The Erogenous Affair (Spaceport 14)

The Erogenous Affair (Spaceport)
Second Edition
Mikala Ash
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2010 & 2020 Mikala Ash

I wandered the corridors of Adana in a sort of daydream. My grateful pilot had to leave straight after our morning coupling. Some sort of parade and flyby the navy was putting on to dazzle the citizenry. We did all that awkward stuff that comprises the morning after the drunken fuck ritual; exchanged numbers and promised to call each other.

So now I was at a loose end. My joy ride with him had given me a few ideas for the theme of my guide to the psychology of sex and I figured a quiet café would help get the thoughts straight in my head.

I'd barely taken a sip when Holly and an attractive and vaguely familiar blonde woman in her early twenties, fitted out with Holly's holovid camera, entered the café.

"Hi, sis," Holly said in her usual effervescent manner. "This is Zoe. I'm training her to be a breaking news reporter."

I shook Zoe's hand, gazing at her bright-eyed expression and trying to figure out where I'd seen her before.

"I've read everything you've written, Peri," she gushed.

"I'm flattered. Zoe, I wonder if you could give Holly and me a moment alone?"

She flashed me a genuine smile. "Sure." She turned to Holly. "Boss, how about I finish that council meeting story?"

"Sure, knock yourself out." After watching Zoe stride away Holly turned to me. "Isn't she great?"

"I guess. Sit down for a second. Listen, I need you to think about Nova Town for me."

Her expression told me Nova Town was not her favorite subject. Nor was it mine, but we had to talk about it sometime.

"Ever heard of Scalion?"

"Um, I think so. Is that the agricultural planet?"

"That's the one. Did either Mother or Father have a connection there?"

She frowned for a moment in concentration. "Nuh, nada. I have nothing. Why?"

"It's just that I think we went there after Nova Town. I can't remember it. I just recognized a guy's accent, and I don't know why it should have made such an impression unless I'd been there."

She tilted her head slightly and gave me one of her penetrating gazes. "The pilot at the Haze last night? From what I hear, his accent wasn't the only thing that would have made an impression."

Fuck me! "How'd you know about that?"

"Zoe saw you. She was doing a story on the singing Kitali."

"That must be where I've seen her," I said doubtfully, but didn't remember any singing Kitali.

"Also, Silas heard about it too. He's pretty cut up. Angry would be a better term. What are you doing to him?"

I was surprised. I didn't know he was back on Adana. He hadn't called me. "It's complicated."

"Well, he's a solid type of guy from what I can tell."

"Yeah, well."

She knew me well enough to change the subject. "Any luck with Jyker?"

I gritted my teeth at the name. He was a notorious criminal and knew something of my mother, and I had so desperately wanted to find out what. Fyche, Silas and I had almost captured him in a bondage and discipline parlor but in the confusion of an assassination attempt, he'd escaped, taking his knowledge with him. "Trail has gone cold. Silas is following it up for his own purposes. I'll probably not hear any more of it."

Her journalist's eyes brightened. "His own purposes?"

"Yeah, it seems Jyker has more to answer for than either Mischa or us." I gave an exaggerated shrug. "More of Silas's secret shit, so I don't know much."

"Have you found out anything more about the connection between Mother and the Naturalists on Jones's World? To think, we had a cousin there and never even knew."

"Mother never mentioned her family origins to me. I guess we'd have thousands of cousins, second cousins and Phong knows what else scattered all over the galaxy. No surprise that some of them might be religious fundamentalists."

"I suppose. Are there any Naturalists on Scalion?"

"There are, as a matter of fact. Fyche found reference to an old colony there."

"Curiouser and curiouser. Any Leesons on record?"

Leeson was our mother's maiden name. "Not that he could find."

She played with a sugar shaker for a moment. "I wonder where Mother ended up."

That question had been foremost in my mind. "The strange thing is these last few months are the first time I've ever really asked that question. You'd think that after all Mother and I had been through; escaping Nova Town, jumping from planet to planet, living out of a string bag and she constantly afraid that the New Guard would catch up with us, I'd want to know what happened to her. But despite all the hardships we faced together when I grew up, after she left me, I never asked any questions."

"Don't punish yourself. You were young."

"Sure, I resented her dumping me like she did, but there's more to it than that. It's not natural for me not to be more curious. I can't even recall seriously thinking about her until you lured me here."

Holly held up her hands. "Innocent of all charges. I had no idea Jyker would trigger this. I just glimpsed him on the playback of one of my stories. I thought you'd be interested. I had absolutely no idea of what he was about."

"I know, but it's like there's a high wall around my memories. I'm peeping over the top, and all I see is a mist. But what troubles me is that until now, I've never even tried to look over the wall. Fuck, I never knew it was there."

"Well, my sense is that if it hasn't troubled you in the past, then don't let it trouble you now. Let her go. She left you in the care of strangers. For whatever reason, good or bad, she left you like she left Dad, like she left me. You don't need to kick yourself around the room for what she did. Let her go."

I knew she was trying to give me good advice, but it hurt nonetheless. Holly was bitter at Mother for leaving our father in the turmoil of Nova Town. I understood that. On the other hand, I'd been with Mother. I needed to know what happened to her. "I don't think I can. Besides, she gave me up because she thought she was being tracked by the New Guard, and that it was safer for me not to be with her."

"Are you sure about that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess. It sounds logical."

"It may be she doesn't want to be found." She grasped my hand. "I only know that when she took you away, Dad didn't want her to. They had a fight. When she came back for me, Dad stood between us. He wasn't about to let her take me too."

"I didn't know. I assumed it was you who told her you didn't want to leave."

"I didn't want to leave. That's true, and I told her so. But Dad was the one that sent her back to the spaceport."

My expression must have asked the obvious question.

"He told her to leave you behind with us, but she refused. She said you preferred her to him, you always did. That was true; even I knew that. I belonged to Dad and you belonged to her."

I squeezed her hand tight. "Why did he really send her away?"

"I never found out. To be honest, I never asked. It was enough that I was still with him. I missed you, but well, it was never like we got along."

I laughed. "No, I don't think we did."

Holly's gaze had wandered off toward her protégé. I saw a raised eyebrow. Holly stood up. "Well, duty calls. Gotta go. I'll think about Scalion, see what I come up with and let you know."

"Sure."

"Oh, I put that order in for you."

I took a moment to remember I'd asked her to do something on the quiet for me, something Fyche didn't know about.

"Thanks."

I must have looked a bit confused for she reached for my hand. "Hey. Sis. Look after yourself. Find Silas and sort it out with him. He's a solid guy. I'm sure of it."

"I'll think about it."