Keltan's Gambit: Chronicles of the Orion Spur Book 2 Read online

  His blue-green eyes widened. “Oh, no, no, not like that. No ma’am.”

  “Relax, it’s okay. You know what? Yes, let’s do it.”

  Sanul straightened up, his crystal teeth gleaming in the light.

  She got up from her chair and shut her terminal down with a thought. Grabbing her brown jacket off of the chair’s back, she took wide strides towards the door. It yielded before her, drawing Ila’s attention up from her cubicle.

  “You’re coming with us,” she said, continuing to head for the lifts.

  “What?” Ila’s green eyes widened.

  “We’re going out,” Sanul exclaimed with delight.

  “But Haem Aragón—”

  “No arguments!” She shouted back from the lift-bank doors. She watched Ila practically convulse with the effort to pull niuself away from niur desk.

  “I just sent everyone to lunch. There’s no one to staff the office, Haem—” niu began.

  “I don’t care. Come on.” She could be wrong about Isinari, but she suspected that they might be a bit like Solans when it came to certain things. Ila had less energy since their conversation about Biren, and though niu was clearly trying to muster on, it showed. A change of scenery might just be what they both needed.

  “I have work to do,” niu said when they reached the lift.

  The doors slid open and Giselle moved to get off but drew herself up short at the sight of them. Cygni gasped. She forgot that she told Giselle to come up.

  “No you don’t. I’m suspending all of your work for today,” she finished responding to Ila.

  Giselle swept her eyes over them. “Oh, sorry! I’m making a habit of this, aren’t I?”

  “We’re going out. Want to join us?” Sanul asked.

  “No arguments,” Cygni said with a smile and hooked her arm into Giselle’s as she entered the lift.

  “I guess I can’t argue.” A smile brightening her face.

  “Someone needs to be in the office to receive calls,” Ila added.

  “Someone will be after lunch,” Sanul said.

  “That does not count,” Ila insisted, but the doors shut and the car started moving down.

  “I’ll have the office forward the calls to my implant,” Ila tapped her head.

  “I order you not to. The point is to not get work done when you’re playing hooky,” Cygni said.

  “I—” Ila twitched.

  “It’ll be fun,” Sanul said.

  “What will be?” Ila asked.

  “Let it be a surprise,” she said before he could answer.

  “You heard the boss.” Sanul grinned.

  Ila groaned.

  Giselle chuckled into her hand. “Where’s your sense of adventure, um—”

  “Aratiach’Ila’Anaeriae,” Sanul filled in.

  Giselle nodded at him and turned her dark eyes back to Ila.

  “We have work to do,” niu said in a half-whisper.

  “Not now, we don’t.” Cygni smiled at Giselle, who appeared to be bubbling over with excitement.

  They caught a taxicab on the street rather than take a company air-car, which she figured would send poor Ila into fits.

  “Where are we going?” niu asked.

  “It’s a secret, but I think you’ll like it,” Sanul said looking at Cygni.

  She nodded and messaged Sanul to transmit the address to the cab’s autopilot, just to keep their destination a secret a little longer even from her. She watched the city race by, relaxing with the thrill of adventure without fear for the first time in days. She realized this was just the sort of fun she needed to get herself back on track. The cab flew them out of the gleaming towers of the Business District and into the weathered stalks of residential buildings. It was the same route she took home until they reached the edge of the Solan Ghetto and turned towards the Kaz’ul Sea-side of the city atoll.

  “Interesting,” Giselle said.

  “Are we going to your domicile?” Ila asked Sanul.

  “No.”

  Cygni gave nium a look. “We’re on an adventure, relax.”

  “If I wanted adventure I would have joined the Star Corps,” niu responded, surprising Cygni.

  “We’re almost there, Ila, please,” Sanul said.

  Niu snorted.

  “Ila, please, relax. We’re all friends on this trip, okay?” Cygni shook her head.

  Ila folded niur long arms and looked out the window.

  The taxicab started its descent in one of the shabbiest parts of the city Cygni had yet seen. Though it resembled many of the slums she went to when tracking down various criminal elements, the more she looked at it the more she realized that this particular neighborhood was like nothing she’d experienced on Kosfanter before. The low, fastcrete towers had streaks of rust-stains running down their columns. Most of the private air-cars littering the street below them were at least ten or more years out of production, but appeared cared for in a way the run-down buildings around them were not. Municipal codes in Ikuzlu forbade the hanging of any physical sign, flag, or covering from the buildings in the city, but wide stretches of canvas were affixed to these buildings’ lower three floors with long poles. When the taxicab touched down in the narrow strip of sunlit pavement between them, she could barely see the building façades in the deep shadows the coverings cast.

  “Well, this is interesting.” Giselle moved a lock of hair behind her pale ear.

  “My species is subterranean by nature. We like it dark,” Sanul said once they were out of the cab.

  Ila watched it rise into the sky until it passed out of view like it was niur last hope was gone for good.

  “You’ll be okay, trust me,” Cygni whispered as they walked into the shadows beneath the huge awnings.

  Giselle moved to walk on Ila’s other side. “She’s right, you know. There’s nothing to fear here. It’s exciting. I’ve never been to this part of town, but I bet they have great restaurants.”

  Cygni looked up and down the litter-cluttered street. Food wrappers and cans blew about between the cars in the ocean breeze. She counted four stone fountains in view of their position bubbling away with water spouts a meter high. Each depicted a group of Volgoth lounging around the rims of their tiers.

  “My species also loves water,” Sanul said. “Which is kind of why I brought you here. Come.” He led them down the grime-encrusted fastcrete to an open stairway in the sidewalk. It brought them below street level to a matt-gray metal door in a narrow alcove.

  “Where are you taking us?” Ila asked, staring at three Volgoth males walking on the street above them; their hooves clopped against the pavement as they passed.

  “The boss said it should be a surprise, remember?” Sanul banged on the door.

  Ila’s shoulders dropped.

  “Oh, don’t be like that. Come on.” Giselle playfully poked Ila in the shoulder. It didn’t help.

  A muffled voice spoke in guttural tones from the door’s other side in a language Cygni assumed was Volgothic. Sanul responded in kind, and the door slid open allowing a gust of hot, wet air to blow up across them. Though clearly large for his species, the Volgoth male standing by the door was still nearly a head shorter than she was, but had the tank-like muscular build that marked him as the establishment’s bouncer. He wore a furry, layered skirt and a striped vest over which he folded tree trunk-thick arms. He glowered at them with yellow, oval eyes, and a conversation ensued between him and Sanul that rapidly became animated with gestures and hoof-stomps against the floor. When it ended, Sanul turned up to them with a broad grin.

  “They’re letting us in. Follow me.”

  “Interesting,” Cygni said to Ila.

  “Maybe,” niu responded.

  “I think it is.” Giselle moved past nium. “I’ve never been to a—whatever this place is.”

  Cygni was glad Ila’s response wasn’t something more negative, and she appreciated that Giselle was trying to help the poor Isinari’s spirits.

  They came into
a small, fastcrete room. It held a row of polymer kiosks on one side and still had enough space for two to walk abreast. The flickering glow-ball in the ceiling didn’t cast enough light for her eyes to see, so she activated their light-enhancement function.

  “Are you okay with the light?” she whispered to Ila.

  “My optics are compensating.”

  “Good.” Cygni nodded, hoping Ila was going to relax soon.

  Sanul stopped them in front of one of the kiosks. “Okay, now we need to pick out some jewelry for you.”

  “What?” she asked as Giselle took a quick step to stand by Sanul’s side. Her eyes lit up.

  “You’ll probably want some. It’s traditional,” he said.

  She moved to stand on his other side and looked at the wares beneath the transparent, plastic cover. There were a plethora of jeweled pendants on long, silver and gold chains laying amongst rings with a dizzying number of shapes and sizes. Some of them were clearly earrings, some were rings for fingers, and others she could only guess at where they went. There were studs, bracelets, anklets, and chains that had several items woven in among their links clearly meant to pierce something.

  “Oh my.” Cygni looked up at Sanul.

  “Oo la la.” Giselle made her eyebrows dance at him.

  “It is traditional to adorn your body before going into the baths,” he said.

  “Baths?”

  Ila’s face twisted in alarm.

  “Yes, it’s a traditional way to relax and socialize among the Volgoth,” Sanul said in a somewhat muted voice.

  “I think it’s a great idea. There are hot-spring spas on my home world. It’s been forever since I’ve been in one; I could use a hot soak.” Cygni redirected her attention to the kiosks feeling a rising excitement.. “What’s traditional to wear?”

  “Here.” Sanul picked out a belly-chain with a green stone on the end for Ila, one with a red stone for Giselle, and one with an amber stone on the end for her. He handed them each a single bracelet inlaid with a twisted, vine-like pattern pressed into its surface, then found them each dangling, clip-on carbon-crystal earrings he assured them they really should have.

  “Do we just put them on here?” Cygni asked.

  “Not yet, that’s next.” Sanul’s nostrils flared.

  “What about paying for them?”

  “These are loaners,” Sanul answered her. “Don’t worry, they’re sterilized between each use.”

  “Loaner jewelry for a bath?” She raised her eyebrows.

  “The wearing of jewelry while publicly bathing in my culture is very important. An unbejeweled body is taboo in public. Bath houses like this one don’t want to alienate clients who can’t afford their own. This custom came about after we were conquered. Before, wealth and status determined who got to go into the baths. Some never did.”

  “I’ll cover the cost for all this.” She hoped it wasn’t too much.

  “Oh, I can get it—” Giselle began.

  “No, this is my treat. I have enough in my account for a few hours,” he said. Cygni opened her mouth, but he added, “Please let me treat you.”

  “Okay.” She shrugged at Giselle and hoped this wasn’t coming out of the savings for his freedom.

  The next chamber was a cavernous space with an arched ceiling. The musty smell of wet fur and sweat filled the hot air. Row after row of lockers and benches stretched out into the darkness ahead of them where Volgoths sat, chatted, and changed in and out of layered skirts, jackets, and cloaks—what she assumed were traditional Volgoth styles of dress from their apparent abundance. As Sanul stated, everyone here had on jewelry of some kind. It adorned their horns, their fingers, and their ears. It dangled, glittered, and shone from pierced patches of fur-covered skin, and even gripped and penetrated areas bereft of fur that made her wince to look at.

  “Your people seem to love piercing their bodies,” Ila commented. To Cygni’s delight, the curiosity of newness before them seemed to have removed all traces of recalcitrance.

  “We would probably tattoo ourselves if we could, but night-black skin and fur don’t really allow for it,” he responded.

  “You could always use the bio-luminescent ink like we do,” niu said.

  “Do you have any tattoos?” Sanul asked, leading them to a free bench between rows of tall metal lockers. “In all the years we’ve known each other I don’t think it’s come up.”

  “You will see, I suspect,” niu responded.

  Sanul gave nium a curious look with his head cocked to the side. Giselle waited for his attention to head her way, then winked at him. He seemed taken aback by the gesture, and his small ear-flaps twitched as though shooing away flies.

  Cygni looked around, watching the Volgoths around them. Males and females changed in front of each other while continuing to talk in their guttural language. She noted that she, Giselle, and Ila were the only non-Volgoths in the vast chamber. A few of them seemed to have noted this as well and were giving her group sidelong glances, one of which was sent their way by a heavy-set Volgoth female baring her sharp, crystal teeth at them in a rather nasty way.

  She looked away as fast as she could and put a hand on her jacket lapel. “Any locker?”

  “Any available,” Sanul confirmed. He yanked open one on its rattling hinges and started stripping out of his company uniform.

  “When in Rome,” she muttered the ancient Earth expression and removed her jacket. Giselle followed her lead with a broad smile on her face.

  “I do not think this place is called Rome,” Ila whispered.

  “It’s a Solan expression from Earth. It means do as the locals do and don’t worry about it.” She opened the locker in front of her. It was narrow, rusty, and had two hooks inside that looked like they would barely support the weight of her clothing. With a sigh, she hung up her jacket and told her smartfabric jumpsuit to open. The fibers pulled themselves apart in a straight line from her neck to her navel. She turned around and looked at the pile of jewelry Sanul picked out for her after peeling off her uniform and kicking out of her shoes,. She exchanged a glance with her human companion, who shrugged out of the top of her suit and pulled it down off her legs with a wink. From the expression on her face, Giselle seemed to be taking a fiendish delight in the proceedings.

  “I’ll help you both with that,” Sanul said, coming over with only ochre-streaked, black fur covering his wiry body. She had to stop herself from staring at what his fur didn’t cover. I guess there’s a reason they’re called “Star Satyrs.” She stifled a half-embarrassed chuckle in her throat, drawing a look from Giselle which led to her following Cygni’s gaze.

  “Well, that’s nice to see,” Giselle said.

  Cygni met her eyes and they shared a giggle.

  Sanul helped her to put on the jewelry with such a professional touch that she didn’t once feel uncomfortable.

  “You’re good at this,” she muttered. Sanul responded with a toothy smile and gave her a nod when he finished, then moved on to helping Giselle don her adornments.

  “I don’t think these will work,” Ila said, holding the long earrings in niur hand out towards him.

  Cygni was startled to see niur leaf-green body. Curiosity about Isinari physiology kept her eyes on nium longer than was appropriate. Ila had tattoos starting at the clavicle, spreading out across broad shoulders and down over human-like breasts in swirling patterns that glowed with red-shifting light. They covered the skin above her belly, trailing in broad swaths across muscular thighs, and didn’t stop until they reached niur ankles. The patterns were complex, like fractal swirls that crisscrossed each other across the canvas of her skin. They even covered her groin, which she stared at with some guilt, trying to figure out the differences between their species. It was similar to her own, but there was a muscular-looking ridge just about—

  “It is kept inside until needed.” Ila handed the earrings over to Sanul, but kept niur eyes on Cygni’s. “I believe this is common to most mammals of your home
planet except for primates like yourself.”

  Giselle snorted, chuckling.

  “What?” Cygni blushed, snapping her gaze over to the lockers next to Ila. “I’m sorry, really. I was just curious. Your tattoos are beautiful.” She moved her eyes to stare at the floor between them.

  “There is nothing wrong with curiosity. My species is not as bashful as yours. If you want, I can educate you—ah, I am not sure if this is rude.” Ila trailed off.

  “Hey, this isn’t that kind of bath house,” Sanul said, drawing both of their attention. “If you wanted that we should have gone a few streets over.”

  “No, that’s okay. I guess we’re all naked enough for a bath now, right?” she said, trying to move them along.

  “Okay, yes. Let’s head over.” Sanul led the way through the large locker room to the far side where about a dozen arched tunnels lead deeper into the complex. The arches had the barbed script of Volgoth writing over them. She hugged her arms across her chest, feeling exposed before so many geode-like eyes—which accounted for the coolness on her skin since the air was so balmy she was sweating.

  “The pools are categorized by temperature, water-spice, and social status. That tunnel leads to the elite, korgoc-spiced hot pool, it’s not for us. That one leads to a mild, orkag-spiced pool for the middle-class. We might be accepted there,” Sanul explained.

  “Might be? You have to be of a certain class to get into some of these?” she asked.

  “It’s not much different than Solan country-clubs I guess, but you’ll see when we get there. Which do you want?”

  “Something warm,” Ila said.

  “Sounds good to me.” Giselle raised her thumb beside her hip.

  Cygni nodded.

  “Okay.”

  Sanul led them down a tunnel into a tiled, octagonal chamber with an arched ceiling. The entire room, save for a meter-wide path around its circumference, was occupied by a shallow pool with round pedestals spaced evenly beneath its surface. A damp haze hung in the air, turning everything in the room fuzzy in her vision. The clear water came up a little higher than waist-level on the male and female Volgoths already bathing. There were about twenty of them adorned with a myriad of jewelry, but the wide bath could easily hold three or four times that number. Four statues of Volgoths, two male and two female, held large pitchers which poured the steaming water feeding the huge pool. A glow-orb dangled more than two-meters over the water’s surface from a thick chain and cast a metallic shimmer across the rippling water with its golden light.