So why am I so hungry?
Hmm. Maybe it was a dream after all?
I glance at the time display over the entertainment screen and scowl. It says it’s only two o’clock. How is that possible? I feel like it should be night already.
OK. Enough. Time is weird, this day is weird, and I can’t wait to get off this station.
I check my wristband to see when that message originally came in from Flicka and scowl. “What?” It says it was sent hours ago while I was deep in sleep.
Shouldn’t they be back by now?
I walk over to the balcony and open the doors. Jimmy’s reward bot is hovering silently outside. But it turns to me and chirps something.
“Oh, hi,” I say. “Hold on, let me find a translator program so I can talk to you.”
It starts chirping again as I mess with my programs, trying to find the right language. Turns out this thing is an old-ass 200 model. Practically useless as far as bots go, but he doesn’t have to do much other than flash that stupid Palladium Rewards message over his head and escort us to the resort attractions, so I guess his low-functionality model makes sense.
“—too long,” the bot says, once I find the right program.
“Wait? What was that? I only heard the last part.”
“He left a long time ago. I should’ve gone with him because it’s been hours. And if the station finds out he’s missing—”
“Hold on. He’s missing? How do you know? My bot sent me a message two hours ago saying he bailed her out of lockup and they were gonna pick up water bottles and come get me so we could leave.”
The bot is shaking his whole body in a negative response. “No. Something is wrong. We should go look for them.”
“Maybe we should… I don’t know. Send an alert or something?”
“If the station finds out—” He doesn’t finish.
“Well, if something happened to them we can’t just stay here and do nothing. Maybe I should check in with my ship.”
And just as those words come out of my mouth I get this ugly, sinking feeling in my gut. I open the channel, still hopeful, but then the message that flashes on my screen makes all the hope disappear.
Because it says—Ship out of range.
“What the hell?” I turn to the bot. “Can you check for a ship in the docking bays if I send you its registration signature?”
“Yes, why?”
I flick my authorized party certification at him and the display on his hull blinks twice, letting me know the message was received. “I think my ship left me here. And…”
“She’s not here,” he says, interrupting me. “Was approved for docking bay release ninety minutes ago.”
“Fuck!” I grab my hair with both hands. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why the hell did I assume she was gonna wait for me?”
“This is a problem?” the bot asks.
“Yes, this is a problem! She took him! That fucking ship took him!”
“How do you know?” the bot squeaks, now spinning in circles.
“Because that’s why we were—” But I stop. Because admitting to this station bot that I was here to kidnap Jimmy of Harem Station, currently one of the most rewarded of Mighty Minions rewards members, is probably a very bad idea. “Never mind. Just… can you check to see if his ship is still here? Her name is Big Dicker but I don’t know which bay she’s in.”
There’s some chirping and light blinking from the bot, then he says, “She’s still here. In the Flame Lake Sector.”
“Thank the sun. I need to go to her. Right now.”
“No,” the bot says. “I need to report this.”
“No!” I say. “You can’t. There’s… extenuating circumstances. And… I just need to get to the ship. You can stay here, or go help some other rewards member, or whatever it is you do. But I’m leaving.”
I look back inside the hotel, wondering if I should pack the clothes I got from the autoshopper, then chastise myself for being so shallow. Because this whole Mighty Minions fantasy is now over and my sad, pathetic reality has just come rushing back with a force.
I step onto the lift bot and mess with the buttons until I figure out how to make it take me down into the resort.
“What are you doing?” the bot asks, hovering next to me.
I ignore it. Just step off the lift when I reach the bottom and head towards a large holomap to try to figure out where I’m at in relation to Flame Lake.
I sigh when I realize it’s all the way on the other side of the station. It will take me hours to walk there through the thick crowds.
The bot is still talking. Only now it’s just chirps and lights, because I turned the translator off.
I turn to look at it, open the translator program again, and then, with all the authority I can muster up, I lie straight to its empty metallic face. “Listen,” I say. “That Jimmy guy? He’s pretty important. He’s part owner of Harem Station and he’s been kidnapped by my ship. Who is also someone you do not want to fuck with. So I suggest you help me get to his ship so we can go get him back before very bad things start to happen. Do you understand me?” It hesitates so I add in a threat for good measure. “If you don’t help me I’m going to ping this station with an emergency alert and then I’m going to ping the Prime Navy and report Mighty Minions for harboring terrorists who kidnapped a high-profile station owner from this resort.”