Chapter 8 — by theidiotmachine

Sanju's skin crawled. Xe craved a run followed by a sand bath, but this part of Talált Station offered the prospect of neither, at least not if xe wanted to be cleaner at the end than at the start.

Xeir hand dropped to the pistol at xeir thigh. Sanju was glad to have it back after visiting Sentient Thomas. Down here, in the lower corridors of the Station, it felt like it might be needed. But that wasn't what was on xeir mind.

H'ver would be gone by now. It had sent a burst of encrypted data just before it disappeared, stowed away on the Human's ship, and Sanju wanted to review the information. But not here, in the bustling corridors, filled with blank-eyed passers-by.

Sanju ducked into a food bar, and opened a map of the station. Talált was sketchy enough to have plenty of places to rent which claimed to be private, and also sketchy enough that they wouldn't live up to those claims.

'Hey, buddy. You buy something or you get out.'

Sanju looked up at the florid Human. Xe wordlessly took the nearest thing from a dispenser, and paid. It was a broth or soup, and it smelled pretty good. Xe sipped it.

'Where can I find somewhere private? I have a business call to make,' Sanju said.

The Human didn't look up from his screen. 'There are pods up that way.'

'Are they private?'

'I said they were, didn't I? Oh.'

Sanju had scanned xeir identity disk in the food booth's scanner, and was amused to find that H'ver had registered xeir occupation as food hygiene inspector. The booth attendant looked up from his screen, and tried a smile on. It didn't fit very well.

'I know of a place,' he said. 'It's in the Towers. It might be a little alternative, but it's properly private. No data skimmers. Would you like me to take you there? It would be no bother.'

Sanju had no intention of spending longer in this Human's presence than necessary.

'Just send me a location, please.'

'Certainly. Always happy to help customers. What did you say your name was?'

'I didn't.'

'Yes, yes, very good.'

He swiped, and a pin popped up on Sanju's map. Xe nodded and stood.

'This was very nice. Thank you.' Xe popped the cardboard in the recycler, and left.

Humans. Ugh.

The attendant at the food bar was right. The Towers was, as promised, alternative. Which meant that it was a dump, untouched by gentrification.

It was an old loading bay, a cavernous place once used to ferry materials and people in while the station was being built, which was supposed to have then been sealed up and abandoned. Because it was closer to the hub, the gravity was much lower, and Sanju swallowed some pills to keep xeir nausea down.

It was easy to see why it was called the Towers. It was full with converted containers, functioning as homes, offices, hotels, or dozens of other types of business places. People rappelled up and down the walls, exploiting the low gravity to live far up from the deck. Some containers were even on gantries, hanging high above from the distant ceiling. Each business had an animated sign, lighting everything with bright, flickering colour, and the air was filled with the smells of a dozen food types and shouts in two dozen languages.

A crowd of Vlerns scuttled past, chittering to each other. One of them had just had a tattoo done, and she was showing it to her friends; they were laughing in equal parts amusement and awe about the consequences of their brood parents discovering this. Sanju passed a Karjkan scent theatre, performing something bawdy and sensual. The heady smell of bark and cinnamon rolled out through the doors.

The privacy pods that the food bar guy had told xem about were two levels up, and Sanju had to swing up a series of increasingly rickety ladders to get there. When xe got there, xe found a Latrodecti lounging in a hammock, eating dark red nuts. Two of his legs were shelling them; one was feeding them into its mandibles. The remaining five were curled up under him. There was a considerable pile of shells under the hammock. He scratched his great black eyes.

'Hey,' he said, with his mouth full.

'Hello,' Sanju replied, not able to remember a polite greeting in any Arachnian languages. 'I'd like a pod. I want absolute privacy, and will pay for it.'

The great spider alien wriggled its legs.

What the hell does that mean? thought Sanju.

'Is that a yes?' xe asked.

'I don't care about what you do, man. That's why they come to me. I'm just here for the vibes. No one will know what you're doing in there, my dude. Just clean up, yeah?'

Sanju flashed yellow with irritation. 'I just want to review some private data.'

'I'm sure you do, I'm sure you do. Pod number six.'

A door clicked open on one of the containers, another level above.

'Enjoy your data, bro,' said the arachnid.

Sanju didn't dignify this with an answer.

The pod was tiny, containing nothing but a bed and a power socket. H'ver's message was typically brisk: he had boarded the ship that Hana Reyna was in, hacked the drive computer, intercepted the destination coordinates before jump, and then sent them, along with a pithy message.

Forest more dangerous than they think. Sleeping.

What the hell did that mean? Well, they were going to... Where? Where in all the stars do these coordinates take you? A long way from the home systems, that's for sure. Sanju pulled up a map.

Huh. That's the edge of nowhere.

I need a ship.

Xe left the pod, and the door swung closed. Xe climbed down. The Latrodecti was still there. He had finished eating, and was now smoking from some great assembly of pipes and tubes. He blew out blue smoke as xe approached.

'That was quick, dude. You must have really enjoyed that data.'

'I need a ship, no questions asked. Where can I find one?'

'There's a docking bay here, you know? The old one. It's connected directly to the Towers. We stay out of the seneschal's hair, and he stays out of ours. We have to grease the wheels a bit, you know what I mean? It's not very big, but a few ships come and go.'

'Where is it?'

The Latrodecti gestured with a single hand. He pointed up to the massive red sign which said 'Noodles.' It hung from the very highest point of the Towers.

'Noodles?'

'Yeah, man. Noodles can't be contained, you know what I mean?'

'No. I have absolutely no idea, and I don't care, either. How much do I owe you?'

'Three hundred. Or two hundred and a collectable.'

Damn Latrodecti, with their stupid hoarding. However... Xe dug into xer pocket and found a small plastic disk, and threw it to the alien. He caught it with a rear hand, and held it up to his huge black eyes.

'What's this?' he asked.

'It's a Paghūṛā flea market pass. I bought a toxin manipulator there. It's hard to get one of these things. You have to know the right people.'

The arachnid alien's eyes glittered. 'And how will you get another one?'

'I know the right people.'

He shook its legs again, and the disk disappeared. 'You got yourself a bargain, dude.'

Sanju paid the two hundred, and set xeir foot on the ladder. Oh, I hate climbing, xe thought.

'Enjoy your noodles, dude,' said the Latrodecti.

Sanju flashed yellow again. 'I'm not a dude.'

'Dude. Everyone's a dude. See ya later.'

The docking bay was as shabby as the rest of the Towers. It smelled of coolant and sweat and food and vomit. Cables and ducts were patched with tape, and half of the lights were broken, meaning it was a place of flickering shadows and dirt. Sanju had to step over boxes and feed lines, left strewn over the floor.

There was only one ship there, a clipper which looked as dilapidated as the dock. Its crew were lounging next to it, while a pair of droids loaded crates into the cargo bay.

They were three Humans, all of them modded with cybernetic replacements. They fell silent as Sanju approached.

'I need...' xe started, but the Human interrupted.

'It's gonna cost ya.'

'I haven't said what I wanted yet,' Sanju replied.

'I don't care.' He looked up at the other two. 'Junx and Labrad, start the system checks. I'll deal with this.'

'Yes, Qatta,' said Junx. Labrad just grunted. They both stood, and entered the ship.

'I'm following someone. I just need you to take me somewhere nearby. It won't be hard,' Sanju said.

Qatta grinned, showing a mouth full of metal teeth.

'I'm sure you are. A hundred and fifty thousand.'

'That's a lot of money.'

'Yep. But I bet you're not off to somewhere that most people go, are you now?'

Sanju hesitated.

'That's what I thought,' said Qatta. 'That's what I thought.'

'A hundred and thirty,' said Sanju.

'Show me where you're going, first.'

Sanju sent him the jump coordinates. Qatta frowned. 'You're in luck. We could do that.' He looked up. 'A hundred and thirty it is. A hundred up front.'

'Eighty up front.'

'Ninety five, or you can walk there.'

Sanju cursed inwardly. This would use a significant chunk of xeir wages. 'Fine. Fine. There.'

Qatta grinned, his teeth gleaming in the flickering lights. 'Thank you. Follow me.'

The port droids had finished loading the crates on the ship, and were floating back into the shadows of the bay. Qatta waved to them. 'Goodbye girls! See you in a couple of weeks. Be good for me, now, you hear?'

They didn't reply.

Sanju ducked into the hatch.

The ship was cramped and stank of Human. There was one tiny passenger cabin, barely larger than a cupboard, containing nothing but an acceleration couch and a water and food dispenser. Sanju dumped xeir bag in it, and then looked for a shower or bath in the crew quarters. There was nothing.

Ugh, Humans.

Sanju took a bottle of water from xeir bag, and sipped it. This ship was far too dirty to drink or eat in. Then xe strapped into the couch, and fell asleep.

'It's out, right?'

'I reckon.'

Sanju awoke, but kept xeir eyes closed.

'There was enough stuff in the water to drug a mudslig for a month.'

I'm glad I didn't drink it, xe thought. What's going on?

At least one of the Humans was inside xeir cabin. The other speaker sounded further away, perhaps just outside the door. Sanju had locked the door, but that meant nothing on a ship, with safety overrides and a central locking mechanism.

'So what now?' said the closer one. Junx? Stupid name.

'It can go in the back with the others. There's money for Hiwj parts, too.'

The couch had spun around and was facing away from the cabin door. Sanju cracked xeir eyelids open, and saw that Junx was behind xem. Xe slowly ran xeir hand down to xeir thigh, as if resettling in the couch.

'That means...' Junx said.

'Yeah. I'll do it, if you're squeamish. You can clean the couch, though,' Qatta replied.

Clicks and snaps came from behind xem, the noise of a weapon being readied.

'Spin it around,' Qatta said.

The couch started turning. As it moved, Sanju pulled out the gun from xeir leg holster.

Xe fired as soon as xe had a target. In the close space of the tiny cabin it was impossible to miss. Two metal slivers sliced through Junx's neck and chest, who collapsed, hand to his throat, blood pumping out to form red spheres in the microgravity. Qatta was not ready with his gun, and so Sanju's next two shots hit him in the face, the hisses of the needles becoming wet whispers when they sunk into his cheek and left eye. He spun slowly backwards in the low gravity, keening in pain. Sanju unclipped the couch, and pushed xemself up, floating above the two men. Qatta writhed on the deck, back arched, jaw grinding. Junx was moving, but only from momentum. Blood blossomed out of both of them like storm clouds.

Xe wanted to fire more rounds into them, but that would be illegal now that they were no longer a threat. Besides which, the third one was still out there, somewhere. So, xe pulled out xeir stunner and shocked them both, although xe was pretty sure that Junx was already dead.

Sanju pushed xemself along the narrow corridor, heading towards the bridge, needle gun out, hauling xemself along the handholds. Qatta's animal cry would be enough to alert anyone who was listening.

But xe was in luck. Labrad was in the galley, headphones on, watching something, unaware of the noise and mess. Sanju pushed xemself up to him and punched him in the face with xeir left fist, the full momentum of xeir body weight behind it. It stung xeir hand, but knocked Labrad clean off what he was sitting on, and the two of them sailed towards the galley walls. Sanju pushed the gun into his face.

'What cargo's in the hold?' xe screamed.

Labrad's eyes opened wide. He was going to protest, so xe punched him again, upwards, under his chin. He sailed up to the ceiling and hit it with a meaty thud, whimpering, arms flailing in the low gravity. Sanju was pushed down to the deck, where xe landed in a crouch, pistol out, ready to fire.

'Tell me, you fucker!'

'It's bodies! We take the nearly dead from Talált, and ship them to a surgery on the edge of the Elveszett system. I didn't know that Qatta was going to kill you, I'm so sorry!'

'If you didn't know, why did you just say that?'

'I...'

'Shut up.'

The only noise in the galley was his ragged breathing, the music from his headphones, and the bubbling of a coffee pot.

So they were corpse shippers. Of course. Those crates they'd been loading were obviously stasis chambers, but I'd been too concerned with the cost to think about it. That's the kind of mistake that Makuy would never let me live down.

They were going to some grey-market modding site. I bet they use the body parts to test the mods, and there's nothing as fresh as a dying body.

Absolute scum.

'This ship has a life pod, doesn't it?'

'Yes.'

'Get in it. Load all the stasis crates which have bodies in. If Qatta or Junx are still alive, take them, too. I'll program the beacon. You'll be picked up by the local law. I imagine Sentient Thomas will have a few words to say to you.'

'We can't all fit in that pod!'

'I'm sure you'll make it work. Now move, or I'll kill you.' Xe wouldn't, but he didn't know that.

The Human looked concussed, but carried out xeir orders.

Dedicated to jinnis for herding all the cats all the time

Interview with the author of this chapter