“Hello Tribune,” I said, answering the call in a cheery tone. I’d already decided not to blame anyone for leaving me in purgatory for so long. After all, I was the one who’d pretty much permed myself.
“James McGill…” she said. “Fancy seeing you back in town? What happened? Did your new girlfriend kick you out?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. If you want to call Maurice Armel my girlfriend.”
That caught her attention. Her face shifted to amazement. “You’ve been out that far?”
I began to explain, but soon she didn’t want to hear anymore.
“Stop talking. Tapper calls can be traced and decoded. We must meet somewhere.”
“I know just the place. Best fajitas in town.”
Eventually, I convinced her to join me at a quiet restaurant in the metro district. She slid into the seat opposite me and watched as I worked on my third overstuffed tortilla.
“Stop stuffing yourself and talk to me, James. What happened out there? I sent you to the docks, and the very first day you vanished. I suspected Dross of doing it herself. I could hardly blame her… but it usually takes longer than a few hours for you to work people into a murderous rage.”
“Usually,” I agreed. Then I gave her the whole story—but I left out the part about Raash. Instead, I focused on Armel and his request to return to Earth.
“Sounds like a trick. How can we trust him?”
I shrugged. “Revive him, talk to him, and make your own decisions. I’ve got his body scans and his engrams in my tapper.”
“Right. Hmm… I don’t like it, but I guess we’ll have to do it. An invasion of random losers from Green World? It sounds absurd on the face of it—but okay, give me the data.”
She held out her wrist for me to touch with mine. I clasped her hand instead.
“What’s this?”
“Uh… I was wondering if you wanted to make a night of it. After all, I solved the case at the docks, and I discovered a plot against Earth. That’s pretty good for a half-day’s work, isn’t it?”
She frowned, but she didn’t snatch her hand away. That was a good sign. She let me hold onto her gently.
“I don’t know… you were gone so long. I thought you were permed.”
“I just about was,” I admitted.
“What about that bitch of yours, Helsa?”
“Who…? Oh yeah, the fuzzy-eared cat-girl. I don’t know, I’ve kind of forgotten about her to tell you the truth.”
Naturally, this was a bald-faced lie. I figured Galina knew that, but a smile flickered on her face. She appreciated the effort.
“Order me something,” she said.
That was it. We ate, we drank, and we spent the rest of the dying afternoon together. We went back to her place in the suburbs after that, and things proceeded very nicely indeed.
About six hours into the night, I awoke with a start. Galina’s slim form stood nearby, pawing at something.
I flicked on the light, and she jumped.
“You’re pawing at my stuff?” I asked her.
“What is this, James?” she asked, confronting me with the burned-up finger. It was big and curved in her hand. It looked like a cooked banana.
“Uh… that’s a souvenir. Nothing special.”
“This is beyond disgusting. Is it from one of Armel’s reptilian henchmen?”
“Maybe.”
She dropped it in the trashcan and went to wash her hands. She made sure she lathered up quite a bit to get the greasy ash off.
After scooping up the finger and hiding it in my jacket once more, I followed her into the bathroom and washed up. I tried to get her interested in another round of fun, but she wasn’t in the mood anymore. She kicked me out of her place after that, and it wasn’t even light outside yet.
Rude.
-11-
Galina was feeling iffy about the idea of reviving Armel, so I knew there was no way come hell or high water she was going to help me revive Raash. Accordingly, I sought out the one person on Earth who might want to help: Floramel
It took quite an effort to get down to see her, as she was a tech director at Central. She’d started off as a tech smith slave, but after working countless projects diligently for a decade, she’d become a trusted member of the nerd teams that did all kinds of secret projects. As if that wasn’t enough, she was model-pretty, kind of weird, and not quite human. The fact that she and I had a questionable past together didn’t help at all, either.
“No, James. The answer is no, and it always will be no. Good night.”
“Whoa! Hold on, girl!” I said, trying to get her not to swipe my face off her tapper immediately. “This isn’t some kind of midnight booty-call.”
“No. It’s a predawn call. That’s novel, but it won’t work.”
“Floramel, let me just say one word.”
She sighed. “You’ve already said a hundred or so… but… what is this one word?”
“Raash.”
Her eyes flew wide. She had a thing going for Raash. It was freaky, and I didn’t want to even think about what they’d gotten up to, but there it was. Apparently, they’d had a falling out at some point—but she still had the spark. I could see it in her big baby blues.
“He’s alive?”
“I can’t say anymore online. Will you see me?”
“James, if this is some kind of trick—”
“No, no—really. I need to see you. We need to talk about it. He… he needs your help.”
“What do you care? You hate Raash.”
“Yeah, well… I might have done him wrong, you see.”
Her face shifted again, becoming instantly suspicious and accusatory. “Did you kill Raash? Again? You did, didn’t you? Damn you, James!”
“Aw, come on. It was a fair fight… mostly. Look, are you interested
