“Don’t fill the girl’s head with nonsense, Psoas,” Laxah said, bursting the lovely dream bubble that had been growing in Lan’ara’s imagination. “Kindred or not, Need paid forty thousand credits for her—he’s going to want to recoup those losses. The girl is going to Genu Six.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” The engineer looked thoughtful. “After all, she’s the first female he’s taken any kind of interest in at all since his mate died over ten cycles ago.”
“What?” Lan’ara looked at him with renewed interest. She was remembering the little holo picture cube she’d found on his desk—the one of the smiling girl with blonde hair who was heavy with her pregnancy. “What did she look like?” she asked, wondering if the picture had actually been Need’s mate.
“He didn’t say—only that she was beautiful and taken from him too soon,” Psoas said mysteriously. “It was late one night and we were deep in our cups in a dive bar on Panthos Prime. I asked him why he never went to whorehouses with me and that’s when he finally told.” He shrugged, which was an odd sight since it made his whole, long body ripple. “Even drunk, he’s a closed-mouth son-of-a-bitch. But I got the impression he thought he’d never be interested in a female again.” He winked at Lan’ara. “Then you came along.”
“I still don’t think you should give the girl false hope,” Laxah said, frowning. “But for now, I have to get to work.” She smiled at Lan’ara. “I’ll come by later with that recipe if you think you’ll have time to make it.”
“Certainly.” Lan’ara smiled at her. A whole day of cooking and baking! It was exactly what she loved. “Just drop it off to me here and I’ll get to it after I finish Psoas’s small cakes.”
Laxah promised to do that and she and the engineer both went off to work. And, as Lan’ara mixed and stirred and clattered around the food prep area, the seed of hope in her heart grew even taller and a secret flower began to bloom.
Twenty-Five
Need hesitated for a moment, looking at the long-range viewscreen, his finger hovering over the send button. Should he make the call?
Don’t be ridiculous—of course you should, whispered a little voice in his head. The girl has to go and the sooner you contact the one she’s intended for, the better. You know you’re getting in too deep with her, Need. It’s only been a day and already you can’t get her off your mind.
Which was true. He had barely been able to make himself concentrate on his navigational duties that day. Every thought he had seemed to turn back to the curvy little female and all he wanted to do was go find her and take her in his arms. If he didn’t get rid of her soon, he wouldn’t be able to at all. She had to go.
He forced himself to press the send button and was soon connected to the private palace of Senator Pouncenblast of Genu Six. After speaking to several people, he was finally transferred to the Senator’s secretary, a bored-looking male with bulging, fishy eyes and gills on the sides of his neck which were only partially concealed by his high, stiff collar.
“Yes?” he said, sounding completely disinterested. “Who are you and how can I help you?”
“I’m…” Need’s mouth was suddenly dry and he could barely make himself say the words. “I…I…”
“Well?” the secretary exclaimed impatiently. “I’m a very busy male—if you don’t come out with what you want double quick, I’ll have no choice but to terminate this call!”
“I’m Needrix, Navigator and Sales Coordinator of The Dark Star,” Need finally managed to say. “We specialize in hard-to-get items and we’ve recently run into an excellent opportunity involving a large shipment of Yarrow root.”
“Yarrow root?” The secretary’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s a controlled substance in our sector.”
“So it is,” Need agreed amiably. “But it can also be extremely profitable. I notice that your boss, the Senator, lives on a private island. It occurs to me that distribution would be difficult to trace if you effected the transactions on water, away from the prying eyes of the authorities.”
The secretary scowled.
“How dare you, Sir? The Senator’s public stance on dangerous drugs like Yarrow root is well known—we oppose them at every turn.”
“Ah…I see.” Need nodded.
“Good day, Sir!” the secretary exclaimed and the viewscreen went blank.
Need cursed himself for a fool. He had really screwed that up, asking if an elected official wanted to buy and distribute a controlled substance! And yet somehow, he hadn’t been able to make himself ask about the girl, so the drug deal had come out of his mouth instead. The Senator would never listen to him now if he tried to talk about selling Lan’ara back to him.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had a sneaking feeling of relief.