It turned out that getting the Delphinos, at least one of them, onboard, was the easy part of the morning. Haggling over money and responsibility ended up taking two hours. Jax finally came to an agreement with Kori and Steve and headed back down to the lower levels. Kori had been particularly aggressive in negotiating, which seemed to tickle Marshall to no end, watching Jax squirm. For someone who wasn’t explicitly needed in the first place, the dark-skinned woman drove a hard bargain.
Jax walked into the Angry Spacer and walked past the bar. As he did, he waved to Lucas. “Burger?” he said as he moved to one of the booths near the back of the bar. The cybernetically enhanced bartender nodded. Jax dropped into the booth and took his gPhone out of his pocket. He tapped an icon.
“Boss?” Rudy answered.
“How’s the prep going?” Jax asked as Lucas dropped off a burger and a frosty mug of beer. The burly bartender nodded and walked away.
“It’s going. I ordered consumables this morning. They’ll be dropped off in another hour. Station engineering just left. The reactor is topped off.”
Jax took a sip of his beer, then said, “Looks like we’re down a Delphino. Any chance they’ll let you adjust the food order?” He took a bite of the burger. Even though he knew it wasn’t beef, he closed his eyes and let a low moan escape his lips.
“Uh, what’re you doing?” his nav droid friend asked. “You better not be—”
Jax swallowed. “I’m eating lunch, you perv. Can you change the order?”
“I’ll see what they say, but don’t hold your breath. Oh, you had a visitor.”
“Yeah?” Jax pressed. He took another bite, careful that time to conceal the moan of pleasure. Lucas had a gift for spicing up the vat meat enough you’d never know it grew on a meter-tall frame with nutrient sludge pumped into it.
“That woman from the aid camp came by.”
“Aid camp? Who?”
“Hmm, you know. I don’t know. I know she was here, but…” The pause was a bit unsettling. “I can’t seem to access that chunk of memory. I don’t understand.” The droid trailed off, then closed the channel. The screen on Jax’s phone lit up, then returned to the home screen.
“Well, if it isn’t Jackson Caruso,” a woman said from behind Jax. He looked up as a vaguely familiar Asian woman slid into the booth opposite him.
“Wait, wha?” Jax stumbled over his words. The woman from the relief camp on Mariposa?
“Miss me?” the Asian woman asked, taking his mug of beer and sipping from it. Her jet-black hair was in two braids, each draped over a shoulder.
Jax regained his composure. “Not even a little.” He reached for his mug, but she was faster, moving it out of his reach. “Who are you? What’re you doing here? I know you’re not an aid worker, by the way. Asked your boss’s boss. He had no idea who I was talking about.” He extended an arm to encompass the Spacer and the station beyond. “And now you show up here.” He munched a fry. “How’d you get here?”
She winked. “Well, you wouldn’t shut up during the flight from Mariposa about your lovely Kelso station.” She grinned. “Oversold, for sure.” She added, “Name’s Naomi Himura.”
Jax took another bite of his burger and grunted. Around a mouth full of vat grown beef, he said, “We never spoke during the flight.” He pointed at her. “What do you want?”
Naomi sighed. “I need work.”
Lucas appeared before Jax could reply. “Another round, Jax?” He looked at Naomi. “Sorry, I didn’t see you come in. Drink?”
She held up the rest of Jax’s mug. “I’m good.” She winked.
Jax nodded to the bartender, who returned the nod and departed. He turned to the Japanese-featured-not-a-relief-worker. “Plenty of work to be found on Kelso. I’m sure you’ll find something to your liking.” He took the last bite of his burger. “I’d put in a good word for you, but well, I don’t know you from Eve.” Before she could reply, he continued, “I’m serious. We never spoke during the trip out from Mariposa. You leave a tracker on my ship?”
“How gauche, no.” She grinned. “Once I was on the ReliefCorp station it wasn’t hard to hack into—what did you call him—my boss’s boss, Kline’s, terminal and back track where he’d been and who he’d paid.”
Lucas returned with Jax’s beer. He reached for the empty plate. Naomi slid it out of his reach, eyeing the untouched fries. Lucas smiled. “I’ll bring ketchup.” He strode towards the small kitchen area at the back of the space.
Jax took a sip of his beer. “Who are you?”
“Naomi Himura, I already told you.” she replied.
“Not an alias?” She shook her head. “Okay, and what do you want? Why do you think I’d have a job for you?”
Lucas swung by the table, leaving a bottle of honest-to-God ketchup. Jax looked at the bottle, then Naomi. “He never gives me real ketchup.”
“I’m cuter.” She turned the bottle over, and as she thumped her palm on the bottom to dislodge the thick crimson condiment, she said, “You seem like you have your shit together. I figured after your performance on Mariposa, you’d probably have something lined up.” She popped a ketchup covered fry in her mouth. “Plus, I hacked the station network. You’re pretty popular here.” She scooped up more fries. “Your family are founders, posh.”
Jax waved his hand again. “What about Kelso station says posh to you?”