Political Constraints and Chemical Floods

Chapter 2

SirNi

Her lover had meant the stay on the planet as a reprieve of the work of liberation for his squad, but it meant as least as much to the Nebari on the world. A girl could only stand a particular amount of time before she simply felt the need to shop, and happily her lover had understood.

When she found a bazaar that was precisely what she wanted, time simply concluded to matter until she felt hungry or thirsty or simply tired from the searching. Shopping, though always a fun pursuit, resembled work if a girl spent some unspecified amount of hours. She hadn't found her limit, certainly, but the shop owners knew what theirs was. The phrase "we have to go home, girl," usually described it.

Shop owners didn't like to see anyone after they had closed, and that hadn't even bothered Chiana once in a while. She was a thief, a trait that had become more important as she saw more of the galaxy. And a thief didn't ever acknowledge the closing of a store, or bother listening to anything the shopkeepers told her.

Sometimes, though, the shopkeepers were simply too friendly to screw with.

Chiana smiled up at the reptile behind the counter. She had never seen someone like him before, and wondered what his particular interests were. His mouth could stretch wide, wider than she could think possible. His eyes were tiny and enigmatic. And his tongue fascinated her. She gazed at it and tilted her head, following it.

"I see I have something that interests you," the reptile said.

The reptile was also tall. He stood four times as high as she, and brushed the ceiling with the odd ridges on his head.

"You do," Chiana said. "Are you feeling the same?"

"Certainly," the reptile said. "Are you available some time? I am done with work in a while, but if you might like to wait."

Chiana pondered the inquiry and smiled. "I might."

"Hello," said a voice not quite high and not quite low.

Chiana's shoulders dropped and her hands curled into fists. Jothee liked to control her, like his father, D'Argo, had. She was no one's servant. "Hello."

Jothee walked to the counter, whapped the worn metal with a gloved hand, and bounced coins across it. The tall reptile bent down and narrowly caught them. Jothee gestured at Chiana with the same hand. "Is she creating any disturbance, sir?"

"No, she isn't," the reptile said. "We were talking about potential purchases."

"Care to tell me the types of purchases?" Jothee said.

Chiana shook her head.

The reptile shrugged. "Nothing of any interest, sir."

"Chiana, what were you - "

Chiana whirled away and peered at Jothee's every move. He set his feet on the dirt floor, finding any solid ground he could achieve. His eyes followed Chiana warily, warrior reflexes tuned against any of Chiana's maneuvers. He knew, and she knew, that Chiana's maneuvers could never be predicted within a battle. Against a professional fighter, that wasn't a strength.

"I know what you're thinking," Chiana said. "You don't know why, but I do."

Jothee appeared nervous. "Chiana, I - "

"We both remember what happened to D'Argo. He disappeared, without any suggestion or hint or anything." Chiana twitched, as she remembered. "You want to find him. We all do. But you can't let him shadow you like that."

"I meant - "

"I understand. Okay? But I won't let you treat me like this. Either you treat me like a woman, like him, sometimes, or I simply won't be with you." Chiana panted, temporarily run out of words, but she wasn't relaxed.

"I meant I had wondered what you had bought," Jothee said.

Chiana leaned her head toward him. "Really?"

Jothee appeared abashed. "Yeah."

Chiana peered at him. "Oh, okay."

Jothee said, "And what you said."

"I meant what I said," Chiana said.

"You have some history?" asked the reptile.

Chiana smiled. "I'm a woman with a dark history."

"Very dark," Jothee said.

"Not any darker than you," Chiana said.

"Let's not start about that, not at the moment," Jothee said. "Can we leave, now?"

Chiana walked between the aisles of clothes. Jothee nudged her gently and she writhed away from his touch.

"I apologize for the problems," Jothee said.

Chiana winked while she left, and saw the shopkeeper's astonished face.

Neither of them talked initially, and the Nebari simply marvelled at the bazaar and its strange traits. Chiana was the woman she was, most of the stores distracted her. Some of them contained spicy or roasting food that she hadn't eaten or hadn't seen before, and the varied body parts involved in the creation made her feel both revulsion and intrigue. Others held bangles that she simply wanted to glance at and certainly wouldn't obtain for her own self. Certainly.

The objects were only part of the point, and the people all around her intrigued her much more. She saw a Sheyang pair with silver rings around their ears, because those frog-faced portly types were anywhere you looked in the galaxy. Not including the bartender, all the people she had seen on the planet had been small and skinny, which annoyed her. Where were the big, muscular types?

She had Jothee. But that didn't, and shouldn't, discount glances.

Then she saw a person behind a scrawny alien and clutched Jothee desperately. Her boyfriend peered at her, worry in his eyes. Chiana shook her head and squinted at the figure behind the crowd.

"What is he doing here?" Chiana asked.

"Who do you mean?" Jothee said. "Someone you know is on this world?"

"He's a Nebari," Chiana said. "I remember him. His eyes. He was one of the cruelest in the Establishment, and he's crawling around here. What could he be doing here? Is he after me, Jothee? Do they know I'm here?"

"Come on, Chiana," Jothee said.

Chiana backed up and bent her head around. She looked between Jothee and the Nebari, stalking closer within the group of people. He was calm and patient, and that was as frightening as any brutality he might have been showing with his pursuit. Either he wasn't aware of her presence, or he thought that she couldn't escape. Or perhaps it was only the mind cleansing.

Chiana darted her head at the Nebari. "Jothee. There's a Nebari over there."

Jothee stood on the heels of his feet as he worked on locating the mysterious person. Even at the moment, he was not a particularly tall man. Chiana found it amusing, because D'Argo had towered above her. Even Jothee's mother, Lo'lann, had seemed taller than him within the pictures D'Argo kept of his wife.

"Not seeing him, Chiana," Jothee said. "My people on shore leave, and they won't be pleasant if they're forced away from it. We've been on this planet barely an aftnon."

Chiana looked at the Nebari again, and caught his eyes. They squinted, curious. Hadn't he seen that she was there? Well, he didn't have any doubts about it, now.

"We have to leave, now," Chiana said. "I see him, and he's watching me. Trust me, Jothee. Get your people. I can meet you on Lo'lann."

Jothee nodded, slowly. "Okay. Meet you in forty microts. Where are you going?"

"Elsewhere," Chiana said. "I can run better than you."

"Watch out for yourself," Jothee said.

"No problem. No one's better than me," Chiana said. "Forty microts. Got it."

She hesitated, for a second, and then fled into an alley between a professional attire shop and a vegetable store. The shopkeeper didn't notice that she lifted a long and fresh looking cucumber from it. She didn't register it, mostly, either, and continued on her run into the alley. The Nebari had controlled her attention.

The buildings were higher than she might have liked, and the streets of a medium width. She slowed the speed of her run and looked for something that might let her reach the heights with less difficulty. These people hadn't built ladders or outdoor staircases onto their habitats, and she wondered why.

She saw a ladder, finally, and leapt toward it. The ladder wiggled underneath her weight, but that didn't bother her. She jumped as high as she could, grabbing for the ledge of the roof, and reached it. Standing on top of the roof, she leaned her body back, gazed over the edge and looked around for the Nebari. The operative hadn't followed her.

A grin crept across Chiana's features. Laughter boiled up, but she tightly held it down. She was loud, and she knew that might show the Nebari her location. She leapt across a series of buildings, on each landing her tough leather boots thumping with a loud noise on the rough roof.

She peered over the edge, toward the street, each time, and finally noticed the Nebari standing, relaxed, beside the storefront of a used shuttle merchant. She crept forward. The Nebari whispered to a gadget he held.

"Finally. Have I mentioned that I hate go-betweens? We have found your woman," the Nebari said. "She is on this world, though I do know for what duration."

Chiana shivered as fingers danced around her vertebrae.

"I said, I'm not sure. She might be leaving, or she might not be. A Luxan was alongside her, and she seemed conflicted in his presence."

The Nebari looked up. His eyes were bleary, like he felt tired. That didn't tell her anything special. Mind cleansing often did that to people. Crichton had a particular strange reaction. He seemed lighter, and she almost liked him that way. It scared her. She didn't want to like anything about the Nebari government.

"She might be a romantic interest with him. Their fight might have been powerful enough so that he might leave her here with us, and if he does that, we have her. She can't escape. That isn't a problem."

She could escape from anything. Something about how he said that made her wonder if he could abduct her, though.

"No, I don't know where she is. Watch the orbit and work into customs and security. We'll know what ship they're in, and then, we can get them. Poleris out."

The Nebari stomped into the crowd and Chiana watched him walk. He had the cadence of a professional soldier, and a limp.

"Miss?" asked a voice.

The reptile stood on the roof, some feet away from her.

"What?" Chiana asked.

"I was concerned for you," the bartender said. "I thought I might follow you."

"Are you insane?" Chiana said. "Go back to your shop!"

"No," the bartender said. "You need my help."

She lifted her eyebrow. "How do you mean? Explain."

"Someone's following you."

Chiana frowned. How much did this man know?

"Someone came by the store and asked about your presence. I thought I might warn you."

"I appreciate the effort," Chiana said. "You don't know me, but I - wait."

"What is it?"

Chiana peered down. The crowd had retreated, and police had surrounded the store.

"You're wanted on suspicion of smuggling," an officer said. "Please come down, and we won't be forced to harm you."

Chiana yanked the reptile forward. "Sure you don't mean him?"

"We're instructed to bring each of you into the station. Come down."

"You don't know me," Chiana said. "Do you know what I think of cops?"

The officer shook his head. "I - "

"I never go with cops to the station," Chiana said. "A cheap room, maybe. Some of you people are really hot."

"I - well, I appreciate - "

Chiana glanced above her and saw a metal object shining against the sun. "I don't like the station. Got it?"

"We're acting on a suggestion, all right?"

Chiana poked the reptile and gestured at a rope from the shining metal ship. The reptile moved into position underneath the rope and grabbed it. Chiana did so, too, and smiled at the officer.

"You know the annoying thing?" she yelled.

"Can't say I do," the bartender said.

"I like cops. Once in a while."