10. Chapter 10
Mika
Except for being at the low end of the weight range for her age, the healers declared Nadia healthy. Slorium wanted Mazorium to send regular updates, as they would be the closest Talin outpost to the planet he was surveying.
According to Mazorium, this station was over ten days of travel from where we were going.
A twenty-day round trip was a lot of precious time to spend on caring for a “pet.” That’s why I was a little shocked at how forceful Slorium was when she told Mazorium he had to bring us back for checkups at least “once every solar.”
“It will be difficult, but I’m sure I can work that into my schedule,” he agreed, and without a single argument!
They talked a little longer about future checkups and human health.
When Slorium asked that Mazorium include vid captures of Nadia when she started crawling and walking, I got the feeling it wasn’t all about monitoring her developmental milestones.
Especially when she said it would be perfectly acceptable for Mazorium to set up a vid capture to record Naida’s entire day and send the captures in monthly data packets.
These guys were obsessed with us!
Ithorum was waiting for us outside the medical bay when Slorium and the other healers were finally done.
The first words out of her mouth were a question. “Did you receive an invitation from the station director?”
Mazorium sounded a rumble of agreement. “We’re scheduled to join her for a meal in three marks. Until then, I’d like to do some shopping for my humans.”
Ithorum didn’t move right away. “I’ll be joining you for the meal.”
“I’m aware,” Mazorium said.
Ithorum continued to hesitate, then pointed. “Let’s walk this way. It might not be the most direct way to merchants' row, but it goes by the hanging garden. I believe your human will enjoy it.”
I recognized her ploy for privacy, and so did Mazorium. He didn’t even look at me before agreeing with Ithorum.
While we’d been in the medical bay, one of the healers had rushed to a tailor machine and had a baby sling manufactured for me.
All I’d done was make a joke about how carrying Nadia everywhere was building up my arm muscles, but they took it as a veiled cry for help.
Now she was snuggled against my chest, and her weight was distributed between a belt around my waist and two straps running over my shoulders.
I remember my mom using something similar, but I forgot about it until they presented the contraption.
I was thrilled the moment I figured out what it was. With it, walking with Mazorium and Ithorum was easy, and I still got to keep Nadia close. Despite how much easier it was for me to walk now, Ithorum kept the same slow pace as before.
Except for Ithorum constantly making sure I wasn’t struggling with our sluggish pace, we walked in silence.
I didn’t mind; I cast my eyes around and took in the details of the well-made and efficiently run Talin station.
I’d spend my entire adult life living and working on stations and ships, but I’d never been on one as nice as this.
Then we turned a corner and I gasped. We’d entered an open space filled with bright colors and the scent of damp soil.
Calling it a hanging garden was apt because not only were most of the plants in suspended pots, but others were crawling up trellises all over the place.
Most of the plants were flowering and filled the air with a variety of sweet smells.
As we got to the center, I was astonished to find that there were small insects flitting from flower to flower.
I’d never been on a station that deliberately kept insects on board. It was astonishing and a testament to the Talins’ skills that they weren’t concerned that the bugs would migrate to less desirable areas, like biosystem ducts.
I know Ithorum suggested it for privacy, but I was grateful to her because Mazorium might not have thought to show me this. I moved to one of the plants growing all the way up the three floors of the garden and put my nose to a neon pink bloom, only to have a bug fly out at me.
Laughing, I waved a hand and moved back. Right, I’d forgotten about how insects liked to treat human noses like flowers. It’d been a long time since I’d encountered one in person.
“Your human finds the plants amusing,” Ithorum said. As before, a crowd was gathering on the open walkways above us. I couldn’t hear any of them, probably an effect of the architecture in this area.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” I admitted, moving to another planter to get a closer look at the orange and green needle-like leaves.
Ithorum made a rumbling sound I knew had to be pity or something close. I ignored her and focused on the plants. The two Talins followed me, and once we were near the center, Ithorum spoke to Mazorium.
“You might not be aware that the section director invited the sub-director, chief of outer-technology, interim chief of inner-technology, and senior staff coordinator to the meal.”
Ithorum’s declaration didn’t mean anything to me, which wasn’t surprising. But apparently Mazorium didn’t get it either.
He sounded a questioning rumble. “I don’t see the significance of this information.”
“They all share the family name Rilk.”
That had to be a big deal because Mazorium sounded a rattle of surprise. “How is that possible? There are laws against that kind of nepotism.”
“They own it, so it’s not illegal," Ithorum said, then looked at me. “Don’t be concerned about quality. It was built by the Uriam Clan. They do excellent work.”
“I knew who built it; that’s why I was startled to find out the Rilk family owns it. I thought the Uriam clan always kept a stake in the stations they built.”
“Usually, but not this time,” Ithorum said. “Now you can understand why I needed to warn you.”
“Our stay here could be problematic,” Mazorium agreed.
Those words made me turn back and join them. “Why?”
Ithorum purred. “Do not concern yourself. Your owner and I will see to it.”
That didn’t answer my question, so I looked at Mazorium. “Maz, what’s going on? Why is it a big deal that the people in high positions here are in the same family that owns the station?”
He paused, as if debating telling me, then spoke. “It means they’re powerful. Inevitably, they’re going to make an offer for you and Nadia. It’s going to be hard to refuse.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Because it’ll be a lot of wealth?”
He sounded a negative rumble. “Wealth and connections.”
Real fear ran through me. “You said you’d never sell me.”
“I did promise and I won’t,” he said. “They will try, but I will resist their efforts. The worst that could happen is that our departure will be delayed. They can threaten me with inspectors, but my ship and conduct are above reproach. They’ll find nothing they can use against me.”
“They might not act entirely honorably to achieve what they desire,” Ithorum warned him.
She gestured to the hanging gardens around us.
“The biosystems chief didn’t want this to be so big.
He said the station was only set up to deal with a garden half this size.
The Rilk family was able to override him.
Now we constantly deal with biosystem issues, and yet we still pass each inspection every solar, even though the biosystems chief always expects us to fail. ”
“A station inspector has a duty to everyone who lives and works on these stations,” Mazorium said. “I’m sure they’re using their best judgment when inspecting this place.”
There was nothing else Mazorium could’ve said that would prove his naivety as well as that statement and the absolute and honest faith he had in his empire's government.
I had to face it, I was owned by an idealist!
“We’re in deep trouble,” I muttered.
Mazorium sounded a rumble of amusement, “There is no problem here. We are within the Talin Empire, where logic, honor, and duty will decide outcomes.”
When Ithorum sounded her pitying rumble, I knew it was for Mazorium this time and not me.
Merchant row was no less impressive seeing it a second time. As with the hanging garden, this area was several stories high and full of shops jam-packed with items.
Normally, there was only a small area for merchants on the stations I’d been to, and inevitably, it was next to the food shops and gambling.
It was never clean or well lit, and it rarely had what you were looking for.
I’d become a master at figuring out how I could make do with whatever was available.
It struck me again how rich this species was.
Merchants here could stock everything because they expected customers with the means to buy it.
The way it worked at most stations was, if you needed something, you paid the shopkeeper far more than the item was worth, they ordered it, and you got it eventually.
After a quick look around, Mazorium pointed to a second-level shop. “That’s the one we should go to first. I contacted them on our way here. They assured me they had almost all the items in stock. They’re expecting us.”
Ithorum gave a rumble of agreement and led us to the lift. Everyone was keeping their distance, but I could hear their muted talking. When we got to the lift, there was a definite negative charge to their words. I was getting a little nervous until Mazorium picked me up to carry me onto the lift.
The tone changed, and there were even some approving rattles. Apparently, I couldn’t be trusted to ride an open-sided lift by myself!
Chuckling, I patiently waited for Mazorium to step off and set me down. I checked on Nadia to find she was still sound asleep. She was a tired baby after all the time and interactions in the medical bay.
“She looks so peaceful,” Ithorum said, looking at her over my shoulder.
“This is one side of a human baby,” I said. “The other part is sometimes very fussy.”
“She’s perfect. I’m sure she’s never fussy,” Ithorum argued, eyes still on Nadia.