Sandor explained the job and the client, and when Jax didn’t say “Not interested ,” arranged a meeting. The client was on station. Part of the job would entail getting him back home. Jax wasn’t thrilled about more passengers, especially so soon after having to deal with the relief workers from Mariposa. Sandor confirmed it was just the one man, and it was on the way, which made Jax acquiesce. The meeting was set for the next morning, breakfast at The View .
As he and Rudy were waiting for a lift in the station’s central shaft, his gPhone started singing. He glanced down at the screen: Auntie. He looked over to Rudy, holding the phone so the small droid could see the screen. The nav droid made a noise and rolled to another lift bank, pressing the up button.
Jax frowned and joined him there as he tapped his earpiece. “Auntie! How are you?”
Governor Neeti Singh didn’t sound overly happy. “Jackson, what have you been up to?” The lift arrived, and he and Rudy entered. The lift started up towards the administrative levels.
Jax ran his fingers through his light brown hair. “What do you mean, Auntie? I’ve been off-station—”
“I know that!” she growled. Even after all the years she had spent on Kelso, her thick Indian accent from her birthplace on Earth hadn’t thinned in the slightest. “I’m the governor. I know what ships are docked and which aren’t.”
Jax felt himself slipping back into old habits. “Yes, Auntie.”
“Don’t ‘Yes, Auntie’ me. I expect to see you in my office in ten minutes,” the old Indian woman demanded. She closed the channel before Jax could reply with another “Yes, Auntie,” which surely would have landed him in more hot water.
He looked down at Rudy. “She’s mad.” The droid made a strangled sounding noise.
The lift doors slid open and Jax jogged most of the way from the lift bay to the government offices. He made it to the lobby of the governor’s office with seven minutes to spare. “Hi, Geoffrey,” he nodded to the admin sitting outside the double doors to the back office. “She’s expecting me.”
The well-dressed younger man smiled. “She is, indeed. You brought your combat armor, right?” He looked to Rudy. “Hi, Rudy. You may want to wait out here.”
“That bad?” Jax asked as he pushed the announcer button next to the doors. The other man nodded once as the double doors slid apart. Jax was pretty sure he heard the man whisper, “Godspeed .”
“What in the name of all that’s holy are you doing out there?” the diminutive Indian woman growled from behind her desk. She stood up, her bright yellow and purple sari unfolding around her as she came around her desk. “Do you think I don’t know what goes outside this station?”
Jax looked around the office, studiously avoiding eye contact until, with a flash of purple and yellow, the brown-skinned woman was right in front of him, jabbing a bone thin finger into his chest. “You’ve been running contraband.”
“Auntie, look.”
She turned, hand waving dismissively. “Don’t ‘Auntie, look ’ me.” She paced back to her desk and picked up a data tablet. “Do you know what this is?”
“Data tablet?” Jax offered, knowing immediately it was a bad idea when the small angry woman took a step toward him, hand raised. He raised both hands. “Auntie, calm down.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep a breath. “Jackson. Your grandmother was a dear friend of mine. I watched your father grow up and loved your mother like a daughter.” She turned her sad eyes on him. “This isn’t what they’d want for you.” She shook the tablet. “Do you think I don’t get Imperial bulletins? As much as it disgusts me, this station is only independent so long as the Empire doesn’t care to annex us.”
Jax walked over to one of the guest chairs opposite the desk and dropped into it. “Auntie, what would you have me do? They left me an infiltrator, not a cargo ship. There’s only so many types of jobs I can do. The war is over, we... they lost.”
“Keep a lower profile. Like you said, the Osprey is an infiltrator. So, infiltrate. Don’t be caught or seen.” She tapped the tablet. “This one specifically calls out a Valerian Coop Infiltrator that ran from an Imperial patrol.” She raised an eyebrow.
“Fair point.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, but hey. I can’t tell you specifics, but I got a gig. One that’s doing good work. Legitimate work, I think.” He held up a hand. “It doesn’t even involve the Empire.”
The small woman moved to sit behind the desk. “Oh?”
Jax nodded. “I meet with the client tomorrow. It’s a good gig, helping people. I think. I don’t know yet, but that’s the impression I got.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s good.” She looked him in the eye. “You know I only want the best for you, right?” Jax nodded. “Then get out of my office. I’m a busy woman.”
Jax got up as she brought up a report of some type on her terminal.