Chapter 4
Four
Holly shifted her bag on her shoulder in an effort to hide her relief. Finally, someone to fill her in, and this woman appeared to know what she was about. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Morv. I was getting worried that no one was here. Where is everyone?”
Alyce let out a short laugh. “There isn’t an ‘everyone.’ Just a handful of hangers-on who have nowhere else to go. And call me Alyce.”
“Oh. Okay.” She blinked. “I thought there were thirty-six residents.”
Alyce gave her a wry grin. “Did you? Well, they have somewhere to be, I suppose. Come on, then. Let me show you to your place.”
She, or rather, her dog, led Holly to a door to the left of the lobby.
The beagle appeared very interested in that door and strained at the leash.
He pressed his nose to the seam as Alyce caught up.
“This is your residential unit,” she said to Holly.
“Luv and I did our best to clean it up, but you’ll have to go to The Emporium yourself if you want to spruce up the decor. ”
Before Holly could ask who Luv was, Alyce took Holly’s hand and placed it against a cracked pad mounted on the wall to the right of the door.
Holly swallowed a gasp at Alyce’s strong grip, but the other woman just grunted.
“Like this, now. Hold your hand here a moment.” The pad flickered, buzzed, and the door unlocked with an audible click.
Holly stared at it, then at the woman with her.
She could not believe how out-of-date this place was.
Homes used an individual’s unique energy signature to unlock these days.
Body parts hadn’t been used for security since well before she was born.
She was fairly certain she had seen this model of palm reader in a museum once.
Alyce pushed the door open and the beagle burst inside with glee. The woman crouched down and unclipped the dog, who instantly set his nose to the floor and began systematically sniffing the room.
Holly raised her brows and followed inside. “Your dog seems at home. Did he—?”
“Oh, he’s not mine,” Alyce said, hanging the leash on a hook beside the door. “He’s yours. Bean comes with the living unit.”
“What?” Holly shook her head. “No, Alyce. I can’t have a dog.”
Alyce let out another bark of a laugh. “Oh, yes, you can. He’s not much trouble.”
Panic spiked as she glanced at the dog who was busy sniffing every inch of the floor. “I’ve never owned a pet.”
Alyce put her hands on her ample hips. “Didn’t anyone tell you that Bean was part of the package before you arrived?”
“No!” She held out her hands. “Look, I don’t know how to care for a dog. The most I can manage is houseplants. Please—”
“Sorry, but I took care of him as long as I could.” Alyce gave a quick shake of her head. “This is his home. Bean isn’t happy anywhere else.”
“I can’t believe Charles had a dog.” Holly’s mental image of her grandfather did not include caring for an animal. Successfully.
“Charles took good care of him. He walked Bean twice daily. Those were the only times he left this unit.” Alyce tilted her head toward the beagle, who had completed his sniffing assessment and leaped onto the couch.
He let out a happy grunt, flopped down, and let out a squeaky fart. “He’s not a bad dog, Ms. Greene-Moone.”
“Call me Holly,” Holly said absently, staring at her new, furry roommate. Since she was not someone who would abandon an animal, what else could she do?
“Holly,” Alyce repeated with a nod. “Don’t feed him anything other than his dog food, and keep him on the leash when you take him out, unless you want to spend the rest of your day scouring the station looking for him.
Once he finds a scent, poof.” She gestured sharply in the direction of the forest. “I’m sure you two will get on just fine.
He has opinions, but he’s devoted to his person. ”
Holly was not sure she’d “get on just fine” with Bean, or whether she even wanted to be his person.
And what would she do with him if, after three months, she decided to return to Sol-Arc Industries?
Perhaps her parents could take him. No pets were allowed in her living unit in Nova. Houseplants were tolerated.
“We removed Charles’ clothing and such, but kept items that might be keepsakes.
They're stored in the closet,” Alyce went on, as the matter of Bean was settled.
“You can go through them any time you wish. We took the liberty of replacing Charles’ old bed and getting some fresh bedding.
The cost was charged to your account. You may exchange it at The Emporium if it doesn’t suit. ”
“I appreciate that. Thank you…” Holly trailed off as she took in the apartment that had been Charles Moone’s, and was now hers.
It was, by far, the most depressing space she had ever seen, and that was saying something, considering the sterile, austere cubes of Sol-Arc’s offices.
The walls were a shade between yellow and gray, but may have once been white.
The air smelled of must and misery—unsurprising, considering all but one of the windows were covered with opaque plastoid slabs, leaving the space dim and oppressive with only a few dim lights overhead.
In the living room, there was a dining area with a table and two chairs. It lay across the room from the sofa, which had a low coffee table beside it and a viewscreen attached to the wall. Through an archway, she could see the door to a bathroom, and a bedroom with a bed and a single dresser.
This is where my grandfather lived. Holly swallowed hard. This is where my mother lived until she was five.
Holly could feel Alyce watching her. “There are a few more rooms, which Charles blocked off years ago. Luv and I didn’t open them up. Figured you can decide what to do with them.”
Holly was again about to ask who Luv was when a stout robot rolled into the room from the bedroom, moving on a single, squeaky rollerball.
Holly recognized it immediately: an old Homeboti unit.
They were designed for housekeeping, and this one, with its squat, cylindrical body, two articulated arms and a domed head that housed two, glowing blue optical sensors, was basically an antique.
“Holly, this is Luv,” Alyce said, narrowing her eyes on the Homeboti. “Housekeeper of the hotel and your personal assistant.”
The robot turned its attention to Holly. “So this is the new owner,” Luv said in a clipped, female British accent. “Took your time getting here, didn’t you?”
“Luv,” Alyce said in a warning tone.
“And I see the hound is back. Lovely.”
Bean lifted his head and sniffed toward Luv, then dropped it back down with a grunt.
Holly blinked. She’d never encountered an opinionated Homeboti before. The ones in operation now were quiet, accommodating and practically invisible. Luv was about as pleasant as an angry porcupine.
“Hello, Luv.” Holly glanced nervously at Alyce. “Is it—”
“She,” Luv cut in, forcefully. Her optical lights flipped from blue to yellow. “I am not an ‘it,’ despite what you lunar city people may think. I will thank you to remember that.”
Alyce sighed. “Luv here is a gen-one Homeboti model. Made before they removed the personality and self-awareness modules.” She wagged a finger, fixing Luv with a stern look.
“Don’t get too comfortable with that attitude.
Holly can install a software patch that will render you as interesting as a waste processor.
She is the new owner of this place, so you’d better not give her a hard time. ”
Luv appeared to draw back in horror. “I do not have an attitude.”
“Luv, you can be an insufferable crab, and you know it,” Alyce shot back. “There’s a reason why they discontinued personality features in subsequent models.”
“Charles said he liked having someone around who talked back to him,” Luv said, then rotated to face Holly. “Install that patch and I shall never clean this hotel again.”
Holly blinked at her, unsure whether to be amused or terrified by the empty threat.
Still, Holly had opinions, too, and those included respecting the autonomy of sentient beings, even the manufactured ones.
“Understood, Luv,” Holly said. “I’ve no plans to alter your software.
” Unless living with you becomes utterly insufferable.
Luv made a digitized sound like a grunt, but her optical lights blinked back to blue.
“Very good, then. I confirm that ownership of this Homeboti unit, number 330-P1228, has transferred from Charles Moone, deceased, to Holly Greene-Moone, new owner of Moone’s Landing and Lars-Vector-2.
” She tilted her head and added in a grudging tone, “I’m here to assist you. ”
“Acknowledged,” Holly said, as was expected when an assistant bot gave a speech like that. “But I require very little. I take care of myself,” she added.
“Understood.” Luv swung an arm to a corner with a charging port built into the wall. “I require two to six hours of charging daily, during which time I’ll be inactive. But I try to time that with your schedule. You don’t keep odd hours, do you? I like to watch the morning birds from the window.”
Alyce shook her head and crossed over to where the little beagle lay. She scratched his chest and the dog’s white-tipped tail gave a lazy wag. “Luv will help you with Bean until you learn how to take care of him.”
“I’d rather not,” Luv grumbled. “But I will.”
“And Sam, who runs the space port terminal, will be by soon with your luggage crates,” Alyce added, then tapped her lower lip, thinking.
“Things you should know. Try to stay indoors between one and one thirty, as the cic-rac tree is blooming and its pollen can be a nasal irritant. Avoid the blue fruits that look like bananas in the gardens. They’re not for humans.
If you visit the mushroom shop, make sure your schedule is wide open.
Harry can talk.” She raised one brow and looked toward the ceiling.
“What else? When I leave here, I’ll sync the station communications channel to your comm.
That lawyer already sent over the frequency passcode to it, so check that for updates and messages.
Also, there are two guests staying at the hotel.
I don’t expect you’ll like either of them.
One of them says he’s your cousin, by the way. ”
Because, apparently, she needed more surprises. “What? My cousin?”
“Third cousin, I believe.” Alyce’s derisive sniff told Holly exactly what the woman thought of this cousin.
“He showed up a few weeks before Charles passed. Says he’s Oliver Moone’s brother’s descendant.
I looked into it and confirmed the ancestry, but could find little to nothing about his past. Cody Barkois is his name.
He’s in room four, on the first floor. Charles put him to work in the hotel lounge, making drinks and food.
” Alyce grimaced. “Terrible at both, and that’s not an opinion. ”
“I’ve never met him,” Holly said, scouring her memory for a mention of a cousin named Cody. It didn’t ring a bell.
She tapped the side of her head. “A bit spacey, if you ask me. Spends his time wandering barefoot, seeking ‘enlightenment.’ You can decide what to do with him.”
“Great.” Holly ran a hand down her face. “Who is the other guest?”
“A consultant. Represents one of the companies who would like to buy Moone’s Landing.
” Alyce’s lips pursed. “Rasker Vipp’s his name.
Room seventeen. Slick. Fancy, but not unpleasant.
I also verified his identity. Upstanding.
No red flags there.” She gave Holly an appraising look.
“You’re from that lunar city, Nova. You should know how to handle someone like him.
Unless you’re planning on selling, that is. ”
Holly’s overwhelm was so vast, she barely registered the headache that had sprung up behind her eyes.
But she knew her answer to this question was vitally important to the woman standing in front of her.
“I’m not planning to sell. I’m hoping to save the station, but I don’t know what we’re up against here. ”
Alyce nodded firmly, appearing satisfied enough by the answer.
Holly wondered if Alyce, or anyone here, knew of the unique terms of Charles’ will.
This woman didn’t want to move, obviously cared about the outpost, and would undoubtedly be sharing Holly’s answer with the other residents the instant she left the hotel.
“Very good,” Alyce said briskly and moved toward the door. “You can ask me, or Luv, any questions you have.”
“Where can I find you, if I have questions?” Holly asked, because she would have questions. Lots of them.
“Sam and I took over most of the day-to-day when Charles fell into decline, so I’m a bit all over these days. But if you do need me, you’ll find me. Or ring my comm. The outpost isn’t as big as it looks.” She slapped her thighs in a gesture of finality. “Well, I’ll leave you to get settled, then.”
“Wait.” Holly stepped forward. “Please.”
Alyce turned to look at her. The woman’s gold eyes were steady.
“What happened here?” Holly gestured around the dismal apartment, but she meant more than that.
The flickering force field. The sluggish turbines.
The struggling plants. The empty storefronts and the broken fountain and the emptiness that seemed as oppressive as it was pervasive.
“This…decay doesn’t look recent. It’s been going on for years, hasn’t it? ”
Alyce met her gaze. There was a sadness there, but beneath it, frustration flashed.
“Yes, it has. I think your grandfather carried something heavier than any of us were privy to, and the result was he stopped caring,” Alyce said in a softer tone.
“Since he controlled everything here, there was nothing the rest of us could do but watch it all fall to ruin.” She paused.
“This is yours now, and we’re all wondering what you’re going to do. ”
She left without another word, leaving Holly staring after her in the living unit that was now hers, with a dog and a Homeboti who definitely weren’t, but who depended on her nonetheless.
The weight of it pressed down on her. The outpost. The people. The failing systems and the years of neglect. All of it was hers now. All of it was her responsibility.
What have I done?