AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Who did very much interest her.
She glanced at Avalar again. “So what is his deal, anyway?” she asked.
Avalar looked confused. If she was acting, Quaia thought, she was doing a damn good job of it. “His… deal?” She frowned, then touched her head, much like Torian had. “Ah. Forgive me, I am not very competent in your tongue—”
“I can’t understand or speak a word of Voklish,” Quaia said helpfully. And then, because Avalar seemed so genuinely sorry about her skills, she added, “I’m also crap at just about every language I try to learn.”
Avalar smiled. “You are very generous.”
Quaia ate some more of the meat, which was actually turning out to be good. “I just meant by that,” she said, chewing, “you know, what’s his…” Her voice trailed off. What was it she had really been asking? She grew a little heated at the back of her neck when it occurred to her that what she really wanted to know was so silly it was laughable: what was he like? Married? Promised to someone? Actually an evil bastard?
Who knew what was going to get back to Torian about what she’d said?
“Ah. Deal,” Avalar said kindly, when Quaia didn’t finish. “Yes. He has a deal with the Imperator to serve as a… reformer… of these practices, as a punishment for his actions in the Ga’alali Wars.”
Quaia smiled, hoping Avalar would take this to mean that this was the kind of ‘deal’ she’d been asking about. “Thanks. That, uh… clears it up.”
“And you? What is your deal?” Avalar asked.
Quaia didn’t have the heart to explain the linguistic confusion to her. “My deal is, I have to finish this,” Quaia waved around at her room, “To get the hell out of here.”
She plucked up one of the root vegetables, sniffed it, then thought better of trying to taste it. She deposited it back into the tray.
“Oh,” Avalar said. “Are you planning on departing the station?” she asked.
Quaia laughed. “Oh, yeah,” she replied, smug. “Once I’m finished with my training,” she said, her voice dripping with contempt. “I’m getting as fucking far away from here as possible.”
Avalar flashed an uncomfortable smile and looked off to the side.
The look made Quaia realize Avalar’s sensibilities were obviously a little more delicate than hers. Who even knew why she’d been sent here? She probably had a worse ‘deal’ than anyone. “I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “Sometimes I get a little salty. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”
Avalar waved off the apology. “You are unhappy here?” she asked.
Quaia wondered how much more she should divulge. Anything she said would probably get back to Torian. But did it matter? Soon he’d be gone, off to train some fresh innocent. And she’d be sailing through the deep black with all of this far behind her. “I like being master of my own destiny,” she said.
“And you are not? On the station?” Avalar asked.
“I’m a grunt on the station. Disposable. This whole… situation,” she said, waving a hand in the air, “is nothing more than entertainment for the high-borns. They don’t give a shi… a care about what happens to me. They won’t give a care about me leaving, either. It’s why High Mother was so pissed when she didn’t get her trumpets and clowns for this parade.”
“High Mother?” Avalar asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
Quaia realized Avalar probably had no idea what she meant. She seemed way too genuine to be acting, or actively spying on her. “You know what? Don’t worry about it. It’s just local drama and politics and stuff.”
Avalar gave a thoughtful nod. “And so where will you go?” she asked.
Quaia’s eyes and smile lit up at the thought of what her new life might be like. “Venefer,” she replied in a whisper.
Avalar looked equally puzzled by the answer.
“Tiny little rock,” she went on. “Two systems beneath us on Z-vector. Mostly ocean, with a few archipelagos. It’s warm. They have a nice big star for a sun. An actual planet. With a surface. And real gravity, not that fake electromag shi… stuff that keeps our feet on the steel here. Sorry,” she muttered.
Avalar smiled again and shook her head. “I am not easily offended.” She paused for a moment. The silence got awkward between them. “And so, what will you do there?” she asked.
Quaia glanced at her and wondered if she should reveal any more of her plans. What harm could there be, though? “The place is pretty out of the way. There’s a shortage of pilots to do supply runs when the big freighters come in hauling essentials. The pay’s supposed to be great,” she said.
Avalar’s smile widened. “Ah, yes. Captain Torian mentioned that you were a pilot. It’s… a dangerous profession for a woman, wouldn’t you say?” she asked.
Quaia shrugged, though her thoughts clouded at the mention of Torian, along with her mood. “I stick to the easy stuff,” she said.
