An immense concussive wave thrummed through her bones and set the whole crowd to oohing appreciatively, and she couldn’t keep the grin off her face. Collins moved to stand at the sudden noise but changed his mind and lay back down in disinterest.
A glance at Layth told a different story. His eyes were panicked, scanning the crowd as he reached for her shoulder to try to guide her to safety. He dropped his hand and shook his head instead. “This is a terrible idea.”
“It was your idea,” she reminded him. “You said the party was worse.”
“The party was worse. That doesn’t make this suddenly good.” He looked around again. “How am I supposed to keep you safe with all these people? With those explosions going off every few minutes?”
“They aren’t explosions. That’s the various teams test firing their engines. Be thankful they’re going one at a time. When the race starts, they’ll all fire at once. That’s an explosion.”
He shook his head. “I thought you were a sheltered scientist. How do you know about this?”
“My dad was a fan.” She smiled at the memory. “He taught me to appreciate it. We watched them on the vid, every season, every race. Even if that meant getting up hideously early because of time differences.”
“Just when you think you know a person,” he said, but there was no venom in it. “Shit, that’s a lot of security.”
She glanced toward the gate with feigned disinterest, trying to stay in her role as a wealthy attendee. He wasn’t wrong. In addition to the normal array of scanners and sniffers, the main gate had a dozen security guards posted with obvious weapons. She assumed there would be just as many scattered nearby in plain clothes. She cut across the crowd toward a stand of hygiene stalls, with Layth at her heels. “What do we do?”
He stroked a hand over his jawline, a motion that drew her eyes back to the fullness of his mouth. “I don’t suppose you’re willing to give this whole effort a miss.” She glared at him, and he nodded. “Of course not. The cat’s going to buy some cover, but this isn’t the sort of event you’ll be able to just sneak into. VIPs are going to have their own entrance.”
An idea hit her. “You said your family was rich, right? Can we trade on your name to get in through the VIP entrance?”
She’d have done less damage if she’d stabbed him. His lips tightened, and his eyes narrowed. The “No” he muttered was as final as it was quiet. He took several steps away from her, his shoulders a rigid line.
Meja reached out for him, but he continued to step away. “I’m not asking you to see them or fraternize with them. Just use your name to get us in the door.”
“Oh, this is rich.” The voice, from behind, felt eerily familiar, though she couldn’t place it immediately. There was no mistaking the smug sarcasm that laced it. “Looking for a way in?”
Meja turned, and the man touched the same sense of déjà vu she’d had with his words. She knew him from somewhere. After several awkward seconds, she remembered. “You’re the guy from the spacer bar. Covington, or something.”
“Corrington.”
“Whatever.” She stepped back to stand closer to Layth, who seemed to be watching the proceedings with confusion. “I thought you had an off-world run to make. Lose your cargo?”
The smuggler smirked. “It was a local run. Look, I’d love to stay and chat, but you’ve obviously been doing well, though apparently not well enough to get tickets I might add.”
Emil, Corrington’s partner, came out of one of the hygiene stations, mopping his tattooed scalp as he walked toward them. “Okay, hon. Sorry ab—holy shit, a cat!”
Meja rolled her eyes and tugged Layth’s sleeve. “C’mon, we need to figure out h—”
“I can get you in,” Corrington said. “For a price.”
Dammit. She stopped but resisted turning around. “Why?”
“One? I like money. Two, to remind you that you picked the wrong ship when you chose Barnes over me.”
Layth tensed beside her, and she squeezed his fist gently.
Corrington grinned. “Third, I like the idea of naming a price so high you can’t possibly afford it, then leaving you high and dry.”
“If it’s that high, why would I bother asking?” She glanced around, but the hygiene stations were far enough from the beaten path that they were effectively alone. Anyone wandering in or out of the area was decidedly focused on their own business.
Corrington crossed his arms over his chest. “Because I want you to play along. Otherwise I’ll just call the authorities now and draw this whole charade to a close.”
“Fine. What’s your offer?” She reached up to pet Collins, and the cat uttered a loud purr. Next to his partner, Emil looked fit to burst from the desire to touch the cat himself.
“Three hundred,” Corrington said. “Thousand, in case there was confusion. And for that I’ll get you in and forget I ever saw you.”
Layth stepped forward, his voice low. “And how much just to forget you saw us?”
“That’s not on the table as a separate offer.”
“It is, same as your survival.” He leaned his head to talk into his lapel. “Zion, you have the shot lined up?”
Zion’s voice crackled out of the speaker on Layth’s omni. “Got it.”
Corrington blanched. “Let’s not be hasty.”
“Hold for my mark,” Layth said. To Corrington, he added, “We’ve got a way in already. So, for what it’s worth, we’ll take that. As for you notifying the authorities…” He tossed a credit chip into the dirt at Corrington’s feet. “There’s a thousand credits. Keep your mouth shut, or you’ll find yourself taking a long walk out a shallow airlock.”
Layth turned to her and grabbed her elbow before walking toward the VIP gate. After three steps, he muttered, “Zion, if they take another step toward us, kill one of them. Your choice.”
She hissed in surprise. The two smugglers were annoying, but murder seemed extreme. “Where’s he in position?” she whispered.
Layth looked at her. “Zion? He’s not. That slacker is probably watching porn in the shuttle’s singular bunk.”
“But—”
“I set it up as a signal before we left. It was a bluff, that’s all. Something those two should figure out sometime tomorrow.”
She laughed quietly, then hugged him. “Well that was unexpected. Are we seriously going to bank on your name to get into the race? You’d help me like that?”
He shoulders slumped. “Just… I don’t want to talk about it.”
Layth tried to push the anger and frustration away, but he could only manage to ignore it for a few moments at a time. Getting through the VIP entrance was simple enough, though he had no doubt his family now knew he was planetside. With luck they’d continue to give him his space. They’d left him alone for fifteen years; they had no more reason to change the status quo than he did.
But it still left a lot of issues, not the least of which were the two smugglers who had accosted them outside. Despite his bluff to Meja, there was a not-insignificant chance the two were smart enough to do the math and realize the cat was stolen. Or worse, they might see the bounty on one of the hunter forums. That would make life damned difficult, and quick.