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I toss a few credits down and pick up my basket of fried leaves. They’re disgustingly greasy and immediately turn my stomach, so I pour my share into Bethiah’s container. “Not hungry.”
“You ate too much before we got here.” Her mouth curls with amusement and she tilts her head, regarding me. “Too much pussy can ruin your appetite.”
“Never.” I gesture at the station elevator across the way. “Shall we go up?”
“After you.” She slides closer to me, her tail remaining twined with mine, and snarls at anyone that tries to get too close to us. In between bites of her food, of course.
The elevator is empty when we get on, and I hit the button for the 342nd floor, and then hold my wrist up to the panel to let the guild chip I have implanted override the instructions. We zoom up through the station, and Bethiah polishes off her leaves, tossing the container onto the floor.
With an annoyed look, I pick it up. “Don’t be a child.”
“What, am I ruining the beauty of the place?” She spreads her arms wide, gesturing at the ugly, oppressive station around us.
She’s not wrong—Haal Ui is run-down even for station standards. It’s one of the older artificial environments built, and in a central location, which means it’s easy to get to and therefore crowded. It also hosts a fair number of pirates and escaped criminals from the nearby Haven II prison colony, which is another reason why I wanted Dora to stay behind. Even so…it costs nothing to be tidy.
I hold the trash out to Bethiah. “Be thoughtful in your actions. That’s all I’m asking.”
“Now you sound like Dora,” she tells me, her tail untwining with mine the moment the doors open. “Next you’ll be telling me that I’m mean and I hurt your feelings.”
“You are mean,” I point out as we step off the elevator and into the guild headquarters. “But I’ve always known that. Doesn’t mean I don’t like it.” I drop the trash in her hand when she doesn’t reach for it. “And it also doesn’t mean you get to be a slob. Just because this isn’t your home doesn’t mean it’s not someone else’s.”
“Bossy,” is all Bethiah says, but she’s grinning.
Seventy-Five
BETHIAH
It’s been a few months since I’ve been back at the Haal Ui headquarters, but it truly feels like a lifetime ago. Maybe that’s why it feels so strange to walk in and no one glances up. No heads turn when Jamef and I arrive together. Meanwhile, I feel as if I’ve been remade from the ground up, and everyone should notice that Bethiah, the universe’s quirkiest bounty hunter, has settled down with a mate. Two, even.
But that’s the thing with bounty hunters. They don’t give a kef about your personal life. They just want to do their jobs and collect their credits.
Jamef brushes a hand over my back, his tail detangling from my (admittedly) possessive one. He crosses the room, heading for one of the credit kiosks to enter in his credentials and get his payment. He’s all business, that one, and I suspect it’s because he doesn’t want to leave Dora alone for any longer than we have to. I don’t want to either, but it might be good for her to sweat over us a little. She needs to be a little fiercer, a little more independent.
A szzt male bustles past me with an ooli in a shock collar, his hands cuffed behind his back. He gives me a cross look for standing in his way, heading on towards the holding cells. Right. I’m gawking like it’s my first bounty. The sooner I get over myself, the sooner I can get down to work.
I approach the desk instead of heading for one of the multiple database kiosks established around the room. I could log in and check my open bounties, do a little searching myself, but I’m in a chatty sort of mood. I beam at the older mesakkah female behind the counter, who gives me a wary look, her hand going to her blaster. She eyes me with suspicion. “There a problem here, Bethiah?”
“No problems,” I say cheerfully. “Just got on station after a long break and wondering how business is going.”
She grunts as I lean on the counter, relaxing. “Business is business. You looking for something specific?”
Am I? I think about Dora, and Jamef, and drum my fingers on the counter. “I guess…I’m looking for an easy score. Nothing dangerous or life-threatening.”
“Something for infants. Got it.” She pulls up her data-pad and skims through the listings.
I grit my teeth at the humiliation. This is just temporary, I remind myself. We don’t have to do the easy jobs forever. It’s just until we get used to working as a team. I think of Dora, and her big dark eyes, and how upset she’d be if someone got shot or stabbed on our first outing. “Just something low on the danger scale and pays preferably well. Even if it takes a long time.” Some more relaxing jobs are passed over for trickier, quicker work. I know I’d rather spend one day hunting down an escaped convict than seventeen standing guard over an abandoned ship, especially if they pay the same.
