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She’s not wrong, and there’s a lot to be done still on the ship. So I kiss her, kiss the glass since I can’t kiss Jamef, and head out.
Simone is sitting in the living area alone, hemming one of Dora’s tunics so it fits in the bust. I hate that Dora’s sharing more of her stuff because she doesn’t have much as it is, but neither of them wanted Rhonda’s things. They’re too overwrought and ridiculous for everyday wear. Simone looks up from her project when I appear in the hall, her expression expectant. Well, kef. “Um, everything okay?” I gesture at the room. “You know, here? Do you need anything?”
“I can look after myself,” Simone says, and I’m relieved. Good, because if I have to babysit someone at this point I might lose my keffing mind. “Is there anything I can do to help out? Can I cook? Clean?”
I recognize the desperate-to-please look on her face. Dora’s worn the same look before. It’s the look of someone who has everything to lose and nothing to bargain with. “I’m fine. You might make Dora something to eat later, but I need to go handle the bridge.” I need to check to see if we’re being tailed, if our location has been determined, if our fuel cells are holding up, if Jerrok’s responded to the encoded message I sent his way… “But thanks for volunteering.”
She continues to watch me with that wary expression.
“We’ve had a bit of a…hiccup in our plans. We’re still going to Risda, but we need to make a pit stop to visit someone first.”
Simone nods but doesn’t return to her sewing. “What about Rhonda? Should I check in on her? Has she been fed?”
Ugh. I just realized that we haven’t exactly been taking care of Rhonda in all the chaos with Jamef’s injury. For all Rhonda knows, we’re still looking for her master. She’s unaware that everything has changed, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be upset to hear that Lord Nerit wanted her taken out. “Why don’t you make some noodles to take to her in about an hour? I’ll go break the news that Nerit’s a creep. It’ll give her time to have a good cry and then fix her makeup.”
“I can do that,” Simone says, getting to her feet and moving past me, heading for the mess quarters. I watch her leave, and then, oh-so-reluctantly, turn and head for the holding cells. Even though Rhonda is one of my least favorite people in the universe, she deserves to hear the bad news. Might as well get it over with.
The moment I turn down the hall, Rhonda raps on the door frantically. “Let me out! I know you’re there, Bethiah! Let me out of here!”
I put on my best swagger and saunter over to the door. “Let you out? Are you going to behave?”
She makes an outraged sound, her voice hollow through the metal of the door. “I don’t know why I’m locked up in here in the first place! I haven’t done anything wrong!”
Count on Rhonda to forget about all of her transgressions. I flick open the food slot and peer at her through it. “You haven’t? What about the listening devices? I’m still finding them all over the place.”
She forms a pout, bending down to meet me face to face. “You know that’s just me looking out for me. Can you blame me? No one in this universe is fair to a human woman alone.”
Kef, she is way too good at eliciting sympathy. I have to remind myself that she might play the victim, but she’s absolutely willing to get rid of someone she perceives as competition. “I’m not letting you out just yet. I’m not sure that you can play well with others.”
Rhonda makes an indignant sound. “You know I can! I shall be on my best behavior if you free me. You can count on it.”
Oh, I’m sure. I ignore the sunny smile she sends in my direction. “I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?”
She hesitates, worry moving over her fine features. “There’s bad news? Is Nerit all right?”
“That’s the good news, I’m afraid. The bad news is that he doesn’t want you back.”
Rhonda relaxes. She rolls her eyes and adjusts her wrinkled dress. “He always says things like that, but the moment I show up again, he remembers he loves me. I just need to remind him of our bond sometimes. If you can take me to him, it’ll be fine.”
I shake my head. “You don’t get it, Rhonda. He wasn’t planning on coming back to pick you up. He left you there in the hopes that you’d become someone else’s problem.”
“But…but he left his ship! Isn’t that what you said?”
“False flag. Doesn’t have anything to do with you and him, I imagine. He had a new toy with him.” I don’t mention that we stole that toy. “He said you sold his last human out from under him. I think he’s holding a grudge for that.”
