“I’m glad you approve.”
She motioned to the screen. “Your dad was kind of a stud. He’s on some hollowed-out asteroid, looking for an ancient Wreechie temple.”
“Yeah, these shows were all set up. He actually found the temple like six months before they started filming. He was just pretending to discover it for the cameras.”
“Hey! Don’t be bursting my bubble like that, Adventure Boy!”
“Sorry.”
“Doesn’t matter. This show is still getting me a little hot and bothered.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Normally, when girls were crushing on my father, it was a pretty big turnoff. But there was some difference about Kira—something I couldn’t put my finger on.
“You going to offer me some of that rotgut?” I asked.
“I thought it might be too rough for your refined palate.”
“Probably, but I’ll choke it down.”
“That’s the spirit. Have some carnochips, too, so you’re not boozing on an empty stomach.”
We sat and drank and ate, and laughed at the corny stuff my dad was doing on Wild Galaxy. And as the evening progressed, we got more and more intoxicated and less and less clothed.
In a brief moment of clarity, I asked if TenSix had found any surveillance cams.
“Yup,” Kira said. “All disabled. We’re free to let our freak flags fly.”
I pulled her close and kissed her deeply. “I’m up for anything.”
“Me too.”
14
By the time we awoke the next morning, it was nearly noon.
“It appeared that the both of you required more rest than you’ve been getting, so I did not disturb you,” TenSix said.
“Much obliged, Short Stuff.” Kira popped a leptic stick in her mouth and headed for the shower.
“If you need some help in there, just call,” I said.
“Uh huh.”
While Kira was showering, I spent some time looking out the big double windows of our room and wishing for some moxa.
The city stretched out below us. In the light of day, I could see that it was actually smaller than I had judged it to be last night. I watched as a medium-sized freighter rose up from one of the landing bays about a kilometer away.
“I’ve accessed city maps,” TenSix said. “And identified our current location.”
“Good. What about this private comm shop that Kira was talking about?”
“The only one I could find is called the Pellaste Café on Second Street.”
“That’s probably it.”
“That is it,” Kira said from the door of the bathroom. She was toweling her short hair dry. “The owner is a woman by the name of Lhiana Jowe. She and I have hung out a few times over the years. She’s cool.”
“Does her place serve moxa?” I asked.
“It’s a café, isn’t it?”
I took a super quick shower and then dressed in my slightly-less-filthy clothes and tried to comb my hair in some semblance of its normal style.
“You done yet?” Kira called. “You take longer than my mom.”
“Very funny.”
When I emerged from the bathroom, I noticed that Kira was wearing makeup. That was a first.
She noticed me staring at her. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Good. Let’s go. I had no idea it was so late.”
I borrowed Kira’s bag to carry TenSix in, and we set off.
Outside it was already hot, and dry winds blew through the streets. Down the street from the hotel I stopped to release TenSix.
He oriented himself and then said, “I believe Second Street is to the east.”
“I know where we’re going,” Kira said. “Just follow me.”
Ganga Kos didn’t look quite as desolate as it had last night. There were a few people wandering around the central plaza, and another bored-looking Mayir foot patrol on the corner.
Kira led us away from the patrol and down a side street which connected with a larger thoroughfare.
“Was this a human city, originally?” I asked.
“Yes,” Kira said. “For years various companies including Oeri have been trying to negotiate with the monks on Hango to set up R&D and manufacturing facilities here. It would make things a lot easier. But the monks ended up selling out to the Mayir.”
“Who are these monks?”
“I think their official name is the Monks of the New Wandering. They’re an ancient religious order from Earth. Settled in this system back in the 2100s. Subjugated the locals. You know, same old, same old.”
Interesting. I had a vague awareness of the Monks of the New Wandering that had probably been implanted. I kind of lumped them in with some of the other big religious corporations like the Wellfellows and the Church of Ramsey.
“There it is.” Kira pointed to a storefront across the street. It was adorned with a hand-painted mural of a large baked pie and its sign proclaimed The Pellaste.
As we pushed through the door, an electronic chime sounded. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the gloom.
“Is this supposed to be a café or a dive bar?” I asked.
The interior was small and cramped, with a counter and bakery case along one side and a half dozen small tables along the other. A curtain partitioned off the back half of the room. There was no one inside the café.
“Hello?” Kira called.
A moment later, someone called back, “I know that voice!”
The woman who emerged from the back room was tall and statuesque, maybe in her early thirties. As she strode towards Kira, she pulled back her striking mane of curly black hair back into an elastic thingy.
“Hey cheeb! It’s been a while!” A big smile lit up the woman’s perfect features.
“Fifteen months to be exact,” Kira said.
“Good to see you, girl. I was hoping you’d hit me up on your way out. Who’s the stiff?” Then she did a double take. “Holy shit. Sean Beck!”
“Nope, but I get that a lot,” I said. “The name’s Jeris. Tal Jeris.”
“You’re like the spitting image of that old guy on the docu-vids. The explorer.”
“Yeah, my parents were fans of Sean Beck’s, so they ordered me up custom.”
“Lucky you.”
“Yeah, lucky me.”
Kira looked around the café. “Kind of empty. Someone find a hinklebug in one of your tortes?”
“No, it’s the fucking Mayir. You’ve heard, haven’t you? We
