* * *
• • •
Roystan was known here. “You know your bay,” the controller said, when Roystan booked a slot.
“It’ll have to be on credit. Our funds are tied up for the moment.”
“You’re good for it, Roystan.”
It was a good thing the controller couldn’t see Jacques’s face right now.
“Thanks,” Roystan said easily, and asked Nika to join him on the bridge. “Despite what Carlos says about not needing a calibrator when you’re not nullspacing, it’s always good to have one. And you have a light touch.”
Nika was glad for time alone with Roystan. She wanted to talk to him about his mods. She was starting to think someone had done genetic work on him in the past, and they’d botched it. He was half starved, so his body wasn’t metabolizing food well. He had a weak stomach, which meant his body was rejecting what was put into it. She wanted to know what he’d had done.
“Have you ever had medical treatment or mods done here on station?”
“Carlos did once, when he sliced his arm.” His eyes danced, a smile that didn’t reach his mouth. “He has pink down his arm, but Carlos doesn’t seem to mind. Look, Jack’s all right, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Jack?”
“Sethu Jackson. The doctor. Everyone calls him Doctor Jack. I’ve known him for years. He’s a decent man.”
“But you’ve never been modded by him.”
“No.”
So there wasn’t any point talking to Doctor Jack about any mods he’d done on Roystan.
“Who have you been modded by?”
Roystan looked away, into the screens, and nodded at the image in front of them. “We’re getting close to the station. We’ll need to maneuver soon. Is the calibrator ready?”
It could have been the timing. More likely a deliberate attempt to change the conversation.
Closer in, the egg shape looked patchy. Parts of it were well lit, others in darkness. At intervals around the ovoid, jutting out from the central core, flexible arms reached into space.
“What are the arms for?”
“The technical term is spurs. Each spur is a docking bay.”
Now that he’d pointed it out, she could see three of those arms bright with activity. A ship rose and moved away as she watched.
It cleared the station and nullspaced within minutes.
“They don’t make stations like this anymore,” Roystan said. “Even with maintenance, the spurs shear off. It doesn’t happen often, but enough that the insurance companies wouldn’t insure them now.”
She wished he hadn’t told her that. Especially since she could see a broken spur in front of them. It was patched with white metal, brighter than the metal surrounding it. They didn’t make space stations out of metal anymore, did they? Wasn’t it some baked-earth ceramic-mineral alloy? Or was it fiberglass, like the genemod machines?
Roystan smiled reminiscently. “Josune was with us on the last layover. She took one look, then went shopping. Next thing, the maintenance people roll up with supplies. She added a new wall and installed an extra airlock inside our spur. Plus emergency lighting, heating, and air. She says if anything goes wrong at the spur now, at least we’ll stay alive.”
That didn’t make Nika feel any safer.
“Although if you get caught between the breach door and the airlock, you’re toast.”
“Toast?”
“Finished. Dead.”
Nika didn’t know where Roystan had grown up, but his vocabulary contained some strange words.
Roystan fired the jets. A gentle nudge. One of the spurs came closer. A landing pad glowed with the number thirteen.
“The ship at spur twelve is the Promise. Kahurangi’s ship. She’s on time; that will make the changeover easier.” Roystan’s fingers moved over the controls. “Thirteen is ours. Let’s keep Jacques happy. Ready?”
“Ready.” Nika held the calibrator steady. They coasted into their landing slot.
“You are good at this.”
“Lots of practice. You’re not bad yourself.”
Down in the cargo bay Jacques was talking to the auto-controller on the other end. “Come on, you piece of integrated circuitry. Nice and steady and don’t make an angle into the passage. We want a straight doorway to unload to.”
It seemed like Jacques always talked to his machines, although he saved his best flattery for the kitchen items.
Roystan stood up and stretched. She heard his bones creak. From the sound of that, he was older than he looked. Another thing she’d have to add to her list to watch for.
“Do you need me to come with you to the hospital?”
He’d helped already, by convincing the doctor to let them use their own design. “It’s organized.” She had the directions keyed into her communicator. Four passages down, two floors up.
“Thanks. I’ll finalize the sublease, then, while you look after her.”
Josune, Nika was sure, would say she could look after herself.
Roystan said, “If you have any problems, call me.”
16
NIKA RIK TERRI
They left for the hospital as soon as they had clearance to enter the station.
Four passages and two floors wasn’t much, but Nika glanced at Josune and seriously thought about hiring a station cart.
Josune might have read her thoughts. “I can walk if it’s not too far.”
Define too far when your body was covered in second-degree burns and you only had the use of one eye.
“It’s not far,” Snow said.
“Let’s go.” Josune didn’t say anything until they were in the lift, when she pressed a hand to the gauze over her eye. The skin on her arm pulled tight. “I’ll be happy to get this fixed. It’s hurting today.”
Nika looked at the skin on Josune’s arm. She’d be glad to get the burns fixed, too. The skin was starting to harden and scab in places. “So will I.”
Doctor Jack waited for them. The hospital was a single room with wall-to-wall cupboards and two emerald boxes, one on each side of the room. The Dietels. Visitors’ chairs were placed discreetly beside each machine. In the center of the room, a desk took pride of place. Opposite the desk, a wall screen ran a news feed.
“I have to tell you I don’t like other people using my machines,” he said. “Even if they are certified modders. If it hadn’t been Roystan who asked for this, I wouldn’t let you do it. I want to see your certification, and your blueprint, before I let you try any of your experiments.”
Nika looked at Snow. He sighed and put his palm to the reader.
Doctor Jack checked his credentials. “You’re too young to insist on your own plans.”
Nika sent the plan across. “It’s copyright, of course.” She passed the hospital robe over to Josune. “You get ready while we sort this out.”
Josune nodded. She’d been in a machine before. She knew the process.
The doctor looked at Josune rather than at the plan. “She needs medical help, not modding.”
“Of course she does.” The sooner the better. “But she doesn’t want telltale pink skin, and that’s a Dietel sitting over there. You know as well as I do that’s what will happen.”
“It’s not all about beauty, lady. Sometimes it’s about saving people’s lives.” But after he studied the plan he moved over to the built-in cupboards in the wall under the screen. “This is what we have.”
Mostly, the supplies were what she’d expected, although there were dendrian salts, which she hadn’t. The container was old, and the print had faded, but the salts didn’t go off. She could use them. “Is that all you have?” It was
n’t much for a full station. He’d have a second store cupboard somewhere.
“What were you expecting? Fancy supplies like one of those modder shops?”
She straightened up and turned to look at him. “I was expecting more mutrient.”
“We’ve spare plasma. Acid. Arrat crystals. If the machine wants more, I’ll get you some.”
“We need it now. What type of acid?”
“KT18.” Which was the one in the cupboard. “And this, of course.” He held up a glass jar of sulfuric acid. Modders used it to clean off the metal that collected around the modding plate after prolonged mutrient use.
“Very funny.” Nika did a quick calculation. “We’ll need another liter of mutrient, and the same of KT18.”
Doctor Jack scanned the blueprint again. He looked over at Josune. “Are you good with this?”
Josune nodded tiredly. “Whatever Nika wants.”
Snow frowned, but he didn’t argue. Nika was glad.
The machine was clean. Nika wiped it out, anyway.
She turned to Josune, who’d placed her folded clothes neatly onto a chair. “Let’s get you started.”
Josune climbed in. Nika set her up quickly. She stood aside while Snow checked her setup.
“All right,” he said, eventually. “Your work is sound.”
Nika hid a smile. Snow would misinterpret that. Josune wasn’t as polite, but there was affection in her smile.
Nika closed the lid and set the cycle going.
Then they waited. At her own studio Nika had plenty to do. New designs to create. Add-ons to build. Clients to follow up. Here, there was nothing to do except talk to the doctor or watch the vids.
The doctor fell asleep at the desk, and from the suddenness with which he did so, Nika suspected he did it often. She felt like doing the same. Instead, she watched the telltales on the machine.
Snow settled on the floor, back to the wall, and watched the news on the wall screen. “It’s a pity we can’t change the channel.”
Five hours of news wouldn’t hurt them. Meantime, could Nika convince the doctor to sell them extra mutrient and acid? Roystan would buy a spaceship calibrator as soon as he could, and when that happened they’d have a working genemod machine. They’d need supplies.
The news droned on in the background. Some starlet sponsored by one company was having an affair with the CEO of a rival company. Nika hid a snort. News never changed. People never changed. But the starlet had interesting purple mods in her hair that flickered as she spoke tearfully to the camera.
Nika watched and waited for a tear to fall. It never did. Mods? Or clever management on the girl’s behalf, for crying in public was a problem. Eyes filling with tears gave the desired result. But crying? That made your eyes and nose red, streaked your makeup, and did all sorts of other things no one in the public eye wanted.
She turned her attention back to Josune. The build was going well. Blood flow on the eyelid was gradually moving down. The skin was knitting without any problems.
Snow made a strangled sound. Nika looked over at him. He was staring at the news feed.
She looked at the screen. A smiling, open-faced reporter said, “. . . wait to find out. Until then, this is Banjo Yoxall, signing off from Lesser Sirius.”
The voice was familiar, and so was the face. Familiar in the way Nika always remembered the faces of clients she had worked on. This man had been one of her clients.
“Banjo,” Snow whispered.
Nika looked at the screen again, which was now showing the results of a two-man shuttle race. “Are you sure, Snow?” But she didn’t forget a body she’d modded, and yes, now prompted, she recognized him.
“A reporter,” Snow said. “How—”
Nika could see how. Banjo’s voice had always been his strongest point, and there had been good bones beneath that heavy exterior. Take the bulk away and he’d turned out rather presentable. If she said so herself, it had been a nice job.
Something beeped, making her jump. She swung around to the Dietel, but it was fine.
The doctor woke with a mutter, and nearly fell off his chair. He swiped the screen in front of him as he did so. A message alert.
The news on-screen changed to a woman wearing the distinctive collar of the Justice Department. The Justice Department was a combined initiative of all companies. Companies paid them a percentage to maintain law inside the legal zone.
“Citizen watch,” the justice said. “We are hunting a criminal who might be seeking medical attention.”
“We used to get these on the Boost,” Snow whispered. “Gramps used to ignore them.”
A picture flashed up on-screen. Grainy, enlarged, but instantly recognizable.
Josune.
“Wanted for destruction of property and actions endangering life on a space station. Believed to have burns to much of her body. The burns will be characteristic of sparker damage.”
For one frozen moment Nika couldn’t move.
She stared at the telltales on the machine. If she pulled Josune out now she’d destroy her eye. And leave her skin vulnerable to infection.
On-screen the relentless voice of the justice continued. “The unidentified woman is believed to be traveling on the cargo ship The Road to the Goberlings. The crew of The Road to the Goberlings are considered dangerous. Captain Hammond Roystan is armed. He is wanted for actions endangering life on a space station, along with damages to said station.” The images of the crew, including Snow, flashed up on the screen.
“Me.” Snow looked as if he couldn’t decide if he should be outraged or worried. “I’m not crew.”
He’d signed for the Dekker.
“Roystan,” Doctor Jack said, making Nika jump again. “He wouldn’t hurt anyone. Much less damage a station.” He switched off the screen. “What are you going to do?”
Nika looked back at the genemod machine. “Wait.” And stop this doctor from calling the Justice Department.
He grunted. “Some people would run.”
She wanted to. She looked at the machine again. “We’re not leaving Josune behind, and you can’t make a genemod machine run any faster.”
“That’s the truth, lady.”
Nika looked at Snow. “It’s your image that’s being splashed around. Go. You should be safe on The Road.”
Snow hunched in on himself. “What good would that do? They can still find us there. I can’t go anywhere else. Banjo—” He glanced at the blank screen and took a deep breath. “Running won’t help. Besides, they attacked us. Why are we the wanted ones?” The plaintive note on the last sentence made him sound young again.
“Because we’re not company.” That was how it worked. Nika tried not to be bitter. Once, she’d been a citizen of Lesser Sirius and thought she was protected. She’d learned otherwise.
“Roystan’s well known on this station,” the doctor said. “Most people will ignore the message.”
“But you can’t. You’re a doctor.” Part of the legal requirements of a doctor’s certificate was to assist the Justice Department in their inquiries. And to report any suspicious injuries. It was the reason Nika had suggested, back when she had first met him, that Roystan go to a cosmetician rather than a hospital.
“This is my off-duty time. I don’t normally come into the hospital till 08:00, excepting for emergencies. Won’t be listening to messages for half an hour after that.”
“Thank you,” Nika said, fervently. They’d be gone before then.
Doctor Jack settled back in his chair. “I’m not the one you have to worry about. Calli will be fine, too.”
Calli Mattins was the station manager. She’d called earlier to check why Roystan was arriving out of schedule. From what Nika had overheard of the call, she’d sounded concerned. Roystan had told her it was because Josune needed medical care.
“She has a soft spot for Roystan. Always has. Aubrey would be a problem, except he’ll be playing sho by now.”
“Sho?”
“Cards.”
“Who’s Aubrey?”
“The night manager. You should be safe.”
“Thank you. I’d better let Roystan know.” Nika touched her jaw to open a link. “Roystan. Can you talk?”
There was a lot of background machinery noise. That was the problem with those old handheld communicators. You didn’t get that background noise with an internal communicator. Then, from the sounds of it, he dropped his communicator.
“Sorry. A little busy here,” he said when he’d picked it up.
Why did he insist on such an anachronistic tool? With an internal communicator, he could have both hands free right now. She’d be able to hear him without him having to raise his voice.
“The Justice Department has put out an alert to medical staff and station managers.”
“Josune?”
“In the tank for another three hours.”
Three hours, nine minutes, and forty seconds precisely.
“Tell me about the alert.”
“It identified Josune. That she was burned. It identified you, your ship, and your crew, including Snow. Asks people who see any of you to get in touch with the Justice Department.”
“The Justice Department?”
“We damaged the Hub when we escaped,” Nika reminded him. She glanced at the doctor to see what he thought of that. He was staring at his hands.
“How long have we got?”
“No idea.”
She could hear the rasp of something. Roystan scratching his head, or rubbing his face. “Aubrey will be playing sho by now. He shouldn’t be a problem. What about Jack? He has to report it.”
“Doctor Jack doesn’t start work till eight.” She smiled at the momentary silence on the other end of the line. “Josune will be out of the machine before he acts on the message.”
“Thank goodness for that,” Roystan said fervently. “Meantime, I’ll keep an ear out to be sure no one else has reported us.” A soft sigh. “I am so tired of running. Look after Josune for me. I’ll get Kahurangi on her way, and then scout around, see what’s happening.” He clicked off.