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I dropped off food and drinks for Drytor and Atlon. As usual, neither of them paid attention. As always, it felt casual from Atlon and purposeful from Drytor.
“That’s the great thing about being Nazoks,” Drytor said. He set his glass down as he spoke. “The Vinduthi gangs and the Enforcers never even bother with us. They’re so worried about each other; they don’t even see us creeping up on them.”
Much like how you don’t even notice me serving you food,I thought, scurrying back toward the serving table.
“Are we creeping up on them?” asked Atlon. “I don’t wanna be grim or anything, but the average Vinduthi gang moves more creds in a day than we do in a week. Nothing wrong with that. But we’re about as close to overthrowing the Vinduthi gangs as they are to overthrowing the Federation.”
“You’re thinking like a Vinduthi again,” said Conii, smiling proudly.
“I’m just being realistic,” he replied.
“No, you’re thinking like a Vinduthi,” Conii repeated, gesturing with her glass. “The Vinduthi are soldiers. All strength and numbers. Who’s got more men? Who’s got more guns? More, more, more. We Nazoks are trickier than that.”
I set the last plate and glass in front of Tarrack.
“Thank you,” he whispered to me. He always said that when I served him, and it always felt good to be noticed, even if only for a moment.
I smiled and walked back around the table to the door. I would stand there for five minutes in case anyone wanted anything, and then I would have a short break until it was time to clear for dessert.
“But being tricky isn’t always enough when your enemy is still stronger than you are,” Atlon said.
“Hey, don’t bring down the party,” Drytor teased. He eyed Conii nervously. Fortunately, she was in good spirits that evening.
“That’s just what people who don’t know how to be tricky say,” she said. “The key is to use your enemies against each other. For instance, take Havek, that inventor the Vinduthi always brag about. I didn’t have the strength to take him down, but the enforcers did. So I planted a little evidence, and now he’s in Deathgate prison, a barren little rock that no one escapes from.”
“Let’s be careful,” said Tarrack, glancing quickly at me. “There are humans present.”
Conii laughed then looked at me and smiled a sickly smile. “Don’t worry. My property knows when to keep its mouth closed. I give them dignity and decency, unlike the rest of their kind on this station. And in return, they keep their mouths shut, their eyes closed, and their hands to themselves.”
I didn’t say anything. I just stood as still as I could, waiting for the attention of the group to pass away from me.
“Take that one over there,” Conii continued. “Her name is Emma or Emmus or one of those silly sounding human names. I bought her. She serves me quite faithfully. And in return, I give her freedom to roam about Thodos III to do my bidding. Is she dumb? Not any more so than the rest of her kind. But she’s earnest and she’s too stupid to take any action against me. If she ever did though, she knows that even if I didn’t kill her, she’d never have a good setup as the one I provide. She’d be back with her kind outside my protection living in filth with the rest of her miserable race.”
I was lucky if she just wanted to make a mean comment about me. I’d seen her do much worse to the other beings who worked for her. Besides, she wasn’t wrong. Working for Conii, I was given more freedom to come and go and have my own space than if I worked at any number of places on the station. Men weren’t buying slots of my time to grope me or fuck me. I didn’t have to sell my body for my supper.
There were some who would kill to have what I did.
I was perfectly aware of it.
Conii turned her attention back to her friends, and they went with her. “As I was saying. It’s not about how powerful you are. It’s about knowing what to do with that power.”
For the next few minutes, I did my best to ignore their conversation and focused on being still. Conii’s anger would often reignite suddenly just when I thought she calmed down. When five minutes ended and I silently exited the dining room, I breathed a sigh of relief.
As I walked back to my quarters, an idea formed in my head.
I knew that Conii was a criminal for a long time. But most of the things I heard about were vague. Even when they weren’t vague, they were complicated and filtered through so many subordinates, it would have been impossible to prove them.
Even if I could prove them, they were the kinds of crimes that no one would want to get involved in: the things the Enforcers turned a blind eye to because as long as someone was going to do it, they might as well know who.
But framing a Vinduthi gang member was different. That was specific. She did that personally. There would have been records of it, and if someone could prove it, the Enforcers would have to take it seriously. The Vinduthi wouldn’t let them just ignore it.
Ifsomeone could prove it.
I pulled my copy ofThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmesout from under my bed. At that moment, it all felt so obvious. Somewhere out there were the clues to solve a mystery. And there I was. Emma Rochester.
“Emma Rochester, consulting detective.”
The words sounded perfect rolling off my tongue.
