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I finally caught up with her at the top of the shaft. She leaned against the wall at the upper entrance of the service tunnel. “My shop’s just across there,” she hissed, nodding her head toward the left.
“Wait here,” I said, inching my way out into the corridor.
To my relief, she did as I commanded.
Both Lutram and I pulled our lazguns, but the corridor was deserted. I clearly saw the hole the perpetrators cut in the front of the shop. I didn’t have a clue how they got past the alarms. It shouldn’t have been possible.
I inched my way over to the hole, lazgun at the ready. It was carnage inside the little shop. The floor was strewn with crushed blossoms, the overpowering scent from them making me feel giddy.
With caution, I stepped through the hole the thieves made. There didn’t appear to be anyone around. My breath came easier.
“Celestia, help me,” came Elara’s voice from behind me.
“Shit, Elara,” I said. “I told you to hang back!”
“And I told you it’s my damn shop!” she retorted hotly and stepped through the hole. “They’ve trashed the place, the cock-fungi.”
This human woman would be the death of me. I shook my head ruefully. Well, the place looked deserted at least. It didn’t appear to be a trap.
“Do you think they got it?” I asked. I cursed myself for not putting more men on guard. My priority was Elara. The flower was of secondary concern but obviously, it had more value than I realized.
“I don’t know. Let’s have a look, shall we?” she replied.
She went over to the counter and pressed a hidden button. The counter slid sideways, crushing petals beneath it as it went. Below it was a glass panel. She pressed her hand flat against it, and that, too, slid aside. The chamber below held the strange blossom in a stasis beam. It radiated a subtle iridescence in the dark chamber where it lay, lighting Elara’s face with a sickly green hue.
Something about the thing, for all its beauty, made my skin crawl.
“I heard from one of the neighbors that the shop used to belong to a jeweler before Alkard bought it,” said Elara. “The Uune left the safe when they refitted it. I didn’t think I’d ever have a use for it until now.” She closed the aperture again, and the counter slid back into place.
Several of my men arrived and hung out in the passageway outside the shop. “We need to work out who’s behind this,” I told them. “I want the whole shop scoured for clues. Comm me what you find.”
“Yes, boss,” said Lutram.
“Come on, Elara. Let’s go get a trishem while the boys check this over,” I said wearily. I needed another strong cup of the energizer. It looked like it would be a long night.
To my relief, she didn’t fight me on it. “Sounds good to me,” she said. “There’s a great café around the corner.”
A few Darguns gathered outside the florist shop. They craned around one another to peer through the gaping hole in the shop’s front entrance. “Go home, guys,” I said. “Show’s over.”
“We saw ‘em runned orf,” said the female with the usual Dargun drawl. She was short for the average Dargun and the usual underbite was not so pronounced.Maybe a half-breed, I thought. “Me and me boyz ‘ere saw ‘em. They went that way.” She pointed a stubby finger away down the corridor.
“What did they look like?” I demanded.
“Dunno,” she said. “Theyz all ad marsks on.” She sucked through her tusks. “They’uz small doh, like herz size.” She nodded at Elara.
“Humans?” I asked. It was Jocelyn, I was sure of it.
“Praps, praps,” said the Dargun woman. “Couldn’t beez sure. Coulda’ been humanz coulda been Segoudunz, coulda’ been Ashvarians. All wid marsks, like I sez.”
“Lutram,” I called through the hole in the wall. “Get here and question these Darguns. They saw the guys fleeing. And give ‘em ten credits apiece for their help,” I added, hoping the money would jog their memories.
The assembled Darguns looked a lot more keen after I mentioned money. Their large pointy ears wagged with pleasure. “Thank you,” I said to them. “My friend, Lutrum, will sort you out. Now, come on, let’s get that trishem,” I said to Elara.
It was a ploy to get her away from the florist shop. I still wasn’t convinced there wouldn’t be some follow-up trouble. The thieves obviously left empty-handed. They could come back mob-handed to finish the job.
The café was a themed Mondion joint, the walls designed to look like a crystal cave labyrinth. “This is the best booth,” said Elara, dragging me into a softly lit purple geode. The lighting shone through the crystal walls, casting the table with a mauve light.
She swiped her hand across the glass top of the table, producing the holographic image of a green-scaled Mondion. “Two trishems and two firgratas. Please, Egrium,” she said.
