Chapter 4
Chee
They took the deal.
Just as Hyde said. The rewards he dangled were just too tempting.
Not so much the credz, she knew, but the cord he promised.
That, she knew, was what really changed things.
She may not know exactly what the cord was, but it was even more valuable than the cold hard cash – or whatever credz were.
Honestly, they might be totally digital currency, she didn’t know. Also, not really her concern right now.
The gray skinned guy eventually came back to get her.
Trove and the four-armed guy – which must be Rok – weren’t with him.
Instead, at his side, was a human woman with messy auburn hair wearing what appeared to be a dress sewn together from other fabric, including pieces of the same orange jumpsuit as everyone else.
Necessary to make space for the huge baby belly she was carrying.
Her hand was resting on it as she waddled inside, smiling peacefully.
“Hello,” she greeted Chee happily, holding out her hand – and somehow it seemed strange to just be casually shaking someone’s hand in this situation. “I’m Garnet. I’m Tanin’s mate. You’re Chee, correct?”
Chee nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
Garnet gave her a searching look, a polite but guarded smile in place. “Where is that name from? I don’t recognize it. Irish?”
“It’s a childhood nickname,” Chee answered simply before quickly changing the subject. “You’ve accepted the job?”
“I’m sure you’re not surprised.”
Chee hummed. “Hyde was pretty sure you would. He said you’re almost done by now, and this is the best time to make his offer.”
Garnet was still smiling, but the sheen of suspicion in her eyes spoke volumes. “Your boss seems to know a great deal about us.”
“I don’t really know that I’d call him my boss.”
“What would you call him, then?”
Chee shook her head. “I guess, like you, I’m more of a client. I’m completing a job for him.”
“What do you get for bringing us our job then?”
Chee hesitated before saying, “I don’t think it really matters, does it? Hyde is giving me something I want for coming here and doing this. He’s giving you something you want for accepting the job. That’s all we really need to know about each other, isn’t it?”
Garnet’s smile didn’t diminish, but something in her face definitely faded.
A lie that Chee had seen right past before she even spoke.
She had come to her offering friendliness.
But it was fake. Chee knew very well that Tanin had fetched her because he wanted Chee to be comfortable enough to talk to her.
To maybe confess her purpose. To give them more information about herself, about Hyde. It was very deliberate.
But Chee really didn’t care to be their friends. She was here for a purpose. Everything else was pointless. Especially false friendliness from their side. Maybe if Garnet had been genuine, she would be too. For now, she cut it off at the start and, in so doing, that veneer of falsity faded away.
Garnet was still smiling, but there was a distance in it. Distrust. Chee was a surprising variable; one they didn’t know the motive of. But she didn’t feel the need to share something that private with these strangers.
This was business. That was all.
“We’ve decided to accept your deal,” Garnet said while Tanin stood behind her, standing close, keeping his blood red eyes locked on Chee. Guarding his pregnant mate carefully. “We are curious how your… employer knew we were nearly done.”
“You should ask him.” Chee said simply, earning a sharp look from her. It was brief, but annoyed, and Chee held up her hands. “I’m not being difficult. I genuinely don’t know. He’s stupid rich though. So, maybe that helps? It’s all I got for you.”
“Right,” Garnet said easily. “We searched your ship. We found the box with the cred chip and the cord we needed. He even knew we demand half payment up front.”
Chee shrugged. She hadn’t hidden the box. She’d left it out where they could find it, pretty sure they’d search the ship.
“Have you worked for him long?” Garnet asked.
“I’ve only been off Earth for about two weeks,” Chee said. “But he’s made things happen for me already, so I trust he can do what he promised. I imagine he’ll keep his word with you as well.”
“Alright.” Garnet nodded once. “Come with me. I’ll show you to your room.”
Chee waited until Tanin followed Garnet first, letting him keep the space between the two of them so he could feel safe.
Outside the room, two new males were waiting.
Dark blue scales, bright white hair, covered in scars – these were the avanava twins, Sorbet and Tebros.
From a species where males were born only in pairs, they considered themselves to be a singular entity in two bodies.
They were also highly dangerous and, before Chee was allowed to follow any further, they took the time to give her a thorough and complete pat down.
Once they confirmed she really had nothing on her, they continued on.
Garnet in the lead, Tanin between her and then Chee with the twin males ominously stalking her from behind.
It was all very stiff and silent, but they seemed to know their way around well.
They led her down the hall to a large lift that carried them all down a significant distance.
The lift was big, empty, and kind of dim.
Right until the moment the entire front and sides suddenly opened up, filling with light and the rush of air past the metal bars that served as walls.
They left the shaft behind as they continued down through a truly massive, wide-open hanger filled with the scrapped and broken remains of once great spaceships.
Now all torn apart, cannibalized, broken down to be reformed into-
“Woah,” Chee couldn’t help but breathe out. Sure, she had been on spaceships riding out to the Coalition capital, the ringworld Holotulle. But she hadn’t ever seen those ships. Hadn’t been able to appreciate the true size of them.
Though the hanger stretched far into the distance, filled with broken down spaceships, the area in front of the lift had been cleared and prepped for the building of the only whole, new appearing ship.
Cranes and lifts from the ceiling hung around it, lifts and ladders surrounded the bottom.
The entire thing was lit up by the bright lights all around it, showing it off in every direction.
The ship was the size of the huge event hall Chee used to work in.
Its body was sleek, shiny, and streamlined.
The shape wasn’t what she would call aerodynamic, but it didn’t have to be since it would be spending the rest of its life in space without air.
If she had to compare it to something, she’d call it something like a shark, with a rounded nose that had been flattened turning into a thick, almost brick like body, with ‘fins’ coming off the top and around the side.
There were bumps along the body, evenly spaced apart, but she didn’t know their function.
She could recognize the rectangular, currently dark vents that were the propulsion connected to the engine.
The very back of the ship had a wide, angled entrance leading into it that, she assumed, was for storage.
They were a delivery company, after all, they needed space for their deliveries.
Here and there along the body, purely cosmetic, was gold striping. It made it shine and flash. It wasn’t gaudy or tacky, but instead almost seemed classy and timeless. Especially where it highlighted the name of the ship written on the side in bold, dark lettering.
Vainglory.
“You built this…?” Chee breathed, taking an unconscious step forward when the lift touched down with a deep thud.
Hyde had told her that they’d be making their own spaceship using the remains of this facility. The tools that broke down the old spaceships could easily be used to build one as well, as long as you had the knowhow to do so.
But what she imagined was a Frankenstein style, hulking behemoth of a ship.
Something functional; she would even give them the benefit of saying it would be well made.
But she still expected the cobbled together ugliness of someone creating something from scraps and trash.
Sure, it would be impressive regardless, but certainly such a thing had no choice but to be ugly.
The beautiful, smooth, silver and gold body that greeted her instead was all the more breathtaking for having such low expectations. It was certainly deserving of such grand of a name as Vainglory.
There was a ramp leading up to the back of the ship. The large doors weren’t open, but there was a smaller door within the larger door that was. And as she watched, the four-armed Rok came out, walked down, and made for a pile of boxes waiting at the base.
They were loading up. Hyde really did have great timing.
Even absorbed as she was in admiring the ship, she couldn’t miss the smug smile on Garnet’s face when she leaned into her peripheral vision.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“You all really made this yourself?”
“We did,” she said, stepping forward. “Come on. I’ll let you have the honor of the first grand tour, as the first client of our new ship. We have a proper guest room this time and everything.”
“How…?” Gaping, Chee followed after her and Tanin, feeling like a tiny spec as she closed the distance between her and that beautiful monster.
“A few perfectionists, two incredible mechanics, a robot great at math even stuck in a radio, and of course some fantastic leadership.” Garnet sent a smile over her shoulder at Tanin, love and pride sparkling in her eyes as she waddled her way closer to the ramp.
“Let’s go. I’ve been itching to show this thing off at my first opportunity. ”