Big Dicker (Harem Station 3)

Delphi is almost convinced. Almost.

“OK,” I say. “Watch this.” I tab my wristband and bring up the Mighty Minions community board, find the ‘contact us’ page, then tab the button that says call.

“Mighty Minions Resort Help Desk, this is Ambassador Ambrosia. How can I make your day better?”

“Ambrosia, this is Jimmy.”

“Hello, Mr. Krockstelter. What can I do for you?”

“Krockstelter?” Delphi laughs.

I cover my wristband with my hand and whisper, “No one can say my crazy name. I just go with it.” Then I clear my throat, uncover my wristband, and say, “Yes, Ambrosia. I realize there’s no way to communicate with other systems, but I’m going to need you to find me a neutrino wave anyway. I have an important message I need to send. I have the credits and authority of Harem Station at my disposal, so can you please make this happen and ping me back when it’s set up?”

“Yes, Mr. Krockstelter. We do have an intersystem communication wave. But I’ll need payment up front to get you a spot on the outgoing message list. It might take most of the day.”

“Perfect,” I say. “What do I owe you?”

“It’s seven hundred thousand credits for the wave, two hundred thousand credits service charge, and a hundred thousand credits in tax. Would you like me to proceed?”

“Please do,” I say.

My wristband lights up with an incoming charge, I tab accept, and pay, and then Ambrosia comes back on and says, “I’ll ping you when it’s ready.”

“Thank you, Ambrosia.”

“My pleasure, Mr. Krockstelter. Have a very nice Mighty Minions day.”

Delphi’s mouth is hanging open.

I shrug. “They speak money here, that’s all.”

“You just paid a million credits to make a comms call!”

“That’s nothing to me, Delphi. When I need help, I get it. No matter what.”

“So who are you calling?”

“My brother, Luck. He’s out here somewhere doing… whatever it is he does these days. And believe me, he’s one scrappy Akeelian male. He will not fuck around when he gets my message. I’m gonna ask him to bring us a new water generator and escort us back to Harem. So there, you see? All better now. Let’s go have some fun.”

CHAPTER TWENTY – DELPHI

Outside in the resort things are still fairly calm and quiet since it’s early. A few families are milling about getting food, but most of the attractions won’t open for a couple hours. One thing I will say about Mighty Minions is that this resort is top-notch when it comes to atmosphere. The roof of the station—which might be the biggest high-definition 3-D holographic screen ever made in the history of humanoids—has the appearance of a lavender-pink sky complete with subtle cloud variations and two suns—one setting, one rising—making me forget I’m inside a spinning ring floating out in the middle of the dark vacuum of the Vacation Sector.

Jimmy is holding my hand.

I’m not sure what to think about this whole… thing we’re doing.

I mean… soulmates? Really? It’s kinda stupid. And maybe I’m just a cynic—OK, I am a cynic, but I have good reasons—but this kind of stuff doesn’t happen overnight.

Lives don’t change in the span of one spin. Not like this.

Yesterday I was on the hunt to kidnap him, Queenie was my accomplice, and I was ready to turn him over to the most evil person I’ve ever encountered to save my brother. And that’s saying something, since I come from Cygnus System.

And now it seems I’ve switched sides. Hell, Jimmy pretty much pledged the considerable resources of Harem Station to help me get Tycho back.

But when you switch sides like this there are consequences. For one, it makes me a traitor. And yeah, OK. I was never loyal to the Loathsome One, but I did agree to her terms. And contracts are something we Cygnians take seriously.

When she finds out I betrayed her she will definitely retaliate.

“How soon, do you think, will we be able to leave for Harem?” I ask, looking up at Jimmy.

He’s scanning the various menus on a massive resort screen in front of the Demon Coaster. “Hmm?” he absently asks, glancing down at me.

“I just want to get out of here, ya know? I feel like Queenie might be plotting against me right about now. I need to answer her. Turning off my wristband won’t keep her at bay for long.”

Jimmy’s smile is one of complete control. Like he hasn’t got a care in the world. “Probably a few hours before I can send my message to Luck, then”—he shrugs—“I dunno, depends where Luck is. But I heard his ship, Lady Luck, got a cool upgrade before they left Harem. Equipped with some kind of special tech that can navigate inside spin nodes. Which means he might be here by tonight.” Then he pauses to think about something. “I’m not sure I like that idea.”