Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
It felt more than a little awkward, hovering in the murky dark between Sang above and Winter below. Connor felt exposed in the interior light of the air car, especially so close to the column of composites and metal that made up the ramp connecting the upper city and its deeper counterpart. Soft blue LEDs lit the ramp just enough that he could make out the slope of it from his seat.
Selen’s look said she wasn’t going to budge until he showed what Toshiko had arranged for them.
He pulled out his pocket computer, blinked against the bright display until it dimmed to match the air car interior, then opened the messaging system his one-time girlfriend would’ve sent the data to and…
…relaxed.
The data was there, as promised.
Toshiko’s sweet pine perfume was in his head for just a moment, stronger than the animal musk permeating the interior. He could feel her lips hard against his. The taste of her lipstick remained, too—like fresh berries.
Then he remembered how Selen was behaving: odd, to say the least.
And impatient. Her nostrils flared when she breathed, a sound louder than the air car’s muffled fans.
Connor flicked the data file from his computer to the front windshield, where a map unfolded as a bright magenta overlay.
Selen squinted at the image. “A map?”
“Of the locations we can meet with our prospective customers.”
Her neck craned as her eyes traced left to right across the heads-up display. “In the Meadows?”
“Is it? That’s nicer than Winter, right?”
“I guess.” She tapped a softly pulsing gold ring that hovered over a building. “One job? That’s it?”
“What? No. There were two.” But there was only one gold ring. He swiped through the data. “I’m showing two.”
“I got one.” Selen tapped the window again.
“Um. What’s the name of the place? The rendezvous? Silver Blossom?”
“Cerberus. Off Potemkin Avenue.”
“The second one’s at Silver Blossom. That’s…” It was almost impossible to get his bearings when everything was more or less underground. There was still a magnetic north, but with no true stars and no landmarks, his brain protested. “…east.”
“East.” She dragged her finger across the windshield. “Street name?”
“Luong Boulevard.” He pointed to where the road ran past what looked like a park of some sort. “And 12th.” He traced up.
Selen traced farther right.
Their fingers met at the hole punched by the rail gun round that had come so close to hitting him.
Connor grunted, then increased the magnification on the map, until the intersection was above the hole, and the second gold ring pulsed clearly. “Silver Blossom.” He smiled.
“Great. So now we have two job offers. Whatever will I do?”
His cheeks burned. This was his fault again. “Maybe if we sent someone else down to check—”
“Your credentials tie you to Selen’s Devils. I hook up with someone to find a job, it’s going to be the same. People know the Devils now, and it’s not in a good way.”
“I thought everything was anonymous.”
Selen glared. “Don’t be naive.”
He looked away. “Two jobs is better than zero.”
“Thanks for the math tip, Connor. Next time I need to balance accounts, I’ll be sure to come to you for help.”
When he looked at her, there was a redness to the olive skin of her face that couldn’t be from the magenta of the map. She was mad, and she wasn’t doing well hiding it.
Connor brushed his palms over the legs of his pants. “You could fire me.”
“You’re my second-in-command.”
“Rudy could step in—”
“Rudy doesn’t want the burden of leadership. He’s suffered through too much already.” She leaned close enough that the cheap synthcaff on her breath stung. “You’re my second. Toughen up.”
“But—”
“Not a discussion, this thing. You understand me? Good officers are hard to find. I put two in the ground before you came along. That’s the only way you get out of the Devils.”
They were like family, or at least that’s what she liked to say, but the trouble he’d caused and the money they’d lost because of it…
He held his hands up in submission. “I’m just thinking of the team.”
“Team’s going to be fine. We just have to land one of these jobs, that’s all. One of these two jobs.”
“You know, you’re the one who said we had to come here.”
“We did. After what happened, you think anyone was going to hire us back in the Coil?”
They’d always done well in Coil Sector, and he’d liked working there. The government wasn’t corrupt, at least not as bad as the Directorate, which had run the people of Talon into the ground. Every day, more jobs were obsoleted, and more people found themselves forced into hopeless places like Winter while a smaller and smaller slice of society grew wealthier.
But apparently Connor had spoiled the team’s reputation in Coil Sector.
He glanced out the window to his right, looking down into the gloom, where the lights were so weak that he couldn’t see a one.
Toshiko worked down there. She moved among dangerous—deadly—people.
What would their lives have been like if he hadn’t left her all those years ago? What if he’d given up the idea of fighting and killing for Zacharias Wentz and his movement, hoping to make a change everyone but him knew was impossible? Connor could’ve learned computers, just like Toshiko. He wasn’t stupid, not unless idealism made you stupid.
Selen swatted him on the shoulder. “Hey!”
He jumped, startled. “Sorry.”
“Forget about her.”
“I—”
Selen waved away his protest. “We doing this?”
“Meeting the clients?”
“Bills to pay, right?” She winked.
Connor winced. “Lots. If we don’t get some money soon, the ship won’t be space worthy.”
“She’ll be fine. You’ve got to quit daydreaming on me, you hear?”
“I wasn’t daydreaming.”
“You were wishing you had your old girl back. I know the look.” Muscles bunched along Selen’s jawline.
“Sorry.”
She nodded at the map on the heads-up display. “I think we go to Cerberus first, hear the offer out, then we head to this Silver Blossom and see what they say. Pick the better one. There’s another ramp right near there. If we run into anymore of your assassin buddies, we could get on the ramp, lose them in Sang, then head north. Maybe we could get a room in one of the cities across the equator. I could make you forget this Toshiko, huh?”
“I told you, she was a in the past.”
“You did.” Selen looked down at his feet. “You lose your sneakers?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Tell me about it later. At least you’ve got clean clothes, right?”
At least he had that.