Fourteen #3
He raises his deep-set brown eyes back to hers.
“You could say those two freels last night were nothing but cowards. But maybe it wasn’t their time yet.
Maybe they’ve still got something to live for.
” Kob wipes up a bit of leftover egg yolk with a forefinger and puts it in his mouth, licking up the last bit of the treat.
“I have some things I want to do that no one is going to pay me for. After that, I’ll reconsider.
I’ve got another fourteen months of grace.
Until then, the Company’s just going to have to deal with me sticking around.
I’ve saved it so many resources over the years that I’m entitled to waste some. ”
“You have time to figure things out.” After the two-year grace period, his life will be forfeit, but until then, he’s relatively safe.
Most freelancers face diminishing chances of employment as time goes on, but Rain Kob is no ordinary freelancer.
Unlike her, his last contract was a resounding success, not a public defeat.
Even now, he could probably land a contract if he wanted to.
“A lot can change in fourteen months. You could still find the right contract or client.”
“Maybe,” Kob concedes. “So what about you? How’d you end up here?”
Isako sighs wearily. “Greves transferred my contract to Director Minto. I only found out after he went into the Vastness. Minto already has an atier and I refused to bid for the position, so I asked to resign. The problem is that she worked out some backdoor deal with the Agency and won’t grant me permission until after I carry out one last secret assignment for her. ”
“And after that, you’ll take the final walk?”
“It’s as good a time as any.” A better time, admittedly, would’ve been with Greves and the rest of the Astrocom members, but she’s stuck with the arrangement she has.
“What about Maya?”
“She’s nineteen now, Kob.”
“Nineteen?” He blinks in disbelief. “That much time really has passed, huh? I still think of her as a cute little kid.”
Isako smiles at his astonishment. “She’s got a boyfriend and a promising career and plenty of support from the kith. And from Tai. She’ll be fine, and the bonus I leave behind will help her a lot as she’s starting out.”
“Have you told her?”
The smile falls off Isako’s face. “Not yet.” Remembering the awkward stoppage in her throat as she watched her daughter walk away makes her shrink. “I will, though. After this is all done.”
Kob regards her for a long minute. “You’re the best atier I’ve ever worked with, Isa. If anyone deserves a nameplace, it’s you.”
An ache starts up in her chest. She realizes she needed someone to say those words, to offer that acknowledgment.
She hasn’t spoken to anyone else about her decision.
Over the last few days, she’s been carrying a weight she wasn’t aware of.
The lifting of it makes her eyes sting with the threat of tears.
She misses having a friend she could talk to, a fellow atier who understands the edge life.
“Thanks.” She clears her throat. “We had some great moments, didn’t we?”
“We did.” Kob takes their plates and utensils and loads them into the sanitizer, speaking to her over his shoulder. “So what’s this assignment?”
Isako opens her mouth to answer, but hesitates.
How much can she divulge to the man who was once her closest colleague but is now badgeless?
He’s not beholden to any client, so his motives are unavoidably suspect.
If she reveals her mission, he could sell the information to anyone, potentially damaging her client and dooming her to failure.
If Kob is hired by another client in the near future, his loyalties will shift, potentially against her.
From a client-service perspective, the wise thing to do is to thank Rain Kob for allowing her to spend a night on his sofa and for the delicious breakfast, and to call a car back to her hotel.
Realizing her predicament at the same time she does, Kob backtracks. “Sorry, didn’t mean to put you on the spot. You don’t have to answer me.”
Kob saved her life last night, or close to it.
Seeing his figure emerging from the door of the club was a moment of shock and sheer relief she hasn’t felt in a long time—knowing that she has a friend backing her.
She wants to trust Kob. If he does betray her, at least that is a fate she won’t stick around to face for long.
“Director Minto wants to stop Sandbar Uchi from being confirmed to the Board of Directors.” She fills Kob in on her visit to the Agency, her research on Uchi thus far, and her attempt to contact her former apprentice—before learning of his fate.
Kob leans heavily against the counter. “Dragonfly Martim’s dead ?”
“You knew him?”
“We crossed paths once.” He shakes his head, slowly and disbelievingly. “He was a bright kid, lots of potential. And he was your apprentice, too. Fuck, that’s awful.”
“We’ve both seen atiers go sooner than they should’ve.
But why wouldn’t an announcement have been made?
Why wasn’t the Agency notified? I can understand a delay of a few days or even a week, but a whole month?
” The disregard with which Martim is being treated in death is a betrayal that Isako finds nearly impossible to swallow.
“That’s why I was at the Epic Vibe last night.
I found a coaster in Martim’s apartment, with Vincent’s name on it.
Turns out Martim was visiting him to buy drugs.
But also, information. Sandbar Uchi had his atier cleaning up after the Field 93 disaster. ”
Kob’s gaze is fixed and intense. “You think that might’ve gotten him killed?”
“That’s what Vincent thought, though he didn’t have anything concrete to go on.
If there’s a connection, then investigating Martim’s death might uncover evidence my client can use against Uchi.
I tried to squeeze Vincent for other contacts in SoCon GasPro, but he took off, and you saw how the rest of it went. ”
Kob snorts. “Vincent’s been breaking policy for long enough and has sold out enough people along the way that he probably figured you were sent to finally term him for good. You won’t see him around the club anymore. He’ll disappear for a while and set up shop elsewhere.”
“Great.” She’s still furious at herself for carelessly letting the man slip away.
“Forget about Vincent.” Kob wipes his hands on a kitchen towel. Without looking at her, he says, slowly, “I know where to find someone you should talk to instead.”
“Who?”
“One of the survivors of Field 93.” Kob pauses. “Make that the only survivor.”