Page 18 of Alliance
“Fásach Daen,” the biognostic’s syrupy voice rang through crystal clear in less than a heartbeat. “How can I serve Guild Gaul this sol?”
Fásach huffed, brushing the fur along the back of his neck. “You remember me.”
“I remember everyone.” A digital hiss of amusement trailed off the end of the captain’s words. “I take it this isn’t official guild business?”
“No,” Fásach sighed. “I need to get to the Mandaahl system.”
“A ticket through the Ankh isn’t so bad.”
“It is when there are four of you and three are undocumented.”
Traveler fell silent and Fásach held his breath.
“Quiopha Taurisi’s daughters,” the captain said with an investigative hum. “Who else?”
Fásach bit his cheek. He didn’t want to expose Roz to the captain, but what choices were left? He glanced at her where she’d taken apart the melted casing of the ordnance printer, her head bent over a belt of ammunition jammed inside.
“A girl named Roz,” he hedged.
Traveler chuckled. “I see. Such a chivalrous buck.”
“We need to get to Yaspur.”
“To Renata, you mean.” The silence stretched between them, and Fásach’s ear twitched with nerves. Before the pressure forced him to respond, his holotab pinged. He glanced at the notification: theMummer’sestimated time of arrival. “Be ready to go at dock three in thirteen turns. I’ll send you data on our drop coordinates once theMummerhas had time to coordinate the path of least resistance—”
“Traveler, wait,” Fásach interrupted, a crease in his brow. “What’s it going to cost? I’m not exactly rolling in resources, and we need things. Food, clothes, weapons probab—”
“It won’t costyoua thing. Thirteen turns.”
The captain ended the comm, and Fásach glanced uneasily at Roz. She caught his eye with a distracted smile.
“Almost…” she hummed, blowing a stray curl from her eyes. The last bullet popped from the printer. “Got it!” Her smile fell and she sat back. “Is something the matter, Master Fásach?”
The yiwren creased his brow. “Just Fásach,” he corrected her with an abrasive huff. He bit his tongue to feel a sting of pain. “We’re leaving Huajile in thirteen turns.”
“That’s great news!” Roz tilted her head, cradling the bullet in her palms. “Isn’t it?”
“I think the captain knows you’re a doll.”
“Wasa doll.”
Fásach looked away and scratched his wide nose on the back of his hand with a sniff, dislodging some of the stench of sulfurous ozone from his lungs. Old, burnt oil replaced it, as strong an odor as the sludge of guilt pumping through his veins. Traveler had made it clear that he and his girls wouldn’t be paying… but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be a price.
Could Fásach ask Roz to pay that price? He exhaled slowly, examining himself from the inside out, and a flush of damning heat ran through him. He thought of Safia and Misila. How cold could he get for the sake of their future?
Squeezing his eyes shut, Fásach forced out the words. “If he asks you to… topay,tell him to fuck off like we talked about. We can find another way.”
“Okay.”
Fásach sighed, shoulders rounding out with relief. He stood up, pebbles of shattered glass crunching under his boots. Roz followed suit, the bullet laying in her hand like an injured bird. His ear twitched, looking her over.
“What sort of bionics do you have?” he asked.
“According to my system details, I am a standard pleasure unit. I have an advanced vital deck and complete spectrum vision, a line-of-sight radio transmitter, a parumauxi swarm, neurosensory regulator that appears to be damaged, metabolic regulato–”
“Wait, wait,” Fásach stopped her, putting his hands on his hips. “You have a parumauxi swarm?”
“Yes.” Roz wriggled her neoprene booties. “They allow me to target bodily damage and enhancements with more agility. Like adjusting the amount of time needed to heal the soles of my feet.”
