I slouched at the table, the same one I'd been at for most of the last three weeks. The Golden Pig, an upscale bar on Proxima, was quiet with few customers. The bartender didn't seem to mind me spending hours sitting at a table near the back as long as I bought drinks and paid my tab.
Tayvis was twenty three days overdue. We'd agreed to meet here, when his enlistment was finally up. It looked like he didn't want to keep his promise.
I didn't blame him. The last time we'd seen each other he'd arrested me. And the time before that I'd shot him. I shouldn't have been surprised that he hadn't come. I didn't want to believe it was really over between us, but three weeks of waiting were beginning to convince me.
Jasyn, co-owner of my ship and my best friend, had lost patience. Her hints that we should move on had become blunt and hard to ignore. She was right, I had to let go. Tayvis wasn't coming.
I'd never expected it to hurt so much.
I looked across the bar to the front windows. The sun of Proxima blazed out of a clear summer sky. The door opened, sending a flash of bright light across the polished wood of the tables. I squinted and groaned when I saw who had just entered.
Lowell stood near the door, surveying the room. Darus Venn, my father, hovered over his shoulder. I considered sliding under the table. Lowell saw me and strode across the room. He wore a captain's bars on his uniform this time. He rarely wore his true insignia. He preferred to slum with the lower ranks. Darus wore an engineer's gears.
"Go away," I said as Lowell pulled out a chair.
He sat anyway. "Is that any way to greet me, Dace?"
"Or me," Darus said, taking a second chair.
"I'm not in the mood, Lowell. Hi, dad. How have you been?"
"Try saying it like you mean it," Darus said.
"Whatever you want," I said, standing up, "the answer is no, Lowell. So don't even try."
"I need your help."
"I don't want yours."
"I think you want to hear this," Lowell said quietly. I deliberately stepped away.
Something dropped onto the table with a soft chime, like crystals muffled in cloth. A tiny prick of emotion stabbed into my heart. I stopped, my feet glued to the floor despite my best intentions to leave. Jasyn was going to rip me into shreds when she found out I'd even listened to Lowell. I turned back, I had to find out what ace Lowell held.
He poked a small bag on the table in front of him, a nondescript thing of worn cotton. I dropped into a chair, feeling the pull from the bag.
"I thought that would get your attention." Lowell pushed the bag towards me.
"I'm through, Lowell. You promised to leave me alone. Remember?"
My hand closed over the bag. A wave of pain, anger, and need washed through me. I knew what was in the bag. I closed my eyes as my fingers fumbled to untie it.
"Two weeks ago," Lowell began, "a ship limped into Viya Station, the only Sessimoniss ship to be sighted in almost a year, with a single survivor on board. He died not long after reaching the station, despite everything they tried to do for him. The only thing he said that anyone could interpret was your name." The Sessimoniss were a reptilian sentient race that lived beyond the fringes of the Empire. Only four non-Sessimoniss had ever landed on their world and returned alive: me, Jasyn, her brother Jerimon, and Tayvis.
The top of the bag opened. Tiny glittering shards of crystal in every hue of the rainbow spilled out. Tumbled emotions and jumbled images poured into my mind. This was the Eggstone, the god of the Sessimoniss. A few pieces of it, at least.
"What happened?" I asked, my voice hoarse. I'd been their high priestess, for a matter of days. The Eggstone forged a mindlink with me. I had absolutely no psychic abilities on the human scales, but maybe I did on the Eggstone's range. It didn't matter now. What mattered was the need of the stone shards sparkling on the table. "Where's the rest of it?"
Lowell leaned back, watching me. He was smug, he knew he had me. I could say no to him, but not to the Eggstone. Darus looked away, unwilling to meet my eyes.
"The Sessimoniss had that bag with him. The rest are on Viya Station."
"What happened, Lowell?" My hand closed over the shards, feeling the prick of tiny cuts sting my palm. It was nothing next to the pain that radiated from the shards.
"I don't know. No one does."
"I can't do this, Lowell. I can't do this to Jasyn again."
"I have no intention of involving her. There's a courier ship at Viya, waiting for you. And one of my agents assigned to assist you."
I made myself open my hand and carefully brush the shards into the bag. I silently apologized to the Eggstone. I was through letting Lowell push me into becoming something I hated. I'd gone mad once before, because of him. That he was the one who pulled me back into sanity didn't mean he could do it again. I wouldn't let him.
"I'm not going," I said and shoved the bag back across the table. Letting go was one of the hardest things I'd ever done.
"I'm not through," Lowell said.
"But I am." I pushed my chair back.
Darus took my wrist and pulled me back. "I think you want to listen, Dace."
"Jasyn is going to skin me alive," I protested. But I sat.
"Fifty seven ships have disappeared in that sector, two dozen of them in the last two years." Lowell leaned over the table, voice low and earnest.
"It isn't my problem," I said as I pulled my wrist free of Darus' grip.
"The Wanderer was one of them." Lowell said it like it should mean something to me.
"And?" I stood. "I don't have time for this."
"The executive officer on that Exploration ship is Tayvis."
I fell back into my chair again. The bartender gave me a strange look.
"When?" I asked. "When did it go missing?"
"They were due back in port two months ago. I just found out a few days ago. My information network isn't what it used to be."
"Tell me how this involves me, Lowell. No more games. Tell me what you want me to do." My fingers reached for the bag of shards without me telling them to.
"I don't know how all the pieces fit. I've sent four ships out there over the last few months. None of them have come back."
"So now you want to send me there?" My hand closed over the bag of shards. Jasyn was going to kill me for even considering his offer.
"One week, Dace. You take the courier and go to the Sessimoniss system. Stay hidden, don't land or try to make contact. Just watch. One week, and then you come back and report. Even if you have nothing to report."
I studied Lowell's silver eyes. Most people couldn't read his emotions. They only saw what Lowell wanted them to see. I knew him too well. I could see the strain.
"You just want someone to come back," I said.
Lowell nodded.
"Why me? You have trained agents. You don't need me."
"I asked him the same thing," Darus said. "They don't have your luck."
"Or your knowledge of the Sessimoniss. One week," Lowell said. "Run sooner if there is the slightest hint of danger."
I sighed, feeling the shards of crystal calling to me through the worn cloth bag. "One week? No more?"
"Promise," Lowell said.
"I have a few conditions," I said.
Lowell raised one eyebrow.
"First, I get the pieces of the Eggstone. All of them."
Lowell nodded.
"Second, none of the others get involved in this. You keep Jasyn and Clark out of it."
"Easier said than done. You know that."
"They aren't coming. You help me convince them or I won't go."
Lowell studied me for a long moment. He finally shrugged. "One way or another, I'll convince them."
He wanted me very badly. How badly?
"It's going to cost you. I don't work for free." How far could I push him?
"I arranged for you to receive danger pay last time," he said.
"Barely enough to cover our legal fees. You want me to work for you, it's going to cost you, Lowell."
"How much?"
"A hundred thousand credits." I hoped he'd choke over the number. I hoped it would give me a way to say no. I wasn't going to haggle with him. A hundred thousand was enough to buy my ship and five cargoes and pay a full crew for over a year.
"Done," he said without batting an eyelash. "When can you leave? Sooner is better."
I flapped my mouth a couple of times. I hadn't expected him to agree so fast. He really, really wanted me.
"Payment up front," I said. "And you still haven't convinced Jasyn."
He pursed his lips. "I'll be at your ship in an hour. Be ready."
I wanted to swear. How had he maneuvered me into this? I thought I could weasel away from him.
"Keep the bag, Dace," Lowell said as he stood.
"Are you picking up my bar tab, too?" I hated giving in to him. I hated the thought of telling Jasyn even more.
Lowell grinned. "I'll let your dad. Maybe he can give you a lecture on responsible drinking."
"It's fruit juice."
"Maybe I'll get him to lecture you about your language instead."
"She swears like an engineer," Darus said as he pulled out a handful of coins.
"That's the problem," Lowell said.
"Not for me." Darus winked. He was an engineer before anything else.
Lowell shook his head as he walked away.
Darus hung back, waiting until Lowell was out of hearing range. His grin faded. "You sure you want to do this?"
"Tell me what's really happening, Darus."
"Ships that travel to that sector don't come back. Nothing does. Lowell doesn't know any more than that. The Sessimoniss ship was the first to come in on that vector in over three years." He dropped coins on the table. "I don't want you mixed up in it."
"I tried to say no."
"I'd get that money deal in writing if I were you. And be careful. Very careful. I'd hate to lose you."
"Then you can tell Jasyn for me," I said as I rose to my feet. The money on the table was more than enough. "She's going to kill me when she finds out I said yes to Lowell."
"That's one danger I think I'll let you face on your own. I wouldn't want her mad at me again."
"Lowell's waiting for you."
Darus muttered something under his breath I pretended not to hear. Lowell stood in the open doorway, watching us.
"You be careful," Darus told me again before he hurried away to meet Lowell.
I watched the two of them walk out the door. It swung shut, cutting off the glare of afternoon light outside.
"You need help?" the bartender called to me.
I shook my head. "I doubt you could help me."
"The Patrol harassing you?" he continued as he polished glasses. "I got a brother who handles lawsuits against them all the time. They give you a hard time, you give my brother a call."
"Thanks, but I've got a lawyer."
"They friends then?" He wasn't going to give up. "What about the one you're waiting for?"
"They came to tell me he wasn't going to make it." I was oddly relieved to know Tayvis' ship was missing. He hadn't deliberately dumped me. But he was still missing.
"You sure you don't need help?"
"I've got more help than I can possibly use."
"You come back sometime," the bartender called as I pushed open the door. "I like nice quiet customers here."
If only he knew.