then turns and saunters out the airlock. She stops at the end of the hall, just before our airlock closes, and waves. Then she’s gone.
I let out a long sigh of relief. “OK, Dicker. Just us now.”
“Where should we go? To that karkadann place? I’d like to see that virtual.”
“Sending you coordinates now.”
“Oh,” Dicker says, just a moment later. “What’s this? And why didn’t you tell Xyla this was the plan?”
“Because you know how she worries. She’d never get off the ship. And she’s been looking forward to this reunion for months. It’s just a simple booster, that’s all. Just to make sure that if I ever do run into my stupid Cygnian soulmate, there’s no possible way I’ll ever get stuck with her.”