The two stared at one another for a few long moments before Ardon cleared his throat. "You look good."
Liri cocked her brow.
"Clean, I mean, and a little less frazzled."
"I don't recall showers feeling as soothing as that one did."
"Long trips make you appreciate the little things in life more."
"True. Silence isn't something I ever yearned for until being crammed on board that vessel." She shuddered. "Never again will I use cheap flights."
Chuckling, he stepped closer to her and asked, "Are you hungry?"
"I could use nourishment." A brief smile graced her face. "But no meat, please."
"You don't like steak or chicken?"
"I can't digest it."
"Oh, ok. You can sit at the bar and tell me about your troubles while I cook an early dinner. Unless you want to go out?"
"No!"
His wings twitched.
She cleared her throat and spoke in a calm tone. "I prefer to stay out of sight for a little while longer if you don't mind."
"Sure thing."
"Where will I be sleeping?" Liri lifted her bag and smiled.
Ardon pointed to the door down from the bathroom. "That one's yours. I'll have dinner ready in about fifteen minutes."
"Sounds good. I'll be right there."
After the door hissed closed behind her, she set her things down on the bed.
Pulling a rectangular metal box from her bag, she pressed several buttons and placed it on the floor in the center of the room. Four legs burst from its sides and a fat one from its top that clicked into place, becoming a radar dish. The device walked around, swiveling its cupped head like a puppy looking for a treat from its owner before settling down.
A red timer started counting down on the device as a hologram of a ringlet-haired woman blinked to life in front of Liri. Her cinnamon-brown eyes widened before a low cry escaped her full-lipped mouth.
Liri reached out as if she could wipe a tear that streamed down the other woman's cheek. In a soothing tone, she whispered, "Hi, beautiful."
"Liriandra, you shouldn't risk contacting me," the woman's chin quivered. Her hand moved to the side of her face, where Liri's palm would have warmed her skin under ideal circumstances.
"I know, but..." She shrugged.
"No, you need to keep a low profile."
Liri's pale blue eyes traveled around the unadorned guest room. "I tried, but they knew I was here as soon as I arrived."
The other woman cocked her eyebrow. "Where are you anyway?"
"Sol, system."
"Jupiter?"
Liri smiled. "Don't worry about it."
"Oh, Hades, no! Don't tell me you're on that shit-hole, Earth."
"Ok, I won't."
The woman's face fell further. "I'm going to have to send you to Suzie-qz for a month to get all that filth scrubbed from your pores."
"I was hoping you'd do it for me." Liri winked.
"Flirt." The other woman laughed lightly. "I can never tell you no, but I will in this instance."
Liri teased, "What's the point of coming home if the woman I adore won't even lather my hair and rub the aches from my muscles?"
"When you come home, we can negotiate the terms."
"Believe me; I'll be there as soon as I can."
"It won't be safe until you undergo the rite and prove to the council that you are telling the truth."
"They have evidence that even convinces me, I did it."
The woman remained silent.
"Pasley, please tell me you found something—anything."
"I looked into Tenebris as you asked me to, but there didn't seem to be anything amiss. All the paperwork looks legitimate, bills are paid on time, the worker's happiness rating is a little higher than most, and they are even operating in the black."
A heavy sigh left Liri's lips. "There was nothing out-of-the-ordinary ground-side either."
"Nothing?"
"No."
"What are you looking into next?"
"Have you heard of Bazentine Werks?"
Pasley cocked her brow. "Isn't that a textile company?"
"I thought so too, but the name is misleading. Watch this," Liri instructed, and she pressed a few buttons.
A commercial popped to life where Pasley had been standing. Several high-tech space ships buzzed across the screen, and an overly-chipper announcer said, "Every day, our 7,000,000 employees come to work with one focus–our customers' missions. Whether it's protecting citizens or advancing the boundaries of science, these missions are some of the most important and challenging in the galaxy. We bring an unwavering commitment to help our customers succeed, and it's that sense of purpose and opportunity to make a difference in the galaxy that drives us every day." After the ships made another fly-by, the holo-gram reverted back to Pasley.
"That didn't tell me a thing about what they produce. Spaceships?"
Liri nodded. "Yes, military-grade, space-faring craft."
"What?" Pasley shook her head. "Dante and Fiona were architects at heart and all about building a better society, they would never invest in something like that, let alone be associated with it."
"I found this." Liri pressed a few buttons, and a spreadsheet popped to life in the hologram with several sections highlighted.
Pasley's eyes widened. "That's more currency than I knew the entire bloodline was worth. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"
"At first, I couldn't believe it. I did a significant amount of checking and double-checking to make sure that I had the right information." Liri frowned.
"Where is their base of operations?"
"Old Seattle, warehouse district."
Pasley screeched, "You can't go in there alone!"
Liri's eyes darted to the door, and she started pacing around the room. "I won't be."
Pasley squinted. "You haven't replaced me, have you?"
"I could never do that." Liri chuckled. "Ardon's ego seems to be bigger than his wing-span, but he sure is an amazing kisser. Get rid of the bad meat-breath, and I would have enjoyed it."
"Wings?" Pasley's brown eyes widened. "Are you going to bring home an angel?"
Liri chuckled. "He seems to think so, but no. A human with dragon wings."
Pasley's smile vanished. "A High-Draconian?"
"A hybrid."
A worried look contorted her features and matched her tone, "Run! I don't care if he's more beautiful than a real angel; you need to get away from him now."
The timer chimed as it counted down the last ten seconds of the transmission, Liri smiled. "Oops, saved by the bell. Thank you for the help, Pasley."
"Promise me you'll find someone else to help you."
"Sorry, gotta go now."
"I love you, Liriandra."
Liri blew her a kiss. "Bye, Babe." With a static noise, her image faded, and the radar reverted to its rectangular shape. Stowing the uplink in the bag, she wandered the spotless guest room.
Pulling open the dresser drawers, she found a spare set of clean sheets, and the lone bookshelf held several old readers. With a sigh, she clicked the light off and wandered back to the central area of the apartment.
Ardon was busy stirring the pan of colorful veggies, its spices perfuming the air. Quiet ambient music filled the space as Liri walked to the wall of windows overlooking the bustling skyline.
"Have you been to New Seattle before?" Ardon asked with one eye on her willowy form and the other watching dinner sizzle.
"Several times, when I was young."
"With your family?"
Nodding, she answered, "My father had business here, so I visited a few times to see what Earth was like."
"Doesn't sound like you enjoyed it much."
"I didn't care one way or the other."
"It has its charms. Like fresh seafood down at the Old Pike Place Market as well as fruits and veggies from around the system."
Liri wandered towards the bar, her pale eyes taking in the shelves of artifacts and tech devices. "For a guy claiming to need money, this place certainly doesn't give me that impression."
"What can I say, I'm a neat freak, with love for high-quality tech—at a good price, of course."
"Excellent prices considering you have a state-of-the-art personal feels, a replicator for clothes and meals, several Mantis artifacts—I'm sure are stolen or are masterwork replicas, and a butler-bot in its charging station in your study."
His wings gently ruffled as he shrugged. "The butler-bot was a surprise gift, programmed to kill me, so he's been in his docking station since I EMPed him."
"I bet that's an interesting tale."
"Maybe some other time I'll tell you about Sebastian and our ongoing disagreement."
"All right. Why don't you tell me what is it you do, other than assist compromised women in alleys then?"
His throaty laugh filled the air as he pulled plates from a cabinet. "I don't usually help." He glanced at her. "I'm a freelancer nowadays."
She slid onto the stool at the bar and crossed her long legs. "A freelancer?"
"Yep."
"What were you before that?"
He offered Liri a glass of clear, fizzy liquid. "Pretty much the same."
"That was informative. I'm so glad I asked." She swirled the drink around and sniffed it before taking a sip, then took another quick one before setting it down.
"Your turn," Ardon piped up. "Who'd you piss off at the transport station?"
She smiled. "Some people just like to be angry, and I was in his line of sight."
He nodded companionably. "Right. Like I believe a beautiful woman was running for no good reason from a group of armed security guards."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Rowe, but what is it you said you do for a living?"
"Touche." He slid the plate of veggies under Liri's nose and another one in the spot next to her.
"Thank you." She waited until Ardon was seated before taking a bite. Closing her eyes, she moaned and rolled the salt and spice enhanced food over her tongue.
"I know right, I'm a good cook." Ardon inhaled a large forkful of the colorful meal.
Her eyes popped open and darted to his. "I haven't had anything but ass-flavored protein packs for weeks..." She trailed off.
"Well, I'm glad you like it."
Covering her mouth to stifle her giggles, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I've been cramped up in that transport for too long, and my manners dissolved after being threatened to be turned into a food source several dozen times. I didn't mean to offend you."
"No, no, it's fine. And I agree, this is only a step up from ass-flavored protein packs."
She flushed, "That's not—"
"You look like you just killed one of the fae." Ardon broke into a fit of laughter. "Don't worry; you didn't offend me."
Liri sighed and admitted, "It's delicious and better than anything I could hope to make."
"You cook?" He asked as he took another bite.
"No. I can't even pretend to. But I have a replicator as well as a personal chef back home."
"Really? What is it you do that allows you those kinds of creature comforts?"
"I spent most of my time, either in lessons, with my horses or traveling with my parents."
He pushed his glasses up his nose. "I guess I don't know anything about Dubrovn's. How old are you?"
She froze. "I'm Venusian."
He inhaled deeply. "No, I don't think so."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Your pheromones are saturating the air, and I suspect if you touched me, I'd feel like a hormone infested teenager willing to lick shit off your boots if you asked me to."
She took another bite of her food and washed it down with her drink. "I'm still considered a youth, but my species can live up to three hundred Earth years."
"So, you're like sixty?"
Frowning, she asked, "Haven't you been told it's rude to ask a female her age?"
Scratching his chin, he admitted, "I may have been told that a time or two, but I don't do as people tell me unless there's good money in it."
"I believe you."
They ate in companionable silence, glancing at one another between mouthfuls.
"Go on," Ardon rumbled. "I know you want to ask."
"I don't know what you mean."
He ruffled his wings, gently shifting her hair. "They are mine, I was born this way."
"I didn't ask."
"But you wanted to." He winked.
"I don't plan on being here long enough to become friends with anyone, so no, I wasn't going to ask." Silence hung in the air for a few moments. "But since you brought it up, I didn't think Draconians were able to breed with humans successfully. How was it possible?"
"I was part of the Pantheon Studies."
Liri fell silent, her gaze sharpening as they drew over his bearded face. "You look human." Shifting in her seat, her pale eyes trailed over his leathery, dark-grey wings. "And I thought those tests were shut down over a hundred years ago."
"Publicly, they were, but the leaps that inner-species genetics took was too financially enticing for the High Draconian Council."
"You mean that they still go on to this day?"
"Most likely."
"You don't know?"
"When I left their service some time ago, I don't remember where I was dumped, but long story short, I ended up here. I've been working various jobs since."
"What kind of work did you do for them?"
"Freelancing." He winked.
"Oh." Her eyes darted around. "It looks like you did well with the hand you were dealt."
"I'm good at my job, and I like the thrill."
Liri chuckled as she pushed her empty plate away. "I knew you were trouble before I was aware you could fly."
"I bet you did." He smiled and took their plates to the sink. "I have ice cream bars in the freezer if you'd like."
She glanced outside then to the clock. "No, thank you, I'm full. How much do I owe you for the night? I'm beat and ready for some sleep."
"How about we discuss it in the morning?"
"Sure." She nodded slowly.
"Your room has a lock if you'd feel better."
She held his eyes with hers. "Why would that make me feel better?"
"Well, in case you..." He ran his hand through his hair. "You know what, nevermind."
Liri drifted down the hallway. "I trust that you remember my electro-blade and know I'll dissect anyone like a lab experiment gone wrong in several seconds if I'm threatened."
A smile lit his face as he admired her form. "I do now."
"Goodnight, Mr. Rowe."
"Goodnight, Liri."