| 4 |
Edging his way along a tile wall as blue as robin egg, Casnar moves closer to the sound of the voices through a tunnel of jetting cold steam blasts. He keeps his knife ready, and tries to listen for someone coming down his way but the Souledivinie drells are entertained by the arrival of Erec Brünner and their first guest.
§
Braith stares open-mouthed, "…Erec, what are you doing here?"
"I had to see them," he shrugs, smoothing his messed blond hair, "…You okay, Braith?"
"I'm fine, all considered," and she points to the collar around her neck that his eyes have set on, "…They put this bullshit on me. Can you believe it?"
"Language, Miss Shepard," Diaustra stands and walks towards Erec, "…Have you spoken to Casnar."
"No, Lucannon," he opens his palms upwards, "…No, I haven't seen him," he lies, certain he saw him standing over Braith at the Nurinata, "…but she's sent him messages," Erec points at her face.
"Quit throwing me under the bus!" Braith stands, her temper boiling, "…You really do turn over when it comes to being loyal—or a complete coward, Erec!"
"He has reason to be afraid," Diaustra says with a turn of crests and their rings tinkling towards Braith who has risen from her chair, Kine and others watching, smiles on their faces, "…One word is all it takes to bring down his empire. Took only a few years to destroy his friend's..."
Her eyes widen, lashes high against the skin of her eyelids, "…It's true," she shakes her head at Erec, who looks a shamed dog, "…You stole Casnar's invention…You did…And did what that got him in trouble with someone…Someone important?"
"Casnar was slated to go to a moot," Diaustra explains, his hand completely covering Erec's shoulder as he gives him a jolly shake, "…He was to be selected over his brother, who should have been the one to attend the ceremony, but his brother was disqualified due to a limp, and Casnar was in the midst of creating a special piece of technology for his family's prodigious city. Made of blue-silver durril," he sighs, "…the finest mineral asset we have on Rakhana by far, and an investor paid for Casnar to expedite production of it but to do so, he had to first research facilities off-world…Enter poor Brünner, here, literally," Diaustra releases the shoulder clamp and heartily slaps Erec's back with a thick palm, near knocking him forward off his feet, "…Down on his luck, when Casnar arrived in the combination program per Kahje's satellite campus…Erec knew some things about building factories, didn't you, Erec…?"
The man nods miserably. "What happened, Erec," Braith asks, her tone still harsh, "…You led him along, screwed him over, lied to him?"
"He was…It's like this, Braith," Erec flusters, trying to smooth out his appearance but only looking more defensive, and thus more hostile than he's ever been before her eyes, "…I met Souledivinie. They understood the gift I had, and taught me how to turn it into something profitable, ludicrously profitable—"
"You mean his invention—Casnar's?"
"No," Diaustra interrupts, gazing at her as if surprised she does not know this part, "…Casnar Soterios," he says, "…She really doesn't know anything about the overgrown sprat ( brat ) now, does she."
#
Tetonbaum removes the cloak from his shoulders and ties it to his belt in a bundle. Using leather tongs with wood to keep it rolled and tight to his waist, he stands bare as the day he was born, unfeeling of the cold and the rain.
He places the rest of his gear inside the cloak after testing to see it will hold everything sufficiently, then creeps to the edge of the precipice above the docks partially submerged by stormy night waters. Far below, among white crashing waves that pummel cliffs along the main island of Merce'des—the "Asthur's Head" they call it—he observes through mist and patches of clear view, the small party moving what appears to be Ylyssus, wrapped in a blanket for hiding, and moving a body with ease. Brothers would not do this to each other, unless they were ordered to…he thinks. Tetonbaum is unsure yet, for his brothers would not touch another brother in such a way that brought harm, kidnap him in a roll of fabric using the guise of murder of a prisoner meant for future utilization in their plans…No, these were drells he had not seen before tonight, come to Merce'des under guise that they were his ilk..Must be hunters…And we thought we had eliminated one threat, but too soon…
He shakes his wet wavy crests and tightens his tebris to his throat. He has other obligations, but a th'ane—a brother of the cloth—is in trouble tonight.
Tetonbaum sees the ship take off with the tide and plummets himself a few short seconds afterwards…Down into the crashing water and dark murk where seaweeds and strange sea creatures swerve and ebb with the pull and push of tide—fins, scales, tendrils, mosses underwater full and serene in their motion with the rough current.
Tetonbaum emerges from the water. He swims through it, his powerful arms like oars, his legs propelling him fast and silent through the roar of the watery world after the galienna ( waterboat ) that takes Ylyssus.
#
The waves are dark and the swells like hills but ever onward Tetonbaum swims after the galienna.
He feels the water's pull at the bundle of his cloak, all his life belongings there—including his sacred menjaga, which he is to use on one throat alone…But that one's time is not come.
Casnar has never seen the training of his half-brother who from the start as a babe was taken from his mother's arms and sent to be raised a Son of the Isle of Tears.
Tetonbaum was ever a happy babe despite his dark upbringing and would have been nicknamed something fitting a drell who always smiled, and so he was—for his name translated into Common Speech means "Laughing Mountain"—Even when screwing nails into his victims' hands, he smiled grimly…
But Tetonaum was taught to use violence as the tool, and not as something readily played with carelessly…His experiences as a young drell only grew harder and advanced to greater challenges. Days came when water was his home for many a passing sun and moon.
The spawn of a water drell—and an I'lorie, the only tierrea ( tower ) that could cross with those designated among the Tyrannus…Casnar was such a designation of the latter, and so his brother, his sister, and his mother full-blooded…Tetonbaum was the son of an I'lorie, his father whom had the illegitimate child while in wedlock with Casnar's mother…
Each th'ane must perform a certain, terrible act to advance into the next rank of his school. The definition of such act is chosen by the instructor who trains the drell, and knows him best…Though hands and actions may be commanded by others upon one or more, Tetonbaum's heart—as other drells—could not be suppressed of love nor mercy…It was hard enough to see the drellahna he could remember the scent of…She was his mother, and he her son, but Tetonbaum was gentle, gracious to her…
As he plunged his knife into her heart and heard her final breath whisper, "…I am proud…" Tetonbaum was given his menjaga and instructed to slay his own living mother, residing in a hara ( brothel ) where she waited for the day to see him…
She did see him, but not for long…He is a sinner, but not of his choosing…This merited promotion and he became High Th'ane and what with more years of instruction plus the destruction of lives and careers, and attendance to the final, anticipated order awaiting his own half-blood sibling…
The Isle of Tears trains its soldiers well.
#
Taking a deep breath, he submerges himself as he comes within view of the vessel's stern.
The galienna has turned to ease its handling of the hills of waves lifting and lowering it as though in a deep lullaby of stormy calm…The Beirchardt is tumultuously loud underwater as his tenesses ( ears ) submerge and close to seal the water out.
Deeper he goes, moving towards the hull of the boat shadow above him, pressure affecting his lungs.
There are tentacles that feel for him in the water from the depths, but Tetonbaum notices and kicks quickly to safety…Bered are too shy of the great shadow against the backdrop of cloudy sky and water.
§
On deck a few hands move about, checking the sails and riggings. An anchor drops to keep the galienna from floating off course, as they batten everything down for the night tuck-in.
Tetonbaum avoids the sinking hooks of weight, carrying downward into darkness and scattering silhouettes with flashing glimpses of dark flesh below.
He emerges from the water at the stern, having swum all around it to see what he could and be satisfied before he ventures towards where there is a light from a shuttered window, but the window is open, permitting him the opportunity to climb inside and uncover what is happening.
"There is something afoot," he murmurs quietly, not louder than the slapping water, splashing along the dark wood of the keel and hull below, "…Where oh where do you take Ylyssus, my brother," and hand over hand, he carries himself by fingers towards the opening in the back of the boat.
#
The cabin is lit by a few candles, buswax dripping down the wide cylinders and adding to the seal of the bases on wood counters.
Pulling himself closer to the window ledge, Tetonbaum peers inside and sees the dark bannering of blankets over wooden ribs inside the cabin. He hangs himself easily by his fingers from the window, waiting until he is certain the cabin is empty, and then hauling himself over the opening he carries his bundle of wet cloak only so far as the wooden frame and leaves it to drain its drippings over the side of the boat while he explores quietly.
Moving in nothing more than his skin, he follows the soundless path of planking in the floor, testing before setting weight upon each board. Outside the cabin, he hears voices. ( "Prisoner's been up for the past hour, asking where he is…Should I hit him, or tell him? What do you think." ) There's the noise of heavy objects being set down outside the cabin, causing Tetonbaum to turn aside by a curtained window, letting out to a view of the lit deck beyond.
( "Better keep him awake for the pickup…They'll want to see he's not braindead after being hit as hard as you clocked him…Twice was much, d'you think?" ) an answering voice snarls softly.
( "He's a thick crest," ) the first voice says in defense of his decision. A male voice speaks, ( "…Blinked at me first time, like he was surprised I only tapped him. I needed something meaner to knock him down…Stubborn drells. )"
( "That one's a th'ane, through and through…Built him well, sturdy body, hard skull…He will be good for where they send him eventually, provided they do not simply kill him instead," ) a third voice speaks.
Tetonbaum lowers his brow scales closer to the curtain. ( "Daughter of Kiross was his grandmother, that's what I heard…True or not, he's unlike her color," ) the third voice is joined by a fourth.
Must be more than five to drell a ship such as this, Tetonbaum thinks, …Maybe twenty.
( "Dahnna Kiross was albino, and not the same gene gets passed to every generation, or shows at least," ) and now a fifth. A female's voice…
There is a quiet spell, as only the sound of movement is heard and Tetonbaum recalls the language she applied—her accent, the silken patterning of syllables, their annunciation, …Human?…Suighan?…Chimilys?…
( "He is an excellent specimen—long body, well-developed," ) the accented voice resumes, dominating the attention of those on the deck listening, ( "…Know some places that would pay high credits for such a fine product…Could be many, many credits if he performs…but enough talk, we use him for what we need." )
Credits…Tetonbaum realizes he is listening to "off-worlder" terms in this new conversation, but who would be able to speak both Suighan, Rakhïken, and with such a unique accent?…She must be Human, and a trader…
He moves as close to the curtain as he dares, careful not to let the light from the candles behind, frame his silhouette and betray his presence to them outside. Through the transparency of the cloth he can make out dark, hooded forms moving aside the one now coming towards the cabin entrance and placing a hand upon the handleknob.
#
Peering round the corner Casnar takes his knife into the other hand and watches for the Souledivinie drells to walk from the door to fetch others take their place.
The opportunity comes slowly, and he must wait close to twenty-five minutes before the switch occurs…Or the instigation of it.
§
Meanwhile, Braith hears what she needs to, "…Erec, you're giving Casnar his reactor," she demands, heated by his audacity to betray a friend, and her trust, "…Then you'll help him clear his name back wherever he's from," she moves from the table as Erec and Diaustra watch.
"Tell her why that's not possible," Diaustra fingers his tebris, moving the soft skin as if it were stretchy putty, "…Would you, Erec…"
Braith looks at her client—soon to be definitely ex-client. Erec thumbs at Diaustra, "…Tonight he gets the reactor, Braith. It'll benefit his entire clan on Rakhana, and the deal's been made, I can't go back on it."
"You did with Casnar," she says in defense of the other drell not present.
§
Casnar outside waits for the door to open, three of the Souledivinie drells gone to get their shift and investigate the distraction he has set up through his omni-tool.
§
"You'll both be sued, turned into the authorities."
"By whom," Diaustra appears incensed, too, now, "…We wouldn't want that…Erec," Diaustra takes a gun out from under the table and puts it on the tabletop, "…I want that reactor…Go get it…Meanwhile," he gazes at Braith's face with the strange eyes and smiles in a pleasant cat-got-the-mouse sort of way, "…How lucky do you think you will be when we take that gun from you, your knife you hide inside your coat, and we decide to add Braith Shepard to our shipments exports from Lothairaxl."
§
Casnar grabs Erec as he comes out the door, a fine reward for his high risk that night, "…Say a word," he hisses, "…And I'll cut your neck, Erec," he checks the door, apart slightly, from Erec's frightened eyes—big as billiards with the knife keen to his throat, "…Where's the woman…" He sees through the door, Braith placing her coat on the table.
§
She sighs, "…I'm not stupid enough to let you try and send me off this place…I was hoping for some reasonability, but maybe I was a little too optimistic, which is what got me here and a separator on my neck," she taps the metal with her nail, "…But you're going to—"
She is lifted through the air as Diaustra raises his hand, and snatches her from the ceiling before she hits it, "…Separators, I do enjoy their use," he rises from his chair with his tumbler, and walks over to peer up at her floating helpless, "…It is certainly the collar one needs for a misbehaving pet…Let's have inspection, shall we?"
"Keep your hands to yourself!"
Taking hold of her ankle, he rubs the skin with his thumb and purrs, "…You're some kind of big shot, I hear, in this branch of the galaxy, hmm…I wonder how much you would—" Diaustra suddenly looks up from her ankle and turns.
Having left his gun with her coat and concealed weapons, her removed omni-tool, on the counter, another hand has lifted the weapon.
Casnar pistol-whips the big drell, knocking him out cold and hard. The dominga falls to the floor. Braith drops and Casnar catches her in his forearms with a quick step forward, dropping the gun, "…You have a separator on your neck…"
"No shit," Braith pants, letting down onto the floor by his controlled carry, "…Thanks—Good timing—how'd you get in here?"
"You're a biotic, that's right…" Casnar grabs Diaustra and feels through his coat, "…Quick," he tosses her a key, "…Rub it against the metal."
"He's biotic, too," Braith says as she does so, "…I couldn't sense it through the collar, what are you—"
Casnar snaps the separator, which fits like a bracelet, around Diaustra's wrist, "…Making sure we get out of here alive."
Standing he grabs Braith by the arm and pulls her with him, "…Brünner told me where the reactor is…There's time to get to it before Diaustra wakes, or his goons come back, so hurry."
#
Pulling her, Casnar and Braith run from the basement and head left down the sewer tunnel…He tugs, "…Keep up," he hisses, looking at her struggling in bare feet, "…Where are your—Never mind…"
"I'm not built like—Hey!" She's picked up as Casnar stoops to lift her by her thighs, his hand on her back as he throws her over his shoulder, "…This is not necessary!"
"They see what we did," Casnar puffs, "…they'll ride you like the omnie, gut me from a hook, and the reactor will be theirs," he says as he races through the sewers, his feet turning them back through the venting connections he followed to the place.
§
Kine laughs as they come down the stairs, "…You see that skyrunner hit those idiots parked out front? Unmanned, I told you auto's not re—" He freezes when he sees the swirl of steam outside the doorway to the basement of the brothaul. The door itself is closing.
"What is it," Bihmaus asks, moving closer to him with the others sniffing around, "…You see something, Kine."
"I'm not sure…Tints are picking up something, but it's gone," he taps the silver lens over one eye with the longer tip of his dual fingers, then opens the door to the basement and hisses, "…Ah, shit…Dominga…Get the oil and find out where Erec's gone with the woman."
"Her cuff is on the table," Bihmaus points out to him.
§
Casnar sets her down on the floor of the sewer.
She rubs her arms in the cold as he climbs out of the steaming vent first then turns around and helps lift her out by her hands.
"Thanks," she leans away, having slid up against him as she'd come out, "…Where to…You know this place?"
"We need to catch a cab," he explains, "…My skyrunner's totaled." He starts walking down the alleyway, wiping steam condensation off his patak, Braith walking behind him.
"What did you do to Erec if I may ask…He alive?"
"He's terrified," Casnar feels his coat for a bedi and curses. He glances at her, "…We forgot your cuff." He stops, sees her walking with her arms around herself, the dress alone and damp, clinging to make her colder. "Here," he takes off his coat and offers it…She shakes her head. "Take it, your dress is wet, you'll freeze up here."
He wraps her in it hurriedly, despite the warm patches of air between the gusts of cooling steam, keeping an eye about them as he puts his arm over her shoulders, and walks her towards the next street.
#
Diaustra opens his eyes, one by one. He jerks his head up, tebris heavy on the floor rug, and immediately looks to Kine—crouched over him and withdrawing an oil within a small jar from under his mouth. "Dominga…"
"How long!" he rasps out.
"I'd guess a few minutes, maybe ten," he steps back as he rises to move away from Diaustra's, setting the jar on the table above him, "…There was an accident out front—the limos, waiting for clients inside the brothaul, got hit by a skyrunner, no one inside it, so it was steering itself, and—" his eyes widen as Diaustra makes a clawed fist towards him, the palm stopping halfway, the biotics engages to flow forth—his queer eyes slit.
Nothing happens.
Blinking as to why Kine's throat is not in his possession and the meld in his mind with his power not having occurred, Diaustra looks down, feels his neck, then pulls up his eyes to his wrist and sees the heavy separator...He bellows with fury, "…Get the key!" His rage is terrible, and the others beside Kine hurry to hunt the room for the missing key—Casnar has it, and his gun. "Casnar was here!"
#
Emerging from the alley, Braith and Casnar check both ways of the boulevard, and Braith shrugs off his coat to run out to the lane as skyrunners are about to move from a stopped intersection farther down, "…Hey! Hey!" she whistles and calls out, waving her hand then hoisting up the panel of her dress and sticks out a long leg, bare of shoe...The traffic flies by and Braith moans, "…Come on…"
"Did you think that would actually work?" Casnar chuckles as she disappointedly sets her hands on her hips and turns to his striding over, the coat hooked over his wrist and the hand in his pant pocket.
"I saw it work on those old pre-twenty-first-century vids," Braith wonders aloud, "…Times were really different back then. People were more trusting."
"No doubt it was different. Humanity had not found any relays by accident." He smiles and stops beside her, "…Here, put this back on," and he coats her again, pulling the front panels closed over her chest, his fingers working carefully so as not to make her think there is anything more to his attention, "…If it's any consolation," he does declare one intention, "…I would have turned 'round and given you a lift."
#
The interior of the skycab is brown, not one of those dark browns but a nice pop of yellow-orange tinting…Braith scoots across the leather seats, Casnar backing in and sitting down to rub thighs with hers.
"Where to? Some place nice for the—" The batarian cabbie turns around, takes one long, hateful-growing look at Braith, "…Figures, the bitch who knocked an asteroid into—"
"Watch your tongue," Casnar's tebral spines flare at the undersides of his patak ridges, "…You will be paid to fly us to the lady's apartment, '…Atmore Street, tower with the blue effect at the top'," he transfers from memory to his lips, and bares his canines, "…And if you don't mind shutting the privy window—so you can be ignored—I'll make sure to tip you."
The glass goes up, the batarian hulking behind his steering handles, and Braith finds Casnar's emeralds interrupting her stare of his tebral spines.
"How are you going to tip him if you don't have any credit…" She says distractedly, her hands laced of fingers in her lap as she tries not to stare impolitely much longer.
Casnar smooths down his neck with big golden fingers, "…My skyrunner had extra chits, and I took them with me," he rotates his wrist, on which his omni-tool is borne, "…Good to have multiple copies for such occasions…" He looks at her, noting she is not focused on his face, but somewhere else on him—his neck, "…What," he pulls up his collar, "…What is it." He thinks he knows.
"That's three times you've done something for me tonight," she says with a smile, and a telltale cue in her eyes she is catching onto some things about him, "…You're neck, it's—"
He coughs and pulls up his collar again to hide the tebris, "…It's a tick…I don't know how to stop it…I get set-off sometimes."
Braith knows a little better than that, what with having been with Thane, "…A lot lately, I'd bet…I mentioned I've known some drells personally, before you…Dated would be more specific."
"So?" His golden eyeridges droop, then twitch into a disgruntled V, "…What do you want me to say," glaring at her, but briefly, "…You think you know everything there is to know about my species…Human."
Braith senses the feigned antagonism.
"It's okay, Casnar. Thanks, that's all I'm…I'm flattered…I'm with someone, but I'm flattered…"
He looks forwards at the glass between the front and the back seating. Suddenly she can feel that distance one puts off when he or she is disappointed, and gravely so at that. "That's nice," he says gruffly, "…Congratulations—on not being the first to have a relationship outside your own species."
"Well," Braith continues on with indifference, gazing about the cabin for something other than the gold drell beside her to keep her eyes on, "…He's supposed to meet with me tonight…We had a discussion yesterday though, and I kind of shut him down, maybe put him off…Whatever," she shrugs, hands crossing to cup her lower arms by the corners of her elbows as she nudges her thigh against his, "…He may be surprised to see you with me when we reach my apartment. Try to be your pleasant self."
He crosses his fists into the undersides of his sleeves, "…I'm very pleasant when I need to be." He shoves her knee back with his, the flirtation veiled with some teasing on her part, and aggressiveness on his, "…Sure he'll be a nice drell to meet."
#
The door opens to let them out onto the sidewalk at her tower.
Casnar out first then Braith, offering her a hand before he heads to the passenger window up front and sticks his arm through to scan his omni-tool chit for the fare.
The cabbie is grateful—somewhat. With a warning look to the batarian, Casnar turns and unbends himself to follow Braith—who is walking barefoot to her tower doors. These open, "…My place," she calls over her shoulder as they enter the warm interior of the lobby, and walking across tiled floors towards the lifts, they pass the reception desk at the inner dais, "…Any visitors to my room?…" she asks as she slows to listen, Casnar following her lead behind her, "…You know, Chelsea, my regular," she adds with a grin to Casnar.
The receptionist shakes her head, "…No, Miss Shepard." She replies, Braith's eyes startled, "…He left a message for you…I see you do not have your cuff, would you like to use the system?"
For a moment! her neck feels hot and even Casnar can see the freckles burn darker.
§
She looks away from her reflection and his, anywhere in that lift besides the humiliated woman standing alone despite her company. She feels more alone than she did on Horizon—when Kaidan Alenko walked away from her after she'd admitted she was with Cerberus Group, and had been so for two years without contacting him…He would have never trusted her then in any case, Cerberus or not…He would have thought she was not the woman who died.
Casnar watches her, wondering if she realizes she's crying.
§
The door lets out and Braith moves down the hall, glad to have dryness under her feet and in need of a shower. Her medication, her drink…Stay on point. Stay focused. Get it soon…she thinks chaotically in her mind.
Casnar stops outside her door as she figures out how to open it without her omni-tool.
"You okay?" he asks, and she freezes, has to think hard before she can figure out how to decide the issue's resolution…
I turned Thane down, didn't I…Why is he not justified in ending it?…How dare I expect otherwise…
Casnar can sense something is wrong as she manages to finally speak, "…I'm fine," and curtly, "…What do you expect me to be feeling after tonight, huh?"
He does not even blink at her change in attitude, but replies, "…Cool, calm, hot at the same time in that dress," he draws a little disbelief from her eyes, and then she shrugs with a shake of her damp hair, a sudden laugh.
"Thanks…I guess I could have used a little lift-me-up," she says as she enters the code for her door and it opens, "…Look," stopping from entering, turning her face to the side but not making eye contact with him directly—through his reflection of his coat and arm on the wall, "…I normally don't let strangers into my apartment, but can I trust you," she now does make herself look him in the eyes and Casnar lowers his from the end of the hall, down to hers.
#
The apartment is empty. The window dark due to the night, but the view is Lothairaxl, and once one walks towards it the night is realized to be interrupted by bright lights—taillights and headlights of skyrunners, windows with their inhabitants home inside the other towering apartment buildings, spires and traffic lights aglow with constant patterns and pulses, a faint flicker of lightning muted by high clouds and distantly at that. Casnar stops in the sitting room to look about at the sofas, endtables, the coffee table, "…You live here? This is quaint," he observes her heading by the window and into a bedroom.
Braith starts to pull off her straps and unzip her dress over her back, "…It's my bachelorette pad now…Help yourself to a drink while I rinse, get into a change of clothes," she closes the door, Casnar's eyes fastened to the bare shoulder-blade.
"Let me know if you need help," he murmurs, and means it. The state of weakness he witnessed her in, outside in the lift and the lobby, the hallway, makes him want to comfort her, …How long's it been since you slept with a drellahna, never mind a woman from another species?…
Walking to the window's left border, he presses a button—that lowers the shield which blocks view of her inner apartment. No need to be bold…Diaustra's going to be hunting her, especially with her omni-tool…He leans against the wall, and looks at the closed door to the bedroom.
§
Moving into the kitchenette his hands coast over everything, leaving touches here, on a glass there, …Kala, he thinks, …I want to rub my hands over everything…She's definitely fucking another drell here…It's making me crazy…He looks at his fingers, and touches his tebral spines, sniffs the air…The barbs are lifting, producing venom, …Damn it, he's realizing the vulgarity of his body's betrayal…He wants her as a mate.
It's not something common, that drells do towards species outside their own…Maybe it's the garbage I've been watching…But the other drell's scent in that apartment is rousing his habits…Natural instincts…So close to a female he finds desirable, inside her actual home, she interested in him, …Gah!
Shaking his crests, he moves into the cabinets next and rummages about—checking out what she eats, learning what she drinks, what she uses to cook with—His eyes discover the vial of pills, he lifts it, reading the script, "…Muscle relaxants?" he murmurs, shakes his head, and replaces the vial in the cabinet by the wine, …Why doesn't she get high from her boyfriend…Must have gotten used to him…Kahjic drell probably, bet she'd go on a trip with my own…Shit, he looks to the bedroom door, …Must have been a really long-term deal...
He grabs himself a glass and fills it with water from the faucet, drinks, thinks, and drinks some more…
§
Braith finishes her shower and steps into her bedroom, taking her towel over her hair and quickly tamping her body down, …Pants, socks, boots, belt, tee…She goes over what she will put on and hurries through her closet to do so.
"You almost ready," she hears him call through the door.
"Yeah," she shouts, "…One more second…"
§
"The longer you take—" He is there as her door opens and Braith sees him sniff the air, "…Damn," his eyes settle on her choice of outfit, "…Wow, I thought the dress was good on you, this is—"
"You don't have to keep this going," Braith tilts her head, her hair wet but from the shower now instead of sewer steam, "…Trying to make me feel better because my man done broke me up when he could have all the reason to…"
"Uh huh," he forgets about the reactor, completely stirred by her appearance—jeans, tee, belt, the simplest things the greatest joys in life, "…but I'm not pretending to do it, so I don't feel so badly for you anymore…" His mouth has a softer smile, and Braith brushes away the thought she's having right then, "…I am tempted…You know," he whispers, leaning in with his hands on the doorframe, "…I don't think you're safe here…Maybe you should come to stay at my pad, after we're through with my little whatever I can't really remember right now…"
"Reactor, Boyfriend," Braith pats his patak and ducks under his arm.
Casnar winces and sighs, turning to follow, "…There's something about you," he sings as he heads with her to the apartment's exit, "…Something about you…" He puts his hand on her waist, and Braith laughs as he tickles her spine.
#
Walking through the lobby, Braith turns and looks at the receptionist, "…Be back in the daylight, Chelsea. If anyone calls, tell them I lost my omni-cuff, and I'll be put on business," she waves goodnight as Casnar walks ahead of her.
"I'm the perfect stranger," he says as she catches up, "…You're helping a perfect stranger get what belongs to him," he has a smile, feeling closer to his reactor—and to his accomplice, "…Doesn't this interfere with your business relationship with Brünner?"
"Erec was going to give me to Diaustra, and 'til you came along, I was a sitting duck," she explains.
"You were floating when I found you, actually," he corrects her as they pass through the sliding doors, out into the street air.
Braith hails a skycab, "…Tell him where to, Casnar," she jogs to meet the descending vessel.
"Anything else you demand I do?" He reaches it first and opens the door of the skycab, and they get inside, crowding each other, "…Take us to Rituvan District in the South Barend, warehouse number six-five-three-eight-two-zero-zero," Casnar requests.
"You got it," says the cabbie, and Casnar shuts the door. Braith reclines against her seat, Casnar against his own.
He looks over at her, "…You packing heat anywhere on that body?"
"No, just my power," she lights a small glow of biotic power above her fingers, the meld smooth and refreshing in her mind.
"Good," Casnar puts his arm on the seat over her shoulders, "…No more jewelry tonight."
"You mean another separator?" she snorts, "…Not twice in a row."
"How long have you and your boyfriend been together," he asks, looking disinterested in his own question.
"A very long time," she answers, "…Try not to nose into my personal life…"
"You want me not to be interested?"
Braith turns her head and stares at him.
#
The galienna rocks as silent swells of Beirchardt move her in list from stern to prow, the masts tall and fragile against a sobering sky. Tetonbaum backs away from the curtain, and, moving so as not to create a current other than which the curtain experiences of swaying from the rock of the boat—he dives for the window, grabs onto the ledge and holds fast outside it, seeing his cloak bundle dripping next to his temple.
Tetonbaum lowers himself down to be out of view as the door slowly opens and a lean silhouette—shrouded in a cape and hood—framed by torchlights on the deck enters. A slender hand releases the knob and lifts to push back her hood, ( "…There is someone in here," ) she moves forward, her gaze lifting and falling over the recesses and banners, ( "…Who, I wonder..." )
Tetonbaum's fingers move farther from the sill, as he climbs to the side of the window—careful of the shutters, and listening, he tries to learn more about the woman inside…
Kasumi holds up her sleeve and checks her omni-tool as it pings, distracting her from the window, and she sighs, walks over to the bunk on which blankets and clothes are strewn, ( "…Shepard again," ) she groans a little, ( "…What now?" )
#
Casnar holds his temple against his fingers as he listens to Braith write her email to her colleague, speaking the message aloud as she types on the complimentary computer built into the back of the driver's seat, "…Request…help…with…Casn—"
His other hand jumps to her shoulder, stopping her from continuing, pulling her back to look her in the face. "Please don't put my name on that message," he asks, lowering his hand as she drops her eyes from his to her shoulder that the hand has touched, "…I don't need you triggering some spyware on that and revealing my whereabouts…Could be bad for me…I'm a wanted drell on two worlds, you know?"
"Diaustra and Erec gave me information on you," Braith says with a knowinh expression, "…I think I need to help you get your name cleared…but I can't do it alone, and neither can you, I strongly believe that you need more than what I can give you."
"Who says I need you to help me," he asks, his voice low and thoughtful.
"I didn't see or hear you pushing me away after you rescued me from Souledivinie," she does not back down from the closeness of his physical proximity…He pouts suddenly and turns his head, planting his patak against his knuckles.
"Got me there…I like keeping you around," he admits to the window, "…So far you've been an interesting good luck charm…And I haven't really had someone foolishly on my side, or so it would seem…Least not for more than a day or two..."
"How did you get to Lothairaxl from Rakhana…And how were you expecting to return there, Casnar?" she asks, suspicious.
"I have a friend."
"Aunar Bri'unosa? The anagram, '…Be seeing you soon' or something like that?"
He chuckles and pats her cheek, "…That's not his real name, and yes, he has been my one extra hand since he helped me escape."
#
She waits for the next message but seeing it does not come for a bit, she sets her omni-tool off her wrist upon the desk full of candles, giving view to the outline of an ancient map with foreign symbols on this…The map has several emblems, two of which appear as strange skulls. She begins to undress and hurries—not certain when their rendez-vous will arrive.
Peering over the sill during the silence, Tetonbaum glimpses the removal of cloak and hood, the untying of tassels down the breast profile, and hides himself, briefly, then, his curiosity piqued…Kasumi glances at the door, moves to lock it with a turn of a latch, a slide of wood bar, and sets about changing into the clothing and gear she has stored in her bunk drawers.
Leaning towards the window again, he sees the long black braid fall free down the back and shoulders bared from the tunic that remains no longer cinched about her slim bare waist, tassels loose and coming further undone as the woman moves from drawer to drawer, removing out articles while simultaneously undressing herself with the other hand…Nimble and dextrous to be doing so with ease…
Tetonbaum's sapphire eyes fix on the long black braid, the pale skin of moonlight, the gloss of lipstick as she turns, her eyes down as she ties on a garter, a purple corset, the weapons halter over this and under her breasts, then raises her face—
A knock disturbs the spell. Kasumi quickly turns as she throws over her shoulders and head her cloak, cursing at not having any privacy, and tying the tassels over her lethal accessories, she goes to answer the knocking.
Tetonbaum hides just beyond the window view and breathing outward, almost caught by the brown eyes and the elegant face containing these, ( "…Are they here?…" ) he hears her voice again, and stopping his breathing, he looks up to the heavens as it begins to rain harder, cooling his throbbing skin.
#
Stepping onto the outer deck under the glow of flickering torch flames, a wind picking up, Kasumi covers her face with a veil from her cloak. Her eyes covered by a screen of fabric much thinner. She strides over the wooden boards in long leather boots, soft as velvet and waterproof, and tilts her head back towards the clouds under night sky…Among a vein of thin covering a sweeping light, in search of something, ( "…Douse the torches," ) she says, ( "…It's not them, but someone must have given someone a hint of the trade! Tisus, Calarainas, Davied…" ) And there is much more motion—her own among it as they try to diminish and conceal their presence on the rising and falling ocean.
§
Tetonbaum hears and senses the sudden flurry of activity and takes this opportunity to go inside the cabin. As the galienna is ushered into darkness on the waters—while a light from the sky grows brighter and larger—he finds a spare cloak and hood from the woman's drawers under her bunk, throws it over him, and slips out the window once more. Climbing higher, he sets foot on the upper decking where no one seems to realize the new addition of a shadow to the crew, who moves fleetly, avoids contact, smells like the human woman and drell mixed together…Searching towards the opposite end of the ship he keeps his senses about him, and dodges the passing bodies, the brightening of the still-as-faint beacon in investigation through cloud cover…And his power feeling about for Ylyssus—or other biotics, and Tetonbaum learns right away where one exists, a strong energy about him, or her...
At a distance from all the commotion conducted in the darkness—torches doused, decreasing one by one—he listens for any hatches being opened, hollow echoes betraying holds under the deck, chains moving, locks being knocked, and gradually makes to the port of the ship where a trapdoor he finds is set among the raised framing in the planks.
Crouching and casting a quick survey about him, Tetonbaum pries the trapdoor up with his fingers, and sniffs…Somewhere below, he smells blood and drell body, sweet venom, and calls down quietly, "…Tan'nanshul…"
A soft groan, and the stir of a heavy body on what sounds like straw and reed, "…Soterios…Is that you," Ylyssus says faintly.
§
Tetonbaum lands with his feet apart, Ylyssus peering up at him in the pitch blackness, adjusting his vision…Tetonbaum can see where he is with his biotic energy, melded with his mind now, "…Don't make too much noise," he whispers, lowered into a crouch to check out and untie the drell's bonds, "…You have a cut on your head, it seems to have dried…Above are thirteen mixed-crew, tending to concealment of the boat…Something higher above, coming from the sky, searching with a silver beacon." He helps Ylyssus stand. "Mind your head," both of them are cramped in the hold underneath the deck.
"Where are your clothes?" Ylyssus asks, sniffs, "…That's not your cloak…Smells human, and female…"
"It is not and it is a very expensive material," he takes a second to consider the silken, lined feeling of the interior of the cloak, and as he moves it over to inspect it with his rubbing fingers, his eyes widen as he sees through it—to the faint straws and reeds of the floor planks' bedding.
Ylyssus puts his hand forward, waving cautiously for the high th'ane, "…Where did you go?"
#
Tetonbaum looks up at the boards above their crests, "…They have been found."
"We have," Ylyssus replies, still staring at the spot where he heard Tetonbaum's voice from, a silver light passing between the boards' spaces overhead, and highlighting parts of Ylyssus—but not Tetonbaum, not a speck of him. "Soterios, where have you gotten to," he reaches forward again.
"I'm here," Tetonbaum looks down at where his hand would be by his own proprioception of its place among the cloak, and rubbing the quilted material inside the article—as he had before—he, the cloak, and his arm wholly reappear together as if with a slow transfiguration from thin air.
Ylyssus sighs out with an impressed noise, "…What technology such as that? It must be from the stars."
"It is useful, wherever it is from," Tetonbaum murmurs, a grin slowly spreading on his lips as he looks to Ylyssus, "…You ready to swim?"
"My blood will call bereds to us."
"Better the demon we know than wherever they intend to barter you, brother," he claps his hand softly against his arm, encouraging the th'ane, "…Hurry, we will leave these fools to deal with their own fates…To freedom, Ylyssus."
#
Casnar gets out of the skycab, scans his chit. Braith comes to stand behind him—gazing upwards at the warehouse, with a slight lean on her heels, "…This isn't one of Erec's warehouses," she says with some chagrin, "…I've inspected all I know of…Bastard was hiding this one from me…Figures," she shakes her head.
"Obviously, and what, you're surprised…" Casnar shuts the door as the cabbie coasts away, "…I should have probably asked him to hang around…In any case," he turns and walks her to the large arched doorway facing them. The facility takes up three blocks. "It's probably where he hides all of his stolen goods. How did you not deduce there was something off about him?" Casnar asks as he looks for the key panel between two solid metal doors, heavy-duty for only locking thieves out. The façade is windowless, austere, and the roof flat. There is one light high over the entrance, and a camera, "…You'd think there'd be some warning flags that stood out to a commander, or a security chief, a know-it-all…" He flinches away from her elbow to his ribs, chuckling, "…Ouch, don't be so touchy…" Casnar straightens and smiles at her.
"Like I said," she looks away from him, eyes gauging the doors, "…It was business, and I figured he was like anyone else, just trying to cover up stuff and smooth some screwed relationships over…He has a family."
"So do I, a big one."
"You have kids?"
"No."
She sighs, "…Well, my boyfriend does," she says offhand, "…Anyway, most people wanted him dead, but hey," she shrugs off his curious look, "…I can relate, I guess…Not like I'm no sinner…"
"Your boyfriend had a son? With someone else?"
"Yeah, but she passed away, and he was a widow."
"What made him leave you, the son?"
Braith shakes her head, "…Me."
§
The door opens at a prompt from Casnar, who punches in the digits Erec's voice repeats in his head, …Alpha, Thirteen, Epsilon…
"What's that smell?"
Both he and Braith can scent it.
"Smells like a zoo in here. I'm a bit taken aback…I've known Erec to be fastidious—"
Braith covers his lips with her hand, her finger crossing her own then pointing to the doors ahead of them. They stand in an office room, a small desk at the front, a smear of blood on the floor, and the doors looking severely damaged.
Braith does not need to go over and inspect it, and as they turn to leave and discuss their alarming findings, both soon learn they are locked-in.
He tests it and pushes, pulls…Locked!…Casnar sees an inner panel, and attempts to manually release the bolts holding the doors secure in place. A loud bleat fills the ominous silence, the stuffy odor of zoo in the office room, and it is very conspicuous.
Braith grabs Casnar's arm, …Stop!…Her eyes seem to shout, and Casnar's instinct raises his tebral spines as he hears something move beyond the damaged set of inner office doors.