Talina was sitting on her stool in Inga’s; the tavern was full of locals and a few Ashanti crew. The rise and fall of conversation echoed from the high dome. The occasional scrape of a bench across the flagstone floor was augmented by Inga bellowing an order to her kitchen.
Talina’s gut kept tying itself in a slipknot, and then releasing. Half of it, she was sure, was Demon making a nuisance of himself. The rest was the result of her conversation with Dek Taglioni. Shit on a shoe, what was it about the guy?
So what if he had rich-man’s designer eyes and a dimple in his chin?
“The chemicals say you would mate with him.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself.”
“Quetzals do not fuck.”
“Okay, go share spit with yourself.”
“Takes three.”
“Asshole.”
Demon chittered its amusement.
She kept half an ear open to the chatter that rose and fell behind her as the supper crowd came in. The clunking of mugs on chabacho-wood tables was reassuring, as was the sound of people calling to each other. The big news was that the first cargo shuttles bound for PA had landed from Ashanti.
Picked out from among the multitude of containers slated for the marine unit, Pamlico Jones and his crew were unloading the first lots of medical supplies, spare parts, farming equipment, and a new set of yard lights ostensibly for the Wide Ridge Research Base up north, but that had been abandoned for ten years. The good news was that Port Authority would have streetlights again. Assuming they could broker a deal with Kalico; this was, after all, Corporate property.
The distant rumble of thunder boomed above the rising din of conversation. Figured. Hot day like today, of course there’d be rain rolling in from the east.
She gave Inga a nod as the woman brought Talina her stout with one hand, whipping the five SDR coin into her pocket with the other.
“I’m still thinking about what I want for supper.”
“If you want the chili, don’t wait too long. Don’t have that much left.”
Which left either chamois steaks or the squash bake.
“Chamois steak with broccoli and cherry pie,” she decided.
“You got it!” Inga pivoted on her heel, bellowing the order in the direction of the kitchen.
Talina lifted her stout, took a sip as Shig climbed up onto the stool beside her and slipped his water-spotted cloak from his shoulders.
“Looks like it’s going to be a hard rain,” he noted. “I checked with Talbot on the way over. He’s got everyone on the gates. The Ashanti people from the shuttle field are safely inside the compound.”
“Good. We can use the moisture. It’s been a couple of weeks. I was out in the fields. Things are looking a little dry.”
“Indeed, but the Sczuis got their wheat, barley, and rye harvested. Worked out perfectly for them.” Shig paused. “Trouble out at the farms today? Heard you had to make a trip out to Reuben’s.”
“No. Well, maybe. Dek Taglioni was out there, picking peppers for Reuben. I gave specific orders that he wasn’t supposed to go outside the gates.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “Ko Lang tells me that someone named Shig told him that good old Dek could go work for Reuben for the day.”
Shig was giving her his mildly reproving look. “It might seem churlish of me to remind you Dek’s a free man, an adult, of sound mind, and seemingly healthy if malnourished body. You have no right to tell him what he can or can’t do.”
“The guy’s a pain in the ass!” she snapped.
Demon hissed down in her gut.
She thought she heard Rocket laughing somewhere in the back of her head.
Shig’s knowing gaze fixed on hers. “I see.”
“Don’t go dropping any of that Buddhist crap on me. I’m not in the mood.”
“There is something in his personality that reminds me of Mitch. Some quality of having been tested, of not knowing the answers, but willing to tackle whatever it takes to find them.”
“Don’t even think of going there.”
Shig smiled his thanks as Inga rushed down the bar just long enough to place his half-glass of wine before hurrying back to fill more mugs with beer.
“He’s different from Cap. Didn’t land with that cocksure, I’m-gonna-kick-asses attitude. But at the same time, he’s similar in that he’s fascinated just by being here.”
“Do you want me to break your jaw?”
“Unlike both of them, Derek Taglioni has a different depth of personality. Mitch never faced the kind of desperate trial Taglioni did. And Cap, of course, had a head start from his training. He didn’t have to begin his reevaluation of self until he was faced with disaster.”
Talina gave Shig her most evil I’m-going-to-make-you-hurt-like-you-never-thought-you’d-hurt glare. “If you say one more word, I’m knocking you off that chair.”
Shig lifted his glass, sipped. He studied the wine, a nice translucent red. Worked it in his mouth. “Very pleasant,” he told her as he set the glass down. “I think it has possibilities.”
“Glad you can talk about something besides Taglioni.”
“What makes you think I was talking about the wine?”
Tal slapped a hand to the battered chabacho bar. “That does it! I’m shooting you through the knee.”
Shig stared thoughtfully at the backbar with its glasses and containers of liquor. “History can be a burden. It accumulates. Becomes a weight and a hinderance. In its own way it can become blinding, so that the only thing people see is who you once were. They see you gunning down Pak or Paolo. Eliminating Clemenceau. Burying Mitch. Saving the town from disaster. Facing down Kalico Aguila, and walking out of the forest with Cap. Or they remember you taking down Spiro or standing up for quetzals. Maybe they remember you shooting a shipping crate when you thought it was Sian Hmong. Or single-handedly hunting three quetzals in the rain. They might—”
“Does this have a point?”
“The point is, they might not see Talina Perez.”
“Well, duh! Right here. Filling this chair.”
Shig’s amiable smile bent his lips. “But do they see you, Tal? Or do they only see your history? The legend?”
“Let’s just say that I’m too dense for the holy mystical shit. The learning-by-analogy crap. So stop with the hocus pocus, already. What’s your point?”
Shig gave her one of his bemused looks. “If you were truly as dense as you attempt to portray yourself, you’d have been turned into quetzal shit years ago.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve come close to ending up that way more times than I like to remember.”
Demon made that broken gurgling that quetzals thought sounded like laughter, then hissed, “Yes.”
“Very well, I shall be as blunt as a boulder.” Shig twirled his wine glass on the counter. “When it comes to raw material, Taglioni is as good as I’ve seen over the years. I think he would be a real asset to Donovan for a lot of reasons. For one, his name, assuming we ever hear from Solar System again. For another, he’s got that spark of soul. What should have snuffed it dead aboard Ashanti has given it additional illumination. He has the makings of greatness in him. My fear is that he will never be allowed the chance to discover it within himself.”
“Why not?”
“He is going to pursue his calling. Follow his Tao where it will take him. And do so in the company of whomever will serve as a guide. Perhaps Rand Cope? Or maybe Bernie Monson?”
“They’ll get him killed within a week.” A beat. “He was asking about the Briggses today.”
“They’d be adequate for the time being, though insufficient for what I think Taglioni’s ultimate needs will be.”
She gave him a distasteful look. “So, you’re playing matchmaker?”
He studied her with an intensity she wasn’t used to. “Tal, over the years, I’ve developed a certain fond regard for you. In truth, I never figured you’d live this long because of the tamas in your soul. Not to mention that you’re the tip of our sword. There’s not a man, woman, or child in Port Authority who doesn’t owe you their lives. Taglioni needs a teacher. I think you need a student, even if you don’t recognize that fact.”
“I need a student?”
“Since Trish died, you’ve existed alone. You distance yourself from your people in Security. You only socialize with Kalico when she’s up from Corporate Mine, with me, and on rare occasions Yvette when she comes in. Otherwise, your beloved bar stool might as well be on up on Donovan’s moon.”
“And what would I talk to people about?”
After the silence dragged for a bit, Shig said, “Precisely my point.”