Miko resented Fenli’s arguments. He balked at the concept, but for the life of him, he couldn’t see a better plan.
Fenli led them into darker, shadier alleys of the city. Miko, ever cautious, urged them to stay in the shadows to avoid scrutiny of their torn, blood-stained garments.
An acidic rain had fallen, and the stone streets were slicked with black stuff. A whiff of sulphur hung in the air. Strange music played in the night: speakers, bars, trumpeted noise, along with muffled voices and laughter. People milled everywhere—offworlders, tramps, sharpers, grifters, peddlers, drug-pushers—tall men in trenchcoats accosting them for donations, free sex, free anything. Miko ignored the grubby hands that reached for him. He pushed roughly through, hustling Usk along, who they gawked at without mercy.
Large smokestacks hung in the distances, looking like strange inverted fish, standing on their tails with grouper-like mouths or inverted funnels belching fumes lit in yellow by hydrogen lamps. Miko guessed it was all an ongoing effort of the administration to terraform the planet.
All around them, pipes, and more pipes—snaking like sinuous serpents—up and down damp alleyways, along overhead balconies, to and from sewers. Transporting what? Perhaps the pipes belonged to some underground warehouse network or public works system? Or this instastore?
The other ‘underground’ Skullrox was seedy with people and strange animals, wolverine-like, unfriendly creatures, roving masterless. Usk’s red eyes peered wildly. The strange sights and sounds overwhelmed him. He got his fair share of looks, prods, growls and jeers, but he seemed immune to the unwanted attention.
“All is not so familiar here...” muttered Fenli. “Ah, here we are.” His eyes lit up as recognition dawned.
They paused before a shop with barred windows. A woman leaned provocatively against a lamp post, wearing a tan-furred shawl. She sized them up with sharp eyes. Miko saw tight black leather hidden underneath her furs and a challenging look blazing on her face. He could not miss those darting looks to the blue glint that flashed in Fenli’s palm—the Jakru cargo chip. Her husky voice struck out like a whip, surprising him.
“Hey, soldier, you look as if you could use a boost.” Her drawl was unfamiliar to Miko. “Why not take a walk with me? You can’t go wrong.” She flashed her dark lashes at him in invitation.
Miko inspected her with a curious eye. “No doubt, sister. But you look a tad young for this profession.” He looked around critically. “My suggestion: find something more palatable to occupy your time. A nice girl like you shouldn’t be out in rough and dirty streets like this.”
“Rough?” She barked out a caustic laugh. “This is as good as it gets, soldier. I’m not quite as nice as you think—if nice is what you’re looking for.” Then she was all sweet and flashing eyebrows again.
Fenli brushed past the two. “Come on, ‘soldier’. We’ve work to do.”
Miko and Usk followed Fenli into the shop, which was looking more like an underground hedge market than anything. The girl did not follow.
Dim lamps bathed the interior of the pawnshop in a maroon glow. Incense burned in reeking coils at the back, catching the thin light like an iridescent snake. A man with dark oily curls sat on a stool behind a caged mesh. He poised at the far end, blinking idly, listening to some distorted music on his star-shaped earphones. He turned and nodded, with his black, beady eyes pinning them through thick spectacles. Behind him, boxes, figurines, all manners of pipes ranged: containers and bottles and vials of what Miko guessed were contrabands. A wide holographic screen flashed newscasts and lewd images, excerpts from movies. The volume was dimmed, to their fortune.
“Welcome, friends!” he cried. “My house is yours. What do you need? We have everything here.” His penetrating dark eyes took in Miko at a glance.
“I bet you do.” Fenli stared at the vendor, calculating, probing. “I see you have ‘snow’.”
The vendor uttered a bleak laugh. He shrugged. “Anything if you have money to pay for it. Do you have money?”
Miko gripped Fenli’s shoulder. Usk clacked his pincers.
The vendor frowned. “We don’t allow their kind,” he warned Miko.
Fenli murmured apologetically. “Relax, he’s harmless.” He took Miko aside. “While I was in the tank, I told myself the moment I got out, I would get my fix. Now is the time. I’ve got to get me some of that snow!”
The vendor, overhearing Fenli’s mutters, gave a chuckle and nodded. “In my younger days, I used to live on the edgier side.”
“We have some product too,” began Fenli. “A trade for passage to Deneb.”
The man’s eyes glinted with interest. “What kind of product? No money, no credits, funds, eh?”
Fenli wagged his head back and forth. “Of the skin variety. Pretty skin. Let’s just say worth your trouble.”
The man looked away. He gave a low whistle. “Here’s what I can do. I can set you up with certain friends of mine. A private meeting. ”
Fenli shook his head. “No. It’s too risky. Only a public place. Where are the gaming pods about this town?”
The vendor scowled. “North end, east bloc, by the glass skull tower and the docks. I’ll set it up for you. It will go bad for you if you lose.”
Fenli waved a hand. “Set it up.”
The agent rolled his eyes, perhaps in amusement and admiration. “I admire your confidence, stranger.”
Miko hissed at Fenli. “What are you doing? We’re already in enough trouble as it is.”
“That’s the point, Miko. Kind of hard to sink any lower when you’re ten feet in the mud.”
The agent spoke impatiently to Miko. “You’ll see a Daulk in a blue suit at the Grand Skull hotel, second floor. Can’t miss him. He has rabbit-donkey ears and plays the water-whisperers. He’ll be loitering about,
