Chapter Ten #2
They followed her to the boardroom, and Diena clocked the recording devices, audio and visual. They took a seat, and she stated, “I have twenty minutes before I need to get out of here. I have shit to do.”
Jenaki snickered.
Zera paused and then smiled. “We want minerals.”
“Oh, the minerals of...”
“The Lorn Empire.”
Diena made a buzzer sound. “Incorrect. We are in the resurrection of the Khaskik Empire. Once it is safe, we will invite her people back, and we will thrive. We are missing a lot of men, though, so it is a good thing the surviving ladies are predatory. Once they find someone, they are going to seal the deal.”
Zera paused. “Would any of those ladies go through the BDC?”
“No. They are all on the predator side of things. A few of them are stuck with heat-scent on and no arousal to go with it. You can imagine how that ends up.”
Zera blinked. “How—”
“Maro. He thought women in perpetual heat would be good to have when dignitaries came to call.”
“Oh, no.”
“Oh. Yes. Whatever you are imagining, it was worse.”
Zera brought up a list of minerals. “These are the minerals we are looking for.”
Diena looked at them and cocked her head. “What are you offering?”
Zera smiled, and they began negotiating. Jenaki sat back and kept his hand on hers.
The negotiations took ten minutes, and Diena smiled. “I will consider this a handshake agreement.”
“Fair. I will draw up the contracts. What is the timeline for delivery?”
Diena opened her com to Syrella. “Hey, Rella. Can I give you another shopping list?”
Syrella grinned. “Of course. Who is this one going to?”
“Z-Corp.”
“Oh, so no deli containers. Fancy case it is.”
“What’s the ETA?”
“Two hours from when I get the list.”
“Coming through.” She sent the file.
“Oh. Easy. I have this in my stash. I will get back to you in ninety minutes. I stashed this behind Avik.”
Diena laughed. “Talk to you later.”
Zera was staring. “You have this available?”
“Yeah. But it is behind Avik, and no one wants to wake her up.”
Jenaki cleared his throat. “What is she?”
“Cranky,” Diena said blandly. “She is a female with alpha characteristics, is in perpetual heat like an omega, and manifests blades. Very irritated but fun at parties.”
Zera’s mouth opened in surprised. “What the actual fuck?”
“Oh, Maro was trying to build the perfect woman for his new empire. He did it with tethers, torture, and genetic alteration. If you start with female children who are from sturdy stock, you can do a lot. He was sharing the harvesting with Uradda.”
Zera froze. “Where did the girls come from?”
“Some were Uraddan, but so many more were from the Sethir-Nin. Like my mom, Alody. She was sold to the capitol, and worked there for years, and when they had me, they thought they could sell her to the empire, and she would disappear. She did for a while. He kept her in stasis until he could have a protocol designed to deal with her. She got loose, and he learned that my family is not to be messed with.”
She grinned. “This year, I finished the job, and now it is Khaskik again with the history and those statues of the empress everywhere. I think Maro just liked looking at nearly naked women.”
Zera blinked. “What do the marks mean?”
“Each one is representative of a type of active who is linked to the empire. She wears them on her skin. So, technically, you are coming by it honestly, so to speak.”
Zera blinked. “How do you know that?”
“One, when I said empress, Torun’s brain lit up with a very specific image. Two, I can see the power signatures moving on your skin, and three, your brain lit up with a very specific image.”
Zera blinked. “No one can read my mind.”
“Yeah, well, you can’t say that anymore. They don’t just make anyone a mostly naked empress.”
Jenaki snorted. “It is a specific distinction.”
Zera stared and looked at him. “You’re Khaskik?”
“Me and my community ran to Renovik. They offered us safety and an escape from Maro’s plans.
Some of our best and brightest remained behind to distract him, but the rest of our parents ran for the frozen country, and our people survived.
” He squeezed her hand. “Imagine my surprise when our empress walked into the clinic.”
Diena heard her com chirp, and she checked it. “The minerals are measured and arranged. Let me know when the contract and financing are in place. They have already been refined and are pure. That is also what Avik does.”
She smiled and got to her feet. “I am busy today unless you want to come by the new playpark. You can meet my little brother.”
Zera blinked. “You have the minerals after one call?”
“The tricky part was getting them past Avik. She can purify with her hands. It’s fun.” Diena checked her com. “Well, I have to go. I suppose you need my contact information.”
They swapped information, and Zera said, “I will come to you with the contract and transfer if that is easier for you.”
“I will be riding herd on three kids who are seven and eight. Easier is what I am hoping for, unless you want to wait until tomorrow.”
“No, I am eager to see the minerals tonight.”
“Great. Bring a witness to the handover. Not Torun. I have seen too much of that purple doofus.” She smiled brightly. “But he does look great in the bug zapper.”
Zera started laughing. “That confirms how close you are with Keska.”
“And Caska and Avagail and Nigel, of course.” Diena smiled. “Right, you have my contact information; let me know.”
She laughed and headed out of the office with Jenaki holding her hand. When they got into the elevator, he ran his fingers over the buttons, and she snorted. “Really?”
“Really. More time to hold you.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his mouth to her neck.
It was fun and a bit embarrassing when folks came in, saw the glowing elevator buttons, and some left, and some didn’t.
She leaned against him and threaded her fingers through his hair. They spent six minutes like that, and she sighed. “You need to get back to your patients.”
He sighed. “I know.”
“Let me know when you are off work. If Alody is done at the academy, we can go for dinner.”
“Ah, right. Ithal.”
“Yup. He is going to be safe. Children deserve to be safe.”
He lifted his head from her neck. “Yes, they do.”
They returned to his floor, and he sighed. “I will see you after I finish work.”
“Yes. You will.” She chuckled. “Are you going to move in?”
“I thought we should have at least one date before we check off that milestone.”
“Uh-huh.”
The elevator was pinging in distress.
He grinned. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“Yes. Now go. There are speculums to warm up.”
He laughed and let the doors close.
Diena tapped her com and summoned a transport. She turned in her visitor badge at security and signed out.
The transport was pulling up at the front doors, and she confirmed things before getting in. It whirred and headed for home.
With Alody’s agreement, Keska had possession of the kids, and Sorooth was helping. He was bemused at dealing with the boys but managing well. Kessie was her own specific brand of child.
Diena was in the boardroom, going through the endless paperwork that came with a highly insured fun facility.
Diena got a ping on her com and looked at it. “Hey, Ithal. How is the visit going?”
“Vaken got a bloody nose, so we have to wait for cleanup and medical assistance.”
Diena was already moving.
She used Ithal’s com to find them and walked up to Vaken with a smile. He grinned. “I forgot to duck.”
“May I fix it?”
He nodded. “I don’t want to freak my mom out.”
“That’s fine. But you need to tell her what happened. No hiding.”
He said, “You won’t get in trouble?”
“No. Your mom has a right to know. So does any other adult in your life.”
She touched his little hand and smiled. “How does that feel?”
He wrinkled his upper lip and wiggled his nose. “It feels good. Did you fix it?”
“I did. Now I am going to clean your shirt.”
She pursed her lips, and a column of glitter moved over his shirt and neck and chin, and the blood disappeared. He grinned. “Sparkles.”
“Yup. There. Now you are all in fighting form. Now, when the activity says twelve and up, it means twelve and up.”
He looked sheepish. “I thought I could do it.”
“Yes, well, in a few years, you might, but for now, your nose is right in line with one of the spinning blocks.”
“But it looks so fun.”
“Yes, but it is for people ten inches taller than you are.”
Vaken sighed. “I get that.”
“Good. Take a break. Have some snacks. Get Sorooth breathing again, and let Kessie pick dessert. She looks like she takes it seriously.”
Kessie grinned. “It was so cool. He went flying.”
Diena laughed. “I will check the surveillance. It should be interesting.”
Ithal looked at her and sighed. “I didn’t know he followed me in.”
“Oh. I see now. Well, you go have a break as well, and then you guys can try to beat the climbing wall.”
Ithal smiled. “Will you come with us?”
“Well, I suppose I deserve some kind of nugget.”
He grinned and took her hand. They walked to the food court, and the new nugget selection was available with dipping sauces. Ithal and Diena agreed that the spicy sauce was shocking but nice. The mustard dill sauce was the best.
Keska looked around. “We did good. This place is hopping, and it’s a weekday.”
“Yeah, well, we are going to need local school days off on a big ass calendar so that we don’t encourage truancy. I think if we shift our opening times from one to eight on weekdays and nine to eight on weekends, we should be good.” She took the nugget in spicy sauce that Ithal held up to her.
“Longer hours for summer break.” Keska nodded.
“Of course. Monthly passes?”
Diena cocked her head. “Numbered visit passes so one kid can bring friends on the same visit.”
Keska smiled. “Annual family passes.”
“Ah. Right. And school discounts for entire classes with moderate food vouchers.” Diena smiled. “The paintball range goes live on the weekend. The suits are in the staging area.”
Keska grinned. “Can I see them?”
“Of course.”
Vaken said, “Can we try the paintball range?”