He rested his hands on his neck, his smell more pensive now, flowers rather than mint. “They were primarily concerned that I might engage in some activity that violates the directives outlined under the planet’s protective status, which could cause a much larger diplomatic incident.”
Of course. Wraiths had a ton of latitude for their operations, thanks to savvy negotiations with BOFA and the fact that quennians had a seat on their council. But Garilia wasn’t a full member yet; they were in that special class that meant everyone else had to keep their hands off while they got their act together. Which meant Wraiths couldn’t run around arresting people and blowing shit up for no reason, which meant Vakar had to be extra-special careful about everything he did.
Eva’s heart would have skipped a beat if it wasn’t mechanical. “Oh no, they didn’t hear about the recycler exploding, right? You’re not going to get blamed for that?”
“It has not yet been designated as an incident in need of examination and rebuke,” Vakar said. “But it is conceivable that the event, or similar ones, could be used against me in the future.”
Eva put her plate down on her lap, no longer remotely hungry. “You need to get out of here. Hop the first transport back to the rest of the universe before something happens.”
“That is no longer possible,” Vakar said, smelling embarrassed and displeased. “I informed my supervisors about our mission.”
“You what!” Eva exclaimed, standing so fast she upended her plate. Fake eggs scattered all over the floor, a scrambled yellow mess that Mala immediately sauntered over to sniff. Everyone else in the room, however, stopped what they were doing to stare at Eva with varying expressions of surprise and concern.
“I had previously indicated that Josh was present at the main facility when it was destroyed, and that he might have absconded with sensitive data,” he continued. “In the hopes that they would allow me to remain here, I added that he may possess stolen Proarkhe technology.”
“And?”
“They have ordered me to maintain a presence here, but they are sending more experienced Wraiths to relieve me of this mission going forward.”
Eva groaned and flopped onto the couch, covering her face with her arm. Vakar took her free hand in his, stroking the back of it with a claw. She wanted to jerk it away, but she was just being sullen, so she left it.
Naturally, at that moment her mother glided into the room, a frown marring her otherwise flawless makeup. “Mija, you yelled,” Regina said. “Qué pasó?”
“Nothing,” Eva said sullenly.
“Bueno, pues, why did you yell?”
“I stubbed my toe.” It was the first thing that sprang to mind, but even she knew it sounded ridiculous.
Regina pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “Fine, allá tú, don’t tell me. How was your breakfast?”
“It was—” Eva sighed, remembering the eggs and plate on the floor. “We couldn’t find anything so we came back here to eat.”
“You should have let me make you something in the first place.” Regina moved to the kitchen, where she raised her chair enough to let her reach the cabinets. “At least I got to have a lovely talk with your boyfriend.”
“Partner,” Eva said reflexively.
“Partner, discúlpame.”
Vakar’s smell shifted to embarrassment with an undercurrent of licorice. She couldn’t believe she’d left them alone in the first place. What had they talked about? Ugh, she didn’t even want to know.
Yes, she did. “What did she tell you?” Eva asked Vakar.
“Nada malo, mija, no te preocupes.” Regina sliced pieces of guayaba and laid them on crackers, a block of cream cheese waiting nearby.
Eva stared at the food like a shark scenting blood, every question in her mind forgotten. She released Vakar’s hand and got to her feet slowly, calmly, walking over to the kitchen at a leisurely pace as if she weren’t perfectly ready to shank someone for the chance at guayaba con queso crema.
With a smile, Regina brushed Eva’s hand away. “They’re for you, malcriada,” Regina said. “Sit down and I’ll bring them to you.”
Making a small whimpering noise in the back of her throat, Eva returned to the couch. Now Vakar smelled amused, and she slapped his leg and shot him a narrow-eyed scowl.
Carajo, she needed to focus. Vakar had thrown a wrench into the FTL drive and now they had to scramble. It would take the Wraiths at least three cycles to arrive, by which point they needed to be finished with their own mission and on their way back to The Forge regardless. That fat bonus was on the line, on top of everything else.
Plus Eva had to get ready for the party tonight. She wasn’t sure what to expect; she’d seen high-society parties on holovids, but that stuff was half fantasy and half plot contrivance. The closest she had personally been was once when her father had attended some fancy fiesta, and had to meet her on the roof to swap out his sidearm because he’d brought a lethal one by accident. He’d been wearing throwback Earth fashion with a slitted-sleeve jacket and extremely tight pants, while his date was swishing around in a gown that looked like it was literally made of water.
Thankfully, Pink knew enough about fashion to save Eva’s ass. Pink was most comfortable in tank tops and loose pants, but she was obsessed with following the latest styles being strutted at every star-studded event across the universe. And not just the human ones, either; Pink had forgotten more about kloshian body paint than Eva had ever known about her own actual body.
Shopping meant money, though, not to mention Eva had no idea what they might find on Garilia, let alone in Spectrum City . . .
Her mother interrupted her thoughts by waving a plate in front of her face. “Toma, mija,” Regina said. “If you had come for dinner last night, I made albondigas, pero ya lo comí todo.”
Where the fuck did she get the ingredients for that? Eva wondered again. Was she traveling the universe with a tiny refrigerated unit full of ground beef and sofrito?
Another part of her thought: my mom has been making dinner for just herself for how many years? Coño, I should have stopped by more often. I didn’t need to be such an asshole to her.
But Eva had her reasons, and those reasons didn’t evaporate in a moment of sympathy. Still, maybe she could do something while she was here.
“Mami,” Eva said, “you’re doing all the BOFA processing for this place. You must know a lot about it.”
Regina narrowed her eyes. “Sí, y qué?”
“Do you know where Pink and I can buy something nice for me to wear?”
Pink slurped her sweet tea, loudly enough to attract Eva’s attention, then put her glass down on the counter. “You shouldn’t go alone,” Pink said.
“They didn’t mention whether I got a plus-one.” Eva tried to surreptitiously scoop her fallen eggs back onto their plate, but her mother stared at her and wrinkled her nose.
“There’s always an implied plus-one for this fancy shit—pardon my language, ma’am,” Pink said.
Regina waved dismissively. “You should hear me when I find a door that won’t fit my chair.”
“I could accompany her,” Vakar suggested, smelling like ozone.